Pasta with Bacon and Creamy Tomato Sauce

I love pasta, and I love bacon. I came up with this recipe one day, when i was making a pasta sauce with tomatoes and bacon. And i wondered how the sauce would be if i added some heavy cream to it. It turned out divine!
This is my recipe for pasta with bacon and creamy tomato sauce. This will feed 2 people happily, but you can of course double or triple the recipe if you want to!

For 2 people, you will need:

14 oz. (about 400 grams) of canned chopped tomatoes
3,5 oz. (about 100 grams) of bacon, chopped into small pieces.
1 small onion, chopped.
8,8 oz (about 250 grams) of pasta. I used organic whole wheat fusilli pasta. 
A little less than 1/4 cup (about 59 ml) of heavy cream.
Black pepper, to taste
A pinch of salt (remember that the bacon is very salty)
Hot pepper flakes (optional)


- Preheat your skillet with high sides over medium heat, and fill a big pot with water and some salt for the pasta. 
- Add the bacon to the skillet, and cook until crispy.
- Add the chopped onion, and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until softened.
- Add the canned chopped tomatoes. At this point, your water for your pasta should be boiling. Add your choice of pasta to the pot with water.
- Let the tomato sauce cook for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced a bit.
- Add the heavy cream and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Drain your pasta, and mix it together with the sauce. 

Enjoy!

Spiced Applefilled Cake

Like i have said before, i love apples with cinnamon! In my opinion, there is nothing better than a dense cake, with some soft fruits in it. So today, I will show you my recipe for my Spiced Applefilled Cake.














For the cake, you will need:

2 cups (about 256 grams) of all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup (about 100 grams) of white granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
2/3 cup (about 158 ml) of milk (i use lowfat milk, but you can use a dairy-free milk)
1/3 cup (about 78 ml) of oil 
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt


For the apple filling, you will need:
2 apples, cut into quarters and then thin slices
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon



- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit (about 190 degrees celsius)
- Spray a round baking pan or a springform pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside (you can use butter to grease it, or even parchmentpaper. You can also use a square baking pan if you want to). 
- Put the sliced apples in a bowl, with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix together with your hands or with a spoon, until all the apple slices are coated with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, eggs, spices, vanilla, salt, baking powder and milk until it is all combined.
- Pour in the flour and mix it until it is combined. (The batter is very thick, if you want your dough to be less thick, you can add a splash of milk at this point).
- Pour half of the batter into your pan and spread it evenly.
- Lay down the apples apples and spread the rest of the batter evenly over the apples (i layed my apples in a pretty way, because i felt creative, but you can do it the way you want).
- Bake the cke in the oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean with no wet batter on it. I used a very big springform pan, so my cake ended out thin. I baked

it for about 25 minutes, but keep an eye on it. 
- Let it cool completey, slice it and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Culotte / Joint Of Rump / Rump Of Beef

- Meat! I love meat! Especially red meat. I could eat it everyday, for every meal. I will show you how I cook a Culotte / Joint of Rump / Rump of Beef. It is very simple, and most of the work is done by the oven. 

You will need:
1 Culotte (the one i used weights at 1 kilo / 2,2 lbs).
Salt
Pepper

- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit (about 225 degrees celsius).
- Put your Culotte onto a shoppingboard and slice the fat on a diagonal (see picture)
- Salt and pepper it, making sure to press the seasonings into the cut fat.  
- Put the Culotte in a baking pan, and cook it in the oven for 20 minutes. 
- After 20 minutes, decrease the oven heat to 300 degrees fahrenheit (about 150 degrees celsius) while keeping the Culotte in the oven. 
- For the end results to be cooked medium-well, cook it for 50 more minutes, making sure to let the Culotte rest under some tin foil for about 15 minutes (you can of course cook it to your liking by cooking your Culotte at 300 degrees fahrenheit (about 150 degrees celsius) a little shorter or longer time.

Slice the meat, and serve it with potato and celery root mash, cooked green beans and gravy, and enjoy!

Muesli Bars!

- Muesli bars are great. They're nice for a
"on the go breakfast" a snack or for a "side dish" for lunch.
And they are so easy to make. Today i will share my recipe for my Muesli Bars filled with nuts, coconut, oats and dried fruit!

For 16 bars, you will need:

2 cups (about 172 grams) of rolled oats 

1 cup (about 130 grams) of nuts, finely chopped (i use a mixture of almonds and hazelnuts)

1 1/2 cups (about 110 grams) of unsweetened shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups (about 220 grams) of dried fruit (i use 1 cup of dried abricots and 1/2 cup of raisins)

2/3 cups (about 120 grams) of raw honey

1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (about 175 degrees celsius) and line a baking sheet and a 20x30 centimetre baking pan with parchmentpaper.

- Pour the oats, the nuts and the coconut onto the baking sheet, making sure it is in one even layer.

- Bake it in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Pour the oatmixture into a bowl.

- Decrease the oventemperature to 300 degrees fahrenheit (about 150 degrees celsius)

- Now pour the dried fruit and the cinnamon into the bowl, stirring with a spatula. 

- Pour the honey into the bowl, letting the heat from the oatmixture heat the honey up a little bit (this will make it easier to stir the mixture together - be careful, it's hot)

- Pour the muesli mixture into the baking pan, and press it into the pan, using some clingwrap (you want it to be tightly "packed", else it won't stay together when you cut it into bars).

- Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Let it cool for 4 hours, before cutting them into bars. 

- Wrap the bars into some clingwrap and store them in a dry and relatively chilled place (i store mine in the fridge). 

Enjoy!

My Lightly Spiced Applemuffins

- I love muffins. I've always loved muffins. But I love something even more: apples with cinnamon. In my opinion; Apples and cinnamon goes hand in hand! And that is how i came up with this recipe! I hope you'll enjoy it!

For 6 muffins, you will need:

1 cup (about 128 grams) of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (about 50 grams) of white granulated sugar

1/3 cup (about 78 ml) of milk (i use lowfat milk, but you can use a dairy-free milk) 

1/6 cup (about 39 ml) of any flavourless oil

1 whole egg

1 apple, peeled and grated 

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of dried ginger

A pinch of nutmeg

A pinch of salt

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (about175 degrees celsius).

- Pour sugar, oil, milk, the egg, the spices, the salt, the baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and whisk until combined.

- Mix in the grated apple with a spatula (this will avoid the grated apple getting stuck in the wires of the whisk).

- Pour the all-purpose flour into the batter and fold it in with the spatula, until the flour is combined.

- Using a large icecream-scoop or a tablespoon, divide the batter evenly between 6 muffin liners. 

- Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean, with no wet batter on it.

Let the muffins cool completely, and enjoy them! 

  

Danish Pancakes

- In my family, we love our pancakes. I remember, when i was a child, my mother dyed the pancakes with food coloring, to make the pancakes different colors. That brings back a lot of memories. 

I hope you will enjoy the recipe, as much as me and my family do!

For 5 pancakes, you will need:

1/2 cup (about 64 grams) of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (about 118 ml) of milk (i use lowfat milk, but you can use a dairy-free milk)

2 whole eggs

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla (you can use vanillasugar or vanilla extract)

Butter or nonstick cooking spray for the pan

- Whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla until combined. 

- Add the flour and whisk until you can no longer see the flour (there should be a few lumps or none)

- Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat a skillet over medium-low heat. I used a skillet that's 25 centimetres in diameter. 

- Melt some butter on the skillet or spray a little bit of nonstick cooking spray onto it.

- Using a ladle, pour 1 ladle-scoop of batter onto your skillet, and start rotating the pan, so that the batter will distribute evenly on your pan. Cook for a few minutes on both sides, or until the pancakes are golden brown. 

- Put the pancake on a plate, and cook the rest of the batter.

- You can fill them with anything you like. I usually fill them either with sugar or jam, but you can also fill them with fruit, whipped cream, nutella or even icecream!

Enjoy the pancakes warm or cold. You can store them in the fridge for a few days, covered with clingwrap.

My Favourite Morning Oatmeal with Apple and Almonds

- No breakfast in the early morning doesn't happen to me. I can't start my day off in a good way, without breakfast. I decided to show you my oatmeal recipe, so that you can start your day with a kick of energy!



For 1 serving you will need:



1/2 cup (about 118 ml) of milk (i use lowfat milk, but you can also use a dairy-free milk) 
1/2 cup (about 118 ml) of water
1/2 cup (about 43 grams) of rolled oats

It might seem a little odd that i use milk and water for my oatmeal. It's just my personal preference. I don't like oatmeal cooked only with water, because it's too bland for me, and i don't like oatmeal cooked only with milk, because i think it's too creamy.


You can use anything you want for the topping. Or even leave it out completely.

For the topping, i use:
An apple cut into small cubes 
6 almonds
Cinnamon (optional - I like the spice it gives to the apples and the oatmeal)
Sugar (optional)

- Pour milk, water and oats in a little saucepan. 
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, or until the oatmeal is cooked to your liking (i like my oatmeal very thick, so i cook it for about 5 minutes over medium heat). 
- Stir in sugar and cinnamon, if desired. 
- Top with your choice of fruits and nuts.

Enjoy the most important meal of the day!