All posts tagged: bacon

Today’s Experiment…

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Today’s experiment is portobello mushroom wrapped in streaky bacon, topped with cheese and a fresh sage leaf. Baked for 20 minutes… I love the lighting in the kitchen in the afternoon. But as soon as the sun goes down, food photography is close to impossible. Pre-oven experiments: afternoon sun, no camera flash. Post-oven experiment: after sunset with flash. Look at that terrible lighting! No. Don’t look at it. Just look at the yummy experiment. Served with fried eggs (with capers, fried garlic and worcester sauce), rice and buttered corn. I suppose the goal is to cook and photograph food during daylight. It makes a huge difference. But, with winter coming up, it’s probably not going to be likely. Hmmm…at what stage do I set up a mini photography studio in our kitchen?

Eat Your Greens! (With Bacon)

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We did a little shop the other day. The first shop in over 2 months meant that we got a few essentials. From these things I was able to pick out an easy soup to make. Pretty standard, so maybe you already have these ingredients in your kitchen too. Soup isn’t the kind of thing most of us make on a summer afternoon, but this will fill you up without making you feel heavy. Tasty enough to serve to company as a starter.   Easy Green and Bacon Soup Serves 2 Ingredients 2 medium potatoes 1 cup of frozen peas half an onion 2 pieces of streaky bacon Salt Lemon pepper Dash of cream Preparation In a pot, boil a litre of water. Peel and chop potatoes and add to pot. Slice onion and add to the pot. Boil for 20 minutes. Chop bacon into matchsticks and fry until done. Add frozen peas to the boiling pot and bring up to boil. Drain out most of the boiling water (leaving behind a small amount) and blend …

Crunchy yum bacon quiche

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I love pulling out random ingredients from the fridge and being able to make something cohesive . I keep a constant supply of streaky bacon and puff pastry in the freezer and eggs are usually around too. Then it’s a matter of using up whatever vegetables are in the fridge at the time to fill up the rest of the quiche with and to make a side salad. We were lucky to have a bit of beetroot chutney too. Otherwise it would have to be tomato sauce and/or Kaitaia Fire Kiwifruit & Habanero Pepper Sauce. Also time to show off my new tea towel from the Fisher & Paykel stand at Taste of Auckland. Fisher & Paykel are a major appliance manufacturer based here in Auckland. Fisher & Paykel are pretty smart with their online presence. They’ve realised that people that buy their products like to cook and be inspired by foodie things. So they’ve set up their own food blog called Our Kitchen. Brilliant! See how two of the pastry corners curled over and two …

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast…Wrapped in Bacon

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This is one of those dishes I made up a long time ago by putting together a whole lot of delcious ingredients and hoping for the best. I mean, bacon, chicken, mushroom, garlic, cream…how could this possibly go bad? I used to make this without bacon or capers, so you can use these or leave out. This recipe is enough for 2 servings. What I like about this dish is that you can prep for it before guests arrive, then pop it in the oven when they get to your house. Then it’s only 30 minutes until dinner and you can entertain rather than fluffing around in the kitchen. Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast…Wrapped in Bacon Ingredients 1 large chicken breast 2 pieces of streaky bacon 2 brown mushrooms 2 cloves garlic 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon herbs 1/4 cup of cream 1 teaspoon of capers salt pepper Preparation Preheat oven to 200°C. Slice the mushrooms, finely chop the garlic and put into a bowl. Add the capers, breadcrumbs, herbs, salt, pepper and cream. The mixture …

Magical Elixir

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I was recently watching Nici Wicke’s World Kitchen, specifically the Hong Kong episode. I was born in Hong Kong and it will always have a special place in my heart. In this episode, while sipping on snake soup, Nici and her Hong Kong guide Denny, talk about soup. In Western society, soup is often eaten when we are sick. Chicken soup is consciously or subconciously considered to a magical elixir that will cure what ails you. Soup is nourishing and easy to digest. In Chinese society, a nourishing soup is served with dinner to prevent sickness. Take a magical elixir every day for good health. How cool is that? I grew up with soup as a course before dinner. Chinese soup is a savoury broth and light enough to have before every meal. Meats like pork or chicken are boiled with various dried roots, vegetables, dried fruits and even nuts. It’s an important aspect of every Chinese dinner. We were often encouraged to have a second bowl of soup after our meal too. I serve soup …

Scallops and Bacon

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Scallops and bacon are a match made in heaven. The seafood couple came into work again. They had fresh scallops from Whitianga this morning and seeing as it is the Whitianga Scallop Festival this weekend, what could be more appropriate than eating a whole lot of scallops? 2 course dinner with Scallops and Bacon Starter: 5 Pan fried scallops wrapped in bacon with tartar sauce. Wrap each scallop with a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Pan fry with a bit of butter. Season lightly with herbs, salt and pepper. Serve with tartar sauce. Tartar Sauce: mayo, sour cream, chopped gherkins, finely chopped red onion. Main Course: Scallops and Bacon pasta Cook pasta according to instructions. Saute vegies in a little oil: sliced courgette, sliced red onion, sliced garlic. Remove from heat and set aside. Finely chop 4 slices of bacon (I tried Danish eye bacon) and fry in oil. Add scallops to the pan. Once scallops are done, add 2 tablespoons of sour cream, 2 table spoons of tomato paste. Drain pasta and …