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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Fake Easy Peasy Healthy Risotto with Sage


As I was walking the dog I noticed I still had sage in the garden,
not springy bright but adequate for cooking and smelling nice.
So having no idea about dinner I decided to please my husband
with this tasty invention of mine he loves..I call it fake risotto
 because there is no onion , wine or stirring....

ingredients following :

brown rice it takes longer to cook, follow instructions on packet.
sachets of broth ..usually I always have homemade broth in the
freezer but being between 2 houses I cant be bothered and this brand
by a french chef is just tops...
fresh sage
butter
cream
parmesan cheese





cook the rice with water and broth.
cut the sage with scissors , fry it in butter and add the cream
if you are being good use light cream...
mix all together with a dash of pepper...
top with grated parmesan  cheese.













and if you want to be decadent drizzle with white truffle oil..it's exquisite...




Sunday, January 27, 2013

"chapeau d'entrecote" ,trevisa and barba de frati

before the summer , I was at my favorite swiss butcher ,  boucherie du molard in Geneva ,
looking for an interesting cut of beef to cook outside on the "plancha". I thought the name of the cut :
a sirloin's hat was irresistible and the butcher told me it was very good...It also reminded me of a cut I had in Argentina : matambre.
Anyhow now it's freezing , I dont have a fireplace to roast the meat , but  I decided to cook it on the stove, and by luck I found at the market trevisa ( an italian red chicory ) and barba de frati (monk's beard ) also called agretti or salsola soda which will be perfect easy vegetables to serve with my meat.



first prepare the vegetables.
cut the trevisa in two , scatter on top some chopped pine nuts salt and pepper , drizzle with olive oil,
place in a heated oven ( 180° ) for about half an hour.







When I go to Italy I love the different types of greens they serve in restaurants...Here in Switzerland we are lucky to find some of them..Barba de frati being one of my favorites I was very excited to cook it...Actually I did it the simple way , once cleaned drop them in boiling salted water , cook al dente , drain , drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.





heat the pan with a dash of olive oil , when very hot drop the meat and some rosemary , once you turn it scatter on top coarse salt and pepper to taste.






Simple , healthy , and scrumptious !

 tuck in!!



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

On the use of Hot Peppers for Xmas in India

NO COMMENT!





Tea time on the river Hooghly

Here are a few delights we had on a boat passing under Howrah bridge,
on the Hooghly river Calcutta West Bengal India.
With wonderful darjeeling tea straight from the plantations of Assam.



Samosas
stuffed with potatoes




Jalees
made with chickpea flour ,fried and dipped in sugar syrup

Dhokla
made with chickpeas served with tamarind chutney

Barfi
marzipan covered with edible silver foil



Fruit and Vegetables in Hyderabad





one of the greatest pleasure in India is to stroll in the
food markets...
unfortunately I did not have time to go to the spice markets
the smells of the spice market are to die for...
but I always leave India knowing I have to go back and often to
the same places as I always think I missed something...


Bananas

Oranges,grapes and bananas
Coconuts

A coconut ready to drink

Beautiful cucumbers 

cannot figure out if they are peas...or else ?

grilled corn on the cob

corn
papayas
are they cherries?

peanuts


betel wrappers I think !

Pomegranate

Nimbu soda or nimbu pani
best drink:  lemon with soda or plain water
sweet or sour 

Coriander or Cilantro

Chick peas with lime tomatoes and coconut
a feast for the eyes..

Sometimes I'm in doubt about some products please bear with me and correct me...

Calcutta flowers

Visited Calcutta flower market which is a riot for the eyes..
 the best way to start the day!