Pasta with Creamy Cabonara Sauce

I have made this recipe so many times, I have lost count. I first got my hands on this recipe via Lyndon's mother. I am unsure where she got this recipe from but let me tell you that it is very cheap and very easy to make. I love that. I used Lasagnette pasta, but usually use fettuccine...

Ingredients
2 tbs butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 rashes bacon, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
300 mls pouring cream
3 tbs finely grated Parmesan
500g pasta, cooked

Method
Melt butter in a non-stick frying pan. Add onion and bacon and cook until onion is soft and bacon is cooked. Remove from heat. Beat together the egg, cream and Parmesan.

Drain cooked pasta and place into pan with the onion and bacon. Add the egg mixture. Gently toss pasta and sauce together over a low heat for 5 minutes, or until sauce is just thickening. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Rain...Rain..Yet (more) Rain

It has been raining here non-stop since this time yesterday. I'm not exaggerating either. It's true. Non-stop rain.

The Burdekin Dam, the largest water reserve in Queensland, which is in this corner of the country, is over flowing with over 1.86 million mega liters. Whilst most of Australia is on strict water restrictions and suffering from the worst drought on record, here in North Queensland we have had sooooo much rain over the past week, it doesn't seem fair.

From 9am yesterday, to 9am this morning, Cairns collected over 116mm of rain. Yesterday the rain was incredible. Even outside our window, down on the street below, the drains were flowing (we have really wide drains here in Cairns, due to rain like yesterday!) This photo on the right, taken from the newspaper this morning, was taken in a street just down from us!

Over the past week, Townsville (350k's south of here) have had over 500mm. The town of Ingham, about 200k's south of here, has been isolated, due to major flooding. Over night, they received 124mm of rain. And in one of the rivers north of the town, a 3.5 metre crocodile has been lurking in the waters.

So much rain...

...but we had to go out this morning. I needed milk. I live across the road from a Shopping complex and all I have to do is cross two roads. And two huge flooding drains. And of course Monet refused to get in her pram which meant we had to each carry our own umbrellas and she got to wear her raincoat. **NEWSFLASH - It's stopped raining! OMG!!** Now, have you ever tried to cross the road with a two year old, holding her own umbrella and trying to get them to understand NOT to walk in the drain but to jump over it? Neither had I until this morning. So of course she got wet feet and for that matter I did too. Oh well.

One thing though is that the rain doesn't bring the cool air with it. It's still warm and when the rain does stop the humidity gets turned up to like 99%. This is not another exaggeration.

My mother is arriving here on Wednesday for a two week stay. I wonder what she will think of all this rain?

Because I Can...

Can you believe this is my Monet Lulu on her actual birth day? Her dark hair has turned into blonde locks and she now struts around in a good Size 3, rather than a Triple 0.

My baby is growing...

Cool Treats

You know how I'm always banging on about the weather here (we've been having 99% humidity!) and about the abundance of cheap tropical fruit? Well, to keep ourselves cool and healthy I have been making my own icy-poles for Monet.

And sometimes I have one too.

Could you blame me?


At least I know exactly what is going into these icy treats as I'm never too sure about those bought ones for younger kids. At least I know they have no added sugar to begin with. Just fresh mango, banana, pineapple juice. Or milk. They are a big hit for Monet, she loves them.

And the best $2.50 I spent at K-Mart has been the icy-pole mould, let me tell you.
Do you want to come over and enjoy an icy treat with us? There is mango, banana and pineapple ones waiting in our freezer. Which one would you like?

Roast Spiced Chicken on Harissa with Herbs and Watercress

I made this for dinner last night and the chicken was delightful! (Sorry, not the best photo!) However, next time I do this chicken I won't necessarily serve it on the harissa and with the herbs and watercress. I would serve it with a green salad and roast potatoes. Lyndon liked the harissa (see recipe on previous post) with the chicken but it was too spicy for me. The chicken though, mmmm....

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Where The Heart Is'*

Ingredients

3 tsp baharat*

2 tsp ground fennel

5 large cloves garlic, crushed

2 1/2 tsp salt flakes

freshly ground black pepper

3 sprigs thyme

1 x 1.4 kg free-range chicken, butterflied with breast bone attached

3/4 cup (180ml) extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh harissa (see previous post)

Flat-leaf parsley and coriander or mint leaves, and watercress sprigs, to serve

Lime wedges (optional) to serve

Method

For the marinade, place baharat, fennel, garlic, salt, 10 grinds black pepper and thyme in a small bowl and stir well to combine. make horizontal cuts through flesh of chicken breast and legs. Rub marinade well into skin. Place chicken in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 220C. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Place chicken in pan and brown on all sides. Transfer to a baking dish and roast for 40-50 minutes or until cooked through and golden.

To serve, spread harissa on a platter, place chicken on top, scatter with sprigs of herbs and watercress and add lime wedges, if using.

Serves 4

*Baharat is a Turkish spice blend that combines pepper with any or all of the following: paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise and nutmeg. (I actually had most of these spices so I blended them together to make up 3 tsp)

Harissa Spread

A pretty spicy but sweet spread to be used in recipes or in sandwiches. If kept in refrigerator, will keep for 3-4 days. (Looks like pumpkin soup doesn't it?)

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Where The Heart Is'*

Ingredients
1 bulb garlic
1 large red capsicum
10 large red chillies (I used 8 medium-sized)
1 tbs cumin seeds
3 tsp caraway seeds
150ml tomato passata
5 pinches salt flakes
2 tbs castor sugar

1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil

Method
Preheat oven to 160C. Place garlic, capsicum and chillies in a baking dish and roast for 20 minutes. Remove chillies, place in a bowl, cover with plastic film and leave for 10 minutes. Continue roasting garlic and capsicum for a further 10 minutes. Place capsicum in a bowl, cover with plastic film and leave for 10 minutes. Remove seeds and skin from chillies and capsicum.

Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add cumin and caraway seeds and toast for 2 minutes. Grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle.

Squeeze garlic pulp out of skins and combine with capsicum, chilli, caraway, tomato passata, salt, sugar and olive oil in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Makes about 1 cup

Sicilian Spaghetti Al'olio

A different way to serve spaghetti, that's for sure. It was rather tasty and very easy. Both Lyndon and Monet liked it.

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Where The Heart Is'*

Ingredients
500g fresh spaghetti (I used dried)
1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, very finely sliced
2 small red chillies, very finely sliced
2 handfuls spinach, chopped
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, torn
1 lemon, juiced and zested
salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
10 thin slices sourdough baguette, fried in oil until crisp and seasoned, then pulsed in a food processor until crumbled
Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated (I used Parmesan)

Method
Cook spaghetti in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 8 minutes, or until al dente. Drain.

Heat half the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chilli and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach, parsley and lemon zest and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Add pasta to frying pan with lemon juice and remaining oil. Add sourdough crumbs and toss to combine. Check seasoning. Serve immediately with the parmigiano reggiano.

Serves 4

Bubble Rain

When it's wet and rainy outside, but awfully humid too, you have to think of new ideas to keep from getting Cabin Fever.

We've done drawing. We've done baking. We've done Hi-5 dancing. We've done play dough. We've done jigsaws. We've done cleaning. We've done playing!

However, the last few days we've spent out on our huge (and thankfully covered) balcony, doing this...

...blowing bubbles! Monet has got really good at the action. She's quite the expert. She even tells me how to do it. I'm a bit over it though, but Monet isn't. Now she is always wanting to go outside and "blow bubbles?"

Phew! Thank goodness for cheap supermarket toys hey?