TEA IN THE SAHARA RECIPE- FRESH DATES WITH CHAMOMILE AND GINGER TEA RECIPE

FRESH DATES WITH CHAMOMILE AND GINGER TEA RECIPE

Beneath the sheltering sky

To the desert, i would fly

I feel like having tea…  in the Sahara

I just love to roam…. this desert  land

Having you with me, where the dunes are

My tea cup will not be …. filled with sand

A respect to the Sahara - The addax, a large white antelope, an endangered species of the Sahara, can go nearly  A YEAR  in the desert without drinking. 

Me? until the twelfth of never? NO, I can  only go for half a day.

What about you?..  right now I need some  tea- anything with chamomile added, would be just  fine.. Salute to you addax.. I need my tea now

Herb tea sold in sachets-                   

Laxative herb tea

On herbal laxative tea, anything with senna leaf will work. Senna leaf is a natural stimulant for this. The "smooth move" tea from Traditional Medicinals, is a favorite. “Twinnings” has one of the best tea selection and is a favorite too.

My nutritionist advised that herbal tea is great, but it is just fruit teas that you have to be careful with, as they contain lots of sugar

Lemon balm herb tea

It is also known as “Melisa”.  Contains flavonoids and  polyphenolics. Lemon balm has anti-herpes properties and it regulates the thyroid function. Also  sedative  and  has a  stimulating effect on brain functions

GREEN TEA

The best for your skin would be green tea.
Any tea which contains flavanoids and anti oxidants are good for the skin-

RECIPE- the shortest in my blogging history

IN THE SAHARA,  I  will have 

4 cups FRESH DATES JUICE,

STEEPED  for half hour with

1 cup water,

1cm GINGER  and

2 SACHETs CHAMOMILE -  that makes a pot.

When done, serve with ice cubes.

Yummy,  energized and no diabetic sugar .

                 INCORPORATED FOOD ART WITH RECIPE

INSPIRATION FROM THE DESERT AND THE SNOW, MY MUSIC AND MY LOVE , WILL  ALWAYS BE  MY CUP OF TEA..

CINNAMON ROLL BUNS RECIPE

CINNAMON ROLL BUNS 

Here's taking a breather from my Cooking Tips and Recipe series after 8 postings.. Will continue the 9th series soon.

Today, i would like to introduce my special guest blogger, Ms Nash from foodies by ai. Please get her link at my sidebar. I noticed Nash is very passionate about kimchi and it is definitely one of her favorite food/pickle. Kimchi is a Korean pickled cabbage.

A "Franciscan apple " ceramics 1942
WHAT'S FOR TEA?

I was most attracted to her recipes on making buns- basic soft buns and a few others.To me,there are many bun recipes,but they dont look as soft as Nash's and this moves me to request her to be my guest. Let's hear it from this culinary college graduate herself..

Hi! My name is Nash from Malaysia. I’m an ex-culinary student  and I enjoy good food and writing.

I started blogging in Foodies by ai to train on what I have learnt – cooking, food writing and food photography. I enjoyed learning new recipes through other blogs, and meeting new people.

I’m really happy to share this recipe – Cinnamon Roll Buns. It is something I learnt during my first year in culinary school. I hope you will enjoy this dish as I do.

Cinnamon Roll Buns

250g Flour
1 egg
100ml water
25g butter
35g castor sugar
5g dried yeast
10g salt
more flour for dusting

1.  Combine all ingredients in a mixer with salt and yeast added separately.

2. Mix for 20 minutes in medium speed.

3. Knead the dough.

4. Rest for 20 minutes. Cover the dough with damp towel.

5. Knock the dough to let the air out. Sprinkle work surface with flour. Then, roll the dough flat into a square or rectangle.

6. Spread some butter, sprinkle some sugar, or brown sugar if you like, and a whole lot of ground cinnamon. But of course, if you didn't like your cinnamon rolls taste too cinnamony, you can sprinkle them moderately.

7. Roll the cinnamon to form a log. If you didn’t want the center to pop up like mine, you have to roll your buns loosely.

8. Cut them into equal-sized pieces.

9. Arrange rolls into a greased baking pan, or a muffin tin.

10. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

11. You could have your cinnamon roll buns just the way it is. Or, you could drizzle some syrup, or powdered sugar glaze (just whip a cup of confection sugar with a tablespoon of hot milk).00g butter (melted)
sugar/brown sugar
ground cinnamon/cinnamon powder

MY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO NASH FOR BEING MY GUEST
A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET OF EGYPTIAN ROSES IN WATER COLOR ART

TARTAR SAUCE RECIPE. WHITE SAUCE RECIPE.. TEN GREAT COOKING TIPS –

TARTAR SAUCE RECIPE
WHITE SAUCE RECIPE

10 GREAT COOKING TIPS –

COOKING TIPS

This is the 7^th post on cooking tips plus recipes,already published in series
.

1-How many minutes per pound do you cook beef? If it's roast beef and you want it medium rare in the middle and cooked on the ends then put the oven up to 400 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes and then put it down to 330 - 350 (basting every 15 minutes in it's own juices).  It would 15 - 20 minutes per pound

How best to cook beef? - Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that human subjects who ate beef rare or medium-rare had less than one third the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate beef medium-well or well-done

2-Why use water in tomato soup? Condensed soup means that it has had the water removed, so for the proper consistancy one adds back the water that was taken out..

3-What is and how to use a natural enzyme tenderizer ?-

One way to tenderize food especially meat, is by adding natural enzyme tenderizers before cooking.. Examples of such enzymes are- papan from papaya (use leaves and green unripe fruit) , bromelain from pineapple and actinidin from  kiwifrui

4-What is the best way to skin a chicken?

The head and the legs are chopped off first. The tail end is slit or torn with the fingers and the skin forcefully peeled toward the neck.

5-How to boil chicken carcass for soup?

If you are making the stock for the soup first… Don't forget to brown the carcass in the oven for an hour before making...

6-What are the parts of a meat tenderloin?

The tenderloin is the tender cut of beef that comes from the animal's loin near its buttocks. It is a long round piece of meat...

7-How do you cook beef tenderloin?

Beef tenderlion is generally cut into steaks. One end of the tenderloin is thicker than the other which is called the Chateau...

8-What is the thickness of sirloin steak?

1-1/4" for grilling medium rare sirloin cooked more done will be tough. Good idea to let the steak get to room temperature

9- Which is the best for stir fry?

 The very best is rump, but I've seen butchers use topside and round. Of course rib and eye fillet would both be pricey, but OK.

10-How long do you grill your beef ribs?

Till they are done on the INSIDE, close to 1/2 hour or more, depending on thickness. The thicker the meat, the longer it takes 

BASIC TARTAR SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients:

16 ozs mayonnaise

2 tbsp finely chopped pickled gherkins

2 tbsp finely chopped pickled capers\lemon juice

1 tbsp  minced fresh chives

1 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the above in a medium mixing bowl and mix weel using a wooden spatula.

Cover top with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour to chill the sauce.

Service with prawns, fried calamari or other seafood

HOW TO MAKE WHITE SAUCE  RECIPE

This recipe makes 1 cup of white sauce. Can be glazed over meat and casseroles. Use in any recipe calling for a white sauce. Another name for whit sauce is is Bechamel and is considered a "mother"sauce in cooking.

CAPERS

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup milk
¼ tsp salt
A dash of white pepper
Melt butter. Whisk in milk, flour, salt and pepper until smooth
Cook until bubbly for about one minute.This called roux
Tips:  
Heat the milk in microwave-safe cup. Whisk into  the flour mixture 

TIP FROM THREE COOKIES: please note her link is at comment box-
"Interesting tips. I heard about using pawpaw skin for tenderising from a friend but never tried it". 

SUN-DRIED TOMATO RELISH RECIPE. THREE-BEAN RELISH RECIPE. TEN GREAT COOKING TIPS

SUN-DRIED TOMATO  RELISH RECIPE

THREE-BEAN RELISH  RECIPE

TEN GREAT  COOKING TIPS (SERIES #6)

COOKING TIPS (SERIES # 6).
1.What actually is relish in culinary?

According to Brittanica encyclopedia relish is a vegetable  side  dish  that is  eaten in  small quantities with a blander main dish to pique the appetite by its contrasting texture and spicy or piquant taste. 

Relishes are frequently finely cut vegetables or fruit in sour, sweet-sour, or spicy sauce

a)..something savory or appetizing added to a meal, as pickles or olives.

b)..a sweet pickle made of various vegetables, usually chopped or minced.

c)..an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre

The Indonesian and Malaysian sambal, Indian/ Punjabi chutney, achar,  andraita, and Korean  kimchi. Lombardy in Italy, specializes   in “mostarda di frutta”, a melange of fruits preserved in a sweet syrup,  sharp with mustard. In the United States (Pennsylvania German)  cuisine "seven sweets and seven sours".

2. Tip some great relish ingredients- Pickles fruits and vegetables, spices and condiments, onions, beets, crabapples, watermelon rind, nuts, pineapple and herbs…with pickled baby gherkins, my top favorite.

3. What is sundried tomatoes? Ripe tomatoes are placed in the sun to remove  their water content. The larger tomatoes can lose up to 93% water during the process. As a result, it takes about 8 to 14 kilos of fresh tomatoes to make a single kilo of sun-dried tomatoes. Sundried  tomato fruits still keep their nutritional values. Tomatoes are high in lycopene, anti-oxidants and vitamin C. They are low in sodium, fat and calories.

CV RELISH RECIPE

8 pieces packed sundried tomatoes (cut into smaller pieces)

4 tbsp golden/ purple  raisins

3 or 4 tbsp minced pickled gherkins

2 tbsp minced fresh coriander

¼ cube or 1 tsp anchovies powder

6  tbsp boiled red beans

1 clove garlic

3 tbsp almond slices

1 tbsp crushed black pepper (optional)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ lemon (extract juice)

Sal and pepper

In a mixing bowl, put in olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, salt,, pepper, minced garlic, coriander and anchovies and mix well.

Finally, add all the other ingredients.. A relish for your dish or casserole

COOKING TIPS

4. What is sulfite in food and how to detoxify?  Sulfites are a type of preservative commonly added to prepared food. An excellent source of the trace mineral, an intergral component, molybdenum, can detoxify sulfites.

1 cup of cooked kidney beans contain 177% of daily requirement of molybdenum. So, you would need half cup daily.

5. Any other great tip on cooking/ eating kidney beans? 1 cup cooked kidney beans contain 18% of daily requirement of thiamine, a synthesis for acetycholine.

Acetycholine is for  memory / retention power, not senile/ prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

6. Are kidney beans toxic, how to remove this? Kidney beans, are toxic  if not put at boiling point for 10 minutes at least.. These beans takes longer than 10 minutes to get cooked and soften, making  it  safe to eat.

7. What pairs best with kidney beans? Kidney beans are especially good in simmered dishes where they absorb the flavors of seasonings and the other foods in which they are cooked with.

8. How to shorten cooking time for kidney beans and make them easier to digest? Kidney beans should be presoaked. There are two basic methods for presoaking. For each method, place the beans in a saucepan with two to three cups of water per 1 cup of beans.

Method 1- Heat the beans, when water starts to boil, leave for two minutes only, then take pan off the heat. Cover and allow to stand for two hours.

Method 2- Soak the beans in water for eight hours or overnight, placing the pan in the refrigerator, so that the beans will not ferment.

Before cooking the beans, drain the soaking liquid and rinse the beans with clean water.

THREE-BEAN  RELISH RECIPE

Half cup each of cooked kidney beans, black beans and white beans

Combine all three to make a colorful three bean relish.

Mix with chopped zucchini, mint leaves  and scallions

Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano, salt and black pepper.

COOKING TIPS:

9.Any quick Serving ideas? Serve cooked kidney beans over a piece of cornbread and top with grated cheese.

10. Other Serving idea? In a food processor or blender, combine cooked kidney beans with garlic, cumin and chili peppers for a delicious spread that can be used as a crudité dip or sandwich filling, with cheese added.


TIPS FROM PUBLISHED COMMENTS: see links in comment box. thank you.
1) From Jasna: " Beans in combination with corn (or rice) have complete protein (like meat), important for vegetarians. Love mashing it for dips!"


2) From Nava: "We need our relish with most of our meals Maznah, a little bit of sambal belacan, Indian pickles etc etc. In fact, these are always in the fridge and brought out as and when needed during our makan time.
That is a wonderful recipe you have shared and one more to be added to our meal. "


3) From Katrina: " Whenever I eat Indian/Mamak food - will go into their kitchen asking for chutney .
 I love to watch Korean dramas, they always mention Kimchis, must be their traditional dish - and looked delicious too!  Tks for all the tips.. very educational for me ".


4) From Amy:Thanks so much for these great tips....Every cuisine has their own relishing dishes...In Sri Lanka we use 'Achcharu' including 'Malay Achcharu'.Other than that I like Indian chutnies & sambal chili which I found here in Singapore..
Sundried tomato looks great!!