This will be a short post. I just wanted to show off the salad leaves grown in our garden. If I could only grow one thing, salad leaves would be it. These days it’s not hard to find beautiful tomatoes (in season), good herbs and so on; but there is absolutely nothing like the texture of salad leaves eaten within half an hour of picking – they are satiny, springy, silky and full of fresh flavour. Truly. Do it.

We have the little lettuces and clumps of sorrel and leafy whatnots sprinkled about the garden (and when I say ‘garden’ I mean 4m x 5m paved courtyard!)  in among the other plants, and around the base of some small trees in pots. All they need is a good bit of sun and decent watering and a feed of seaweed stuff & worm juice now and then and they go ballistic. (Jamie, any other growing hints?)

To harvest, we use the cut-and-come-again method, just snipping off the outside leaves as needed, and gathering a mixture of different types of lettuce, some Asian salad greens, a bit of cress, some tiny beetroot leaves and a few herb leaves (basil, mint) each time. There are weeks when there’s nothing to take, of course, and then there is the time of plenty – best to stagger the plantings and plant new seedlings every three or four weeks.

As soon as the lettuces start to go to seed – when they grow tall and gangly – the leaves begin to turn bitter, and I think that inadequate watering makes them bolt faster, so keep the water up and keep nibbling away at the outer leaves to get the best crop.

Once I pick them as close to eating as possible, I stick them in this mini-sinkful of cold water for a good 10 minutes or so (ice cubes in the water if it’s a really hot day) and then spin them in the salad spinner (another girl’s best friend in the kitchen) to dry as much as possible, before either eating or tossing into a zip-seal plastic bag with plenty of air in it in the fridge.

To me, the perfect salad dressing is 3 parts best olive oil to 1 part best balsamic vinegar, plenty of salt and pepper. But other friends make gorgeous dressings, especially my friend E, whose dressings I think always include raspberry vinegar. E, if you’re out there, can you provide your secret? And the Empress is a fan of a little walnut oil in her dressing, I believe? And what about the rest of you; what makes your green salad spin?

Are you intending to become a professional underwater diver? The splendor of aquatic life alone is reason enough to desire a recreational diving career. Nonetheless if you are inclined to pursue the more functional aspects of deep sea diving, you can undergo training and get certified as a commercial diver. Commercial diving would require related proficiencies such as a degree in nautical engineering or welding skills that are in demand with the inland diving industry. Other professional divers are engaged in search and rescue operations, scientific exploration, underwater photography or employed as dive masters.

So just how do you get started?

Like all professions, it would be best to get into diving at a young age. By initially pursuing leisure or recreational diving as a hobby, your combined experience and training early on will become a solid springboard to advanced certification. Indeed, there are courses a budding diver needs to complete in order to obtain certification that is laddered to a higher level of diving expertise. Again, progressing to advanced levels would require the uptake of technical courses prior to the issuance of another certification.

Diving enthusiasts between the ages of 8 and 15 years old are mandated by state laws to undergo open water training before a Junior Open Water (OW) Diver certification can be issued. The certification grants a maximum depth of 12 meters or 40 feet but the junior diver should be accompanied by a certified adult diver during the dive. Junior divers intending to extend their depth options to a maximum of 30 meters, dive at night or learn specialization skills can obtain certification through an Advanced Open Water Program.

Prospective divers above 15 years old will be required to enroll in the regular Open Water Program. Being the entry-level certification for non-junior OW divers, the introductory program entails intimate focus and dedication since this is considered as the foundation of a diving career. An OW certification authorizes divers to dive on their own at a maximum depth of 60 feet or 18 meters. Training can go rigid and be completed in a week’s time or move at a leisurely pace over the course of a few weeks and even months. Meanwhile, divemasters, dive cons and commercial divers are required to take additional courses and are issued respective certification or diving authorities thereafter.

What you will need?

Looks like becoming a professional diver requires a lot of lessons, experience and of course money to be able to complete the different courses and acquire relevant certification. Moreover, you will have to set aside funds for the rental of scuba equipment [http://www.scubasuppliers.com]. But then why not invest in the acquisition of reliable scuba gear from the wetsuit, fins, snorkel, regulators and even a dive computer. When compared to equipment rentals, this becomes a more practical option in the long run particularly for divers who regularly explore the open waters.

I found this recipe on one of my most love foodblogs. Something really wonderful on a warm day.

1 / 2 melon
125 g Greek yoghurt
1 / 4 onion
1 dash of sherry
Salt and pepper
Basil fresh, finely chopped
2 tranches Parma ham

Remove rind and seeds from the melon. Cut the melon and onion into chunks. Puree Melon and onion, yogurt and sherry in the blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add basil to it. Fill it in a bottle or jug and place for a few hours in the refrigerator.

Shake or stir the soup before serving. Fill it in jars and serve with Parma ham.

Sandwiches and Saturdays go well together – here is a quick and tasty veggie sandwich to make you smile:

Roasted Red Pepper and Cucumber Sandwich:

1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
1 red pepper
1/2 cup  cream cheese – softened
3 tbs minced red onion
thinly sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 garlic clove – minced
Sliced whole wheat bread – soft tortillas can be substituted
6 romaine lettuce leaves
thinly sliced tomatoes

Cut red pepper into thin slices and saute in olive oil until roasted

Spread cucumbers and roasted red peppers in a thin layer on paper towels to drain excess moisture (about 5 minutes)
Place cucumbers and peppers in a medium bowl and mix the cheese, onion, salt and garlic – stirring with a fork until well blended
Spread mixture on bread, top with lettuce leaves and enjoy! (makes 4)

Minestrone Soup (beef optional)

3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp thyme
3 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves
1 large sweet onion, diced
8 carrots, peeled and diced
1 potato diced into small chunks
3 large celery sticks  – diced into small chunks
1 tbs sea salt
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corm (off cob)
1/2 cup penne or small shells (whatever pasta you have in pantry is fine – just chop it if needed) )
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 quarts water
1 cup beef or vegetable stock (see cooking basics tab above for stock how to’s)
1/2 cup red wine
Left over pot roast or roast beef is optional

Lightly coat bottom of a 10 quart pot with cooking spray.
Heat olive oil; add garlic, onions, carrots, celery, corn, potatoes, and salt – cook over low heat until onions are transparent.
Increase heat, stirring constantly for about a minute then add 3 quarts water, tomatoes,  stock, thyme and bay leaves.
Bring then bring then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
Add pasta and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until pasta of choice is tender.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with multi-grain bread, you can garnish with parmesan cheese of desired.

Enjoy

As I passed the excellent Fiji Market in King St, Newtown today (on the way home from the gym, that was – insert praise here), I remembered that’s where I’d seen the betel leaves used to make miang  kham, those little roll-up-and-stick-in-your-gob piles of Thai spicy goodness. So I popped in and snagged myself a pack of these fresh green heart-shaped lovelies (about 10 or 12 leaves for $2.50).

I have many times enjoyed the delectable Miang Goong at Thai Pothong described here but never attempted it myself till this evening. And I have to say, this is one of the zingiest new things I’ve tried in a long time. Tested these little babies not only on Senor but his two Wednesday piano students, adventurous primary-school gourmands Lulu and Riley and their caterer dad, and it got the thumbs up from all.

A quick Google search came up with a few recipes for Miang Khang (that’s without the goong – the prawns) and I chose this one to adapt.

The fiddly bit is the sauce – but I doubled the quantity of this one and had masses left over, now safely in the freezer for easy peasy quick Miang assembly for the next time or two.

My adaptation is here, but there must be lots of proper recipes about the place – I urge you to make this, because even though the sauce is fiddly, it’s much easier than you might think and very very good.

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
• 60g fresh galangal, julienned or just grated (I started julienning but it’s a bugger to do, so ended up with a bit of both)
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut – I used the nice stuff with bigger bits, easier to toast
• 100g dried shrimp
• 100g French shallots, peeled
• 1.5 teaspoons fresh ginger
• 150g brown & white sugar mixed, more if needed – be careful here, cos the original recipe had heaps of sugar, some palm (which I didn’t have handy so didn’t use), and I used only about half of it. Think this is about what I used but probably best to add in stages so as not to get too sweet.

Method – sauce

1. In a low oven, dry-roast coconut (with the extra coconut for below) till golden brown & galangal shreds till fragrant – keep checking, but around 10 minutes each.
2. Put shrimp paste into the centre of a square of aluminium foil, fold to make a packet and then turn up the heat and roast the packet in the oven or stick it under a grill until the paste is fragrant – times may vary; mine took about 15-20 minutes.
3. While this is happening throw shallots and roasted galangal into the food processor and whiz until fine.
4. Add roasted shrimp paste, ginger, coconut and dried shrimp, and whiz again till smooth – I added a little water to help it turn into a paste.
5. Remove the mixture and place in a pot with 1.5 cups water.
6. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
7. Add sugar, then reduce heat and simmer, wait until reduced to 1 cup or a bit less.
8. Taste, and adjust by adding a little salt, then cool.

The easy bits & pieces – ingredients

• 10 or 12 betel leaves – I know these are hard to find. Perhaps small soft lettuce leaves would do at a pinch?
• 100g green shelled prawns
• 1/2 cup grated coconut, roasted in a low-heat oven until lightly brown
• 1/2 a lime, unpeeled, cut into tiny bits
• 1 small red chilli, ditto
• 1 or 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped finely
• 1 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped

Method

1. Quickly fry or steam prawns – only a minute, and they’ll be done.
2. Take your leaf as a base, and then make a little pile of all in whatever order you think works, with the proportions of chilli etc as you like, but leave the sauce & coconut till last.
3. Add a good dollop of sauce, then the coconut.
4. Serve the leaf & pile flat on a plate, then roll up however you can manage – you’ll need two hands – and pop in the mouth.
5. Stand by for flavour bomb, and enjoy.

Een lang bestaande wens wordt werkelijkheid voor Manon en Pim van Dijken. Zij worden de nieuwe eigenaren van de voormalige boerderij aan de Broekstraat 4 in Moerenburg. Volgend jaar beginnen ze met de omvorming van het pand en de naastgelegen Vlaamse schuur. Bron: Brabants Dagblad. Lees meer op Deondernemer.nl.

bluu Birmingham launch their modern British Christmas lunch and dinner menu this week.

Starting on Wednesday the 25th November, come on down and enjoy our brand new menu, all produced with the freshest local and seasonal produce.

As an introductory special offer, bluu is offering 20% off the food bill for all bookings made on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 25th November – 15th December.

Below is our Christmas menu and pricing, as well as contact details for all enquiries to do with bluu Christmas – for more information or to make a booking just give us a call or drop us an e-mail.

Starters

Roast root vegetable soup, light horseradish cream, crusty bread (v)

Coarse game pate, apple & sage compote, Melba toast

Smoked haddock & salmon fish cake, poached egg salad

Devonshire blue, apple, red onion & hazelnut pastry, roast beetroot salad (v)

Warm ham hock salad, curried new potatoes, parsley sauce

Mains

Roast turkey, goose fat roasties, cranberry & rosemary stuffing, redcurrant jus

10oz Ribeye steak, fat chips, green peppercorn onion, brandy cream reduction

Pan fried salmon, lemon & dill risotto, sauteed winter greens

Roast sea bream, saffron & garlic mash, braised peas & greens, herb dressing

Field mushroom & roast onion Wellington, bashed roots & braised leeks (v)

Desserts

Whiskey laced chocolate torte, raspberry & Drambuie double cream

Cox’s apple, rhubarb & pear crumble, root ginger ice-cream

Christmas pudding, brandy butter, vanilla syrup

Trio of ice creams

bluu’s own banoffee pie, butterscotch sauce

British cheese plate

Pricing

2 course lunch £17.00

3 course lunch £19.75

3 course dinner £25.00

For any more information about our Christmas menu and for all booking enquiries please call us on (0121) 236 9013, or e-mail birmingham@bluu.co.uk

Aside from making cookies, I’ve also been baking breads. Again, these breads are from Peter Reinhardt’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  I’ve been baking the breads as part of Pinch My Salt’s BBA challenge.

24. Panettone: This bread is filled with lovely dried fruits and nuts. It’s usually served around the holidays and great for gifts. So this was a perfect way to try it out before everyone shows up. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the fancy liners; however, it was easy enough to make a collar for my pans. I made 2 smaller loaves and a few muffin tin loaves. Because I don’t like those odd candied fruits, I used a blend of dried cherries, raisins, and cranberries. I also sprinkled more almonds on the top for decoration. The flavor was really good and wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

25. Pizza Napoletana: I’ve been making sourdough pizza for a while now, because I have a sourdough starter and I have to feed it. I hate throwing out starter and so I convert the remainder to pizza dough. Needless to say, none of the various recipes I’ve tried compares to this dough. This is the best pizza dough I have ever made. The size of the pizzas are smaller but they came out perfectly. I can’t emphasize enough how great this dough is.

26. Poolish Baguettes: This dough is interesting because it has a mix of whole wheat and white. There are detailed instructions about what to do and I basically followed the sifting. However, the dough ended up very dense and I think I would have been better off following the alternative instructions – reducing the amount of whole wheat and not bothering to sift. I may try this again because the flavor was good (especially since I used my wonderful locally produced whole wheat.)

27. Portuguese Sweet Bread: After having gushed about the pizza dough above, I’d say that this dough is also incredibly fantastic. It’s so good that I actually photocopied it for a friend (whom I’d consider a master bread baker). We both grew up in Southern CA and had this bread as we were growing up. Her father really likes it and she’s headed there right now. I’m hoping to find out whether it worked as well for her as it has for me. I’ve made it both exactly as the recipe is written and with my sourdough starter as a substitute for the sponge. Both ways are fantastic. I’d highly recommend this recipe, as well as the pizza dough, from this set of 4 from this week.

Mary Jo’s Most Excellent French Onion Soup…

What I like to do, especially with a favorite like French Onion Soup, is to look at a variety of recipes and choose my favorite part(s) of each, then create the recipe tailoring it to my particular taste – this was the process used to create my ‘Most Excellent French Onion Soup’ -

Serves 4
Ingredients:

4 tb olive oil
1/2 cup white wine (your choice)
3 large sweet Vidalia onions – sliced thin
1 large red onion- sliced thin
2 fresh garlic clove bulbs pressed
6 cups beef stock (see stock tab above & use vegetable stock for vegetarian version)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
baquettes
sliced swiss cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet
2. Add onions and saute over medium heat until onions are transparent.
3. Add garlic, salt, pepper, wine and a little beef broth to skillet – cooking 10 minutes or so.
4. In large soup pot bring 6 cups of beef stock to a boil (see tab above for creating a  stock from scratch).
5. Add onion mixture to beef broth and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or so.
6. Ladle soup into crocks, placing baguette on top of each crock and then cover with swiss cheese.
7. Place crocks in oven and broil on low 2 – 3 minutes until cheese becomes brown & bubbly.
8. Remove from oven to cool & Enjoy!

Hello World…( the usual sentence found in any book’s first chapter. Isn’t it?) We, the creators of this blog are just normal passengers travelling in the streets of IT, the field chosen by us and we started this blog keeping in mind the other people like us who travels in the same streets and route as we. Being starters, we faced many situations and time where we struggled to get over certain technical issues and finally would have got the solution after a series of references and rectifications. Why should others also face the same like we did? Can’t we make a record of all the solutions we arrived, let it be small or great so that it can serve as a key for upcoming people in the same stage as we? And hence arrived under this wordpress roof to store all our record of experiences for others to make a reference.  We hope that it will be useful for atleast a few and there lies our ultimate goal for starting this blog. We are going to record all the technical related stuffs which we came across and solution for even small problems we came across in our technical side, let it be installation of OS, developing an application, programming in java or ruby, any thing we came across and will come across. Wait for our commencement from the next post.

In a move that I found completely shocking and may well be one of the top 10 controversies of 2009, Kid Sister has finally released her debut album.  Like no joke! I have a copy in my hands! It was one of two on sale at FYE. Which either means that she has a LOT of fans who bought her CD orrrrrrr that FYE only got 2 copies in their shipment. Regardless, it was one of their featured new releases and hopefully it’ll go somewhere cause Kid Sister rocks and the CD is pretty fantastic. If you’re too lazy to go to a store to pick it up, it’s only 7.99 on itunes. Which is a pretty fantastic deal. Here’s some remixes to help you realize what you’re missing.

Right Hand Hi (Kill the Noise Remix)
Right Hand Hi (Sonicc Remix)
Pronails (Tepr Remix)
Control (LA Riots Remix)
Pro Nails (Rusko Remix)
Pro Nails (SMD Remix)
Get Fresh (Young Live Remix – Starters DJs)

you can also find some more remixes on RCRD LBL so check those out as well!

If you have ready made puff pastry in your freezer or fridge these galettes are easy made bites. With a little salad next to it, they can serve as a starter. I still use the premade pastry to make my quiches and galettes but I will try to make my own some time soon. It is just more convenient to make these things in large quantities and I don’t have a freezer to keep it in. But enough with the excuses, the next short crust pastry of puff pastry recipe is going to be a homemade one.

Caramelized Shallot Galettes

Makes 4

4 shallots

4 slices puff pastry

1 ½ tablespoon blue cheese

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamico

Pepper/salt

Clean the shallots and cut them in half. Warm oil, balsamico, honey in a pan and place the shallots in this mixture with the cut side down, season with pepper, salt and the dried thyme. Cover with a lid and let this stand on the lowest fire for about 15 minutes, if you think they are getting to dark without being soft enough, just add a little bit of water.

Place the pastry on a baking sheet and cover with little chunks of blue cheese.  When the shallots are soft and the cut side browned, place them with the cut side up in the middle of the pastry, roll the edges up.

Bake in the middle of the oven on 200C until golden brown.

Waarom zou je niet overwegen juist nu een eerste woning te kopen? Ook in Drachten is de huidige woningmarkt gunstig voor starters. Er zijn meer starterswoningen beschikbaar en de huizenprijzen zijn de laatste tijd gedaald.

Informatiemarkt
Om jou kennis te laten maken met jouw mogelijkheden, ben je zaterdag a.s. van harte welkom op de informatiedag Starters. Een samenwerking van de gezamenlijke Drachtster makelaars, Rabobank Drachten en Kooi en De Vries Notarissen.

Wanneer: Zaterdag 21 november 2009
Tijd: 10.00 – 13.00 uur
Locatie: Advieskantoor Rabobank, Lavendelheide 15 te Drachten

Urgent action was required today, to save a cauliflower head that was about to bite the dust. being on a real blend it, bowl it, eat it vibe at the moment my soup alarm immediately started going off. With milk and some past-it parmesan cheese from the fridge, and some garlic and onion, I had all I needed for a soup saviour-style lunch. To be honest a couple of leeks would have been good to go in here too, maybe even a potato for a thicker broth, but a trip to the shop wasn’t really an option (a pile of writing to get through + outfit of baggy leggings and bed socks = no outside contact) so I had to work with what I had. The results, despite the lack of leek or anything else, were damn fine splendid.

Cauliflower Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
butter
1 medium cauliflower head, chopped
600ml milk
400ml vegetable stock (bouillon cube)
40g parmesan, grated

Cook the onion and garlic in a knob of butter until nice and soft, and the onion is clear. Then add the cauliflower for a minute or two, and then the milk and stock. Bring to boil, reduce and simmer for around 30 mins (I did this with the lid on for 20 mins and off for 10 mins, and had to check on the soup every now and again to check the milk wasn’t catching the bottom of the pan).

Stir in the grated parmesan, salt and pepper and then blend until silky and smooth. Serve with some nice bread, or ageing stuff you’ve toasted if you’re following my lead. I might try it with crispy bacon on the top next time, if I ever venture out into the real world, but will ease up on the salt and parmesan to make it’s not too much of a salt fest.

I was so pleased with the results I think I might make it for a starter on Chritmas day.

What’s next? A lovely friend has asked that we run some quick supper ideas so expect to see some speedy supper recipes appearing very soon.

I do believe that we are almost to the end, ladies. The close of the season is upon us. I’ve saved one of the best football recipes for last. Remember those crazy amazing potato skin chips? I think they were made by Keebler or something like that. Anyway, these are like those. Except better. And bigger. And lighter. 

I adapted this recipe from one of the best magazines ever, Clean Eating. You’ll want to pick that one up next time you buy a magazine. 

Don’t freak out when you see the white potatoes. Potatoes do have some redeeming qualities: fiber, copper, iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamins B6 and C, believe it or not. Get rid of all the pasty starch in the middle, bake the outside, and voila! A healthier, yummy version of a football staple. Top these with nonfat plain Greek yogurt and I promise that your football fans won’t even know it’s not sour cream. Ask Ryan, he’ll tell you. Wink, wink. 

Watch and learn. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:: 

• 4 medium baking potatoes
• 1 tsp olive oil
• cooking spray
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of chili powder
• pinch of paprika
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 slices turkey bacon, chopped
• 2 oz. light cheddar cheese
• 3 TBS green onion or chives, finely chopped
• nonfat plain Greek yogurt

Directions:: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Rinse and scrub potatoes well with vegetable brush. Poke 4-5 holes in each potato with a fork. Rub the outside of each potato with 1/4 tsp olive oil. Place potatoes directly on oven rack and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through. Let potatoes cool for about 1 1/2 hours before proceeding. 
2. Preheat oven again to 425 degrees F. Cut potatoes in half the long way. Using a spoon, scrape out centers, leaving an even 1/2 inch thick potato shell. 
3. Spray a medium baking sheet with the cooking spray. Arrange potato shells on baking sheet. Lightly mist with cooking spray then season with garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, and salt. Bake 10 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium-high heat in a small pan, until barely cooked, about 4 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towel to drain fat. Sprinkle cheese, bacon, and onion evenly over shells. Bake for 15 more minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned. Top with a spoonful of Greek yogurt. Serve immediately. 

Posted by Annie.

I usually keep a cup or two of this in the fridge. It’s great on sandwiches, in eggs, on baguette – you get the idea. More posts to come with delightful sandwiches incorporating this delicious, homemade pesto.

Makes about 1 cup pesto

2 cups firmly packed basil leaves, washed and dried
10 garlic cloves
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
One 2-ounce jar (¼ cup) pine nuts
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Place the basil in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the garlic and pulse several times to make a roughly chopped mixture.

2. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream down the feed tube, with the motor running. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl several times.

3. Add the pine nuts, Parmesan, salt, and pepper and puree about 1 minute longer, until the mixture is well blended and smooth.

My friend George served these jalapeno poppers to me several years ago and I fell in love with them. They are the perfect appetizer to serve for a laid back evening  – and people go crazy for them (people generally go crazy for anything wrapped in bacon)! I made them for the first time last year and nearly killed myself. Instead of cutting them in half and removing the seeds, I thought that I need to keep the pepper whole and dig the seeds out through a tiny slice in the pepper. Do not try this!  I was in complete tears, coughing and sneezing and told myself I would never make them again. George got a big kick out of my story and corrected the recipe making it about 100 times easier. And, you can actually save money and time by purchasing less peppers and only seeding half!

Ingredients:

• 15 jalapenos
• 1 package cream cheese
• 1 package bacon

Assembly: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut jalapenos in half and remove seeds membrane (the really hot parts). Stuff with about a tablespoon of cream cheese and wrap with a half piece of bacon. Roast for about an hour or until bacon is crispy and pepper is roasted.

Crisp Bitter Melon

Bitter Melon, or Karella as it’s called in Bengali is a violently bitter vegetable. To temper this and extract those mouth-puckering enzymes a good long salting is required. Once broken down into paper thin crescents, fried up crisply with cumin, chilli and salt and eaten with mouthfuls of steaming rice, it makes a delicious dish, one that’s simultaneously salty, crunchy, bitter and ever so slightly sweet. These alien looking vegetables resemble warty, tubercle-ridden cucumbers and can be found in most Asian shops and markets. This recipe works well as a side with a mild dhal as a slightly sweet foil to the bitter edge, or as the palate-rocking prelude to a more substantial feast.

ingredients

3 small (approx 4-5 inches long) bitter melons

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ tablespoon mustard oil

½ tsp chilli powder

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 chilli, thinly sliced

1 thinly sliced onion

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

method

-salt the bitter melons about 45 minutes before you want to eat them: cut in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and then slice as thinly as possible crosswise into crescents.

- place in a bowl, sprinkle on about 2 tablespoons of salt, combine well and leave for 45 minutes

- Rinse the bitter melon thoroughly, drain and squeeze out any excess moisture

- heat the oils in a wok or heavy frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and once they pop, add the garlic

- after about a minute add the chilli, onion and cumin, and stir fry until golden and yielding (about 10 minutes)

- add the bitter melon, turn the heat down a little and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

- Add the sugar and a pinch of salt (if needed) and stir fry for a few more minutes, until very tender, dark and crisp. Serve hot.

Stir-Fried Greens, Bengali Style

There are countless varieties of spinach available in Bangladesh, from ruby “lal” saag to the leafy tops of the jute plant; otherwise known as “Pat saag”. Pui saag or “Malabar spinach” is one of the more common (it’s sold in huge £1 bunches at Whitechapel market). Sometimes stir-fried with a few prawns for added flavour and texture, it has a slightly more “grassy” minerally taste compared to those plastic pillows of leaves so prolific in our supermarkets.

ingredients

1lb of pui saag, (or substitute with chard/spinach/bok choy/morning glory)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp panch phoran/Bengali five spice (made up of nigella, cumin, black mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds – or a scant tsp of each)

½ tsp chilli powder

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 onion, finely sliced

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

method

-  wash the greens well, drain and coarsely chop

-  heat the oil in a wok over a medium-high, add the five spice and chilli and stir for a few seconds

-   add the garlic and onions and continue to stir fry. Turn the heat down and continue to cook them out for around 10 minutes until very tender.

-  turn the heat up high and add the spinach. Stir fry until the first signs of wilting, about 1-2 minutes (depending on which greens you’re using).

-  add the salt and sugar and continue until tender throughout. Serve hot.

Good morning fellow food lovers!

Well upon my scrounging for new exciting things to make, I came across this recipe in the Fairlady magazine.  Its absolutely brilliant!  What’s more is it offers that touch of class and elegance to a menu best served as a starter or canape’.  You are able to change a few of the ingredients what I do best! Perhaps use pears and “stinky cheese” (blue cheese)…simply d’vine!

So here is your taste bud tickler for the day

Ingredients

250 g ready made frozen or homemade puff pastry, thawed
10 ml olive oil
TOPPING
4 pears or apples, cored, cut into wedges and poached
salt
freshly ground pepper
15 ml pine kernels, toasted
100 g Parmesan cheese, shaved
30 ml balsamic vinegar

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 ºC. Roll out the pastry on a floured board to a 12 x 30 cm rectangle. Lightly brush surface of pastry with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. TOPPING Pile pears or apples, pine kernels and Parmesan cheese on top of pastry. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve. Serves 6.

Recipe From : FAIRLADY February 14, 2001