Its funny how when I sit to write up a blog post I imagine a girlie narrator voice… you know like in the movies, with sighs, high-pitched expressions and vivid visuals of each word I type. But this isn’t a movie obviously, in fact these blog posts are the result of little voices in my head splurging out my kitchen escapades. The voices in this post however, are blurting out irreplaceable memories of one of the most exciting trip I had.
What has Celebration, nomination and sticky pork got to do with each other? Nothing really, except my heart is doing little somersaults every time I look back at the word nomination beside my name. Before I continue on that nomination let me start with the celebratory news; with my one year blog anniversary fast approaching, I am just in the midst of a lot of new changes, for the blog and my personal life as well. With the likes of a new job (woooooo! oh my i’m excited) and a new house (wooooooo! some more excitement), my life is taking a huge detour for the better. And to add to all this celebratory news.. ‘the nomination’ for a storytelling award.
It was another ladies “Saturday Get-together”, and unlike my usual self, I had been lazy and didn’t sort out the menu; absolutely no clue what I was going to dish out thanks to a busy weekend. I needed some last minute inspiration. While the maids were sorting my apartment, I jumped out of bed at 8:30am and went to oz; aka Spinneys! my wonderland, my creative corner 
I walked around the fruits and vegetables section; I was debating preparing a salad or a sweet mash… but the sweet potatoes started singing loudly to me and I had to reach for them. So, they ended up in my basket with some fresh asparagus and a few other juicy things. As i continued.. I spotted a nice pile of shiny deep red pomegranates and i couldn’t resist.
I picked out a few and thought… hmm desert or.. dressing.. Well I was aiming for desert up until I passed the butcher as he was chopping up some fresh lamb chops and neatly lining them up on tiny trays. I quickly shouted “I’ll have 3 of those trays please” I finally had my main course sorted! It had to be grilled lamb chops with a pomegranate dressing
So here’s another enjoyable 30 minute recipe and here’s what you’ll need:
So, my suggestion is prepare the sauce first, cause you will want to have those delicious little things fresh off the grill. But prepare the chops and set them aside before you start. Dry the lamb chops out by dabbing it with a paper towel (this helps ini browning the meat) Mix the salt, pepper and cayenne pepper powder together. Rub these into the lamb chops massaging and spreading it evenly on both sides. Let it sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the sauce.
While letting it simmer, start up the grill and pop those beautiful chops. Cook till desired. (Well done/ medium/ rare)
Enjoy!
This is something I prepared after coming back from Portugal and Spain earlier this year and I definitely didn’t have enough of choriço as you may notice. Came back from a busy day and was in absolutely no mood to cook. I had some left over pesto sitting in the fridge from a dish I made earlier that week and right below it sitting quite smugly was some of that choriço i brought along with me from Portugal. All my brain processed was “OOOOOH TAPAS POR FAVOR”
So here’s what you’ll need:
For the pesto:
Layer them up
Bruschetta con Choriço and cherry tomato bunkers
Pre-Ramadan schedules at work are rather hectic in a TV station. So, after a busy day, I came back home and noticed the 4 lovely chicken boobs (breasts) that i left thawing in my sink; of course that was enough to get some adrenaline in me and get my cooking side of the brain to flex a few muscles. Oh.. and my new George Foreman grill has been giving me winks the whole week.. so i thought it the best time to try the little fella out. This is a rather easy recipe and needless to say.. YUMMM!
You will need:
Stir in the Mustard evenly.
Cut the chicken breasts up like so-
Toss them into the mixture, coating all pieces well.
Let it sit for about 20-30 minutes.
These are 30 wonderful minutes that I normally use up to clear up all platforms in my kitchen only to start up the spitting george foreman grill.
Start Heating up your grill. Mate sure its HOT HOT HOT (don’t burn yourself; but disclaimers like this don’t really work for clumsy people like me)
Pop the pieces of chicken individually on the grill.
10-15 minutes and these are ready to be devoured. The yoghurt makes them rather juicy and can be eaten plain with a slice of garlic bread or salad or a simple dressing. One that I used is a Soy-rice Vinegar Dressing. (recipe will be up shortly)
Eaternally Yours,
Drina C.
There is something quite hypnotic about basil and I don’t really know if its just me but once you’ve had a little bit of basil, you want it everywhere and in everything.This dish I came up with, was from my inspiration of the wonderfully scented Basil, so refreshing and so hypnotic (to me at-least). And I am going to be quite upfront and say that this was THE BEST dish I’ve had. Fortunately, it was just me I was cooking for, so after I got done, I had a fridge with magic in it; that I got to come home to for the next 3 days.
So here’s what you’ll need:
If you want a 44°C summer, well then… this is it – welcome to Dubai. There are very few things you can indulge in, to beat the heat.. for me obviously its cooking. This is something I prepared to drown my boredom and it turned out to be quite delicious; great for a summer meal.
This is what you’ll need: Continue reading