HIATUS FOR REAL

If i post anything between now and Dec, please shoot me. I need to study for an important exam and also work at the same time. Life outside the kitchen has taken its toll. I will still take pictures of food that I cook and when I am finally "free" - I will post all of them to justify my absence.

I will answer to comments still, I just won't be posting much. So leave a comment and drop by to say hi - it's always nice to hear from you :)

Keeping my itchy fingers off the keyboard is gonna be hard. I will miss food blogging!

A Moroccan Feast for Two

I think I have found another favorite that I will be cooking more often; the 7 Vegetable Stew and Cous Cous meal. Simply delicious, simple and hearty especially for colder climates. Last week was my partner's birthday and I decided to make something different and chanced upon Moroccan food. Although I was very tempted to try their preserved lemon chicken cooked in traditional tajins, I was set back by several factors, 1) I did not have a Tajin, 2) I didn't have any preserved lemons and 3) my partner is vegetarian.

So the best option was the 7 Vegetable Stew and Couscous meal along with some very delicious side dishes. I did not exactly follow a recipe for the stew but I had a fairly good idea how to go about it thanks to the FoodNetwork website. You should just check it out - they have plenty of Moroccan vegetable (and non-vegetarian) meals.

Now, was the meal a success? Absolutely. I can assure you that meat lovers will not even miss their dose of meat in this meal. Three words to describe this meal: Contentment. Heartiness. Delicious. This meal is very easy to make because you cook everything in the same pot and assemble after.

The communal eating style that is common amongst the Moroccan culture is very sexy and romantic, in my opinion. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to share a different and exotic but special evening with one another :)

7 Vegetable Stew:
1 courgette, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 small sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
a handful of cauliflower
1/2 cup of green peas
2 tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons of black sultanas
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of anise powder
1 teaspoon of tumeric powder
2 tablespoons of oil
1.5 cup of vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon of Harissa (optional, that stuff is REALLY hot)

1.5 cups of Couscous (just follow the instructions on the packet)

Optional ingredients/side dishes: String beans, stuffed aubergines, stuffed grape leaves, green olives, black olives

Method:
1. Heat up a large pot under medium high heat with oil. Add onion and garlic, and saute until onion is translucent. Add all the dry spices and continue sauteing for another minute to roast the spices. Add vegetable broth and cover until it starts to simmer.
2. Add your sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots in first to cook for 7 minutes before adding the other vegetables in.
3. Only at the very end, add your sultanas in. Simmer in low heat until ready to serve.

I wouldn't recommend simmering for too long since the vegetables would turned too soggy and I hate soggy vegetables. But if you don't mind soggy vegetables, then may the force be with you :)

Once your 7 Vegetable stew is done, it's time to serve. What I did was serve it on a large platter - couscous first, vegetable stew on top, string beans on the side, some stuffed aubergines on the corner with some fresh sliced cucumbers and pita bread.

What you have is a very Moroccan dinner for two. Enjoy!

2-Kinds of French Savory Tarts: Spinach with Sweet Basil & Fennel with Sweet Onions

I love making (and eating) tarts, and my favorite is pineapple tarts which are always in an abundance during Chinese New Year. Ahh, fond memories.

But today, these tarts I made are of the savory kind. They are French because of its buttery light base with its filling made from classic French ingredients, basil and fennel.

I love both savory and sweet tarts because they are just so delightful, easy to make and easy to eat.

So here are two different French savory tarts that I made last week; Fennel with Sweet Onion and Spinach with Sweet Basil.

The base for both tarts are the same. Incidentally, the same base can be used for sweet tarts as well. You can adjust the buttery richness of the base by adjusting the butter content but for me, this recipe is perfect. Not too heavy and not too stingy with the butter. The base is somewhat flaky and airy - very light and yet satiety comes unexpectedly. It's perfect for a light lunch or dinner.

So let's start with the base. You will need:
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of really cold butter, chopped into cubes
3-5 tablespoons of cold water

Method:
1. In a large bowl, add your flour and salt in. Mix well.
2. Add your really cold chopped up butter and with the tip of your fingers, just mix and crumble the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. The little bits and blobs of butter is what gives the base a light and flaky texture.
3. With 1 tablespoon at a time, add your water into the butter-flour mixture and mix the ingredients until they can hold into a ball. Knead very gently so that the dough becomes smoother (do not over knead), and with a knife, divide the dough into two equal portions before wrapping them with plastic wrap. Store the dough in the fridge until ready to use.


Spinach with Sweet Basil Tart
3 cups of spinach, chopped and boiled for 1 minute (you can go ahead and use frozen spinach as well - use 1.5 cups worth, defrosted)
1 cup of basil leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
a dash of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white

Method:
1. Heat oven at 350 F or 175 C.
2. Take a portion of the dough out of the fridge. Lightly flour your kitchen counter (make sure it's clean) and roll your dough with a rolling pin until it is about 0.5cm thick. Don't worry about the uneven edges, it makes the tart looks rustic :)3. Heat pan under medium heat until hot. Add butter and oil. Once butter has melted, add your garlic and onion and saute until onion turns translucent. Don't let it burn. Add spinach in and saute for another 1 minute to heat through and then add your Parmesan cheese.4. Now you can add your chopped basil and saute them until they wilt (1 minute). Add salt and pepper to taste.5. Take the spinach mixture off heat and add egg white in while stirring the mixture together vigorously to combine. The vigorous stirring prevents the eggs from cooking into a lump :)6. Spread the spinach mixture onto the dough evenly. I cropped my base with a cookie cutter into round little shapes but you absolutely do not have to do that. I just did it because the tarts look cuter that way. Once you're done spreading your spinach mixture, pop your tart into the oven and bake for 30minutes.
7. Serve the tart warm :)


Fennel with Sweet Onion Tart
1/2 bulb of fresh fennel, sliced thinly (will yield you about 3 cups worth)
1 medium white onion (like Vidalias, if you have any. If not, just normal onions will do - red or green), sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white, gently beatened
Method:
The first two steps are the same as the Spinach with Sweet Basil Tart.
3. Heat pan on the stove at medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add olive oil, onion, garlic and fennel. Saute until onion and fennel are cooked down. Approximately 5 minutes.
4. Add sugar and continue saute-ing for about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

5. Once that is down, take pan off heat. Your kitchen should smell heavenly by now. Pour egg white into the mixture and stir vigorously so that the egg do not cook into clumps. This allow the fennel and onion mixture to spread evenly on the base.
6. Pour the fennel and onion mixture onto the dough base and spread it with the back of a spoon. Spread the mixture evenly across the base and pop it into the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Once it's done, cut and serve the tart pieces while it's still warm :)

Honey and Cinnamon Italian Toasts

Cinnamon wakes you up in the morning and makes even the grouchiest morning people smile. :) My Honey Cinnamon Italian Toast is a bright and cinnamon-y toasts that is so delicious, I'd like you to imagine a crispy crust with a soft center and an aroma that will knock you off your grouch!

I am not a morning person, per se. People who have lived with me can tell you of the horrors of my morning grunts and groans. Okay, that probably didn't come out too well. But anyway, I needed a pick me upper before I had to leave the apartment.
I haven't told you guys yet but I made Ciabatta bread recently(basically a loaf of rustic italian bread); using the old fashion way and then I tried out the no-knead method as demonstrated in the NY Times. Here's what I think:

Traditional Method: Lots of kneading, hands aching, need to prepare bread sponge, dirty hands and the result: Excellent crusty bread with big holes.

No-Knead Method: Not much kneading, no aches, no need to prepare sponge, dirty hands, less time and the result: Excellent crusty bread with big holes.

So go with the No-Knead Method since the results are the same - Excellent Bread! No-knead method is great if you have a small kitchen, it'll save you a lot of problems cleaning up after and also it'll save you a lot of bumps from kneading.


Oh right, back to my Honey and Cinnamon Italian Toasts (Italian because I used Italian bread), it's really easy to do. What you need is slices of bread (normal loaf of bread works fine too). Oh let me just put the recipe down here instead.Recipe for Honey and Cinnamon Italian Toasts
2 slice of bread
1 tablespoon of butter (use good butter)
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder + 2 teaspoon sugar (mix well)
1 tablespoon of honey
a pinch of kosher salt
a flat pan

Method:
1. Spread butter on both sides of bread and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on both sides.
2. Heat pan on medium heat before tossing slices of bread in. Let it toast on the pan for 1-2 minutes. Check for readiness. If you like your toasts to be browner, leave it on a little longer. You want the sugar to caramelize to give you that beautiful smoky and caramel-like flavor.
3. Turn to the other side and repeat.
4. Set toasts on a serving plate and sprinkle a pinch of salt on both toasts.
5. Drizzle with luscious honey on top. Serve with hot tea or cold cold milk :)

Basically, there is no specific recipe for this. But the honey and cinnamon is the core ingredient. And that pinch of salt really brings out the flavor. Remember, salt is a flavor enhancer - a little bit of it goes a looooong way :)


THIS IS AN EGGLESS RECIPE.

And with this, I end this post with a cat in a paper bag:

I know you being in thereee!

p.s: I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I miss you guys too. I have been busy studying frankly, I have quite an important exam coming November :( But things should loosen up before the year is over. Until then posting might be sparse (saying this, might make me jam in a few posts after- I know myself!:P )