it's kind of a Curry story

Hey everyone, this is the first time I have posted after ten days of "vacation" in the living room. Today I was motivated by something in which I myself don't even know what and i don't even care. It's a new thing for me for not caring what is what, my personality is always know-everything sort of type. Just loved knowing every single thing that pops in front of me or in mind.

So, yesterday we went shopping for groceries. Even saw our school Chef, made me miss school in an odd way. LOL. We bought these cute little containers for the spices sitting around the house, due to insufficient funds, we only got 12 pieces which is enough for now. Maybe next time we can buy more for different stuff too. 

During the time we were in the grocery store, something hit me! Why not make some curry, little me inside my mind said. There I grabbed some stuff that I can use for the curry. I just explored with some basic spices which I don't really use. I was hoping of using some curry leaves but unfortunately none were available. So I just took the curry powder instead. At least it's curry! I just wanted to use curry leaves because I've never used it before. 

That's what happened yesterday. Today, I pulled a Jamie Oliver in the kitchen. HAHA! I remembered a segment of The Naked Chef about him making some curry. If I wasn't mistaken, he used some mustard seed. Was also curious about that too, always wanted to use that. There's just something about spices which attracts me. 

I made my own version of curry sauce. So what I did was chopped some onions, then sauteed it with a few tablespoons of olive oil. After a few minutes when the onions caramelized, I added the chili's and bell peppers (green and red) and ginger. Sauteed it again then added some chopped parsley to give it some greens, I'm not sure if it's the usual curry but I went for it. After adding the parsley I immediately added the milk and tomato sauce and tomato paste. OH! before I forget, when I was sauteing the onions and stuff, I added some diced tomatoes too. 

After adding the liquids, I added the nutmeg, curry powder, salt, a bit of chili powder and of course, cinnamon powder. Well, i guess it's a spice. HAHA! The only thing I know when to use cinnamon is when making some pastry items. Yea, my knowledge about food right now is a bit shallow. I know some of you food experts out there lurking, criticize this blog but what can I say, I'm still learning. Like a boss!

Ok, so before we drift off to another long story and forget what I'm trying to say, let's get back on track. After adding those spices, I let it simmer for about ten minutes then added a couple of bay leaves. Just let those flavors combine and do their thing. I noticed at first that the sauce was a bit thick so I just added a bit of water to thin it up a bit, although thick is fine. It really just depend on how you want your curry to be. I just don't want it to be a really thick curry. That's all.

So we're done with the sauce, If you can see, no potatoes and no meat. I just made the sauce for tomorrow's dinner. Tomorrow, I'm planning on making chicken curry, I'll just reheat the sauce, add some potatoes and the chicken tenders or breast would be fine. I know it may sound lazy but I wanted to use chicken tenders to lessen the cooking time. So I guess that's about it for the curry. 

I almost made some roast chicken but this post is long enough and might bore some of you reading this. I'll just make a part two of this.

To ease the boredom, here's the recipe for it:

• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 red and green bell peppers, chopped
• 3 chili swords, chopped
• 1 ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• half a cup parsley, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 can milk
• 1 can tomato sauce 
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt and pepper for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1/4 chili powder

Hope this serves you best. cheers!  

Les vacance. .

So I haven't posted anything lately because I haven't had time to cook. Being sick and all, medications make me nauseous sometimes. The last time I cooked a meal, we bought lots of stuff that I haven't used and is now  stocked. I can feel their loneliness. HAHA

There are some uncooked pasta, a can of mushrooms, parmessan cheese and some canned tomatoes. I'm planning on making something different and cool. So far, none came into mind. Seems like I'm having an "artistic block", guess you can call it that. Have made lots of pasta with tomato sauce which my family thinks it's too spicy for them. I used lots of spice in my cooking, like my dad once said " someone who's not good in cooking, use lots of spices to cover up the mistakes " but hey! I am still learning and I really love spices.

Been trying to incorporate lots of spices in all my cooking. I'm a fan of Indian food because I just loved how they sometimes blend lots of spices in their cooking and managed to create an interesting and delicious dish. That's how I see it.

Just a random thought, I don't even have an idea if Indians use pasta, all I know is that they use breads. LOL!

So now, when I will start to feel better and can stand on my feet without passing out, I'll think of something healthy and delicious dishes which uses lots of chicken and pasta. I just love chicken and now that I'm enrolled in a gym, I need it for some protein boosts. Hope that works.

So until next time. This post is just to inform some of you that I didn't disappear as I had some messages on facebook from some friends, asking me why I haven't had a post. Some say I might be sick and some say I'm just plain lazy to write something. LOL. well, I was sick, again.

There you go guys. Another uninteresting post.

Cheers! 

. . sweet delight . .

Today, got to see how the honeybees doing. That's right! honeybees. Bees that puke a sweet and nutritious syrup that can be used in all sorts of things. We have two colonies in our backyard right now which has more or less thousands of bees, including the eggs.

Was really fascinated by seeing the honeycombs filled with honey and some are filled with eggs. Especially the bees crawling and eating their precious honey. Here is a pic below showing a frame with bees developing the wax:

Beautiful isn't it?? i'm proud to be around those busy little workers. . :)

Since my family are now interested in the wonders that the honey does, my sister decided to buy some colonies not just to keep my parents and me busy but to have a supply of honey of our own and also since pure honey nowadays is hard to find. I also heard that there are only two brands sold in the supermarket that produce pure honey and it's also expensive. Well, for a wondrous food that nature provided, who wouldn't put a price on it.

Been researching about the health benefits that the honey gives and let me tell you, it has lots of it. I always thought that it's just a substitute sweetener for diabetics and some antioxidants but now there are lots of stuff it contains. 

Now that I'm practicing on my baking skills, I wanna at least try to incorporate honey in most of my recipes. Hoping that it won't increase the amount of sugar in my blood. Keeping my fingers crossed here! HAHA.

Oooh! I also got a taste of the honey produced at our own backyard. Flavor is not that intense which is really good for me, have tried different honey's from different sources and some are very intense in aroma and flavor. That's what they call polyfloral, which means the nectar came from different kinds of flowers. So my theory is that, due to the fact that the our honey is a light, maybe it's monofloral. 

The upside of it is that, when you consume it raw, it's really soothing to the throat and tongue. The downside is that the polyfloral one contains lots of antioxidants which makes it really healthy for consumption. 

Part of the honeycomb with honey, ready for sucking. Taste pretty damn good!

The queen bee with her royal escorts as what I love to call them. :) She takes charge of they're communication and laying eggs. 

Ripe honey enclosed in the honey combs with bees crawling all over it.

Part of the honey comb that was taken. One from the picture above with the plate.

Bees eh! just don't know how to let go. LOL

Those are the pics from today's visit. There's not much going on but we're happy to see the growth of their population in about a month or so. Can't wait to reach 6 colonies and start producing tons of honey! 

I've mentioned that I'm gonna incorporate honey on my recipes right?? Now that I've mentioned that earlier, I'm planning to incorporate that in all of my recipes not just in pastry and see how that goes. I know some people have already done that but maybe I can figure a new and exciting way in using honey on food. Time to add that on my to do list! HAHA.

cheers!

" There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varying colour wherein is healing for mankind. Verily, in this is indeed a sign for people who think."