Tag Archives: cook

My Life, Steffi Says

Fresh Pasta

Leave a comment

One of the plans I had for this weekend is to meet up with my good friend Mirka and our Italian friend Paddy for a cook-out. We have been saying that we should attempt making fresh pasta, for weeks; if not months. Finally the day was upon us!

For our first try, we decided on keeping things simple, and make tagliatelle.

To make the pasta dough, it turned out to be quite a marathon, or even a workout. We took turns to knead the dough until silky and smooth, and until no flour blobs were visible.

Making use of the Andrew James pasta maker was pretty straightforward for us newbies, and we made the most gorgeous pasta.

11126905_10153775207439606_7270732943495376375_n

11193307_10153775207934606_2582396457457588726_n

We cooked it in hot boiling water, with some salt and made a mushroom, onion, and bacon white sauce for it.

20150425_194743_LLS

It was great, and I can confirm that the first attempt was a major success!!

My Life, Recipes, Steffi Says, Sweets / Desserts

3 Ingredients Brownie Cake

Leave a comment

Tried and tested; All you need is 2 eggs, 350g nutella and 150g flour. Mix them together until it forms a rather sticky dough. Place in a dish, and put in a preheated oven, and cook at 160 degrees Celsius. It took mine 25mins to be fully cooked, but always use a toothpick to check if the cake is ready. As soon as toothpick comes out of the cake clean, switch the oven off and wait for the brownie to cool down slightly before eating it.

Below, you can find a photo of the end result. I have added almonds and chocolate chips on top of my cake:

1966296_10153601588529606_2861893357505748263_o

Bon Apetit!

My Life, Steffi Says

Of childhood memories and meat

Leave a comment

Last night, it was the first time I have ever seen a video which explains how to butcher a pig. The pig was not alive, do not worry, but the butcher explains and shows you how to best cut the pig into great pieces of meat to cook and to make sausage from.

At first, I was skeptic to watch this. Not because I am afraid of blood or disgusted. I like my meat bloody; medium to rare. The problem is, that when I was young, perhaps five years old, I saw my grandfather killing a rabbit. He had his small rabbit farm; he used to breed them, grow them up and then gives them to his family to eat. I still remember the clunk of the rabbit when it hit the wall, and the squeal which came soon after. It is the one of the first few memories I have as a child and to this day, I rarely eat rabbit. And when I do, I feel the guilt as the memories come back. But the rabbit tastes so divine, that at times it is just so hard to resist.

Those who share my love of food, I would recommend you to watch this video and start to appreciate the art of butchery and the best looking pork cuts I have ever seen.

My Life, Recipes, Steffi Says

New Acquisition: Pasta Maker

5 Comments

I have wanted to buy a pasta maker for a long, long time. But I have always controlled myself due to the fact that I worried that I would buy it and leave it there taking up space. However, a friend of mine and I have come to agreement that we will both acquire one and learn how to use the machine together. We figured, that this way we will encourage each other in majoring this new en-devour.

pasta maker

On MasterChef as well as on YouTube I have came across dozens of videos on how to make fresh pasta. The dough itself is easy to make, and most ingredients are available at every kitchen; at least at those who adore the art of cooking. The basic ingredients are eggs, flour, salt and oil. One should only add water if it is too dry to stick together. Of the dough is too wet, you just gotta keep kneading… Don’t add more flour!
At this stage, you would either make spaghetti or fettucini, or some ravioli. In the latter case, make sure you make a tasty mix of ingredients!

I cannot wait until my new toy arrives so we can get crackin`!

Crazy Outbursts, Lessons Learned, Steffi Says

Of MasterChef & Cooking

Leave a comment

I was having a conversation with one of my closest friends and amongst one of the many topics we tackled, we mentioned taking cooking classes. We thought it would be great to take them together since we both share a passion for the art of cooking, and getting a certification would be a great next step. Apart from this it would also be benefiting for us to get a bit more tips especially in food presentation in my case.

Because of this, we ended up watching a few episodes from MasterChef The Professionals UK. I must say, that I love the concept of this series, were really great chefs from around England (and the world) battle out each other. Furthermore, it is also good inspiration for me, and I can definitely get some ideas to what I will attempt to cook in the next couple of weeks. The most disappointing thing is, that one hour, in reality is a very short time to prepare a good dish especially when you are expected to prepare a quality, well presented, tasty meal. It’s almost sad to see some of these really talented chefs being brought down to tears on TV.

Even if I ever become a renowned chef, I don’t think I would ever pluck up the courage to test myself this way, in front of millions of viewers. I think this experience can either build you up or break you (or your reputation that is!).

masterchef+logo+black

Crazy Outbursts, Lessons Learned, Steffi Says

Things I have learned today

4 Comments

1. The South of Malta is really beautiful in winter
2. The market in MarsaXlokk is really massive. It does not really smell like fish, as I remember it during my childhood
3. Men who can cook and absolutely love food are awesome. They get my fascination about food.
4. I need a food processor in my life ❤

The weekend was so busy and great. I wish I could extend it a bit more.