Tomato farcies

Have you ever had a farcie? If you haven't, you seriously dont know what you're missing out on!

I was first introduced to these little babies by frenchie and have fell hard for it ever since. The sight of plump, juicy, tomatoes stuffed to the brim with herbed pork mince sitting in the oven, happily dribbling juices all over themselves is enough to make any bosom sigh. What a clever way to sneak in vegetables into your diet too I might add :)

Please forgive the poor lighting in my photos - I took them at night, and probably in a rush too since I was rather famished couldn't wait to sink my teeth into them. We paired them with basmati rice topped with a good dollop of salted butter. Simple but oh so good.

Tomato Farcies
L'ingredients:
Beefsteak tomatoes (any big tomato will do, preferably one that has a stable butt)
Pork mince (enough to fill the tomatoes with)
A bunch of fresh rosemary leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash the tomatoes, cut off the tops and reserve. Using a spoon, carefully spoon the inside of a tomato and set aside. Repeat for remaining tomatoes.
2. In a bowl, season the pork with salt and pepper to taste as well as the rosemary.
3. Take a handful of pork and stuff the tomato shells with it. When it has been filled to the brim, place the cap back on. Repeat until all the tomatoes are done.
4. Placed the capped tomatoes into a casserole dish and pour a little water in the base so the tomatoes can retain their juiciness. Add a good dash of olive oil over the tomatoes and place in the oven.
5. The cooking process should take around half an hour, depending on the size of the tomatoes. In between cooking, open the oven and baste the tomatoes with the juices. When the pork is cooked, remove from the oven and serve warm.

I.love.chestnuts.

Fillet mignon surrounded in a cushy bed of crunchy long beans, tender mushrooms, melt-in-your-mouth fagioli beans and creamy, buttery chestnuts. Sighz. Need I say more?

*Burpz* Oops, 'cuse me.

Fresh pasta!

There must come a point in every foodie's life where they just want to try making everything from scratch.

Pasta is one of the essentials in my student pantry, making for a nutritious and delicious meal in just minutes. Therefore it becomes somewhat of an irony that I've never tried fresh pasta. The logic is simple: We don't eat out a lot, and I think having pasta as one of our staples automatically relegates Italian food to the bottom of my list when we do chow out.

So, having nothing better to do one afternoon, I thought why not try making some? Not having a nice, shiny pasta rolling machine wasn't an excuse for me. I mean hey, the good women of Italy have been doing it by hand for ages, no? Everything went fine til the dough rolling stage; this is when "Overzealous" became my middle name. I got slightly carried away, channelling whatever energy I had to make sure it turned out as paper-thin as possible. Let's say I had to practically scrape my lunch off the baking sheet! chuckle. Well, it was worth a try!

Prochaine fois.

Good old campagnard food.

ooh, the joys of living on a student budget.

it forces you to start getting creative and maximize the most out of what you've got. you start focusing on what you really need and cut out any excesses.

being frugal is not all bad however, and does come with a small handful of benefits. really! LOL

for example, i'm walking instead of taking the bus and appreciating the health benefits of it (as well as doing my part in reducing my carbon footprint). since you're slowed down quite a bit (as opposed to taking the bus), you start to appreciate distances and notice things in detail.

and of course, i've cooking more frequently at home, which means saving money on processed junk and incorporating fresher foods and nutrients into my diet. in the process of exploring different cuisines, you also undoubtedly get exposed to a whole new variety of fruits, veggies, spices and meats.

such as the artichoke (artichaut).

i feel almost ashamed to say that i've never tried eating fresh artichokes before. i've tried artichoke hearts preserved and seasoned in herbed vinegar, but never fresh ones. each time i pass by the bulbuous flower, the only thing that crosses my mind is "hmm, that might look pretty in a vase.", and without a second thought, move on to my usual legumes, leafies and capsicums.

have i been missing out! i feel like everyone has already been clued in to this tasty treat and i'm the only one who left in the dark. doh! *smacks head*

moving on with the whinging - i had so much fun with this!!! pulling it floret by floret, dunking it in a bit of vinegrette and using my teeth to scrape each fleshy little leaf clean - it added a whole new dimension to eating. and wait til you get to the heart of the artichoke - oh how do you say it - je ne sais quoi? all i can say is i've found a new love. like a BIG BIG love. :D

and to put my tastebuds in a state of total reverence, we had it with pan-fried boudin or black pudding, better described as a pork blood sausage. it's not very pretty (hence the monotone photo), but dont judge the poor sausage yet. trust me, i can eat this EVERY week and not get sick of it. this particular black pudding was seasoned with oatmeal and spices. if you haven't yet tried it, run, dont walk, to your butcher or specialty store; i got mine from david jones.

wheee! 500m race coming up this sunday. been training hard and i'm raring to go!

Chevre, apple and honey tarts

Voila! Say hello to my chevre (goat's cheese), apple and honey tarts! :) Leafed this recipe for my gotta-cook-this-someday list. Bebe just got home and the both of us felt like something light for dinner and these tarts were perfect. Got this recipe off Bon Appetit, and you should have been here to catch the lovely, warm whiffs of honey caramelising on the apples in the oven. The lemon juice lended a real bite to the creamy chevre and complimented the tangy Sundowner apples which were drizzled in melted butter and honey and kissed with sprinkles of five spice powder. Fused with the buttery goodness of the shortcrust pastry, this made for an amazing medley of flavours. Talk about pampering your tastebuds. Ooh la la!

Anyway, this is a really easy recipe to throw together for those of you who are feeling a little lazy or whacked out after a hard day's work. I skipped the glazing part with the egg (couldnt justify wasting three-quarters of an egg for 3 little tarts to look slightly prettier) and used salted butter in place of salt. Gotta love frozen puff pastries. They're so convenient, versatile and I reckon they dont taste half bad!

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Apple, Goat Cheese & Honey Tarts (my tweaked, lazy version of the recette from Bon Appetit)

• 1 apple, sliced thinly
• a small pack of goat's cheese
• juice of half a lemon
• salted butter, melted
• honey
• a sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• a pinch (or a few) of allspice powder
• 1 beaten egg for glazing

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Cut up the goat cheese and mix with the juice of half a lemon. Set aside. Divide a large sheet of puff pastry into quarters and fold the edges in such that it forms a little 'shell'. Place the goat cheese mixture into the shell, and lay the slices of apple over it. Mix the melted butter and honey and drizzle generously over the apples. Place in the oven and let it bake for approximately 35 mins or until the puff pastry turns golden brown. Remove and drizzle a little more honey if desired. Serve warm and watch your tastebuds tingle!