Here is my festive offering! As the kitchen has been somewhat hectic I had to keep it simple: shredded wheat, chocolate and mini eggs. They still look cute though.
So this is what the kitchen looked like before we started on it. To be fair to it there wasn't really anything wrong with it, so much as it was quite worn out, and the layout wasn't really the best use of space. For example, the fridge was behind the door so if you had the fridge door open and someone came in the fridge door, you would squash them between the doors!
There was also some space for more cupboards and storage areas and it was a pain that I couldn't reach the top shelves of the cupboards. So actually there were quite a few things 'wrong' with the kitchen!
For a the last week we've been redecorating our kitchen! Well, I say we, but I have been more of a dogsbody/observer. DIY isn't exactly something I am competant at but I will give it a go. I'll post some pictures of the finished room when it's a bit more finished.
The best thing about the new almost finished kitchen is new oven. It is a real giant! In the guidebook it says that you can cook 4 roast chickens at one time in each oven. Since there's only 2 of us and a cat I am not sure how many chickens we can eat but it's good to know I suppose! I've really missed having a functioning kitchen but in reality it's only been out of action for a week. We're lucky that so many people have given us a helping hand.
Yes today I celebrate my silver birthday: I'm 25! Officially in my mid-20s. Oddly it seems only yesterday I turned 20 but my parents always told me that time goes faster as you get older.
I spent a few happy hours going around the Japanese food shops and treated myself to some nice delicaces. I ended up coming home and attempting to make shabu shabu style pork. It's traditionally a broth which is heated at the table and people cook meat, fish and veggies in it, rather like the European fondue. Sadly I do not have a flame for the broth so instead I cooked the veggies beforehand and then the broth was so hot and the meat SO fine that it cooked in the residual heat. We had mushrooms, purple sprouting broccoli leaves, glass noodles (made of sweet potato) and TOFU! Yes, tofu was back on the menu. It was so tasty.
However I felt it was time to expand my tofu eating habits as it's so good for you and it features a lot in the Japanese cookbooks I've been reading. On Sunday I bought a piece of fresh tofu and cooked it as a tofu "steak". It was divine! Just rolled it in some seasoned flour and then shallow fried it in garlic oil. We ate it with spiced miso soup, steamed rice, pickles and stir-fried veggies. Honestly, it's a wonder I bother with meat at all, it was so tasty. I never knew tofu could be so scrummy.
I made this pumpkin pie with a squash because, to me, it tastes so similar in something like this. I cooked a squash a few weeks ago and didn't manage to eat it before it went bad, so I was determined this wouldn't happen again. I cooked the squash, let it cool and then pushed it through a sieve to make it really smooth. Who wants lumps in their pumpkin pie?
I thuoght I would cook a nice curry dinner on a work night as a treat.... I got a bit carried away!
I particularly liked the flat bread to dip and wrap the food in. Real hands on food. And since I got so carried away I managed to have another round for lunch the next day!
Just a quick one as I feel really bad I haven’t done this before. What an amazing boyfriend I have – he sent these lovely roses to me at work on Valentine’s Day. Very cute!!!!
Yesterday I bought my first plantain after seeing a tv show where they’d been fried lightly in oil. I thought it sounded easy enough. When I went to the Caribbean food shop the owner advised me to buy a really black one as this would give a better flavour. I took her advice but was lucky that it was left alone long enough in my kitchen to be eaten – it was very nearly added straight to the compost heap! I discovered that plantains are very tasty. To finish off the fried plantain I added salt and chilli flakes. Delicious. I can only imagine how good it would taste with some spicy chicken or something.
Oddly our meal featured no meat and the only animal product was a small amount of butter used on the okra (ladies fingers). I am madly in love with okra this weekend. I had some yesterday deep fried with chilli, salt, mango powder and garam masala added. They were so good that I went back and bought some more today. I had read here about frying okra in butter. I actually dry fried the okra and then added a teaspoon of butter at the end with a pinch of salt. Oh my gosh it was tasty. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more okra!
I always like to try new foods and today I bought this vegetable today in the Indian cash and carry in a nearby town. I have no idea what it is. The woman in the shop did tell me but I didn’t recognise the name and now I can’t remember even how the name sounded. She told me it’s very bitter but good for your health. She suggested frying it in a little oil and eating it with potatoes and garam masala added. Sounds yum! Any suggestions on what the vegetable might be will be gratefully received – I can’t find it in any of my ethnic cookbooks…
