September, 2010

Messages — 4 Comments
19
Sep 10

Of Tropical Beaches and Fiery Fish Tacos

You’ll have to forgive me if I’m still ranting about the insufferable humidity here. It’s not getting any better. We’re still inside the monsoon season, getting patches of dry heat here and there. It rains most afternoons and unfortunately, I will have to wait a few more months before the raging weather systems quiet down.

The thought of relocating to cooler climes has definitely crossed my mind. But at the mo, it’s nowhere near practical. I’ve exhausted my supply of granita and to be honest, if I so much as put a teaspoonful of these icy shards near my mouth, I swear my teeth will scream, ‘Granita again @#$%^& ???’ Pure murder.

So I’ve decided to do something my dad taught me when I was about 8 years old. Instead of using cold to counter the heat, I’m fighting fire with fire!

Yes, I’m assembling fish tacos with just-bought tilapia fillets, my brother’s spicy mango salsa and sour cream that had been laced with hot sauce. With that much heat, I’m expecting to sweat like mad and imagining my skin beginning to feel cooler as the perspiration evaporates. Got my cold beer in one hand and a buri fan in the other, all that’s lacking right now are huge waves crashing into tropical beaches. And perhaps a few shirtless surfers parading their bangin’ beach bods for my viewing pleasure.

Hmmmm…. I’m beginning to like this sultry weather…

xxx

Karima

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Breakfast Sweets Series — 5 Comments
11
Sep 10

Comfort Food Meets Good-to-Go

For many years, vanilla has given me comfort. When I used to work in Dubai, I’d bake a batch of simple, un-iced vanilla cupcakes on Sunday mornings (the week there begins on Sunday), then take them to an office that pretty much devours me the entire day and leaves me for dead. But as soon as I return home, I could still smell the vanilla that had been trapped in my kitchen since my departure that morning. That alone wipes away the stresses of my day. When I’m not baking, I light vanilla candles. I normally don’t run out of them.

It was only early this year that I decided to pick up something new to go with my usual vanilla tealights from Ikea. They were bigger, heavier votives in glass, dark chocolate in color and gave off the sweetest scent of apples that had been cloaked in cinnamon.

I have since moved back to Manila. No Ikea candles here. The closest I can get to replicating that wonderful perfume is by cranking up that oven and making some good ol’ apple pies. Remembering that I seriously dislike doing the dishes, I’m making them strictly hand-held.

So with the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon bubbling away inside the oven, as expected I caught a waft of something decidedly familiar. Oh the memories resurrecting! Cliche as it may sound, I am wrapped in some serious fuzz right now.

xxx

Karima

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Recipes — 6 Comments
1
Sep 10

Easy Like a Sunday Morning…Not!

Our Sunday mornings aren’t usually lazy and relaxed. We don’t get to snuggle under the covers until midday like most people do. We consume the entire week preparing for this day – lots of scribbling and bouncing of ideas. Saturdays are reserved for trips to organic markets, local IKEA retailers or landscaping shops.

Food blogging has never been this difficult.

It’s 7 AM and I’m peeling myself off of the bed. The first thing I need to do is open the living room curtains. There’s no sun. Think it’s going to rain again. Darn! The weather has been like this for months now – overcast in the morning, rainy in the afternoon. How can the weather be so uncooperative on the day of our shoot? But it’s early, there is still hope. So let’s crank up the espresso machine and get on with the mise en place.

Today we’re set to shoot a variation of our mom’s corn soup. I remember when we were still little she would cook this soup during a cold rainy day. It was simple, delicious and hearty. There’s nothing like mom’s cooking. You can just feel the love rubbing your back with every slurp… keeping you all warm and fuzzy. But she seldom cooks right now ever since we took over the kitchen and stuffed it with gadgets she can hardly operate.

Enough with the drama and start chopping the onions! After doing all the needed prep work, the pan heats the oil and butter. The pork belly and bacon are thrown in. The first time you hear the pork fat sizzling, it is like listening to Joe Satriani’s fingers gracefully weaving notes with his guitar. Enter garlic and onions. The pungent fragrance released from these aromats tells you there’s magic happening in that hot pan. When the cooking is almost done, my sister Karima prepares the props for the shoot. She irons the table napkins, wipes clean the dishes, sets up the table… you know, very domestic stuff. But she’s my food stylist and art director as I am not that good with composition. The food is ready, the props are laid out and the camera is mounted on the tripod. The shooting begins.

A hundred clicks later, we’re absolutely knackered. We’re excited to post the photos in this blog hoping Tastespotting or Foodgawker will accept our entries. This is a good weekly accomplishment. We’re very happy and we think we deserve a pat on our backs. And the best part of it all? Eating every ounce of that dish we prepared today! That’s happiness. That’s my kind of Sunday mornings.

Jon

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