Scenes that make me go "Aaahhh..!!"

Weather has been bad in Dubai and worse, it has been forecasted to be the same this weekend with a significant chance of rain.  Well grey, humid and dusty is just not my kind of thing and how I wish I am somewhere beautiful with fabulous weather and fresh air.. somewhere like these places..

Have a great weekend!

* Disclaimer : The images above are NOT properties of this blog.  They are images found on the internet for inspiration.

FOODIE WEEKEND - Bucatini with melanzane and olives

Hello, everybody.  Another weekend here in my Foodie Weekend! 

Well, as many know (or not) I am married to an Italian and naturally pasta dishes are very popular in our household.  One of the recipes we cook at home is this one with melanzane (eggplants) and olive.  Now, I cannot stand eggplant.  There is something about the taste that I just cannot agree with but I do love olives especially the green variety.  Instead Captain loves eggplant and for him I honor this recipe once in a while.  This recipe originally calls for salciccia or italian sausage but since it is not something that is easy to find here in Dubai, I substitute it with minced beef instead.  

I also use another type of pasta called bucatini for this recipe.  Bucatini is basically a thicker spaghetti with tiny hole running through it and I normally use it with meat sauce or other heavy type of sauces.  If it is not possible for you to find bucatini in your supermarket, another type of pasta like spaghetti would do just fine. 

So without further ado, I share here with you the recipe and all the best in trying!

Bucatini with Melanzane and Olive

Ingredients (serves 4)

500 gm of bucatini pasta (or any other pasta would do)

2 small eggplants, sliced

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

250 gm of minced beef (or better still salciccia, sliced)

1 can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice

1/2 cup of red wine (optional)

1/2 cup of pitted olives of your choice

2 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Some grated parmesan 

Method

Sliced the eggplants and dribble some extra virgin olive oil.  Mix to coat every slice.

Arrange them in  a pan and oven roast for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In a pot of boil salted water, throw in the bucatini or pasta of your choice and set the 

cooking time suggested for al dente.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat extra virgin olive oil and add in the onion. Cook until transparent.

Add in the garlic and cook some more for another couple of minutes.

Add in the minced beef or salciccia and the basil, cook until the beef is well browned.

Add in the tomatoes, wine, salt and pepper, cook for another 5 minutes.

Finally add in the olives, eggplants and parsley

Add in the pasta/bucatini and toss well

Sprinkle some parmesan just before serving.

Buon apetito!

FOODIE WEEKEND - Chicken Rendang

Hello, dearest readers!  Welcome to another addition of Foodie Weekend!

A while back I received a few requests from a few regular readers for a recipe of Rendang. Rendang is a traditional Malay pasty spicy dish that uses Asian spices like star anise, cardamom and cinnamon (you can refer to this post  for pictures of these spices) and a lot of coconut and its milk which gives Rendang its delicate flavor.  Unlike curry, Rendang's unique taste comes from the 'kerisik', the roasted/dry fried shredded coconut.  The kerisik is an essential ingredients in making the Rendang and thankfully, it can easily be made at home.

Rendang is said to be originated from Sumatra, among the Malays of Minagkabau. In Malaysia, Rendang is typically the star of the dinning tables in the Malay homes during Eid, a celebration that marks the end of Ramadhan or as one of the condiments for the typical Malay wedding feast  and can be either with chicken or beef.  It normally goes with rice cakes or 'ketupat' or 'lemang' which is coconut milk soaked sticky rice cooked in bamboo stick. Sounds exotic isn't it? Indeed it is! 

I personally prefer beef Rendang but for this post I prepared the one with chicken instead. Please feel free to write me if you have any questions on any of the ingredients or method of preparing and good luck in trying this fabulous dish!

CHICKEN RENDANG

Ingredients (serves 6)

Rendang paste (ponded or dry blend)

2 stalks of lemon grass

1 large red onion or 8 shallots

2 inches of galangal

1 inch of ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1 inch of fresh turmeric or 1 tsp of turmeric powder 

Other ingredients

2 tbsp cooking oil

4 star anise pods

8 cardamom pods

About 5 inches of cinnamon stick

8 cloves

1 kg of chicken breast (or with bones if preferred) OR beef (topside)

milk/cream of 1 coconut (or 1.5 can)

4 pieces of kafir lime leaves

2 pieces of turmeric leaves

2 tablespoon of thick tamarind juice

salt and sugar to taste
'kerisik' (grated flesh of 1/2 coconut, dry fried or toasted till bronze and 

pounded until a little pasty and oily)

Method

Heat the oil in a wok and once hot, add the whole aromatic spices – star anise, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and fry for 1 minute.

Add the Rendang paste and fry till the colour darkens. Add the meat/chicken stirring well into to the paste for 3 or 4 minutes

Tear up the turmeric leaves and kafir lime leaves and add to the mixture, stirring them in.

Pour in the coconut milk and stir into the mixture and add 2 tablespoons of tamarind juice.

Add salt and sugar to taste and leave to simmer slowly for 45 minutes (or 1-1.5 hours for beef) until the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.

Add the pounded toasted coconut and stir into the mixture to soak up the remaining juices. The result should be quite dry and pasty yet incredibly tender and flavorsome! 

Serve with steamed white rice or glutinous rice.

The Jeans Award

Hello, everyone!  Wow, I can't believe that we are at the end of the week already! How time flies.  I have been busy running around like a headless chicken planning and preparing for the twins' 14th birthday 'get together'.  I call it a 'get together' because there'll be no balloons, clowns, even candles involved.  The boys wanted something cool, relax and most importantly they want to spend some time hanging out with their friend.  So the plan is to hit the pool at the club, scavenger hunt around the neighborhood and later a barbecue party followed by a sleep over for some selected friends.  Hope everything will go as planned.

This weekend, I am sharing with you a post I dedicated to my favorite piece of clothing - the JEANS!  I swear when I say my closet is filled with jeans.  I love them so much I have multiple pairs in many different cuts and style but my favorite is the skinny. Recently I ventured into the comfort of slouchy boyfriend and boy, am I hooked! 

Choosing a pair of jeans for me is not like taking a walk in the park.  I have this weird body shape in between pear and hour-glass.  My problematic areas when choosing the jeans would be the waist and thighs.  Normally if the waist fit well (size 26/27) I would definitely have problem with the thighs - too snug.  But when the thighs are of a perfect fit, the waist would be big (28/29).  Truly frustrating!  But along the way through endless time in the fitting rooms, I found some nice ones that fit me perfectly.  The trick is in the material, it has to have a lot of stretch in order to accommodate my 'chunky' thighs.

So this week, I give you my selected best jeans for my body type!  And if you share my problem do share your discovery of perfect jeans! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Best Skinny under $50.00

American Eagle

Best Skinny over $100

Siwy

Best Boyfriend under $100

Gap

Best Boyfriend above $100

Current Elliot

Best Boot-cut below $50

American Eagle

Best Boot-cut above $100

Seven for all Mankind