Chocohotocups!

This is my secret weapon at a dinner party. It is simply the BEST.DESSERT.EVER. And it's SUPER easy to make! It's actually called Chocohotopots, but since I still do not own a single ramekin (the shame!), I've used porcelain coffee cups to bake these in.  Another great thing is, you can make them in advance and leave them in the fridge for up to 5 days before baking. A little tip, always make an extra one, for that late night treat just before bed. I did it last night; made my day! Enjoy!  PS. I'll move on to some other famous chef's soon enough, but I'm just currently in a Nigella phase. You can somme call me Regella :)

Ingredients
125 grams, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
125 grams 60 percent cocoa chocolate
 (I used half slab Lindt Dark, and half Lindt Milk, makes it more creamy)
2 eggs
3/4 cup castor sugar (but I used normal white sugar once and it was fine)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Special equipment: 4 (2/3 to 1-cup capacity) porcelain coffee/tea cups


Directions
Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 200 degrees C.
Butter the cups with 1 tablespoon butter.
Either in a microwave or in a bowl suspended over a pan over simmering water, melt the chocolate and 125g butter, then set aside to cool a little. (doing it over the simmering water is actually way better and easier, as much as it sounds harder, believe me.)
In another bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and flour with a hand whisk and beat in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture.
Divide the mixture between the 4 buttered cups.
Bake for about 15 minutes on 200 degrees celcius, by which time the tops will be cooked and the chocolate gooey underneath.
(if you want it slightly more baked and less gooey, bake for 20 minutes)
Place cup on a small plate with a teaspoon and serve. Make sure to warn people that these desserts will be HOT!

Listen of the Day!

Robyn has been one of my favourite artists since she came out in 1996 with Show Me Love! She did it even before Britney was on the scene (can we even remember such a time???). She went a different route than our dearest Brit-Brit though, she worked hard, went indie, and wrote and created the type of music she wanted to, not what she was told to do. I'm in love with her new single "Hang With Me", a beautiful electronic ballad that just makes me you want to wave a candle on the dance floor! :) Enjoy!

Pasta Alla Carbonara (said in a very Italiano accento!)

We made this for a little impromptu dinner party last week. I always thought Carbonara was the most boring pasta in the world, but Nigella proved me wrong. It really is soul in a bowl. You're gonna wish you made enough for lunch the next day!

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti

2 cups cubed pancetta rind removed

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth

4 eggs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1/4 cup heavy cream

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly ground nutmeg

Directions

Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta.

Method:

In another large pan that will fit the pasta later, cook the pancetta cubes in the oil until crispy but not crunchy. Pour over the white wine or vermouth and let it bubble away so that, after a few minutes, you have a small amount of salty winey syrup left. Take the pan off the heat.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, Parmesan, cream, and pepper. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, but since you want it kept al dente start checking it 2 minutes before end of the recommended cooking time.

When the pasta is done, remove approximately 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. Put the pan with the bacon cubes back on the heat and add the drained pasta, tossing well to coat with the syrupy pancetta. Take the pan off the heat again and add the eggs and cheese mixture, swiftly tossing everything to mix. Thin with pasta water, if needed. Grind over some more pepper and grate over the nutmeg to serve.

Listen of the Day!

I love Glee! I can't help myself, it just makes me smile, no matter how corny it gets sometimes. They sing this song in the final ep of season 1, and i can't stop playing it. Total feel-good song! Enjoy!

The Perfect Rump!

Made this 2 nights ago! BY FAR, best steak i have ever had! Nigella is my angel! Enjoy!

I love this with broccoli, particularly Tenderstem broccoli. A couple of packets, lightly cooked, then drained and put in the marinade after the beef's out and sliced, is the most heavenly accompaniment.

1 beef rump Steak about 2.5cm/1in thick, weighing approx. 600g/1lb 4oz

80 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus extra for brushing

1 tablespoon fresh Thyme leaves

2 Cloves Garlic lightly crushed

½ Lemon juice and zest

1 teaspoon sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt

freshly ground black pepper

Cut away the fat from around the edge of the steak while you heat a griddle or frying pan.

Brush the steak with oil and cook for three minutes on each side for rare meat. Turn the steak at an angle and cook for a further one minute on each side to give attractive griddle marks, or longer if you prefer your meat well-done; the lemon in the post-hoc marinade will 'cook' the steak a little more.

While the steak is cooking, place the thyme leaves, garlic, oil, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper in a wide shallow dish and mix well.

Once the steak is cooked, place it in the dish of marinade for four minutes on each side, before removing it to a board and slicing thinly on the diagonal.

Recipe taken from Nigella's book, "Nigella Express" For more recipes, please visit the BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/food

Hello World!

If you know anything about programming, the title of this post is a total giveaway that I am indeed a programmer.

This naturally means that I have no life, no style, no social skills, 3 Facebook friends, and 1 great love in life: my computer!

Shockingly, I bare no resemblance to this stereotype.

I do have a life, a great one at that, filled with amazing friends, awesome parents, and 1 GREAT love.

Style, well, what can I say, I feel like a damn rockstar every morning when the tea ladies at our offices say to me: "Sjoe, my dear, mar djy lyk mos lekker vandag!"

Style is so all-encompassing, it's almost impossible to sum it up. I try to live my life in style, not in a snobbish way, but more in a proud way. Life should be passionate and beautiful, and i try my bestest to live that way.

Before i get waaay too melodramatic, lets get to what this is about:

I love cooking, and i love eating, ALOT. Period.

I LOOOVE music, any kind of music, particularly pop music.

And generally, whatever I love, I love hard.

So this blog is gonna be me, sharing food, music and the things I love, with you.

Enjoy!