WORLD RECIPES & FOODIE BLOGS

2007-03-04T05:46:00.000+13:00

Kia Ora (Hello), I have listed the foodie blogs on the side-bar as given time, the post which currently has them listed will eventually move down to the bottom of the bog - oopp's blog !!!

I intend making a few changes to this blog and given time I may even change the name. On second thoughts I might not change the name.........I typed World Recipes & Foodie Blogs into Google just to see if it would show up and it did - it was #1 out of 13,600,000 which also meant typing in and clicking on the I'm feeling lucky button also brings it up.

Anyway, first things first - there is a lot of truth in the saying "You are what you eat". I don't follow and never have believed in the old saying of "you have to eat five a day and drink 8 glasses of water". To me that is a total load of crap. To prove my point, in a few days when I return, I'll tell you what I have eaten and drunk from now till then the time I return. You will see for youselves how much I eat. A few facts - I don't smoke, I don't drink alcohol. I don't do drugs of any sort. I weigh 65 kilos wringing wet. I don't sit down at night and have an evening meal; I eat breakfast sometimes; I drink coffee, tea and soft drinks. As for drinking water, I may drink one glass per day. I eat almost anything and I eat when I feel like it. I don't have set meal times. I can't recall the last time I went to the doctor - I know that it was many many moons ago and I went then only because it was a condition of employment to have a check-up. I have worked at my present employment for about 15 years and never had a day off work sick all that time. I don't play any type of sports - come to think of it, I don't watch any sports either, be it on TV or live. The only thing I do a lot of is walk, averaging around 6 - 7 kilometres per hour at a normal pace.

So, hold on to your seats, so you don't fall off - skinny friends that is - the bigger friends no doubt have enough weight to anchor themselves to the chair so they don't fall off. I have beat about the mullberry bush long enough with some of you bigger friends out there - you need to lose weight.
Skinny friends who are supposeably the ideal weight for their size, age, etc give yourselves a pat on the back, because I can't reach from where I sit. Bigger friends, just remain seated and raise your hands because I know you can't reach around to pat yourself on the back. Come on, I can't see any raised hands and I know there are some big friends out there. It's not a shame to be over-weight. It's only a shame if you keep eating the way you do and adding to that weight when you know full well, that you could and should eat less.

I know some of you have tried so many diets that I have to take my shoes & socks off to count how many times because I don't have enough fingers. My simple answer is stop eating !!! You don't have to eat 3 meals per day plus snacks, day in, day out. Miss food for a day - drink fluids. Use up some of those "love handles". Make it a day that you don't have to work, a Saturday, Sunday or whenever so you can relax at home. By relaxing, I don't mean plop yourself down on the couch with the TV remote in one hand and weight-lift a beer can with the other hand. Get outside, do some gardening, mow the lawn (if you have got one) or get out and go for a walk. You know, one foot in front of the other and leave the car at home, walking. I don't mean arm-swinging, fast pace walking (that will come in time) just a steady as it goes nice 5 km walk arould your neighourhood. Try 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back with no pit-stops for take-aways or just a quick chat with the neighbour in the local watering water. (I sat on the doorstep of someones place for 3 hours one time so I know someone's idea of just a quick chat)

I know it's alright for me to say to you to miss meals, because I don't have to prepare food for other members of the family like you do but if you sit down to eat with them, whatever you put on your plate to start with, cut it in half and put half on another plate. You may find that half is plenty - if not, and you feel the need to eat the other half go for it, but keep doing that - half your meals, including your breakfast. Given time, you will find yourself dishing up less.

I'll love & leave you with this..........Many moons ago, there was a saying about a bigger person been a 2 x 2. That is two axe handles wide by two axe handles high. I don't hear it very much these days for the simple reason that people are no longer 2 x 2 - they are 3 x 3 instead. I have seen people so big travelling on the bus, that they have to board the bus side-ways so they can get in. Then when they finally squeeze themselves into a seat, they take up both seats - well one and a half, with me squashed on the other half. I seem to be a magnet for the bigger person, when ever I am on a bus. Just as well I am just a little person, krazy maybe, but still little.

I'll be back..............

2007-02-24T21:31:00.000+13:00

Meat Not So Cheap

As the meat industry marks 125 years this week since the first export shipment of frozen meat, you have to wonder why we are paying the same prices as people in the UK. Despite the fact, that the meat has travelled 20,000 kilometres, a shoulder of fresh lamb sold in UK supermarkets costs NZ$17.10 per kilo, yet here in NZ we are paying NZ$18 per kilo. Diced NZ lamb is even cheaper at NZ$15.62 per kilo, while we still have to pay NZ$18 per kilo. A fresh leg of lamb though in UK costs NZ$16.23 per kilo, while we pay NZ$14 per kilo.
NZ exports 92% of its lamb, which leaves only 8% for local consumption - mainly unwanted legs, I bet.

Cheap as Chips

You would of thought with NZ been surrounded by the sea, that fish would of been one of the cheapest foods available to purchase, but it isn't. Snapper, one of the more popular fish has risen to $14.95 per kilo for whole fish. If you don't want to go to all the trouble of filleting the fish yourself, you can expect to pay nearly $32 per kilo for fillets. It seems that a kilo of whole fish after it has been de-headed and boned results in only around 350 grams of fillets. The bones & the head are the best part of the fish and make the best soup. You get to suck the eyeballs out of the fish head as well so buy a whole fish and enjoy. There are still places arounnd that wrap their fish & chips in newspaper.

Hot News

If you thought that chilli peppers, aren't all that old, think again. An archaeological study has discovered that chilli peppers (why they call them chilli is beyond me, as they are as hot as Hell) were added to change the flavour of other wise bland-tasting food, long before the construction of the first pyramids in Egypt. In fact they have achieved the culinary accolade of being the oldest known kitchen condiment after scientists found evidence that people were cooking with them more than 6000 years ago. Scientists used a technique that involved analysing microscopic starch grains found on cooking and grinding tools from 6100 years ago at two sites in Ecuador. Chilli peppers belong to the capsicum group but are technically classed as fruits.

Farmers Markets

No, it's not a market where you can pick up a farmer for a song, but where you can purchase produce & other goodies sold direct to you from the vendors. The markets have a code of practice, that says farmers / vendors may only sell what they themselves, grow, farm, pickle, preserve, bake, smoke or catch. The markets are intended to foster community spirit. You need to take along your own basket or cloth bags - remember you are been green - as some of the stall holders don't have plastic bags. The nearest market that I know of to where I live is the one called City Farmers Market, held at Britomart (behind the train station) in the central city area on Saturdays from 8.30am - 12.30pm. There are 32 Farmers Markets around NZ.

Northland Pineapples

If you thought pineapples were only available in yellow and could be grown only in places with tropical heat, like Queensland, well think again, because a Northland grower has set up NZ's first RED pineapple farm / plantation at Rangiputa. What can you do with a red pineapple ? Well, everything that you usually do with a yellow one except sit on it of course. It seems that pineapples are hardy little growers and can withstand drought, wind, full sun, shade or even a light frost, but in Northland ? I remember when I was a kid living in the north it was so cold in the mornings sometimes, that clothes left out overnight on the clothesline would be as stiff as a board. There's them growing pineapples of all things.

Off The Menu

Sugar laden soft drink, Spite is to be taken off all menus of a NZ fast food restaurant chain and replaced with artificially sweetened Sprite Zero. One small step for mankind, one big step for trying to combat the high level of obesity and the development of diabetes, especially in children - I don't think so. To me, it's not the wrong type of food and the drink that is the cause - it's the amount of food & drink that is consumed, that is the cause. The old saying of - you are what you eat, rings true. I eat all foods in moderation and as friends will tell you, I am as skinny as a rake. In fact if I took all my clothes off and stood next to the rack, you wouldn't see me. Come to think of it, you wouldn't see any of my friends either - all you would see would be their dust !!! (hehe)

WORLD RECIPES & FOODIE BLOGS !!!

2007-01-14T07:19:00.000+13:00

Please Note: I have dated this post 2008, for the sole purpose of this post staying at the top so..........please scroll down for 2007 posts. Once I get a chance, I'll start listing food blogs on the side-bar.

January Listings

Peru

New December Listings - Canada x 2 / USA / Thailand

I still need "foodie blogs" from other countries to list here !!!

Invites will go out to friends, to post their favourite recipe. I will include the "password" so all they have to do is type up their recipe and email it - it will post straight on to the blog.

Argentina - Pomelo Pleasures

Australia - The Housewives Calendar of Puddings
Australia - Oz Tucker
Australia - The Old Foodie
Canada - Is that my buréka? New - Listed 13th December

Canada - Frugal Cuisine Posted 24th December
India - Sailu's Indian Food
Japan - She who Eats

Malaysia - FooDcrazEE Recipe #2

Malaysia - Have Your Cake And Eat It Too !!!

Malaysia - Pearl Of The Orient Listed 13th August. Please Note: She has stopped posting, but her blog is still up. We live in the hope, that she will return !!!

New Zealand - Open to anyone ??? Come on !!! Where are you ???

Peru - Peru Food Listed 14th January 07

Singapore - Tazz In The Kitchen

Thailand - Thai-Pan Listed 24th Dec.
Vietnam - Vietnamese God
UK - Xochitl Cooks
USA - Sweet Sensations
USA - Bunnyfoot

USA - Food For Thought Listed 20th Dec.

2007-01-01T07:20:00.000+13:00

World Recipes & Foodie Blogs

2006-11-05T08:34:00.000+13:00

"Spolit For Choice"

We, New Zealander's are spoilt for choice when it comes to the amount & the variety of food available not only in our food stores, supermarkets, service/petrol stations with mini supermarkets which are open 24/7 but also the variety of food available from takeaways, restaurants and cafes. Last year, NZ had a total of 3524 takeaway outlets, as well as 6705 restaurants & cafes. New food places seem to be sprouting up all the time and one place that has sprouted is the Nosh Gourmet Food Market in Glen Innes, one of Auckland's suburbs. I haven't been out there to have a look yet, but one day.........!!! From what I have heard from friends though is that it's a great place for '"fresh food", although a little on the high side price wise, but it's the same old story - you get what you pay for and when you pay a little extra, well you get top-nosh !!! Don't take my word or my friend's word for it - check it out for yourself, if you just happen to be out that way.

Spud Lovers !!

It seems that people in the deep south who love oysters, pay top $ to get the first of the season's harvest, while here in the north, people will do the same to get the first of the season's new potatoes - Jersey Benne !!! The new potatoes are intitally selling at $10 per kilo - a dollar up on last season's prices but the price is expecting to drop to $8 per kilo. The grower planted his organic crop in June and is just starting to harvest them now. As more potatoes from other growers start to be harvested, the price is expected to drop to $5 per kilo.

Two Really Hot Naked Chicks !!!

2006-10-21T10:48:00.000+13:00

Scroll down.............

keep going...............

they are really hot & naked..............

Are they hot.........or what ???

2006-10-14T10:54:00.000+13:00

Curry Flavour Mushrooms - Nothing New

A company is selling small brown, curry-scented milkcap mushrooms (10 pound for 250 grams) which are said to be a natural food that grows wild in their country. When I mentioned the fact to Granny Smith, she said that curry-scented mushrooms were nothing new. She said that many moons ago when she grew her own mushrooms in cold & damp places she used to mix packets of curry powder into the mix in which the "mushrooms" grew. The mushrooms picked up the "curry" which resulted in "curry-tasting" mushrooms, so there you go. Also when she saw mushrooms growing wild on her property she made up a "curry mix" and feed that to the mushrooms . Another thing she used to grow was "pink daffodils" !!! They will be a couple of the things, I will grow on my property, when I get old(er). As for mushrooms, well I already have friends who treat me like a mushroom - "they fed me shit and keep me in the dark" !!! (hehe)

Healthy Food ???

The Board of Health in New York is out to keep New Yorker's healthy with a proposal to ban cooks at any of its more than 24,000 food service establishments from using ingredients containing the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on labels as partially hydrogenated oil, otherwise known as artificial trans-fat. Under the proposal, which has yet to be approved, restaurants would need to get artificial trans-fat out of cooking oils, margarine and shortening by next July 1st and all other foodstuffs by July lst, 2008. The proposal would create a huge problem for national fastfood chains.The ban would not affect grocery stores and would not apply to naturally occuring trans-fats found in some meat and dairy products. A similar ban has been proposed in Chicago, but is still under consideration.

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beat 500g softened butter, 1 & 1/4 cups of brown sugar, and 1 - 395gram can of condensed milk in a bowl until light & fluffy. Combine together 2 cups self-raising flour & 3 cups plain flour and add to the mix.Stir in 500g Dark chocolate bits.Roll 1/3 cupfuls of mix into balls. Place 4 at a time on greased oven trays . Press balls to form a 10cm circle. Cook in a moderate oven, 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Ice Cream !!!

Street's Ice Cream one of the oldest brands of ice cream, is made by Unilever Foods. It is also one of the several different brands sold in supermarkets & dairies, throughout Australia & NZ. With so many brands avaiable, it is difficult trying to "pick" what sort of ice cream to choose.

More Ice Cream.......

One of NZ's own ice cream companies, Tip Top Ice Cream was started in 1935. Some of NZ's favourites would have to be - Hokey Pokey; French Vanilla and just plain Vanilla. As well as supermarkets & dairies, there are small shops in the shopping malls, which sell nothing but ice creams and or sorbets. There are also "mobile ice cream" trucks, which ply their trade driving around the streets playing a tune, which would have to be the second worst tune, next to that frog or whatever you like to call him.

Peppercorns !!!

Peppercorns grow as a symbiotic climbing vine called "piper nigrum" on a tall thin tree in India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The berries are green, then ripen to bright red and hang in clusters like grapes.
Black pepper is the unripe berries that have been picked by hand and then left toi dry and shrivel in the sun.
White pepper ripens on the vine than is hand-picked, soaked and milled to remove the outer skin. Because of this treatment, they never taste as aromatic as the black ones.
Green peppercorns are picked unripe then freeze-dried or preserved in jars.
Pink peppercorns which come from South America have a mild flavour and are appreciated for their colour.
It is best to grind peppercorns as you need them, not only because the smell tickles your tastebuds, but because once ground, pepper rapidly loses it's flavour.
Pepper is of course a stimulant, a diuretic, improves sexual ardour, reduces fever and aids digestion. If food is love, pepper enchamces that love with mystery & eartiness.

Grind a peppercorn or two over a "dish of softened ice cream" and......... ???

I'll be back............

2006-10-08T10:52:00.000+13:00

Chelsea Sugar !!!

Just in case you "missed it", I have repeated this post here, as the video's are worth sharing.

Video's Of Recipes
There is approx. 34 Chelsea Sugar recipes which feature in the video's. Having a quick look thru the list of recipes, I can see 3 classic's my Mother used to make - Anzac Biscuits, Hokey Pokey Biscuits & Banana Cake !!! (That's if the little monkey didn't eat the banana's first !!! hehe)

Where Did Hamburgers Originate From ?

Althought the "hamburger" is well & truly part of USA, it came orginally from Russia. In medieval times, a favourite Russian food was raw meat scraped and shredded with a blunt knife and then seasoned with salt, pepper and onion juice. German saliors visiting the Baltic ports like the meat and took the recipe back to the port of Hamburg in Germany - hence the name, "hamburger". Unable to face eating the raw meat, the Germany's usually grilled it. In the 19th century, German immigrants took the recipe with them to USA. In 1900, when Louis Lassen served the meat between two slices of bread, the American hamburger was born.

Recipe - Coconut Macaroons

Combine 4 cups desiccated coconut; a 395 gram can of condensed milk; half a teaspoon of grated orange rind & i teaspoon vanilla essence in a large bowl, mix well. Shape heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place a cup of desiccated cocnut in a plastic bag - toss your "balls" in the coconut. Place the balls 3cm apart on greased oven trays, press a piece of glace red cherry in the middle of each ball. Cook in a moderate oven (180degree's C) for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Leave on trays for a couple of minutes and transfer to wire racks to cool.

Meat Pies ???

They are trying to put the "meat" back into "meat pie", just don't ask what animal it was. Transtasman food regulators are trying to ensure that the humble pie contains at least 25% "meat flesh", which can/could include skin, fat & connnective tissue. At present a meat pie is defined as a pie containing 25% meat - its formal definition covering the part or whole of a carass of any buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep. But some pies haven't been up to scratch with their 25% meat content and have been dubbed "rat coffins". Others "meat" the 25% by including snouts, ears, tendons, tongues and other unsavoury body parts.
(I wonder if that includes their "willies" ???)
NZer's eat approx. 60 million pies per year.

World Vegetarian Day

Last Sunday was World Vegetarian Day !!! So I am a week late in posting this, but never mind - have a look at the website as I am sure you will find it very interesting.

Tea, Mr Shifter ???

Believe it or not - tea was discovered by a Chinese emperor over 5000 years ago, when some "leaves" just happened to blow into a pot of boiling water - well so the story goes.
Nowadays, you don't have to wait around for leaves to blow into your pot - all you have to do is to take a "teabag" out of the packet and pop it into your cup.
There are three packets of teabags in my cupboard - one is of the old and well known
"Choysa" tea - round teabags I might add, not "square", but if & how it improves on the end cup of tea I wouldn't have a clue. Choysa Tea has been around in NZ since 1905, but no doubt as loose-leaf tea rather than the tea-bags we have today.

The other 2 packets of tea are from another older company called Healtheries which was established in Auckland in 1904, as a miller of speciality flours. Today, 102 years they still mill flour as well as supply cereals, health foods & supplements and a wide range of herbal teas. I drink two of the teas from their range - Peppermint Tea and Chai Tea, which is a blend of enchanting indian spices and decaffeinated black tea.

Where does "Mr Shifter" come into it.............it was advert for Choysa tea, where a father & son monkey were furniture movers. They were moving a "lady monkey's furniture", one of the items of which was a piano. They were trying to get the piano from upstairs, downstairs when the lady called out "Tea, Mr Shifter"? The piano rolled down the stairs !!! They were sitting down having a cup of tea, when the son asked his father "Do you know the piano's on my foot"? The father said.............noooooo, but you hum it son and I'll play it !!!

There were also other "monkey TV adverts" as well, but for some reason or other, that one tickled my funny-bone !!!

I'll be back............

2006-09-18T08:25:00.000+12:00

Food, Food & More Food

Video's Of Recipes

There is approx. 34 Chelsea Sugar recipes which feature in the video's.
Having a quick look thru the list of recipes, I can see 3 classic's my Mother used to make - Anzac Biscuits, Hokey Pokey Biscuits & Banana Cake !!! (That's if the little monkey didn't eat the banana's first !!! hehe)

Wild Food Ideas from Monteith's Brewhouse

The following are some of the dishes cooked up in the Monteith's Beer & Wild Food Challenge.

Lonely Man's Mountain Love, sounds like...........??? In actually fact it is a campside ragout of mountain thar, mushrooms & shallots served with piripiri mash and rewena bread, washed down with a beer called Celtic from the Monteith's range of beers.

Tua Good To Bee True - Hearty west coast boil-up with smoked kina, sea lettuce dumplings and rustic flax seed bread, washed down with a beer called Original.

Curry Muncher - Three curries - duck, feral boar and Nelson scallops with wild and basmatic rice, washed down with a beer called Pilsner.

Dundee's Revenge - Peppered croc fillet with akadjura-dusted prawns washed down with a Pilsner

The Roar & The Squeal - Venison mole, wild pork blood pudding with tamarillo jam and juniper sugar-cured venison loin, washed down with a Celtic.

Grubby Wild Pig - Wild pork belly with horopito, lightly smoked & braised on ureneka gnocchi grubs with fennel and piko piko slaw, washed down with a Pilsner.

The Auckland Seafood Festival

September 30th & October lst

The festival is a celebration of cuisine from the water surrounding our shores and includes crayfish, whitebait, oysters, mussels, scallops and many more delicious seafood delicacies matched with the prefect wine or beer to wash it down. The festival offers exclusive cooking classes with well known NZ chef's like Geoff Scoot, owner of Vinnie's restaurant in Herne Bay; guest appearances by celeb's, including Graeme Sinclair from TV3's Gone Fishing, plus music from The Warratahs, Ladi 6 and One Million Dollars - the group, not the money. It is been held on Saturday 30th Sept & Sunday lst October. More details on their website The Auckland Seafood Festival

I am on a see-food diet - see food & eat it !!!

2006-09-07T19:05:00.000+12:00

Kumura's
Kumara is also known as sweet potato. It has been grown and eaten in New Zealand since Kupe brought it here from Hawaiki in the tenth century. The earliest variety was bushy with very small tubers, but a bigger sweet potato was introduced later. Growing on a creeping vine, it became known as kumara and is the one we now eat. The majority of our kumara is grown in Northland in the Northern Wairoa region where soil type and climatic conditions suit kumara perfectly.The most common kumara variety is Owairaka Red - red-skinned with creamy white flesh (also sold as Red).Gold kumara (also sold as Toka Toka Gold) has golden skin and flesh and a sweeter taste. Orange kumara (sometimes sold as Beauregarde) is the sweetest, with rich orange flesh.
Puha

Puha or Rauriki is a green vegetable native to New Zealand. It was one of the staple green vegetables of the Maori people and is still eaten today. Puha can be found growing wild. The ‘smooth’ leaved puha is the most popular. The slightly bitter and ‘prickly’ leaved puha is also eaten. Whilst it is not grown commercially it is occasionally available and there is certainly demand for it in some areas.

2006-08-14T18:59:00.000+12:00

Kia Ora (Hello), Another day, another 3 meals.........to prepare or eat out or whatever it is that you do. Most of the time, I have toast on peanut butter (nooooo, that shouldn't be peanut butter on toast, because you haven't seen how much peanut butter I put on my toast !!!) and coffee and another coffee and another coffee, when I get to work. It's good for you isn't it - coffee - if you can believe what they print in the papers.

Anyway been the 13th, I thought I would ramble on just a little bit, so I had a post of sorts on here. Then while searching thru the blog world I came across this blog - seeuseat !!! Whether it has anything to do with if you can seeuseat or not I don't know, but after reading thru it, I think I have put on a few pounds "just looking" !!! As it turns out the name of the blog isn't see u seat but......... See Us Eat !!! Maybe I need glasses or a glass or two to go with all the food !!! (hehe)

2006-08-07T08:26:00.000+12:00

Kia Ora (Hello) When I was searching the blog world - like I do - a foodie blog popped up. I was going to mention the name of the blog here, but.........!!! I will have another look thru it first. It made mention of "Pepper Ice Cream" ??? Has anyone tried it ?

When you go to the supermarket, it's hard to know what ice cream to buy as the selection is so great with a number of companies producing ice cream.

One of the best ice cream companies in NZ is Kapiti Fine Foods which produces a wide variety of ice cream flavours including - Fig & Honey; Gingernut; Honey & Kiwifruit; Green Tea; Lemongrass & Ginger and Lemon Meringue to name just a few. They also produce a wide selection of cheese.

# 7. Chicken Adobo

2006-07-31T12:32:00.000+12:00

Chicken Adobo

Ingredients

3 pounds chicken thighs, cut into serving pieces

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon peppercorns, crushed

1 teaspoon brown sugar

5 garlic cloves, crushed

3 bay leaves

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a pan, cover, and allow to marinate one to three hours. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and allow to simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the chicken is lightly brown. Serve with white rice.

Recipe supplied by - Rammy Ramblings / Philippines

# 3. Cooking Tips

2006-07-31T12:28:00.000+12:00

Kia Ora (Hello) Someone, (who shall remain nameless for now) mention that this blog must be feeling like the "poor sister" who didn't go to the ball as all the other blogs get updates and this one doesn't !!! Well, what can I say apart from I hate cooking and I can't cook to save myself. I can boil an egg; make toast; heat up a can of spaghetti or bake beans - in other words, I know enough to get by. Other than that I eat take-aways or invite myself around to Granny smith's for a cup of tea. Because I know when you go there - you get more than a cup of tea. You get "full" on her home cooking & baking, plus a little doggy bag to take away as well. I always ask her if she needs any little jobs done - like changing tap washers, lightbulbs; fetching in firewood, digging the weeds out of her garden; cleaning the bathroom - hey, I do have my uses sometimes !!!

Anyway here's a few tips for the cooks out there.........(not from me of course, but handed down)

Preparing An Avocado - To make it easier to peel a ripe avocado, place it in boiling water for 5 minutes first. As the outer flesh is also very slightly oxidized, the flesh will stay greener for longer rather than turning brown.

Homemade Fish Seasoning - You can enhance the the natural flavours of white fish using unusual homemade seasonings. For example, dry some mint; orange zest; lime zest; a small piece of vanilla pod and a stick of licorice on a very low temperature in a oven. Liquidise and then dust over your white fish. (monkfish, John Dory or cod)

Choosing Your Chilli - When deciding how fiery to make a chilli dish, work on the simple basis that the smaller the size of the chilli, the hotter it will be (I think I have mentioned this before, but.......!!!)

Spicing A Curry - The secret to getting the best flavour out of your curry is to know when to add your spices. Whole spices should be cooked in the hot oilat the begining to release & distribute the flavours evenly. Spices like mace and cinnamonshould be ground and added to your dish towards the end of cooking.

How To Roast & Skin Peppers - Brush peppers with olive oil and roast in an oven at 200 degrees C for 30 minutes or until they are collapsed and partially blackened. Place the peppers in a plastic bag, seal and stand for 10 minutes. Remove and the skin should peel off easily. De-seed and dress in oil and lemon juice.

Simple Salad Dressing - Take the juice and zest of 2 oranges, heat gently until the volume is reduced by two-thirds and place in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice. Whisk in 200 ml of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and a little of water. Season.

# 6. Kangkung - Water Convolvulus

2006-05-17T23:28:00.000+12:00

This is a South East Asia dish...cant tell for sure which country started this first or whatsoever. All I know is you can get it almost everywhere in S.E.A. be t Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam,Indonesia or ......you get what I meant.

Check Wikipedia for more info on this vegetable. There are 2 species that I know of land and water. The water base specie is thought to be tender and sweeter. The land specie.....tougher and more fibre.

I dont have a specific recipe to follow. Its all just from experience and watching others cooking it.

You will need

The vegetable of course - Kangkung

Dried Shrimp

Chilli

Belacan or prawn paste or here

Oil and Seasoning

Firstly, cut up the roots and then depending on how you want it. I usually leave them at about 6 inches in length as they will wittle once cooked. What am I talking about ? Cut them up into about 4 - 6 inches in length. There, isnt it better. Wash and drain.

Soaked the dried shrimp in running water for about 10 minutes. Drain and pound. Blend the chilli. Heat up a pan or wok, chuck the belacan into the heated pan or wok and toast the belacan. Remove and set aside. Using the same pan or wok, place a enough oil to sauteed the pounded dried shrimp till fragrant. Add in the toasted belacan and blended chilli. Be extra careful now as the fume will make you sneeze....chuckle. Do adjust the amount to your taste.

Lastly, dump the kangkung and stir or tosses them till they are fully cooked. Adjust seasoning. Dont think you will need salt or soy sauce as the dried shrimp and belacan is salty enough.

Till then

Enjoy !

Cheers !

# 5. Fried Vermicelli

2006-05-11T18:27:00.000+12:00

Invited by our New Zealander friend Kelvin and having recently just cooked up something after some time, decided to contribute to his blog.

This dish was inspire by my wife. It is actually called Fried Beehoon in Malaysia - beehoon as in Hokkien or called Fujian dialect for vermicelli.

Here's what you need

Vermicelli - dried - about 100 gm - soaked in cold water till soft. Or you can use hot water and then rinsed off with cold water. Drain

Bean paste - 50 gm - minced
Black Mushroom - 50 gm - soaked till soft and julienne
Meat - i uses chicken - 50 gm thin slices
Chilli - 1 piece or number - chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves - chopped.
Oyster Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce
Sugar ( optional )
Oil
Water

In a hot wok, pour a little oil from the side. Once hot, sauteed the bean paste till fragrant. Add in the black mushroom, meat, chilli, garlic and sauteed for a few seconds. Dump in some oyster sauce and dark soy sauce to your taste. Add some water and bring to a boil. Lower heat. Pour in the vermicelli and stir with a chopstick or tong till well mixed with the sauce like liquid.

Served hot.

I actually did flambe with a little Shao Xing Rice Wine. Its optional though. You can also served this with some julienne chilli and some fresh coriander leaves.

Cheers !

Cooking Tips # 2

2006-04-30T01:32:00.000+12:00

Stop Your Weeping !!!
Throw the onions into a freezer for 10 minutes or peel them under water - then cut them up.

Choosing The Right Chilli.
When deciding how "hot" you like it, work on the simple basis that the smaller it is, the hotter it will be. (The chilli that is !!!)

Simple Sushi.
Wash the rice and leave it to soak in cold water for 30 minutes before cooking. This moistens the cooked rice, helping it to stick to the fish.

Ripening Unripe Fruit & Veges.
Store a ripe banana with them, as the gasses given off by the banana speed up the ripening process.

Footnote: Maybe we should be taking "bananas" on our Poetry In Motion Tours (hehe)

Thickening Up A Thin - Sauce !!!
Mix together equal quantities of softened butter and flour in a mixing bowl, until it becomes creamy. Whisk this in small amounts into your "thin sauce", until it's thick.

Preparing Mushrooms
Never wash mushrooms in water, as their sponge-like flesh soaks up moisture, which will destory the texture.Wipe them all over instead with a paper towel.

Cooking Tips # 1 !!!

2006-04-16T07:01:00.000+12:00

The Creamiest Scrambled Eggs
Whisk some free range eggs with a little bkack pepper & salt and pour into a heavy based pan with lots of melted butter. Use a spatula to stir them as they cook. When the eggs are about a minute away from been ready, remove from the heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of double cream to lower the temparature and serve on hot buttered toast.

Crisping Up Fish Skin
To crisp the skin of white-flesh fish, without drying it out, coat it in a little olive oil and toss in a little instant potato mix, then season before frying. Ensure your frying pan is hot, but not smoking.

Frying Salmon
When frying salmon, follow the above but add a little cayene pepper to your potato mix to enhance the flavour.

Marrinated Lamb
Dice the fat from the best-end of de-boned lamb and heat it in a covered pan until liquid. Allow to cool a little, but while still hot, add some garlic, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary and salt & pepper. Aloow the fat to cool, but not set and then coat the lamb. Cook.

A Tasty Joint
When roasting a whole joint, take it out of the fridge, one hour before putting it in the oven to ensure that it reaches an ambient room temperature. the meat will be more tender and evenly cooked.

Crispy Chicken
A combination of the juice of half a lemon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil drizzled over the skin of the chicken and rubbed in firmly, will give you good crisp skin and succulent flesh. Baste the bird after half an hour in the oven and again twenty mintues later. Rest for 15 - 20 minutes before serving as this allows the heat to spread throught the meat.

Recipe # 4 - Hainanese Chicken Rice

2006-03-25T17:37:00.000+12:00

Have been advising and giving people recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice and I realized that I havent been cooking this for quite some time. So, I went ahead and cook them. Somehow, I have to break them into 3 parts as I need to up date my blog more often or I will start losing readers and friends....chuckle

Started off with the chilli sauce and here's what you need.

Fresh Red Chilli - 100 gm
Garlic - 40 gm
Ginger - 60 gm
Chilli Padi - 30 gm ( to taste )
Calamansi Juice - 20 ml
Sugar , Salt and White Pepper to taste
Chinese Parsley - 20 gm
Chicken Stock - 60 - 80 ml
Chicken Fat ( oil ) - 20ml

Blend the first 4 ingredients. Add in chopped parsley. Mixed in the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste.

Some people would want to cook this sauce. Go ahead then, No problem with it. The only difference is after blending all the ingredient, sauteed with chicken fats and then dump in the stock. Simmer and season. The question is, must you do that ? In the end you wont be eating this sauce warm or hot. It will still be either room temperature or chilled, right ?

Picture is so much clearer now that I followed Pusiva's Culinary Studio style of using white back ground with no flash and better lighting.

The ingredient - note the salt between the chilli padi

End product - looks good eh ?

Simple Ginger Sauce
100 gm Ginger - grated
10 ml Chicken Oil
Chicken Stock
Seasoning
Mixed the grated ginger with a little oil. Season and dilute with stock.

Chicken Rice

Rice - 150 gm
Chicken Oil - 20 - 50 ml
Shallot - Chopped
Garlic - Chopped + additional 2 - 3 cloves whole peeled
Old Ginger - Grated + 1 cube peeled young ginger ( 1 inch )
Screwpine leave ( Pandan ) - 1 piece ( tie it up )
Margarine - 1 tablespoon ( for colouring and extra flavour )
Chicken Stock
Seasoning

In a stock pot or rice cooker, sauteed chopped shallot, chopped garlic and grated old ginger with chicken oil till fragrant. Add in the washed rice and mixed. Pour in chicken stock till enough to cook the rice. Dump in the rest of the ingredient and season. If using rice cooker, just press the cook button. If using stock pot, cook on medium low heat uncovered. Stir occasionally.

Once cooked, remove the pandan leave, cube ginger and garlic clove. Served hot.

From Bottom left - chicken oil, shallot, garlic & ginger paste, Margarine, ginger, uncook rice, pandan leave, sauteed garlic.

End product - light fluffy chicken flavour rice with a hint of ginger in every bite.

I prefer poach chicken over anything else for my Hainanese Chicken Rice. Cleaned whole chicken and trimmed fats. You can use that to render your chicken fat. Place whole chicken into a pot of water and bring to a boil for 30 minutes. Make sure it is cooked. I time mine as 39 minutes. So, i guess that will make the cooking time as 40 minutes. Place the chicken in another pot and place under running water for 15 minutes. This will get you smooth and tender chicken pieces as in Pak Charm Kai....if you like them warm, i suggest you watch the chicken after 25 minutes of cooking. Dont over cook them or you will end up with real tough chewy pieces of chicken.

To serve, chopped the chicken up to bite size. Topped with mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil. Garnish with cucumber, spring onion and chinese parsley. Even tomato is a cool accompaniment.

Served with the chilli sauce and ginger sauce.

Cheers !

Recipe # 3 - Avocado Bread

2006-03-25T17:35:00.000+12:00

http://messycucina.blogspot.com/2006/03/pan-de-aguacate.html

Avocado Bread.

Yeah, I thought so too.

But it's green and it's St. Patrick's Day weekend, so why not.

Incidentally, avocados are full of nutrition. No cholesterol or sodium, 5 grams of monosaturated "good" fat, 60 percent more potassium than a banana, and tons of vitamin B, folic acid and antioxidants!

The bread comes out looking slightly green and tastes nothing like guacamole. In fact the best way to describe the flavor is delicious and, well, familiar. Very much like banana bread, except your left wondering where the banana is.

Pan de Aguacate
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 scant cups white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe avocado, about 3 medium avocados
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup of your favorite nut, chopped and/or mini chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Stir in oats.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by mashed avocado.

Mix in the dry ingredients to the avocado batter, alternating between mixing in the buttermilk. Stir just until combined. Fold in nuts and orange zest.

Go ahead and taste the batter. I dare you.

Not bad is it?

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Go ahead and lick the bowl, no one is watching.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow loaves to cool in pan for at least 20 minutes before removing.

Enjoy watching your family's faces scrunch up in perplexion when they ask what it is after declaring it to be so delicious.

Recipe#2 - Beancurd with Dried Scallop Sauce

2006-03-02T18:46:00.000+13:00

I had this dish that one of my chef friend created for a restaurant where he works.

You will need the following ingredient.

100 gm beancurd ( preferably silken white )
50 gm minced fish meat
20 gm black mushroom - chopped coarsely
spring onion - to taste
flour
1 no egg
seasoning
Brocolli - 150 gm

Mixed all ingredient till well mixed. Form into shape and coat with another layer of flour. Fried over medium heat till golden brown.

For the greens, just blanch in water with salt and a little oil ( optional ).

For the sauce

1 - 2 numbers of dried scallop - depending on size. Soaked for at least 2 hrs
Garlic - 1 clove - chopped finely.
Chinese Rice Wine

Sauteed the garlic and shredded dried scallop. Pour in 2 dashes of Chinese rice wine. Stir and then pour in the water use to soaked the dried scallop. Add in a little water use in soaking mushroom. Bring to a boil, add in oyster sauce, salt and white pepper. Lower heat, add a little thickening agent usually corn starch till slightly thicken. It will stick to the spoon and yet kind of runny. Check seasoning again. Pour over arranged beancurd and brocolli. Served hot.

You can opt to see the pic in http://foodcrazee.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipe-beancurd-with-dried-scallop.html

# 1 / NEW ZEALAND / HANGI

2006-02-27T09:29:00.000+13:00

Haere Mai / Welcome, Due to the task of preparing a hangi - food cooked in a pit in the ground - I have included a website address for you, rather than try and explain it all to you myself. You would end up krazier than me, if you had to read "my way" !!! (Hey, that's not a bad idea, then I wouldn't be alone - hehe !!!)

"How to prepare a hangi"
Once it's cooked, I don't think I need to tell you how to eat it, apart of course from - "use your fingers" !!!

Hints -
It's a great way to prepare a feast for a crowd, but give it a try, a couple of times in a small way. Don't try and prepare a hangi for a crowd, your first time out or the only food you will see, will the half-cooked food people throw at you.
Ask !!! Maybe there is someone in your club or group that has been there, done that !!! If they help, tell how many people they are welcome to invite to share in the hangi. If you don't set a number, they could turn up with all their realations & more !!! (hehe)
If "lunchtime" is set for 12 noon, be prepared to get out of bed at "sparrows fart" - the crack of dawn - to get a pit dug and the fire going.

Anyone is welcome to leave a comment if they have any "hints" !!!

Well, that's it for me !!! Who's up next ???