Recipes

Humus & Falafels

~ The Travelling Chopsticks ~ 2 Comments
Some things I have just not been able to find in Mexico City – canned beans being one of them! Don’t get me wrong, you can buy every kind of bean imaginable (this is Mexico after all!) but they are all dried.

Dried beans have always put me off – I like the convenience of the can. Open. Drain. Rinse and ready to cook.

But sometimes you are forced out of your lazy habits and for good reason! I bought a bag of dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and went through the palava of soaking and pre-cooking them, and there is such a distinct difference in both taste and flavour. I think I may be hooked!

So with half my beans I made humus and the other half I made (or rather ‘am making’ they are in the oven as I write) Falafels. Really Falafels are a type of garbanzo bean burger, but i really hate that name – for me it is so unappetizing . Keep Reading

Chili Garlic and White Wine Prawns

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On Saturday I got it into my mind that I wanted to make seafood. In fact I really wanted to make moules mariniere – There is something really satisfying about having a large bowl of steaming mussels which you can eat using your fingers and mopping up that lovely garlicy white wine sauce with some crusty bread! However, upon arriving at the supermarket and realising that they did not actually sell mussels my fantasy was quickly thwarted.

Not really knowing what to do – but still determined to make something similar I grabbed the next best things – fresh prawns! If I’m going to be completely honest, I very rarely cook with fresh prawns – as I’m always slightly scared of over cooking them and I just generally had the impression that they were quite fiddely – how wrong I was!  Keep Reading

World’s Easist Lasanga

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World's easiest lasagnaThis recipe is one that I adapted from Jamie Oliver’s lasagna recipe – which I love and would highly recommend anyone to try it. Jamie O’s Lasagna.

 However, he does claim that it is a very simple recipe, but I beg to differ! There is quite a lot of faffing about –  such as buying fresh pasta sheets and pre-cooking them, roasting butternut squash and adding it into the meatsauce (which does taste fantastic!) and although that is all very good…sometimes you just don’t have time or the energy, and you just want to make something – well…simple! Keep Reading

Coq au vin

~ The Travelling Chopsticks ~ 1 Comment
So, I’m on a bit of a roll today in regards to blogging – I’m feeling really inspired, plus there has been a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen recently, which has produced some really great outcomes, and I really just want to share these successful recipes.

For Christmas Eve ‘C’ and I decided to just be on our own and celebrate our first real Christmas together. We wanted to make something special for dinner, but neither of us felt too inclined on any of the usual Christmas fare – really, making a turkey is just too ambitious (and too gluttonous) for the both of us!

I was flipping through my recipe notebook and came across my mother’s recipe for Coq au vin – sold! This is one of the most simplest dishes to make, yet it sounds quite complex (possibly due to its French name!) but most importantly it’s incredibly delicious! If you think about it, there is no way it can’t be delicious…its a dish based on bacon, chicken, mushrooms and wine!! Keep Reading

Tomato Soup with Chevre

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It’s amazing how good food can put you into a really good mood! Or does that only happen with me? If you haven’t noticed by now, I LOVE food! I love thinking about it, talking about it, making it and more importantly, eating it! Growing up, my dad used to joke that the three words he would hear the most from me was: “Daddy – I’m hungry!”

Even poor C has learnt that my mood directly correlates with my hunger – unfortunately he has learnt the hard way. I like to think of my self as pretty even-tempered, I don’t get angry often, however when I am hungry and there is no food in sight it is almost a guarantee that you will see a really unpleasant side of me!

Anyway, back to the reason for this post. Tomato Soup with Chevre!  Keep Reading

Quick & Easy Puttanesca – My Version!

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It was one of those evenings where ‘C’ was out of town for business, so I didn’t really feel like making a huge meal, but at the same time wanted something substantial to eat for dinner. I had walked home from Spanish class and was freezing (someone forgot to inform me that it actually gets cold in Mexico!) so I was in the mood for something hot and comforting!

Putanesca is one of my all time favorite dishes to make when I’m coming home late (because it is so quick and easy), or even if I have nothing else in my cupboard, I know I will ALWAYS have tomatoes, capers and olives and some kind of fresh and dried herb kicking about my cupboard or fridge. Throw all these ingredients together – and you have made a fantastic sauce be it for pasta, grilled chicken, a firm white fish or even grilled Portobello mushrooms!

However if you happen to have some anchovies at hand – you have yourself a sensational pasta sauce!!  Keep Reading