Just Keep Swimming

I love seafood.

It has been somewhat of an obsessive pilgrimage. The endless search for the fresh, the sweet, the succulent. The chase of the briny flavour of the sea, coupled with bright, seductive colours.

I can never resist the promised flavour explosion that the sweet coral of a crustacean brings. And as someone once said to me, "You can never get fat on seafood". Whether or not that is true, it is but a consolatory statement as I gorge on all the sea has to offer.

Just looking at these Alaskan crabs through the glass, my mouth begins watering. Their perfect, coral legs splayed in the air just inspires a ravenous hunger for the sweet/salty flesh within.

It was a very good day. A very good day indeed.

Cous in Bouche

Image by artwork_rebel

Cous Cous /kuskus/
Wikipedia

"...a dish of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour."

I know I'm probably incredibly behind in food trends, but I've just discovered the wonders of Cous Cous in the home!! I had taken awhile to try Cous Cous because a friend provided a description of "like sand". But after seeing it fluffed with a fork my gluttonous will could hold out no longer. I tried some and it was absolutely lovely. It was light and soft, and was an excellent carrier for the flavours that were bestowed upon it.

But it took an episode of Nigella for me to fully realise how easy it is to prepare at home! All you have to do is put the Cous Cous in a bowl, add whatever spices/flavour you'd like, and cover with hot water! Leave it to stand and 10 minutes later fluff with a fork. This is even easier to cook than rice!

This is definitely going to be an addition to my pantry cupboard.

Happy Munching!

Beef Up Your Stew!

Lentil
Wikipedia

"The lentil or Masoor daal or Masoor dal (Lens culinaris), considered a type of pulse, (generic translation daal or dal,) is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about 15 inches (38 cm) tall and the seeds grow in pods, usually with five thousand seeds in each."

One of the vegetarian substitutes for mince is the humble lentil. Usually, the image that lentils conjure up is that of buckets of water, and having to soak them overnight...all of that effort. I know I'm probably not the first one to think of it, but I've just found a way to avoid all of that!

Stews.

A stew-type recipe (like a bolognese)  calls for a mixture of mince, and when you're making a big pot (presumably for a large family), you'll need a large amount of mince or risk the stew ending up watery, rather than rich and hearty. And meat is expensive! The solution?

Lentils!

Because of the long cooking hours, you don't have to soak the lentils. Just rinse it in a strainer until the water runs clear, and add them in with the rest of the stew. When the stew's finished, the lentils are nicely cooked and the stew's really nice and hearty!

Great for those cold winter nights coming up.

Happy munching!

Junk in the Trunk

Image by mauricesvay

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been busy moving house, and it's absolutely killing me that I don't have a useable kitchen at the moment. Everything's in boxes and I think that I've actually run out of space in my kitchen!! =(

Seeing as how it's a public holiday (Easter long weekend in Australia), there aren't many healthy alternatives if you don't have a kitchen. Which I don't at the moment. So it's been pizza and burgers, and as much as I appreciate junk food once in awhile, I just can't take it anymore!! What I would give to have rice and veg at the local hawker's in Singapore!!

I miss hawker food like you can't imagine.

I miss late night hawker food even more.

I NEED VEGETABLES!!