Easy Snack - Baked Baby Potatoes

This quick snack is inspired by baked potato skin. Half some baby potatoes, heap on some grated cheese, sprinkle with chorizo, salt, pepper and herbs of your choice, drizzle a little olive oil and pop into an oven of 200 dec C for about 25 minutes. Enjoy.

Give Me A Curry Puff Anytime!

So I made giant curry puffs for dinner last night. A quick boil of potatoes, vegetables and chicken, mix them up with Brahim Brand Meat Curry Mix and a generous bunch of cumin seeds, wrap in puff pastry, glaze, bake and voila! A tad too spicy for mes amis francais (sorry guys) who were sniffing away halfway through the puffs (lol).



(Above photo: a sprinkle of sesame seeds to mark the puff without vegetables for the carnivore in the group.)

Herb Growing

It is wet and freezing cold here and we are only in the beginning of October! Ohlala!

The herbs on the windowsill are doing fine despite the cold, except for the parsley which had sadly dried out when I was away this summer.

The rosemary (picture above) looks the best... a tough little lady that needs little attention.

The mint getting uncontrollable, growing in all directions and looking a mess.

The oregano survived the drought back in August and is slowly fattening up... way to go!

Bienvenue, Mes Amis Francais!

Si tu voudrais une recette en francais, mets un "comment" et j'essayerai de la traduire pour toi.

Pear Almond Pie

I have a weakness for desserts made from ground almonds. When I am in the mood to make something a little more elaborate, I like to add a frangipane to my usual fruit tart recipe which I will post another time.

The Frangipane Layer

4/3 cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

200g sugar

200g unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs till well incorporated. Mix in flour and ground almonds till well combined.

2. Bake the assembled pie (store bought puff pastry, frangipane and pear slices) at 180deg C for about 55 mins or till done. Enjoy!

Dumplings in Spicy Sauce

As you would have guessed by now, I am a huge fan of quick, no-fuss and yummy recipes. Apart from 3-minute instant noodles - which my mom says I am not supposed to have too often - here's something satisfying and almost as simple that I cook every now and then - Meat and Vege Dumplings in Spicy Sauce.

My favourite combo would have to be minced pork and chinese chives. Mix them up with some soy sauce, 5 spice powder, rice wine, sesame seed oil and cornstarch. Wrap in wanton wrappers. Boil till done and serve in a sauce of dried chili oil, light soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar and fried shallots (lots of it).

Favourite Food Blogs

I have added to this page a list of the food blogs that I visit often. There are tonnes of food blogs out there but these are my favourites. They are a great source of recipes (mostly south-east asian) and a good help when I am out of ideas on what to do with that huge bunch of avocados that has been sitting in the fridge all week. Do check them out and have fun cooking.