Of Birthdays and Blogs.

Originally, I'd planned to title this post Postcards from England; but given my dismal procrastination I've had to combine two posts into one.

Let's start with Birthday.

This blog completed 3 years this August and I can't believe it's been so long. I started this blog as a seventeen year old with a lack of a hobby, to get myself into some sort of discipline, to not while all my time away. Now, 3 years later, it's become so much more. The more I wrote the more I realized my passion and undying love for food. I should have realized it a bit sooner I guess so that my blog name wouldn't be so misleading :P I know guys, I'm sorry I lost track of the fashion bit as time went by. But I've made a decision to bring it back in some way cause I did promise that when I began. 3 years later, this blog has shaped my future career and has given me a clear goal. Food is just my life. Cooking it, talking about it, writing about it and of course eating it is what makes me happy. I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have and I promise to deliver as much as I did when I first started of. I wish my blog a very Happy 3rd Birthday! 

Next, Blog.

POSTCARDS FROM ENGLAND.

I finally found a word for my love affair with England. It makes me an Anglophile. I had a brilliant 10 day vacation in my favourite country this July and I'd love to share it with you.

HELLO ENGLAND :)

HEATHROW  TO NOTTINGHAM. SERVICES. BURGER KING. WHOPPER.

POACHED EGG, WHOLEWHEAT TOAST, THE BEST PORK SAUSAGE, BACON, HASH BROWN, MUSHROOMS, BAKED BEANS, MUSTARD. BREAKFAST DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS.

WAGAMAMMA!
CRISPY CHILI SQUID

EDAMAME WITH SALT

SAIEN SOBA RAMEN. SLURP.

CARAMEL AND NUT BAR FROM PRET A MANGER, NOTTINGHAM. SO GOOD.

GOURMET BURGER KITCHEN, NOTTINGHAM.
ONION RINGS!

THE TAXIDRIVER: AMERICAN CHEESE, ONION RING, CAJUN RELISH, SMOKED CHILI MAYO, DILL PICKLE, SALAD, BRIOCHE BUN.

FALAFEL:
HANDMADE FALAFEL, CUCUMBER RAITA, CHILI SALSA, GARLIC MAYO, RED ONION, TOMATO, ALFALFA SPROUTS

THE DON:
AMERICAN CHEESE, GORGONZOLA, BACONNAISE, ROCKET, ONION JAM, HOUSE MAYO, PICKLED ONION, BRIOCHE BUN

ROYAL MOJITO AT REVOLUTION, NOTTINGHAM.
RUM, PROSECCO, SPARKLING WATER, MINT

SUSHI SALAD AT PRET A MANGER, NOTTINGHAM.

BEST SNACK IN THE WORLD: BERRIES

BABY RIBS WITH A JACK DANIELS SAUCE AT HARVESTER, NOTTINGHAM.

DAY IN EQUALS ODDS AND ENDS; TUNA AND ROCKET SALAD FROM PRET, FRIES FROM BURGER KING AND REKORDELIG STRAWBERRY LIME CIDER

TESTTTTTTT

GAME GRUB

MATCHDAY STRONGBOW CIDER LOVIN'

TRENTBRIDGE, CRICKET, CHIPS = GREAT DAY

MAPLE AND BACON POPCORN FROM WAITROSE. WHAT!

GOODBYE NOTTINGHAM

ROAD TRIP!

HELLO CHELSEA BRIDGE :)

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS TREE IN LONDON

ARGENTINIAN MEAL AT GAUCHO, LONDON.
EASILY, THE BEST BREAD I'VE EVER HAD

SALMON CEVICHE

STEAK WITH CHIMICHURRI

LAMB CHOPS

SNAPPER

SWEET POTATO WEDGES WITH CHORIZO

AUBERGINE FRITTERS

MANDARIN, SALTED CARAMEL AND CHILI TRUFFLES

PIZZA PILGRIMS, SOHO, LONDON

CHEERS!
PROSECCO

MARGHERITA WITH PROSCIUTTO

MUSHROOM AND TRUFFLES

CARBONARA PIZZA. MARRY ME WILL YOU?

DESSERT: VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH OLIVE OIL AND SALT. ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING COMBINATIONS I'VE TASTED AND OOOH IT WORKS!

LONDON BRIDGES BY NIGHT

SELFRIDGES WINDOW DISPLAY, OXFORD STREET, LONDON

MIL CHOCOLATE PRALINE COOKIE FROM BEN'S COOKIES. OXFORD STREET.

TORTILLA CHIPS AND GUAC AT MY FAVOURITE MEXICAN RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD: WAHACA

PORK PIBIL TACOS AT WAHACA, SOHO, LONDON

CHURROS AT WAHACA, SOHO, LONDON

BLACK BOTTOM CUPCAKE FROM THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY IN SOHO, LONDON. LOVE.

A SUCCESSFUL TRIP DESERVES A TOAST:
CHAMPAGNE, STRAWBERRIES, LADUREE MACARON

SEE YOU LATER LONDON!
LONELY BREAKFAST OF AVOCADO SUSHI AT YO! SUSHI, HEATHROW. MMMMMM...

Phew. That definitely took me longer than usual. I'm definitely going to try and post often so that I can avoid this lengthy amalgamations. Hope you enjoyed this post, my fingers feel sore now. As always, leave me comments below if you have anything to say. It's almost September, gosh, shame on me! I'm off now to watch some Masterchef Australia!

Stay hungry!

xoxo

D

Movie Review: Chef.

This is the first time I'm doing a movie review, properly, on my blog. I say this because I'm constantly talking about movies I watch, tweeting about them and Instagramming pictures of my newly found favourite actors. Since I love watching movies so much, and since this blog is about things I love AND this particular movie is about food, I don't see how this first review could be more perfect. What's also convenient is that it's still in theatres (in India) so if this review evokes any kind of hunger pangs or urge to go watch it, you still can.



Okay, so a quick background before I get into the details of the movie. It's written and directed by Jon Favreau. Remember Pete from Friends and Happy from Iron Man? Yes, that's him.

In a nutshell, the movie is about a chef called Carl Casper, who is head chef at a pretty popular restaurant but has constant disagreements with the owner about what food to put up. It's the classic battle he has; whether to stay true to himself or keep his respectable job. Things get out of hand when a food blogger (ahem), goes to the restaurant to taste his food and is highly disappointed with the lack of creativity in the menu. He tweets about his experience and Casper hears about it, joins Twitter, fights back and ultimately quits his job. After a lot of reconsideration, he starts his very own food truck where he cooks the real food he believes in.

What I loved about this movie is how authentic it is. Favreau has worked on his chef skills almost as well as Natalie Portman worked on her ballet for Black Swan. Not that it's any comparison, but you get the gist. What stayed with me after the movie was over were 3 dishes that I still can't stop thinking about that he made in the movie and with the utmost prowess; A wonderfully clean and fresh looking linguni, an unbelievably magical grilled cheese and grilled Cubano sandwiches. If not for all 3, I'm positive that I'm going to make the linguini and grilled cheese soon enough. Oh, and I almost forgot, the cast is just great. SO perfect for their respective roles.

If you love food, watch this movie. I'd suggest you plan it in the following way; make a reservation at your favourite restaurant, eat till you can eat no more and then sit down to watch Chef. If you don't have a nice meal before watching, you'll find the movie to be more of a nuisance than really enjoyable cinema. So, trust me.

For those of you who've already watched this movie and, like me, want to recreate some of the recipes, here's a guideline you might find useful : ChefMovieRecipes

I'll post pictures of the dishes I make as soon as I get around to it. In the meanwhile, you can follow me on Twitter to see me ranting about what I love in food and cinema and a weensy bit of fashion haha :)

Hope this made some sort of impact on those who haven't watched the movie yet and who now feel and those who have and feel the same way I do.

Let me know if you have anything to say about this post in the comments below :)

xoxo
D

The Foodie Diaries: Amyn Murji.

Yay! So this segment is finally gaining momentum and here's my second this year.

So this guy is one of the funniest people on Twitter. He's studying medicine in the US so that's pretty cool. Why him? Cause this isn't just about celebrity chefs and what they know but also about people like you and me, who love food and love to cook it. I also chose him so that he inspires guys to get off their assess and cook. Yes girlfriends, you can thank me later :)

I love how prompt he was in sending me this and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did-

AMYN MURJI.

I hate cooking with other people. Sure, it’s cute making brownies with a significant other because one thing inevitable leads to another and both of you are smeared with brownie mix and coated with cocoa powder, giggling inanely at each other. But that’s not cooking in my book. I take pride in what I make and borrowing the adage my beautiful mother loves to quote, if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. Other people just screw things up.

Apart from being therapeutic and even artistic, cooking is practical. After spending hundreds of dollars a month eating at fine restaurants and questionable fast-food joints I realized I did not have the means to carry on living so profligately. I reasoned that spending thirty dollars on the ingredients to make a splendid roast would feed me for at least half a week and no amount of leftovers from any restaurant could top that. So I learned to cook.

I started easy, obviously. I wanted the deposit back on my apartment. College economics demands that sort of foresight. Crock-pot cooking, in my opinion yields the highest return; after all, it requires the least amount of preparation and attention but leaves you with a hearty meal. So stews and roasts and casseroles were the first recipes I mastered. I learned to branch out, however, because I am a man with an adventurous palette.

Concerning cooking, if there was something else you should know about me other than my preference for solitude in the kitchen it’s that I am a foodie. I didn’t know a word could perfectly describe my culinary pretentiousness until Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane) mentioned it on Suits (USA) but it… suits…me. I dig finer foods. 

Okay guys, hope you've found someone to relate to, finally. So hopefully I'll have Amyn come and continue this section but this is a stellar start, what to you think? Let me know in the comments below. You can also follow Amyn on Twitter and Instagram where I've seen the amazing stuff he cooks @amynoacid. Hope you enjoyed my second Foodie Diary of 2014. Woohoo!

xoxo

D

Postcards from Dublin.

So I had a great summer this year working at the Dublin Cookery School in Dublin, Ireland. 9 hour shifts with no breaks and lots to learn. It was a great experience and I'd like to share it with you via these pictures I took:

BOOTERSTOWN, DUBLIN
My walk on the first day of work. You can't tell, but there's a spring in my step as Bad Blood by Bastille plays on my iPod :)

One of the 'presses' (Irish speak for cupboard) at the school. I could live in here. So organized and so varied.

Filleting some sea bass for Ed who's teaching Fish En Papillote to an evening class of 4 at the school. I remember this night vividly cause Ed and I were the only 2 staff members at the school so we had to do everything. Wait, serve, pour, wash up and lock up. I also remember being wrecked after this shift. Oh well, nothing a glass of white wine can't fix ;)

FISH EN PAPILLOTE
-French for fish cooked in a bag, these are ready for the oven.

GRUB
Richard, one of the brilliant chefs at the school made us some gnocchi with leftovers. How good does it look? There's pesto, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and rocket in there. Just... love.

FINANCIER
Richard's recipe, the 1 month students made these and brought some over for us to taste. The 2 kinds are poached pear and honeycomb; and mixed berry.

ROAST LEGS OF LAMB
I got 3 slices from these. Chefs don't eat as much as you'd suppose.

FISH & CHIPS
This is the ultimate meal. Bought this from Marks & Spencer without which I would have perished most definitely. A quick spell in the oven and it's just like eating it at the chippy. Although I like the beer battered fish more, crumb fried isn't half bad!

DUCK BREASTS
These are some beautiful duck breasts marinating in some freshly chopped thyme for the One Pot Wonder class.

LAKSA PASTE
This is some freshly made laksa paste for the Mussel and Hake Laksa; again a One Pot Wonder.

FOUR CHEESE RAVIOLI
This is my favourite meal from M&S. This tomato sauce is just unreal. What I did was tossed a  bunch of rocket leaves in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and built it on top. The perfect meal.

MUSSEL AND HAKE LAKSA
These mussels took me half an hour to clean but were gone in seconds. Sigh.

BANGERS AND MASH
After the amount of work you do in a kitchen, comfort food is a must. Another meal courtesy Marks & Spencer.

CARAMELIZED CHICKEN WITH ORANGES
A recipe from Lynda Booth's cookbook, this one umm tray wonder is so yummy!

STAFF NIGHT OUT!
LIME GINGER SPRITZER
Hard work needs some reward and this was ours. Pub-Dinner-Pub= FUN

ED'S SOUTH AMERICAN CLASS: BEEF EMPANADA FILLING
This was just so yummy, beef cooked in stock and shredded, loads of chilies, onions and some boiled egg stuffed into an empanada and deep fried. YUM.

VEGETARIAN EMPANADA FILLING
Mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, pimento peppers

CEVICHE
I love ceviche and this was as good as any!

ED'S CHIMICHURRI

CHURROS
I thoroughly enjoyed piping, frying and ultimately rolling these beauties in cinnamon sugar ready for dunkage in chocolate sauce and dulce de leche. Mmmmmm

CARROT CUPCAKE
Another Marks & Spencer wonder. My favourite cupcakes.

CARAMELIZED ONION AND GOAT'S CHEESE QUICHE
Let's just say I took more than my designated slice of these lovelies.

SALMON, NEW POTATO SALAD WITH WHOLEGRAIN MUSTARD
Thanks M&S, on your day off, all you need is some Gossip Girl and this outrageously tasty salad.

BAKED PHILLY CHEESECAKE WITH GLAZED BLUEBERRIES
This is one of my favourite pictures this trip. I'm not a cheesecake person but I roamed around with a spoon in my apron pocket and sneaked bites of this the whole day. NOMNOM.

CANAPES
As I was leaving after my shift, I saw Maria and Ed making these. Chicken liver parfait with a cucumber relish, onion marmalade and whipped feta and parma ham wrapped around torn mozzarella, basil and pimento peppers. I wish I was on this shift!

PRAWN DIMSUM
Courtesy M&S, dim sums are my absolute fave; especially on a day off :)

TEMPURA CRAB CLAWS WITH FRIED SPINACH AND SWEET CHILLI DRESSING
Indian day at the school with Chef Sunil Ghai from Ananda, Dublin. Incredible food.

CHICKPEA AND SPINACH PATTIES WITH RAITA

CURRIED PRAWN BISQUE

CHICKEN TIKKA
The classic looking classy.

ROAST GUINEA FOWL WITH AUBERGINE CRUSH (BAINGAN BHARTA), CARROT PUREE AND CHILLI OIL

COCONUT AND PECAN TART
This is, hands down, one of my favourite tarts. Gooey, chewy and unbelievably rich.

CINNAMON PULL APART BREAD
The aroma this bread gives while in the oven is the best whiff in the world.

LAST DAY. LAST WALK.

SYRUPY BLOOD ORANGE CAKE
Perfect cake for my last day.

MANGO SORBET WITH A FRUIT SALAD AND ALMOND TUILLE

DUBLIN COOKERY SCHOOL
Had to turn around and take one last shot of the school that gave me 2 great summers, so much to learn and great friends.

LEMON MADEIRA CAKE
When you live with a Culinary Arts student, this is what you get for dinner on your last night.

CHARLIE
One of the best friends I made in Dublin. Followed me around the house, waited at the bottom of the stairs when I went upstairs. jumped to play with me and growled cause he thought he could make conversation. What a beautiful person.

I hope this play by play didn't bore you too much! Now that I'm back home and in the heat, life isn't so poetic and picturesque. But then again, who could live in a fairy tale forever anyway?

xoxo

D 

The Foodie Diaries: Liliana Battle.

Here's a whole new segment I'm introducing in 2014: The Foodie Diaries.

This year, I'll talk to people who love food and are making it their life in the most exciting ways. I love food and you do too, so I'm really stoked to begin this journey. 

You're going to love the first Foodie Diary of this year, wait for it...

It's Liliana Battle from Masterchef Australia 2013!

Her Rainbow Cake and Pumpkin Tortelloni governed my thoughts for weeks after I saw the episodes. You've seen me tweet about my love for her food and now you'll know why. Here we go, the first Foodie Diary ever-

LILIANA BATTLE.

      

        Me: Firstly, tell us about the  Masterchef experience and how much it's 

changed your outlook on cooking?

Liliana: Masterchef helped me believe I can do anything I set my mind to.  It also 

              showed me how incredibly important my family is to me over anything I                             could possibly do for myself, as being away from them was very difficult                             for me during the show.  My family is my life, everything else is just a                                 bonus.

       

Me: What's your favourite kind of food?

 Liliana: Family comfort food i. e. a nice plate of fresh pasta or perfectly cooked roast                   chicken.  I love going to restaurants, but nothing beats a meal at home.

       

Me: The one food item that is a complete weakness?

 Liliana: I have pretty good will power when it comes to food, but I love slow cooked                     food and will generally eat too much i if it's in front of me - such as my 10 hour                 slow cooked lamb shoulder, or my oxtail ragu.

Me: Your most important instrument in the kitchen?

Liliana: I couldn't live without my Kitchenaid and the pasta attachment

Me: Your favourite ingredient in the kitchen?

Liliana: Eggs and flour - can be made into so many things (especially pasta). I also could not live without garlic - it's in almost everything I make.

Me: Have you been to India? What's your favourite Indian dish?

Liliana:  I visited New Delhi as a stop over to Germany when I competed in the World Ballroom Dancing Competition.  I was 15 and don't remember much as we visited the city only.  I remember it being very loud and crowded.  I would love to visit India.  It seems like such a beautiful place full of contrast and colour.  I love Indian food and make it often.  My husband loves my lamb curry, which is quite spicy.  Indian food reminds me very much of my Italian upbringing, with the whole family involved in the meal, lots of plates on the table, sharing and feasting.

Me: Currently, the life and lies of Liliana?

Liliana:  My secret wish is to own a small villa in Italy one day, and cook for people with the amazing produce I buy from the local market. For now, instead of living 'under the Tuscan Sun' I will continue to cook and write in my beautiful Australian sunshine.  In between my most important role as mother to my boys, I will be catering, doing cooking demonstrations and running cooking classes this year under my new business "Liliana's Kitchen", and write my first cookbook.  It will be a legacy to a lifetime of my cooking and that of my heritage.  It will be very special and authentic. It very much excites me.

Me: Any final words before you leave for your kitchen?

Liliana: I love your blog and am flattered that you asked to do a feature on me.  I hope all your readers enjoyed Masterchef, it was a surreal exprience for me, one I will never forget.  It has opened a mountain of opportunities for me, best of all the opportunity to share what I love with others. Keep posted with my adventures on lilianabattle.com and on my Facebook page lilianabattlemasterchef or follow me on Twitter or Instagram. I am always sharing new recipes and photos of what I'm up to. 

In the meantime - here's a special recipe not featured on any other site just for your readers:

(This is our cue to squeal)

Liliana's Whole Orange Cake.

1 orange - washed and dried
300gm SR flour
220gm caster sugar
200gm vanilla yoghurt
2 eggs
Syrup:
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup fresh orange juice
zest of 2 oranges
thinly sliced oranges (to garnish if desired)

Preheat oven to 180c.
Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Chop the orange without removing the peel.  Blitz in a food processor for 2 minutes.
Add remaining cake ingredients and process until smooth.
Pour batter into tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked.
Meanwhile, make the syrup.
Place all ingredients (except sliced oranges) in a saucepan.  Heat to dissolve the sugar while stirring, then bring to the boil. 
Boil for 10 - 15 minutes.
Once cake is removed from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from tin.  Place on a wire rack with a baking tray underneath to catch the syrup.
Pour the syrup over the cake. Lay thin oranges slices on top.
Serve warm or cool.




This recipe is straight out of Liliana's handwritten book of recipes so you just know it's going to be very Masterchef ;) I'm going to try it real soon (obviously) and I'll put up a picture so that you have something to go by.

So, this was the first #FoodieDiary of 2014. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, if you have any questions, queries or suggestions don't forget to comment below! A very Happy 2014 to all you lovely people! Thanks for reading!

xoxo
D