AUGUST 2017: Cream of Vegetables Soup (with a twist)

The twist is nacho chips & cheese

I remember having tortilla soup somewhere. So I experimented a bit with nacho chips.

photoed by A. Rajan

Ingredients 

----------------

2 carrots

2 potatoes

Few stalks of celery, chopped 

1 medium size onion

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 Tablespoon of dill, chopped

1 Teaspoon of rosemary, chopped 

946 mL of organic chicken stock

Butter

Salt & pepper 

1 tablespoon of unbleached all-purpose flour 

2 cups of milk

a handful of old Dutch nacho chips

shredded Cheddar cheese 

How to?

-----------

In a big pot, add 1 Tbsp butter, garlic, celery, carrots, potatoes and onion; sauté.

photoed by A. Rajan

Once the onion is transparent, add chicken stock. Let the vegetables cook till they become soft.

After about 20 minutes, remove some of the cooked vegetables. Cool them a little to blend them later (to be added in a soup later).

In another pan, add 1 Tbsp butter. Sauté the flour ensuring its cooked through. Once fragrant, add milk or cream. Whisk to remove any lumps. 

photoed by A. Rajan

Blend the cooled vegetables with few nacho chips. Add this mix to the pot of stock & vegetables. Stir in the cream sauce. Then add dill, rosemary, salt, & pepper.

Combine well. Bring to a boil.

Your soup is ready to enjoy. Add a little cheese and crushed nacho chips to your hot bowl of soup.

photoed by A. Rajan

Try it and let us know.

--A.R.

JULY 2017: Acai Bowl

When cruising nearby this resto, I saw its poster about Acai Bowl. It caught my fancy and told myself one day I will order it, eat it, and see how it goes.

As I passed this:

photoed by D. Liongson

(resto)

I went in and ordered an:

photoed by D. Liongson

(Acai Bowl)

After yumming the combination of fresh strawberry slices, fresh banana slices, shredded coconut, and granola, I saw:

photoed by D. Liongson

(purple stuff)

Let's see that up close:

photoed by D. Liongson

(Acai!)

That is the ice cold Acai (ah-sigh-EE). It's from a berry known as a superfood with a lot of health perks. Although my job is to share my dining experience as foodies do, I'm the wrong person to consult about its nutritional value. Perhaps a doctor from the Mayo Clinic may help through this article.

It helps to take a spoon, grab a piece of the topping together with a spoonful of Acai. It's a pleasure enjoy the combination effect: to let that sweet purple stuff roll about my mouth while chewing its sweet and succulent fresh fruit goodness plus some moisture added to the dry coconut and granola that led to a chewy effect. I felt all that rich texture and chilly effect in my mouth. 

Quite a mistake for me to eat most of the topping without pairing them with the Acai. But somehow I was able to catch up while I still had some remaining toppings swimming in the Acai. Strawberries with Acai, bananas with Acai, coconut with Acai, granola with Acai. Oh... so... good!

I believe the Acai Bowl is best eaten on a hot day. Silly of me to choose winter morning to eat it. But then, it's still fine since it's been a snowless winter. And, I'll never know till I try.

By the way, since this is breakfast food, it's available from 5 AM to 11:30 AM.  Click THIS for trading hours, and click THAT for the menu.

Acai Bowl: 

When you need a thrill, as soon as you will, of sweet yummy chill. 

--D.L.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D'HAIKU

Swirly yum you go,

coat toppings with purple glow;

Acai Bowl's flow.

--D.L.

JUNE 2017: Mac n Cheese

photoed by A. Rajan

After tasting Kraft Dinner, I wasn’t impressed with the box dinner concept. I was kind of not a Mac n Cheese girl. One of the pub nights with my colleagues, I ordered Mac n Cheese with smoked paprika and blackened Chicken as a garnish. The Mac n Cheese itself was so yummy that I was hooked. I started craving for the exact taste; never mind the Chicken.

So, one evening on my hubby’s birthday, my friends and I showed up to surprise him. The only thing I could think of to make was... Mac n Cheese.


Ingredients:
---------------
3 cups pasta (macaroni, bow tie pasta, penne, shell or whatever)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon of unbleached all-purpose flour
1-2 cloves of garlic
One whole bunch of green onions (about 6-7 stalks) 
2-3 cups whole milk
2 cups cheddar cheese (or a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)
Smoked paprika
Salt and pepper 
1 oval baking dish, slightly buttered

How to?
----------
Get a big pot of water to a rolling boil, 
add little salt and olive oil into it. 

Now cook your pasta; don’t over cook; it still needs a bite to it (al dente).
In a pan, add butter and olive oil together.

Sauté the flour into it and 
keep stirring till the raw smell goes off; 
(I don’t mind if it looks slightly browned). 

Once that’s done, lightly sauté grated garlic; and then 
add green onions to it. 

After about two to three minutes, add milk into this mix. 
Keep stirring till the sauce thickens to white sauce consistency. 
(If its not happening, don’t worry); 
add one (1) cup of grated cheese into this mixture.

Add paprika, salt, and pepper.
Now add pasta to this mix. 
Cook for 2 minutes. 
Now transfer the pasta in an oval baking dish. 

Layer the remaining cup of grated cheese on top, and a pinch or two of smoked paprika.

photoed by A. Rajan

Preheat oven at 350 degrees and 
let the pasta bake for about 10-12 min, and then 
set the oven to broil setting for about 3-5 minutes. 

I started doing something else during this process; hence instead of golden brown, you can see burnt black on top. 

Still it turned out fabulous. Everyone loved it! 

Easy and delicious. Please try it yourself and let us know.
--A.R.

MAY 2017: Fish and Chips (ala McDonald's)

photoed by D. Liongson

Every customer of McDonalds most likely have a favorite "usual" to order.  My usual is Filet-O-Fish meal with OJ (That's orange juice and not OJ Simpson. Hee-hee-hee... :-)

This fish-wich is quite popular in Lenten Season. Maybe it is an all year round popular thing because it hasn't left the menu yet.

What is in this sandwich? You have a bun (warm soft and firm to the bite) with cheese (golden and lightly salty), tartare sauce (creamy and tangy), and fish patty (steamy, square, succulent, crisp, and boneless). As Huey Lewis and the News would sing, it's hip to be square. ;-)

Then there are the chips. The McDonald's menu would call them "fries". Some would like to eat them with ketchup, others would like them with mayonnaise. It seems like the popular choice is ketchup. (I eat the fries either with ketchup or as is, how about you?) If you want mayo but the resto doesn't offer it, perhaps it would help to eat a chip after every bite of the fish-wich to have a smidgeon of tartare with each chip.

Chips are best eaten hot. Eating them cold can be such a wet blanket.  Sorry, they can't be fixed by stove, oven, or microwave. But if you're a fan of cold chips, then that's not a problem.

If traditional fish and chips is a piece of fish with fried potato sticks served with tartare sauce, McDonald's serves the fish+cheese+tartare in a bun and fries with optional ketchup. 

As like every sandwich, purpose of the bread is to keep your hands off the sticky elements inside it. It is a concept created by the 4th Earl of Sandwich. No kidding. :-)

Is Filet-O-Fish your McDonald's thing or your Lenten Season thing? It is my McDonald's-before-and-after-the-breakfast-menu-thing.

--D.L.

APRIL 2017: Saag Paneer

photoed by A. Rajan

Saag Paneer (Cheesy-licious goodness galore!)

This is a treat that one of my Canadian friend enjoys. So on her visit to Edmonton, I decided to treat her with this.

Items required:

• some water
• A bunch or two of fresh spinach
• some oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 1/2 inch ginger, julienned
• one clove of garlic
• A small shallot (or onion)
• 1 green chilli, optional
• salt to taste
• garam masala
• 1 teaspoon of coriander powder 
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
• 100-200 grams of Paneer, cubed
• a little kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• some paneer, grated (for garnish)
• a little butter (for garnish)
• julienned ginger (for garnish)
• whipping cream, optional

First boil some water 

and throw in washed spinach leaves into it. 

Remove the leaves from the water in two minutes 

and let them cool. 

Once cool blend it, just 2 three pulses is good 

(so that it doesn't become a smoothie consistency).

In a pan, take some oil. 

Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, 

and once they start crackling, add chopped ginger and garlic. 

Sauté a little and add chopped onion into this, 

sauté till translucent and golden at the edges. 

You can throw in chopped green chilli (or skip it).

Add spinach purée into the pan 

and add salt, garam masala and coriander powder into the mix. 

Once it starts boiling, add cubed paneer 

and lightly sauté the mixture. 

Add a little Kasoori methi for flavour about two pinches. 

You can add whipping cream for added creamy taste. 

Garnish with grated paneer, a little butter, and julienned ginger.

Eat with Naan or Rice.

--A.R.

(Plus sugar and spice

And everything nice.) 

--heehee from D.L.

MARCH 2017: Dobos Cake

I walked in The Old Danube. It is a European cake/gelato shop of a pastry chef (who spent 18 years at the famous Gerbeaud Patisserie in Budapest, Hungary). And I feasted my eyes through the cake slices.  I told myself if I will eat a piece of cake, it better be Hungarian. (Before I had eaten this Hungarian cake, would you believe the last Hungarian-style food I ate was a milkfish sausage?)

photoed by D. Liongson

So I picked the traditional Hungarian cake -- Dobos Cake. I learned that this cake was named after its Hungarian creator József C. Dobos.

photoed by D. Liongson

The version I ate was with alternating 5 layers of sponge cake and 5 layers chocolate cream, topped with additional squirt of chocolate cream and a layer of caramelized toffee.  (I was about to ask for a knife to cut the toffee. Then I figured out a fork prick can shatter it to bits.)

photoed by D. Liongson

When you have nothing to rush after eating this sweet cake, I recommend you take your sweet time. Indulge in exploring the flavors in every bite. It helps to put a bite-size piece (cake + toffee) and let the tongue explore the flavors before digesting it with gusto. Let the sponge layer twirl in your mouth with chocolate cream while chewing the crisp sugary toffee.  It is a bundle of happiness in a slice.  There is joy in one piece than eating bucketloads of slices in one sitting-- since being contented with one slice is healthier than pigging out on multiple slices at a time.

That was my little drama over a yummy cake slice. Was eating the Dobos cake slice-- easy or hard thing to eat? 

Just like accomplishing simple schemes, it's a piece of cake!

--D.L.

FEBRUARY 2017: Vegetable Manchurian Hakka Style

photoed by A. Rajan

My Chinese taste buds are so developed now experiencing different regional Chinese food. But I have always been a fan of Indian Style Hakka Chinese food.

One of my very favorite is hot and tangy Vegetable Manchurian. Deep fried golden goodness resembling meat balls in delicious Chinese style sauce.

Recipe is pretty simple; provided that you have all the ingredients or some of them and you are not lazy to grate the vegetables. (It is served with either rice or noodles. Take your pick.)

For the recipe you will need (My version):

• 1 cup of cabbage, grated 
• 1 cup of carrots, grated
• 1-2 Tbsp of scallions, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• About 4 Tbsp of cornflour

1. Grate the vegetables, 

squeeze the juices from the vegetables in a cup and 

keep it aside. 

Stir in about half a spoon of cornflour in it and 

set it aside to use it later for the sauce.

2. After squeezing out the water, 

add salt, pepper, and corn flour to the veggies and 

knead the mixture. 

Make small balls and then 

photoed by A. Rajan

deep fry or shallow fry them.

photoed by A. Rajan

To make the sauce :

-------------------  

photoed by A. Rajan

• 1 Tbsp of ginger and garlic, each finely chopped
• spring onions, finely chopped 
• 1 Tbsp of tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp of chilli sauce (I used sriracha)
• 1 Tbsp of soy sauce
• a bit of green onions (the green part), finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1. In a heated wok on a medium flame, 

add oil.

2. And then add ginger, garlic and spring onion to it. Then 

saute continuously.

3. Add the ketchup and sriracha to this.

4. And then add the fried vegetable balls in the wok and 

keep sauteing as it gets coated with ginger-garlic goodness.

photoed by A. Rajan

5. Add a little water to this and the saved cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce.

  

6. Add the soy sauce and 

stir till the sauce is thick.

7. Garnish it with green onions and some cilantro, 

Serve with rice or 

stir in noodles.

Very yummy and easy. :-)

Enjoy!

--A.R.