This Little Piggy

Pigs in a blanket, amiright?

Get cocktail franks, or regular sized ones and cut them into threes. I refuse to make my own puff pastry, nope... Buy some. Wrap each frank with a slice of cheese (or skip the cheese like I did) and then a square of pastry, and brush a side with egg to bind the two ends together. Brush the top of the pastry with a little egg too, and maybe sprinkle some parmesan on top. Bake for 20 min and done!

Serce with a pasta salad, possibly a tomato capsicum pesto with rocket like I did. Get the pesto, or make some by blending together cashews, roasted capsicum, tomato, basil, a little lime and olive oil. Toss with your favorite pasta and greens :)

The Shukto

There's a certain type of Bengalis that love eating bitter food, and would gladly eat karela (bitter gourd) for lunch as often as possible. Even if you're not one of these weirdos, shukto is that one Bengali vegetarian dish you should know, because not only is it quintessential, it gives you bragging rights to know how to make a good one.

I made my shukto with bitter gourd, eggplant, drumsticks, raw banana, and potato. Cut long slices of each vegetable. You get these little nuggets called bori, which you need to lightly brown in oil and set aside. Soak some poppy seeds in water for about ten minutes before draining and grinding. Heat a little mustard oil and add a tiiiny pinch of ginger paste, and paanch phoron. Once the seeds sputter, add the vegetables and lightly fry. Add salt and a pinch of sugar and add a little water for simmering. Add a spoonful of ground poppy seeds. Then add half a cup of milk and a small fistful of flour. Mix, cover and let cook till the potato is done and the gravy is at the right consistency. Now add the fried bori and simmer for another 5 minutes before taking off the heat. Serve with hot rice!

The Meze

Finish off the week with a meze platter!

I think most meze platters are incomplete without kibbeh on the plate, but I'll do a kibbeh recipe later sometime. Meanwhile...

Homemade hummus with grilled eggplant, feta, stuffed olives, pita chips and carrot batons.

THE HUMMUS

If you're one to eat lots of this, the $4 dip with not even 25% of this quantity can get expensive. This takes 5-10 minutes to make so go make some!

Throw into the blender a standard can of boiled chickpeas (around 400g?) with a big spoonful of tahini and a whole lime. Grind while slowly drizzling in olive oil and maybe a little water (to avoid using too much olive oil). Add salt, garlic and paprika to taste. Stop when you're happy with the texture.

THE EGGPLANT

Slice eggplant, coat in salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, oregano and paprika and pan-fry in barely any oil (or grill) on both sides till a little blackened. Chop up some tomatoes, onions and coriander and mix with lime to serve on top of the eggplant slices.

THE REST

Cut bite-sized pieces of feta and slices of salami or any cured meat. Blanch long slices of carrots for a couple of minutes to soften them just a little. Cut up pita, brush with olive oil and pop in the oven for 10 minutes (I used leftover tortilla chips at home).

You get stuffed olives in the market, but for a DIY, make a garlic chilli mixture and stuff into a plastic bag. Cut a hole in a corner and use to squeeze mixture into each pitted olive. Marinate these olives in olive oil and chilli flakes.

Serve prettily and get to chompin'!

The Ensalada

... Con pollo, because chicken is my life.

Bread and bake some chicken, and make a little homemade salsa (salsa recipe in previous posts). Boil beans. Add onto lettuce boiled beans, chopped onions and peppers, chicken pieces, salsa, garlic salt, chopped avocado, cabbage, carrots, coriander and maybe even corn. I also added a few strips of oven-toasted tortilla. Garnish with a sprinkling of parmesan. Mix and eat! Super-low calorie and so yummy!

The Pond Fish

Lemongrass and coriander basa for a fresh start on Monday!

For the marinade: throw into the blender a big handful of coriander, a couple of lemon grass stems, garlic, ginger, lime, a small red chilli, a splash of coconut milk and some sea sea salt. Blend.

Cut basa fillets and cover in marinade. Let it sit for a while before grilling for a few minutes each side! Serve with a beet coleslaw (beets, carrots, maybe some sprouts) and garlic bread for a filling meal.

The Creole Pot

Yay for one-pot recipes!

Chicken and chorizo jambalaya

Typically jambalaya is cooked in stock or broth, but honestly unless you're making the broth fresh, just use water and a pinch of butter instead; store-bought stock tastes awful and is full of chemicals.

Cook small bits of chicken and keep ready.
 Heat a little oil and add garlic. Then add a chopped onion, celery, some bell pepper and sliced chorizo and cook. Add salt, pepper, and liberal amounts of cajun seasoning (or just paprika, oregano, cayenne) and cook. Add the chicken. Then add a chopped tomato and a cup of uncooked rice. Add a cup and a half of water and a small spoon of butter, and cover to let the whole thing cook. Keep checking for whether the rice is cooked and keep adding a little water accordingly. When the rice is done stir in some parsley and garnish with spring onions. Inhale a bowlful and let your insides bake in the heat! Happy Friday.

The Chapli

Chapli kabab is typically made with beef mince, but mutton/lamb works too.

Mix mince with one egg, a handful of besan and/or breadcrumbs, red chilli, chopped onions and tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, salt, turmeric, garlic and ginger paste, cumin and coriander powder and a little garam masala. Form flat pancakes and shallow-fry! Serve with naan/paratha :)