Apologies!

I have been slacking again coz I have been playing Nurse Plum. (Excuses, Excuses!) Big B is ill with a viral eye infection from the swimming pool. His eyes are red as if he has been smoking pot the whole day.. I have a few good recipes I need to post from the past couple of weeks.. I'll be back and posting again soon... Cheerios

Jessiquita

Just as a little bird cracks open the shell and flies out, we fly out of this shell, the shell of the body. We call that death,but strictly speaking, death is nothing but a change of form.

--Swami Satchidananda

If I had a cent for every fun moment spent with my friends, I would be a millionaire today. I just keep thinking of these fun moments today as I have lost a really good friend last week to cancer. I know she is peaceful in heaven with the angels. I know her pain is now gone and she doesn’t need to fight this cancer anymore. But still I don’t know what to make of the feelings that are going through me right now. I feel a void and emptiness.

She was one of the very few good friends I’ve spent my college days with. I met her during my first few days in America. When I met her, little did I know that this quiet person would end up being such a great friend. Jessica, she was a timid and tiny girl from Paraguay. We met each other when I first started working in the school catering. We grew closer because we all lived in the same dorms and my room mate was Paraguyan as well. We used to go for breakfasts and dinners together, party together, sit in a truck stop having endless cups of coffee and talking all night.. eat at the china buffet on the weekends, spend the whole night at walmart trying to find fishing rods to go fishing the next day, crashing at each others apartment watching movies all night, went to a friend's house in Topeka for thanksgiving our first year there, because we didn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays.. We were neighbours, friends and more than that..

She loved sleeping. This one time, she locked herself in the dorm room for the whole weekend and slept through it. Me and my room mate went to all the ends of the university looking for her.. She had her own cutie ways of doing things.. she has a cute doggie called Lorencita.. She had cans of tuna lined up in the kitchen and called it brain food.. She used to have tuna before exams because it improved her memory… She couldn’t eat any of my spicy food … she didn’t like her boyfriend smoking.. she shopped in the kids sections because she couldn’t find clothes her size in the adults section… I don’t know how to put in words what I feel.. All I have left now are these memories of her.... I am thankful for these memories that I will hold and cherish in my heart forever..

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone! The Easter bunny's is out.. I still don't understand the correlation between the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. I'm just happy I got my Easter Egg.. I got a Thronton's Easter Egg from Big B. My lil brothers were being lazy and forgot to buy me one this year.. I bought them Cadbury's Crunchie and Yorkie Easter eggs, Big B got an After Eights Easter egg.. Each egg is about 2000 calories each!!! I am just setting myself up to become a fatty mama.. I'll be shopping in the camping supplies stores next, to find myself a tent to wear.. ;)

Anyways, today my kitchen is having a rest. We are spending the day at my parents having all the yummy goodies Mama has cooked. She has cooked a meal enough for 20 people when it is just 6 of us to eat.. Chicken tandoori, pork vindaloo, sorpatel, chicken biryani, beef coconut curry, sannas.. and that's just beginning of the list...

I didn't know what recipe to post. All the chocolate talk reminded me of the cookies I made when I first met Big B. I believe the way to man's heart is through his stomach.. He is a greater choco addict than me... that is chocoaddict squared ...That's why I had to make these Triple Chocolate Cookies I found on Epicurious.com... They are like brownies and cookies put together.. My lil baby roysee helped me put these together.. We doubled the recipe and made a huge batch of these brownies....Before I made these, I thought the double chocolate fudge cookies at Spinneys were orgasmic, after having these I changed my mind..

Here's the recipe

Triple Chocolate Brownies

300gms 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons plain flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350deg F/ 200deg C.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir chopped chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth; remove from over water. Cool melted chocolate 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in another medium bowl until crumbly.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until mixture is light, pale, and creamy, about 5 minutes.

Add lukewarm melted chocolate and vanilla and beat just until blended. Fold in dry ingredients, then chocolate chips.

Drop chocolate cookie batter onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until tops are evenly cracked but cookies are not yet firm to touch, about 16 minutes.

Cool cookies completely on baking sheets.

Enjoy!!!

Chicken Tikka Masala

One of the first few things you learn in an Indian household is how to cook a curry.. I’ve never measured the proportions of the spices that go in it.. Mama is a great cook and she taught me to cook the way she does it, tasting it as she went along.. When the Brown Sugar Baby asked me to give her the recipe of a Chicken Tikka Masala, I had to make it and write down the proportions.

Chicken Tikka Masala though an Indian curry, is actually known to originate from Britain. It is said that the Bangladeshi chefs in Britain came up with this dish to suit it to the British palate. Legend has it a diner demanded gravy on tandoori chicken. The frustrated chef responded by adding tin of Campbell's tomato soup and pinch of spices. It is one of the most popular Indian dishes in the world, served in most, if not all Indian restaurants. However, there is no standard recipe for a Chicken Tikka Masala. There must be a zillion recipes on how to make it. It basically translates into grilled spicy chicken in a tomato cream sauce.

I don’t like really hot curries because then it just numbs the taste buds and you can’t taste anything after. The curry I made tonight was mild and flavourful. The chilli was not too overpowering. Big B gave it top marks. I served it with some fragrant jeera pilaf (cumin rice) and a cooling cucumber raita.

Before I babble on some more, here are the recipes:

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 kg of chicken, cut in cubes
1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of ginger, minced
½ cup of yogurt
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp of Rajah’s Tandoori Masala (Available at most Indian Grocery stores)
1 tsp of paprika
Salt, to taste

For the gravy:

2 onions, finely sliced (Don’t worry if you don’t like onions. They will be pureed later)
1 can of crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of ginger, minced
1 green chilly, chopped (I used to use Serrano peppers in the U.S.)
½ teaspoon of aniseed
1 inch of cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
3 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon of red chilly powder
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
2 teaspoons of coriander powder
1 teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of garam masala
3 tablespoons of coriander leaves, finely chopped (Also known as cilantro in the U.S)
¼ cup of cooking cream
50ml of cooking oil
A teaspoon of butter
Salt, to taste


Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients. Ideally, leave to marinate overnight or at least for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200deg C/ 390deg F.

Put the chicken in a baking dish and bake for about 8 minutes. Drain the juices and reserve and cook for another 5 minutes. Keep aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Add the aniseed, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom till they crackle for about a minute. Then, add the finely chopped onions and let the cook till golden brown. This should take about 10 minutes on a low flame. I’ll like to get them to a translucent stage and then I add about a teaspoon of water and cover to let them caramelize. This gives the curry a slightly sweet flavor.

Once the onions are a golden brown, add the green chilly, ginger and garlic. Let it cook for a minute. Then, add the tomatoes, cook till the water evaporates. Next, add all the dry spices. Cook for about 2 minutes more till the spices are roasted.

Then put all the ingredients in a blender with a little water. Once pureed, put back into the pan. Add the chicken and the reserved juices from the pan. Add ½ cup of water and let it come to a boil. This would be a good time to season the curry to taste.

Now, just before serving add the cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves just before serving.


If you can’t find the Rajah’s Tandoori Masala, then use the following mix of spices to marinate the chicken. I just prefer the Tandoori Masala because it has a great taste.

1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
½ teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala powder


Jeera Pilaf

2 cups of Basmati Rice
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 chicken stock cube
1 tablespoon of butter
4 cups of hot water

Heat the butter in a pan and add all the ingredients except for the rice and stock cube. This flavors the oil and gives the rice a nice flavor. Then, add the rice and toast in the pan till slightly opaque. Add the hot water and stock cube. Cover with a lid and cook till rice is done. The best way to check if the rice is done is to see if the grain of rice mashes between your thumb and index finger.

This should give you a really fragrant pilaf with fluffy grains of rice.

Cucumber Raita

1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 cup of yogurt
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon of cumin powder
1 green chilly, finely chopped
½ teaspoon of ginger, minced
A pinch of sugar
Salt to taste.

Mix all the ingredients together and chill.

To vary it a little, you could put some pineapple and sliced onions. Eitherways, it helps to take the edge of curry.

Bad food days

I had a string of bad food days lately.

On Monday, I was thinking of making ribs. After arguing with Big B for 2 hrs on which recipe to use, we finally decided to just make it simple with barbeque sauce. When we opened the packet the ribs, the smell was terrible... I guess they had gone off.. After contemplating for another hour, we just went to Applebee's and pigged out... The Big B monster had the "Triple Chocolate Meltdown" and half of my Sticky Toffee Pudding to polish of his meal..

Then on Tuesday.. after the gym I wanted to make a chicken curry, to write down the proportions of spices for my Brown Sugar Baby. But I ended up taking the wrong turn when coming back from the gym and ended up on the road to Sharjah.. And then went back and got home half an hour later than I planned to.. So, Big B started working on the easiest curry one can make... Out of a can!! Patak's Vindaloo.. All u need is a can opener, some chicken, Patak's Vindaloo.. It was quite good with some pita bread and yogurt and cucumber raita...

I decided to finally make something to write about.. I made some Mars Krispy Bars.. I have been meaning to do these forever now.. I finally got the time. They ended up tasting like Lion Bars.. It was delicious... Big B is on a get fit quick diet (yea right!) before going back to Ol' Blighty so he had just one square... He said they were really good....


Here's the recipe..

Mars Krispy Bars (makes about 20 squares)

12-15 Snack Size Mars Bars (I bought a packet. I guess in the U.S they are called Milky Ways)
6 tablespoons of butter
2 cups or Rice Krispies
3 tablespoons of honey
150g 65% chocolate

Grease a rectangular dish with butter.

Melt the Mars Bars and 4 tablespoons of butter in a double broiler. This will be sticky and gooey. Then add the Rice Krispies and mix in gently, so they don't get crumbled. Spread the mixture out in the greased dish.

Now, melt the the chocolate and the remaining butter in a double broiler. When totally melted, spread it on top of the krispy mixture.

Finish of with drizzling the honey on top.

Cut into squares once cooled.

Meatloaf....

Big B was going to make me sausage rolls for dinner tonight, but as usual got busy at work… Poor thing, he got home at 9.30. I decided to make a meatloaf with the sausage meat.. As it was cooking, it smelled really good but was a little too salty when we ate it. I guess its because we don’t get the best pork in Dubai. Thats my excuse anyways! It was a really easy meal to put together with mashed potatoes and onion gravy. I cheated on the onion gravy and used Bisto because I don’t really have the patience to make jus or brown gravy. It tasted just fine.

I've never made meatloaf before so, again, I went through the Gary Rhode’s cookbook. However, my version of the meatloaf is an adaptation of his recipe. I would say it was a pretty good attempt if not for the saltiness. The meatloaf tasted perfect the next day for lunch.

Here’s recipe:

Sausage Meatloaf

500g pork sausage meat
500g ground beef
100g bacon, chopped
2 onion, minced or finely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg, beaten
Pinch of ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon of ground marjoram or thyme
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
1/2 green pepper, minced or chopped finely
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup breadcrumbs
Butter, melted
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180deg C / 350deg F

Brown the bacon, onion and garlic in a pan till translucent.

Mix all the ingredients together, except butter, with the meats. Season and add Worcestershire sauce for flavor.

Press mix into a loaf tin evenly. Brush with a little more ketchup and melted butter and bake in preheated over for 1 – 1 ½ hours. Once cooked, the loaf will have come away from the sides of the tin.

Leave to stand for 10-15 mins before turning out.


Onion Gravy
3 onion or 6 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon brown sugar
A knob of butter
2 tablespoons Bisto
Water for the Bisto

If you are one of those patient people, then use the brown gravy instead Bisto. Hats off to you!

Cook the onions to a golden brown in a knob of butter. Add the brown sugar and cook for another few minutes. Adjust the onions for sweetness by adding more brown sugar. Then, add a few drops of water and Bisto and cook for about 8-10 minutes. I also added the juices from the meatloaf in the gravy.

The caramelized onions were sweet and delish in the gravy. The flavour is fantastic. Big B is not a fan of onions in his mouth so he just picked them out when he served himself. If you are one of those people who don't like onions, just strain the gravy before serving.

Serve meatloaf with mashed potatoes, onion gravy poured on top.. Tadaaaaaaaaaa…

Bread and Butter Pudding

A classic English pudding just as simple as its name, made with the simplest of ingredients.... Reminds me of childhood... Mama used to make it for tea and it lasted till breakfast the next day.. Good way of using up stale bread... I just defrosted some bread I had in the freezer..

If you are on a low fat or low carb diet, then stop reading now! The recipe is too simple not to try... I took yet another detour from my low carb diet when I made it the other day.. The recipe is from Gary Rhodes book - Great British Classics ... I have added jam on the bread to make it like Big B's dad but you can leave it out if you wish.. Some people add nutmeg or cinnamon in the custard to give it a slightly spicy kick, or u could also add ground ginger to make it a ginger bread and butter pudding.. I didn't want to add the cinnamon because we got a overdose of it from my cinnamon lasagna experiment a few months ago..

Here goes...

12 slices of white bread
50g unsalted butter, melted
100g raspberry jam (my variation)
8 egg yolks
175g caster sugar
A few drops of vanilla essence
300ml milk
300ml double cream (I know its a bit much, but the result is worth the calories. I guess you can use the same quantity of milk if you wish)
25g sultanas
25g raisins
Caster sugar, to sprinkle

Grease a pudding basin with butter.

Spread the butter and jam on the bread, remove the crusts and cut in triangles. I found it easier doing this one at a time.

Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl. Put the cream, milk and vanilla essence in a pan and bring to a simmer. Slowly pour into the egg yolks stirring all the time to make the custard.

Arrange the bread in layers in the baking dish, sprinkling the raising and sultanas in between layers. Finish the final layer of bread without the sultanas and raisins, as they tend to burn. Now pour the warm egg mixture over the bread and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350deg F or 180deg C.

Place the dish in another tin filled three quarters with water. Cover with foil and cook for about 20-30 minutes till the pudding sets.

Remove from bath, sprinkle with caster sugar and heat under the grill till the bread browns and sugar caramelizes.

And this my darlings, is how simple it is to make a bread and butter pudding...

My brothers raved about it and Big B enjoyed it as well... I just devoured the pudding for breakfast the next two days...