Saut'eed Potatoes with Cumin and Thyme

This is really a very simple dish but at the same time very fulfilling, appetizing and not to forget very delicious at the same time. Usually this kind of dish is popular in more of the Vegetarian communities in the South Asian culture. Since spices such as cumin is not that used and consumed in the Western society or say in the continental cuisines, but it may come as a surprise to the Western communities as well as to how  easy the combination of the spices and yet how tasty it can be.

Like I said its a very simple and easy to prepare dish so hope yous guys give a definite try at making it.....please my high recommendations. Here are the ingredients and the procedure to prepare this dish.

PREPARATION TIME: 2 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 15-18 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS
800 g/ 1 lb, Charlotte potatoes
4 tbsp, olive oil
1 tsp lightly ground cumin
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves( you can substitute the fresh herb with any other herbs such as fresh coriander leaves/ dill leaves/ fresh rosemary)
Salt & pepper as to taste

Now,
. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes then drain well and leave to steam dry for 2 minutes.
. Heat the oil in a large saute' pan.
. Sprinkle the potatoes with cumin, (fresh herb of your choice) here i am using thyme and plenty of salt and pepper then fry fro 10 minutes, shaking the pan and stirring occasionally.
. Voila! the dish is ready to be served.
. Well, like i said this is a pretty simple and straight forward dish and you can have it as an appetizer or as an accompaniment to any main course.

The other more familiar dish to this dish which I am sure more of the gourmet' food consumers or say the westerners are familiar is, is the Sautee'd Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary. And its not that of a different dish than this, i say this because the procedure to prepare this dish is more over similar to the one i  just explained above...the only tweak you are going have to make is; just break 1 bulb of garlic into cloves and boil in their skins with the potatoes before saute'ing, leave out the cumin and replace thyme with chopped fresh rosemary. That's  about it.  So like i said earlier, its a very simple and easy to make dish hope you all will give it a try. And like always, enjoy & cheers. 

I will be coming with all the videos of the cuisines that i have shared with you guys so far, pretty soon. So if you have any suggestions, comments please feel free to share with me....I'd be more than grateful.

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Strawberry and Mozzarella Salad

I came up with this concept of putting up strawberry and mozzarella salad as an alternative to tomato and mozzarella salad because every member of our family was kinda like, "We've had enough of the tomato-mozzarella combination" so i looked in the refrigerator one fine afternoon i should say and there i saw some strawberries so thinking about all the disgruntle of my family members, especially my mum 'cos shes not allowed to eat as much tomato as she'd have liked because of her health reasons.

So there i was garnering some thought to it then i said to myself why not mix things up and instead of tomato i decided i put the strawberries in place of it. So here's how i made it. I know you all must be thinking this has already been tries and tested out several times but please check out my version.

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS: (serves 4)

200 g/ 2 cups strawberries, halved

200 g/ 1 1/2 cups mozzarella balls

a few spring of fresh young basil or thyme

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil/or balsamic vinegar( whichever dressing u prefer)

Now,

. Mix the strawberries with the mozzarella and the fresh herbs( your choice of herbs) and divide between 4 plates.

. Dress with the olive oil or the balsamic vinegar and season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Well for some other variations we can also try these options.

#Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Just replace the strawberries with 200 g of halved cherry tomatoes.

#Melon, Prosciutto and Mozzarella Salad

Just replace the strawberries with 200 g melons balls and tear 4 thin slices of prosciutto into strips.

This is just my version dear friends, I am sure there's a whole lot of variations that can made into so if you wish to share or have your opinions on some of the recipes and articles that i have put up please feel free to share on the comments section. And like always, Cheers & Enjoy.

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Fresh Spring Rolls

Deep fried spring rolls are a firm favourite at Chinese restaurants and takeaways. This version is kinda adopted from a Vietnamese recipe and uses soft rice paper sheets stuffed with fresh herbs and crunchy vegetables, which is accompanied by a tasty lemon and chilli dipping sauce.

Preparation time- 45 minutes
Cooking time- 20 minutes

Ingredients
(8 1/2 inches) round dried paper sheets
Lemon and fish sauce- for dipping
Now, for the filling
Chinese dried mushrooms- 6
Thin rice noodles- 50 g
Fresh beansprouts- 250 g
1 small cucumber- cut into stripes
Fresh mint leaves- 2 tbsn (roughly torn)
Fresh coriander leaves- 2 tbsn (roughly torn)
Carrot- 1(grated)
Unsalted roasted peanuts- 2 tbsn ( coarsely chopped)
Now,
Put the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and put a plate on top to keep the steam in. Set aside for 20-30 minutes or until soft. Drain the mushrooms, discard the stalks and squeeze the water from the caps, then shred them finely.
Place the rice noodles in a bowl, pour over some boiling water and leave to stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. Drain the noodles, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Soak the sheets of rice paper in a bowl of warm water, one at a time, for about 30-60 seconds until softened, then place on a clean dry towel.
To prepare the spring rolls, put a little of all the filling ingredients on each rice paper sheets, roll up the bottom half of the rice paper, fold in the sides and roll over to enclose the filling.
The spring rolls can be prepared about 20-30 minutes before serving. Cover them with the clingfilm and place in the refrigerator until required.
Serve the spring rolls with the Lemon and Fish sauce (click to read about the lemon n fish sauce)

This will make for about 8 rolls, serves 4 as a starter.
I will be posting the videos as well in the near days.....but in the meantime like always, Enjoy & Cheers.

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LEMON AND FISH SAUCE

PREPARATION TIME 5 MINUTES
MAKING TIME 5 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
1/2 garlic clove, chrused
60 ml, fresh lemon juice
60 ml, Thai fish sauce
3 tbsn, light muscovado sugar
125 ml, water
Now,
1. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Transfer to screw-top jar. This sauce will keep in the refrigerator for a week.

The above quantity will make about 275 ml so you can always make the sauce as your requirement.
Its a very basic, simple dipping sauce which will be a very good accompanying sauce to any Chinese or say for any Asian snacks. Hope you guys give it a try and as always.....Enjoy & Cheers.

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Cherry Tomato Salad With Feta Cheese

PREPARATION TIME 5 MINUTES

INGREDIANTS
6 large lettuce leaves
100 g feta cheese, cubed
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
a few green or black olives
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed

Now,
. Arrange the lettuce leaves on 2 plates and top with the feta, tomatoes and olives.
. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pink peppercorns.

Onto this salad cut half a cucumber into cubes and toss along. You have a Greek salad now.
If You guys have any variations that you can add and bring about to this salad then please feel free to share. Enjoy & Cheers.

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Scotch Eggs

PREP TIME 30 MINUTES
COOKING TIME 10 MINUTES


INGREDIENTS
7 small eggs
4 good quality pork sausages
4 tbsp plain(all- purpose) flour
75 gm i.e 2 1/2 Oz/ 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2-3 litres or say about 8-12 cups of sunflower oil

Now,
. Put 6 of the eggs in a pan of cold water then bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Cool, then peel off the shells.
. Skin the sausages and divide the meat into 6. Flatten a portion of sausage meat onto your hand and put the boiled egg in the centre, then lightly squeeze the meat round the outside to coat. Repeat with the other 5 eggs.
. Put the flour, remaining egg and the panko breadcrumbs in 3 separate bowls. Dip the scotch eggs first in the flour, then in egg, then in the breadcrumbs.
. Heat the oil in the deep fryer up to the temperature of 180*c.
. Lower the scotch eggs in the fryer basket and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and serve immediately.

If you want the running yolk or the hard boiled, you could always adjust the timing of the boiling process of the eggs. Its really easy to make. Hope you guys give it try. And if you happen to any variations to this simple scotch eggs then please feel free to share. Enjoy & Cheers.

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Oven-baked Vegetables

PREP TIME 2 MINUTES
COOKING TIME 45 MINUTES


INGREDIENTS
4 baby artichokes, trimmed and halved
1/2 cauliflower/broccoli(can use both or any one them), broken into florets
1 stick celery, chopped
1 courgette (zucchini), cut into batons
8 mushrooms, sliced
4 tomatoes, cubed
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled and bruised
4 tbsp olive oil

Now,
Preheat the oven to 200*c.
Mix all the vegetables with the thyme, garlic and olive oil and layer in a baking dish/tray.
Season well with salt and pepper then bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Serve hot with your favorite protein and carb.....most favourable combination would be to use chicken thighs. For that add 4 chicken thigh quarters to the vegetables and cook as before. And now you have Baked Chicken and Vegetables. Enjoy, cheers.

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