Pages

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Collaborative cooking

Over the weekend, a friend and I decided to make a fusion dinner at home while the husband was at work. My friend, a great cook, decided to tackle the baba ghanoush with sun dried tomatoes bread while I went with the tomato bruschetta, spaghetti aglio olio and stir fry vegetables. And all this was ready in under 90 minutes!

It is suffice to say that the husband was pleasantly surprised and the dinner a great success! :)



What do you 'rustle up' when time is short? What is your favourite go-to recipe? I would love to know!

Souk Dreams

A few days back, I was discussing with a friend that no matter how much you have Mediterranean or Chinese food, you never feel heavy. The way you feel while having Indian food. It doesn't matter if it's home made Indian khana or made outside, it leaves you with a feeling of heaviness, sluggishness. Maybe it's the oil we use or the amount of oil we use. It's the same way with Italian cuisine - just makes you feel so full!

Last week, we visited this really cozy and comfortable place in SoHo called Le Souk. Right from the vibrant blue doorway to the music to the fruity smell of hookah and the warm food, it was a great experience indeed! 

We started off with Zaaluk with pita bread and Chicken Hommos - yum yum yum. Who would've thought the humble baigan could be so so delish?! And moved on to some excellent Prawns Tagine with cous cous.  What warm, light, fluffy cous cous! And the tagine was just wonderful.. the flavours perfectly balanced, the prawns crunchy and the veggies just right.


Prawns tagine with cous cous

The amazing thing is, even after all this eating, we I still had place left for some dessert. And boy, what a dessert that was! Of the three options including chocolate cake, baklava and banana filo, I asked for the filo. Great decision indeed though it could've made for a meal by itself and unlike the main course was quite heavy!



Banana filo with flambed fig syrup and strawberries

I have now decided I'm getting my hands on a tagine and a couscousiere at the earliest and make some Middle Eastern food myself. Totally inspired!! :)

What about you? Do you enjoy Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern cuisine too? What is your favourite cuisine?


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Recipe: Orange icecream in orange


Some of my happiest childhood memories are associated with this orange ice cream in orange peel. My sister and I would look forward to these post dinner treats with great anticipation and clean out the orange shells while watching DD.

I tried my hand at my mother's recipe a few months back and am happy to report that it tasted just like I remembered it. And it is oh-so-easy to make!

Here's the recipe (with my mother's permission and consent) for those of you who like nothing more than the sweet sour tang of an orange!

Ingredients:
1 litre milk
Sugar, as per your taste
4 oranges, preferably the ones with the slightly lose peel

Preparation:
Put the milk to boil and thicken on low heat
Once the milk is nice and creamy, add sugar to taste
Take the milk off the heat and let cool
In the meantime, cut a small hole on the top of the orange and gently yet firmly, scoop out all the pulp using a knife and spoon. Do not discard the part you've cut out, it'll serve as a 'cover'.


Make sure that the orange peel doesn't tear much
Once you've separated the peel from the pulp, put the empty orange shells in the freezer


Add sugar and juice the pulp using a blender. While adding sugar, remember that you have already added sugar to the milk as well.
Once the milk is cooled, add the juice to the milk


Take out the empty shells from the freezer and pour the milk and juice mixture into each shell. Cover each shell with the top which was kept aside earlier.
Arrange the oranges on a plate and freeze for 4-5 hours.


You can either serve each orange as a whole (my favourite!)


Or, you can cut each orange into slices and serve 


Add in some berries and you're ready! 

Infact, if you think this is too much work, just scoop out the pulp, juice it with sugar, add it to milk and refrigerate. Have it like you would kheer or any cold liquidy dessert! It tastes great too! ;-)

Do let me know if you liked this recipe. Leave any queries in the comments below and I shall be happy to answer them at the earliest!

Happy cooking!! :)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Desserts ahoy!!


We recently visited Chilli Fagara, an excellent Schezuan restaurant in Hong Kong's SoHo area where we had the aforementioned beans with soya. We had been told that the place is worth a visit but nothing had prepared us for the sight of this dessert. 

When we unsuspectingly ordered caramelised banana with ice cream, none of us had imagined such a spectacular sight! Not only did it look stunning but it tasted great as well. I am so going back to Chilli Fagara for the ambience, the beans and the dessert!

Caramelised banana with vanilla ice cream, Chilli Fagara, Soho

Desserts in this part of the world are exotic and surprising to say the least. Over the past few days I've had desserts starring mango, coconut milk, pumpkin, orange and pomelo, banana to name a few. And I have also learnt that (part of) the secret of great tasting food is great looking food. Beauty, after all, lies in the eyes of the beholder. If the eyes enjoy feasting on it, chances are higher that the taste buds will enjoy it too!
Pumpkin custard served in pumpkin with coconut milk - just a hint of sweetness. Sublime!
Cafe Siam, LKF

Orange ice cream with pomelo and orange, Chiuchow Garden, Jardine House
Going back for this again and again and again!

Green tea ice cream and butter crunch ice cream
The Three Monkeys, Hollywood Road
Very interesting, worth a try!

Mango with sticky brown rice and coconut milk, Tuk Tuk Thai, Soho
Impressive!

Caramelised banana with icecream, Pearl on the Peak, the Peak 

 Frozen fruits on a stick, Ocean Park
Healthy, zero fat, refreshing, colourful and yum!

With all this and more on offer, who needs chocolate any more? 

Are you a die hard chocolate fan or do you enjoy experimenting? Any recommendations? Do let me know!

P.S. - What am I going to do with this sweet tooth inherited from both sides of the family?! Thankfully dessert options here consist of fruits and are relatively low on calories. Small mercies!




Soya

It's official. I love soya!

Made some extremely yummy vegetables in soya sauce with egg fried rice the other day. Soya and lime - aah, they can single handedly take a dish from good to awesome according to me. Ooh the smell of soya on a hot pan and the spit and the sizzle... I could wax lyrical about this beauty!



Another example of soya? Stir fried beans with chilli in soya sauce. It was hot, spicy and amazing!! Never thought I'd be having beans and rice and feeling super content. Or that I would focus all my attention on a bean dish when there are dimsums and General Zuo's chicken on the table too! Like my friend said, "we lost you for a while when you were concentrating on the beans!"



Do you love soya too? What is that one magic ingredient that makes all the difference according to you?

Let me know, I'd love to try it too :)

Friday, July 19, 2013

Creative Freedom

Now that all the work has been done and the new house in the new country has been set up, it's time to get back to cooking again! After a gap of almost two months, I'm back to the kitchen. And loving it! :)

During our first month at the service apartment, Maggi was our lifeline on nights we couldn't go out to eat. This is before we found that wonderful Indian dabba and never looked back at Maggi again!


Maggi and fruits provided us respite from the constant eating out. Maggi for dinner and fruits and cereal for breakfast!


We finally moved in to our new apartment last week and were most excited about finally, finally doing some home cooking! It's such a pleasure to shop in supermarkets in Hong Kong. All those ingredients that I would have to go running to gourmet stores for are easily available! And its now time to exercise some 'creative freedom'.

On our first grocery shopping spree, we bought salad staples like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots and veggies like zucchini, mushrooms, beans (yes, we are pasta lovers!) and others. Thinking all those days of eating out have taken their toll on us, healthy and green food seems to be the way to go - thankfully both of us have a thing for salads.

If subsisting on salads is on the agenda then salads have to be made fun! Here are the salads I've come up with over the past four days -


Monday - 
Salad greens, sunflower seeds, blueberries (mini bursts of flavour!), tomatoes, bell peppers, lime juice, olive oil and eggs! 

Tuesday - 
Stir fry with bell peppers, baby corn, mushroom, zucchini (old favourite)

 Wednesday -
Warm salad with celery, beans, baby corn, tomato, spinach, generous lime juice 
(the taste buds take over and start guiding me at this point) 

Thursday - 
This is my favourite - roasted carrots, celery and baby corn (tastes heavenly - every bite a delight!), zucchini, lettuce leaves and beans with oregano, lime juice and a dash of soya sauce.
My absolute favourite so far!


Friday - 
Stir fried zucchini, carrots and onions on a bed of lettuce with egg topped with 
olive oil and lime dressing with a hint of honey


Monday -
Fried egg, stir fried beans in soya sauce on a bed of lettuce with bread
(yes, I need to go grocery shopping!)

Thursday - 
Fruit and veggie salad. Broccoli, baby corn, zucchini, celery, cherry tomatoes, 
mushrooms, pear, sunflower seeds and apricots on a bed of lettuce leaves with raisin bread. 
(Yup, someone's been shopping for sure! ;)

Wonder what I'll end up making tomorrow... Any favourite/ classic salad recipes you would like to share? Do let me know, I'm looking for ideas to make my food more fun! :)

Labels

recipe (25) quick and easy (23) vegetarian (16) fruits (11) healthy (11) breakfast (8) quick snack (7) eggs (6) great looking food (6) salad (5) tomato (5) easy (4) food (4) olive oil (4) pasta (4) yogurt (4) bread (3) cheese (3) cooking (3) drink (3) grapes (3) milk (3) mushrooms (3) presentation (3) strawberries (3) tea (3) Mediterranean food (2) Soup (2) apples (2) brunch (2) bruschetta (2) dessert (2) dinner (2) dip (2) eating out (2) festive food (2) herbs (2) honey (2) orange (2) pancakes (2) review (2) sausages (2) soya sauce (2) stir fry (2) sunday (2) sweet (2) weekend (2) white wine (2) Bengali food (1) Festivals (1) Hong Kong (1) India (1) Indian food (1) alu dum (1) beverage (1) books (1) broccoli (1) caramel custard (1) cider (1) cold (1) cooking fails (1) corn (1) delish (1) desserts (1) exploring (1) favourite (1) fireworks (1) flan (1) fresh (1) garlic (1) gujiya (1) hot (1) hummus (1) juice (1) juicy (1) khichdi (1) list (1) low cal (1) luchi (1) lunch (1) olives (1) pear (1) perfect (1) poha (1) prawns (1) quirky (1) rains (1) red wine (1) sangria (1) smoothie (1) spaghetti (1) strawberry (1) sundays (1) thekua (1) traditional Indian sweets (1) tzatziki (1) vegetables (1) water (1)