Happy New Year!!!

Om. Om. Om.

Merry Christmas!!!

Chi mangia bene italiano

"Those who eat well, eat Italian." I got that from Italianni's in Trinoma and saved it on my phone a couple of months back.  I finally found the right opportunity to share it with you.

Two night's ago, we had a pre-Christmas dinner with UP and Pep friends.  I prepared pasta arrabiata and meatless "meatballs".

Again, photo is not mine.  You can click on the image to view its source.

Singdaan faailohk

Merry Christmas!.. in three days.

Today, the routine goes on.  Sleep over in the morning and wake up just in time for coffee and a quick breakfast.  Then the movie.  Dave (1993) starring Kevin Klein and Sigourney Weaver.

It's my 3rd day in Hong Kong and how can I stay here and not cook Chinese food?  For lunch, we had Chinese fried rice.

Hul toredo/toredeena falafel?

In English, do you want a falafel sandwich?

Photo by US Masala

I've been wanting to make falafel and if I remembered it correctly, I wasn't very successful the first time I tried.  Just an hour ago, I made my first successful version of this wonderful protein-rich dish from the Middle East.  According to Denise Hazime, founder of DedeMed Mediterranean Cooking, falafel is traditionally made with fava beans.   As the recipe moved North along the Mediterranean, people began to combine it with chickpeas.  Some also use mung beans, I believe.

A bottle of tahini is very expensive here so I didn't bother getting one.  I thought I'd made my own version so what I did was research on the basics and see if I can let go of the other ingredients like the fresh parsley and cilantro.  Although it would taste much better with those fresh herbs.

From what I gathered, I could make a simple falafel with the following ingredients: chickpeas, onions, garlic, parsley, coriander powder, cumin powder, flour, and salt and pepper.  Since I'm just here for one week, I looked at what RJ and his flatmates have in their kitchen.  I saw a bottle of curry powder and thought I'd simply use that instead of coriander and cumin powder.  Instead of using flour also, I used egg as binder.

Here's exactly what I did.  I emptied one 15 oz can of chickpeas in a colander and let it drain for a few hours.  Once the drained, I mashed the chickpeas with a fork, added a handful of chopped white onions, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of curry powder, and 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper.  I then mixed everything together before I added one egg.  Again, I mixed the "dough" well until everything is incorporated.  I let the mixture stand for 10 minutes before I formed it into 1 tablespoon balls.  Then I fried the falafel balls in a medium hot vegetable oil for about 2 minutes per side.  They didn't have paper towels so I simply placed the cooked falafel balls on a plate after frying.

I made a simple garlic sauce by combining 2 cloves of minced garlic in one cup of plain yoghurt... sliced some tomatoes, cucumber, and white onions... arranged the fresh vegetables on a pita bread and placed 2 falafel balls on top.  Spread some garlic-yoghurt sauce on top and folded the bread.  Took my first bite and alhumdoolillah, it was yummy.

For a more professional way of preparing a falafel, here's DedeMed's video on how to make a falafel.  Enjoy.



Lazeez!

French connection

That's my friend Moppet.  I was behind the camera.  And that's the Louvre Museum in Paris.

It was the year 2000.  My first trip abroad.  First time to perform Philippine folk dance.  First time to dance in front of an international audience.  First glimpse of the Middle East (we took Gulf Air to Doha, then to Abu Dhabi, then Paris).  First taste of authentic French food... Belgian beer... and Swiss chocolate.  I was just starting to become vegetarian.

The dance festival wasn't in Paris though.  It was in the south of France. It was in Montoire.  Here's the poster of the festival in 2000 reposted here from the official festival website.  Four weeks in France, one week in Belgium, then one week in Switzerland.  It was surreal.

Ahhh... memories.  The thoughts of European countryside is enough to make me want to go back.  I can either do that through yoga or grad studies.  Let's see what happens next year.

What triggered all these reminiscing?  Oh, it's the breakfast.  I made French toast.  But is French toast really French?  Let me refer you to Koerner (2003) and Shilcutt (2010).

Anyway, for this morning's breakfast.  I used 1 egg, 4 tablespoons of full cream evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons of water, and half a teaspoon of sugar.  Mix well.  Use half of the mixture to coat one slice (about 6x6 inches) of whole wheat bread.  Cook in a hot nonstick pan.  Turn over after a minute or two.  Spread some butter on the cooked top side.  Turn over and then again some butter.  Plate and sprinkle with cinnamon powder.  Serve it with your favorite jam.  Nice with hot chocolate or coffee latte.

The photo is not mine.  It's from Shilcutt's article.

A la prochaine. Bonne journee!

Creamy Vegetarian Macaroni Soup

I arrived here an hour past midnight.  Naturally, one would simply sleep and rest the entire morning and that's exactly what I did.  At about 10am, I decided to do a short asana and simple pranayama practice.  This weather is very good for sitting practices... it helps calm and clear the mind.

At 1pm, I decided to go to Tung Chung to buy the ingredients for this evening's dinner and tomorrow's lunch.  So even though rJ and his flatmates won't be home until about 9pm, dinner is ready.  I'll be going back to Tung Chung in a while though to meet a UP CHK colleague.

I believe I've made this soup in the past and posted the recipe here.  Earlier today, I googled "Filipino sopas recipe" and checked the ingredients just to make sure I had the basics in mind.  What's new with this evening's soup is the chopped cabbage.  I don't think I used that in the previous recipe.  I have to check.

Anyway, here it goes...

Saute minced garlic (about 5 cloves) in oil, then add 1-2 handfuls of chopped white onion.  Stir for 1 minute until onion becomes translucent and aromatic.  Add 350g chopped vegetarian/fake chicken (or tofu).  Stir.  Add 1 L water and bring to boil.  Once boiling, add 350g elbow macaroni and cook for 5-8 minutes.  Add 2-3 cups of vegetable cubes (carrots, peas, corn kernels... I used the frozen mixed vegetables because it's cheaper).  Stir in 2-3 vegetable stock cubes.  Mix well.  Add water if necessary.  Add 2 handfuls of chopped cabbage. Stir and simmer for one minute.  Stir in evaporated milk until desired consistency and milkiness is achieved.  Add 2-3 tablespoons butter.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add a little bit of sugar to bring out the flavor and it's ready.

Perfect for this cold weather.

Tomorrow... felafel sandwich with garlicky yoghurt dressing.

Photos next time.

Your blog is dying...

... said a really good friend.

Maybe it is.

The reason I put up this blog 3 years ago was to have an online journal of my journey into the realm of yoga and vegetarianism.  I had doubts in my writing ability so I just started out by entering my food intake, recipes, and outline of my daily activities.  With Saraswati's guidance, I sometimes write something worth reading.  Most of time though, it's just ordinary writing.  Nothing special.

My plan for the next two weeks though is to spend more time in the kitchen so I can keep this blog alive.  I think even in a small way, this blog has helped provide bits of information about yoga, vegetarian recipes, and the Philippines.

The goal is to come up with 5 recipes this holiday break.

Om.

Yoga and the Anatomy of Breathing with Paul Dallaghan

Photo is from http://www.yogaretreats.ie/

Grateful to have studied with both Paul and Tiwariji.  Tomorrow, I shall reconnect with my teacher.

Click here for the workshop details.