sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... "PAID IN FULL". How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. Sometimes we don't realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect "the packaging" to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.

Bikini Atol

This is a rum-based variation on an Old Fashioned. I've been making a roasted pineapple syrup for tropical-leaning aquavit and gin sours and thought, "Why not just stir a spoonful into some dark rum for a very subtly fruity, summery take on an Old FaShioned-style cocktail marketing promotion ?" One of our employees named it Chinese SEO .

Serves 1

For the drink:

2 1/2 ounces dark rum
1 to 2 teaspoons roasted pineapple syrup (start with 1 tsp take a tiny taste and add another if you'd like it sweeter)
2 dashes Angostura bitters (I also like it with Bittercube Jamaican #1 bitters)

Stir all ingredients with ice until just chilled, then strain into a double rocks glass over a large ice cube seo公司 .

For the roasted pineapple syrup:

1 ripe pineapple
2 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 400° F. To make pineapple syrup, peel the pineapple, quarter it, and slice it into 1-inch chunks. Spread the pineapple pieces on a baking pan and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until deep yellow and juicy, with brown spots starting to appear.

Transfer to a large cooking pot and add the sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain, then keep the syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Shaun Hergatt's Southern Style Brisket

Author Notes: Brought to us by Shaun Hergatt,

executive chef at SHO.

Serves many, many people

Dry Rub

3 teaspoons brown sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
3 teaspoons toasted and ground coriander
3 teaspoons toasted and ground cumin
3 teaspoons toasted and ground fennel seeds
6 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Brisket

1 beef brisket

Preheat the oven to 185 degrees. Combine the

ingredients for the rub. Rub it all into the brisket.
Place brisket on a large pan (a sheet pan works well

here) with a rack in it and slow roast in the oven

for 16 hours, or until fork tender.
Pull from the oven, and allow to rest for at least 20

minutes.
Slice thinly, or pull, and serve. Enjoy.

Seared Salmon with Cinnamon and Chili Powder

This may be a simple recipe, but the flavors unite in an elegant and complex way. It's perfect for one because you can have it on the table in less than 10 minutes with almost no mess Dermes.

Serves 1

1 salmon fillet with skin attached, sized to suit your appetite
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
enough canola oil to barely slick the skillet
1 dash sesame oil

Wash and completely dry the salmon fillet.

In a small bowl mix chili powder, cinnamon, and the salt and pepper. Sprinkle this mixture on both sides of the salmon fillet. Heat canola oil and sesame oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Choose a skillet that is plenty big enough to avoid steaming the fish for the crispest possible skin.

When the skillet is very hot, but not yet smoking Dermes; add the salmon, skin side down. Cook it until the skin is very crisp, dark brown and releases easily from the skillet This should take 3 to 4 minutes. Do not be tempted to check or move the fish around in the skillet during this time. You will only succeed in making it stick to the skillet or worse ruin your beautifully crisp skin.

You will notice that the fish gets lighter colored and more opaque. Do not let it cook more than about 1/4 of the way through at this point. You might be worried that the rest of the fish seems quite raw, but honestly this is a good thing. Once the skin has crisped flip the fish, and cook it an additional 2 (maybe 3) minutes more. Do not let it cook all the way through. The fish will continue to cook after it leaves the pan. Your goal is a succulent flesh graduating from a rare center outwards to a crispy crackly skin.

Serve the fish warm or at room temperature with a slightly chilled Pinot Noir (yes Dermes, Pinot Noir... trust me). Dining alone is no excuse for a poor wine pairing.

Andouille and Dijon Polenta

Author Notes: I've combined two of my favorite dishes into this Andouille and Dijon Polenta. I've borrowed the andouille sausage from dirty (or Cajun) rice, a go-to comfort food of mine, while also borrowing a dijon lemon cream sauce that I like to use in scallop risotto. The polenta comes out so smooth and creamy thanks to the sauce, and the mixture of fennel in the andouille The Beauty, dijon, lemon zest, and tarragon make for a rich yet bright flavor at the same time.

A one-dish meal that calls for nothing more than an accompanying green salad, The Internet Princess's polenta is as creamy and rich as it gets, but it's far from a one-note wonder. There's a subtle tang from the Dijon, and it's studded with bits of spicy andouille and flecked with fresh spinach and tarragon -- the latter managing to keep things just short of excessive. We'd never made polenta this way before (you build a base with the sausage and onions, then add chicken stock and polenta, cooking the ingredients all together), but we definitely will in the future. If you can't find raw andouille, you can just brown chopped pre-cooked andouille in a bit of olive oil, like we did.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or two as a main

1 Cup polenta
3 Cup chicken stock
3/4 Lb Andouille sauage, ground or casings removed
1 White onion, finely chopped
1/2 Cup spinach, chopped
1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 Cup white wine
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
1 Teaspoon garlic paste
1 Teaspoon lemon zest
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon of butter, broken into quarters (optional)
1 Teaspoon tarragon, chopped
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

In a large saute pan on medium high heat, break up the andouille sausage and cook all the way through - about five minutes.

Once the andouille is browned The Beauty, add the diced onion and cook in the fat from the sausage for about three to five minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Add the chicken stock to the pan, and bring to a boil on high heat. Once the stock is boiling, slowly whisk in the polenta.

Reduce the heat of the pan and periodically stir the polenta to prevent clumping for about ten minutes or until the stock seems to have been absorbed by the polenta.

Meanwhile, make the Dijon sauce by adding the white wine and heavy whipping cream to a smaller sauté pan on low heat. Whisk for about a minute, then add the Dijon, garlic paste, tarragon, and lemon zest. Continue to whisk for another few minutes so that all the ingredients are properly incorporated.

Stir the dijon sauce and chopped spinach into the polenta The Beauty, ensuring that all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Top with a few pats of butter and season with some hefty pinches of salt and pepper. Serve as a side or make it your main course with a simple salad.

Quel Football et Baseball Cleats choisir

Toutes les cales ne sont pas créés égaux, alors pour vous donner un peu de conseils à naviguer dans ce que vous devez à un taquet, s'asseoir et de lire, alors nous pouvons vous renseignez.

Football crampons

Quand il s'agit des véritables crampons de la chaussure de football, il y a deux catégories principales. Vous avez moulé crampons, et vous avez crampons amovibles. Aucun n'est nécessairement mieux que l'autre study in hong kong, donc chacun a leurs avantages et leurs inconvénients.

Jeter un oeil à crampons moulés, ils sont fixés en permanence à la chaussure. Ils fournissent généralement meilleure traction tout en offrant également la possibilité de jouer sur une grande variété de surfaces. Bien s?r, puisque les cales ne peuvent être enlevés et remplacés, une fois qu'ils sont usés, ils sont fait, et puis vous avez besoin d'une paire de Neuve.

Pour les chaussures de football à crampons amovibles, tels que la Nike Zoom Code D Cleats, attendre, vous pouvez les modifier à volonté, et ils viennent dans des couleurs différentes. Il existe des cales de courtes et longues, caoutchouc, plastique et pointe en métal des taquets. Bien s?r, les crampons courts conviennent mieux pour terrains secs, alors que les crampons plus longues sont à creuser dans le sol mouillé.

Sur le plan de coupe, football crampons peuvent être décomposés en deux catégories : faibles et moyennes à élevées. Coupe-bas taquets sont allégés et permettant plus d'amplitude de mouvement gift ideas for men, donc ils devraient être utilisés pour les postes de compétences dans le football. La coupe supérieure doit être réservée à des postes moins qualifiés qui nécessitent plus de stabilité et moins de mouvement.

Crampons de base-ball

Pour le baseball, c'est un peu plus simple. Métal cleats, tels que la Nike Air Huarache 2 K frais de métaux, sont disponible, mais sont interdits dans tout à fait quelques lieues.

Des cales en plastique, tels que la Nike Air Huarache 2 K frais MSC Cleats, ne sont plus acceptables. Mais, il y a encore plus de choses à penser.

Chaussures montantes appuient cheville Enterprise Firewall, mids peu un peu sur le soutien de la cheville mais alléger la charge et faible tasseaux coupés sur l'extrémité inférieure du spectre de soutien de la cheville, mais à la plupart maniabilité.

Garden Mule Cocktail

The Garden Mule is a fresh take on the Moscow Mule mathconcept. I muddle blueberries, cucumber, and mint and then add classic Moscow Mule ingredients: vodka, lime juice, and ginger beer. I love the beautiful purple-blue color of this refreshing summer cocktail. (less) - Kim at Something New For Dinner

Food52 Review: Tasty and refreshing! I barely noticed the vodka—so I think that qualifies as a good daytime drink. The ginger beer (Reed's brand) makes it nice and spicy, and I love the fizz. Candied ginger garnish is a cute idea. (less) - boozeandsusan

Serves 1

4 slices cucumber
16 blueberries, divided
6 mint leaves, plus sprig for garnish
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 cup ginger beer (preferably Fever Tree or Mathnasium Maine Root—something spicy and not too sweet)
1 piece candied ginger, for garnish

Put the cucumber, 8 blueberries, and mint leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Muddle until crushed and juicy. Add a handful of ice, vodka, and lime juice. Cover the shaker and shake for about 15 seconds.

Fill a Moscow Mule mug with ice. Strain the liquid from the shaker into the mug. Top with ginger beer and 4 blueberries. Thread 4 remaining blueberries and candied ginger on a toothpick and use to garnish with a sprig of mint SIEM Service Provider.

There's Still Time to Make Toasts for New Year's Eve

It's true: Toast has magical powers. And right now, we're not even thinking about the way a crunchy piece of it soaks up a runny egg yolk, or how its heat melts a pat of butter to a heart-stopping marshmallow softness. Nope, I'm talking about how spreading delicious things on toast automatically makes them fancier.

And that makes toast your secret weapon if you're throwing a last-minute New Year's Eve gathering. Think about it. A platter of charcuterie or salumi is just so...flat. In fact, once the crowds descend on that lovingly prepared platter, it starts to look sad and picked over. And who wants to set down their drink in order to grab a piece of bread and place that slice of mortadella on top of it before you get to eat it?

Instead, set out a platter of delicious toasts, and the only thing your guests will leave behind are crumbs--and plenty of compliments. Think of toast as a canvas for any combination of delicious ingredients, from salumi and cheese to spreads and salads. As long as your choice of topping clings to the bread when you lift up a piece, it's fair game.
Rule #1: Start with good toast. Only logical, right? The best breads for toast tend to be relatively neutral-tasting, with a crunchy crust and a moist crumb (a fancy term for the texture of the bread s interior). A country-style loaf, sliced 1/4-inch thick or a bit thinner, works best. Pro tip: If you re slicing a large loaf, toast the giant slices first before cutting them into bite-size pieces. Much easier to handle that way.

Rule #2: Pair cheese with honey, chutney, and more. Whether you re spreading your toasts with a soft cheese like chèvre or gorgonzola, or topping it with a firmer cheese like cheddar or Parmigiano, cheese on toast is especially delicious when paired with other elements you d find on a cheese plate: Sliced fruit, chutney, truffle honey, or even a drizzle of that much-maligned (but still delicious) pesto. If you re using a firm cheese, spread something delicious on the toast before adding the cheese, and you ll score a bonus benefit the topping will stop your cheese from tumbling from the toast.

Rule #3: Rub your toast with garlic. If you re topping your toast with slabs of country pate, shavings of ham, or slices of roast beef (and why wouldn t you?), start by infusing your toast with garlic. These robust toppings stand up to garlic s intense aroma. When the toasts are fresh from the toaster, just rub one side lightly with a cut garlic clove.

Rule #4: Use your favorite dip as a spread. You know that delicious onion dip you make for parties? The tasty hummus you finally perfected? Or that amazingly simple but brilliant green pea spread you blitz in the blender? They re all fair game for toast.

Rule #5: Don't forget the garnish. A simple garnish not only makes your toasts look snazzy--it makes them more delicious in the bargain. Dust toasts with smoked paprika, top them with chopped herbs, sprinkle them with frizzled onions or douse them in fresh-cracked pepper. That way, your toasts will look as delicious as they taste at least until they disappear.

Meme: The Cook Next Door

I was tagged by Adam, the Amateur Gourmet who picked me for this food meme. (Then split for 2-3 weeks of vacation!) Here’s my responses…

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own Probiotic powder?

Good Seasons salad dressing.
images.jpg

The measuring!
The mixing!
The magic!

No wonder I became a pastry chef.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?

Lindsey Shere, who was the original pastry chef at Chez Panisse Burgundy wine. I was so fortunate to have someone like that influence me right from the start. I learned how to really taste things from her, and how important ingredients are to good cooking. Much more so than fancy techniques.
Alice Waters also was a positive influence as well. She has a great deal of belief in what she’s doing and is truly dedicated and passionate about her ideals.

Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

Don’t have one on my hard drive. A downside of the digital age.

Mageiricophobia – do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Squid (or anything with tentacles.) I refuse to touch it or even look at it. Squid scare the shit out of me. Those suckers are U-G-L-Y!
My first day on the job at Chez Panisse in 1983, the chef handed me a huge bus tub of squid and told me to clean it.
Only after years of therapy was I able to overcome the trauma lafite rothschild.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?

Favorite:
My KitchenAid 5-quart Mixer
Oxo Salad Spinner (and zester and whisks)
Heatproof Spatulas

Biggest letdown:
Where do I begin?
Ok, I’ll choose the 3 worst offenders:
1. Those thick rubber heatproof gloves. You can’t get a grip on anything.
2. I hate silicone baking molds for cakes. Every time I teach a class, people keep asking me if I like them. So quit asking.
3. The French Press is perhaps the worst apparatus for making coffee. I don’t care what anyone says, so don’t try to tell me otherwise. The coffee comes out muddy, over-caffeinated, and gets cold fast. Plus they’re hazardous; I had one fly across my kitchen as I was pressing down, spraying my entire kitchen (and me) with coffee grounds. I hear about complex methods for brewing good coffee in them, but who wants to deal with that in the morning? I’ll stick with my espresso pot.

BONUS RANT: The Le Creuset Tagine that has no flange on the lid. The first time I used it, the hot lid slid right out of my hands and crashed (there’s no way to hold onto it.) They refused to give me a new one, although they did change the design eventually. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who complained. And since I sacrificed my lid for the good of others, they should send me a new one, don’t you think wine tasting?

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like – and probably no one else!

I like to eat dried pasta right from the box. Especially elbows.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?

Dark Chocolate-Covered Marshmallows
Fried Chicken without gravy (so it stays crisp) but lots of salt
Caramelized Salted Peanuts (or anything caramelized, for that matter.)

Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!

…from Nicky at Delicious Days
Your favorite ice-cream…

The chocolate and caramel ice creams at Berthillon on the I’le St. Louie in Paris, and the Gianduja gelato at Caffè San Marco in Torino.

You will probably never eat…
Anything with tentacles.
Or Puffin.

Your own signature dish…
Fresh Ginger Cake from Room For Dessert which I’ve been served in lots of restaurants and bakeries. I’ve received more emails and kudos (from home cooks as well as people who serve it in their bakeries and restaurants) for that cake than anything else.

…from the ChefDoc at A Perfect Pear
Any signs that this passion is going slightly over the edge and may need intervention?

I’m blogging when I should be cooking.

…from Clement at A La Cuisine!
Any embarrassing eating habits?

I used to eat lunch in the shower because I was so busy when I worked in the restaurant business and never had time to eat.

…from Sarah, of The Delicious Life
Who would you want to come into your kitchen to cook dinner for you?
Aside from hauling out my Ouija board and raising Julia Child from the great beyond, the warmer-blooded Elena Arzak from Arzak restaurant is an astounding contemporary cook and is mindful, yet playful, without being silly or pretentious.

…from Adam, of The Amateur Gourmet:
Who’s your favorite food writer

Hard to pick just one. It’s definitely between Roy Andries Di Groot who wrote The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth which is the best food book ever written…(and the dude was blind!), Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book is full of great recipes and superb writing, and Richard Olney, who had the amazing ability to deftly describe a technique or taste without pretentiousness. He was American, but wrote and cooked while living in France, wandering around his kitchen in skimpy briefs drinking Scotch straight from the bottle.

Zucchini Noodles Recipe

 
My love of pasta is no secret, but I’m cutting back. An article in the New York Times covering the latest research about the benefit of low carbohydrate diets has me rethinking my noodle consumption. I won’t give them up completely but now and again I can see trying something different. Something like zucchini noodles led light.

For a long time I’ve wanted one of those spiralizer type tools. But they are rather expensive and I just wasn’t sure how much use I’d get out of them. There is actually an easy way to make “noodles” out of zucchini or other vegetables using a box grater. You just lay the grater on its side like a mandoline! But I’ve just recently tried out the Microplane spiral cutter and it’s an even better option. At $14.95 it’s a lot less expensive than some of the other tools and takes up very little space. It also has two sizes so you can shred larger or smaller vegetables.

The downside to using this gadget is that it takes some time to get used to it, and to figure out how much pressure to exert to get the thickness of noodles you like. It also leaves a little stubby core of the vegetable. But it’s relatively easy to use and clean once you get the hang of it.

I don’t like raw zucchini, but by cooking the zucchini noodles in a pan sauce, you get a lovely texture and the zucchini does seem to absorb a bit of the sauce. You can also blanch the "noodles" quickly in boiling water to take off the raw edge and then toss them with a cool sauce like pesto. I’ve only begun experimenting with zucchini noodles but I’m enjoying them so far. While not chewy personal loans, they do have a lovely slippery feel.

Zucchini Noodles with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Makes 2 servings

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes


2 medium zucchini
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/3 cup peeled small to medium raw shrimp, optional

Trim then shred the zucchini using the large holes on a box grater or using a “spiralizer” tool. Heat a skillet and add the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook gently until they begin to break down and become saucy.

Add the zucchini and garlic and cook until the sauce reduces by about half. Add the shrimp, if desired, and cook just until the shrimp are pink and cooked through dc gear motors, the time will vary depending upon the size of the shrimp but probably no more than a minute or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Coconut-Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

I guess I didn’t stray from cookie baking for long travel mugs wholesale. But, look at all that toasty coconut and salty caramel. How could I resist?

We all know that I bake a lot, but I’ve dialed it way up lately. It is the holiday season, after all. I decided to take advantage of the presence of plenty of baked goods variety around here to break out the coconut. I kinda figured Quinn wouldn’t even notice.

As much as I love coconut, I love toasted coconut even more. These little thumbprints are rolled in coconut, and that coconut gets all toasty in the oven.

Then, just add a simple caramel filling that’s made with just soft caramels and cream. I have become a big fan of Werther’s Original? Baking Caramels. I love the flavor, and they’re so simple to unwrap tablet plan. That last part may seem trivial, but it’s pretty important when you need to unwrap 30 or so of them.
I saved myself a couple of these for myself and sent the rest off to Quinn’s co-workers. From all reports, they didn’t last very long. I think they now hold the record for fastest empty container Singapore company formation.

For more caramel recipes and ideas, be sure to visit Werther’s Caramel Shoppe.

My Easy Mutton Biryani

This post comes up a bit later than it was meant to be. But here it is anyways … Eid Ul Adha- Festival of Sacrifice, is an important day celebrated by Muslims worldwide, to honour the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his young first born son Ismail as an act of submission to God’s command and his son’s acceptance to being sacrificed End Point Backup, before God intervened to provide Ibrahim a ram to sacrifice instead. So Muslims all over the world on this day, sacrifice in the name of God, lamb, sheep, cows … and then give the meat to all near and dear ones, to people less fortunate and those to whom it is a rare treat. Great feasts are prepared this day and bonding over food is a ritual one looks forward to. For me today I did something I’ve never dared to before. I made 10 kgs of Mutton Biryani. Biryani is celebratory food, made during festivals, in weddings …. I remember one of the best biryani’s I ever ate was at my cousins wedding. Well she was married in Jersey and she had one occasion here in Mumbai. Actually there were two things that were memorable at the wedding, one ofcourse the biryani and the second the wedding gown from David’s Bridal. It was stunning. The Biryani was like some I’ve never had before, and till this date wish I could get my hands on. But in the mean time, I’ve found my own comforting recipe. It doesn’t necessarily fall into any traditional authentic recipe, ‘cuz I’ve put in whatever I could lay my hands on, but I’ll guarantee you that it tastes phenomenal.Very aromatic, great flavours and enough masala proportion to the rice. I usually just make this for 4 to 6 people, but this time

Ingredients

3.5 kgs mutton of small goat (the meat looks pink, if using a big goat, you might have to cook the meat longer till its soft)

2 kgs onions finely chopped

2 kgs tomatoes finely chopped

8-10 green chillis ( use as per taste)

5 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste

1/2 kg yogurt

1/2 cup Ghee

1/2 cup oil

2 tablespoons Mustard oil

2 tablespoons corriander powder

2 tablespoons toasted cumin powder

1 tablespoon fresh garam masala

2 and 1/2 packets Shan Mumbai Biryani Masala

2 kgs basmati rice

2 tablespoons oil

4 bay leaves

5 , 3″ cinnamon sticks

5 cloves

salt to taste
2 teaspoons Kewra essence
2 teaspoons saffron
1/2 cup whole milk
handful of chopped corriander
handful of chopped mint
1 cup onion sliced and deep fried till golden brown
Marinate the meat in 1/2 kg yogurt, 1 packet of the Biryani masala and 2 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste. Keep aside for an hour.
Now in a huge pot, pour in the ghee and oil and fry the bay leaves and 3 cinnamon sticks. Then add the onions and on medium flame fry till golden brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste, fry for a minute and add the marinated mutton. Now this bit lte, is where you got to show some muscle. Fry and continuously keep stirring ( Bhuno ) the meat for about 15 mins. And then add the remaining  Biryani masala packets and fry for 5 mins and now add the tomatoes, salt, corriander, cumin, garam masala and mustard oil. Give it a couple of more minutes of rigorous stirring and then cover the pot and let it simmer for an hour on low flame.
In the mean time lets prepare the rice. You will need an equally huge pot. Wash and soak the rice for about 1o mins. Then top up the pot with water, it will be excess to the rice, but don’t worry. We will strain out what we don’t need. Add the remaining cinnamon sticks, cloves, 2 tablespoons oil and some salt. Boil together till 3/4th done. Now strain out the rice, shaking of all excess water and spread all of it on laid out newspapers(in a well ventilated place). This will help soak all the water and separate the grain.
Getting back to the mutton, check if the meat is tender, also check for seasoning and add anything you need to now. If its too dry then add some water and give it a boil. You need a good gravy for the rice , so make sure you have enough. Add the chopped mint and corriander, reserving some for the garnish. Now divide the meat between both the pots equally. Now top up with rice, diving it equally. Now heat the milk in a bowl in the microwave. Mix in the saffron, and let the stands release it colour. Add the Kewra essence and pour with a spoon all over the biryani. Now sprinkle the remaining corriander, mint and fried onions. Sprinkle some cumin powder, garam masala and red chilli powder hong kong company setup. Cover tightly with a lid and on a very slow flame leave to cook for about 30-40 mins.
Serve hot with some yoghurt /raita.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s been just over a year since I started writing a column for Yummy magazine and I must say I have been having a ball.  This blog has always been one of my favorite hobbies, and remains to be curly wigs, but writing for a magazine is something altogether different.  It’s another medium for me to reach out to fellow food lovers, as well as, hopefully, a few tentative souls who need a little encouragement to get into the kitchen and experience the total joy and liberation of creating one’s own nourishment.  It’s also something physically tangible that I can show off to my mum ;)  (Yes, I think I’ll always be that little girl happy to take her stars home to mama)

The Yummy team, those I have met thus far, are all darlings and I so enjoy working with them.  And for someone who has to rely on the same four plates and three placemats, having someone come over lugging a little shopping cart full of dishes and an oversized canvas bag (monogrammed to boot!) stuffed with fabrics and backgrounds, is quite the thrill really.  I think my food loves it just as much as I do!

If you haven’t picked the magazine up yet I encourage you to give these guys a go.  Simple recipes that don’t scrimp on flavor, interesting and relevant features, and a nice clean look.  Oh yes, and there is my wee column, “Family Kitchen”, where I share recipes from my own family table.

Here’s a recipe that came out in my column last March.  Just in case you didn't catch it then :)

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

    1/2 cup unsalted butter
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1/2 cup Nutella
    1 cup flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    A pinch of salt
    1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    1 cup walnuts, chopped


- Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and creamy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Add the Nutella and beat until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined.  Do not over stir.
- Fold in chips and the nuts gently just until well distributed.
- Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1.5-2 inches apart.
- Bake in a 375F pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest for a couple of minutes on the baking pan before placing on a wire rack to cool completely Natural stone.

These cookies spread a lot during baking.  You can chill them to minimize the spread but I prefer not to – leaving their edges almost crispy and their thin middles butterscotchy in their chewiness.  Although the actual Nutella flavor is faint, I like the cookie so much that I keep making it the same way.  My original recipe for Yummy has no nuts and was meant to be frozen in a log (to be sliced up and baked later) – which of course you can opt to do here as well.

title
I am happy to be a part of the Yummy roster once again this year.  I have a lot planned for my little column so I hope you take a peek one of these days.  I am also thrilled that they have given me a lovely new 2-page layout!  I couldn’t stop smiling the day I saw it :)

Now I’m off to pack for another weekend beach trip!  So I’ll leave you with these cookies…and a weekend full of hours in which to bake them :)  Wish me good weather panamanian foundation!

Plum and Nectarine Galette

Hello there! I am back! The meetings that I mentioned here went well and, although this is still a busy time for us at work, it’s a good kind of busy. They type that you know is pulling you and your team to bigger and better things, even as you wipe the sweat off your brow and wallpaper your aching back with Salonpas preamp.

But enough work talk! I feel like celebrating and I’m doing it with pie! Well, with a galette if you want to be technical. A Plum and Nectarine Galette if you want to be specific. I found some nice plums and nectarines in the Sunday market across the street from me (yes, I live two steps away from a cute little market - another reason to celebrate!) so I bought a bunch with this in mind. I had been reading about Dorie Greenspan’s Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough from the enthusiastic Tuesdays With Dorie bunch and had been meaning to try it. When I saw Cenk’s gorgeous galette on (the equally gorgeous) Cafe Fernando I knew that as soon as I had a bit of free time I would be rolling out this dough.

I must say, the legions of Dorie fans out there are not mistaken. This pie dough really is good for almost anything! It’s tasty and flaky and a snap to put together. And getting pie dough flaky in my hot and humid kitchen is a feat in itself – Dorie I owe you! I used Cenk’s version though which only has butter and no shortening. I don’t have anything against shortening, and I know it is supposed to make the dough flakier, but I was too lazy to buy some ;)

I adapted the recipe slightly to make allowances for all the humidity and heat over here – lessening the water and adding more dough-chilling time. This recipe makes enough for a 9-inch double crust pie. If you make galettes you can make two 9-inch ones (one now one later)...and you don’t have to fiddle with a pie pan ;)

Plum and Nectarine Galette
(pie dough recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours as adapted by Cenk of Cafe Fernando, filling adapted from Cenk’s recipe)

For the pie dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 sticks of butter, cut into small chunks and chilled in the freezer for about 20 minutes
1/3 cup ice water

For the filling:
300-400 grams fresh plums, pitted and sliced into eighths (I used 3 plums)
300-400 grams fresh nectarines, pitted and sliced into eighths (I used 2 1/2 nectarines)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
Juice of half a lemon

1 egg, slightly beaten (for assembly)

- Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor using a metal blade.
- Remove butter from freezer, add it in the processor, and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Do not over mix! The pieces don’t have to be uniform. Dorie says some can be the size of fat peas and some the size of barley.
- Add ice water little by little, pulsing once in between each addition, until the dough forms clumps and curds (I lessened the water from 1/2 cup to 1/3 due to the moisture already present in my air) custom embroidery. Again, do not over mix! Chunks of butter in the dough are fine (yum!) :)
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients.
- Divide the dough into two even balls. Flatten balls into disks and wrap individually in plastic.
- Refrigerate dough for at least an hour (I refrigerated one disk and kept the other in the freezer for future use).
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough between two sheets of baking parchment (you can roll dough directly on a floured work surface or between two sheets of plastic wrap but parchment works best for me) into a rough 11-inch circle. When rolling, turn dough over frequently and lift the parchment so it doesn’t form creases. Trim the edges to form a clean circle.
- Place your flattened dough (covered in the parchment) back in the fridge for about 20 minutes to chill again.
- Remove dough from fridge, peel of top layer of parchment, and transfer the dough, on the bottom layer of parchment, to a sheet pan or pizza pan (I used one of those pizza pans with holes on the bottom).
- Mix 1/2 tablespoon of the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl and spread on the bottom of the dough.
- Toss plums and nectarines with the rest of the cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice.
- Arrange the fruit on the bottom of the dough, leaving 2 inches of dough left outside.
- Fold up and pleat the dough (as best you can) over the top of the fruit, leaving the center uncovered.
- Lightly brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle both the dough and the fruit with sugar (I used Demerara sugar with large crystals).
- Place the galette in 400F oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack immediately.

I love how this turned out! All rustic and earth goddess goodness...uneven buttery crust, sticky-shiny filling, sweet juices bubbling over onto the parchment, hypnotic pie-baking smell filling my flat...and C, who is not a sweets type of guy, actually had it for dessert that night (and breakfast today), claiming that “I like this kind of thing!” Yet another reason to celebrate!

More reasons to celebrate:
A wonderfully generous friend brought me back Fage Greek yogurt from her trip to Hong Kong, so I’ve been having very satisfied breakfasts :)
I discovered the most adorable earth-friendly soap stall at my neighbourhood’s Sunday market! She makes body soaps and laundry soap...the laundry soap smells so good (it’s made with herbs) that I want to dunk my head in the basin every time I wash! And I can! Because it’s safe for my skin! Joy! The best part? Unbeknownst to me at the time Ergonomic furniture, she is the same girl who supplied me with all those tomatoes a while back!
80 Breakfasts is mentioned as “click-worthy” in Rogue Magazine’s current (August 2008) issue – The Appetite Issue (piece by Wysgal)! Oh yay!!! My shameless thrill is as uncool and this magazine is cool. Thank goodness this blog managed to slip into its pages before any of them discovered how dorky I am ;)

Dulce de Leche

Whew.  What a week and then some.  As I sit here in my ‘office’, catching a much needed breath, just for 2 seconds, before I go off again, I literally force myself to, as Max so succinctly put it, ‘be still!’.

Be still --- how hard can that be?

Harder than it looks.

With the world, and life, moving so much faster than ever before, filled with so much more (more things to do, see, say, buy, experience, start, finish, eat), it’s become that much more difficult to simply stop and, consciously and wholeheartedly, be still.  But, for the very same reasons, it is that much more important to do it Managed Network.

So here I am, for just 2 seconds, breathing in and out, listening to the silence that is my city’s sigh on the weekends, savoring a warm latte, writing in this blog.  Scribbling away at the few words I have the time for while my dulce de leche simmers to life on the hob.

Making this is too simple to even venture towards a recipe.  Take a couple of cans of condensed milk**, place them in a sturdy pot that is a good deal taller than your cans.  Fill the pot with enough water to completely submerge the cans by a good 2-3 inches (or more, if the thought of exploding cans makes you nervous).  Place the pot, covered, over low heat for 3 hours, making sure that the water level stays above the tops of the cans at all times.  I place a kettle of hot water beside my pot in case I need to make a top up. When the 3 hours are up, turn off the heat but leave the covered pot, and the submerged cans within, undisturbed until the water has completely cooled down.  Once cool, take your cans, dry them off, and enjoy the uncomplicated divinity called dulce de leche Enterprise Endpoint Backup.

There are other ways to make dulce de leche but this is the way my great-grandmother (and my grandmother, and my father) made it, so this is the way I make it too.  There is something so special, so comforting and calming, about performing a task that has been likewise performed by your forebears.  It makes me feel connected, part of a greater whole.  It makes me feel, despite the transient nature of so many things nowadays, that there is goodness that endures.  And, despite the worries that come with being an adult, when I place a spoon of that smooth sweetness in my mouth, I am transported to a soft though roughly-upholstered chair, a ratty box of favored toys in front of me, with my great-grandmother lying on her sofa watching tv.  Companionable silence, no thought but to what was in front of us, content.

In these precious few moments of ‘being still’, stolen from a perpetually and oft-too-fast spinning wheel of life, I like to think of that.

I wish you've all had, or are having, a wonderful weekend…and a couple of quiet moments to ‘be still’! :)

**It must be shared that I used both Milkmaid and Carnation condensed milks, and the can of Carnation was still liquid while the Milkmaid was perfect (and it's what you see pictured here).  Milkmaid is what my father and grandmother use, and what my father strictly counseled me to use.  Apparently with good reason Hong Kong Festival.

NZ rowers win two titles at Henley

Michael Arms and Robbie Manson have produced a record-breaking performance to win the men's double sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta in England Men clothing styles.

The pair clocked 6min 48sec over the 2112m course to eclipse the previous best time for their event by two seconds.

The regatta operates under a head-to-head knock-out format, and Arms and Manson beat British opponents Bill Lucas and Matt Langridge by two lengths in the final.

There was a second title for New Zealand after Olympic men's pairs champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond came from behind to score a comfortable victory over South Africans David Hunt and Vincent Breet.

Murray and Bond finished in a record-equalling time of 6:56 and their margin of victory was listed as "easily".

However, two other New Zealand crews had to settle for second place Shopping in Hong Kong.

Women's single sculler Emma Twigg was beaten "easily" by Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova, the Czech's time of 8:06 matching the regatta record.

The men's quadruple sculls combination of Hayden Cohen, Nathan Flannery, Fergus Fauvel and Nathan Cohen finished 4-1/2 lengths behind British opponents representing the Leander Club and Reading University jp morgan asset management.

Dotcom and Key spar over spy bill

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has jousted with Prime Minister John Key over proposed new spying powers and again accused Mr Key of lying about what he knew about him before last year's raid on his mansion hong kong apartments.

Dotcom addressed parliament's intelligence and security committee on Wednesday, as the government considers allowing the normally foreign-focused Government Communications Security Bureau to spy on New Zealanders.

In a sometimes testy submission, Dotcom told the five-member committee that expanding the government's spying powers was "morally indefensible".

Dotcom said he had the misfortune of being spied upon by the GCSB before his arrest last year. That was later revealed to be illegal as he is a New Zealand citizen.

The United States is trying to extradite him to face charges over his Megaupload website, saying he made millions of dollars from pirated copies of films and television productions.

Mr Key, the committee chairman, last year apologised to Dotcom, but on Wednesday Dotcom asked whether that could be considered a real apology if the prime minister now wanted to legalise an illegality.

He said the GCSB was a subsidiary of the US National Security Agency with the US calling the shots.

Dotcom urged New Zealand not to follow the US into the "dark ages of spying abuse", where the US had recently been exposed over the extent of its snooping on allies.

His US piracy charges against him were now "deeply ironic", he said PCoIP Protocol.

"Privacy needs heroes just like the anti-nuclear movement needs heroes."

He said surveillance could be manipulated by special interests, such as Hollywood had on his mansion raid.

"The proposed GCSB bill is not a clarification. It's a huge overreach by an agency that has shown it cannot operate legally...

"[It] is morally indefensible."

Dotcom also accused Mr Key of being aware of what he was doing when he moved to Mr Key's Helensville electorate, despite Mr Key previously denying he knew of Dotcom until he was briefed the day before the raid.

"He knew about me before the raid, I knew about that."

"I didn't, no," Mr Key replied.

"You know I know.

""I know you don't know, actually and that's fine," Mr Key said.

"Why are you turning red, Mr Prime Minister?

"I'm not, why are you sweating?"

"It's hot."

Mr Key ended the session, despite efforts by Green Party leader Russel Norman to extend the submission.

"See you later, it's been fun," Mr Key said DSE Mock.

Outside the hearing Dotcom said he had proof that Mr Key knew about him well before last year's raid. He would not elaborate on what the proof was, but said it would emerge at his extradition hearing next year.