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Pasta e Fagioli

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This is not the best looking pasta dish ,but its very easy to make and tastes delicious. Everything is cooked in one pot even the pasta so less dishes to wash.  This David Rocco recipe is a comforting dish and the only changes  I have  made is the addition of dried chillies and dried herbs.
 Since I don't use bacon or any pork in  my cooking I used smoked turkey strips and sometimes I use Beef salami
 (usually  Robert's Luncheon meat)

Recipe : Pasta e Fagioli, recipe slightly adapted from David Rocco's Pasta e Fagioli

1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
1 stick celery , finely chopped
2-3 slices smoked turkey strips or beef luncheon meat slices, chopped
1 can white beans ( cannelini)
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
3 cups  hot water mixed with 1 cube of chicken stock.  ( or use 3 cups fresh chicken stock)
2 big handful grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil about 2-3 tbsp
200g spagetti

Heat  olive oil in a deep frying pan or sauce pan.  Add the onions, carrots and celery and soften them till translucent.  Add the turkey or beef strips if using and stir fry till they start to turn colour.

Sprinkle in the dried  herbs and  dried chillies , stir to mix. Drain the canelini or white beans into a colander or strainer , wash under running water and add this into the pan.  Add a little salt and ground black pepper and bring to a simmer. Taste to adjust salt.

Break the spagetti into small pieces . Add this into the simmering sauce and cook, uncovered, till the pasta is cooked through. There should be some sauce left so add alittle water if it starts to look too dry.

Stir in chopped parsley ( if you have) and grated parmesan cheese.  Serve !!


Eid Greetings

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Wishing all muslims a blessed  Eid and hope everyone  has a peaceful and happy  Eid . Enjoy your weekend everyone!!

Sausage And Pepper Calzone

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Sorry sorry, my laptop crashed  and had to be repaired.  Will try and update as much as I can. I also want to thank to the lovely visitors who take the time to visit my humble space.

I love watching Buddy Valastro in   his  Kitchen Boss series. He is so into his food and jovial . On one of his episodes he made these delicious calzone's filled with various sweet peppers and chopped up sausages.
Looked so delicious that I decided to make some for dinner one day.  Calzone are folded up pizza , thats how my sons interpret it.  They love pizza so these went down well as they were almost a pizza except they  are folded like a curry puff or cornish pastries.

Recipe : Sausage and Pepper Calzone recipe adapted from Buddy Valastro's calzone recipe from his streetfood episode in Kitchen Boss Series.

Dough :
2 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil and a little extra to grease bowl

Filling:
5 gill's beef or chicken sausages ( or use any of your favorite sausages)
1 medium onion, sliced( cut them slightly thick )
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and  white pith removed, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, white pith removed , sliced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato paste
1 green chilli sliced( optional)
salt
pepper
mozzzarella cheese, torn into chunks
 parmesan cheese , grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small egg beaten lightly

Make the  dough by sifting the flour into a large bowl with a pinch of salt.  oops I forgot the yeast.  The yeast I used had to be activated first so,  dissolve the  sugar in the 1 cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast , cover and let it stand for about 10 minutes, till frothy.

Make a well in the flour . Add olive oil and yeast mixture and start mixing in the flour. Once the dough comes together, remove and work on the work table or a large tray if you dont have any place to knead. Give a good knead till the dough is smooth and springy.

 Oil a the bowl with a little olive oil  and pop the dough into the bowl , cover with a cling film and a towel and leave in a warm corner in your kitchen to rise about 2 hours, depends on th yeast.

While the dough rises make the filling, fry the sausages in a little olive oil in a large frying pan, till brown all over, remove and cut into thick sliced at an angle, so you get diagonal slices.

In the same frying pan, add a little more oil about a tablespoon , soften your onion, garlic and peppers. Once they start to soften add oregano, canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Add a 1/2  tsp sugar and the chilli if using.

Bring to a bubble return the sausages, stir and cover and cook till the mixture thickens . Taste add salt and pepper ( lots of pepper is how I like it) .  There should be very little sauce . Cool.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 7. Place a baking sheet in the oven, while you get the calzone assembled.

Take the dough. Divide into about 5 balls. Roll into a  thin circle ( not too thin) or oval , doesn't really have to be the perfect shape.  Spoon the filling generously on to one half the round.  , leave a half inch gap around the edges. Sprinkle with  mozzarella and parmesan cheese.( if you dont have parmesan or mozzarella try chedder).


   Brush the edges with egg and fold the other half  and  crimp or twist the edges to seal. Or use a fork.   Using a sharp knife, make two little slits on top . Finish with the rest of the dough.


Brush with the finished calzones with egg. Take the hot baking sheet out from the  oven,  carefully place the calzone on the baking sheet and pop it into the oven.

 Bake about 20 minutes till  golden on top. Let the calzone's cool for about 10 minutes ( you dont want to burn your mouth), and serve.

These make great lunch box and picnic meal. Very portable and the kids enjoy them.

Healthy Broccoli and Cheese Flat Breads

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I love browsing around supermarkets and grocery stores.  When going abroad I love checking out the  huge supermarkets and specialty shops. Clothes, I just pick the first thing I see  usually without even trying them, but  I take hours in supermarkets, much to hubby's amusement.  A few months back I came across this new kind of Atta flour , by Pillsbury.



The packet read that it contained 7 grains.  So of course I bought it  seeing it was packed with all these healthy  grains.

I  remember seeing this recipe in a old Tarla Dalal cookbook , where she makes spinach parathas  stuffed with paneer and cauliflower. It was a delicious parata, have played with the recipe a couple of times using different greens until I recently came up with this recipe  .....

Recipe : Healthy Broccoli and cheese flat breads

200g broccoli florets , blanched or used frozen broccoli ( thawed)
1/2 " ginger
1 small onion.
small handful of coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilli , ( optional)
about 3/4 cup water
150 g plain flour
200g Pillbury Atta Multigrain  flour or regular Atta flour 
3 tbsp ghee
pinch salt
50g grated chedder cheese

Place broccoli, ginger, onion, coriander, into a blender and blend to a smooth paste.   Set a side

Sift both flours with salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub in ghee.  Make well in the centre  and add  the pureed broccoli mixture.  Mix well till you get a nice piece of dough.

Add the cheese and knead well, with a little extra flour if needed.   Roll into about 12- 14  balls and roll to  about  1/2 cm   thickness.

Heat a large nonstick frying pan , once its quite hot,  place one flat bread, once little air pockets puff on the surface, put flip to the other side and cook  the other side.  cook the rest .

 Serve with  a nice dal curry or a dry meat or chicken or fish curry.
The boys loved it , so did the hubby.  :)

Enjoy!!

Black Pepper And Lime Roast Chicken With Gravy

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I love making roast chicken.  The best  part of roast is left overs which I use to make other dishes for the week.
 School is busy these days, my  little guy has had english week, and dhivehi week activities.  Plus he has started attending swimming classes . Here in Maldives kids dont go into a swiming pool to take swiming lessons, the instructors take them to the beach or rather the swimming track where the water is not that shallow .
Anyway,  hope you like my black pepper and lime roast chicken, even my little guy who isnt a big chicken fan commented "todays chicken tastes good".

.
Recipe :  Black Pepper and Lime Roast Chicken with Gravy

For the roast :

1400 chicken
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves grated finely or pureed
generous pinch or two of  salt ( depends on type of salt you use, I used fine table salt)
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the  ingredients together set aside while you prepare the chicken.
  
Clean the chicken , I like my roast with the skin on, if you like you can remove the skin . Prick the  skin all over with a tooth pick.   Pat dry with kitchen paper.

Rub the prepared marinade all over the   chicken and also inside the  cavity.

Preheat the oven  to gas mark 5  .

Place the chicken in roasting tray and pop in the oven.   If you are roasting without the skin cover the tray loosely with foil and place inside the oven.

Roast at Gas mark 5 for 20 minutes. Then remove, brush the  chicken with the juices that is starting to appear on the roasting tray.  Place it back in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to gas mark 3 and roast for another 45 minutes.  Keep basting every 20 minutes .

Note for the chicken , which are being  roasted without the skin, remove the foil after 30 minutes and cook at Gas mark 3 till nicely golden all over. Dont let the meat dry out. 

After 45 minutes,  check the chicken and pierce the skin of the joint between the thigh and drumstick to see if there is any pinkness and the juices run clear.  Remove and place the chicken over a rack over the roasting tin covered with a piece of foil for about 15 minutes.

Remove chicken and wire rack after 15 minutes and place  on chopping board to carve or on your serving dish.

Remove most of the oil , leaving just  about 1 tbsp oil in the  tray. Now its time to make the gravy:

For the gravy you will need :

1 tbsp oil left in the tray
1 tsp butter
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
juice and zest of 1 lime
2 cups hot  water + 1 chicken stock cube dissolved into it ( or use 2 cups chicken stock)
salt

Place the roasting tin on the stove top over a medium high heat, melt the butter and add the onions and garlic and saute' till they soften.  Add chilli flakes and pepper .

Sprinkle in the flour and stir quickly  till the flour mixture turns a light brown.

 Pour the  hot water and stock cube mixture and whisk well so there arent any lumps. Let the mixture come to a bubble,whisking  all the time. Taste add salt if needed.

Stir in lime zest ( you will get a lovely smell when it hits the hot  gravy) and squeeze the lime juice in.

Once the gravy is thick , switch off and pour into a gravy boat or serving bowl and serve alongside the chicken.  Roast potatoes and fresh or cooked greens would go well  with this   or  a nice rice pilaf...































Taking a small break

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Hi, Am busy these few days  with a small project at little guy's school so  wont be posting recipes for a while, will be back soon after a three week break.    See you all soon!

Banana Pudding

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I am baaaack!!  Happy New Year to all!!. What a year right!!!. Had a busy end of the year
, my 7 year old was chosen with a bunch of other kids in his class in a science project to represent his school and of course the parents had to get pretty involved as well. But in the end they won 2 place in lower primary category and I got to  work with some very  lovely parents.

Then jetted off ( I was praying the whole way on the flight, am  terrrified of flying ) to Legoland Malaysia as a treat for the boys. Then  finally a relaxing week with my aunts and uncles in Kulhudhufushi.

Unfortunaltley returned back to make to find the water supply plant had a fire incident and no water in the house. Thankfully that got solved within a week. Than again my little fussy one had a nasty bout of stomach flu with severe diarrhea and vomiting.

Got my heartbroken with the news of Air Asia flight ( thoughts and prayers to all families who lost their loved ones.)....phew!!  so you can understand why I  decided to take a break from blogging.

 The boys have to eat a banana for breakfast so there is always bananas in the house.  A few days ago I discovered some over ripe bananas stashed in the fridge and wanted to make a desert with it. I didnt want to make a cake or bread so was searching for a recipe to try when I  came across this recipe. It s a very easy recipe and tastes delicious!!The original recipe was made in a microwave but I hate cooking in microwave. I don't even own one, when I need to defrost or reheat something I usually go downstairs to use my mum's microwave. So I made this pudding in a regular oven instead of using the microwave oven. The toffee sauce  is quite  easy to make you just have to keep an eye on it , in case you end up burning the sugar.

Recipe : Banana Pudding  recipe adapted from  the recipe  Microwave banana pudding from BBC Good Food website.

100g butter
200g over ripe bananas ( about 6 small bananas ) mash 4 and slice the remaining 2
100g light brown sugar ( use regular sugar if you dont have any)
100g self raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (if available)
2 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
Toffee sauce :
125g sugar
75 ml cream
25 g butter

Melt butter in a saucepan. Cool.

In a seperate bowl whisk eggs and sugar till thick . Stir in melted butter and mix well.   Add the mashed bananas and milk.

Sift in flour , cinnamon and nutmeg and stir well .

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5  about 200 degree Celcius, butter a 6 cup capacity oven proof dish  and pour the batter into the prepared dish.  Arrange slices of banana on top.

Bake for  about 45 minutes till the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean

While the pudding is being made prepare the sauce:

Melt  sugar in a stainless steel heavy saucepan ( DONOT LEAVE THE PAN) As soon as the sugar starts to turn golden and melt swirl it around so it turns golden evenly.

Take it off the heat , carefully add cream and butter. Whisk quickly!! It might bubble and spit so becareful.   Pour into a sauce bottle  and set a side.

Once the pudding is done, take it out and  poke a few holes on it using a skewer and drizzle a few table spoons of the sauce on top and leave to cool.

Serve warm with the remaining sauce drizzled on top. I you want to make it a bit pretty dust with icing sugar before serving then drizzle with the toffee sauce.


Legoland Malaysia and Little Big Club.

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During the school holidays  we decided to treat the boys to a fun day or rather two days  at Legoland. The boys are huge lego fans and had a wonderful time. Legoland Malaysia is situated in Johor Bahru, and if you plan to visit its best you choose a working day as  the reviews say that it can get pretty crowded during weekends and public holidays.

We stayed in a lovely budget hotel called Nusa CT, ( although I secretly wished we could afford to stay at the Legohotel which looked fabulous!!)  Those who like continental breakfast might be a bit disapointed as its quite limited just toast and cereal  but they had few more local breakie dishes.  But there is a huge Mamak stall and a few more other restaurants around the block. The hotel is just less than 10 minute drive from Legoland.

Tip, its best you book your tickets before arriving as its a lot quicker to get in. Much needed  caps and sun glasses.  And yes you do need two day combo especially when the boys want to go on each and every ride. My 3 year old  couldnt go on all as he didnt meet up to the required height but  he did get to enjoy  a lot more rides and there were loads of play areas. Even the water park  had a special area for kids his age.  So over all I would give it a big thumbs up. I have been to Genting Resort  and Sunway Lagoon in Malaysia but this place get s the most points as we all enjoyed it, even the food in the restaurants were great!!.   Lockers are provided and its quite safe to leave them there.  Towels are available for rent at the water park.  For more info visit this blog , as it helped a lot. For more reviews check this as well.

After two fun filled days at Legoland  we visited the Little Big club. I  have read mixed reviews about it.  One thing I liked about the place was that it was indoors and well  airconditioned,  so I wasn't sweating like mad.

 Little big club is mainly for kids below 6 years although the Thomas the train  playground is best for 6-10 year olds. Hubby squeezed himself through the narrow tunnels with my 3 year old, who didnt want to be left alone and wanted to go after his big brother. I was more worried about hubby ( who is 5 feet 9') getting stuck than the boys falling off ( the place is well maintained and very safe with strong netting and soft floors).

The boys enjoyed playing at Pingu's igloo, Bob  the Builder' s play area, and a their  favourite Thomas the train floor,  which occupied  whole 3rd floor with loads of rides, a playground and train ride on Thomas.  They even checked into Barney's yard. We skipped Anjelina's   dance studio ( of course I have two boys!!!, dont think they will want to done a tutu and skip around ).

We took a walk around the Puteri harbor to check out the yachts but it started to rain so we headed back inside. It was a great 4 day trip to Johor Bahru, and one the boys will talk about for along time to come.




Tzatziki (Yogurt sauce)

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Sometimes I wonder why I  blog.. yes I enjoy sharing recipes but sometimes I wonder if I sound like a snobby know it all.   I get days where myself esteem is buried somewhere under ground and I feel like a complete hopeless mess.

Okay  I will stop whining  , and going all woe is me, and post my recipe for this week ( have decided to post once a week usually Fridays ( Insha allah)as I decided to homeschool my 3 year old instead of sending him to nursery, so week days its me and my little fussy guy and week ends its mummy's blogging time.

 So, Today I present to you Tzatziki. Its a Greek yogurt sauce .
Its very similar to raita but this is made only with cucumber , where  as raitas are made with  different kinds of other vegetables and spices . Now,  this does not have chillies, its supposed to cool the palate. I usually prefer to serve tzatziki  with my  briyani instead of raita,  the boys love it as well.

Recipe : Tzatziki  (Yogurt Sauce )

1/2 cucumber
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 cup yogurt
juice of half a lime
pinch salt and pinch sugar

Grate the cucumber into a bowl. Using your hands squeeze the grated cucumber to squeeze out any  water in them.

Mix the cucumber with the minced garlic and stir in yogurt.

Squeeze in lime juice and season with pinch of salt and a tiny but sugar.  Chill before serving.

Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!!




Chickpea Burgers

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My 7 year old loves these burgers.   I wanted to make burgers but buying good quality beef  is not easy and its quite expensive. So  while searching for an alternative recipe I came across  these burgers.  The original recipe called for canned  chickpeas , I tried  with canned and dried varieties but  the boys enjoyed the dried  chickpea type more than the canned ones.
Nowadays I  soak a big batch of dried chickpeas over night , boil  it till tender then drain and freeze them in the freezer so I always have some  presoaked and cooked chickpeas ready to use for cooking.  The burgers  do turn up a bit soft but the boys love squashing it up and eating it.  I like to serve it with the usual burger fillings with a dollop of tzatziki sauce.

Recipe : Chickpea and Tuna Burgers recipe adapted the recipe Spicy Tuna and Chickpea patties from Bbcgoodfood.com

Makes 8 mini burgers

400g chickpeas ( presoaked  and cooked  OR use canned, drained)
1 can tuna (180g can)
1/2 small onion finely chopped or 2-3 spring onions finely chopped
1/2 tsp  ginger (paste or grated)
1 green chilli finely chopped ( not for the kids though)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground cumin
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
salt and pepper
1 tbsp flour plus extra flour to dust your work surface
8 mini burger buns
lettuce
onion rings tomato slices
Tzatziki sauce ( about 1 -2 tsp for each bun)

1. Place the  chickpeas in a food processor  ( if you dont have one  try with a blender with 1-2 tbsp water  or  use a potato masher and mash away)  and process till chopped up.  Add tuna onions, chilli and pulse a few times to mix well.

2.Transfer the contents into a large bowl. Add the spices and season well with salt and pepper.   Start mixing and add 1    tbsp flour   , refrigerate  for 1-2 hours.

3. After  1-2 hours  take it out and shape into patties  dust with flour.   chill another 10 minutes .
Heat a large deep frying pan , add  about 2-3 tbsp olive oil or regular vegetable oil  and fry the patties. Dont fiddle and keep checking give about 3-5 minutes on each side , it might spit a bit.
Gently transfer to a plate.

4. Slice the buns in the middle and press them on the hot frying pan . If these isnt any oil left, brush with  a little   olive oil on the cut side and  lightly brown it. Remove and set a side.

To Assemble the burgers : 
Place a piece of lettuce, a slice of tomato and an onion slice top with the burger pattie and then a dollop of  tzatski sauce.  Enjoy!!! a nice big bowl of fries goes well with this.








Spagetti Bolognese

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Manu Feildel is a French chefm who is a judge in My kitchen Rules . A show a bit like master chef but they have team of two, usually best friends , husband and wife  , sisters etc... they first  visit teams home where they serve a three course  meal in their instant restaurant. Then the couple at the bottom  after  all the dinners   is eliminated , then they are given bigger tasks each week and finally they win a certain  amount of money and stuff.
 I discovered this quite by accident while searching for a recipe on taste.com.au. It was more of a advertisment of Cambell's beef stock. The pasta  was quite a winner with the boys , its best made with a  good meat,  you can even grind or finely chop up a nice piece of meat if you cant get good beef.

 Recipe : Spagetti with Beef bolognese recipe adapted from Manu Feildel's  Beef Bolognese recipe.

For 4 people

500g beef mince ( use good beef as its the star of the show )
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 a large carrot chopped
1 celery stick ( optional) chopped
1  can (400g)  peeled tomatoes
1 cup water
1 beef stock cube ( * if you have liquid stock dont add water  or use stock cube)
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes ( or if you like more heat chop 1/4 piece of  scotch bonnet  or add a green chilli)
generous pinch of ground black pepper
salt
finely chopped parsley ( optional)
grated parmesan cheese to serve ( optional)
olive oil
Spagetti  enough for 3-4 people

Cook spagetti in generously salted boiling water ( no oil!!) till aldente . Drain,  . While the pasta cooks , prepare the sauce.

Heat olive oil in  a large deep frying pan, soften the onion  and the garlic.  Once they soften,  add the beef, break it up  and let it cook dont touch  let it  browns a bit.

Now add the carrots and celery (if using ) , and the can of tomatoes. Break the tomatoes a bit and then finally add the  stock ( prepare it by dissolving the beef cube in 1 cup of of hot water. / or use liquid stock if available).

 I like to spice it up a bit by adding  chilli flakes and  generous pinch or two of ground black pepper.
( if you are a scotch bonnet lover like my mum add 1/4 piece of finely chopped bit of scotch bonnet chilli ).Let it cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes till the meat is cooked and the sauce thick.

Taste add salt to taste and  stir in finely chopped parsley. ( if  you dont have fresh parsley add 1/2 tsp of dried mixed herbs  when you add the tomatoes.)  Switch off .

I like to toss the spagetti into the sauce and serve. But you can go the traditional way by making a nest of spagetti  and  adding the sauce on top with a grating of parmesan cheese on top, if you like.

And as Manu Feildel says Bon Appetit!!

Cauliflower Cooked In Yogurt

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I love cauliflower but  rarely cook with it, maybe because I have only one or two  ideas to cook it. A few days ago I saw these really lovely cauliflowers being sold and bought one to cook for lunch. I had this recipe in Roshi Razzag's   Indian Low Fat cooking cookbook.
I made mine a little bit fatty with the saute' of onions in a little oil.  Goes well with some grilled fish and rice. My hubby cant stand completely vegetarian food so there has to be some form of meat or fish somewhere.


Recipe : Cauliflower cooked in yogurt  adapted from Roshi Razzaq's Indian Low fat Cooking 

1 small onion, sliced
1 small cauliflower, cut into florets
2 medium plum tomatoes , chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
1 fat clove garlic grated
2 green chillies roughly chopped
1/2 cup plain yogurt ( unsweetened)
1/4 cup water
a nice little bunch of coriander leaves and stems, stems and leaves seperated and chopped finely.
1/2 tsp tumeric
salt
oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp garam masala

Mix yogurt, tumeric , garam masala  and a pinch of salt and mix well. Set aside.

Heat oil in a  pot big enough to fit everything , and fry cumin seeds till they start to crackle ,  add onion , and stir fry till they go soft. Add tomatoes ,  the chopped coriander stems, garlic , ginger and stir fry for a minute.  Switch off heat.

Add the cauliflower florets, chillies and the yogurt mixture and 1/4 cup water. Mix well with wooden spoon, return to the stove top over a medium heat and cook covered bout 10- 15 minute till the cauliflower is cooked through but not completely soft and mushy ( then its really bleah!!!) 

Check  and stir occasionally  , adding a little water if  necessary.  

Taste add more salt if needed and finally stir in coriander leaves, Switch off and serve with plain rice and a grilled fish or a chicken dish. 

Rim's Eid Day Pudding

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Rim is the latest addition to my  hubby's family, she married my brother in law last year and is a wonderful cook.  She brought this delicious pudding to my mum in law's home  last Eid day and it went down pretty well.
Its  a very easy desert to make and I got the recipe from her.  Her version was quite a big quantity so I reduced it and  made it a few times for my mum,  who loved it.   If you cant get Oreos any dark chocolate cookies with vanilla cream centres would do.

Recipe: Rim's Eid day Pudding 

600ml full cream milk
1 cup sweet condensed milk
35g corn flour/corn starch
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g sliced almonds or use sliced kanamadhu
6-7 oreo cookies

Pour milk , condensed milk and cornstarch into a blender along with vanilla essence. Blend well.

Pour into a sauce pan and cook stirring constantly over a moderate heat.  Once it starts to thicken       ( should leave a clean line when you swipe across it on the back of the spoon) m but no too thick! it will thicken and cook even when you switch off heat.

 Remove from heat, stir in almonds and pour into a serving dish, I used a 8 cup capacity dish.

Place the Oreos in a food processor and grind to a fine powder( or place in a zip lock bag and bash with a rolling pin till fine) Sprinkle it generously all over the surface of the pudding.

Cool completely and chill for 1-2 hours before serving. You can make this in individual  glasses when serving it at a dinner party.   Enjoy!!

Kitchen Experiment : Pizza Cone

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During our holidays, we spent a great deal of time in KLIA 2 airport. While roaming around to fill in the time before our flight to Johor Bahru, my  elder son suddenly got very excited and pointed to a food stall selling  , what looked like ice cream cones. We stepped closer to take a closer look to  find they werent the usual  ice cream cones but pizza cones..
 But we had to leave and so didnt get much time to investigate it. It was after returning home I decided to search the internet for it.  I came across moulds which were used to help to make pizza cones but decided to try  and make without using a mould by making cones using aluminium foil. To hold the  cones after filling it and to cook the cheese I used this  idea from this website , where  they made pizza ones  by using empty soda cans cut in half to hold the cones. ( yes I did consume a few cans of soda and juice to achieve this, not very healthy yes yes I know!!) .But I have to say with all the fiddling around  and a few messy results these turned out quite a winner. My boys and my niece and nephew loved them. They are quite portable and would make great treats for kids and adults.

So on a  Friday ( our weekends come on Friday/Saturday) , when I had hubby at home and in charge of the boys I  tried to make these fun pizza cones.

I wont be posting this recipe in my typical recipe fashion as this was an experimental recipe so I still need to work on the proportions.

So to make a pizza cones, first prepare the dough, I added a little flavour to my  pizza dough( inspired by the website,where I found  the pizza cones recipe), by adding some dried mixed herbs to my dough, which I made using my usual pizza dough recipe. 

While the dough was rising I made the tomato sauce, and pan fried some  chopped up sausages and onions and red peppers till everything was caramalized and delicious. Of  course seasoned with salt and pepper .

Then I made cones using  square sheet of aluminium foil, doubled up so it  would be stronger. lightly oil it with olive oil.

Now when  the dough had risen I  divided the dough into  a few  large dough balls , and rolled them  into a  circle and cut each in half.
well almost a circle

I wrapped  each half around an aluminium foil cone and  then  carefullly placed them , inverted on a baking sheet, not easy, very fiddly job as the cones kept falling down.  Popped the cones into a very hot oven and baked them  till nice and golden.



Once baked , took them out, and let them cool a few minutes ( I am impatient  didnt wait till completely cool) and then carefully  removed the aluminium foil.


Then I started to add the filling, according to a chef I saw on youtube, add a bit of cheese in the bottom to stop the filling and sauce from oozing out . then I added a dollop of sauce which I swirled inside so the inside gets coated with it nicely. Then I added the sausages mixture and finally topped with cheese ( a mixture of chedder and mozzarella).  I placed the cone inside the cut up soft drink cans so  they stand while  the cones are  placed inside the oven to melt the cheese.



Some of the cones got stuck because the end of the cone in some of them came off so the cheese had melted and  gotten stuck to the can. But still the taste was great and it was a fun thing to try. Maybe the dough need to be a bit well done ...?

 So  for those. who actually read these posts ,got any ideas for fillings I can try. Not pork products please.


Devilled Tuna

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One of my favorite cook book these days Peter Kurvita's Serendip. A beautiful cook book on Sri Lankan cuisine, recipes he grew up  on, even though he is  now an Australian. You can see how much love and devotion he has given to this book ,  with lots of gorgeous pictures
and I love the way he , very lovingly,  tells stories of his childhood. The TV series of the book showed him visiting various areas of Sri Lanka and this delicious deviled fish recipe was shown on the TV series ( recipe was not found on the cookbook).
          Its my dream to create such a cookbook,  based on local recipes , have got  recipes from my mum , aunts and from old local cookbooks, so far have got more than 75 recipes, written and tested but have no idea how to publish.( Plus my self confidence level is most zero ) I dont want to create just a simple recipe book black and white with no pictures, I mean who wants to look at those.  So any ideas, I keep thinking of asking someone for advice because I want to be completely in control of making it, but not enough money to make a lot of copies if going towards the self publishing sector. So anyone want to give me some advice? I am more like should I shouldnt I stage...  I can start posting on blog but I want to make some money while  blogging  and staying at home.. Its not the fame I want  .... more like do something that one day my kids will be proud of their mom for doing it.

So while you think about it let me get on with the recipe . This devilled tuna is slightly different from the usual local devilled tuna version.

Recipe : Devilled Tuna, recipe slightly tweaked  based on Peter Kurvita's Devilled Tuna as shown on the show My Sri Lanka.

300g tuna, cut into bite size cubes
1/2  red chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
pinch tumeric
salt
8-10 curry leaves
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, peeled and cut into  thin wedges
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 leek, sliced thickly
1 carrot, sliced
2 capsicums, de-seeded and sliced thickly
2 green chillies, slit into two lengthwise
Oil for deep frying
For the Sauce
3-4 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup water

Season fish with salt, and a pinch tumeric. Heat oil for deep frying and fry the fish, till golden outside, remove onto kitchen paper, transfer to a bowl, add curry leaves, chilli powder, pepper and lime juice and mix well, set side for 10 minutes.


Heat a wok or frying pan with oil, add all the vegetables, with the garlic  and chillies and stir fry on high heat for 1-2 minutes.

Add the tuna cubes and stir fry another 1 minute, the aroma of the curry leaves will have you salivating, especially if you are using  very fresh leaves.

Finally,in a bowl mix the sauce ingredients , and pour this mixture into the wok and stir well. The sauce will start to bubble and thicken. Taste add salt if necessary.  Switch off.

Serve with plain rice.


Chicken And Pesto Lasagne

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Move over Jamie Oliver, discovered a much cuter chef called Donal Skehan, ( not that I dont like Jamie).  His show Grandma's Boy on Nat Geo People is fun to watch and has some really easy Italian recipes made by  Italian Nonnas.  I saw this delicious lasagne recipe on one of the episodes where this lovely Nonna ,who  made this without chicken. But I knew to get my hubby to enjoy this I had   to add some chicken
so went  against the Italian Nonna's rules and added some left over roast chicken and chilli flakes for some  spicy kick!!

 The boys enjoyed it, hubby included.   I made home made pesto , I forgot to tell you I finally grew some Italian basil and love the fact that I can just pick some herbs from my balcony instead of buying it from the shops (and its quite expensive from the shops) . Now I have  a few  herbs growing on my tiny balcony,   a pandan leaf shrub, basil and have planted some coriander seeds hopefully they will grow as well. My sis in law recently gave me some mint  which she grew, so have got some mint growing as well.   Now my little guy wants me to grow tomatoes (LOL), so any tips on growing  tomatoes in  a pot.

Yes yes I know I am going out of topic so lets get back to the pesto Lasagne shall we...

Recipe : Pesto Lasagne recipe adapted from Donal Skehan' s Pesto Lasagne.

8 Lasagne sheets ( dried or freshly made)
3 tbsp basil  pesto ( freshly made or  bottled)
75 g potatoes ( peeled , cut into small cubes  and boiled till tender)
50g green beans ( cut into 1/2 cm pieces , and boiled till tender )
1 chicken breast ( cooked or left over roast chicken , finely chopped)
1 tsp chilli flakes, generous pinch of ground black pepper
Grated parmesan cheese

For the Bechamel sauce 3 tbsp flour ( level spoons)
                                         30g butter
                                           2 cups milk (500ml)
                                 
1. In  a small bowl mix chicken meat, beans , and potatoes . Stir in chilli flakes, pepper and 1 tbsp of pesto  and a tiny pinch of salt.  Set aside.


2. Prepare the bechamel sauce  by melting butter over a low heat. Switch off and stir in flour and mix well with a whisk  . Return to the stove, and stir over a medium heat  for 1 minute to cook the rawness of the flour. While whisking gradually stir in milk. Mix well to remove any lumps .

 3. Cook stirring continuously till the sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. When you run your finger through the spoon it should leave a clean line like this: If you are still not sure check this to see how to make bechamel sauce for lasagne.

4. Season with  a tiny bit salt and  let it cool. It will thicken more while cooling.   Stir in the remaining  pesto .

5. To assemble the lasagne take a  square  baking tray or oven proof dish. Lightly oil with olive oil.    Spread a ladle of the sauce  at the bottom.  Layer with  2-3 sheets of lasagne sheets.  Then sprinkle with  the chicken mixture . top with a little sauce and top with lasagne sheet , chicken , sauce, lasagne and finish off the top layer with lasagne and a layer of sauce. and a generous sprinkling of parmesan.

6.Cover with foil and place in a preheaten oven at  about 200 degree celcius , gas mark 4 and bake for 45 minutes, ( fresh pasta takes less time to cook so check after 20 minutes if using fresh pasta). Remove the foil after 30 minutes of cooking time.

7. Remove and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.   a nice tomato salad would pair nicely with this I think.

Note : If you are using dried lasagne sheets  assemble the dish one hour before baking, leave covered in tin foil for and hour , then bake covered with the foil as mentioned above.

Trip To Bandos Island Resort

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Just before the end of last year's  December School break , my hubby  and I decided to take a short break and head to Bandos Island Resort. Its the first time we  visited this  island resort  and I invited my sister in law with her hubby and son to join us , as I felt she could use a break as well being  pregnant with her second child and staying cooped up at home during the holidays.



Bandos Island Resort  is one of the oldest  resorts opened in Maldives its still popular and  is still very  well maintained.
Bandos Island resort has  special packages for  Locals as well  , and which are   slightly cheaper compared to the tourist rate, and  is one of the reasons we were able to go on own. The only  thing I didnt like  was the fact we had to travel in the staff ferry. Its not the idea of travelling with staff but we were not staff and it would be nice if they treated the local guests the same way they treat other guests and have  boat ready depending on the number of local guests even on the day we went there were three families heading there and that was also during a weekday,  ( just a suggestion) I say this because quite a number  of locals actually head to Bandos especially during breaks and even  during week ends.


We were supposed to leave at 1 pm but the staff ferry ( or rather a large  speed boat this time) was full so it took it  two more trips before we finally had  our turn ( now you know why I suggested a separate  means of travel for local guests, as we were standing outside near the jetty  in the hot sun).

Our room  which we asked for a delux room was upgraded for the same price  to a beach side villa and garden villa.   The rooms were pretty spacious, they had made a nice comfy makeshift bed  made out of a large mattress and comfy bedding ,for the boys downstairs while the main bed room was up stair s and  the bathroom came equipped with a jacuzzi much for the boys excitement , who turned it into a space ship ( well boys will be boys).

Of course event though there was a pool we headed to the beach, we prefer the beach. The beach was gorgeous ( of course)  and loads of fish swam very close to the beach, so a great place for snorkeling. We even encountered a supposedly harmless baby shark, just brushing against me and my sis in law ( although we  shot out from the water as fast as we could , LOL).


The food,  was very good. We  had all our meals at the Gallery restaurant  , and I have to say the food really gets top marks as everything was delicious. Ate a really delicious  yogurt terrine  with berries,  and am still  searching for the recipe.

While strolling around we  walked into their  vegetable garden.

Hi!!! thats me trying to get the perfect shot when hubby decided to sneak up  from behind me  :) 
There was a herb garden with basil, mint, even a  rosemary bush.

clock wise from top, mint, thai basil, local , rosemary and local basil
Beautiful lettuce leaves grown using the hydroponics  technique and this technique was used to grow melons and tomatoes as well .


 There was an aubergine patch,  chillies. I think its great they  are trying to grow their own vegetables locally instead of importing everything from abroad.


We also took a peek inside the kids club but was a bit small in size .

We stayed for   one night and two days,   our package included   transport with  the room for the night along  with dinner, breakfast and lunch all for less than 300$  for each family.

So with the mid term holidays coming up thought I would post this, for those looking for a quick getaway from the current madness in the city, now dont get me started on that either  .   I keep meaning to post this since we went but  kept slipping my mind. For more information you can check the website here 


Pasta In Alfredo Sauce With Sausages and Peas

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The boys love  pasta  and this is  a new addition to their list of best loved pasta sauces.  Its quite easy to make and  I like to serve it  with short pasta shapes like macaroni, penne, spirals, bowtie etc.
This is a recipe I discovered on a magazine , which was advertising a sausage brand,so  I checked their website.
I used Gills sausages which I love, they are  precooked flavored sausages. I used beef  for this recipe but you can use any other kind of sausages that  you like. I used peas as a vegetable because its something thats always  stashed inside my freezer , once I used a small zucchini which was beginning to look a little sad sitting inside my vegetable bin  for too long.

If you are  a Muslim living abroad,  its important to check if sausages are halal as most sausages usually contain pork and the casing can sometimes be  made of pork intestine.

Serves 3-4

Recipe : Pasta in Alfredo Sausage with sausages and peas recipe adapted from Sausage Alfredo from www.sausagesosimple.com

1 pkt Gills beef Sausages ( that's 5  sausages in a packet)
2 cups elbow macaroni or penne pasta
1-2 cloves garlic ( I love garlicky taste so I used 2 )
1/2 cup frozen green peas , thawed
2 tbsp  olive oil
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
nice big pinch of ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese ( or pecorino) , see note below
250 ml cream ( if you are using the can Nestle cream dilute 1/2 cup  cream with 1/2 cup milk )
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley ( optional)
salt and pepper

Bring a pan of water to boil seasoned generously with salt. Once it starts to boil rapidly add the pasta and give a swirl using a wooden spoon( this stops the pasta from sticking, no need to add oil ) Some of us like to add oil but oil stops the sauce from sticking to the pasta so I have stopped using oil when cooking pasta. Once the pasta is cooked through, drain , but reserve 1/3 of the cooking water to use  while mixing with the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan. Remove the casing of the sausages, and fry them in the hot oil till they start to brown. Remove and cut into thick slices.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and heat the garlic, till they release their aroma ( but dont burn them, there is nothing worse than burnt garlic. Add the cream and return the sausages , peas , pepper and chilli flakes and bring to a boil.  Simmer 5 minutes.Sprinkle in the cheese and stir in the pasta and the reserved cooking water and mix well over a low heat for a minute or two. Taste add salt  and more pepper and chilli flakes if necessary. Stir in parsley and serve.

NOTE : If you dont have parmesan cheese add a teaspoon( thats kudhi samsaa or saisamsaa in dhivehi) or two of kraft cheese spread to give a nice cheesy taste.




How to Remove the Skin of Bell Peppers.

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Removing the skin of bell peppers is quite fun.  Unlike peeling tomatoes ( where the tomatoes are plunged into boiling hot water for a few minutes to remove the skin), the peppers  have to be burnt till the skin is charred. I prefer this method than  using a vegetable peeler as the  pepper tastes much nicer as well .



First  turn on the biggest   burner.You  can either place it on top of the burner or place a wire rack over it and place the bell pepper on it.  The pepper will spit and a few  sparks might be there so make sure to keep the area cleared , dont want  a fire in the house now do we?


Turn it over to charr the whole pepper or pepper  half  and then  remove to a bowl or plastic
container,  place the lid or cover with cling film and leave to cool. Or you can put in a plastic bag and tie the ends loosely  and let it cool.
pepper left to steam inside a plastic container

Then once cooled , rub the skin under running tap water to remove it. Use as required

Holidaying in Lh. Naifaru

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During the mid term break , we headed to the island of Naifaru , a three hour speed boat ride  from Male' City. My hubby is from that island , its  where he grew up  and his aunts and uncles and his grandmother ( yes , she is still surviving at the ripe old age of 92).
The days always started with a walk on the beach , just before sunrise, looking for shells and checking out hermit crabs and crabs busy scurrying around...

sunrise

There is always something planned for the day..............

A picnic to a nearby uninhabited island of Veyvah,

Veyvah

a 20 minute  ferry ride to the island of Hinnavaru, the boys checked  out the dhonis and little boats on the beach there and made  pin wheels out of palm leaves, with the help of my hubby's uncle.

my little guy exploring a dhoni, with the traditional birdlike  steering wheel which is steered using your foot instead of your hands
pinwheel made of coconut  palmleaf

There was also a trip to the island ofFelivaru , where the boys got to see how their beloved tuna cans were made and packed. ( sorry no cameras were allowed inside the canning area)

 Docks of Felivaru 

It was nice and relaxing change, just friendly faces and quiet island life. The boys loved the freedom to run around the street, ( no cars just a few  motorcycles and bicycles around), exploring and even tried fishing.

little fussy one with his treasures after his daily explorations 

A local group known as Naifaru Juvenile had a turtle conservation site,  where the boys got to see the different types of turtles , the turtles  were being taken care of by this youth group  and  are  later released to the sea once they  are mature enough to survive on their own.

As the sun sets everyday , all I can say is  Alhamdhulillah,   hope everyone had a lovely holiday and enjoy the weekend!!
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