Thursday, February 12, 2009

ym oh ym

wheeeeeee~~~
morning everyone!
dgn excitednya nak umumkan!
teng teng teng

YM sy dah OKAY!!! XD
sila add, sape2 yg dah lame nak add.
x nak add x kesah. haha.
eyann. blh la ym pasni! =]
tp sy still x boleh add org!
tataw nape. jgn ditanye.
so. add la! =D

owhhh d12

i miss my d12!!!
it's da 3rd intake of form 4
2005 of mrsm kuala lipis.
this is just a part of us. 5/12.
31st jan 2009
mid valley





Layered Eggplant, Rice, Cauliflower & more - مقلوبة الباذنجان باللحمة


This recipe is very common all over the Arab world and not only Lebanon. In Jordan, it is very popular and they prepare it with Lamb. In Lebanon, another version of this is popular also, but made with chicken instead of meat and without eggplant and nuts, I will post it one day as well. I personally prefer this one :) In arabic it is called (Makloubeh or Ma2loubeh= turned over, because you layer everything and turn the pot upside down to serve)

Serves at least 5
Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 small cauliflower
2 cups of rice (long grain)
1 pound of lean medium cubed beef or lamb
1 cup of assorted raw nuts (like pistachios, almonds, pine nuts etc...)
1 big onion chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
4 cups of wate
1 teaspoon butter
Vegetable oil for frying
Some olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste and some allspice

- Slice the eggplant into medium circles, sprinkle salt and let it drain its water for like half an hour (this way it won't absorb a lot of oil ;))Then drain on a paper towel and fry them half way until they begin to turn gold. Fry the cauliflower too and let drain ona paper towel as well.
- Now in a cooking pot, add chopped onions and some olive oil then add the meat, add salt & pepper to taste and allspice, cook until the meat is mostly cooked, then layer the eggplant on top of the meat and onions, then layer the cauliflower on top of that then the rice. Now mix the tomato paste with the 4 cups of water and add to the rice and all. Let everything cook on medium and until the rice is done and has absorbed the water. Meanwhile, in a pan, add a teaspoon of butter then add the nuts and toast them. To serve, place a rounded serving plate on top of the pot, hold it tight and flip upside down quickly. Be careful so that the whole thing doesn't fall apart. Top with the nuts and serve with any salad of your choice.

Laverstoke Park Farm Buffalo Mozzarella

I really didn’t think it was possible to get excited about mozzarella.

An ashed chevre, a gooey vacherin or a wedge of pungent stilton. These are cheeses to get excited about, cheeses with soul, cheeses that will happily slap you round the cheeks, badmouth your siblings and shout obscenities on the way down.

But mozzarella? It has always been something to melt onto a margarita or serve up with a few slices of tomato and some hastily torn basil leaves to create a half-arsed salad. It’s a cheese that might make you a cup of sweet tea whilst showing you a slideshow of their recent trip to the Cotswolds.

Those stringy balls of non-descript, lacklustre cheese suspended, implant like, in saline solution gradually hardening into inedibility? Not worthy of praise. They are barely worthy of pizza.

It might melt into gratifyingly long strings that somehow manage to break just before you run out of arm. And, granted, it can carry other flavours and act as a vehicle for herbs, olive oil or black pepper. But I would never have considered that it could stand on its own and just be, well, a cheese.

Until yesterday.

The luxurious life of a freelance food writer

As I mentioned, I was invited to the official launch of Laverstoke Park Farm’s latest product: a truly British mozzarella made from the milk of free-range water buffalo that graze happily on the Hampshire grasslands of Jody Scheckter’s organic and bio-dynamic farm.


Photo courtesy of Cristian Barnett

Apparently, the secret to good mozzarella is freshness. By the time we pluck it from its salty bath it will be at least a week old. And that’s assuming we have access to a good quality deli. God only knows how long those cosmetic surgery bags that supermarkets manage to pass off as mozzarella have been sat there.

But the fresh stuff is something else. It needs no adornments, no additions, no added extras like oil or pepper. It really is good enough to bite right into to enjoy the unique burst of freshness.


Photo courtesy of Cristian Barnett

The flavour is both gentle and rich, subtle and acidic, soft yet cheeky, without being intrusive and manages to coat and cleanse the palate concurrently.

This cheese wouldn’t make you a cup of sweet tea: it would mix a perfect martini then invite you up for coffee.

In short, it is just really, really good and sure to cause a few ripples in a nation that has grown used to the insipid balls of plasticy pap that float around like the eggs of some bizarre sea creature dreamt up by Jules Verne on a bad day.

Fancy trying it yourself? Just go to the Laverstoke Park Online Farm Shop where you can order it to be delivered straight to your door. And treat yourself to some buffalo steaks while you’re at it – they are as good as, if not better than, the best beef I’ve ever tasted.

Sometimes it pays to be a food blogger.

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