PENNE alla CARBONARA
I’ve mentioned this before; I never used to be a fan of pasta.
BUT
Have you seen how delicious and appetizing that photo looks????
And that is just what I did in the house so you can imagine how good it looks if it’s made in an Italian restaurant. My girl Waringa is the one who introduced me to this dish; I bet she doesn’t even know that. When I first met her she would order this dish many times when we had Sunday lunches. So the day I tasted some from her plate I was hooked.
There a few places in Nairobi you can have great cabonara. I personally like Tratoria and some restaurant at the Yaya Centre Food court whose name I don’t even know. It’s right on on the left hand corner. But their cabonara is to DIE FOR. They make it with smoked bacon and it’s simply ORGASMIC!!!
But if you choose to try this at home, you will never regret it. This is a great dish for when you just want to indulge and not care much about your hips or waistline. It comes together real quick as well in less than 20 minutes you have a meal on your table. Hope you will love it as much as I do. HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 750 g penne (or any other dry pasta of your choice)
- 10-12 rashers of bacon
- ½ cup of onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 500ml cream
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Chopped parsley or coriander to serve
Instructions
Boil the pasta with some salt in a large pot filled with water and cook for about 10 mins
Put the bacon in a large pan and cook till cooked. Remove and set aside
In the same pan, add the onions and sauté for about 5 mins then add the garlic and continue for a further 5 minutes. Add back the bacon
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, Parmesan, cream, and pepper
Once pasta is cooked add to the onion and bacon mixture and mix. Add in the cream and cheese mixture. Stir through. Work very quickly at this point. Add pepper. Once it’s mixed through serve immediately. Top with the coriander and extra Parmesan cheese if desired. HAPPY EATING!!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/penne-alla-carbonara/
T-BONE STEAK with GARLIC PRAWNS and BOILED ROSEMARY POTATOES
Do you have any idea what it feels like to live in the middle of nowhere?
Do you?
Like right smack in the middle of nowhere. As in there is Kakuma, then the next big towns are 2 hours away in either Lodwar or Lokichogio and even those are not really big towns. I don’t see how a place can be called a big town and they do not even have a supermarket. Lodwar does have one of those mini markets though!!
What does this mean???
- I have no decent place to shop for groceries and
- There are NO RESTAURANTS
That the nearest almost decent restaurant is about 2 hours away in Lokichogio. Now this is not one of those places you just hop into a matatu and go! You need to organize for transport with the office and get police escort to actually go there and spend a few hours then come back to “nowhere”. It’s really not interesting.
So…what is a girl to do when she feels like a fancyish restaurant meal? CIY 🙂 LOLS Cook It Yourself.
This is one of those meals that you find in those high end Nairobi restaurants, and you end up being charged a minimum of 800-1000ksh for! I believe this cost me like Ksh 200 maximum.
The Kyuk (Kikuyu) in me actually did the math; the T-bone steak costs about 380 per Kg I have mine sliced into about 8 pieces so that’s 48/=, the prawns cost around 700 for 500gms I used about 80 gms that’s 112 plus 1 potato 20/= that’s 180 plus 20/= for spices and oil. VERY ECONOMICAL, hehehhe.
Anywho this was a very tasty meal and healthy too if I am to say so myself. I felt like I was in a very fancy restaurant when I ate it so it’s great for when you want to eat out but are too lazy to leave your house and you will save tons of cash too and you can use that to buy a drink. I bet you will LOVE it. HAPPY COOKING!!!
NB: was a bit selfish this time only made a meal for one but you can multiply the ingredients if your serving more.
Ingredients
- 1 t-bone steak
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- A handful of prawns
- A tablespoon of chopped dhania (coriander)
- 1 large potato cut into quarters
- ½ teaspoon rosemary Garlic salt or aromat or ground garlic (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Mix 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Apply this mixture evenly on the T-bone steak and marinate for at least 20 minutes (the longer the better.
Put water in a sufuria (pot) and add the rosemary, salt, ground garlic or garlic salt (if using aromat or garlic salt do not add the salt) and the potato and boil till the potato is cooked through but still firm.
Meanwhile, place the already marinated steak on a pan and cook too your liking,3-4 minutes on each side for rare-medium. Longer if you want it more cooked. Once cooked place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Wipe the pan down Put the remaining olive oil in the pan and once hot put in the garlic, cook for about a minute then add the prawns. Toss around the pan make sure they are all covered in the garlic oil. Cook for about 2 minutes till the prawns begin to turn pink Add the dhania, toss around for a minute and remove
To plate place the potatoes on one side and place the steak right next to them. Put the prawns on top of the steak. Take the oil remaining in the pan and drizzle over the potatoes.
OOOOH it will taste soooooo GOOD!! HAPPY EATING!!!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/t-bone-steak-with-garlic-prawns-and-boiled-rosemary-potatoes/
Fish and Tomato Curry
For a VERY long time I was not a fun of fish, mainly because we had the whole fried fish at home that was deep fried by the mama’s at the market. I really HATE that fish. I can’t stand the smell or even how it tastes, I therefore formed a negative opinion towards fish and seafood as a whole. This was until a few years back while I was in campus when I had some really great fish curry that made me completely change my mind. After this I tried a few recipes here and there and mixed and matched a couple so I’m not too sure who to credit for this recipe. All I can say is that I am sure you will like it. Try it with rice or naans or potatoes. HAPPY COOKING!!
Ingredients
- 500gms fish fillet ( like tilapia or Nile perch)
- 2 onions sliced
- 6 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 green chillies or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- 4 tablespoons of natural yogurt
- 150ml coconut milk
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 6 tablespoons of flour mixed with some salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons of oil
Instructions
Marinate the fish in lemon juice and ½ teaspoon of garlic and salt
Dust the fish with the flour
Put the tomatoes, ginger and tomatoes till pureed
Fry the onions in 1 tablespoon of oil until soft, lower the heat, add all the powdered spices (save for the garam masala) and mix till they become fragrant.
Add the tomato puree mix well and reduce the heat till the sauce thickens
Meanwhile, Heat the oil and fry the fish fillets for about a minute on each side until they begin to brown. Set aside
Add the yogurt and coconut milk and coriander; simmer till it is all well blended and thick.
Add the fish and cover pot with a lid and simmer till well cooked through
Once cooked sprinkle the juice of half a lemon and the garam masala, simmer for a minute then serve. HAPPY EATING!!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/fish-and-tomato-curry/
