I cooked: Jamie Oliver's braised cabbage with bacon and thyme

So the other day, we bought a giant cabbage from the supermarket. Usually I would just stir fry it Chinese style but after several meals of stir fry cabbage, we wanted a change.

In conjunction with the "Cook Like A Star" event, I decided to braise the cabbage a la Jamie Oliver (recipe here) with bacon and thyme. This is a good alternative to stir frying it, it does taste healthier as it uses slightly less oil. The smoked bacon gives this a nice flavour, however in the future, I will pan fry the bacon first so that it's more crisp and I think it will further enhance the flavour of this dish. It makes a good accompaniment to both Western or Chinese meal.

Braised cabbage with bacon and thyme

So what is your favourite way of cooking/eating cabbage?

Braised cabbage with bacon and thyme
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's website
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10- 15 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
300ml vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 handful fresh thyme leaves (I used 1 tsp of dried thyme)
250g white cabbage, finely sliced
1 knob of butter
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

1.  Place your stock, bacon, garlic and thyme on a hob, bring to the boil and then add your finely sliced cabbage.

2. Mix up, put the lid on and boil on high head for 5 minutes.

3. Turn the heat down to a simmer and continue to cook until the cabbage is a pleasure to eat (for me, this took another 5-6 minutes).

4. Top up the stock if you feel it's reducing too much. Add the butter, olive oil and season to taste. Serve immediately.

This is my third entry for "Cook Like A Star" Blog hop event.


You can view my other Jamie Oliver inspired recipes here:
1. Jamie Oliver's Cracking Burger
2. Jamie Oliver's Chocolate Brownies
3. Jamie Oliver inspired roast chicken 
4. Jamie Oliver inspired chunky mushroom soup with truffle oil
5. Jamie Oliver's American style pancakes with bacon and honey
6. Jamie Oliver's chocolate biscuits with soft chocolate centre 

Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here. 

I baked: Lemon curd butterfly cupcakes

Like all other children, my kids love cute things, including cute food. Something simple like rice balls with a smiley face made out of seaweed puts a smile on their face. They love it so much, that it even makes them finish their dinner faster (Parenting tricks LOL). As a treat one evening, I wanted to make them a "cute cupcake". So I made them these lemon curd butterfly cakes, adapted from Delia Smith's recipe from her Complete Cookery Course book.

One of Hubby's aunts from Scotland makes these fantastic butterfly cakes with buttercream frosting. I tried them once before and thought that they were wonderful - both delicious and beautiful. With a little imagination, I managed to make my cupcakes look like pretty butterflies too. And they were really delicious too - the slightly tart lemon curd went well with the cupcakes. I think these will be wonderful at any birthday or tea parties.

I'm a little butterfly

Born in an oven

Christened on a cupcake

Eaten in half an hour.  

Fly away, butterfly

Lemon curd butterfly cakes
Recipe adapted from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course
Preparation time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Makes 12

Ingredients
175g self raising flour, sifted
A pinch of salt
110g butter, at room temperature
110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
1 quantity lemon curd (see recipe here)

For decorating
An assortment of edible balls/flowers
Spaghetti strands, dyed pink


1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Line a 12-cup muffin tray with paper baking cases.

2. First of all, make the filling. I made mine the evening before and then left it to cool in the refridgerator.

3. To make the cakes, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and beat til absolutely smooth (1-2 minutes). Then, using a spoon, drop an equal quantity of mixture into the paper cases, about 2/3 full and then tap lightly to settle the cake mixture.

4. Bake the cakes for 15-20 minutes until well risen and golden or when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove them to a wire rack and leave to cool.

5. When they're cool, take a sharp knife and cut the top off each at an angle about 1cm from the edge of the cake. Be careful when you remove it as you do not want to damage the "wings". You will get a cone-shaped round leaving a cavity in the centre (for the filling).

6. Cut each cone in half and set aside. Fill the cavity with the lemon curd, then sit the two cone-shaped pieces of cake on top like butterfly wings. Decorate as you see fit. I used edible balls for its body and then flowers to decorate the wings. The spaghetti strands can be cut into short pieces (about 2cm) for the antennae.

*Your children can help combine ingredients in bowl (Step 2), as well as fill the paper cases. Also, they can help you decorate the cupcakes - it will be a great time for them to be creative.

P.S. Sean of EatDrinkKL was the only one who guessed correctly what the lemon curd was used for. :)

Full set of photos can be viewed here on my Facebook page. 

*This recipe was featured on DailyBuzz Mom's Top 9: Good Day Sunshine.