My go at Old El Paso – Vegetarian Enchiladas!!!

 

With red kidney beans, courgettes, yellow bell peppers, red onions and mushrooms!!!

NEW RECIPE: Quick Thai Green Curry – TOP 5 FAVORITE RECIPE –

Preparation time: 8minutes

Cooking time: 25-30minutes

Ingredients: 

• 3 spring onions
• 1 dash red chilli flakes
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp · thai fish sauce
• 1 bunch fresh coriander
• ½ bunch fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 chicken pieces
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 can coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place chopped spring onions, garlic, parsley, coriander, ginger, red chilli flakes and 2-3 tbsps. of water into a blender and blend until it turns into a paste.

Next heat the oil into a large frying pan and cook your chicken pieces until evenly brown, then transfer onto separate plate. A

• dd more oil if needed into the frying pan and fry the sliced bell pepper for 2-3 minutes.
• After
•  add your green paste you prepared at the start and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. R
• eturn the chicken back into the frying pan with the paste and green peppers, then add in your coconut milk and
• season with salt and pepper to taste and boil.

Once boiling reduce heat and cover, simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Next remove the chicken from the mixture with the green peppers (you might want to sieve it) and place remaining mixture on boil for another 10 minutes until it becomes bit more thicker.

R

• eturn the chicken and bell pepper to the green curry sauce stirring well and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes till its warm through out.

 Serve with hot rice and enjoy! 

Day 5 & 6: in Cyprus! {Travel Log – Food Diary} Butter beans dish, lamb kofte kebab and a mountain view over Lefke!

Tuesday 15th January – Sister’s Guesthouse, Lefke

Today’s breakfast comprised of a mixture of variations with a similar rainbow salad as yesterday but this time in 3 separate serving dishes, one for the parsley salad, another a red cabbage and beetroot and this time one comprises of small cauliflower with white cabbage, all soaked in generous amounts of vinegar, olive oil and sea salt.

The soup today was vegetable brother soup with pumpkins, fried onions and noodles!

I never ate pumpkin before, simple as we never cooked it. But having it in soup, was pleasantly surprising!

Next up, was a cheesy pasta bake topped off with grater holloumi (helim – in Turkish) cheese, served with a variation of all the different salads. A nice treat that reminded me of back home as I tend to bake this pasta dish a few times!

4pm – Restaurant, Lefke

This time after our aftrnoon walk, we decided to get something to eat! Searching round Lefke, there isn’t much of restaurants as it’s a small village but we came across one tucked away along a hill full of other shops and supermarkets – I had forgotten the name! It had 1 table outside and a couple more inside so you can imagine how small the restaurant/cafe was, but we did have 2 guests with us, a couple of cats decided to join us in our meal – oh yeah, forgetting to mention in Cyprus you do see a lot of cats around, I will be uploading a video soon of all the wonderful cats around Cyprus!

Yummy Lamb kofte wrap!! Made freshly on a hot grill with fresh Cyprus salad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday 16th January  – Lefke

Today at the guesthouse as there was more and more people coming to stay, I could only get a quick capture of today’s breakfast as it was keeping warm on the stove.

Even though it was just the one photo for breakfast, this was the highlight of all the meals. I never tried this dish before and was really taken to it with its freshness and filling aspect, it gave me inspiration to do a meat-free month back in the UK with all the different variations of vegetarian meals and this one tops it off also!

This delicious meal was made by cooking butter beans until soft and drenching them with Cyprus olive oil, adding freshly cut parsley and finely chopped tomatoes on top with an extra drizzle of olive oil and seasoning. A simple dish but very appetizing!

(if not noticed yet, but at the guesthouse and dergah, you use the same plate that you had your soup in for the rest of all the meals – with the amount of guests they cater for and all for free, I don’t blame them for not supplying different plates for each meal, plus that’s extra washing then!)

2pm-4pm – mountain walk across Lefke

After breakfast and prayers, we decided to tackle the mountain climb and head up to the mountains where a little hut/dergah has been made with the perfect view over the sea and mountains of Cyprus.

I was just glad I had my Converse trainers to aid me in the walk up!

During our walk up, we had to cross over a river and walk on a bridge over the dam while enjoying beautiful views of Lefke’s coast. Here are some pictures of our trek up!

local bee hives!!

view of the sea while walking up

nearly there!

We had made it!!

After arriving at the top and taking a break inside the beautiful wooden hut, I had to take a video before we leave to capture the beauty of the views! Sometimes photographs can’t depict how beautiful a view is without seeing it in real life, so hopefully this video helps in coming closer to showing the beautiful surroundings…

just click on the image above to view the video or simple copy and paste the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKXM5S5ahLs

   Days 7 & 8 will be up tomorrow with more delicious salads from the guesthouse and also a trip round Northern Cyprus visiting all the holy places including a yummy tomato and noodle soup!

Day 4: in Cyprus! Vegetarian Day {Travel Log – Food Diary} Rainbow Salad, Yogurt soup, Chickpea dish and simit halva!

Monday 14th January 2013 – 10.30am Sister’s Guesthouse

 

Woke up to a bright and sunny day with the smell of fresh food being prepared downstairs. Day 4 at the guesthouse, we were beginning to get into the routine of things. 10.30am breakfast, 11am clean up and tidy, 12:10pm the call to prayer was called, 1pm walk to the dergah for prayers then with all our other days after prayers taking a walk around the village and back in time for dinner and to catch a glimpse of the sheikh (teacher).

This morning breakfast comprised of the biggest salad bowl I’ve seen filled with colorful fresh veg. It had shredded white cabbage, red cabbage, beetroot (which has become my new favorite vegetable!), fresh parsley and lots of olive oil, apple vinegar and salt to finish it off.

                    Toasted bread with chickpeas and garbanzo beans in a yogurt & tahini mix/hummous

Breakfast wasn’t just about the wonderful salad, but this amazing dish which is another one which I will definitely be trying out! Not only was this dish tasty but such a brilliant way of using up old bread or bread that has been left out and hardened. Underneath this delicious meal, had a layer of old bread that had been toasted, with a layer of cooked chick peas and garbanzo beans covered in a mix of tahini, yogurt, lemon, garlic, seasoning and broth of the beans and chick peas (note: I will be providing a full recipe and tutorial of this meal next month!)

It was my first time trying this dish, but something I have brought home to inspire myself to create also and a very yummy vegetarian dish also!

 

Photographs of our daily walk around Lefke…

beautiful historic buildings

palm trees!

local fresh veg market

something I always wanted to build, a cob oven, perfect for Lahmacun!

and a new fascination with old doors!

6pm – Dergah (Sufi Centre) – Dinner

Tonight’s dinner we had food served by the dergah where the sheikh lives, the food is free and welcomed by anyone to come and join the dinner service. For tonight, we had very yummy Yogurt soup for starters with again, without wasting bread, toasted bread cubes.

Yogurt soup is a mixture of well..yogurt and rice with drint mint, it is a very tasty soup – again I will be trying out my own yogurt soup! – with recipes.

Did you know??

If you have a pinch of salt before and after each meal, it helps your

stomach defend itself again diseases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next meal was my mother’s specialty which we have back home, runner beans in tomato sauce and Bulgar with vermicelli noodles! A very close competition with the dergah and my mother’s meal but another yummy vegetarian meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After blogging about my mother’s specility, we then got served..my father’s favourite dessert! Even though being miles away from my home in the UK, I had both my parents favorite foods right in front of me reminding me of them.

This is known as Simit Halva, it’s very much like the halva you prefer with flour and butter, but done with Semolina – very yummy! And the perfect end to our meal and day.

 

 

 

Tomorrow will be Day 5 & 6 in Cyprus!! With cheesy pasta bake, butter beans salad, lamb kofte kebab and a mountain trek – perfect way to view Cyprus from high up!

Don’t forget you can also find The Wandering Cook 786 on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

(click the logo to take you straight there)

 

The Wandering Cook 786 is back from CYPRUS!!!

 

 

 

 

***The Wandering Cook 786 is back from Cyprus!!!!!*** 
With lots to tell on the food, the country and more food! Next week, I will be blogging a diary on this website from Day 1 – Day 10 of my trip in the sunny island of Cyprus depicting the foods we ate, the places we visited and the blessings I have learnt about food in general ♥ AND then afterwards I will be trying to re-create the foods I had experienced in Cyprus sharing with you the recipes!!!
Lots to come from The Wandering Cook 786

xxx

Grandmother’s Turkish Chickpea Rice Recipe!!!

 

Firstly I would like to give a BIG thank you to all my Facebook fans, a lot of people celebrate when they hit 500 or 100 likes on their Facebook page, because The Wandering Cook 786 is still new and growing immensely, we already reached 60 likes and makes me very happy! So for this recipe post, a Facebook fan asked how to make Turkish Chickpea rice. Even though I have eaten this countless times at my grandmothers house during the festive time of Eid, it always symbolizes festivals and family gatherings but I had never cooked it before! So asking how my grandmother actually makes her Turkish Chickpea rice and passing the recipe to me, I gave it a shot as well as to fulfill the request on showing how to make it.

(my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/thewanderingcook786)

 

 

Prep time:  one full day for soaking

Cooking time: 35-45mins

 

 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of basmati rice
• 1/2 cup of chickpeas (not the tin version)
• olive oil
• hot water

 

Method: 

• When cooking chickpea’s from the packet, you need to prepare them a day beforehand just by soaking them in water and leaving them overnight.
• The next day the chickpeas will be double the size.
• Now drain off the water that the chickpea’s were soaking in overnight and place the chickpea’s into a medium saucepan and cover with fresh water.
• Put onto boil on high heat and boil until soft – approx 35-45 minutes making sure you remove the froth as it cooks.
• Once soft, drain off the water again and set aside – you can always taste one to see if it’s soft enough.

 

 

 

 

• Now for the rice, I use 1cup of basmati rice to 1/2 cup of chickpea’s ration (1:0.5 ratio  – maths class memories come back to mind!).
• Wash your rice and set aside.
• NOTE: Make sure you have hot water in your kettle ready.
• In a medium-large saucepan, heat up some olive oil.
• Once warm, fry your rice for 1 minute continuously stirring to prevent sticking.
• Next place your cooked chickpeas and stir into the rice.

 

 

 

 

 

• Now add in 2 cups of hot water from the kettle (2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice ratio, 2:1). 
• Add in 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tbsp. salt (preferably sea salt) and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon!

 

 

 

 

• Cook until all the water has been absorbed. I usually wait till the water is boiling, then reduce heat to medium and cover. As you notice the water absorbing and beginning to see the rice, start lowering the heat more until you see no more water left in the pot. Then turn the heat off and let the rice rest for 5-10 minutes with the cover still on so the steam still cooks the rice further.

 

 

 

 

• Once rice has rested, mix the rice and serve warm!

 

 

Enjoy!!

xxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxx

 

 

 

NEW RECIPE: Chocolate Pudding!

As some of you might know, I’ll be off to Cyprus next week so this week I will be trying my best to uploaded as many recipes including requested ‘Turkish Chickpea Rice’ which hopefully will be up soon also.

 

For this post, I wanted to show you all an easy way to make chocolate pudding with simple ingredients from your cupboard and no eggs needed!

 

I came across this recipe when I had family staying over for the week and we all craved something chocolatey! And since I had no eggs in the fridge and the nearest supermarket is 5miles away from me, I had to research hard on what to make. Till I came across the most yummiest and delicious chocolate dessert that any chocolate-craving fanatic would love and satisfy their craving!

 

I have made this countless times and easy time it comes out a bit different but still with the same rich taste. I have also tweaked it a bit but you don’t have to be too fussy with the measurements.

 

Preparation: 10mins

Cooking time: 35mins

Ingredients:

• 100grams butter (doesn’t have to be unsalted, I use salted as that’s what was in my fridge!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsps. cocoa powder
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup milk

For the last stage of the method, ingredients needed:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 tbsps. cocoa powder
• 2 cups. boiling water

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (Gas mark 4/350 degrees Fahrenheit) 
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not overmelt.
• Once butter is melted, place into large bowl.

 

 

 

• Next add your sugar and cocoa powder and mix well.

 

 

• Next add in your flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined.

 

 

• Then mix in your milk.

 

 

• Place into a baking dish. Make sure the baking dish isn’t too large otherwise the chocolate pudding will just be a thin layer. Not too small either as the step where you add 2 cups of boiling water will boil over the dish, we need this water for the mixture to soak it up and turn into chocolate sauce at the base of the pudding!
• I used a oval Pyrex baking dish measuring: 10 inches wide (not including the handles) x 3 inches deep.

 

 

 

• Now with your extra ingredients that you have set aside, cover the mixture with the 4bsps. cocoa powder and 2/3 cup of sugar.

 

 

 

• Now it might seem weird, but now add 2 cups of boiling water! Use a ladle to gentle add the water on top. 

 

 

 

• Now add into the hot oven for 35minutes.
• You’ll notice that the water at the top will now be at the base as chocolate sauce and the mixture would be cooked and on the top.
• Serve warm and enjoy! Tip: always nice with a generous pour of double cream. Mmmmm…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whereas you can find The Wandering Cook786

Facebook, where I always give a sneak peek of whats to come before posting on my blog:

 

www.facebook.com/thewanderingcook786

 

 

 

YouTube, where you can find video tutorials of my recipes

www.youtube.com/thewanderingcook786 

 

 

 

 

Twitter, where you can tweet me your versions of Chocolate Pudding or any other recipe on here!

@thewanderincook 

 

 

 

 

xxx Mea xxx

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all, hope it brings health & happiness.

Wishing you all a joyful and prosperous 2013!!!

xxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxx

 

My mother’s New Years eve dinner with roast Turkey, potatoes, veg and gravy. Yum yum!!

 

New recipes and travel plans for 2013! Including a trip to Cyprus to explore the Mediterranean cuisine – All on The Wandering Cook 786!!

***NEW RECIPES & TRAVELS FOR 2013***
Indonesian Chicken with coconut milk, Turkish rice with noodles, how to prepare Turkish coffee and authentic Turkish tea, Thai chicken curry, a range of Spanish foods, Lush desserts including chocolate gooey pudding and much much more! Including a trip to Cyprus to experience the Mediterranean cuisine, all on The Wandering Cook 786!

Yorkshire Trip

 

Hi all, I’m now back at home after a week’s trip to South Yorkshire to visit my in-laws. My motherinlaw’s cooking is one of the best authentic Pakistani foods I’ve eaten so after watching her in the kitchen viewing the ingredients she uses, I bought my own stack of ingredients while being there!!

 

 

 

Ingredients: haldi (turmeric) powder, dhania (coriander) powder, cinnamon powder, black seeds, and gram flour.

One of my favourite side-dishes she made was Pakora’s – which gram flour is needed.

Pakoras are created by taking one or two ingredients such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, plantain,paneer, cauliflower, tomato, chili pepper, or occasionally bread^[2] or chicken and dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them. – Wikipedia

 

Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of the food (was too busy eating all of it!) but the variety was anything from chicken curry, egg curry, daal curry (lentils), chicken biryani, meat kofta with boiled eggs (which I would definitely like to try out!) and many more!

 

So for my next recipes there will be an asian twist to them as well as trying out some of my motherinlaw’s authentic Pakistani recipes! Yummy yum!

 

xxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxx