Category Archives: I Heart

They’re here!!

Posted on by
4

A box was waiting for me today when I came back from work with my most prized souvenirs from Italy…..

The olive oils!

There are a million and one ideas going through my head as to how best use the olive oil and the truffle down to the very last drop!

Roman dinners

Posted on by
4

Let me tell you about this great, no-fuss, restaurant in Rome that we absolutely fell in love with that we had to go back again!

I’ve used my sometimes trusty Rome Wallpaper guide (iPhone edition) to pick our restaurants and this is the one time it did not fail us.

‘Gusto

I’ll just show you what we had during our two visits…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now wasn’t that mouth-watering?

Posts coming up: regional italian dishes and the best meal we have ever had!

Gelato overload!

Posted on by
2

This is my first post on my trip to Italy and naturally it’s on gelato!

I consumed so much gelato during my trip that sometimes they constituted as meals. They slab the gelato, and not scoop, on your cone until it forms a mountain!

I don’t think I will write much in these posts because these images speak for themselves…

In Milan, we accidentally stumbled on a gelato/chocolate store (in the most unexpected area)

and with the quirkiest logo…

They had mostly chocolate flavored gelatos with exciting additions!

I had chocolate gelato with candied orange peel and my friend N. had chocolate gelato with chili.

I’m hopefully going back to Milan in October and this is one shop I can’t wait to go back to!

More posts coming soon..

Flower blossom tea

Posted on by
2

My afternoon tea time. Flower blossom tea with an oats and dates cookie

Doesn’t this remind you of the scene in the film Marie Antoinette when she gets excited about the flower blossoming, which was a gift from China? Or the Chinese Ambassador?

Well it is quite exciting to watch as the flower blooms in the hot water. It is just lovely!

Express: ricotta goat cheese, bread and greens

Posted on by
2

I recently impulse-bought a new cookbook on baking with whole grain flours, Good to the Grain, and so I decided to go to Al Raha Stone Mill in Qadsiya Co-Op to stock my cupboard with some oats and different kinds of flours.

I am big fan of this shop and I love how knowledgeable their staff are. It’s very rare in Kuwait to go into a shop and find the shopkeeper actually know what they’re talking about. I mentioned them here and here.

Of course I couldn’t stop after getting what I went for. I saw a selection of different kinds of goat cheese, which are made locally at their goat farm, and saw ricotta goat cheese. I had to get it!

I also grabbed a bag of 4 grains flat bread and went back home.

In a bowl, I spooned some of the ricotta cheese, added barbeer, mint, cucumber slices, walnuts, green olives, a drizzle of olive oil and a few flakes of sea salt.

And what I had was one of the most satisfying simple meals ever! The bread was on the sour side which I love and the cheese was so smooth and creamy.

*picture taken from my iPhone using the ShakeItPhoto, an application that gives a Polaroid effect.

Homemade marrons glacés

Posted on by
2

Marron glacé. This is a treat I had to accustom my palate to.  All my life up until 3 years ago I assumed I did not like marron glacé! Why? Because as a child I tried it and hated it and so I grew up thinking I didn’t like it.

My mother, on the other hand, loves it and always has. Three mother’s days ago, I decided to change the routine and make her marrons glacés instead.

When I had my BDesserts business I got some of my supplies from a local company that imports French products called FAMECO and they sent out recipes on a monthly basis and one of them was how to make marrons glacés. It seemed fairly easy and it was. This is when I had my first bite as an adult and fell in love with it.

I made it again yesterday and this what you need: Continue reading →

Cardamon and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf by Sarah al-Hamad

Posted on by
9

For the first time in Kuwait, Kuwaiti writer Sarah al-Hamad’s signed recipe book from the Arabian Gulf, Cardamon and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf, is available at the museum shop at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah’s al-Maidan Cultural Centre in Maidan Hawalli. Continue reading →

oranges, cinnamon, almonds and mint!

Posted on by
2

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!