Craving

Mangoes - a juicy, tropical staple from my childhood....

The rainbowed goodness of a refreshing Hawaiian shave ice (kind of like Italian ice)...

The sight of big waves pounding Hawaiian shores in winter! (Can't you tell I want a tropical vacation? :))

(Top photo of mango taken in Honolulu, Hawaii. Middle and bottom images via Just Hungry and Panoramio.)

Warming up for a new week: Cauliflower soup

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend & I must apologize for my unintended weeklong hiatus - sudden work travel & deadlines kept me from going online much. But I'm so looking forward to visiting!

Meantime, what could be better for fortifying ourselves against a new week than warming soup? My significant other greeted my return with this soothing recipe - perfect for body and soul!

~ Wishing you a perfectly soothing week ahead! ~

***

CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP (Serves 4 to 6)
Adapted very slightly (skim milk, not whole) from a Cook's Illustrated recipe I jotted down ages ago. This soup can be pureed in one batch in most 5-7 cup blenders. 

• 2 tablespoons (~30g) butter, olive oil, or vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, 3 medium shallots, or 1 medium leek (white and light green parts only), chopped
• 2 tablespoons (~30ml) white wine
• 1 medium head (about 2 pounds, or 32 ounces) cauliflower, stems discarded and florets cut into bite size pieces to yield 5 cups
• 2 cups (~500ml) chicken or vegetable stock
• Salt and ground white pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon (~5g) ground coriander
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups (~125-155ml) skim (fat-free) milk
• Optional: minced fresh chives or parsley

Heat butter or oil in a large (easily-pourable) saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add wine & cauliflower; stir until wine evaporates, about 30 seconds.

Add stock, salt and pepper to taste, and ground coriander to saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cover & cook cauliflower until tender, about 12 minutes.

Pour or ladle cauliflower mixture into blender. Add 1/2 cup milk; blend until very smooth. Return soup to saucepan; cook over low heat until warmed through. If soup is too thick, stir in more milk. Adjust seasonings.

Ladle soup into individual bowls. Garnish with minced chives or parsley and chow! (Preferrably with crusty bread :)).

Little notes:
If you don't have a standard blender for pureeing, the next best thing is a handheld immersion blender, but don't use a food processor because it tends to leak hot liquid. (I think I mentioned this tip in the past, but since I keep making this silly mistake myself, I thought it was worth repeating!)

(Images via  Mixed Greens Blog and Parade.)

Things I learned at the dinner party

{Gifts from the New World}

#1. If you say you're from Hawaii, people get very curious.

#2. No matter how smart you think you are, you'll feel dumb in a room full of famous Ivy League professors.

#3. About 60% of the world's crops originated in the "New World" - the Americas: tomatoes, peanuts, potatoes, avocados, zucchinis (courgettes), eggplants (aubergines), vanilla, chocolate...

Of course, #3 got me thinking (and taking a page from writer Bill Bryson) - not only did New World food get incorporated into foreign cuisines, it became the foreign cuisine...

Can you imagine Italian food without tomatoes?

Or Thai food without peanut sauce?

Or English fish and chips without chips? (Terrible thought!)

P.S. The Tea Maker - a short, sweet tribute to John Lennon.

And before I sign off, a big thank you to lovely Marilou at Twenty York Street for passing on a blog award! More soon!

(Images via Edible Portland, The Stir, iFood and Virgin Media. Some thoughts on food history are from writer-journalist Bill Bryson's At Home, chapter on "The Dining Room.")

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a (chocolate) mouse!

It's hard to say no to these L.A. Burdick sweeties :)

And if chocolate's not a good enough reason, just look at those little faces and satiny tails!

"Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of those pieces." - Writer Judith Viorst

P.S. The dark chocolate mice have an orange interior, the milk chocolate ones a mocha interior, and the white chocolate ones a cinnamon interior - yum! (And their ears are almonds.)

(Images via Serious Eats, L.A. Burdick and taste.shop.)

The Cheat: Almost-instant corn soup

(via)

For those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days when you've barely enough energy to think about food (never mind cook!), this is warming, light and almost-instant.

~ Have a warm weekend, full of peace and relaxation! ~

***

ALMOST-INSTANT CORN SOUP (Serves 2-3, Time: 10 min)
A simplified version of the corn soup you find in most Chinese restaurants, but without the artificial flavourings. 

• One can (~14.75 ounce) cream style corn (total cheat - using canned/tinned ingredients!)
• Using the can from the corn, about 1 can of water or chicken stock (for thicker soup, use less)
• One egg, lightly beaten
• Fresh-ground black pepper, salt, butter
• Optional: Bit of cornstarch or flour mixed with water for even thicker soup (~1/2 to 1 teaspoon mixed well with ~1/4 cup water)
• Optional: Chicken breast, minced (or canned crab meat)
• Optional: Scallions (green onion), cilantro/coriander or other favorite vegetables, chopped

If using, mix minced chicken breast with water to cover and set aside. In saucepan, mix water or chicken stock and cream corn. Stir well and boil. Add optional chicken breast (or crab meat), stir well until mixture boils again.

Slowly add optional corn starch mixture, stir until everything boils again. Add beaten egg and turn off heat, stirring constantly until egg turns opaque. Add pepper, salt, butter to taste + veg. Stir well & chow!

Extra notes:

I confess, I know people either cringe at cream style corn, or embrace it and run with it (e.g., dressing this up with fancy white asparagus, fresh ginger, saffron etc). I'm the latter - I'll embrace anything that makes my eating life easier, *especially* if it's reasonably healthy! :)

Mini world food tour: Doughnuts

I had no idea when I posted on Hawaii's malasadas that similar doughnuts were so universal! Thanks to your sweet comments, I got a delish education on sugary dough treats around the world...

 Dutch oliebollen (thanks Signe and Inez!)

Jewish sufganiyot (thanks Ren and Topcoat!)

Polish pączki (thanks Just!)

Croatian krafne (thanks Elisa!)

I knew about this one, but I'll post it anyway!
New Orleans-via-France beignets (thanks Runaway Romantique!)

Another peek at Hawaii-via-Portugal malasadas :)

And much more fried dough around the world!
Is there a similar treat that you know and love?

(Images via Tippin' The Scales, This and That, No Sleep Til Mysore, Croatia Travel Information, Chuck Palahniuk, Team Vision Virtual, and final collage images via Fried Dough Around the World.)

A Midnight Turkey {+quiz}

I once co-hosted a Friendsgiving, to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, with my urban NYC tribe.

To paraphrase a friend, we drew on one another's cooking skills to round out (and heck, overstuff) the meal. The turkey was served at midnight, but it didn't matter - the city never sleeps!

To see our Midnight Turkey recipe, just head on over here. :)

Meantime, I've been tagged by Ginta at Hunting and Gathering and Hitomi Neko to answer the I Love Your Blog quiz! Thank you! Ginta has a lovely way of mixing terrific 2nd-hand finds with current pieces to create something utterly new. Hitomi says she's a blogging newbie, but I've already enjoyed her film reviews. :) Here goes...

1. Why did you create the blog? I may have mentioned this before, but because of my nomadic life, it was a way to feel more connected to faraway family & friends.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow? I love blogs by people who have a passion or just good fun writing about their joys!

3. Favorite makeup brand? I'm not terribly loyal, I'll try anything that sounds promising. :)

Jason Wu's Spring 2011 collection

4. Favorite clothing brand? My latest kick is Jason Wu. So classic and feminine.

5. Your indispensable makeup product? Burt's Bees lip balm.

6. Your favorite color? For clothes, lilacs, dusky roses and rich browns. For interiors, bright colours (one of my last apartments was completely in primary colours!) or soothing neutrals.

7. Your perfume? These days, very occasionally, Kiehl's musk. Before that, girly Flor (and I'm not that girly, even!).

8. Your favorite film? Most recently, the French film Lady Chatterley - not at all rubbishy, more like a sensitive love story with the exquisite Marina Hands as leading lady.

Verona, Italia

9. What country would you like to visit and why? I'm dying to return to Italy, and always wanted to visit an old friend in Norway (I owe her several trips!)

10. Make the last question and answer to yourself: What invention would help your life? Something that instantly transports me to any part of the world! And anything that makes me look like I get 8 hours of sleep & workout 2 hours everyday!;) XO

(Images via Channel4, newbatteri, Travel Holiday, Fragrantica, and Destination360.)

Stuff that made my weekend

Finding this fuzzy photograph I took with a disposable camera, the view from my second-to-last apartment in New York City

Incredibly dense, moist chocolate babka

{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}

Hearing just British accents (and glimpsing London) again :)

{Isabel}

{Underligne by Doo.ri dress, SS/10}

More lovely photographs from Wai Lin Tse

Unpacking the last box from our latest move, yippee!

~ Wishing you an incredible week ahead! ~

(Top photograph was taken in Manhattan, of George Washington Bridge in the mist. Remaining images via Good Bread This, NY Daily News, Wai Lin Tse and GigPark.)

Broccoli Rabe with Sausage and Grapes

I fell a little in love with this comforting dish after a friend made it one autumn. The sharp broccoli rabe is a great contrast with sweet grapes & people always ask for the recipe - a creation of the NY Times's Mark Bittman, a fave (see gossipy notes below :)).

Before I sign off, a big thank you to Tanya at A Taste of T and A Whole Lotta Love for passing on a blog award! More soon!

~ Have a sweet and lovely weekend! ~

***

BROCCOLI RABE WITH SAUSAGE AND GRAPES

(4 servings, ~30 min)

From Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything," I've included some broccoli rabe prep instructions (it's a separate section in Bittman's book) here.

• About 1-1/2 pounds (24 ounces) broccoli rabe (rapini), trimmed and cut-up [Do this by stripping stalk of leaves - you can cook these leaves if you like. Remove bottom inch of stalks, or wherever it's dried out. Peel tough outer skin of stalk as best as you can without going crazy. Cut stalk into equal size pieces and break head into florets.]
• About 1 pound (16 ounces) sweet, garlicky sausage
• 2 cloves garlic, slivered
• About 1/2 pound (8 ounces) seedless grapes
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Bring salted water to boil in medium saucepan. Boil broccoli rabe stalk sections ~2 minutes, add florets and cook ~2-6 more minutes until bright green or tender. Drain and plunge into cold water for a few moments, or run under cold water.

Cook the sausage over medium heat in a large, deep pan (note from me: I like to use a bit of olive oil in the pan), pricking it with a fork or knife a few times, and turning occasionally until nicely browned.

Remove sausage from pan (don't worry about it being done) and cut into bite size pieces. Return it to pan, over medium heat; cook, turning occasionally, until all sides of the cut sausage are nicely browned, about 5 more minutes.

Squeeze excess liquid from broccoli rabe and chop it coarsely. Add it to the pan along with the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add the grapes and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Gossipy notes:

OK, there was just one time a bunch of us lost our appetites for Bittman's recipes - it was after he broke up with a woman he was dating on our street in the most ungentlemanly manner. Needless to say, I've come round to using his recipes again!

(Image via Serious Eats. Thanks Eugenia!)

Malasadas!

Addictive malasadas

Thanks to this delish post by Kat (and a comment by Rowena:)), I've been crazily craving malasadas - that addictive, hole-less sugary donut brought to Hawaii by the Portuguese in the 1800s.

Malasadas are crispy outside, gooey inside - so lovely when fresh.

In Hawaii, they're synonomous with old-school Leonard's Bakery.

Hawaii's malasadas - the Portuguese treat I couldn't find in Portugal

Embarrassingly, I visited Portugal so excited to eat malasadas (like going to Japan for sushi!) - but no one knew about it! A Lisbon resident explained maybe it was unique to Madeira Island. (He also said 'malasadas' meant 'badly-cooked' - so I went around Portugal asking for a badly-cooked thing to eat!)

(Images via TeamVision Virtual, jamesmargaret3rd, Hawaii Vacation Insider, Taste Odyssey and Road Food.)    

Popovers

Popovers are so easy to make, you could engage a child in the activity (and he or she would probably love it!). For a time, I made these from scratch in the mornings, before work.

Popovers are best piping hot from the oven. They've a light, airy feel - and make a nice alternative to 'heavier' breakfast breads.

~ Have an easy, relaxing weekend! ~

***

POPOVERS (Yields 12 popovers)

Time: 35-40 minutes of mostly baking time

Adapted from "Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes" by Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson; this child-friendly version appeared in NY Times Magazine (as usual, I never wrote down the issue)

About 2 tablespoons (~30g) butter

2 eggs

1 cup (~240ml) milk

1 cup (~130g) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon (~1g) salt

Extra butter, jam, honey or maple syrup for popovers

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (~190 degrees Celsius or moderate/medium-hot oven). Melt the butter. Brush insides of 12 popover or muffin cups with melted butter. Break eggs into a mixing bowl, add milk & beat well. Add flour & salt and whisk until reasonably well blended - it doesn't have to be perfect.

Use a 1/4 cup (~60ml) measure with a handle to pour batter into each popover/muffin cup. They should be a half to two-thirds full. Bake 30 minutes without opening the oven. Remove popovers and prick with a fork to let steam escape. Serve immediately with butter or jam. (They also taste great dipped in honey or maple syrup).

(Images via Just a Taste and twenty-two pleasant.)

Complete food randomness

Since it's almost-Friday, something more kooky & random :)....

Random chocolate bar ingredients

Random food ad (desperately wish I could read this!)

Random imbibe-and-pedal mobile pub

Random cake show entry: Great Expectations Miss Havisham cake, complete with "vermin" (Would Charles Dickens approve?)

Random restaurant: Finland's Snow Village IceBar is made entirely of ice, even the tables and chairs! (And you can reserve it for igloo disco)

(Images via Cardullo's, Calvacade of Awesomeness, Ham at London Daily Photo, Hotham Street Ladies and delish. Thanks Ada for the cake link!)

When in Rome

Do as the Romans do!...Relish the eternal sites...

Colosseum

Forum
{Where Marc Antony cried: Friends, Romans...lend me your ears}

Savor modern wonders...

Vatican City

Spanish Steps

Remember Audrey Hepburn on the Spanish Steps in Roman Holiday?

Enjoy Rome's many fountains...

Trevi Fountain

 Charming Turtle Fountain (a fave :))

Soak in the peace of the Aventine Hill...

St. Peter's through the Knights of Malta keyhole, Aventine Hill



And if Romantic poets are your thing...

Cemetery where Keats and Shelley are buried

Keats gravestone

Last but not least...

Do marvel at the ancient Roman table - could you also eat mice (a delicacy) or a prized seasoning called garum? Recipe for garum:

"Place in a vessel all the insides of fish, both large fish and small. Salt them well. Expose them to the air until they are completely putrid. In a short time a liquid is produced. Drain this off."

"This" is precious garum! Haha, do not try this at home!

P.S. A friend (who studies the ancient world) was not even fazed by garum, saying "it sounds like anchovy paste, actually."

(Recipe for garum is from MFK Fisher's Serve it Forth. Images via Wired Destinations, Europe Travel, VonEurope, Travel in Rome Italy, Finding My People, Top Things Europe, Vraatja at Waymarking, ElectricBaby81 at TripAdvisor, Feel Home in Rome, eternallycool, Tom Clark and Rodriguez PBWorks.)