The Sugar Bar

It’s been a while hasn’t it? Get anything good for Christmas? Did you have a blast of a new year’s? My good wishes go out to all and pray that you lot have had an amazing holiday thus far. We had an amazing Christmas dinner party this year and I even had my own bar to boot! The dogs went mental with the smell of roasting meat in the air. Post-Christmas was the typical – savouring the remaining leftovers, rubbing the belly and snoozing in front of the telly with a glass of wine. We celebrated New Year’s with a 2 hour high-tea buffet session and shopping with the -rents. Mum was pretty insistent on purchasing this new liquid foundation made from the waters of Mt. Fuji. Dad and I had a massive debate about department stores sapping away the hard-earned money of men vs. women supporting the economy via the beauty, cosmetics and fashion industry. Pretty random stuff.

So anyway, I think I’m still stuffed from all that Christmas and New Year’s feasting. This year, we definitely did take ‘feasting’ to the next level. Completely outdid myself and grew triplet food-babies this year. And so, still reeling from all that gastro-delight over the holiday period, I have yet to create any special funky dish. Venturing into the kitchen, really, is quite daunting. I swear I see grey shadows lingering about the pantry and often catch the D-word (‘diet!’) from the whispers floating with the wind. Everywhere is a hovering suffocating cloud of paranoia and hesitation. Even the food fanatic I take after, my dad, was vehement about not over-eating after New Year’s. I can safely say everyone is still in shock, myself included.

This pasta dish is one I made a few days before Christmas. Something light and quick to prepare, low on the budget, and quick to eat so as to return to whatever important stuff you’re working on. (To fully enjoy Christmas and then New Year’s, I was quite determined to finish all my essays before then. Now that it’s all been celebrated and past, I regret to say I’ve still got 1 essay left. The biggest pain in the arse, to be more specific.) Indeed, this was an easy-peasy lunch for three that didn’t take me away from my essays for long. The capers and yellow peppers in this really make the dish. Nothing like capers to give me a great big zing! to keep me awake all through the afternoon.

Lunch-break Pasta with Cajun Spiced Courgettes, Peppers & Capers
Ingredients

3 servings dry penne pasta
about 3/4 – 1 courgette, chopped
1/2 a large yellow pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp capers
1 tsp cajun spice blend
2 heaped tbs sundried tomato pesto
sprinkle of dried parsley or chopped fresh parsley
sea salt, cooking and seasoning
freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
grated parmesan, for garnishing

Cook pasta in boiling water.

In a frying pan, sauté the garlic with cajun spice blend. On medium heat, add the prepared courgettes and peppers. Cook til courgettes start to lightly brown.
Once pasta is cooked til al dente, add to the frying pan. Add the sundried tomato pesto, capers and stir altogether. Pasta should be evenly coated with pesto. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with grated parmesan.

The clocks have turned back, the temperature’s dropping lower and I’m discreetly reaching out for that next bar of chocolate. Kit Kat’s latest release – Kit Kat Senses is quite the treater. I say go try it if you haven’t. Huddled under the duvet in a giant fleece hoodie with a Kit Kat as I watch Hellboy then Hellboy II, my Sunday is going by quite well actually if you don’t consider the fact that I’m seeing my dissertation tutor tomorrow who is a practicing psychoanalyst — she’s terribly intimidating and I shit marbles from fear when I’m talking to her one on one!

Shitting marbles ain’t exactly the best expression for me to be putting onto the intensely parent-controlled world wide web, or a food blog that has no scatological relations whatsoever, but it’s the appropriate way to describe how freaked out I get when I’m around her. She’s amazingly intelligent and seems nice enough. There are people with big personalities; there are some with very dominating presences and some who just get forgotten by others even when standing right next to that ridiculously coloured punch bowl; some who light up the room; some who are really messed up or eccentric or hilarious. And there are just some who FREAK THE HELL OUTTA YOU – who seem to see right through you, through your eyes and into your brain then right out through the back of your head and then down your spine into your stomach and intestines. That’s right. I feel like she’s even in on what I ate for lunch. As I chatter on away nervously about Jeanette Winterson and Luce Irigaray and these big ideas on phallogocentrism, I gather she’s analyzing everything about me — my black patent Dr. Marten’s, my pseudo curly ‘bed’ hair, my shiny dark-coloured nails and the woolly tights I’m wearing that I saved from my laundry basket that very morning. Her gaze is so piercing and intense, being in the same room as her is near suffocating. Suffocating because the air that I breathe out she breathes in and holds it in and I’m like a skanky hungry rat being held from its tail by its captor, unable to run away or do anything except squeak in fear and twist its body into weird contortions in hopes of loosening its tail from those unforgiving fingers.

Yea. Yea, so…she’s not that scary, huh?

Think it’s definitely a glass of water, a couple of deep breaths before I knock on her door tomorrow. I don’t even know if I’ve got her office hours right, either. Seems I get it wrong every week. As I did last week, which resulted on me waiting patiently outside her office listening in on some sort of odd group seance.

That’s the story of my life this week. A build up of anticipation and nervousness which shall either combust into flames of stutterings or coat itself in a glossy exterior of placidity. Hence, the chocolate, cookies and Jelly Babies. I’m not stress eating! Absolutely not! Well…some might dispute that. But I don’t stress eat. It’s just about the time of the month and sugar makes me properly drugged. Sugar and chocolate get me giggly and funny in the mind. Which also seems to be telling me something – I’m addicted to the drug Sugar!

However, it’s bad that I’m consuming that much sweetie junk for lunch and so I decided to whip out the chopping board and cooking utensils to fix myself a proper lunch, which also decidedly chased away some of my stress devils. I’ve dreamed about the caramelized onions and goats cheese pizza from Pizza Express a couple of times now. Knowing I’m a little skint, I’ve recreated the flavours into a simple and rather cheap pasta dish. Honestly speaking – best bowl of pasta I’ve ever made! The caramelized onions were beautiful and a recipe I’ll definitely be coming back to for as a pizza topping, addition to burgers, etc. The choice of greens were very limited since I didn’t really do a proper shop for this and the addition of runner beans were quite random. Not complaining though since it all tasted great, made the stomach happy and filled up one of the slots for my 5 a day.

Wonder if my tutor will be clairvoyant enough to know what I ate for lunch today, tomorrow?

This recipe is just perfect for 1. Increase the amount for caramelized onions and store in fridge for later use if you like!

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Goats Cheese, Streaky Bacon, Cashews & Greens
Ingredients

1 serving penne pasta
olive oil, for frying
1 tbs goats cheese, crumbled
2 strips smoked streaky bacon, cut into small strips
small handful of spinach leaves
4-5 runner beans, chopped
4-5 cashew nuts
salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

For the caramelized onions:
1/2 a medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbs salted butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs HP brown sauce, woodsmoked flavour
2-3 tbs water
a few drops of sesame oil
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

Prepare caramelized onions about 20 minutes before.
Melt some butter in a saucepan. Add olive oil. When butter is all melted, add onions and let it sauté and then, sweat. Once it starts getting softer and translucent, add spices and sesame oil. Once most of the fats has started to be absorbed into the onions, add water to saucepan to loosen up the sauce that’s starting to solidify at the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and let it simmer, stirring now and again. This should sit on the hob for about 5-10minutes.
Most of the water should have reduced by then. Add HP brown sauce and season a little to taste. Set aside to top the pasta later.

Toast cashew nuts on an un-oiled frying pan or on a baking tray in a preheated oven.
Boil some water and cook the pasta. In a separate saucepan of boiling water, cook the runner beans.

On another frying pan, heat some oil and fry bacon strips. Once pasta is cooked, mix the bacon strips and some of its grease into the pasta, not forgetting the runner beans and spinach leaves. Mix well so all the pasta is covered with the lovely bacon juice.

Pour out into a bowl. Crumble goats cheese over the top, spoon the caramelized onions on the top and finally the toasted cashews. Serve.

I haven’t been posting much lately because I’m enjoying the comforts of a mother’s cooking. I get to flash my culinary tricks only on the weekends or when someone’s got an itch in their sweet tooth and that’s pretty seldom now that I’m home (the land of Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs). The weekend ended well with a BBQ on Sunday — Lemon Cajun & Honey marinated (honey, lemon juice, cajun spices and Worcestershire sauce) striploin steaks, Cheese & Red Wine and Tomato & Basil sausages from Esprito Santo butchers; not to forget vegetable kebabs and it was a kickass way to prepare myself for the boring desk job the following day.

Indeed Diva is now stuck behind a desk on the weekdays. Soon enough, once her attachment ends, she’s hoping to get hired next month by The Flaming Queen which is a luxury candle shop at the Palais Renaissance hotel (I think it’s a hotel? with a fancy shopping pallasade on the bottom and basement floors?). No matter the amount of blogging and online shopping and foodblog surfing she does, Diva prefers to communicate face to face with living breathing humans than overheating noisy computers.

I’ve realized how soul-sapping a desk job is. And oftentimes, I have to find ways to slow myself down so I don’t complete my assignments too quick and leave myself with spaces of non-activity (which further aid in killing the rest of my pathetic brain cells). And you say Coke is cancer-causing. Work is life depletion at its most effective. Alright. I joke. I jest. I complain and act like a spoilt brat. So sue me. However, I’ve discovered a way to brighten up my “desk-life”. A box of PG tips, a tube of Hobnobs, a packet of Mint Crisp M&Ms (that gorgeous green is so attractive) and a packet of Forest Fruit Gums makes the world all better. Also, it seems I’ve already bought 2 pairs of 4inch heels ever since I started work. I know — that means Death By Heels but no matter. I feel awesome.

These meatballs are inspired by the way Ben Brown makes his meatballs — fuss-free, meaty, greasy, gia-normous and delicious. The best thing to do here is use fresh mozzarella and you literally get molten cheese flowing all around your meatballs when you serve them out of the baking dish. I couldn’t get any of this at such a time so grated mozzarella was used. Nothing like the real thing but this was awesome despite it. Didn’t think too much about presentation either. You really don’t need it. Pile the meatballs into the dish. Pour in all the leftover sauce from the frying pan. Spread them out quick and easy. Top with salami and mozzarella and whack into the oven to complete the cooking process and get the salami to crisp up and release its flavours into the sauce. Of course, with the ultimate moment of having the mozzarella melt, then turn a slight crispy golden brown.

The sad outcome of my meatballs was their salt content. I accidentally popped 2 cubes of strong beef stock into the pan without thinking or tasting. Thankfully, the pasta was served pretty much plain and so it kind of evened itself out. People with salt-conscious tastebuds might want to be warned ahead and adjust the salt content to suit your tastes.

This recipe is perfect for 5, with a tiny bit of meatball leftovers which were wiped out in give or take another 5minutes after the plates were wiped clean. There you have it. Evidence of the Romance of the Meatballs.

Diva-Style Meatballs with Pasta
Ingredients

For the meatballs:
800g minced beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 large white onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
1/2 tsp paprika
handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
olive oil, for frying
freshly milled sea salt & black pepper, for seasoning

For the sauce:
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 – 2 beef stock cubes (depends on the type you are using; if it’s a strong one, you may want to reduce this to 1 cube)
1 tbs tomato purée (and a little water if need to dilute)
5 good shakes of Tobasco sauce
2 enormous handfuls of grated mozzarella (preferably use fresh mozzarella sliced into rings if available)
10-15 large strips of salami

For the pasta:
500g fusilli pasta
1 1/2 good glug of extra virgin olive oil
sprinkling of paprika
handful of fresh basil leaves
freshly milled black pepper

Place all the ingredients for the meatballs and 1/4 of prepared chopped onions in a large bowl and mix together. Form into golf-sized or slightly smaller meatballs.

In a large, preferably deep, frying pan, sautée the chopped onions with garlic in olive oil. Place the meatballs gently one by one into the hot pan. Let it cook till the surfaces of the meatballs are cooked and slightly browned. Add the ingredients for the sauce into the pan and let it come to a boil. Add 1/4 cup of water if the mixture is to thick then let it simmer and reduce to desired sauce consistency.

Preheat oven to 180d Celsius.
Once the meatballs and its sauce has reduced, pour into a large deep rectangle baking or casserole dish. Layer the salami over the top, followed by the cheese. Place into oven for about 10-15 minutes.

For the pasta, boil till al dente. Drain away the water. Add the extra virgin olive oil, ground pepper, paprika and basil. Then give it a good stir. Place into pasta plates. Remove meatballs from oven and bring it out onto the dinner table. Have glasses of ice cold drinks ready and a serving spoon for the meatballs.
Spoon over onto plates of pasta in generous amounts. Do not forget to spoon out the lovely sauce and meatball juices at the bottom of the baking dish onto the pasta. Serve with more basil leaves and drops of Tobasco for crazy heat.