Tagliatelle with pancetta, cherry tomatoes and fresh grated parmesan

I love this recipe, it is one of my favourite pasta dishes. It is so simple and easy to make. If you don't have a lot of time or just don't want to stay hours in the kitchen, then this is a perfect recipe for you. In half an hour your meal is on the table.


This recipe is for 2 persons. If you need to make this recipe for more then 2 persons, just multiply it by the number of persons

 

What do you need:

• stockpot
• colandor
• ceramic pan
• chopping board, knife

Ingredients
150 to 200 gram pancetta cut in chunks

2 curls tagliatelle per person
1 box (250gr) cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
four seasons peppercorn
fresh grated parmesan
olive oil




1. Bring enough water to boil in the stockpot and then add the tagliatella. Follow instructions on the pasta package.

2. Put a pan on the stove on medium heat. Meanwhile, chop your onions medium sized and mince the garlic clove. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan. Do not heat your olive oil, just warm it up. Then add your chopped onions and garlic in the pan and let it sort of sweat for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat but don't let it get brown. This will give the onions a sweeter taste.

3. Add the pancetta and cook for about 5 minutes, add in the cherry tomatoes and let it cook for 15 minutes on medium high heat and then add the cooked pasta and toss it around in the mixture. 

   Serve on a nice big plate, grate some lovely fresh parmesan over the dish and some fresh basil leaves. Bon appetit! 
  
    

Petjil - Pitjel - Petjel

Petjil - Pitjel - Petjel

This Javanese dish is super easy! We sometimes have petjil when we barbecue instead of a salad.

Petjil

What do we need:

Peanut sauce

This is for about 4 persons.
- 250gr Long beans (cut in pieces of 3,5cm)
- 250gr Bean sprouts
- 250gr Cabbage, cut in 2cm wide strips (the one I use is also known as pointed, hispi, hearted or sweetheart cabbage)
- salt
- Peanutsauce (I use ready made from Suriname)



Equipment:
- one big pot
- a slotted ladle
- sauce pan


1. Bring one big pot with water (filled 3/4) to boiling point. Then lower to medium heat. Add a bit of salt to the water.

2. Blanche your long beans for about 5 to 6 min. and then check if the beans have the right bite.  I don't like it when my veggies are to soft. For me it has to have a bit of a bite. So it's  more what you prefer. If you like it softer then leave the veggies to cook a little longer.

3. Remove the long beans with the slotted ladle and put in cold water. When it's cooled, drain the vegetables.

4. Repeat step 2 and 3 for the beans sprouts and cabbage.  Note that the beans sprouts take only 1 or 2 min and the cabbage for about 3 to 4 min. 

Peanut sauce
For the peanut sauce you have to check the preparation on the package. For pitjel I like mine sauce to have thick consistency, not too runny.

If you can't get peanut sauce you can make it out of scratch. But I must say, I never make mine out of scratch. When I'm in Suriname, I stock up my peanut sauce :D! Once I didn't had peanut sauce, but I did had a pot of peanut butter. So I took a sauce pan, added some table spoons of Calvé peanut butter chunky, water, a bit of tamarind pulp (lemon will do too), kencur to taste (dry herb), garlic powder or fresh garlic, sugar/salt to taste and enough pepper (madame jeanette).

Out of scratch peanut sauce (Surinamese style)

- 2 teaspoons of oil
- 500 gr peanuts 
- 5 cloves of garlic
- madame jeanette or rawit/lombok /birds eye chilly (all the same peppers)
- kencur powder, 3 to 4 ts
- 1 tbsp tamarindpulp
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- salt to taste

1. Fry the peanut in oil, add in the garlic and the peppers. Fry untill the peanuts are golden brown. 
2. Remove the peanuts and herbs with a slotted ladle. Leave to cool.
3. When cooled, put peanuts, garlic, peppers, kencur, tamarind pulp, brown sugar, salt to taste and mix in a food processor. 

You will have a thick paste, you now can dissolve it in a sauce pan with water to get the right consistency.

If you have tried it, let me know how it works out.. :)

Maizena cookies

Let's just call them Angel cookies!

In my home country Suriname, South-America, we have these wonderful cookies that melt in your mouth! At least my version of these cookies..:) Some versions get very thick once you eat them. But I must warn,... these cookies are verryyyyy addictive!

 

In Suriname these cookies are called maizena cookies. It was named after the brand of the cornstarch/cornflour, Maizena.

In Brazil and Argentina they have the same/similar cookies. Biscoitos do Maizena (br) and Alfajores de Maizena (ar). Only the Argentinian cookie is a sandwich cookie with a dulce leche (caramel) filling.

Recipe Angel cookie

What do we need:

125 gram granulated sugar

125 gram butter

265 gram maizena (cornstarch/cornflour)

1 egg (preferably free range)

1 ts vanilla extract (or essence)

pinch of salt

hundreds and thousands sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 150°. 




 

Equipments

electric hand-mixer

cookie (press) press*

*If you don't have a cookie maker, you can form half an inch to 1 inch round balls. Then press the cookie with a fork twice for a criss cross marking.

1. Mix the sugar and butter on high speed until light/pale and fluffy.

2. When the sugar is half dissolve, add in the egg and whisk until incorporated.
3. Add pinch of salt and vanilla extract to mixture and whisk again for 2 minutes.
4. Add the maizena (cornstarch/cornflour) and mix it al together with a wooden spoon. The dough must be soft. Then mix it again for 2 minutes with the electric hand-mixer on high speed.
5. You can now fill your cookie maker with the dough. Shape your dough into cylinders and press into the barrel as directed in manufacturer's directions. Start pressing and sprinkle the cookies with hundreds and thousands... :) This looks very colourful! 
It is best to press the cookies directly onto a baking tray without a baking sheet. But just find out what works best for you.

6. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes. I like mine a little brown on the edges, so I leave them a bit longer.

This batch will yield about 30 to 40 cookies.

Enjoy... ;)

Angel cookies (aka maizena cookies)