Ginger bread

Yesterday I took my first attempt at ginger bread. At biscuits in general actually! I made the pieces to a ginger bread house and cookies with the left over dough. Unfortunately I didn't get to taste them, my mom took out the last batch after I left and said that the flavour was quite delicious. I found a 5 star rated recipe online and tweeked it to suit the ingredients I could get my hands on. The dough was such a pleasure to work with.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup Maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Allspice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground cloves
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup Margarine
1 Egg, beaten
3 1/2 cups Flour

• Heat the sugar, syrup, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling in a pot, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and stir in baking powder.
• Stir in margarine until melted.
• Stir in egg, then flour.
• Knead the dough on a floured surface until mixed.
• Divide the dough in half and use a rolling pin to roll it to your desired thickness (suggested slightly less than 1/4 inch).
• Cut to shape with a knife or cutters.
• Bake at 165 C for 12 mins.
• Cook on wire rack.

  

Christmas fun

After a good break of relaxing, socializing, and wrapping presents, I'm heading back to the kitchen to make some Christmas treats. I will also be hosting Christmas lunch for the first time, so I'll be sure to fill you in on my plans and how everything turns out. I'll have the time and space to get creative with sides as my mom will be bringing ham and making the turkey. She has a great recipe, I'll share it soon. At this point, I'm really excited to make a ginger bread house. I found a great video with tips on how to decorate it :o)

Mauritius

After an 8 and a half hour flight from Perth, I arrived in hot, humid Mauritius on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, I've been sick with a fever and all since Tuesday! So I haven't been up to much but sleeping and recovering. I have, however, had one of my favourite mauritian meals; rougaille of salt fish with rice and orange lentils! With of course a side of masavarou. And tomorrow, farata is on the menu, which is another must try if you're on the island. Farata is a type of Indian wrap, usually served with curry and a chutney, for example, white bean curry and tomato chutney. If I can contain myself for a few seconds, I'll take a photo before digging in.

Rougaille is a tomato sauce that can be used as a base for many meats. In Mauritius it is commonly served with rice, and either sausages, or beef, or salt fish are mixed in the rougaille. In Mauritius you can buy fillets of salt fish (fish preserved in salt) a bit like in the picture below (grabbed from google images), usually snook if I'm not mistaken. The bones are removes and the fish is broken into small flakes and eaten on its own, in a rougaille, or fried with onion and chili as in the picture below with rice ect, or even as a seasoning sprinkled over mashed potato. In Norway that have a similar dish to salt fish rougaille called bacalao. If I. However, they soak the salt fish in water for several hours and break the fillet into larger pieces, cooking it within the tomato sauce.

For the next few days I plan to get better! Hehe, and if I am better by Saturday go and watch a surfing competition closer to where the waves break, on a little boat with a few friends. I the meanwhile I'm going to educate myself with acting lessons from the legendary Michael Caine. I've found a few videos on youtube, and have heard that he has written an amazing books bout acting techniques, so I'll see as I go, and let you know :o)

Back to the kitchen - Fresh fruit juice and vegetable juice

Hey guys, I'm back from the deadly load of the end of four years' work! I'm finally free and have time to attack the many passions I've been pushing aside for way too long! After doing a two short films and a music video at the beginning of the semester, I realized how much acting was distracting me from Uni work. After my last exam I finally got the chance to start checking auditions and acting classes again. So far I've done two video auditions, and went to my first audition in person as a follow up from one of the videos, it was a great experience, and I'm loving it more and more. Besides that I've done some Christmas and birthday shopping, went to the movies, and started a twilight marathon for the release of Breaking Dawn part 2 and watched it's premiere at the cinema.

I've also been given the chance to be creative with colored paper for a good cause: raising the awareness of teenage sex trafficking, by making posters and taking a film and photo holding them up. It's such a great initiative, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it. I'll post the video here when it's out and it'll be great if you could share it too. It's so important to get the word out, what people go through in those situations is extreme, disgusting. And helping others avoid it just by spreading the word is the least that we can do.

On a lighter note, I just bought a new kitchen gadget that I'm loving to bits! Stick master plus which includes a stick mixer with whisk and chopper attachments. So far I've made gazpacho, smoothies, fruit juice and vegetable juice.

Strawberry and banana juice

                                            Gazpacho                                          Gazpacho, fresh fruit juice, and avocado toast

The avocado toast and gazpacho were delicious together

Celery and tomato juice with a hint of cayenne pepper

Saturday omelette

There's nothing like a good work out followed by a satisfying breakfast on a Saturday morning. Before getting back to work of course. After getting home from a tiring Konga work out, I decided that an omelette would be the cherry on top of a good morning.

Ingredients
(Serves two)

4 Eggs
1 Tomato diced
A few slices of ham diced
1 teaspoon of my seasoning chilli mix (garlic, ginger, chilli, and onion diced very small, in some olive oil and salt)
The chilli mix can be replaced with dices onion if preferred.

• Separate the whites and yolk, setting the yolk aside and putting the whites in a mixing bowl. Beat the whites until fluffy and light.
• Add salt, pepper and the chilli mix to the egg yolk, mix in.
• Mix the egg yolk into the fluffy egg whites, add the ham and tomato.
• Pour into a warm pan over a bit of olive oil or butter, on a medium heat.
• After bottom layer has set and turned golden, flip on half over and let it cook a little longer.
• Half the omelette, flip each part over, let it cook a little more, and you have a delicious little breakfast. I enjoyed it with a slice of whole grain bread, a bit of butter, and a cool glass of orange juice.

Bon appétit!

Update from under the books - Parsley potatoes

I'm guessing that I'm the most absent blogger around, though with a somewhat good excuse... My last semester is hectic, and will be until the 12th of October: dissertation due date! At the moment its all about getting the dissertation and other assignments done, to an adequate standard given the time frame, and more so, the stress level. Besides from uni work, I've been quite distracted by something I've finally given a try after years of wanting to... Acting. I've been involved in three projects in the last two weeks (student short films and a 60s-70s music video), and can't wait to do more! Though I'll probably have to put it on hold until the end of this semester, I'm really looking forward to having the time to go to auditions, and learn more about performing.

I have quite a few recipes and travels to share, and look forward to sharing them, probably, unfortunaley only after this semester is done..... Good luck to everyone that's the same boat! Sorry for not giving you more excuses to procrastinate during this deadly period ;o) But it's neeaaarrrlllyyy over!!!

Here's a quick tip for a snack or a side: Olive oil, butter and parsley potatoes.

Ingredients

2 Potatoes cut into wedges
1/2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Olive oil
Fresh parsley
Salt

 Melt the butter in a pan with the olive oil. Add the potato wedges, and about 3 minutes before you removing the wedges from the pan add salt and parsley. Serve as a snack or a side.

Light lemon butter Tilapia and rice

This is a dish that I cooked the last time I was in Mauritus. A simple meal for my mom, stepdad and myself, and an attempt becoming more acquainted with cooking seafood. If you're in the mood for something light in flavour, with a hint of lemon and garlic, this might just be the recipe for you. I was in the mood for just that, and it utterly satisfied my appetite. Unfortunately I don't have pictures to show for it.


Ingredients
(serves 3)

Fish
1 tsp Olive oil
60g Butter
1/2 Lemon
3 Tilapia fillets
Thyme
Parsley
Salt
Freshly ground mixed pepper

Rice
3/4 cup Rice

1 tsp Olive oil
60g Butter
1/2 Lemon
1 tsp Garlic and ginger (crushed)
1 Small onion (chopped)
1/2 Green bell pepper (chopped)
Salt
Freshly ground mixed pepper

Vegetables
5 Courgettes (chopped in half)
1/4 Broccoli (florets)

Preheat oven to 160 C.
Heat olive oil and melt butter in a pan, add lemon juice (from lemon half) to make the sauce.
Place the Tilapia fillets in an oven dish, and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle the fillets with some thyme, parsley, salt and pepper.
Cook in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

Cook the rice and set aside.
Chop the onion in four and then slice it.
Chop the green bell pepper; sliced then chopped to pieces approx 1.5 cm in length.
On low heat, heat olive oil and melt butter in a pan. Squeeze the lemon into the pan. Add onion, garlic and ginger, salt and pepper.
When the onion begins to soften, add the green pepper, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Toss the sauce into warm rice before serving.

Steam the broccoli and courgettes.

Serve with dry, light white wine, and enjoy!

Avocado dip

So I've been sick with flu for nearly 2 weeks now and am finally feeling better!! And am quite behind on my uni work. Nevertheless, this afternoon I treated myself to a little dip experiment with what I had in the fridge and it turned out quite nice.


Avocado dip:

1/2 Avocado
2 to 3 Chopped spring onions
6tbsp Plain yogurt (preferably Greek)
4tbsp Cream cheese
1tbsp Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Bread to dip:

Bread roll or loaf
Olive oil
Herb of preference (I used thyme this time)

Put the first four ingredients in a bowl, mash and mix them. Mix in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste. If you would like to present it nicely, keep some spring onion aside, and sprinkle it on the prepared dip.

Slice the bread thinly (if the bread is very soft it may fall apart, but if it has been frozen, it will be easier to cut when still just frozen). Place on baking paper on an oven rack. Mix olive oil and herbs. Brush the mixture on the top side of the bread slices, place in the oven at 200 C until they brown.

Serve with vegetables aswell such as carrots and cucumber.

Twist to a cup of soup

There's nothing like a good cup of soup on a cold winter night under a blanket on the couch infront of a good movie or series. Can't wait to start working and have a clearer cut between work and time off... hopefully hehe

Here's a little tip to get a few more nutrients in that cup without putting much more of an effort into the preparation. Just add some mixed frozen veggies (peas, carrots, corn) to a cup of chicken soup and top with croutons (maybe left over from the earlier salad recipe), and you're good to go!

Back to work - Jamie inspired salad

After a beautiful holiday in Norway, I'm back in Perth, and have already had my first class of the semester. I am so grateful for the relaxing break, what a blessing, and now I'm ready to buckle down and put in the hard work needed for my last semester.

This weekend was a lot of fun, I did a film and TV workshop, which took up the whole weekend, and introduced myself to a delicious salad inspired by a Jamie Oliver DVD that I watched during the week. The DVD was a disc from the series 'Jamie does', in which he goes to different cities to experience the culture through the food. It's the second disc I've watched, and I love it!! Highly recommended! The flavours that he introduces and the beautiful places that he visits are so inspiring. The dishes he makes are mouth watering, and it's great to see food made so differently in some places. There are such unique ways of preparing food, and so much more to explore than frying in a pan or roasting in the oven. In the first DVD that I watched, he took a sort of clay pot with a lid, the size of a meal for one person, and went around the market throwing in some lamb (I think), olives, lemon, and so on, and brought it to a place where those pots would be buried and cooked for the day while the people went to work, and later on, everyone would come and fetch their little pot with a delicious meal ready. The same would happen with bread. Each household would prepare their dough, and send their kids to drop it off at the community oven before school. Watching these DVDs has made me re-realise how much flavour can be infused when cooking slowly, over a longer period of time, and the beauty of tender, flavourful meat.

The one I recently watched gave a taste of Venice, Athens, and town in France. Inspired by the DVD as a whole, I made a salad with...

Shaved parmesan
Homemade croutons (2 slices of bread cut into squares and fried in olive oil)
Ham
2 Tomatoes
2 Spring onions
Pickled jalapeños (chopped small)
A bag of mixed salad leaves
Creamy roasted garlic dressing
Lemon juice

Mmm this was really good, and got two thumbs up from Eirik. I have quite a few recipes saved to post, sorry I've been so slack lately! Quite a few from Norway, and a few from here aswell :o) Looking forward to sharing them with you, and hearing what you think if you try them out!

Sweden

The trip to Sweden for the weekend was quite eventful. Eirik and I met two of our friends in the city, where they picked us up, we from there we began our road trip to Sweden. We got lost on the way there, so it took us 8 hours instead of 4 to get to the campsite. But what a blessing!

We drove out of Norway, into Sweden, back to Norway, and then over to Sweden again. So first we took the freeway south for about two hours (the wrong way), and then we followed the route my phone suggested, through a forest for quite some time before getting back onto the correct freeway. The forest roads were amazing! So beautiful! Amazing lakes and streams, with beautiful little houses on the water's edge and little wooden jetties stretching out over the water, beautiful farmhouses and farmlands, with cows, horses, sheep and even a few lamas! In a later post I will show you pictures of the traditional pantries that Norwegian farm houses have. A separate building on legs to keep the animals out.

On top of the breathtaking scenery, we were happy to see a surprising amount of animals. For the first time for most of us, we saw a moose in the wild!! I had been looking forward to this since I first set foot in Norway two years ago. It was a small female. Her size, not as impressive as a large male's would be, but her awkward walk so beautiful and interesting to see. Lamas were a surprising sight, as well as a badger crossing the road! We also saw deer in the fields next to us, a cat, rabbits, and of course a variety of birds! Quite a surprising amount of animals, which were great in keeping the 8 hour drive interesting and eventful.

We got the the campsite at 2am, everyone already asleep, expect for the organizer who stayed up to show us to our rooms. The camp was great! I had such an amazing time. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and get to know them better. The campsite was near a town called Nora, on the edge of lake Uskavi. On the first day we were organized into teams and competed in several types of games. A great ice breaker. For the rest of the weekend there were many activities available to us: football, minigolf, kanoes, volleyball (Sunday's 4 hour tournament left me sore ALL OVER), golf, paintball, and so on. Great food was provided at every meal, and a late night snack of hotdogs (with an option of potato salad to pop on top) to keep us going. At night there was good music and entertainment. Throughout the weekend we had church services, mainly consisting of testimonies, which are always interesting and blessing to hear.

One element of several of the dishes served during the weekend is a gravy Norwegians call 'brun saus' (brown sauce). It's creamy, delicious, and can be used to top anything from steak or meat balls to reindeer or moose. It's amazing over potatoes. Over the weekend we had it with meatballs and meat cakes, as well as with iced with mushrooms over steak. Eirik's dad has served it with reindeer (I will ask him for the recipe), and one and a half years ago I had something similar in a reindeer and moose stew on the top of a mountain in the winter. Eiriks parents had taken us on a weekend trip to mountains to cross country ski. On of the days they served this stew in a tipi with a large fire. It was absolutely delicious, and such a magical weekend.

On the way home from the camp we stopped in Nora, to try what we had heard to be, the world's best ice cream. This ice cream was... Definitely the best I have ever tasted! The one that I tried included two flavors on a perfect cone, topped with chocolate lips with a coffee flavored filling. The top flavor seemed to be hazelnut, but I am not sure what the bottom flavor was, it could have been vanilla, but it did not have a strong vanilla taste. They were both delicious, and rotherham cone, was perfect.

The trip home was not as eventful as the way there.
We stopped at the border at one of those big shopping centres I spoke about in my earlier post. Our friends did some cheap shopping in bulk, and Eirik and I browsed a few clothing stores before heading to the candy store. This candy store was massive, and apparently, not the only one in the centre! Which was quite a shock to me. We bought nearly a kilo of mixed candy (haha!) a bag of some other candy, and rosemary and olive oil Pringles (that I'd never seen before). Personally, I'd never be able to get through all the candy on my own, luckily Eirik has trouble stopping if you put him in front of a movie with an open bag of candy, so we might have a chance of finishing the kilo before we leave on Sunday ;o)

It'll be sad to leave Norway. It's so peaceful here, and it's so nice to be on holiday. A lot of Uni work will be waiting for me when I get back.... He I wish I could stay here and avoid the reality of my dissertation.... And the rest of the year's Uni work. If only... Well, six months to go and I will have a Bachelor with Honours in Psychology :o) Finally! And will most probably be taking a year to get some work experience. It'll be a great break, and an advantage for getting into Masters. ... And a little more free time to cook!

Rhubarb porridge

Rhubarb porridge is a great dessert, sour, sweet and quite delicious. Eirik's mom recenty taught me how to make it, and here is the outline for you.



Ingredients

1kg Rhubarb
Approx. 250g Sugar
6dl Water
30g or 3 tbsp Potato flour.

• Wash and clean the skin of the rhubarb and chop as shown in the picture.
• Add the water, rhubarb and 250g of sugar to a large pot, and bring to a boil until the rhubarb pieces become soft, falling apart. You can now taste a little to see if you would like to add more sugar.
• Mix the potato flour with a little cool water to dissolve.
• Remove the pot from the heat and slowly mix in the potato flour mix.
• Straight away, place to pot back onto a high heat and bring to a boil quickly. as soon as it boils/ bubbles up (this should only take a few seconds) remove from heat and pour into a serving bowl.
• Sprinkle the top lightly with sugar to avoid a skin forming, and let it cool at room temperature.
• Serve at room temperature with cream and an optional sprinkle of sugar.

If you like a combination of sour and sweet, you'll really enjoy this dish! It may not be the most appealing dessert to the eyes, but it's pretty easy to make, really quick to cook up and the taste sure makes up for the appearance. It takes a while to cool down, so you should probably cook it about two hours before you expect to serve it. It keeps well in the fridge, and the raw rhubarb can be kept in the freezer if you buy more than you need.

I hope you enjoy it!!!

Relaxing holiday - Norwegian breakfast

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in ages, the holiday has been so relaxing, but I've accumulated several posts to share with you. A quick, easy and absolutely delicious Norwegian dessert, a few other scrumptious recipes, ice cream and bacon wrapped hotdogs in Oslo, two mountain climbs, a walk over a famous bridge, a trip to the Norwegian folk museum, and a trip to Copenhagen which I just got back from.

Below is a picture of the usual breakfast table on the weekend since we've been in Norway. A variaty of topping for an open sandwich. One of my favourites, is scrambled eggs with chives, topped with smoked salmon. There is always orange juice on the table and coffee brewing in the kitchen. My boyfriend, Eirik's favourite toppings are usually lever postei (liver paté) or Norvega, a mild Norwegian cheese with a beautiful soft texture that melts in your mouth. The bread is always dark, full of grains, and freshly cut. There is usually a little plate with a few slices of capsicum and sometimes cucumber and tomato aswell. The brie is not a usual guest to the table, but was brought back from a recent drive to Sweden for grocery shopping.

Many Norwegians drive to the border of Norway and Sweden for cheap grocery shopping. The border is loaded with stores just for these customers. The few hours drive from Oslo is worth it for a carload of cheap groceries, candy or alcohol.

This afternoon I will be driving to Sweden with a few friends, not for the groceries but to stay in cabins on a camping site by a lake, until Sunday. And organised camping trip with a church we went to during the year I spent studying in Oslo. It's a great church, especially if you're in your twenties, as the majority of it's members are between 20 and 30. I've been told that it's a great trip with lots of activities, relaxing in the sun, and great food! So I'll give you an update when I get back :o)