Pancake Mix from Nigella Express

It’s really quite fascinating how celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson can whip up yummy looking dishes with a few snaps of their fingers.  While I enjoy Jamie’s laid-back easy cooking style, Nigella’s recipes do seem easier to follow

Here’s a link to one of her recipies on Nigella Express -> Homemade instant pancake mix with blueberry syrup

She makes the pancakes seem so yummy, especially at the end of the show, where she gobbles one up with a hearty dose of whipped cream. Yum yum.

I’ve yet to try this out, so feedback will be very much appreciated.  Thanks!

Recipie for Spaghetti Aglio Olio

I love pasta. One of my favourites is easily Spaghetti Aglio e Olio ( Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil). It’s definately one of the supposedly easiest dishes to cook, since it requires galic, olive oil, chili and spaghetti. Really? Wrong!

I enjoy my aglio olio quite a fair bit, and enough to be ordering variants at different restaurants to sample how it is being cooked. Places I’ve tried are Coffe Club, Organic Cafe, Pastamania, Fig and Olive, Swensen’s, Cedele etc.. you get the picture.

What surprises, and irritates me, is how easily some restaurants/cafes can mess it up.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the Aglio Olio at Organic Cafe and Cedele, I was left struggling at Fig and Olive. Problem with the dish from Fig and Olive was that the spaghetti was over-cooked and plain, and instead of garlic and chili, I was tasting barely cooked green and red peppers which left a raw vegetables taste.

While I’m no great chef myself, I have at times experimented with cooking aglio olio myself. Here’s how I like to prepare my spaghetti aglio olio.

Pasta
Cooking pasta isn’t as simple as cooking instant noodles. To cook proper tasting pasta, you’ll need a large pot of boiling water and lotsa salt.

1) Boil a large pot of water.
2) Add in large amounts of salt after the water boils.
3) Throw in the required amount of pasta and ensure that the pasta is fully submerged in the boiling water (now you understand why a large pot is required)
4) Occasionally break of a bit of pasta to test if cooked.
5) Once ready, drain off the water and rinse it quickly under cold water. This will ensure that the pasta stops cooking. Without rinsing, the pasta will be left simmering and ends up overcooked when served.

Aglio Olio
1) Heat up a frying pan with olive oil. Use moderate to high flame.
2) Once the oil is nicely heated up, throw in the garlic to taste. I like to have lots of garlic.
3) Once the garlic starts to brown, add in some parsly flakes and mushrooms if you like. All in sliced chili/chili flakes to taste.
4) Stir fry for a minute or so and add in the cooked pasta
5) Lower the flame and toss the pasta around, making sure it is covered with olive oil. Add in more olive oil if required.
6) Once ready, serve and enjoy.

Hope this helps fellow alio olio lovers.