Olive & Basil Shell Pasta

Olive Oil
3 garlic cloves
1 large tin of crushed tomatoes
Italian herbs to taste
Oregano to taste
Chopped Stuffed Olives 1/2 cup
Salt and pepper
Dried chilli to taste
Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup
1/2 cup fresh chopped Basil

Method.
Heat oil, add chopped garlic and chilli stir until garlic softens, add tomatoes, olives, herbs, salt & pepper.

Simmer for 30 minutes while cooking Shell pasta. ( I like small shell pasta for this sauce call me kooky ).

Stir in Parmesan cheese and fresh basil just before serving.

Serve with some French bread and some more parmesan cheese on top.

Beans & Rice

This is a quick easy meal. It is quite popular in the West Indies. Give it a crack and I'm sure you will like it. Heck you don't even miss not having the meat!

1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 can red kidney beans
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 cloves garlic
3 green onions chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
chili to taste
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; add garlic, thyme, chili, salt and pepper. Sauté a few minutes add rice stirring to coat the rice in the oil.

mix coconut milk and chicken stock together add to rice, then bring to a boil.

Cover; reduce heat to low; simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat Stir through kidney beans and green onions keep covered for 10 additional minutes to allow the steam to finish cooking the rice.

Serve hot.

Mum's Pavlova

Ingredient's
4 large egg whites room temperature
1 cup of Castor sugar
1 tsp of white vinegar
1/2 Tbsp of cornstarch
1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
strawberries, raspberries, passion fruit, blueberries, kiwi fruit
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method
Preheat the oven to 140c place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking tray with foil.

Beat the egg whites in a metal bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat until the whites form soft peaks.Gently sprinkle in the sugar into the egg whites, a little at a time while still using the mixer. Egg whites should now be glossy stiff peaks.Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on the mixture and fold in gently with a spatula. Add the vanilla and gently fold in the mixture again.Gently spread the meringue mixture in a circle on the foil about 7" in diameter.

Bake the meringue for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until it goes a very pale, pink color.Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringue cool completely. As the meringue cools, it will crack slightly.

Just before serving, take the meringue out of the oven and remove it gently from the foil and place on a plate. If the middle is slightly higher that the edges crack down gently with the back of a spoon. Whip the cream with the vanilla extract until it stiff. Gently spread the cream to the top of the meringue with a spatula and arrange the fruit on top.