Category Archives: Express

The Quest for the Perfect Yogurt

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For the past few months, I have been experimenting with yogurt-making and this is also when I first bought my yogurt machine.

My first experiment failed, miserably. It looked like semi-yogurt when it was still in the fridge but as soon as it was out of the fridge it became liquid, more like laban! For my first attempt, I followed the instructions that came with the machine., which was basically mixing a litre of milk with 1/4 cup yogurt and then adding it to the machine.

On my second attempt, I adjusted it slightly by adding two tablespoons dry milk powder. It turned out fine but it was still very liquidy! And then I tried to adjust the amount of the milk powder and I even used the yogurt that I made as a starter thinking it would work.

I would of course still eat it but it was still not yogurt! I remember once giving up on a batch I made, so my mother took it and made it into labnah. It turned out really good!

It’s been awhile since I last used it. I was lately inspired in the supermarket (Co-Op) the other day and bought milk and activia yogurt to use as my starter. After some research online, I finally used the long-route method.

And this is the result… Continue reading →

oranges, cinnamon, almonds and mint!

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I recently discovered a fabulous, fabulous salad…

A delightfully, refreshing Moroccan orange salad with sugar, cinnamon and mint! And my addition of roasted thin shavings of almonds!

While I was leafing through my copy of Flavours from Arabia, published by Thames and Hudson,  I found this simple orange salad recipe. I got my copy from our al-Maidan Cultural Centre shop in case you want to grab a copy of your own!

First you need to prepare the dressing:

  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cinnamon stick

Bring all the ingredients together in a small sauce pan and heat until you reach a simmer. Leave the dressing to simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat to cool.

Peel 6 oranges using a sharp small knife. I’m in love with my ceramic knives. They do a fantastic job! Then cut the oranges into thin slices and arrange in a deep platter.

Grab a handful of sliced almonds and lightly toast them in the oven for a few minutes.

When the dressing has cooled, spoon it oven the oranges and then add the almonds. Using a sifter or ideally a shaker, sift both cinnamon and icing sugar over the oranges.

Wash and dry a handful of mint leaves and roll them up. Taking a sharp knife, cut into thin strips (julienne). Scatter over the oranges and enjoy it as a starter for your next gathering or have it as an afternoon treat!

pumpkin stew/curry

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Sometimes when I’m hungry (and in the mood), I pop into the kitchen and see what’s available. I usually give up within 5 minutes but when I’m really in the mood, I’ll see what vegetables are available and make up something.

That one day, I saw pumpkins, actually butternut squash, and they were already peeled! It was calling for me. I took them out and starting chopping them into small pieces. I still had no idea what I was doing. Pumpkins and sage is marriage made in heaven so I took a few dried sage leaves. I took out a pan. I also saw an already chopped onion and grated garlic and ginger. I fried about half an onion in olive oil for a few minutes, until browned and then added a pinch of mix of grated garlic and ginger and fried it for one minute.

I crushed the  dried sage leaves and mixed it with a few cumin seeds and fried it with the onion and garlic mixture for about a minute also.

I added the chopped pumpkin and poured some warm water. Keep adding water until you have a thick sauce consistency and the pumpkin is soft.

This took me about 30 minutes.

You can have it with warmed pita bread (خبز لبناني) or brown rice. And there you go! A filling sweet soulful dish!

Singapore: Brunching (Final)

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My last weekend in Singapore, my sister was with me and fortunately was also my only full free weekend.

On that Saturday we went to have brunch at Jones, mix of grocery store and cafe.

And now let’s take a look at their mouth-watering display of  tartlets

And best of all they make all their pastries right in front of you!

The pastry chef here was preparing pastry to make croissants.

Since it was a weekend, it took us at least 30 minutes to get seated but it was worth the wait!

My cappuccino!

My Eggs Dish which was fantastic! The tomato sauce, the bread the perfectly cooked eggs and the spinach…all beyond excellent!

My sister’s dish: Poached eggs, mushrooms and bread. You can never go wrong with perfectly cooked poached eggs but my dish was far more superior and yummier!

Although I just had lunch, I am salivating as I remember my egg dish. It was THAT good. So if you happen to be in Singapore be sure to check this place out. It’s located at the top floor of the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard Road.

And oh yeah! I have a brunch post coming up soon!

Singapore: Day xx (part 1)

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I know this has been long overdue and I will stop with the excuses.

I will start posting only my interesting and worth-mentioning food experiences in Singapore (which won’t be many as I was crazy busy my last week there)

So we finally went to the hawker’s center to try their satay. It looks and feels like the Singapore version of the Mubarkiya food-area.

let’s take a closer look…

Made me very hungry!

And I present to you the star of that night.

I overdosed on the chicken and the beef satay. We also ordered shrimp satay. I didn’t take a picture of it which kind of says a lot. It wasn’t that great. We also ordered a leafy green dish that is drenched in garlic! My breath was garlicky all night, even after mints and brushing my teeth.

We walked back to the hotel and saw the other side of the hawker’s center.

This was where all the Chinese food stalls are and this being Singapore, there was a band playing.

Those Singaporeans know how to have a good time!

Singapore: Episode 12

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For some reason, all I had today was Italian, except for my breakfast and my afternoon cheese platter.

Lunch:

Very cute cafe/bookshop/music store

Of course I forgot the name of the place but it is right next to the museum.

This is what I ordered:

spaghetti with prawns in olive oil and chili sauce

I wanted to take my parents and sister to the Malaysian restaurant for dinner but when we got there it was already closed, which was a shame because I was really looking forward to it! I will have to take them there for lunch.

We went to an Italian restaurant instead that was just around the corner from the Malaysian one. I had lunch there once before and I knew they had good pizza.

I ordered a pizza and a green salad to share with my sister.

A very satisfying day especially that it ended with chocolate and coffee gelato…

Singapore: Episode 8

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Today was my day off!

Although I woke up 2 hours later than what I had planned for, I still managed to do everything on my list for today. I was quite impressed with myself as I have no sense of time management.

First on my list: museum hopping

I went to the Singapore Art Museum and National Museum of Singapore. Both were fantastic but the national museum made me envious, it was so beautiful!

National Museum of Singapore

I went to Little India afterwards to go to this veggie eatery that’s part of an art project.

It’s called Food #03 and it’s part of the PostMuseum project, which the website explains more.

They only served pizzas this week, so I ordered the mixed vegetables one.

It was light and crispy. I quite liked it! It’s also a very relaxed place to just go hang out, read a book or meet up with friends. I would go back if I have an unplanned afternoon.

And then I finally went to Max Brenner. At first, I was disappointed about the size of the place. It was tiny, in comparison to the one in New York and so was their menu but the dessert was still very satisfying.

I had chocolate-filled crepe with caramel sauce, vanilla sauce, bananas and crystallized nuts.

Needless to say, it was yum-mee!

The shop was located at the Esplanade Theatre mall, Singapore’s main theatre, close to the marina bay. Since it was the weekend, they had a band playing outside, just by the bay. It was lovely.

I stayed for a few hours, listening to them play and just enjoying it. At around 9, I decided to head back to the hotel. I had a very long day so I picked up food from the nearby thai restaurant, ThaiExpress.

I was honestly not expecting it to be good but to my surprise, it was! I ordered spicy beans fried in a shrimp paste sauce (left) and seafood pad thai (right).

Back to work tomorrow at the museum…

But on the brighter side, my parents are coming in tomorrow! Now I can’t wait to finally try Singapore’s fine dining restaurants.

Singapore: Episode 7

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Today’s choice of food was uninteresting!

I didn’t have breakfast because I forgot to put the alarm and of course overslept. I rushed to the museum and worked half day. After resting a little bit back at the hotel. I got ready and left to go swimsuit shopping. The weather channel website lied to me. It told me that it will be raining every day, all day. It rained twice. First time you can’t even consider it as rain and the second time was today for 5 minutes. It’s usually partly cloudy and hot and humid, perfect weather for pool!

Anyway, I went to a specific mall looking for a specific store, I couldn’t find what I was looking for and then I realized I still haven’t eaten. My options were fine dining restaurants that were actually closed, so not really an option, or a place called The Coffee Club. I see it everywhere!

So Coffee Club it was. I didn’t want to walk more, it was already 3:30pm.

As I was waiting to be seated, I was hoping, for some reason, that they had fish and chips on their menu. Well they did!

It wasn’t so bad, at least it satisfied a craving.

After that I walked a bit and arrived to the hotel exhausted. I was planning on going to Max Brenner and indulge in some chocolate but I just couldn’t. I needed to rest.

I had nothing planned for tonight so I booked a ticket to go see the movie, Brothers. I booked at another cinema complex. The crowd was very different from the one last night. It was much younger and more chaotic, I suppose. Around the complex, I saw at least two musical performances on the street. The entire place was very alive!

I arrived there an hour early so I sat in one of the outdoor cafes.

I ordered a salmon and cream cheese bagel and sat to see the live band performances.

The bagel was the worst I’ve had. It was terrible! I couldn’t even finish it! I stupidly agreed for them to heat it. I thought they were going to toast it but I am pretty sure they just microwaved it, very high and longer than needed. It was hot, doughy and tasteless!

But then I had popcorn at the theatre, so it wasn’t so bad.

Tomorrow is my only day off this week so I have planned a schedule for me, which hopefully will include this place!

We’ll see tomorrow…

Singapore: Episode 6

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I went back to that street! I made a note of the street’s name but because I am me, I forgot the name!

We tried the Indian this time.

I placed my order…

White rice with Dhal, accompanied with a cabbage dry curry and eggplant pickle

It was a very good meal. I personally prefer black dhal over the yellow one but it was good nonetheless. Also, the eggplant pickle went perfectly with the the rest of the meal. I still think the Malay one was much, much better and the flavors were much more exciting. This was just average Indian food.

After finishing off from the museum today, I went back to the hotel, searched for a movie and took off! I was quite hungry by the time I arrived to the cinema, which is located at the Cathay Building. I had about an hour to kill so I went over to Caramel and ordered their tonight’s special, cheese soufflé with cream sauce.

Quite a satisfying meal.

I watched Everybody’s Fine. I thought it was going to be a silly, happy movie but I was wrong, VERY wrong. I left sobbing with a heavy weight on my chest. This is not what I wanted! But it is still a very good movie. So if you want to go cry, go see it!

Singapore: Episode 3

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So… today’s post will be short but I will compensate with more pictures.

Breakfast and dinner sucked so much that I won’t even mention them.

But what was in between was beyond fantastic!

During our lunch break, my colleagues at the museum decided to take me to a spicy restaurant….exciting!

We walk around new territories (at least for me) and it was wonderful! Small shops and vendors everywhere and an air conditioning street!

And then we pass by a row of small restaurants that almost look like street vendors. We get to the Malay one.

Doesn’t it look so colorful and wish you could have everything on there! Well I did!

And this is what my colleague ordered for us…

Roasted peanuts and dried anchovies

From left clockwise: A vegetable curry that reminds of Thai green curry, a stir-fried green leaf that I dont know what it is but it was yummy and this is all it matters, prawn in a chilli gravy, and the gravy of butter chicken (quite pointless)

Bbqed chicken which is possibly then later cooked in this sauce

My plate! They give each customer a plate of rice laid on a banana leaf.  Very cute!

This is the kind of food I wanted to try! I am so glad they took me there. It really was the best food I have had so far here in Singapore and I can’t wait to go back. Everything was delicious! From the perfectly cooked chicken to the can’t have enough vegetable curry to the surprisingly sweet roasted peanut and dried anchovies dish. I highly recommend it. I’ll get the name of the place tomorrow.

I hope tomorrow’s food post is as exciting.

Goodnight for now!