How to Cook Tagliatelle Carbonara

Photo credit: FotoosVanRobin

This recipe is a traditional Italian pasta dish. It can be made with any sort of pasta i.e. fusilli, spaghetti, pretty much any type. But to make it authentic you should always make this dish with bacon pieces and eggs. 

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking utensils you will need:

• A large saucepan
• Frying pan
• Cooks Knife
• Chopping Board
• A Basin
• Colander & 2 Serving Plates

Ingredients you will need:

• 1 Table spoon of Olive Oil
• 175 grams / 6 Oz of Tagliatelle
• 1 Garlic Clove, peeled & finely chopped
• 4 Eggs
• 4 Finely sliced bacon rashers
• Salt & Pepper

To Garnish:

• 55 grams / 2 Oz of Freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 Table spoon of Freshly chopped parsley

Once you’ve got together all the ingredients and equipment listed above your ready to start cooking.

-          Step 1: Cook the pasta over a medium heat in a large saucepan of salted boiling water. Taking special care to follow the instructions on the packet of the pasta.

-          Step 2: Heat the olive oil in the frying pan and fry the bacon on a very high heat for about 3 – 4 minutes or until crispy.

-          Step 3: Add the chopped garlic to the mix and stir well.

-          Step 4: Break the eggs into a bowl and beat well. You can add seasoning at this point if you wish but remember that the bacon is salty and will season the pasta just fine on its own.

-          Step 5: When the pasta is cooked drain in a colander until practically dry.

-          Step 6: Scrape the bacon, garlic and fat from the frying pan into the sauce pan and then return to the heat. Add the pasta to the mix and stir well.

-          Step 7: Pour in the eggs and very quickly stir into the pasta so that the eggs start to set. Remove from the heat and serve immediately on heated plates. Sprinkle the parmesan on the pasta and finally garnish with parsley.

This particular recipe goes fantastically with an Oaky New Zealand or Pays d’Oc Chardonnay Wine.

How to Cook Courgette & Mushroom Frittata

Hi everyone, today I’m going to be teaching you all how to cook a fantastic dish of Courgette & Mushroom Frittata. A Frittata is basically the Italian equivalent of a French omelette. Although it is nearer to the Spanish tortilla because it is thick and firmly cooked. Frittata can also be served cold and make a fantastic dish for picnics or packed lunches.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking utensils you will need:

• A 23 cm / 9 Inch non-stick frying pan
• Wooden spatula
• A basin
• Balloon whisk
• Cooking knife & chopping board

Ingredients you will need:

• 1 Table spoons of Butter
• 1 Table spoon of Olive Oil
• 175 grams / 6 Oz of sliced Courgettes
• 115 grams / 4 Oz of sliced Chestnut Mushrooms
• 1 Garlic Clove, peeled & finely chopped
• 4 Eggs
• 6 Table spoons of Milk
• 3 Table spoon of chopped fresh Parsley
• Salt & Pepper

Once you’ve got together all the ingredients and equipment listed above your ready to start cooking.

-          Step 1: Melt the butter with the olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat.

-          Step 2: Raise the heat on the hob to a medium heat and fry the Courgettes for about 5 minutes or until their golden brown, turning occasionally.

-          Step 3: Add the mushrooms and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes until they are soft. Stir in the garlic once the mushrooms are cooked.

-          Step 4: Break the eggs into a basin and beat well using the balloon whisk. Pour in the milk and continue to mix well, and then season with salt & pepper.

-          Step 5: Lower the heat of the hob and pour the egg mixture over the pre-cooked vegetables and sprinkle parsley over the mix. Stir gently and leave to cook for about 5 – 6 minutes or until the mixture is almost set and the base is cooked.

-          Step 6: To complete the cooking, place the pan under a hot grill for 2 minutes until the top is set (if the frying pan’s handle is not heatproof or you have not got a grill, turn the frittata onto a plate and slip it back into the pan and cook the other side over a low heat for 2 minutes). Serve whilst still warm or cut into wedges and place in a refrigerator for later.

And that’s all there is too it. Enjoy.

How to Cook a Simple Chocolate Cake

Now this is a recipe for a Chocolate Cake that is so simple to make anyone could do it, and the preparation time is very quick as well. So in no time you can be enjoying this fantastically tasty Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients you will need.

Instead of giving exact measurements I am going to be giving the measurements in cup sizes, basically just an ordinary cup will suffice for this and if you get the measurement a little wrong don’t worry as you’ll just end up with either a bigger or smaller Chocolate Cake. So here’s hoping you use too much, more to enjoy.  

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 1/3 cup of buttermilk
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of vanilla
• 2 sticks of margarine
• 1 cup of water
• 4 tablespoons of cocoa
• ¼ cup of milk
• 1 box of powdered sugar
• 1 cup of nuts

That’s all you need, pretty simple.

-          Step 1: Mix flour, soda, eggs, sugar, buttermilk and 1½ teaspoon vanilla.

-          Step 2: Place 1 stick of margarine, water, Crisco® and 4 tablespoons Hershey's Chocolate Syrup® in a pan

-          Step 3: Bring ingredients in pan to a boil and boil for 1 minute, then pour into cake mix and mix well.

-          Step 4: Pour into a greased and floured cookie sheet (16-by-12-by-1½-inches) or a foil-lined pan and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

-          Step 5: While cake is baking prepare the icing.

-          Step 6: Bring 1 stick margarine; milk and 4 tablespoons Hershey's Chocolate Syrup® to a boil, then remove from heat.

-          Step 7: Add powdered sugar, nuts and 1 teaspoon vanilla and spread on cake as soon as it is removed from the oven.

And that’s all there is to it. Enjoy.

How to Cook Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs need very gentle cooking to stop them from becoming very rubbery. Most people these days think that the best way to cook Scrambled eggs is to make them using a microwave, this however is the worst way of doing it for no matter what temperature you set the microwave to, you will always end up with rubbery results.

This method of cooking scrambled eggs is with using a pan and is the best way of getting perfect scrambled eggs.

-          Step 1: Depending on how many people you are serving depends on how many eggs you are going to want to use, but a good rule of thumb is to allow 2 eggs per person your serving.

-          Step 2: Beat well with a whist or a fork and season with a small sprinkle of salt and or pepper. For creamier Scrambled eggs you can add a dash of milk to the mix while beating.

-          Step 3: Melt 1 – 2 tablespoon of butter depending on how many you’re serving into an equally sized non stick sauce pan. Cook on a low heat until the butter is foaming.

-          Step 4: Carefully pour the beaten eggs into the pan and stir well (a wooden spoon or spatula is best). The eggs will begin to set at the base of the pan so continue to stir, making sure to mix the set eggs with the still runny mixture.

-          Step 5: When the mixture has become creamy all the way through remove the pan from the heat and allow too stand for up to 1 minute. The heat of the pan will continue to cook the eggs after you have removed from the heat. During this time you can add a small knob of butter or a tablespoon of cream for an added treat.

-          Step 6: Serve immediately after cooking as Scrambled eggs do not last well once cooked.

Although you can choose to cook large quantities of scrambled eggs in one go, you will usually end up with much better results if you cook each portion individually.

How to Cook a Poached Egg

When poaching an egg you need to make sure that the eggs you are using are the freshest you could find. Do not attempt to cook by this method if you cannot guarantee the freshness of the eggs as the water will cause the eggs to break egg.

For this method of cooking you will need a small, shallow pan, a frying pan is best for this, particularly if you are cooking more than one egg. But, do not attempt to cook too many in one go as each egg needs sufficient room in the pan to cook and if you crowd the pan you could end up with a disaster.

-          Step 1: Fill the pan you are using with enough water so that when you put the eggs in they sit just below the waters surface. While the water is heating up you can also add 1 – 2 teaspoons of vinegar but this is entirely optional, the vinegar does help to coagulate the egg white but some people prefer the taste without it.

-          Step 2: Break the egg or eggs into a small cup, you can break straight into the pan but this is not advised as the egg sometimes break and using a cup is a good way to stop this from happening.

-          Step 3: Bring the water to a gentle simmer carefully pour the egg into the pan. The egg white should immediately cover the yolk, if it doesn’t just give the egg a gentle poke with a spoon.

-          Step 4: Allow the egg to cook for 2 – 3 minutes or until the white is set but the yolk is still soft. Alternatively you could cook for 4 – 5 minutes if you prefer your eggs slightly firmer. Also a good idea before you serve the eggs is to baste the top of them with hot water as this will help to make sure they are fully cooked.

-          Step 5: Use a slotted spoon or something similar to remove the eggs from the pan and place quickly onto a piece of kitchen towel to soak up any leftover water.

-          Step 6: Serve immediately and Enjoy.

Poached eggs go fantastically in a toasted bread roll with a few rashers of bacons. Or for a recipe thats a little different you can also add some Philadelphia cream cheese to the bread roll.  

How to Cook Baked Eggs

A fantastic way of cooking eggs is to bake them. This method is a great way to serve a large number of people (at a dinner party or a family event) without too much trouble.

For this method of cooking you will need individual heatproof dishes, ramekins or heatproof tea cups work fantastically for this.

-          Step 1: Generously butter all the dishes (Ramekins of other) and break one egg into each dish.

-          Step 2: Season with whatever herbs or spices you like, or could just leave it plain.

-          Step 3: Spoon over a tablespoon of single cream into each dish.

-          Step 4: Place each of the dishes in a small roasting tin with enough hot water in the pan to come about half way up the side of the individual dishes.

-          Step 5: Bake at 190 C /375 / Gas Mark 5 for 15 minutes for a soft egg & 18-20 minutes for a slightly firmer egg.

-          Step 6: Enjoy this unique and widely under appreciated way of preparing eggs.

If you want to spice up baked eggs you can quite simply add other ingredients to the mix before cooking. Adding bacon, sausage, mushrooms or a bit of everything can make for a fantastic breakfast treat.

How to Cook Boiled Eggs

Boiling an Egg couldn’t be simpler but if not cooked correctly you could end up with a disaster. The trick with boiled eggs is the amount of time you leave to cook.

To cook boiled eggs you will need a saucepan large enough for how many eggs you want to boil, but it cant be to big as this will allow the eggs to much room in the pan which can lead to cracking as the eggs move around to freely.

-          Step 1: Fill the pan with cold water and allow to reach the boil before turning the heat down to a gentle simmer. Make sure you do not put to much water in the pan (it should be deep enough to cover the eggs but as said before not enough to allow the eggs to move freely). You can also add a small sprinkle of salt to the boiled water but this is optional.

-          Step 2: Lower the eggs gently into water using a long handled, metal tablespoon and take special care not to drop the egg into the pan as this can cause the shell to crack.

There are 3 different styles of boiled egg so follow the below instruction depending on your preferences.

Soft Boiled – Simmer for 3-4 minutes. This egg has a runny yolk and soft egg whites. This style of egg is perfect for classic egg and soldiers.

Medium Boiled – Simmer for 5-6 minutes. This egg has a creamy yolk and a firm white set white. This is perfect for warm egg mayonnaise or goes perfectly with a salad.

Hard Boiled – Simmer for 10 minutes. Both the yolk and the egg white will be firm. These eggs are perfect for cold egg mayonnaise, a light snack or for use in more complex recipes like scotch eggs.  

Important Note – if you are cooking hard boiled eggs to be eaten cold make sure that you run them under cold water immediately from pan to prevent black discolouration (iron sulphide), which results from the reaction of hydrogen sulphide in the white, and iron in the yolk during cooking.