MOONG DAL CABBAGE PORIYAL

Ingredients:

Moong dal ...... 1/2 cup

Coconut ......... 3-4 tbsp (grated)

Cabbage ......... 1 cup (chopped)

Turmeric powder ... 1/4 tsp

Salt ............... to taste

Green chillies .... 1-2

Lime juice ......... 1-2 tbsps. (according to your taste)

Oil

For tempering:

Asafoetida...... a pinch

Mustard seeds ... 1 tsp

Urad dal ............. 1/2 tsp

Dry red chillies ... 1 -2

Curry leaves ....... a few

Oil

Method:

1. Wash and soak the moong dal for at least 1 hour. Heat a little oil in a pan and saute the moong dal. Just sprinkle a little water, salt and turmeric and cook dal on low flame taking care not to over cook. The grains have to remain separate.

2. Cut the cabbage and boil it in salt water only for half a minute. It has to remain crunchy. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat a little oil and add the tempering ingredients and green chillies. Add the cabbage and dal.. Squeeze lime juice and mix it.

Garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.

This can be served as a side dish or even just relished plain like a snack.

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Day Eight - Heading for the airport

6.5.11 : 156/365

In an effort to make the most of our final day, we went on a final little tour prior to packing up the car for the trip to the airport and handing over the keys.

Joséphine de Beauharnais aka first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie in Trois-Îlets, Martinique to a Wealthy, white Creole family who owned a sugar plantation. La Pagerie and the ruins of the sugar plantation were our destination during our last few hours of vacation.

In summary, our short week vacation was really quite fantastic. We got to visit several different, and gorgeous beaches, some beautiful natural sites (I've now climbed that volcano twice), and some real island culture. We had an amazing time, and truly cannot wait to return!

I hope this re-cap really showcased some of the islands natural beauty and appeal. I'd love to hear stories if anyone decides to go.

Thanks for sticking around, even if the re-cap did take forever! :)

Eggplant with Traditional Whey (Kashk-e Bademjan)

3 medium eggplants
2 egg whites, beaten until foamy
¼ cup oil or more as needed
3 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons dried mint leaves
¼ cup water
2½ teaspoons salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper

Garnish:
5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or minced
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon dried mint leaves, crumbled
½ cup liquid whey (kashk), mixed with ¼ cup water
Note: Available in Persian or Middle Eastern delicatessens. See photo below.
¼ cup chopped walnuts, optional
¼ teaspoon ground saffron, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

1. Peel the eggplants and cut each into four lengthwise slices. Place in a large bowl of water with 2 tablespoons salt and let them soak for 20 minutes. Soaking is supposed to remove the bitterness. Remove and pat them dry with clean dish towels.
2. Brush one side of the eggplants with the foamy egg whites. The egg whites keep the eggplant from absorbing too much oil. Fry the foamy side down in 2 tablespoons of oil until the eggplant is brown. Paint the top side with egg whites before flipping it over to brown the other side. Use medium heat. You will probably need to do this in multiple batches; add more oil as needed.
3. Brown the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil. Add the turmeric and mint flakes and set aside. Add salt to taste.
4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
5. Alternate layers of the eggplant with layers of the onion and garlic mixture in a rectangular ovenproof dish. Sprinkle each layer of eggplant with salt and pepper. You may have two layers of each. Pour ¼ cup water over it all and bake it covered in the oven for 20 minutes or until tender. You can make it ahead up to this point; refrigerate until needed.
6. For the garnish: Just before serving, lightly brown the garlic in oil. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the mint, whey, walnuts and saffron water. Stir until combined. Pour over the eggplant and bake, covered, for 15 minutes at 300ºF or until heated all the way through.
Note: If you’ve made the dish ahead, return the dish to room temperature, heat gently at 325ºF. for 30 minutes and then add the garnish as above.
7. Serve as part of a Persian dinner with Persian flatbread.

Serves 4-6
Adapted from Najmieh Batmanglij’s New Food of Life

 Liquid whey or Kashk

Day Seven - Our final full day

6.4.11 : 155/365

I know I shared the pictures of the village we were staying in, but as you can see that is my picture for this day since it was actually the day I took them... I'm all about getting this project, right.

This was just another day spent at the beach and walking around to visit. We did head back to Fort de France to pick up the things we weren't able to the first time at the market. I still didn't take a pictures, but that was apparently a ball I was destined to drop the whole time. We picked up a few things to bring back with us but there were a couple local things that I would love to introduce to you;

The first and most well known item was local and pure vanilla extract. You can get a big bottle of this for pretty cheap on most of the islands and it's delicious and aromatic.

The second is a West Indian/Creole curry blend called Colombo spice.

via

Colombo is orange in it's raw form but cooks up almost olive green in colour. This is definitely reminiscent of curry but different and so very delicious.

Another little 'something' that I would like to introduce you to, is our little buddy for the week we were there.

You see, in an effort to avoid any theft in the village we were in there were dogs that pretty much held down the fort. This guy here lived in the parking lot of our rental and while he snapped at us the first time we met, we all quickly became friends. He was such a sweetheart! We watched him take off after someone one day, so he certainly was no pushover... he took his job seriously.

There were other dogs around the village, and they were amazingly well behaved. They would walk along the sidewalks, safely cross the roads and just go about their business, not bothering a soul... they were amazing!

For this entry, I leave you with some scenery pictures that we took on our last evening there;

Fresh Herb Stew (Khoresh-e Qormeh Sabzi)

2 large onions, peels and thinly sliced
2 pounds lamb shanks or 1½ pounds deboned leg of lamb, cut in 2-inch pieces
½ cup vegetable oil
1½ teaspoons salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric
4 cups water or light stock (chicken or vegetable)
½ cup dried kidney beans or other red beans, soaked in water overnight
4 whole dried Persian limes, pierced with a knife. See photo below.
4 cups finely chopped parsley, about 4 bunches, thick stems removed
1 cup finely chopped chives or scallions, about 1 bunch scallions
1 cup finely chopped cilantro, about 1 bunch, thick stems removed
1 cup chopped fenugreek leaves or ¼ cup dried
Note: Available from purveyors of Indian foodstuffs under the name of Kasoori Methi. See photo below.
2 tablespoons dried Persian lime powder
OR
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice (my preference), 1-2 limes

1. Using a food processor, coarsely chop the parsley, scallions, and cilantro. Of course you can do it by hand if you prefer.
2. In a Dutch oven or a large pot, brown the onions with the lamb in 3 tablespoons oil. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric. Pour in the water or stock. Drain the soaked beans. Add them and the whole dried Persian limes. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

3. In a frying pan, sauté the mountain of chopped parsley, chives or scallions, cilantro, and fenugreek in the remaining oil over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until they grow limp and wilted.
4. Add the sautéed herbs and the lime powder or juice to the pot. Cover and simmer for another 30-45 minutes or until the meat is tender and the beans are nicely soft but not mushy.
5. Taste the stew for seasonings and adjust as needed. Place in a warm oven until you’re ready to serve.
6. Serve with plain rice or with Persian flat bread. It is nice have some Cucumbers with Yogurt and Mint with some added garlic.

Serves 6
Adapted from Najmieh Batmanglif’s New Food of Life

Persian dried limes

Fenugreek leaves

MANGO LASSI

Ingredients:

Mango pieces ......... 1 cup

Curd / yogurt ........ 1 cup ( use fresh curd )

Water ..................... 3 cups

Honey or rose syrup ... 2-3 tbsp Check according to the sweetness of the mango)

Method:

Blend the mango and yogurt adding water and honey or rose syrup ( I prefer rose syrup..it really tastes good)

Refrigerate and serve chilled. Pour into the glasses and garnish with rose syrup.

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Makeover your old furniture (in four easy steps!)

So I found this hulking big dresser on the sidewalk a few months back. A little Italian grandpa saw me trying to push it along the road (with little success) and kindly got out a nifty wheelie gadget from his garden to help me trundle it home.

At there it's sat in the corner of the bedroom for months; looking a bit forlorn, very yellow and rather out of place, as I pondered what was to be done with it. The thought of sanding the whole thing down (boring) or even worse having to weld some sort of paint stripper (dangerous if you are as clumsy as me) was hugely off putting. I just want to paint: paint is fun! Then joy, I discovered that a primer paint was all that was needed to prep its sheeny exterior.

So what follows is the quick, lazy girls guide to getting this job done. It's ridiculously easy. If I can do it then truly anyone can. I'm already eyeing up every piece of furniture I own for a revamp!

Here's what you'll need...

1.PRIMER PAINT: One can of Zinsser 123 primer paint (this stuff helps your paint to adhere to the surface of your furniture: essential if you painting on pretty much anything but clean sanded-down wood).
2. BASE COAT PAINT Benjamin Moore low luster acrylic paint in Anchor Gray. This is the colour you want to peep through your top coat, when you distress it down. You can choose any colour of course. I toyed with hot pink and deep Burgundy. But then decided to play safe with gray.
3. TOP COAT PAINT  Benjamin Moore low luster acrylic paint in Decorators white. Again this can be any colour. But I thought this white (white a hint of grey would be perfect).
4. SUPER TUFF CLOTH. For cleaning of dirt from your furniture before you start (and between coats) to create a smooth squeaky clean surface for your paint.
5. MASKING TAPE. For covering up bits you don't want to get painty.
6. ROLLER (for speedy application of base coats) & PAINT BRUSHES (for getting a lovely effect on your final coat and getting to tricky to reach spots).
7) CANDLE. To stop your final coat sticking in certain places (not pictured).
8) SANDPAPER. To give your piece a shabby, distressed feel.

PS all this cost me around $80

STEP ONE: After a quick wiping down the dresser with a Tuff cloth (to get rid of any dirt and dust) I taped over the glass front, unscrewed knobs and handles and did a quick two coats of the primer paint. Leaving 2 hours dry time between coats.

STEP TWO: Next up the Anchor Gray went all over. After four hours drying its time to get your candle out for some artful pre-distressing. Simply rub your candle over the edges of your furniture (parts of the piece that would naturally become bashed up and worn over time: corners, edges of drawers, legs etc.)

The areas you cover will not adhere to your next coat of paint and allow the gray undercoat to show through. So the more you wax the more distressed it'll look. Its up to you. I was a little bit sheepish with the wax as I wanted the effect to be super-subtle.

STEP THREE:Now your are ready for your final coat (in this case Decorators White). If you're painting over a very dark color you'll probably need two coats. Once it's totally dry (four hours later) you can simply rub over the edges with some sand paper.

STEP FOUR: Erm there isn't really one. It's that easy. You're done. Just pop the handles back on, and feel smug. One super chic revamped piece of furniture for well under $100.

You might want to treat yourself to some new handles and knobs (liking these ones) and give the dresser some zappy innards with a bit of leftover wallpaper to make it 100% fabulous and finished.

HAPPY PAINTING! x