Beetroot Salad

Homey Beetroot Salad w/ Caesar Dressing
or Vinaigrette, or Balsamic dressing, or yogurt dressing, or Japanese sesame dressing, any dressing of your choice is simply delicious! 

*Organic Beetroot, from HM the King's Project, Thailand...1 pack (2 beetroots) costs only 40.-THB

Ingredients:

2 bunches of loose red beetroots, cooked and trimmed into wedges 

(Some people love to eat fresh beetroot, but I prefer the cooked one! Left-over juice can be mixed with my red-fruit compote ---> beautiful colour & well-married taste! ^_^) 

2-3 garlic cloves, minced
(you can reduce to 1 clove, if you're not a big fan of garlic)

1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

salt & ground black pepper

my left-over Caesar dressing 

(or vinaigrette, or yogurt dressing or Japanese sesame dressing, or feta or goat's cheese, crumbled)

• Combine garlic and cilantro in a salad bowl. Stir in the oil until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Add in the beetroot wedges and gently toss with the oil.
• Transfer the beetroots onto a large serving platter with lettuce bedding and drizzle any remaining oil over the beetroots. Spoon in Caesar dressing or crumbled cheese, with a sprinkle of ground black pepper .
• Garnish with a lovely rose, from Bok Choy and Enjoy your meal!

À Table!

Read More

Mandarin Orange Paletas with Kiwi Slices

Sweet Sunday & ♥-made Orange Paletas
(from Mandarin juice -not from concentrate -no syrup added ) w/ Kiwi-slices,
to be ideally sprinkled with salt just before serving (Tequila fashion)!

Hasta la Vista, baby!      

For 4 Paletas I simply use: 

1 kiwi, sliced 

350 ml Mandarin orange juice 

1 teaspoon lime juice

a pinch of salt. 

For those sweet teeth, 
you can also add sugar syrup or honey and stir until the mixture is dissolved.  

• Place Kiwi slices in each mold. 
• Pour orange mixture equally into 4 juice bar molds. Attach covers. Insert sticks, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches of each exposed. Freeze paletas upright until firm, at least 3 hours. 
• Hold each mold up to the rim under normal to warm running water just until paletas are released from sides of molds, 5 to 10 seconds. Remove covers and pull out paletas. 
• Enjoy your refreshing paletas immediately or store in freezer.

In Mexico almost every child grows up eating Paletas, frozen fruit bars, popsicles made from fresh seasonal fruit. The fruit is sometimes blended with milk or cream to create paletas de leche, or milk Popsicles, and sometimes it's just puréed with sugar. These are known as paletas de agua, or water Popsicles. Traditional popular flavors include watermelon, cantaloupe, lime, strawberry, and chocolate. Part of the allure of paletas over regular American Popsicles is the fresh-fruit flavors. Try making a variation of your own. The options are almost endless. {source: dianadessert.com}

หวานเย็นสัญชาติละตินอเมริกา "ปาเลตา" (พหูพจน์= ปาเลตาส) ...ที่มีส่วนผสมของผลไม้ต่างๆ... และเครื่องปรุงที่ชอบตามใจคนทำ จำพวก พริกป่น, เกลือ, อบเชยป่น หรือ ขิงป่น เป็นต้น
ดัดแปลงได้หลายรสแล้วแต่ชอบ...

สำหรับเมืองไทยเรา มีผลไม้หรอยๆ หลายอย่าง เช่น ระกำ, สละ, ส้มพี, มะม่วง, ลิ้นจี่, กระเจี๊ยบ, สับปะรด, แตงโม ฯลฯ

...น้ำแตงโมผสมใบโหระพา, น้ำกระเจี๊ยบผสมใบสะระแหน่, น้ำย่าหนัดผสมพริกเกลือ, น้ำลิ้นจี่ผสมสตรอเบอรี่ฝาน...เหยาะเตกีล่าหรือว้อดก้าหนอยๆ...ฯลฯ น่าว่าหรอยกัน
บ้านไหน มีเด็กเล็กๆ ชอบกินไอติม... อาจชวนเด็กๆ มีส่วนร่วมในการเลือกส่วนผสม... และลองทำดู... เด็กๆ น่าจะชอบ... ...
นอกจากจะเป็นการส่งเสริมการเรียนรู้นอกห้องเรียนของเด็กๆ แล้ว (life-skills learning) ... ยังได้กระชับความสัมพันธ์...ระหว่างสมาชิกในบ้าน ผ่านช่องทาง ของกิน... แถมได้กินไอติมขี้มือ... เอ๊ย...ฝีมือตัวเองด้วย... หนุกนิ !

สำหรับคนที่ชอบรสหวาน...อาจเพิ่มน้ำผึ้ง หรือ น้ำเชื่อม ลงไปในส่วนผสม...

Read More

Chunky Peanut Butter Coffee Ice-Cream & Mocca

La tendresse, c'est le calme du coeur,
le détachement de l'esprit,
le voyage des âmes.
Un simple geste suffit.
Comme toi,
j'ai besoin de tendresse,
Comme toi,
j'ai besoin de réconfort.
L'amour change de forme,
mais son essence demeure.
Oser aimer sans garantie,
est la garantie d'un amour libre.

Never Let Go of TLC (Tender Loving Care), Dark Chocolate and Coffee (Ice-Cream)! ;)

Heart-made "Up-to-Me" Chunky Peanut Butter Ice-Cream with a hint of Coffee. It has a creamy coffee taste, a smooth texture, nutty, buttery, rich but not cloying and lovely "Caffè Latte" colour. Serve plain or with extra whipped cream, and sprinkled with extra chopped nuts of your choice. The serving plate was painted with melted dark chocolate. I picked a leaf of spider plant and a purple Allamanda from my little garden for finishing touch to my heart's content...:-)

Ingredients:
300 ml  single cream or milk, or a blend of both
125 g chunky peanut butter
3-4 teaspoons instant coffee powder
(can be vary… up to 2-3 tablespoons for strong caffeine lovers)
3 egg yolks (large)
2-3 tablespoons vanilla sugar or caramel coffee sugar
150 ml whipping cream

Before being served, the ice-cream was invaded
by 2 hungry spoons in every corner of the box,
in other words = ice-cream harassment! ;)

• Scald the single cream or milk. Then stir in peanut butter and coffee powder until well combined. Remove from the heat. 
• Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale and thick, then slowly whisk in the milk mixture. 
• Return to the saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the mixture thickens. 
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool. 
• Whip the cream until thick yet light and fold into the cooled custard. 
• Pour into a plastic freezer box, cover and freeze. Stir every 30 minutes with a whisk during freezing to break up the ice crystals and give a better texture. Freeze overnight with a layer of plastic wrap over the surface and the lid on the container. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve. 
• Remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving.

Did you know... 
... that today is Ice Cream Day?
Sundae, Ice Lolly, Gelato, Paletas, Potong or simple milk shake...why not? 
Set aside your diet programme and celebrate the day with your favourite one...(-two-three-four...) 
Calories don't count on Ice Cream Day!

Read More

Lazy Sunday & Grilled Tofu w/ Cheese

Hello July, G'bye June!

...

Change is inevitable.

Day turns into night...

Spring into Summer...

and we grow younger every year! ;)

Lazy Sunday & healthy Tapas:

{Tofu grillé au fromage, façon tartine gourmande} 

oh oui... oh ouiii... 

Grilled Tofu with Cheese...topped w/ sunflower sprout, shredded carrot...
sprinkled w/ black pepper....
s/w Tabasco, Sriracha sauce or Thai sweet-chili dipping sauce. 

เต้าหู้ขาวย่างกับชีส... ประดับด้วย ต้นอ่อนทานตะวัน, แครอทฝอย...โรยพริกไทยดำบดใหม่ๆ... ทานคู่กับ ซอสพริกทั้งไทยและเทศ... เต้าหู้ขาวสี่เหลี่ยมขอบมน...ซื้อจากเจ้าประจำตลาดนัด (พ่อค้าทำเองใหม่ๆ ทุกวัน)... ชิ้นละ 10.-บาท... นำมาหั่นตามยาวจะได้ 8 ชิ้น... วางชีสที่ชอบ หรือชีสเชดด้าแผ่น...ตัดตามขนาดของเต้าหู้... นำเข้าตู้อบที่มีโปรแกรมสำหรับย่าง... ย่างราว 10 นาที...ก่อนเสิร์ฟ ตกแต่งตามชอบ 

Bottom up to people...
Sit you down.
Enjoy your living with the people...
Sit you down.
Singing bottoms up to people...
Sit you down.
Enjoy your living with the people...
Sit you down.

Read More

Vanilla Scotch Pancakes s/w Dark Chocolate Ganache

Rainy Sunday's Tea/Coffee Break: 

Vanilla Scotch Pancakes 

(again??? Pancake Festival ...ehhh, Miss Anne ?!?) 

s/w Dark Chocolate Ganache & wild honey or maple syrup.

— feeling Pancake at via AnnaVanilla.

Ingredients:
{For dark chocolate ganache}
150 g dark chocolate
75 ml whipping cream

• Chop the chocolate and melt in a bowl over hot water. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside. Heat the cream until hot, but not simmering, and pour it into the chocolate. Stir the cream and the chocolate together until well combined. Continue stirring until the mixture has cooled and is smooth and glossy.

{For the pancakes}

225 g plain flour, sifted

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

300 ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

(alternatively butter milk or single cream)

1 teaspoon brandy or vanilla rum or water

50 g butter, melted

butter for frying

• Sift the flour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Work the flour into the eggs and gradually add the milk, brandy or vanilla rum , vanilla essence and melted butter to make a smooth and thick batter.  Cook the batter as soon as it is prepared.
• Heat a heavy frying flat pan, about 16 cm diameter (or ideally, a griddle pan), add a knob of butter and as soon as it begins to foam, hold a spoonful of batter high above the pan and drop the batter, holding the spoon vertically. Cook until bubbles appear and edges begin to dry but still slightly moist on top . Then turn and cook the other side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter. To keep the pancakes warm until all the batter has been cooked, place them in a heated dish lined with warmed tea-towel and cover.
• Serve with dark chocolate ganache, maple syrup (or wild honey) and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (or whipped cream or plain yogurt). 

Enjoy!

Did you know......that today is Waffle Iron Day? Waffle Iron Day celebrates this great kitchen gadget that makes tasty waffles. The waffle dates back to the 1300s when Greeks cooked flat cakes between two metal pans and topped them with cheese and herbs.
If you don't have a waffle iron, today is a good day to go out and buy one. If you are too busy to make waffles yourself, buy some frozen in your fav. grocery store, or order them out at a restaurant or a cafe-bistro. Either way, please enjoy your waffles! 

Read More

Choco-Coffee Scotch Pancakes w/ layered Baked-Apple & Bacon strips

Aimer, c'est agir. {to love is to act}
--Victor Hugo 

 When the heart (& tummy) are calling, It's wise to take action! 

Friendship, Love, Joy and Happiness -----> two-way street + interaction. 

  

Nothing beats homey choco-coffee scotch pancake, layered brown-butter-grilled apple, dark chocolate-drizzled bacon strips...s/w wild-flower honey or maple syrup & homey soy yogurt! Really worth my sweat on Sunday morning! 

I personally love the taste of "Sucré-Salé" {literally translated as sweet 'n' salty}tapas. Anne's favourite: 

a slice of french bread, topped with Brie cheese, grilled...and s/w maple syrup. or without maple syrup but with caramelized onion...hmmmm...

Today's dark chocolate drizzled bacon strips (grilled) = my first experience...love it too!

My confession: 

In fact, I made coffee-glazed bacon...then I did the washing whilst leaving the bacon strips in the mini-oven... without timer-setting. It turned out that all the strips became "charcoal". I felt terribly sorry for my tummy...for the untimely loss of coffee-glazed bacon...(sigh) 

Luckily enough that the fire alarm didn't beep...and no screaming neighbours... phew!!!

p.s No matter what goes wrong....Life goes on!
Dark chocolate is calling...I've got to go now...

For baked apples:
Core the apples and slice into 4 pieces each. 

Sprinkle with lime juice. Place the apple slices in a buttered foil dish, 

fill with brown sugar and dot with butter. Bake at 180 for 15-20 minutes. 

The making of choco-coffee pancake...with a normal small-sized pan..
.for those who haven't got any griddle pan.
Note* One tablespoon of mixture makes one 6 cm-Ø- pancake
(even smaller than traditional scotch pancakes which is at about 3.5 in / 9 cm in diameter). 
So you can have a good excuse for being immoderate...size does matter...oh yes!

For the pancakes:

220 g plain flour, sifted

1 tablespoon cacao powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1,5 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

300 ml milk 

(alternatively butter milk or single cream)

1 teaspoon brandy or vanilla rum or water

50 g butter, melted

butter for frying

• Sift the flour, cacao powder, coffee powder, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Work the flour into the eggs and gradually add the milk, brandy or vanilla rum and melted butter to make a smooth and thick batter.  Cook the batter as soon as it is prepared.
• Heat a heavy frying flat pan, about 16 cm diameter (or ideally, a griddle pan), add a knob of butter and as soon as it begins to foam, hold a spoonful of batter high above the pan and drop the batter, holding the spoon vertically. Cook until bubbles appear and edges begin to dry but still slightly moist on top . Then turn and cook the other side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter. To keep the pancakes warm until all the batter has been cooked, place them in a heated dish lined with warmed tea-towel and cover.
• When ready to serve, decorate the plate with dark chocolate circles, cherry tomatoes, bran flakes and dried raisins. Sandwich eachh pancake with baked apple slices. Top with dark chocolate drizzled bacon strips (grilled or baked) and serve immediately with wild honey or maple syrup and soy yogurt or whipped cream. Enjoy!

Read More

Open-Faced Omelette with Herbs, Ham & Tomato

Open-faced Omelette with herbs, ham 'n' fresh tomato. 

Ideally s/w Tabasco or fresh Apple slices or apple salsa ....yummm! 

Note*

1. for CHEESE lovers, you can add a slice of Emmenthal or grated Gruyère in the ingredients too. 

2. You can also use 1 teaspoon butter + 1 teaspoon Olive oil together --------> lovely combination/flavour!

3. for more beautiful result, please use sliced tomatoes, instead of diced ones...then place them on top of the omelette (apple pie fashion) when the eggs begin to cook...

serving per person

(I used a 16 cm-∅-pan)

• Place eggs and salt in a bowl with yogurt and beat lightly with a fork until just combined.
• Heat olive oil (and/or butter) in a small frying pan over medium heat. Then add in chopped garlic and pour in egg mixture. As the eggs begin to cook, place chopped herbs and ham on top, followed by diced or sliced tomato (and your choice of cheese). Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
• In case you use cheese, place the pan under a preheated grill to finish cooking the eggs and melt the cheese.
• Slide the finished omelette onto a warm serving plate and place the remaining chopped spring onions for garnish. Finish with a grinding of black pepper.

Enjoy your breakfast!

Read More

Thai Mango Sorbet (No sorbetière)

Heart-made Mango Sorbet (no sugar, no milk added) 

made of fresh mango puree, 

sprinkled with chopped dark chocolate w/ almond...

served with mango chunks & kiwi bedding. 

for "Thai mango" lovers!

Ingredients:

6 mangoes, peeled, seeded and cubed

2 tablespoons lime juice

***1-2 tablespoon(s) syrup (for sweet tooth)

Easy How to:

• Place cubed mango in a food processor, and puree. Pour in syrup and lime juice, and puree until smooth.
• Then pour the mango puree into a plastic freezer box, cover and freeze. Stir every 30 minutes with a whisk during freezing to break up the ice crystals and give a better texture. 
• Freeze overnight with a layer of plastic wrap over the surface and the lid on the container. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve. Enjoy! 

Read More

Local Thai Ice Pop & Get Lucky

My locally nostalgic ice-pop 

@5.-Baht/stick, made of fresh ingredients (free from artificial coloring agents & preservatives) e.g. pandan, sweet corn, coconut cream, sala syrup with milk, durian, etc... available in my province, Phang Nga...
   

There is another version of local ice-pop a.k.a " i-tim-tud" or "i-tim sabu", literally translated as "soap ice-pop"... (Note* "i-tim" is ice-cream, "tud" means cut and "sabu" is soap, in Thai) 

Q: Why is it called soap ice-pop?

A: Because it comes in boxes 'n' long blocks (equivalent to the sizes of 2 bars of red bricks) with parchment paper cover...(just like "Potong" ice-cream, in Malaysia and Singapore)

Potong" means “cut” in Malay, referring to rectangular popsicles that are cut into portions from a bigger block...sold by hawkers from pushcarts.
Potong is made of coconut milk, skimmed milk, corn starch and sugar as basic ingredients, with exotic flavours such as yam, durian, sweet corn and the most popular, red bean...to be served either between wafers or rolled up in white bread.
{source: remembering Potong Ice-cream --Makansutra}

Then the ice-cream vendors will dig those boxes/blocks out of their portable carts...using a butcher knife to slice right through it...(so you'll get an ice-cream bar, which looks exactly like a bar of soap!) 

A bamboo skewer or a skewer made from the midribs of coconut leaf will be inserted in centre of ice-cream as final process. It costs only 10.-Baht/bar!!!!

"This ice-pop is too hot for sub-zero temperature here in Thailand, darling! It will burn your hand if you hold it for too long!"

Well, I'd better listen more often to that nagging little feeling that says it is long past time I had some fun...that's my inner child speaking--well, yelling, perhaps! ;) ...It feels good to let the child in me come out and play from time to time...

<<Just how long has it been since you indulged in a big helping of your favorite guilty pleasure, Anne? .. Even grownups are entitled to indulge in the pleasure of youth from time to time, aren't they? >>

Inside each of us lives a child, appreciative of life,

and curious towards change. One who trusts fully,

loves fearlessly, and is able to show emotions,

both good and bad. Happiness can be found here.

Choose to let this child live each and every day.

~Doe Zantamata

Life is meant to contain equal amount of fun and enjoyment.

All relationships benefit from a bit of devilish, positive, mischievous, playful and fun approach.

We don't have to be a grown-up and take life too seriously too much of the time.

Come to life again and be light in the heart & mind.

Let's have a permission to let the good times roll.

Relax.

Let's give ourselves a permission to be fully alive,

to fall in love with ourselves,

to feel everything...

Read More