Diary Recipes

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Mutton in lettuce cup

Mutton in lettuce cup

Ingredients:

Minced mutton 250 grams
Crushed black pepper ½ tsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Turmeric ½ tsp
Fried peanut powder 25 grams
Chopped garlic 3-4 cloves
Ginger 1 medium sized piece
Water 1 cup
Green onion 1
Chopped coriander 2 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Yogurt 3 tbsp
Ice berg lettuce 2
Salt as required
Oil 3 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and fry chopped garlic and chopped ginger until it turns golden and fragrantAdd the minced mutton and fry till it changes the color.Add fried peanut powder and all the ingredients.Add yogurt, lemon juice and water.Cover the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes.Remove the lid and cook till the water dries.Divide the mutton mixture among prepared lettuce leaves. Wrap leaves loosely around filling and serve.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Halloween Party Food Idea Cheesy Severed Fingers

If youre looking for a mildly disgusting, yet fun and creative Halloween appetizer for an upcoming party, consider these severed fingers made from string cheese. I ran this video a couple years ago, but wanted to repost in case you hadnt seen it before, or just needed a reminder. Dont be scared...click on the link below the photo and check it out! Enjoy!

Click here to watch the video and read the post.

A Friendly Spaghetti Carbonara Reminder

I was channel surfing this evening, when I ran across a chef in New York making an authentic spaghetti carbonara. Ive never wanted anything so badly in my life. Having already eaten dinner, self-control prevailed, and I settled for a pretty decent pear. This primal blend of pork, pasta, pepper, egg and cheese is truly one of lifes great pleasures, and soul food of the highest order. Just in case you missed it, heres our version. Enjoy!

If youd like to read the original post, and get the ingredients, follow this link.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

DAIRY FREE COLESLAW

There are a zillion coleslaw recipes on-line; there are creamy ones; there are spicy ones; there are slaws made with broccoli; I even saw one with Gorgonzola cheese the other day!! Personally, I have been looking for a basic, no frills, "please everyone" coleslaw recipe to make for large family gatherings.

In my search, I found this quick and easy "recipe gem" over at MGCC, and truly IS a keeper. Not only is it delicious, but there is no dairy in it and it lasts in the fridge for up to a week; as a matter of fact, it just keeps getting tastier and it goes well with everything!!

Thank you for sharing the recipe, Charlotte!!!

3 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1 carrot shredded
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (my variation)
1/2 teaspoon celery seed (my variation)

How small you chop the veggies is a matter of personal preference. We prefer pieces about twice the size of a grain of rice and my food processor (using the steel blade) makes short work of this step.

In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and celery seed and bring to a boil, stirring just until sugar has dissolved then remove from the heat.

Pour the hot dressing over the vegetables and mix well. Let this cool a little before covering it and putting it in the fridge to chill until ready to serve.
NOTE: Toss salad again, just before serving to distribute the dressing.

NOTE: This recipe make four generous side servings (adult size). When I make it for a crowd, I quadruple the recipe.

My New Arch Nemesis Dissident Chef

An old chef friend of mine sent me a link to this video, featuring the Dissident Chef, and his Clandestine Restaurant Movement. I thought I suffered from some serious delusions of grandeur, but this dudes in another league.

My favorite line: "It’s your choice whether you want to let the rest of the world know we exist - its a great opportunity for a lot of people to really start to learn about what real dining is about." Take that, chefs that use your real names!

Ill resist the immediate temptation to "critique" this video, and its not-so-mysterious, sky-diving, cocktail-drinking, secret-password-giving chef/prophet mastermind - and will instead let you tell me, in your typically fair and balanced way, what you think of this.

By the way, since Im assuming this video is really some sort of desperate cry to be outed, if you know the identity of Dissident Chef and his band of merry faux-foodie hipsters, please do tell.

Photo (c) Dissident Chef

I AM AWAY

The other day I was thinking of going to the Himalayas in Monsoon and vanish from there. But as usual God proposes and Man disposes...Got a call from Head office and landed here in Hong Kong. so will be away from blog..OK...Ok..I know I am not writing any recipe these days...but I love to read and eat virtually all your recipes. I will be off from blog for sometime.

Here are few photos I took tonight. This is just like bribing , so that you people dont take me off your blog follower list.

Night photos from the peak..See the changing color of the blue building ( forgot the name)

HSBC Bank Head office

Time square

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Gingerbread Whoopie Pies – So Wrong and Yet So Right

Admittedly, the witch joke at the beginning of the video may have been a little graphic, but that’s what I always think of when I hear the legend of how these cookies supposedly got their name. As the story goes, when these sweet treats first made their appearance, people that tasted them were so taken by the sheer awesomeness, that they went nuts and started running around shouting, “Whoopie!! Whoopie!!”

Sure they did. This seems very exaggerated, but no matter how they got the “whoopie” part, at least the rest of the name is not accurate either. That’s right, not only is this cookie not a pie, this pie isn’t even a cookie…it’s really a little cake. Confused? Me too, and I just wrote that.

Anyway, despite the dubious name, and the other dubious name, at least the gingerbread part is accurate. Although, now that I think about it, it’s not really a ”bread”…okay, this has to stop. With holiday cookie exchanges in full swing, the only thing I can say with certainty is that these whatever-they-are’s were very delicious, fun to make, and I hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 9 to 12 finished Gingerbread Whoopie Pies (depending on the size!)

10 ounces (by weight) all-purpose flour (about 2 cups of sifted flour - see note below!)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger (3 if you like it spicy)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup boiling water

Bake at 350ºF or about 12 minutes

For the filling (makes extra!):

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

2 tsp cream or milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

*you can adjust texture by adding more powdered sugar or milk

View the complete recipe

Flour portioning note: It is critical to weigh the flour for this recipe to work as seen in the video. 10 ounces by weight is about 2 cups by volume, but because flour can become quite compressed in the bag or canister, portioning by cup is not very accurate. If you are not going to weigh, only add about a cup and a half of flour, proceed as shown, and if the batter seems too thin after mixing, add more flour, little by little, until you have the thick batter seen in the video.