Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

Hub worked through the weekend and even when we ate out/in with other people they were either former or current colleagues. The thing about Shanghai is that though it's a big city, it's a small world. You always have someone from your past turning up at some point to live/work there as well, or a friend turning up for work or visit. So if he wasn't stuck on the computer or screaming away in a conference call, he would be talking shop with the men we had lunch/dinner/brunch with over the weekend.

Coming back from brunch on Sunday, we discovered that the Teenager had gone A.W.O.L.. He didn't call to ask for permission to leave the house, and we didn't find his note till a few hours later. This was the first time that this has happened - and just a few weeks after I told a few mothers that my son loved staying in his room and had never asked to go out.

I know that it's normal for Teenagers to want to hang out with each other when they can. At the same time I'm starting to worry that they may get up to no good. Shanghai can be a very dangerous place for expat teenagers.

My instinct was to scream, get him to come home immediately, ground him for 3 weeks etc - but I resisted and decided to wait for him to come home. I worked out my speech and it contained the following grand lines :

• he's still a minor under our responsibility, therefore he needs to ask for our permission before he goes out. And that by talking to us, not leaving messages around the house;
• we need to know who he's seeing, the person's phone number and address;
• I'm not the first mother to set this rule, surely he needs to have done reasonably well at school in the week before he's allowed to go out;
• a curfew helps protect him (and prevents him from being a nuisance to others) for I didn't give birth to him, give up my career etc to have something happen to him;
• I expect him to behave himself no matter where he is and that should start with his attitude towards his mother at home.

I should also work on my BGR speech, but it'll have to be for another day as he has a short attention span and may already not be able to absorb the above points. I told Hub that I do not want a confrontation with my Teenager, I want to be able to talk with him. Besides, he may just be motivated enough by these hang out sessions to want to work harder at school.

Our guest on Saturday evening has 3 kids too of which 2 are twins. The boys were late bloomers who after a shaky lazy start are starting to do well academically in addition to being good musicians and sportsmen. I can only hope that something positive will rub off on my boy before it's too late (meaning before the IB Diploma in the short term).

I've kept the menu simple for dinner : Salad with Tandoori Prawns, Grilled Vegetables with Couscous, Steak and Chocolate Fondant. Hub really enjoyed the couscous, which was like a winter version of the Taboulé.

Before adding the fresh herbs

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous :

240g medium dehydrated couscous grains

360ml hot vegetable or meat stock

1 tbsp salted butter

pepper to taste

olive oil

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 carrot

1 fennel bulb

1 celery stalk

1 small red onion

1 zucchini

1 red chilli

3 garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil leaves

fresh flat leaf parsley

fresh mint leaves

3 cherry tomatoes

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Spread them out in an ovenproof dish and drizzle olive oil generously over them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a hot oven till they are cooked (but still crunchy), turning them over half-way through the cooking.

Turn on the grill and brown the vegetables.

Place the couscous grains in a large salad bowl. Pour the hot stock over them. Leave for a few minutes till the grains have absorbed the liquid, add the butter and fork through the grains to fluff them up.

When the vegetables are nicely grilled, place them on top of the couscous. Chop the fresh herbs and tomatoes and add to the dish. Squeeze a lemon over everything.

Mix just before serving, adding more olive oil if necessary.

Home-cooked Fare 家常便饭

Chinese Sausage Omelette (cooked scrambled egg-style)

Mum said she was sick of eating in restaurants - even if they were 5-star. She was craving for simple fare, stuff that she usually cooks for herself, stuff that her late father used to cook her, stuff that she would buy from the economical rice stalls back home. In other words, 家常便饭 or home-cooked food.

So while I served Hub's guest a heavy Thai dinner last night, I cooked the rest of the family the most basic of meals a few hours earlier : Ginger Pork, Chinese Sausage Omelette and Fried Potatoes in Dark Soy Sauce - all served with steaming hot rice porridge. And they enjoyed it like I had cooked them a gourmet meal with the most expensive of ingredients - not.

Fried Potatoes in Dark Soy Sauce

Fried Potatoes in Dark Soy Sauce :

3 large potatoes (half-moon shape, sliced thinly)

half an onion (sliced)

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

60ml water

2 tsp corn starch

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a frying pan.

Fry onions and garlic till fragrant.

Add the potatoes spreading them evenly over the pan.

Using a spatula turn them over from time to time. Cover with a lid if you have one to let them cook in their own steam.

Drizzle the dark soy sauce over the potatoes. Stir to mix well.

When the potatoes are cooked (shouldn't be too soft - al dente is preferred), add the corn starch solution. Turn off the heat and make sure the potatoes are coated evenly in the thickened sauce.

Serve hot with rice or rice porridge.

Asparagus and Porcini Won Tons

Asparagus and Porcini Won Tons

I wish I had been minimalist, fan of Starck etc. Have been spending hours and hours sorting through the clothes, toys, food etc and dozens of bags (big rubbish bin-sized) later, I've only touched the tip of the iceberg. We move in a few weeks and I'm still not ready. How in the world did I manage to accumulate so much?

We've given notice for the house (though we've not found a new one); I've given away at least half of my furniture (though I have no idea what we would need in the new house); I have a moving date (though we haven't found the movers yet); and Hub will start in his new job in January (though he has yet to sign the new contract and we cannot apply for our visas as such)...This is one of the craziest moves we've ever made and you may know that we've moved quite a bit in the past decade.

Anyway, while waiting for everything to come into place, life goes on. I haven't been able to blog much about food, but I've been cooking. I have a WW3 food stock to clear, remember? Since it turns dark early nowadays, I haven't been able to photograph the food and I've been running around so much, blogging is a little far from the mind. Besides, we've also been travelling almost every weekend. Last weekend it was Zurich and the coming one will be to Montepulciano (Tuscany). And we'll be driving there in a Ferrari (California)!

Just poached

Found the last fresh funghi porcini around and decided to cook it simply, wrapped in won ton wrappers with a bit of cooked asparagus and gently poached in a porcini bouillon. Must remember to squeeze out the air pockets as you wrap them, and poach them quickly in lightly boiling water or they'll come apart if too cooked. Had them for lunch : one plate with just a bit of aged balsamic vinegar, and the other with a light soy-sugar-dry sherry-old vinegar dip.

Roasted Chestnuts

Peeled Roasted Chestnuts

Elaine told me this morning that Hub's former boss OR (also her Hub's current one) died of cardiac arrest at the age of 49 while out cycling over the weekend. At the very same moment, my cleaning lady came by and told me that her friend in Ukraine was killed by a bus when she stepped off the pavement in a hurry, working a few jobs to raise 2 young children on her own. She was 33.

All this just when I've been thinking alot recently about life and death and how unpredictable it could be. One could be laughing one moment and dead the next. You could go out and never return, leaving your children waiting for you in vain. You could save your best dress for a special occasion that you may not live to enjoy. You kiss your Hub goodbye as he leaves for work and that could be the last one you'd ever give him. How depressing is all that?

It's age and the cold all getting to me. I am getting morbid. I feel like roasting chestnuts all the time.

I bought one of those roasting pans with holes in it, a chestnut cracker and a few bags of chestnuts. My fireplace does not work as one needs to open the windows when using it which is so stupid it is not worth the try. I roasted them on my gas stove instead.

Basically you pinch each chestnut with the chestnut cracker twice on the same side so that you get a cross. Then you put them in the roasting pan, cover with aluminium foil and roast them over the fire for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time to roll the chestnuts over to the other side. You can hear them crack open when they are cooked.

The Teenager loves roasted chestnuts. Peel them while they are still hot.

Porcini Won Tons on Udon Noodles

Porcini Won Tons on Udon Noodles

You may have guessed it, it's mushroom season again! The fridge is full of fresh porcini and chanterelles, I have bought them by the kilo, and my mind is occupied with visions of delicate little dishes that I could make them with.

Spent last evening making chocolate brownie and this morning baking curry puffs for the Teenager's birthday celebration at school. He turns 14 tomorrow and for once we've decided not to organise a party. Last year I spent a fortune on his birthday and while it is true that everyone had a great time, it was alot of work and let's face it, some of the presents were crap. He has decided that we should save the money and travel to London to buy him a really good present instead. Fine by me.

I love porcini. And I know that I have to keep things simple with this delicate mushroom in order not to overpower it. Hub said that some varieties need to be cooked or they could poison, a pity as I like eating them raw too. In any case, porcini should not be handled roughly, but keep an eye on the worms nonetheless, they love the mushroom too. :-)

For lunch this afternoon I made myself Porcini Won Tons on Udon Noodles. They were simple and lovely, I would recommend trying them whether you are vegetarian or not. But they are best made with fresh porcini. That's the idea.

Porcini Won Tons on Udon Noodles (serves 1) :

dry udon noodles for 1

vegetable stock

fresh won ton wrappers

2 small fresh porcini mushrooms (cleaned and cubed)

fresh coriander leaves (chopped)

1 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dry sherry

good pinch of ground black pepper

1 tsp roasted minced garlic

I would cook the udon in vegetable stock to give it more flavour. The vegetable stock could be store-bought or home-made. In the case of the latter, adding some dried porcini to the stock as you are making it could be a good idea.

Mix the fresh porcini and the rest of the ingredients together and fill the won ton wrappers with it. Cook a few of them each time in the boiling vegetable stock, fish out and set aside.

Serve the porcini won tons on top of the cooked udon noodles, pouring a bit of the vegetable stock over it. Best eaten hot.

Mushroom Tart

Mushroom Tart

If time doesn't fly, it passes quickly enough as you will surely agree with me. Except when I was at the gym. Every second labours to get on its way when you are on a machine of some sort. Which probably explains why the majority of the clients there (at least in the morning) are above 60. A good way to retard the passing of time, maybe even cheat death.

Not that I go to the gym very often. I still have more than 20 entries on my card - from more than a year ago. The last time I was there was so long ago they have installed new showers and wall paintings and I haven't even seen them start on the renovations.

The day I made the resolution to start going to the gym, I was surrounded by a few women who almost lived in it. They have either fabulous bodies or have lost 10 kilos after starting to exercise. But 10 minutes on the treadmill and I was 1) bored 2) tired 3) hungry. On average it took me 30 minutes to burn 50 to 100 calories on one of those machines. And 5 minutes popping something into my mouth to more than gain them back. If only spending and earning money work in the same way...

Bref, I quickly lost interest in the whole enterprise only I haven't found a way to get rid of my gym entries. I even bought more so as to extend their expiry date. Then I remembered that I needn't go to the gym to exercise - I can also go there to shower and relax. My gym is one of the best in Modena - with sauna, jacuzzi and Turkish bath. Though none of the regulars seem to enjoy them - they literally spend hours on the machines and in the exercise classes. Aarrgh.

So I was there this morning. 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the treadmill, 15 in the jacuzzi, 10 in the sauna and 5 in the hammam. I toyed with the idea of joining Pietro's Corpo Libero gym class - but the feet refused to make their way there.

During that hour spent in the gym, I had this desire to make and eat Mushroom Tart. It's mushroom season now, that's why.

Mushroom Tart :

puff pastry

porcini (cleaned and sliced)

chanterelles (cleaned and sliced)

other mushrooms

onion (optional)

garlic (minced or chopped)

salt

pepper

olive oil

fresh herbs (e.g. parsley, rosemary...)

Go ahead and pile the puff pastry squares or circles with mushrooms as they will reduce during the baking. Add the herbs, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Bake in a hot oven (180-190°C) for 20 minutes.

If you want to minimise the amount of liquid rendered by the mushrooms during the cooking process, cook them quickly in a frying pan and drain the mushrooms in a sieve before filling and baking the puff pastry with them. I like some moisture in my tart so I baked them raw.

Iceberg Lettuce with Hot Oil and Oyster Sauce

Iceberg Lettuce with Hot Oil

When I was a student in Paris, I hung out quite a bit with a group of Cantonese from mainland China who worked for one of the Chinese nuclear power authorities. They were living in Paris mostly on a 2-3 year basis, collaborating with either France's EDF or with some European nuclear safety organisation.

Once in a while, I would be invited to their place(s) for lunch or dinner which was a real treat when you were a poor student who couldn't cook living in Paris. I remember that one of the girls liked to prepare a plate of vegetables to go with the meal (usually involving quite a number of dishes) and not being able to find Chinese vegetables at times, she would cook fresh salad leaves (e.g. batavia) Chinese-style. And it was delicious.

I was thinking of this group of (now lost) friends and this got me all nostalgic for those simple days. I also came home after a whole morning shopping at Armani and was wondering what I could whip up for a solo lunch. How about fresh and crunchy Iceberg Lettuce with Hot Oil and Oyster Sauce?

Iceberg Lettuce Chinese-style :

1 small head of iceberg lettuce (rinsed and dried)

a pinch of ground black pepper

1 bird's eye chilli (crushed)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 Tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp dry sherry

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp peanut oil

Slice the iceberg into smaller pieces and arrange them on a plate. Season with pepper and chilli if desired.

Mix the oyster, soy sauces, sesame oil, sherry and sugar in a bowl and microwave for 20 seconds to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the salad leaves.

Heat up the peanut oil till very hot in a small pan and pour over the salad leaves. Serve immediately. I ate mine with a few breaded prawn skewers.

Homemade Silken Egg Tofu

Homemade Silken Egg Tofu

I am sick of driving almost an hour to Reggio Emilia to buy silken tofu when it's possible to make one myself. Especially when you can easily, since about a year or 2 ago, find soy bean milk in the organic sections of most supermarkets here. No need to make soy bean milk oneself like I used to. And since I am into making steamed egg custards lately, steaming my own Silken Egg Tofu follows quite naturally.

Left JW's lovely coffee morning earlier than the other ladies because I've eaten up almost all of her yummy cheese scones and wanted to return home to make my tofu. There was a really good turnout as usual and it was nice catching up with so many friends whom I've not seen since the end of the last school year. And eat those yummy cheese scones, of course.

KB was at the coffee morning with her pooris (I ate at least 3 of them). And may I announce to the whole world the happy news that she's pregnant? There are so many pregnant mums at the school this year, I'm trying to remember which animal's year it would be in 2011...and so it'll be the year of the lucky rabbit. I personally hope that it'll be a girl. She'll be gorgeous with her mum's enormous light-colored eyes. Maybe India's future Miss World? Fancy me being able to tell the whole world then that I knew her mum...OK, I'm off daydreaming as usual.

I also spent the afternoon shopping on the Net. Bought a set of pots from BergHoff with Hub's permission (he was surprised that I asked him though) and some clothes and accessories from a few different websites. I'm trying to save the bulk of my shopping for when we go to London in October, but you can imagine that I'm having some difficulty stopping myself. Will go check Bologna out tomorrow and meet Margi at the same time. So long no see...

Homemade Silken Egg Tofu (1 portion) :

1 egg

120ml unsweetened soy bean milk (choose the one with the highest percentage of soy beans)

a pinch of salt***

Bring some water to a boil in a wok.

In the meantime, beat the egg in a large bowl and pour in the soy milk. Add the salt. Mix well.

Filter the egg mixture into a porcelain ramequin and set it on a rack in the wok to be steamed. Make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the ramequin.

Lower the heat and cover the wok, leaving a small gap for some steam to escape.

Steam for 7-20 minutes depending on the heat and the number of ramequins in the wok. Remember that if the heat is too high you will get a pockmarked egg tofu.

The egg tofu should be smooth, silky but firm.

Season the egg tofu as you wish, eat it in the ramequin or tip the tofu onto a plate to be served as you wish : steamed, in soups, stir-fried or fried. Yes, it's firm enough to be fried unlike most silken tofus.

***You can also substitute some of the soy bean milk with some chicken stock. Or heat the soy milk beforehand with some chicken stock granules. But cool it before mixing with the egg to make the tofu.

Longan Konnyaku Jelly Cream Cake

Longan Konnyaku Jelly Cream Cake

I was at the clinic in Formigine this morning to renew our annual subscription to the public health service. There was a long queue as usual and worst of all was the noise. The Italians like to stand together to chat. It got so bad even the civil servants couldn't take it anymore and their representative came out of the office to ask the waiting clients to either disperse or move away from the counters to chat. She could also have told them to lower their voices when they discourse, there is no need for everyone else to follow all the on-goings in their lives. They should start a blog like me, no noise and you don't have to visit if you don't want to.

I was told that if I renew our subscriptions next year (which would...er...be our 5th year here), we'll get our public health cards for good. Wow.

It is such a pity since I have every intention to be packed and gone by then. Bye bye free health service for life.

Anyway, I decided to check out the gynaecologist upstairs. To make an appointment you have to queue up, of course, and there were only 4 women before me. I waited, believe it or not, one hour for my turn! What the hell did those women do to need so much time each to make an appointment? Especially when I only took five minutes when I finally had my turn???

From the look of what was happening in the waiting area, they probably yakked with the secretary when they were in the room. Shared their lives with her. Dolce vita even when making an appointment to see the gynae. Time is money, haven't they heard that? My appointment is in 1.5 months. One had better not be in a hurry. Actually I do not understand why I would need to wait so long. In the one hour I was there, the gynae had only seen one client (for like 10 minutes). Her secretary had more business than her.

Over here you get convocated for your PAP test every three years. If you catch the virus in-between you would be long dead and buried/cremated before the next appointment. Mine is scheduled for next year. The next time I return to Singapore I'm going for a total health check-up - and I'll pay for it myself.

Made a Longan Konnyaku Cream Cake the other day. The Babies are usually not too hot about my cakes, but they each had a few slices of this one. It contained longans, cream and jelly - 3 things that they like very much.

Bake a sponge cake and slice it into 2

Sandwich cream and longans in between

Place longans on top of the cake and pour konnyaku jelly over

Remove the mould after the jelly and cream have set

Omelette aux Girolles

Omelette aux Girolles

An omelette is a basic dish in France. When you do not know what else to cook, make an omelette. We had a large barquette of Girolles/Chanterelles in the fridge and didn't have the time nor the mood to make a feast of it. So we made an Omelette aux Girolles.

Omelette aux Girolles :

Girolles (cleaned and sliced)

Garlic (chopped)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh Parsley (chopped)

For one omelette :

Olive Oil

3 Eggs (beaten with a fork)

A dollop of Cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fry the girolles till golden and fragrant using the mentioned ingredients. Sprinkle the parsley over them at the end.

Spread the mushrooms evenly over the frying pan and add more olive oil if necessary.

Beat the eggs with a fork and do not over do it. Beat in the cream, salt and pepper. Pour over the girolles in the frying pan.

The pan has to be hot when the eggs first come into contact with it. At the beginning, keep lifting part of the omelette up with a spatula and tilt the pan so as to allow some of the uncooked egg on the surface to flow underneath and form more layers.

Lower the heat and cook the omelette until the surface turns slightly opaque (which is quite fast) - but do not cook it through. We like our omelette baveuse (moist and frothy on the inside).

Fold both sides of the omelette one slightly over the other towards the middle and serve it hot, maybe with a salad.

Chawan Mushi aux Girolles

Chawan Mushi aux Girolles

I love steamed egg custard whether they are Cantonese or Japanese, though I could never be sure if it was the egg or the filling that I prefer. The latter for sure is a much more elegant way of eating the same thing and since I came across some pretty chanterelles (or girolles in French), I decided to make Chawan Mushi aux Girolles.

You have taken out the soaked-through towels and hung them out to dry and of course just when they were half-dry, it started raining. Water water everywhere, if you are superstitious like I often am, you may start to wonder where all this is leading to...

School started last Thursday and with it my social life. Thus far 21 new children have joined the school, though I must admit that I am no longer as curious as I used to be about them. I'm now into my 4th year in Modena and that's starting to be a little long for a seasoned expat like myself. I itch to explore new horizons...

Having said that, I like very much the new Italian mother whose daughter just joined Babinette's class and I look forward to getting to know her better. I am also very pleased thus far with the new teacher, especially after hearing her out yesterday evening at the school's Back-to-school Night. Apart from the flooding and the Teenager's bronchitis, the new school year looks bright and promising.

Chawan Mushi aux Girolles (serves 2) :

The Chanterelles :

60g fresh Girolles/Chanterelles (gently rinsed, dried and sliced into 2 if necessary)

1 Garlic clove (chopped)

2 Tsp Peanut Oil

2 Tsp Sake

A dash of ground Black Pepper

The Egg Custard :

1 large Egg

2/3 Tsp Chicken and Beef stock granules

120ml Hot Water

The Sauce :

2 Tsp Light Soy sauce

1 Tsp Rice Vinegar

1/2 Tsp Sesame Oil

1 Tsp Dry Sherry

1 dried Bird's eye Chilli (crushed)

2 Tbsp Hot Water

Fresh Coriander, Parsley and/or Spring Onions for garnishing

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic till fragrant. Add the girolles. When they are just cooked, add the sake and pepper. When they are golden, remove from the pan and set aside.

Dissolve the stock granules in the hot water and set aside to cool.

Beat the egg and add it to the cooled stock. Sieve it twice.

Just steamed (not pretty - lots of holes - heat too high)

In each small cup add half the mushrooms and pour half the egg custard into it. Steam over gently boiling water for around 9-11 minutes. Make sure that the pot is properly covered, but over some kitchen towels. Or just leave a small gap so that the steam can escape (but adjust the cooking time accordingly, it'll take longer). When the heat is too high, you get pockmarks in your custard like me. I must admit that I do not really care about that, but if you are a perfectionist, work on getting the right temperature before you steam your custard.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together. When the egg custard is cooked - it should be firm but smooth and silky in texture - garnish with the chopped fresh herbs and pour the sauce over everything.

Bhindi Pakora (Beignets d'Okra)

Bhindi Pakora

Hub likes to tell me to cook vegetables whenever I prepare a meat dish and while I know that I ought do just that, I hate it when people oblige me to to do anything. I hate it even more when he tells me how I should prepare my vegetables. It could of course be his commanding tone that gets on my nerves, let's just say that nobody bosses Lotus around.

He could have said, "Wouldn't it be lovely to have some cauliflower with the curry, my darling?" instead of that suspicious, "Are you not going to cook any vegetable to go with the curry?" Arrgh.

I wonder if it's a sexist thing because in our earlier days together, it always freaked me out that he would take whatever his male friends tell him at face value whereas if I or some other female tell him anything, he'll have this I-must-take-this-with-a-pinch-of-salt expression on his face. Needless to say that I'm not one to take things lying and I've given him a hard time for this. Men are basically very basic creatures. They have to be educated.

Anyway, I made a Beef Curry for dinner and our friend asked his usual question and tried to tell me comme d'habitude what vegetable I should cook and how to go about it. He wanted my Cauliflower Masala and Fried Bhindi. And that was when I decided to make Bhindi Pakora. Voilà. He should count himself lucky to have any vegetable at all.

I almost never order pakoras in Indian restaurants here because they would more often than not contain alot of batter and be very greasy. It's better to make your own (in your own way) in such situations. He enjoyed the Bhindi Pakoras and I expect to be hearing him tell me to make it the next time I make a curry...

Bhindi Pakora :

300g Fresh Lady's Fingers/Okra/Bhindi

1 cup mix of Chickpea and self-raising Wheat Flour (about 2:1)

1 Tbsp Corn starch

1/2 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 Tbsp Ajwain seeds

1 Garlic clove (minced)

1 Tsp Curry powder

1/2-1 Tsp Chilli powder

1/2 Tsp ground Garam Masala

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cool Water to bind

Oil for deep-frying

Wash and pat dry the okra with kitchen towels. Slice them into bite-sized pieces (e.g. rings).

Make a batter by mixing the rest of the ingredients together, making a well in the centre so that water could be poured in - in batches - to obtain the consistency that you want. Stir well to remove all lumps in the batter.

It may be easier to work with a thicker batter, but I use a spoon to drop my batter into the hot oil, so it doesn't really matter. I prefer my batter light.

Add the sliced okra to the batter and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop up a spoonful of the okra-filled batter and drop it into the hot oil. Fry till golden using medium-low heat so that the okra would be cooked, then remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. If you like it crispy (like I do) fry them longer, if not, keep an eye on the cooking. Whatever it is they are best eaten hot.

Cauliflower Masala (Revisited)

Cauliflower Masala

I have blogged about my Cauliflower with Whole Spices sometime back. Only I didn't mention then what or more who I always think of when I make an Indian vegetable dish using whole spices. I thought that I ought to today.

More than 10 years ago I went to Canada for the first time. We were living in Rochester (NY) then and Hub drove us in the middle of a snowy winter to Montreal to visit a few of his friends from the days (when) he was preparing his Doctorate at l'Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal. If I weren't wrong, he lasted only a year in the miserable cold, though the friendships he had made there were real and precious to him.

I first learnt to eat vegetables (e.g. potato) in whole spices, believe it or not, from a French Canadian lady. Though she had the unfair advantage of being married to an Indian guy from Calcutta(?). We often wonder how said Indian guy survives the extreme cold there, and he must have since he's still there and has even become the father of 2 lovely children.

Returning to Europe, I would start to prepare dry vegetable curries using whole spices, very much enjoying the textures that they impart to the dish. And each time I do so I would think of Martine and Prithu and wish that they weren't so far away.

Cauliflower Masala :

1 head medium Cauliflower (sliced into small pieces)

1 Onion (sliced)

2 Garlic cloves (chopped)

1 slice fresh Ginger (sliced)

3-4 dried Bird's eye Chillies (crushed)

1 small Cinnamon stick (broken into smaller pieces)

1 Bay leaf (torn)

6 Curry leaves

1 Tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 Tsp Onion seeds

1 Tsp Ajwain seeds

1 Tsp Cumin seeds

3 Green Cardamoms (lightly bashed)

1/2 Tsp Fenugeek seeds

1/2 Tsp Fennel seeds

1 Tsp ground Turmeric

A pinch of ground Cloves

2 Tsp ground Coriander seeds

1 Tsp ground Chilli

2 Tsp ground Garam Masala

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tsp concentrated Tomato paste

1/2 cup hot Water

In a wok, blanch the cauliflower florets for 5 minutes in salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.

Heat some peanut or canola oil in the wok and fry the onion, ginger, garlic, whole spices, leaves and ground spices (except the garam masala) till fragrant.

Add the cauliflower and coat the florets well in the spices.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the tomato paste in the hot water and pour over the cauliflower. Cover the wok and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the garam masala, mix well and serve.

I served it (more often than not) with basmati rice, fried pappadums and a not-too-dry Indonesian Beef Rendang. Hub and the Teenager played golf this morning with our German friend ML. They apparently played badly (except ML). Their only consolation was that they had a curry to come home to.

Lemon Tofu

Lemon Tofu

You can find Lemon Chicken in many Chinese restaurants in Europe and it tends to be a glooey lemony paste served on thickly-battered fried chicken filet. Just to say that I never order this dish if I can help it.

But it's so easy to make that it would be a pity not to do so in the privacy of one's kitchen. I replaced the chicken with panko-breaded tofu yesterday and even the MIL thought that my Lemon Tofu was delicious. She was surprised that tofu could taste so good.

Lemon Tofu :

3 firm Tofu (sliced into smaller cubes)

Egg white

Salt

Panko bread crumbs

Oil for deep-frying

2 Tsp Sesame Oil

1 Garlic clove (chopped)

1 Bird's eye chilli

2-3 Tbsp Sugar

Juice of 1 large Lemon

1/2 Tsp light Soy sauce

1 Tsp Dry Sherry

3-5 Tbsp Chicken stock

1 Tsp Cornstarch dissolved in some water

***The ingredients for the sauce have been given in estimation. I tasted and adjusted my seasonings as I prepared the sauce. It should be acidic, slightly salty and sweet at the same time. And if you like it hot like me, the chilli adds a tang to the whole taste.

Dip the tofu cubes in egg white and coat them evenly with panko bread crumbs. Fry them in hot oil till lightly golden-brown, drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the sesame oil and fry the garlic followed by the chilli.

Add the sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce and sherry. Stir to mix well and dissolve the sugar.

Pour in the chicken stock.

Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.

Pour the sauce over the fried tofu cubes and serve it immediately.

French Bean and Onion Omelette

French Bean and Onion Omelette

The other day one 0f my children asked if I could do something and when asked why I should do it, he answered that it was to make him proud of me. Now, it set me thinking that certainly times have changed since in my memory I've always had to work on making my parents proud of me, but the other way round?

Baby Girl and her good friends

I've been too busy to blog since last week. MIL arrived, I had to organise a gift for Baby Boy's teacher on her birthday which also happened to be on the school's annual Sports Day (kids' blue team came in last but Baby Boy was first in his race). Then we had lunch with Mu to celebrate her 40th and I had to dash for my last flute lesson for the year. MIL who has an eye for cute young men of course commented that I had a cutie for a flute teacher. :-)

Part of the Sports Day installations

Then there were children's birthday parties, the B's boogie night, trips to the pool at the golf club, CB's lunch, playdates, organising a gift for the kids who would be leaving the class, today's Grade 1 lunch...and tomorrow'd be my turn to do a cookery lesson for the cookery club. Hopefully I'll be able to do my first golf lesson this year on Friday (if it should stop raining), get through with Grade 2's Pool Party, prepare a room for the French Bs' overnight stay when they come over from Milan, attend the D's farewell party followed by EB's birthday party...

Baby Boy and his good friends

I've also been cooking, but really simple meals from a Paella to Sayur Lodeh, 5-Spice Roast Chicken, Fried Kangkong, Tarte au Citron...and French Bean and Onion Omelette. This is a nice and simple dish to make up a 4/5-course Chinese meal, something I whip up when I do not have a lot of time.

French Bean and Onion Omelette :

1 small Onion (sliced)

1 Garlic clove (minced)

1 Red chilli (sliced)

A handful of French beans (diced)

3 Eggs (beaten)

1/2 Tsp Fish Sauce (if really vegetarian omit this)

1/2 Tsp light Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Sugar

Juice of half a Lime

1 Tsp Sherry or Chinese cooking wine

Pepper to taste

Heat a wok with some oil and fry the onion till soft. Add the garlic and diced green beans and fry till the garlic is fragrant.

Add the chilli.

Beat the eggs with the pepper till fluffy. When the French beans are cooked but still very crunchy, pour in the beaten egg. Move the wok a bit to spread out the egg.

Mix the sugar with the rest of the ingredients. Pour it over the omelette. The sugar will caramelise a little and balance with the salty, tangy and spicy bits in the omelette.

I like my omelette fried on one side and still quite soft on the other side.