Macaroni With Mushroom Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

300 g pasta, here macaroni

200 g mix of fresh mushrooms - meadow, oyster, cantharellus mushrooms etc., chopped in bigger pieces

150 ml cream or creme fraiche

80 g bacon stripes

1 tbsp flour

Bunch of fresh thyme leaves, chopped finely

Bunch of fresh rosemary, chopped finely
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

salt&pepper

*

There were never enough dishes with mushrooms in autumn and winter. This time a version of super fast and easy pasta meal. Cook the pasta al dente. Fry the bacon stripes on a sauce pan until crunchy, get rid of the surplus fat. Add the mushrooms and stir for a while, season with salt and pepper. Pour cream over and cook. Sauce made with creme fraiche will not be too liquid, but if you use cream, you might need to thicken the sauce with a little bit of flour. Mix thoroughly so no lumps remain in the sauce. Add the end, throw in the chopped herbs. Serve with pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bon Appetit!

Portobello Mushroom Salad

Ingredients:

1 pack of mixed salad leaves, preferably with argula included

2 big Portobello mushrooms, cleaned

100 g blue cheese

100 g bacon strips

1 big cooked red beetroot, cut in pieces

10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters

Handful walnuts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

salt&pepper

*

She had this salad as a dinner in a spa restaurant in Maarssen after an amazing relaxing day in the spa, and she couldn't wait to retry at home. The preparation took a little while longer than other salads, but it was certainly worth it as this salad was simply delicious. Wash the portobello mushrooms, place them into a roasting pan or plate and roast them in pre-heated oven for about 8 minutes until they soften. Take them out and put some blue cheese on the top, place the cut beetroot and the walnuts in the roasting pan along with the mushrooms and roast for a few more minutes so that the cheese melts and walnuts are toasted. Fry the bacon strips until crunchy. Prepare the vinaigrette by simply mixing the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and paper. Throw the mix of salad leaves on a plate, add cut cherry tomatoes, rest of blue cheese and bacon strips. Take the rest of the things out of oven and add them on the plate. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sever with bread if you like.
Bon Appetit!

Chicken Breast In Port Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

1 big piece of chicken breast, sliced in the middle and halved

1 pack of pancetta bacon (8 slices)

1 cup of port wine

1 cup of rice

Handful raisins

Handful walnuts

Bunch of fresh thyme leaves, chopped finely

Bunch of fresh rosemary stalks, chopped finely

A few cloves

salt&pepper

*

There are so many ways how to prepare chicken. Wrapping has become one of the preferred ways for them. This time the inspiration came from a Dutch Allerhande magazine and has proven to be a very taste alternative. Slice the chicken breast in the middle and halve it so that you are left with four smaller pieces. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Wrap each piece in two slices of pancetta, secure with a toothpick if needed. Place the wrapped chicken pieces on a hot frying pan and fry from both sides shortly so that the pancetta releases some fat and seales the chicken meat. Remove and place into a roasting pan and put in a 180C pre-heated oven, bake for about 8 minutes until the meat is done. Start boiling the rice. Add some salt and cloves to flavour. Meanwhile when the chicken breast is in the oven and rice is boiling, use the frying pan with the pancetta fat and throw in the raisins and walnuts. Roast for a while, afterwards raise the heat a bit and pour the port wine over. Season with salt, pepper and finely chopped thyme and rosemary. Cook until the liquid starts to reduce and walnuts with raisins are soft. At the end take the chicken breast from the oven and place into the mixture and cook a bit longer. Serve with rice.

Bon Appetit!