Garden Grown Herbs: What a Treat!

We are experimenting with growing herbs in the garden. For someone who has no green fingers to speak of, imagine the delight when we saw the seeds in our planter blossom into tiny shoots of green! Coriander, Dill, Chive, Basil, Mint: any green herb that we could find was corralled into this preparation of herbed cous cous. Enjoyed with home made palak paneer and roasted beetroot: what a treat!

Christmas is here!

Its cold, its fresh, its festive: gotta be December, gotta be Christmas! As we busy ourselves baking the traditional Christmas cake and doing up the house, there are also more social get-togethers with friends, as we let our hair down, and unwind and get set to welcome another year.

We took the opportunity of a more relaxed Saturday to hand make a festive bread: I love saffron, cardamom and orange zest, and I love bread. So why not put it all together in one recipe to make "Pulla Bread"?! This is a Finnish semi sweet pleated bread that is enjoyed with coffee on special occasions. For my recipe, I added a lot of Turkish saffron and used honey instead of sugar. What we enjoyed the most was the braiding of the flour to make a lovely pattern.

Unfortunately I have no idea how it tasted: we packed up the whole bread for a friend whose home we were visiting for a festive dinner. Definitely one to do again, where the pleasure in making is as much as in the eating!

Chinese/Thai vegetarian buffet spread

Trying to find delicious+ vegetarian+ Chinese/Thai + healthy + easy to make food is no simple task. We had Indian friends visiting from the motherland, and were keen to give them something different they may not be used to back home. Obviously, being vegetarian, and rather health focussed, we needed to find recipes that had enough vegetables but also good choice of herbs and condiments to add flavour. After all, we were catering to an Indian palate, which is spoiled by access to the most bountiful spices in the world.

This is the menu we came up with. The only thing is that this is probably more appropriate for summer given the number of cold starters. Let's think of a winter menu when winter is upon us!

1) Tofu salad
2) Pomelo salad
3) Cold eggplant with sesame sauce
4) Okra with ginger sauce
5) Silky squash with ginger and garlic
6) Thai vegetable green curry
7) White rice
8) Asian creme brûlée

Sunday breakfast chez Vixabs

"Sunday morning, up with the lark,
I think I'll take a walk in the park,
Hey, hey, hey its a beautiful day!

I got something waiting for me
And when I eat it, I know it'll be,
Yummy, tasty, fun, its a beautiful day!"

Apologies to Daniel Boone. He must've been such a romantic, and here I go, converting it into a foodie song! But hey, I live to eat, so what's wrong with that.

Sundays are one of the few days that we get to enjoy a slightly slower start to our day. On dry days, its a delight to sit in our balcony, enjoy the gentle mountain breeze, contemplate the hills around, listen to the dulcet sounds of our wind chime, and of course, enjoy a simple (but for us sumptuous) breakfast of fruits, vermicelli upma (mother's recipe of course!) with mango and  coffee accompanied by our weekend newspaper. Cherish the small and sinful pleasures of life - they truly are precious!

Creme Brulee with an Asian twist

Whenever I select an Asian theme for the menu for my dinner parties, I struggle to find dessert ideas that stay with the theme and yet, can be popular with my guests who are more used to the Western taste in desserts. When I found this recipe for creme brulee with coconut milk, sago (tapioca pearls), pomelo and mango, you can imagine how excited I was. Its quite a refreshing summer dessert. Uses a little cream but largely coconut milk in which the sago cooks: as a result, its not as heavy as you may expect a cream based dessert to be. Moreover, this can be prepared overnight, with just the torching of the sugar layer on top done just before serving to provide a professional finish. The recipe called for garnish with lemon/lime rind, but I found it made the dessert a bit bitter. I think it looks great even without it. A fitting end to an Asian meal. My next challenge is to find a recipe that is wholly lactose free. Perhaps banana icecream made from coconut milk is the answer to that challenge! Let's see.

Super Smoothie

What do y'all eat between lunch and dinner? Lunch in Hong Kong is early: office workers are scurrying around at noon time to beat the crowds. Simultaneously, long working hours are de rigeur in this city. We dine typically at 8:30-9pm. Going for 8 hours without food is quite dire. Coffee shops only seem to have unhealthy cakes. Being a vegetarian also limits choices available in these cafes.

What's a person to do if they want healthy yet filling alternatives?  If you have access to a good blender, I recommend a super smoothie. It can have any combination of fruits and vegetables, but I suppose its good to always have 1) spinach or other green leaves, and celery 2) high GI and substantial fruit like pears or bananas 3) vegetables which add sweetness like carrots or beetroots 4) perhaps a dash of ginger for a kick that's different? I whipped it up with ice to make it a nice long cold drink and viola! here it is! Not sure how long its going to keep me full and replete, I will definitely let you know!

Super Smoothie

One "Pot" Meal: Grilled Pita Sandwiches

I have this really versatile toast sandwich maker from Kenwood. It can make sandwiches, waffles and is a griddle pan as well! just by taking out the iron inserts! I realised recently that I had never used the griddle feature of the toaster. The next opportunity to remedy that fault came on a Sunday, when I was rather more keen to pursue my other hobbies, and spend minimal time in the kitchen. Yet, being a holiday, we wanted to feel like we were having a special meal. You guessed right: all roads pointed to the humble pita sandwich! I grilled some eggplant and peppers and made hummus spread. After that it was a breeze - line the pocket with hummus, put in some cheese, veggies, herbs, salt and pepper. Put it in the griddle iron, and hey presto: wholesome and tasty pita pockets! Hummus for protein, veggies for nutrition, pita as carb, herbs: an all round one pot meal.

I am quite inspired to try other combinations in the pitas. Perhaps paneer bhurji next?

Movie Nights

Movie nights at Vixabs are as much about the food as they are about movies. Foodie that I am, I am more demanding of food when I am relaxed than when at work.

What better way to spend a Friday night than tucked up under a TV blanket watching a movie on the BIG screen, accompanied by a "lap" tray with home made reproductions of Bombay street food? Yes, you guessed right: the menu included green salad, pav bhaji and yoghurt. Simple, yummy, healthy and easy all in one go. A liqueur to finish. TGIF!

The Slow Food Movement

Slow food, big enjoyment

I could never understand the Slow Food Movement. For a foodie like me, food was meant to be eaten, and fast. Because I loved it so. Growing up, we were told not to loiter over our food. Eat up! Our parents said. But being me, and appreciating all points of view, I decided to give the Slow Food Eaters a hearing. Or rather, an eating.

So here it is: my own version. Whatever be the food you select, put it together with care. Don’t heap your plate. Put as much as will satisfy you, no more, no less. Let your plate look inviting: as many colours of the rainbow as you can add. Sit in a conducive environment, and feel the taste of every mouthful. For the first time, I chewed rather than swallowed. The feeling of fullness, and contentment is indescribable! And what was I eating to generate such an excess of emotion? Plain old poha (beaten rice flakes) with vegetables! Plain yoghurt! Plain slice of bread! Creamy tofu with Asian spices! And fresh orange juice – the nectar of the Gods.

I was replete. And how much time did I take to eat "slow": all of 10 minutes. So no excuses, enjoy whatever it is that you have on your plate, anytime, anywhere. Bon appetito!

Light Rye Bread

Hot off the oven

Festivals in India are traditionally yet another excuse to make and gorge on sweets. But this Krishna Janmashtami, I felt I should try something different. I resolved to try and make something new for each Indian festival at the minimum, but also for a number of other big festivals internationally. This is more of an aspiration: for sure a lot of perspiration! Let’s see how it goes.

I started off my new resolution by trying to bake light rye bread from first principles, ie the old fashioned way of beating up the flour by hand and putting into an extremely hot oven. I must say the experience was rather therapeutic and relaxing, and we got a chewy but healthy (and dare I say tasty) bread to show for the effort! No additives, no unhealthy ingredients. I substituted agave nectar for the honey in the recipe but it didn’t seem to matter. What will be interesting is to see how long the bread stays moist. I have observed that home made bread dries out very quickly particularly if refrigerated. So an excuse to gorge on it until you finish it the same day!

Auspicious beginnings: let’s hope this continues.

Light Rye Bread

August 18, 2014