Day One – Tashkent, Uzbekistan

So we have finally arrived to Tashkent, Uzbekistan (well done to those that guessed correctly from the previous post!)

We stayed at a quiet backstreet hostel called Topchan Hostel.

We spent our first day touring round the old Tashkent and visited old Islamic monuments. For lunch, we went to a restaurant that specialised in old Uyghur noodles which was delicious!

Mixed with bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and other veg with soft tender meat in a tomato broth, with the famous noodles hiding underneath – which were completely handmade!
This was just opposite the mosque and museum that has the old Quran of Usmaan, approx 3-4minute walk away.

After a long walk, the jetlagged feeling came back (as well as some travellers blisters) we decided to get a take away and headed back to the hostel.
We got a dish called Dolma, an authentic dish of rice and minced meat wrapped in vine leaves – a meal I was familiar with by my Turkish heritage.

Thoughts of Tashkent – when we first arrived I had thought it would be like Kuala Lumpur where I didn’t enjoy the city- but it had a relaxing atmosphere amongst the busy traffic, only struggle is not a lot of people know English! But with the friendly Uzbek people, sign language and a few words here and there, does the job!

Home-made Banana Cake – using free range duck eggs

 

 

After noticing that 2 banana’s beginning to go dark in colour, I decided to try out banana cake for the first time! And having fresh free range duck eggs in my fridge, I decided to use them – my parents have a poultry farm with chickens and ducks!

Outcome: a very light and fluffy texture, and my new cake addiction! There’s 2 more ripe banana’s in the fruit bowl that has made me tempted to make more banana cake!!

 

 

Prep: 10minutes

Cooking time: 35minutes

 

Ingredients: 

• 1 egg – beaten
• 125g butter
• 150g castor sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, mash
• 190g self raising flour
• 60ml milk

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcius
2. Prepare your ingredients by mashing your banana’s in a separate bowl and beating your egg in another separate bowl.
3. Melt your butter over medium heat
4. Once melted, add in your sugar and mix well
5. Remove from heat and add in your mash banana’s – I used an electric mixer from here on-wards, I find it helps create that light and fluffy texture!!
6. Next add in your beaten egg and mix again.
7. Then mix in the flour and milk until fully combined.
8. Pour into a prepared tin – I didn’t have a baking tin so used my roasting tin – still came out lovely!
9. Bake in hot oven fro 35 minutes.
10. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

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

Simple Chickpea Curry Recipe – Vegetarian

 

Hi to all the cooking fans out there!

So sorry haven’t blogged for awhile, been another busy week. And unfortunately won’t be able to blog for another week as we’ll be visiting my motherinlaw but i’ll be recording some of her delicious foods!!

But for now, this post is dedicated to my version of the classic Chickpea curry. My husband and I are trying to venture onto vegetarian meals more and after realizing that I had a can of chickpeas in the cupboard, chickpea curry it was!

 

Prep time: 5-10minutes

Cooking time: 30minutes (+45minute simmer time)

Servings: 2

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• olive oil for frying
• 1tsp. cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2tsps. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• hot water
• 1/2 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley
• salt and pepper

 

 

Method:

• First start by preparing your ingredients, by finely chopping your onions and garlic. And wash and drain your chick peas. 
• Also wash your parsley and roughly chop, including stalks.
• Now start cooking by placing a medium saucepan with 3tbsps of olive oil onto medium-high heat.
• Once the oil is hot, start by frying your onions and garlic till soft.
• Next add your cumin powder, cinnamon, paprika and chili flakes. Stir and fry for a further 5minutes until the onions have browned from the spices.

 

 

• Next add your chopped tomatoes and stir into the onions.
• After, add in your chickpeas and stir thoroughly into the onion and tomatoes spice mix. Add hot water from the kettle to just cover over the chickpeas. 
• Now add in your coriander powder, garam masala and salt & pepper to taste.

 

 

• Now add in your chopped fresh parsley, stir and lower heat to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 45minutes.

 

 

 

• Serve warm!
  

 

If you want more spice, then add tad more garam masalan and chili flakes to enhance the chili!

This recipe is also under the Category of ‘Winter Foods’ as I find the spice in this curry helps to warm you up!

 

Enjoy!

Coming up soon!

How to make Turkish vermicelli noodle rice

 

 

Where else to find The Wandering Cook786!

Facebook, where I always give a sneak peak 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 chickpea curry or any other recipe on here!  

@thewanderincook

***QUICK 30 minutes recipe! Prawn Noodles with veg***Food on the go***

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Turkish Lahmacun Recipe using Pitta bread – Turkish Pizza

Lahmacun, lahmajun, or lahmejun (Turkish: Lahmacun), (Armenian լահմաջուն lahmaǰun or լահմաջո lahmaǰo), from Arabic: لحم بعجين‎, lahm bi’ajīn, “meat with dough”, is a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat (most commonly beef and lamb) and minced vegetables and herbs including onions, tomatoes and parsley, then baked. Lahmacun is often served sprinkled with lemon juice and wrapped around vegetables, including pickles, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, and roasted eggplant; a typical variants may be found employing kebab meat or sauces. – Wikipedia.

My take on Lahmacun comes from memories of my childhood when my parents, brother and I used to make home-made Lahmacun by using leftover pitta bread. It was a joyous occasion that has always been kept with me as a memory I cherish. My father would be the one preparing the mince meat, my mother the one placing them in the hot oven or under the grill and my brother and I picking our toppings! So as a childhood memory I decided to make Lahmacun using pitta bread again but my own take incorporating different spices and herbs to enhance the flavor. I definitely recommend making this with your children! And as you wont be making your own dough, it also saves time and creates more time to have some fun while cooking!

Ingredients:

• Handful of fresh parsley
• 50g butter
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato (peeled – refer to Cooking Tips)
• 5-6 pitta breads (sliced in half – refer to Cooking Tips)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. chilli flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried mint
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp. tomato puree/paste
• 1/2 Ib mince meat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Method:

• Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius
• Start by finely chopping your fresh parsley and placing into a large bowl along with your mince meat.
• Next finely chop your onion and garlic (you can blitz them if you have a fine blender). Then using a large frying pan, melt your butter on medium heat and fry your onions and garlic till soft. Lower heat and cover to soften the onions more. Leave for approx. 5mins.

• Then place the onions and garlic also into the bowl with the mince meat and parsley.
• After, peel your tomato (for peeling tomato method refer to Cooking Tips) and finely dice into small pieces and add into the same bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

• At this stage add the tomato puree and your spices and herbs so your cumin, chilli flakes, dried mint, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and add in your lemon juice until well cooperated with rest of the ingredients.

• Next prepare your pitta bread by slicing each pitta bread into half (refer to Cooking Tips).

• Using some olive oil, lightly brush some onto each pitta bread slice and start adding your mince meat onto the bread!

• Place into prepared baking tray and cook in hot oven for 10-15mins until the edges of the pitta bread and mince meat have browned.
• Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh salad!
• Note: after making my Lahmacun if I had to change something it would be to chop the fresh parsley more smaller.

I served my Lahmacun with boiled black-eyed beans with Swiss chard drenched in olive oil and vinegar, fresh parsley salad (featured in above picture), Turkish noodle rice, fresh lemon, olive and for the daring, cooking kidneys.

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 Lahmacun or any other recipe on here!

@thewanderincook 

xxxxxxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxxx

My take on Sushi – RECIPE included

 

After being invited for a family get together at my parents place especially with all my siblings coming over, I decided to make sushi appetizers for them also knowing how my brother loves sushi, it would be great criticism to see how he likes my versions taking in the fact that he has been to many sushi bars.

 

 

My inspiration was from the amazing cookery book by the famous Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto

called ‘The New Art of Japanese Cooking’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My only problem was at my local supermarket, they didn’t sell Sushi rice! Which is the main importance of sushi art, the rice has to be good quality and mixed in a certain way to enhance the sushi. Rice is very important in Asia so I didn’t want to mess it up! But since the supermarket didn’t sell any good quality sushi rice, I had to settle for Arborio rice which is quite starchy and is short grain rice, the closest I could find (taking into account that the first time I made sushi I did it

Sushi seasoning for the rice

with basmati rice, mega fail, the rice fell apart afterwards).

For my ingredients, I bought Nori seaweed sheets from a multicultural store and

ready made Sushi seasoning to add directly into your cooked rice. Nori is very beenficial for you, high in vitamin A and B and calcium and iron!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My set up

Usually in sushi making, they use bamboo roll mats which makes it much easier to roll out the sushi into a nice neat roll. Unfortunately they don’t sell these nearby and I had no time to order from the net as I prepared the sushi the same day we were going to go to my parents house. So a towel and some cling film did the trick for me. Note: make sure you are in a relaxed environment and I realized the most important aspect of making sushi is to have fun with it, eexperiment a little and enjoy it!

First thing is to cook your short grain rice. I simply boiled half a cup of rice with 1 cup of water. Once cooked, I transferred the rice into a bowl (usually its best to use a wooden bowl for this part) and add your sushi seasoning and carefully mix into the rice. But the mixing technique, isn’t simply folding the rice, it’s more ‘chopping’ the rice  by spreading it along the bowl and taking out any clumps, for a nice even texture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next step, place your Nori sheet onto your cling film, rough side up. And using your hands (make sure to wet them first to prevent the rice sticking to your hands!) and spread evenly onto your Nori sheet. Making sure there is a 1inch gap at the top, then using small grains of rice, place them on the top line as shown in the picture. These will help the roll to stick.

 

Now the fun part!

Start adding your fillings, for this one I chose Smoked Salmon (one of my favorite ingredients) with slices of cucumber. Now for a traditional sushi roll, on the side I mixed light soy sauce with a pinch of wasabi paste and spread the sauce very lightly and evenly along the cucumber, not too much as wasabi can be very strong and this was going to be served to family members that have never tried sushi also. Note: try not to overfill as the sheet can tear when rolling.

Next, start slowly and carefully rolling your Nori sheet from the bottom end first making your way to the top. Make sure your slightly firm when rolling so insure it all sticks together.

Once rolled into a now-looking sushi roll. With a sharp knife, water it down a little so it doesn’t stick when slicing. Then slowly slice the roll into small chunks and place into your prepared serving plate. Try to slice each chunk in the same width. Don’t worry if they don’t look even as mine didn’t either when I first tried making sushi!!

Second fillings for those that are first-comers to sushi: Prawns with mayonnaise seasoned with salt & pepper, a good idea for introducing a healthy sushi snack to children!

With leftover sushi rice, I also ended up making fat sushi rolls with crab-sticks!

Then once plating up, you can have even more fun!

 Also decorated sushi with black sesame’s and using decorative egg cups to hold the soy sauce and wasabi mix.

 

Where else you can find me:

Facebook, where I always give a sneak peak 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 sushi or any other recipe on here!

@thewanderincook

xxxxxxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxxx

 

 

P.S

Oh and the criticism my sushi-loving brother said about the sushi I made, “very yummy please make more!!” Went down a treat with the family, especially those that were new to sushi. Also a good idea to add a drizzle of lemon juice on top when eating sushi, a tip I learnt from my family when they tried my sushi.

My chicken and mushroom pithivier with a courgette twist! – RECIPE & VIDEO

Hey guys, after making a yummy roast chicken dinner for family last weekend. I had leftover chicken, so decided to try a go at making Pithivier (French dish using puff pastry). Usually Pithivier is a sweet ‘pie’ but you can also make savory versions, so I made myself chicken and mushroom pithivier with some courgettes I had also leftover in the fridge.

To go straight to the video, scroll to the bottom.

To my surprise, this dish is now my top 5 favorite meals!!

Prep time: 35-40mins

Cooking time: 35mins

Ingredients:

• leftover chicken, shredded
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• hot water
• handful of chopped mushrooms
• spring onions, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• salt & pepper to taste
• puff pastry – shop bought version (I know, bit lazy but perfectly fine!)
• 1 egg
• 1 courgette, sliced
• cooking oil
• 50g butter

Method:

• First preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius and start by preparing your ingredients. Such as, shredding the chicken, slicing the onions and garlic, mushrooms, the courgette and putting the kettle on!
• Once those are done, in a large frying pan on medium-high heat add a bit of cooking oil just enough to cover the pan and start frying your onions and garlic, approx. 5mins.
• Next add in your chopped mushrooms and spring onions into the frying pan and stir well.
• Add your butter now and fry altogether for approx. 3mins.
• While that’s frying, on the side, in a small cup add your 2 chicken stock cubes and add a 1/4 cup hot water, not too much as it’ll make the mixture wet once added. Stir until it dissolves and leave to one side.
• Next add in your chopped courgettes and fry for 5mins approx.
• Now add in your chicken stock and stir thoroughly into the mixture. You would want this to fry for 5mins with the aim of evaporating most of the water by drying out the mixture, but be careful not to burn. This will prevent the Pithivier having a soggy bottom.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and turn off heat and cover. Leave to one side.

• Now it’s time to prepare the puff pastry, if your using ready made like myself, make sure it hasn’t been in the fridge for the past 2hours. This will make it much more easier to roll as it’ll be room temperature.
• Divide the pastry in half, using the first half start rolling out your dough into a circle. The using a large salad bowl as a template, cut round the dough. If you don’t have a large salad bowl, don’t worry, you can always make a paper template, the diameter I used was 11inches wide.

• Place circle into a prepared baking tray.
• Next start making another circle with the other half of the pastry. But this time, cut 1inch wider from the salad bowl – 12inches.

• Place 2nd circle to one side on a floured surface.
• Any leftover pastry can be used for decoration on top of the Pithivier.

• Now add your chicken and mushroom mix into the center of the circle in the baking tray.
• With the 2nd circle, place on top and seal around the edges with water and pressing down with your thumb.

• Add your decoration and seal them on using water again as the ‘glue’. Make sure you make a hole at the top of the pie as well.
• Using 1 egg, whisk the egg in separate bowl and using a pastry brush, spread evenly over the pastry so it makes a golden crust once cooked.

• Place in hot oven for 35mins or until golden brown.
• Serve warm, enjoy!!!

Served great with potatoes!

For the VIDEO Tutorial which I also made for this recipe accompanied by lovely french instrumental music, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PAT5hk12Hw&feature=plcp

(link will open in new window)

You can also click on the picture below…

Let me know how you get on and even tweet me your pictures! @ thewanderincook

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http://www.facebook.com/thewanderingcook786

Happy cooking!

xxx The Wandering Cook 786 xxx

A useful way to use up leftover Pitta Bread – Home made Garlic Bread RECIPE

Now I for one do not like wasting food! If there’s a little bit of green mold on piece of bread, just take that bit off and continue eating. Or even just break the bread into pieces and toast them under the grill and use them in soup.

If milk is just beginning to go off, turn it into cheese by boiling it with some lemon juice!

 

So for this recipe, I had some pitta breads that were beginning to get moldy I decided to make home made garlic bread out of them from a recipe inspired by the free food magazine in my local Co-operative supermarket. And the results were delicious! A great side to any dish.

Ingredients:

• your leftover pitta bread or any type of bread
• 100g butter
• 1/4tsp. chilli flakes
• 1/2tsp. dried basil
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
• Cut your pitta bread into slices, I choose triangles.

• Next, in a frying pan, add your butter, garlic cloves (thinly sliced) and fry until butter has melted and garlic is covered by the butter.
• Add in your chilli flakes and dried basil and stir.

• Next with a small spoon/pastry brush, coat your bread with the garlic butter and place in a hot oven for 10minutes.

• Serve warm!

Enjoy!

Don’t forget I’m also on Facebook! >>> http://www.facebook.com/thewanderingcok786

Twitter>>> #thewanderincook

Any questions feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to answer as soon as poss.

Let me know how you get on with making these and the best thing is, on the frying stage you can add other things aswell as dried basil, such as mixed herbs, coriander powder, dried mint, olive oil..etc.

xxx