GARNISHES

Carrot and Courgette ribbons

My all time favourite garnish

          BROWN RICE- Oh my!!!


A cold May afternoon like the one we had today got me adventurous in the kitchen. We got a bag of brown rice yesterday that my mum got from a friend of hers and she was all excited about it.

So my cute ma, goes like, "Esther, i know you will make us great brown rice." Aaaaaaaaaahhh! I think not. Ok, so that was yesterday.....

Back to today, The bag of rice comes with no instructions (great help). I went ahead and called the only brown rice guru i know, Ruth (my sister).

The phone conversation went something like this:

• General rule rule is 1:1
• Soak the rice for 45mins
• Boil water, add salt, 2 tbsp of oil
• Cook the rice on low heat for 20 mins

I set it out slightly differently, you know, just to see what will happen. I am a culinary student, that is what we do.
  

• 2 cups of brown rice
• 3 cups of chicken stock (Boiling)
• 2 tbsp oil 
• 1/2 bunch of coriander
• 4 twigs of spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of oil for frying, finely chopped

              

                   METHOD

1. Wash the rice twice
2. Soak the rice for 45 mins
3. Drain the water and rinse once through
4. Re-heat your stock and once boiling, add oil 
5. Add the rice and cover with a tight lid
6. Once it gets to a boil, simmer for 25 mins
7. Check for doneness. (it should chewy)
8. In a heated small pan or skillet add oil and onions and the coriander and allow them to sweat for 5 mins when covered.

Add this mixture into the rice using a rice fork and enjoy.

I have been snooping around the net for Brown Rice recipes. 
Oh My!!!!! There are varied methods in how to make the perfect bowl of rice.

E.g.- One website states that 1cup of rice:12 cups of water (saveur technique). I thought that this is quite peculiar so i don't know whether it works. . They claim is fail-proof so
please try it out and let me know how it turns out. 
 
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Perfect-Brown-Rice




Try this one out though, i like this method because it is similar to what i did.
 
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-brown-rice-113856

 

INGREDIENTS
 
1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 cups water
Sesame or vegetable oil (OPTIONAL)
1 teaspoon salt (OPTIONAL)
Soy sauce (OPTIONAL)

EQUIPMENTS
 
1-quart (or larger) pot with tight-fitting lid

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Measure out 1 cup of brown rice. We generally use short-grain or medium-grain brown rice. Long-grain may need a little extra water.

2. Rinse the rice thoroughly in a sieve or strainer until the water runs clear.

3. OPTIONAL: Heat a little oil in the pot over medium heat and fry the rice for a moment before adding the water. This helps build flavor, but is definitely optional.

4. Add 2 1/4 cups water and stir just once.

5. Bring to a simmer.

6. Cover tightly.

7. Turn the heat to low and cook for 45 minutes.

8. Remove the lid and stir once to make sure there is no more liquid water at the bottom of the pan. Serve immediately, or let cool for half an hour and then refrigerate for future lunches.

ADVENTURES IN MY KITCHEN: All things Vegeteria...

ADVENTURES IN MY KITCHEN:                               All things Vegeteria...:                               All things Vegeteria n I love my trips to the market, City Park Market. I have a go to guy in d...

Beef in a red wine sauce garnished with a sauteed turnips and carrots

Duchess Potatoes

Garnish- Carrots and Rosemary

Vichy Carrots

Chicken Fricasse

Boiled Beef made in a broth that had a Bouquet Garni of Carrot, Leek,Celery, a Studded Onion and Cabbage

. The Bouquet Garni was served with the dish.

Duchess Potatoes, Vichy Carrots, Beef stew garnished with Sau

                              All things Vegeterian

I love my trips to the market, City Park Market. I have a go to guy in different parts of the market depending on what i need.

In this dish, I chopped the peppers for ma, you know just trying to practice my knife skills. I was too tired to cook so I stood by her and instructed her on what to do. I was quite pleased by the outcome because this is such a beauty with  such unusual ingredients. 

• Arrow roots
• Red pepper
• Yellow Pepper
• Carrots
• Green Pepper

The past few weeks of cooking school have been quite an adventure. We have made stocks, soups, broths. It got daunting but it is worth the labour love. 

" A good stock is the basis of all good food preparation."

• Blanching Bones
• Skimming and more skimming
• The art of Simmering
• Browning Bones
• Mirepoix
• Bouquet Garni
• Vegetable Cuts

I will share with y'all my love for making soups and stocks in due time. Carrot Soup is my all time fav. poor pumpkin soup. I loved you :-)

TRAINING AS A CHEF

On April 2nd, 2012, i started my two year journey of training as a chef at Top Chefs Culinary Institute.

It's been 1 month and a beat and you know what, I love it, love it, love it. At the end of all this, i would love to teach, teach and teach some more. I have to spread the food appreciation bug.

Culinary School isn't for the faint hearted. It involves:-

• tears
• happy tears
• frustrating tears
• knife handling skills
• cuts
• Surprise tests (Thanks Chef Felix)
• creativity
• guts
• will power
• calm mind
• sweat
• thick skin

 I will be posting my progress as often as i can possibly can.

Thanks for dropping in.

Love you all food enthusiasts and all curious beings.
 

Life made Easy

It has been a while since i blogged.
Life has a way of taking over all of you and that is why i have been very rare.

I haven't cooked anything grand and i think i lost my mojo.If you find it please holla.

:-)     :-)      :-)

That said, i bumped into this website that is absolutely grand and it makes life so easy.

Please check it, it inspires me.

www.allrecipes.com

Love you all 

Marinades

Marinades serve two different functions: as a tenderizer and flavor enhancer. Flat cuts of meat such a fillet or spare ribs, benefit most from tenderizing marinades. Whichever marinade you decide to work with, it's best to place meat in a heavy zip-top bag with the air squeezed out and turn it often to be sure all surfaces benefit from the marinade.Alternatively, a shallow glass or plastic tray will do just fine but keep the meat well covered and refrigerated.

I love the sauce & marinades sections in the supermarket. You will discover a wide range of marinades you can use for various meats. Experiment, Experiment.
It's always good to taste the marinade before you add in the meat so that you can customize the marinade. (which i always do)

I am all for making marinades from scratch, but you must agree that you must have a kitchen helper (cheat's marinade) when you are short off time.

 Here it goes good people............................

                               Spare Rib Marinade
  Ingredients

• Knorr Spare rib marinade (available nakumatt/uchumi)
• 3cm ginger, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Cummin seeds (a pinch)
• Fresh rosemary (a pinch, soaked in a cup of boiling water for 5mins and finely chopped)
• A splash of oil
• Freshly ground black pepper.
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste

Method

• Mix the marinade in 250ml of water/according to the pack instructions
• In a sauce pan, fry the onion,garlic and ginger until the onions become translucent
• Add tomato paste/concentrated tomatoes, spices and fry for 5mins over medium heat
• Add the marinade and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth, and let it simmer covered for 10mins on low heat
• Add liquid if the mixture becomes too thick and adjust the flavours
• Set aside and let it cool.

This marinade can be stored in the fridge for 4 days in an air tight jar ready for use.

Guacamole

 

I live in kenya, and what i love about this country is that the humble avocado is readily available and at a really good price. Go to the market and look out for the various types of avocados. Get your hands dirty and pick out a nice firm, ripe avo.

GUACAMOLE

Guacamole is an avocado-dip that originated in mexico, many years ago.

Ingredients

• 2 large avocadoes
• 1 white onion, finely chopped, set aside and seasoned with a generous amount of salt
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and cubed
• A handful of dhania/cilantro/Chinese parsley
• A pinch of black pepper/ salt/additional lime juice

Method

• Peel and mash avocados in a medium serving bowl
• Place the onion in a sieve or colander and rinse with water
• Stir in onion, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper
• Taste and adjust the flavours
• Season with remaining lime juice and salt and pepper to taste
• Transfer in a clean serving bowl
• Chill well covered with cling foil in for an hour to blend flavors

mango and passion fruit fool

I'm currently on holiday down at the coast and as life would have it with all the food sampling that goes down at the coast, i have what is called Acute G.E. This is just a fancy word for, i can't travel and eat as i like for the next couple of days. :-)




It is always good to have quick and easy dessert tricks up your sleeves. These tricks often leave your guests thinking that you are the grand master chef :-)

This menu is was adapted from Good Food magazine but i did a bit of twiking here and there.

                                     MANGO & PASSION FRUIT FOOL  (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 2 Large Mangoes (firm & ripe)
• 4 Passion fruits
• 500ml  Greek yoghurt/ any good eating yoghurt (chilled)
• Dessicated coconut to garnish

Method

• Peel the mangoes and chop it up into cubes, set aside
• Cut the passion fruit open and spoon out the flesh and set aside 
• Peel the reminder of the flesh that is on the seed of the mango and any that might be left on the peels and add this into blender 
• Add the yoghurt into the blender and pulse it for 1 minute max
• Pour out the blended yoghurt into a martini glass or a shallow dessert glass
• Add the cubed mango, and drizzle the passion fruit on top and garnish with a pinch of dried dessicated coconut.

                                                          ENJOY

FISH IN COCONUT SAUCE

Fish is quite versatile and what i absolutely love about it is that it's ability to pick on flavours.


                               INGREDIENTS

• 2 pieces of fish fillet Tilapia/Red snapper (Feel free to use non-filleted fish, it still works pretty well)
• 350ml Coconut Cream
• 2 tsp of minced garlic 
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp cummin seeds
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp mixed spices
• salt n freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• a handful of dhania (corriander)
• 1 medium onion

                  METHOD

1. Season the fish fillet with salt n pepper and pan fry until cooked through (10mins tops). Put on absorbent paper and keep covered.
2. In a heavy based pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, heat through and add onion, garlic and ginger and fry until translucent.
3. Add the spices, tomatoes and tomato paste and cook until the tomatoes start to disintergrate.
4. Add the sugar and  a cup of water (start with half a cup n keep adding just incase your sauce becomes too thin) and let the sauce simmer on low heat and covered for 25 mins.
5. Add in the coconut cream and dhania, adjust the flavour until you get it right. Add some more water if you wish to get the right consistency.
6. At this stage you could add 1 stock cube (knorr chicken, garlic n herb cube) instead of salt. In case you need a bit of a punch to the flavour, add some ground black pepper.
7. Once you are happy with the taste of  lower the fish into the sauce and heat through at low heat for 10 minutes and serve.

                            

PICKLED ONIONS

The humble onion,.......

Many people have a love hate relationship with onions, onion breath, so many names that i'm not fond of.

Anyhu, I bumped into this simple recipe that promised to knock my socks off. I tried it out and well, i love it.

The first time i tried it out i used the white and red onion. The 2nd time round (shown above) i only had the red onion. So we can say that it swings both ways :)

                           INGREDIENTS
                          # 1 Large onion, red

                            #  Juice of 1 lime

                           # 1 tsp cummin seeds

                       #  1 tbsp olive oil

                    METHOD

1. Slice the onions (feel free to use a mix of both red and white) into rings and seperate the rings carefully
2. Place the onions in a bowl and pour the lime juice and olive oil and mix.
3. Cover with cling foil and refrigerate for an hour.
4. When you are ready to serve pour the cummin seeds and toss the onions and serve.

Best served with steak, potato gratin, mashed potatoes :)

Amazing Corn

So i have a guy who supplies me with the freshest sweet corn for a really good deal at the city park market. Next to his stall is my red pepper guy :)
It is important to have THESE GUYS in your life. In the hierachy of important men in my life they hold the 3rd and 4th position respectively, right after my hairdresser :)
                                      AMAZING SWEET CORN

Ingredients

• 3 Sweetcorn cobs
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 medium red pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 1 medium red/white onion, cut in rings and seperated
• 1 tsp blended garlic
• 1 knorr chicken cube
• 2 tbsp oil

Method

•  Slice the corn off the cob using a knife and rinse through
• In a heavy based pan fry the onion,garlic fry until it gets translucent (please don't brown it)
• Crumble the chicken cube
• Add in the red pepper and cook for 5min
• Add the sweetcorn and stir fry for 10 minutes.
• Taste and adjust the taste and it's ready to serve.

15th July- Seriously Organic oranges :)

The story behind this delightful piece is simple, my sister was brought for some seriously organic (read not too sweet oranges) and she didn't know what to do with the whole bunch. So here's the journey:-

• 3 large oranges
• a handful of dessicated coconut
• 1 large capsicum
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 180ml juice (of your choice)

1. peel the oranges using a knife. Chop off one end to achieve a flat base and turn it top side down.
2.    work your way down slicing off the skin, making sure you don't leave any traces of the white stuff :)
3. divide the oranges into wedges, remove any seeds and unruly bits and place in your serving bowl and sprinkle with the sugar.
4. pour the the juice on top of the oranges and cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour
5. sprinkle the dessicated coconut
6. arrange the capsicum and serve. 

My adventure

14th July,2011

I have a collection of cook books to cook through this year, the one i have in mind is approximately 600+ pages. I'm i crazy? Somewhat....but just hang in there.

I have a couple of food pics that my loyal funs (friends/family) love and with time i will share them with you and share with you my recipes.

Take the plunge and experiment with me.

a storm is brewing !!

Ok, so i decided to do the first post, which our pysiotherapist girl can totally get rid off after she starts doing her thing. but i just want to let you all readers know you wont be dissapointed !! Beneath all her is a size 8 with a heart of gold...she spreads her love through laughter but most important through her cooking.

join her and be ready to have your taste buds rocking !!

adventures into her kitchen.....

tweety