Archive for November, 2007

Grilled lamb chops with garlic and rosemary

November 30, 2007 at 5:32 pm · Filed under baking, cooking, food, meat, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

As soon as H and I got home from work, I headed straight to my corner where 4 lamb chops had been thawing. They were ready to fulfill their mission.

Here’s a quick and easy way to prepare lamb chops. The simpler the treatment, the better, according to Dr. P. J. d’Adamo, naturopath and pioneer of the blood-type diet. The recipe is taken from Cook Right 4 Your Type but modified to suit Maggan’s kitchen.

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 lamb chops per person
  • 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 tablespoon mix of fresh rosemary and salt (I used dried rosemary and less salt)
  • olive oil
  1. Pre-heat oven at 100 degrees Celsius.
  2. Dry the lamb chops with paper towels.
  3. Crush the garlic and rub each lamb chop with it.
  4. Crush the rosemary and salt in a mortar.
  5. Rub the herb mixture onto the lamb chops.
  6. Pour a few teaspoons of olive oil over the chops.
  7. Lay the chops on a roasting rack (this is simply a baking or roasting pan with rack that prevents the meat from touching the pan).
  8. Put in the oven and cook for 90 minutes.

My grilled lamb chops were slowly cooked. They were tender. juicy, and downright enjoyable. I laid the chops over a bed of mixed greens and served mashed sweet potatoes on the side.

Dr. P.J. d’Adamo is a blood-type expert. His research proves that red-meat dishes (except pork) are very beneficial to people with blood type O. They are the hunter type.

When Claire and Jo visit me in 2009, I promise them dishes of salmon fillets, lamb chops, lasagna, and trips to the cathedral every Sunday while here. Hey, the last item is not edible!

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Winter salad with saffron and pomegranates

November 24, 2007 at 7:06 pm · Filed under christmas, cooking, food, fruits, salad, vego, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Saffron has made its premier early. ICA has been selling saffron buns since the beginning of this month. Soon after, Arla released its recipe booklet called Winter party! 

If fashionista is to fashion, then foodista is to food. Maggan’s kitchen followed the winter trend, naturally. Last week, pomegranates were specials at Homebuy and ICA. 2 for 10 bucks. This week, they are extra special at ICA—3 for 10. Yesterday, I picked the 6 biggest pieces and bought them. Am I depressed? ([whispering] Psst, I’ve also bought 6 pieces of the yellowest and sweetest pineapples this week at 10 a piece.) I blame it on seasonal affective disorder. Sure.

I’ve read about Persian cuisine, especially about their lovely rice. One recipe uses saffron and pomegranates. It does not only look very lovely on picture, it looks delish too. To this day, I can only dream about it. I’m not ready to make a trip to Iran.

Winter salad. This is my answer to Persian rice. Or the closest I could get to actually tasting it. It’s from Arla’s kitchen.

Ingredients for 4 portions:

  • 2 decilitres bulgur
  • .5 gram saffron
  • .25 gram butter (or olive oil)
  • 4 decilitres chicken bouillon (optional)
  • 400 grams chicken thigh fillets (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch of ground black pepper
  • 2 pieces avocado, seeded and diced
  • 1 piece pomegranate
  • 150 grams feta cheese
  • 5 decilitres mixed salad leaves
  • 2 decilitres light creme fraiche tomato and basil
  1. Saute the bulgur and saffron in butter in a casserole in low heat.
  2. Pour the bouillon, put the lid on, and bring to boil following the instructions in the bulgur pack.
  3. Cut the chicken into bits. Fry them in butter in a frying pan in low to medium heat for 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Open the avocados cutting them lengthwise. Remove their seeds and dice the fruit.
  5. Open the pomegranate cutting it lengthwise. Cut the halves further. Pick the seeds and set aside.
  6. Drain the feta cheese. Crumble it into small pieces.
  7. Put the salad leaves in a big serving dish. Alternately lay the bulgur, chicken, avocado, pomegranate, and feta.
  8. Serve with creme fraiche.

Well, if you’re not big fan of butter, substitute the ingredient with olive oil. If you don’t like the fat in the chicken thigh fillets, substitute it with breast fillets. If you’re a vegetarian, omit the bouillon and chicken all together.

With the colours saffron yellow, Persian red, and nutritious green, this recipe promises to light up the Christmas dinner table. H actually took a picture of this salad. Unfortunately, our kitchen lighting was insufficient by photographic standard. My description gives a better picture. Ahem!

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Banana-apple curry sauce for tortellini

November 19, 2007 at 4:06 pm · Filed under cooking, food, fruits, meat, pasta, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Home sweet home. Although it’s good to be back home, I’m still having some hang-over from the Paris trip. Oh well, now I can eat vegetables and home-cooked meals again.

This banana-apple curry sauce is inspired by H. He does this with tortellini. H’s recipe for this sauce is basic. He makes the sauce with butter, flour, milk, and curry. When done, he slices the banana and dices the apple. Then he puts them as toppings on the tortellini topped with curry sauce.

Well, I modified H’s recipe a bit. Not because it isn’t good but because I don’t exactly know how he makes the sauce. I figured that cooking the apple and the banana in the sauce, (basically just bechamel sauce with curry) instead of serving them raw and separately, would give more flavour and taste to the simple tortellini meal.

If the title banana-apple curry sauce ignites your taste, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 5 tablespoons whole wheat flour
  • 6 decilitres milk
  • 1 apple
  • 1-2 bananas
  • curry powder (yellow)
  1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan or small casserole in low heat.
  2. Add the flour.
  3. Let the mixture boil for 2 minutes.
  4. Take the casserole from the heat.
  5. Add the milk little by little, whipping, blending, and mixing after every addition.
  6. After adding all the milk, return the casserole onto the heat.
  7. Dice the apple. Don’t throw away the pips or core and seeds. Put them all in the sauce.
  8. Slice the banana round.
  9. Put them in the casserole. Mix the sauce every once in a while. Do not leave it unattended for a long time.
  10. When the sauce gets warm, add the curry according to taste (or colour).
  11. Cook the curry sauce until it thickens. It doesn’t have to start boiling.
  12. Pour over cooked tortellini.
  13. Serve with a mix of green salad leaves.

Imagine the rich yellow colour and the different shades of green colour on your plate that smells fruity. Feeling hungry now?

I made this recipe last week. I cooked more than half a kilo tortellini. H and I finished it easy. It would have made for an excellent bento. Well, next time. Next time, I’ll make the whole tortellini pack for dinner and bento.

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Fine dining in Paris

November 16, 2007 at 10:14 pm · Filed under food, travel, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen—still in Paris!

This is not only hip (as you can tell by its name) but also a popular place in Paris. As soon as H and I entered the city, we were welcomed by the Hippopotamus neon sign. We should eat there! I thought screamingly. A second later, I calmed myself down with the thought that it was only our first night in the city of lights. Hold your horses Maggan! You have 3 whole days! Check  in the hotel first! See you later, alligator! Oh, sounds vintage. Or should I say, latus, hippopotamus. Oh, sounds latin and nerdy.

Fast forward to the second day. H and I had planned to devote the day to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de triomphe. Champs Elysee was a bonus. There was no way to avoid walking up and down that avenue (translate as checking out the shops). A pair of Cartier earrings for 17,900 euros?! Lacoste t-shirt for at least 1,000 euros?! The Louis Vuitton house of bags and purses streaming with Japanese buyers who were paying 200 euros for a small purse?!

Whew, what a relief to walk away from the spending crowd! H and I started walking toward the river Seine and the Eiffel Tower. There was another Hippopotamus on the way to the Eiffel from Champs Elysee. Well, closer to Champs Elysee and the shops, really. A strong sign that H and I should eat there today. The Hippopotamus wanted us!

Fast forward to a few hours later. H and I had seen the Eiffel Tower. We had walked along the river Seine. Got good souvenir photos that would last a lifetime (sounds like a Kodak commercial). Finally, it was time to answer destiny’s call. H and I entered Hippopotamus all ready and decided to order Hippotrio even before we were seated. 

Bonjour! Place pour deux, s’il vous plait. Non fumer. We were then showed to our table and given the Hippo menu which would make an excellent souvenir for a hippopotamus collector. That is, if you know one. Unfortunately, the menu was too big for any of my pockets. Hippopotamus size, you know. The Hippotrio included an appetizer (salad or soup), main course (steak, chicken, hamburger or fish), and dessert (ice cream, chocolate mousse, creme brulee, or tartare). Drinks were not included, which was not unusual.

While H had onion soup for the entree, I had salad. It felt ages since I ate salad last. For the main course, we had a piece of grilled steak each, whose size were to our complete satisfaction. No time for guilt trips. I mean, how often do I have steak? Even less than sometimes. How often do I have steak in Paris? Never. So, the Hippopotamus provided the rare occasion to have it. H’s steak was medium with bearnaise sauce. Mine was well done with onion sauce. As it was, my steak was slightly resistant to the knife and challenging to the bite. Well done, remember?

For dessert, H and I had tartare d’ananas. What’s tartare? I know tartar from tartar sauce that goes with fish filet. I’ve heard about the Tatar ethnic group in Russia. Tartare d’ananas? My guess was that the pineapple attracted H to order it. I seconded H’s order.

Well, the tartare came. It was all but a scoop of caramel ice cream on a plate surrounded by diced pineapple. Beautiful arrangement. I could have ordered the dessert with 2 scoops of ice cream, which I thought was not French enough. But no, I had to go for the better- sounding tartare. Well, at least I got some pineapple bits.

H and I came out of the Hippopotamus very pleased. If we ordered the Hippokidd instead of the Hippotrio, we could have likely gone home with hippopotamus toys. Like in every McDonald’s kiddie meal. Mmm, after all that gastronomic pleasure, I needed a toothpick. My teeth were desperately begging to be picked.

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French food on a travel budget

November 11, 2007 at 3:29 pm · Filed under food, travel, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen—a Paris!

C’est le sandwich de poulet de H. H’s chicken sandwich. It had tomatoes, lettuce, and some dressing with a hint of mustard. I’d call this French streetfood simply because sandwiches like this filled medium baguette are sold on the streets by legitimate stalls usually annexed to a small restaurant or cafe. Fresh and beautifully stacked in a glass case free of insects, how could anyone resist hunger? Careful not to bite H’s chicken sandwich.

Voila, mon sandwich a Napoli. It had appeared bigger in the glass display case, precisely the reason why I chose it. That was before the sandwich was put in a grill toaster to turn it into a panini. Well, there was no time for sulking over flattened bread. The brighter side of it was that it was warm and, since it was flat, I had no problem biting and chewing it. My Napoli sandwich had ricotta cheese, Italian ham (like parma), olive oil, and some leaves. It was a good choice.

Food is not at all cheap in Paris. Baguette sandwiches cost at least 3 euros. Mind you, they’re not very filling. For this reason, H and I always have a piece or two of fruits for each of us and a bottle of water packed in our provision bag when we’re tourists. Not only do we keep to our budget, we also devote more time to places of interests (or finding them, and groceries are not one of them).

I can’t think of a better way of enjoying the Louvre than eating a baguette sandwich while admiring the museum’s exterior architecture, its fountain, and the glass pyramid that looks like it fell from Mars. Well, maybe with a bigger baguette or two sandwiches.

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