Tag Archives: food

Sautéed Brussels sprouts with Bacon & Onions

Posted on April 23, 2013 | 2 comments

I know many people don’t like Brussels sprouts but every time I read any healthy recipes, it seems to be on the menu so I decided to find a good way to eat it. I know if Brussels sprouts is not done right, it won’t taste good but sautéing with bacon and onion seemed to do the trick. Even AS was happy to eat it and told me he didn’t mind eating it again.

So here is a simple way to enjoy Brussels sprouts.

Ingredients

  • 200 gm Brussels sprouts cleaned and trimmed
  • 4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper  to taste
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)

Steps

  • Cut the cleaned and trimmed Brussels sprouts into halves. Make sure the sprouts are similar in size so some don’t overcook and some under cook.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (8)

  • Boil water in a big pot and when it starts boiling add the sprouts.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (1)

  • Boil the sprouts for around 3-5 minutes making sure it is tender and not over cooked.
  • Drain the sprouts

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (2)

  • In a pan, cook bacon over medium heat until it is crisp. And put aside.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (3)

  • Now cook the chopped onion in the pan and cook until golden brown.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (4)

  • Increase heat to medium-high, add the Brussels sprouts, and cook stirring occasionally, until tender and warmed through. It should be around 3 minutes.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (5)

  • Add the bacon and lemon juice(optional).
  • Season with salt and pepper or chilli.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (6)

  • Rest it for a while and it is ready to be served.

Sautéed Brussels sprouts (7)

  • We had ours with grilled lamb.

You may also like :

*Stuffed capsicum with minced chicken and brown rice

 *Jamie’s Crackin’ Crab Briks, Couscous Salad & Salsa

 *Blueberry muffins

2 Comments

Posted in Foodie, Recipe

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Khandeko mula ko achar (Pickled radish)

Posted on April 2, 2013 | 1 comment

Here is another pickle recipe I learned in Nepal.

Ingredients

  •     1 litre glass jar
  •     1/2 kg white radish cut into inch
  •     Garlic 50 gms chopped
  •     Ginger 20 gms chopped
  •     3 Green chilli chopped
  •     1.5 teaspoons Cumin powder
  •     1.5 teaspoons Coriander powder
  •     1.5 teaspoons Red chilli powder
  •     1.5 teaspoons Turmeric powder
  •     2 teaspoons Mustard seed powder
  •     2 teaspoons Salt
  •     2 teaspoons Mustard oil

I used a glass jar which came with 1kg honey estimating it’ll hold around 1 litre of water. The idea is to fill it with the ingredients with a bit of space to spare. The radish should fill about 80% of the jar and the ginger and garlic 10% with 10% empty. Chilli is to taste.

mula ko achar (1)

Process:

  • Cut the radish into 1/2 inch block and chop Garlic, Ginger and Green chillies and put them in a large bowl.

mula ko achar (2)

  • Add the spices as mentioned in the ingredients and mix them all together.

mula ko achar (3)

  • Fill the glass jar to around 90%.

mula ko achar (4)

  • Put a clean wrap or plastic bag on the month of the jar and close it tightly so no air can enter.

mula ko achar (5)

  • Leave the jar where it can get direct sunlight.
  • Every few days, open the jar and move the tomatoes around. Close the jar, tightly.

mula ko achar (6)

  • The pickle will be ready in 4-5 days. Enjoy!

You may also like :

*Khandeko golbenda ko achar *Aloo ko achar  *Aloo dum 

 

1 Comment

Posted in Foodie, Nepal, Nepali food, Recipe

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Stuffed capsicum with minced chicken and brown rice

Posted on March 20, 2013 | 10 comments

All the cooking shows on TV inspired me to cook something new the other night. It was stuffed capsicum and it turned out so yummy. Here’s the recipe.

 Ingredients

  • 4 large yellow capsicums (I used 2 yellow and 2 green ones but yellow was yummier)

Stuffed capsicum (1)

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 350 g lean minced chicken
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 cup of brown rice
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • ¼ cup (40 g) grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 3 teaspoons of cumin powder
  • 2 teaspoon of chilli powder
  • Salt to taste

Steps

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C.
  • Slice tops off capsicums to make lids. Scoop out seeds and membranes and discard them.

Stuffed capsicum (3)

  • Cook rice in a rice cooker using 1 cup of water and 1 cup of chicken stock.
  • Heat oil in a wok over medium heat. Add turmeric powder.
  • Add minced chicken and cooked it until it is brown

Stuffed capsicum (2)

  • Add onionand garlic. Sauté 2 minutes.
  • Add salt, chilli and cumin powder and cook for few more minutes
  • In a bowl mix the cooked chicken and rice. Add half of the shredded cheese.

Stuffed capsicum (4)

Stuffed capsicum (5)

  • Fill each capsicum with the mixture. Place upright in a shallow baking dish. Cover with capsicum lids.

Stuffed capsicum (6)

  • Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes or until the capsicums are tender.

Stuffed capsicum (9)

  • Open the lid and top the capsicum fillings with the remaining cheese. Close lids.

Stuffed capsicum (10)

  • Serve hot.

Stuffed capsicum (11)

You may also like :

*Chicken chili – Nepali Style *Chicken Tikka Masala *Goat curry

10 Comments

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Blueberry muffins

Posted on February 28, 2013 | 9 comments

When I was in Nepal, I baked blueberry muffins in my new home. All the family members loved it so I am sharing the recipe here. It is really easy and simple.

Makka ku (7)

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups self-rising flour
  • 90g butter, chopped
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 125g fresh blueberries (I used canned ones as I couldn’t find fresh ones in Nepal)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Steps

  • Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced.
  • Lightly dust muffin tray with flour.

Blueberry muffin (4)

  • Sift flour into a bowl. Add sugar and butter and mix well with hand.
  • Make a well in the centre of flour mixture.

Blueberry muffin (1)

  • Add blueberries, milk and egg. Gently stir until just combined using wooden spoon

Blueberry muffin (2)

Blueberry muffin (3)

  • Spoon mixture into prepared holes.

Blueberry muffin

  • Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in center of 1 muffin comes out clean.

Blueberry muffin (5)

  • Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Blueberry muffin (6)

  • Enjoy with tea or coffee.

Blueberry muffin (7)

9 Comments

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Valentine’s day 2013

Posted on February 15, 2013 | 12 comments

Like every year, Valentine’s Day, the day for love, has arrived this year as well. I am sure you know I am crazy about love from my previous posts here and here.

If you don’t know, I am telling you that I am a hopelessly romantic person and my husband knows that. It is not that I want him to spend lots of money and spoil me rotten on this day but at the same time I don’t want not to celebrate this day like many of my friends who think it is too commercialised to care about. I know Hallmark and florists are making lots of money on this day by selling emotions but I really don’t need roses, romantic cards or heart shaped chocolate to feel spoilt.  Simple gestures like breakfast or home-made dinner will make me super happy for sure. I will even be happy with just a big hug and cuddle.

I am really happy to have a hubby who is so caring and loving in my life. He always makes me feel very special and I am so incredibly blessed to have him as my partner and my best friend. He has endured so much, including leaving everything that he has known his entire life behind and moving to Australia just for me and that means more to me than I can express in words. I treasure the good as well as the difficult moments we have shared together.

This year, as I was still very unsettled from my recent holiday and with a mid-week Valentine’s Day we didn’t really plan what we were going to do. We just thought it will be nice to have a dinner out and that was it.

So like every other day, on 14 Feb 2013, my alarm woke me up at 6:00 am. Lazily I work up and went to the bathroom. I was half asleep when I came back to the room and I saw there was something on my bedside table. When I went closer, I realised that it was a bunch of red roses! I turned around and he was lying there with a big smile, the smile that I fell in love with.

Valentine's day (5)

I kind of knew I would be getting some red roses that day. Normally he comes home with it in the evening. I have always told him not to spend too much on Valentine’s Day roses. I know that it is a big waste of money as they are super expensive that day.

Valentine's day (1)

Anyway, back to Valentine’s Day morning, I was so happy seeing the flowers that I was lost for words. All I could do was hug him tight. I don’t know how he smuggled flowers to our place the day before but he did a damn good job. Even though I didn’t expect this it was such a great feeling to be loved. To top it off, he told me that we were going for a massage after dinner and that was all that I had wished for.

Valentine's day (7)

I really wished it had been a day off but I needed to get out of bed to go to work. As we were going straight from work to dinner, I wore a red dress with matching red shoes.

Valentine's day (4)

Work hours felt long but finally it was time for me to meet my baby again. We met and went for dinner. We chose a low key place over big fancy ones as most of these places would be too crowded. The Thai restaurant we went to was not very busy so we were served quickly. We had Satay Chicken for entrée followed by some curries and special fried rice for main. We skipped desert as we were going for a massage and didn’t want to be too full.

Valentine (2)

Also I had bought some really cute cupcakes for my hubby (he didn’t know I had them in the car).

Valentine's day (3)

The massage place was a few blocks walk away from the restaurant so we strolled hand in hand until we reached the place. We had been there before and AS knew I had loved it. I just love the vibe of this place because even as you walk in, you can feel very relaxed because of the ambiance and of the sweet aromas. We waited for a few minutes and it was our time to relax under competent hands.

Valentine (1)

We always go for Aromatherapy Thai massage and we went for the same this time as well. As the lady massaged each part of my body; my stress reduced and my body was relaxing. I just loved the feeling you have when you get a good massage. An hour passed so quickly and we were done. But my body was thankful for every minute of the awesome massage.

We drove home and when we got to our apartment, I gave AS his Valentine’s gift; lots of mini cupcakes which were beautifully decorated with a cupid, hearts, and romantic words. He was really pleased with his cakes and enjoyed his desert. I am really happy that he loved it as it tasted so fresh and soft.

Valentine's day (2)

And this is how I spent my Valentine’s day this year. Do share how yours was?

P.S I think I am more romantic than I care to admit as I just realised today that I have a special category called Valentine’s day in my blog. Seriously, who does that!

12 Comments

Posted in Relationship, Valentine's Day

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