Pakistan Rules! Shortbread Rules!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa! Pakistan totally devastated New Zealand last night in the third T20 match, and it was glorious to watch! What a magnificent way to end 2010, the year of emotional ups and downs!   Shahid Afridi bowled the fastest spin ever recorded; Tanvir Ahmed was the first international cricketer to ever take a wicket in his first over in both T20 and Test formats, and that's not all! 

Guptill and Friend, yesterday evening.

New Zealand got a massive amount of ducks (batsmen out for 0 runs) and got what must have been their lowest score ever in a T20!!!   Well Done my Lovely Lads!  You guys rule and I cannot wait for your test matches and ODI's...let's continue the Kiwi Krushing! Pakistan Zindabad...Pakistan Rules!  2011 is going to be fan-flipping-tastic!!! Yes Yes Yes!!!

Now as you may notice, my internet is still hobbled, so I have got to make this post short and sweet.  Therefore, like I promised a few days ago, we will be appropriately making sweet Scottish shortbread in honour of Queen Elizabeth, and we'll eat it with a nice cup of pakistani milk tea, in honour of the King of Umpires, Aleem Dar.   Right!  Go wash your hands and let's make something tasty!

Scottish Shortbread

500 grms (1 pound ) unsalted butter
1 cup (250 ml) caster sugar
4 to 5 cups plain all-purpose flour

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.
In a big bowl, use your hands to cream the butter, ie mash it until it's very soft.
Add the sugar, using your hands to mix it all in.
Add the flour gradually, again using your hands to blend it all together.
The dough should be very firm and stiff but not crumbling.
Press the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet or baking pan, make it about 1.5 or 2 centimetres thick. 
Bake at 180 for about twenty minutes or more; the colour should change lightly but do not let the shortbread turn brown.
Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, and cut into small squares.

Enjoy this with a lovely cup of milk tea or dhudhpatti.  If you've forgotten how to make it, here's the link:

http://kikiscookinforcricket.blogspot.com/2010/12/day-for-dhudhpatti-milk-tea.html

So have a good one today, and have a great New Year!  Let's go Pakistan!  Let's get things started off right and let's all make 2011 victorious n' glorious!

Happy Cricket!  Happy Eating!  Happy Pakistan!

Communication Issues, Ashes, Pakistan and the Queen

And a rushed Good Morning to you!  Hope you had a great Christmas.  I'm still having communication/internet issues and it's very difficult to post.  But I simply must give you some quick gossips.

1.  The Ashes.  Yes I went yesterday to the MCG and watched Australia get slaughtered by those English Roast Beefs!  All that booing you heard was for Ricky Ponting being a poor sport.  The booing was not for Aleem Dar, the umpire.  All of the australians in the audience supported Aleem Dar's decisions; they found Ponting's arguing with the umpire to be disgraceful, hence the booing.  My vote for man of the match is definetley Aleem Dar!   I took a whole bunch of photos, which I will be posting later when I get my normal internet connection speed!  However, if you're curious, I have posted some of the pics at SportPulse. 

http://www.sportpulse.net/

There are also the shots of all of the Australia Squad and England Squad which I took on Dec 23 at the Ashes Vodaphone Ashes Christmas Celebration.  Yes, I got to meet all of the players!  I'll gossip more about that in a later post.

2.  Pakistan lost the first T20 to New Zealand on the 26th.  The match was very enjoyable to watch, and you could tell that Pakistan was just warming up!  So that means the next T20 they'll do better!  YES!  YES!  I've missed my Pakistan and it's so good to see them in action again!  I'm looking forward to some Gullification later on today wooohoooooooooooooooooooo!

3.  My new sports hero is The Queen of England.  Yes, you read that right.  Queen Elizabeth, the modern day champion of sports, gave her annual Christmas speech on the 25th and spoke for quite a while about the importance of sport in everyday life and how sport is essential for bringing together people of different countries, religions, and beliefs.  The Queen is subtly protesting the sports funding cuts that the UK government has implemented in the last little while.  So sports fans and athletes, we have a wonderful patron and I say Good on ya, Queen Elizabeth!  You Rock and may you reign for another hundred years! 

No cooking for today, but as soon as I can, in honour of the Queen of Great Britain, I'll show you how to make good, old fashioned Scottish Shortbread which goes perfectly with pakistani dhudhpatti.  Have a good one!

Happy Cricket!  Happy Internet (yeah right!)

Christmas, Communication Issues, and Tablet for Spreading the Love

Good morning!  So yesterday I mentioned Christmas...it's coming up on the 25th, and I'm pretty happy about that!  Nowadays, Xmas is more of a secular winter holiday where people exchange gifts and have a fantastic meal.  However, originally it's a religious holiday for christians celebrating the birth of Jesus and the love we should all feel for mankind, regardless of race, religion or politics.

And that's the message I want to emphasize; Christmas is not the commercial broo-haha you might see on TV; it's not about giving or receiving bigger and better presents.  It's about reflecting on how awesome the human race is and how we should all love each other.  Christmas is all about the LOVE!

So no matter who you are, where you are, or what you do...I LOVE YOU because you're a part of humanity!  Spread the love!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

On a practical note, I might be incommunicado for the next few days; it looks like I've already used up my monthly allotment of broadband access.  Apparently my internet company doesn't love me enough to give me more than I pay for!  Boooooooooooo! 
I'll do my best to post updates on the Ashes and on the Pakistan T20 coming up...oh I'm so excited about that!  I love Christmas!  I love Cricket!  It's all about the love!!!

Now here's a nice little Christmas treat from Scotland:  it's a sweet called toffee or tablet.  It's almost like a hard fudge, but richer and it melts in your mouth.  Just the thing to go with your Christmas morning cup of coffee or tea!  So let's spread that Christmas love around and let's make some Tablet.

Sweet Scottish Tablet For Sweet Love

1 kg white granulated sugar
1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand works best)
100 grams unsalted butter
about 1/2 cup fresh milk

In a big pot, add the sugar and pour in the fresh milk. Then add the butter and condensed milk.  Use medium-high heat.
Keep stirring until the mix comes to a boil, about 10 minutes.  If you see dark brown streaks, turn down the heat.
Once the mix boils, turn down the heat to low, and keep stirring so that it doesn't stick.  Be careful, the mix will bubble up quite a bit.  That's why you need a big pot.
Keep stirring.  The mix will change colour after 20 minutes.  If you want a stronger tasting tablet, keep cooking it for another few minutes.
Take the pan off the heat, and start stirring the mix like crazy!  This will change the texture of the mix.  Once it feels a bit "gritty", pour the mix into a flat, buttered pan and let it cool for at least a couple of hours.

Cut into small squares, and serve with tea and lovin'.

Merry Christmas!  Spread the love!  Make this the best time of year!

Love you ALL!

Happy Eating, Happy Cricket!

No Cricket, No Gossip, But Here's The Promised Paella Valenciana

So there isn't any cricket going on for a few days.  Bah.  Jacques Kallis of the South Africa side was in a car accident but thankfully he's ok.  Ricky Ponting will probably be recovered from his broken finger and will play in the Boxing Day Ashes Test.  ZZZZZZ It's so boring when there's no cricket! 

And at my house, I'm getting ready for the Pakistan/New Zealand T20, but my guests are getting ready for Christmas, a nice holiday where we exchange gifts and spend the day with family and lots of good food.  I've even started decorating...see?

So starting tomorrow, I'll show you how to make some good old fashioned Scottish sweets, and I'll tell you what the Christmas holiday is all about.  Keep your little eyes open for it!

But for today, I promised Paella Valenciana, and I shall fulfill that promise.  Most of the ingredients are the same, and as Spanish actor Antonio Banderas says, the trick is to cook the seafood in the same liquid that you'll be using to cook the rice.  So you can either steam the seafood ahead of time and use that liquid, or you can use my method of using fish broth and cooking the seafood in the rice.  I find that makes the paella even richer!  Ok!  Enough talk.  Time for business!

Paella Valenciana

About 1 cup of sliced chorizo sausage (you can use spicy halal sausage if you like)
1 onion, finely diced
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, very finely diced or crushed to a paste
1/2 tomato, very finely diced
1/2 cup of shelled peas
1 juliened green pepper (capsicum)
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
a little bit of lal mirch (red chili powder) if desired
3 cups of rice*
(I use basmati rice, but traditionally arborio rice is used.  If you use arborio, check the package to see what the water:rice ratio is.)
4.5 cups of fish broth
about 10 strands of saffron (do not use more or your dish will taste like bleach)
salt to taste
regular olive oil for cooking*  (Do not use extra virgin olive oil, it will burn)

some clams
some mussels
some firm white fish, cut into cubes and no bones
some squid (calamari), cut into rings
some shrimp or prawns
some scallops
some lobster tails if you want to be really fancy

First, make your fish broth.   If you don't have home-made broth, you can use store-bought broth if you like, or you can use the Knorr instant broth. 
Soak the saffron strands in the broth.  This will make the broth a yellowish/orange colour and will also gives the paella its' traditional earthy flavour.
Let the broth and saffron stand while you prepare everything else.

Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat, and brown the  sausage.
Remove the sausage from the pan, and if there's a lot of oil and red coloured grease from the sausage left in the pan, remove most of it but leave some as this adds alot of flavour.
Fry the onion in the same pan with a bit of the leftover oil from the sausages.  Once it's browned, add the garlic, and fry for a minute or so.
Add the tomato, turmeric and lal mirch, and fry until reduced.
Add the juliened green capsicum and peas, fry a few seconds.
Add the rice, and fry for about two or three minutes, being careful not to burn the rice.
Add the broth.
Add the sausage.
Stir for a few seconds to make sure everything is evenly distributed.  Add salt at this point if it's necessary; but keep in mind that the liquid will reduce and concentrate the flavours.
Add your seafood at this point, except for the shrimp and lobster, because you don't want them to overcook.
Let the paella come to a boil, and let some of the liquid evaporate.  Turn heat to very low and add the shrimp and lobster at this point.   Continue cooking on very low heat until the rice is cooked through, about 20 or 25 minutes.

Before serving, fluff up the rice and arrange the lobster tails on the top so it looks really nice.    Enjoy with your friends, and if you're a drinker of wine, a nice spanish rose from Catalunia will go particularily well with this dish.

Right!  Have a good one, and I hope the cooking will keep you from getting bored while waiting for the cricket!

Happy Eating!  Happy Cricket!  Happy Happy!

Competition Zindabad! Pakistan Zindabad! Good Paella Zindabad!

Good morning.  Still a bit chilly here in Melbourne, but the sun is out so that's good enough.  Speaking of good enough, India sure wasn't in their match against South Africa!  They lost by an entire innings and just got pounded into mush by the Saffies. 

Do you know what this means?

It means that my #1 all-time favourites, my lovely lads of Pakistan are indeed a deliciously good team because they managed to draw two of their test matches against South Africa.  The balance of power in international cricketdom is changing; no longer is one team totally dominating.  This is good!  I love competition, it brings the sport to a higher level, and we, the fans, benefit.  Every test match will be a nail-biter and we'll love every minute of it!  Competition Zindabad!  Pakistan Zindabad!  Good Food Zindabad!

That's right...good food Zindabad (forever)!  Without good food, sports suffer.  Without good food, everyone suffers.  It would be a bland world of boiled potatoes, plain pasta, and only hot water to drink.  Imagine that.  You would have no energy and no passion.  Yikes!  Good eating with good family and good friends is one of life's greatest pleasures.  So let's not waste any more time; live life to the fullest.  Get back in the kitchen and let's make life worth living.  Let's make Paella.

Misbah ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq on hearing Paella will be served at Tea-time.

Paella is a Spanish dish made with rice, and it's similar to pilao, but uses a different set of spices.  Almost every family has its' own recipe and cooking method.  There are two main types of paella:  one made with chicken and chorizo sausage, and one made with seafood and chorizo sausage.  Today I'll show you how to make the simpler chicken and sausage version so that you can get the spice and flavour balance to your liking without breaking the budget, and tomorrow I'll show you how to make the spectacular seafood version, also known as Paella Valenciana.  Right!  Enough talking from me.  Let's do this.

Paella
6 or 8 chicken drumsticks, skinned
about 1 cup of sliced chorizo sausage (you can use spicy halal sausage if you like)
1 onion, finely diced
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, very finely diced or crushed to a paste
1/2 tomato, very finely diced
1/2 cup of shelled peas
1 juliened green pepper (capsicum)
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
a little bit of lal mirch (red chili powder) if desired
3 cups of rice*
(I use basmati rice, but traditionally arborio rice is used.  If you use arborio, check the package to see what the water:rice ratio is.)
4.5 cups of chicken broth
about 10 strands of saffron (do not use more or your dish will taste like bleach)
salt to taste
regular olive oil for cooking*  (Do not use extra virgen olive oil, it will burn)

First, make your chicken broth.   If you don't have home-made broth, you can use store-bought broth if you like, or you can use the Knorr instant broth. 
Soak the saffron strands in the broth.  This will make the broth a yellowish/orange colour and will also gives the paella its' traditional earthy flavour.
Let the broth and saffron stand while you prepare everything else.

Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat, and brown the chicken drumsticks and the sausage.
Remove the chicken and sausage from the pan, and if there's a lot of oil and red coloured grease from the sausage left in the pan, remove most of it but leave some as this adds alot of flavour.
Fry the onion in the same pan with a bit of the leftover oil from the sausages.  Once it's browned, add the garlic, and fry for a minute or so.
Add the tomato, turmeric and lal mirch, and fry until reduced.
Add the juliened green capsicum and peas, fry a few seconds.
Add the rice, and fry for about two or three minutes, being careful not to burn the rice.
Add the broth.
Add the chicken and sausage.
Stir for a few seconds to make sure everything is evenly distributed.  Add salt at this point if it's necessary; but keep in mind that the liquid will reduce and concentrate the flavours.
Let the paella come to a boil, and let some of the liquid evaporate.  Turn heat to very low and cover.  Continue cooking on very low heat until the rice is cooked through, about 20 or 25 minutes.

This dish is served as a meal in itself; no side dishes or garnishes are required.

Good Paella Zindabad!  Have a try with this one, and once you've mastered it, try tomorrow's version.  Your dinner guests will be blown away by your kitchen expertise!  Have a good one, and let's enjoy all of the excellent competition we're seeing nowadays in international cricket.

Happy Eating!  Happy Cricket!

It's Cold But Who Cares!!! Ashes, Centuries and Chana Daal Gosht!

It's cold and raining again in Melbourne but who cares??? It's a great day for me and Australia!  Our own lovely lads beat England by a crushing 267 runs thanks to the work of Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson!  And then Ryan Harris finished off the English by taking six yes that's 6 scalps for 47 runs!  Well done, chaps!  It looks like Australia's been eating some great pakistani food and is now back in the cricket business!  And that's how things should be!  Right on!

And in the South Africa/India test that's going on at Centurion, the Indians have clawed their way back into the game by scoring a great big 454 runs in their second innings.  They've got 2 wickets left in hand, and lag behind the South Africans by 30 runs now.  But before you get all excited, you must remember that the Saffies still have another innings to play!   However, this has been a most exciting test:  Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master, scored his 50th Test Century yesterday.  Good on ya, Sachin!  Dhoni, the India captain, scored a fabulous 90 runs as well.  Rain forced the end of play yesterday, but day 5 is going to be interesting.  Man, I LOVE TEST CRICKET!!!  You never know what's going to happen! 

I also want to add that Hashim Amla on the Saffy-side had some great catches yesterday.  He's insanely well-coordinated and a great fielder.  You can call him a match-winner just by his fielding!  Good on ya!

Now let's get to the food.  This is a dish I've already shown in my column at SportPulse, but I thought i'd publish it here as well. Chana Daal Gosht is a rich yet well balanced chickpea and meat salaan which provides energy due to the protein and carbohydrates.   Goat meat does tend to work best in this dish; it's milder in flavour than lamb, is easier to digest than beef, and has fewer calories than chicken.  In Canada, you can find goat meat in the frozen section at Superstore or at a Halal butcher.
 Give this dish a go, and you'll see how right I am when I say that pakistani food is the best food to get you back into business...no matter what your business is!   Now let's go teach that kitchen a lesson and let's get busy.

Chana Daal Gosht

Ingredients

1 kg of lamb, beef or goat, cut into 3cm cubes

500 gr chana daal (chickpeas, use whole or split)

2 large, finely sliced onions

5-7 cloves of garlic, crushed to a paste

3 cm piece of ginger, crushed to a paste

1 cinnamon stick

3 black cardamom pods

5 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon or more lal mirch

Sliced green chilies

Salt

Wash and soak the chana daal in some cold water for at least 1 hour.  Drain.

Heat a little oil in a pan, and fry the onions until they’re brown and a little crispy.

Add the garlic and ginger, and stir-fry a couple of minutes.  Careful not to burn the garlic!

Stir in the meat, add the cinnamon, black cardamom pods, cloves and bay leaves.

Now you’ll “bhunna” the mix: when the meat mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan and turns brown, sprinkle water on it and stirfry to avoid burning.  Remember, this procedure lifts all of that flavour from the bottom of the pan and incorporates it into the gravy. 

When the meat mixture sticks again, add water and stirfry again.  Repeat this step about 3 or 4 times, until the meat is well browned and fragrant.  You’ll notice that the onions and spices have changed texture and have now formed a lovely dark gravy.

Add the chana daal and stir on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Add the cuminseeds, turmeric, lal mirch and salt.

Add water, cover and simmer for around 30 minutes.  Give in an occasional stir so it doesn’t stick.

Garnish with chilies.

So that's the way you get back into business, just like the Australians!  Let's hope they continue with their brilliance and give us a great show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26!  Have a good one today.

Happy Eating, and Happy Cricket!

a quick note:  What was the deal with Paul Harris and his ugly sausage tongue?  He had his tongue out for about two flipping hours !and the camera-man kept on doing close-ups.  Keep it in your head, dude!

Hussey, Watson, Johnson...and Saffies!

Isn't Australia making a handsome come-back?  Applause is required for Mike Hussey, who once again scored over a hundred runs and brought the home side back into the competition.  Mike Hussey is the Good Man!  People in the know are saying he's never batted better, and here's even more good news:  Shane Watson!  Yes, I've never mentioned him before, but lately he deserves a shout out.  He scored 95 smokin' runs
which is certainly helping Australia get their good cricketing reputation back.  Again, that's Shane Watson!

So, at stumps yesterday, the score is England 187 and 5/81, Australia 268 and 309.  Yes!  Today is going to be riveting.  Let's show those English who's boss!!! YEAH!

A little bit of bad news;  Ricky Ponting broke his finger yesterday.  He'll be out for a while and people are wondering who should be the captain while he's recuperating.  Most are saying Clarke, or even Haddin.  Me, I have no idea who should captain.  Maybe Mitchell Johnson?  He's been quite smart...let's see what he can do!

And in other cricketing news, South Africa is continuing their demolition and dismantlement of the India team.  How's this for a ridiculous score:  Saffies 640/4 d.  With a score like that, it doesn't matter what India gets.  Maybe I'll need to scold India captain Dhoni.  What gives? 

No cooking for today, I'm eating left-overs because I'm watching day 4 of the Ashes.  Have a good one, and see you later!

Happy Left-overs, Happy Cricket!  Happy Saffy!

Awesome Ashes, Awesome Amla, and Awesome Guacamole

And a good day to you!  It's a fine morning here in Melbourne, cold, dark and rainy at first but now the sun is shining.  Metaphorically speaking, it's just like the Australia Cricket Team in the Ashes series against England!  Like the sun, Mitchell Johnson is shining away after two major feats:  scoring over 60 runs and taking 6 English scalps!  YES! AWESOME!  Take that, Johnson haters!  As they say in writing circles, the plot thickens.  Today will be a most interesting day in international cricket!  Go Australia!

And other news. In Centurion,  South Africa is simply pummeling India with their bowling and batting.  Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla are in good form and are showing the visitors that India may no longer be the #1 test team in the world!

Hashim Amla, Master of Cool!

I for one am happy; happy because Awesome Amla didn't suffer any damage to his arm after he received that horrendous smack from Misbah ul-Haq during the the Pakistan/SA series a little while back.  Right on Hashim!  And India:  smarten up!  Play harder!  South Africa is turning you into guacamole!

And that brings me to today's cooking. Guacamole (gwa-ka-MO-lay) is actually a very tasty crushed avocado snack from Mexico which is easy to make and the ingredients are easy to find.  And here's a little language lesson: "mole" is the mexican/aztec word for sauce or stew.  Aguacate, which comes from the old aztec word aguacatl, is spanish for avocado.  Hence, guacamole means avocado sauce.  Right!  Enough with the lectures.  Let's make something good to eat.

Guacamole

2 avocados, very ripe (skin should be black, and the fruit should feel soft but not mushy, if using the smooth skin variety, the fruit should also feel soft but not mushy)
1/4 onion, very finely diced
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tomato, finely diced
2 or 3 green chilies, very finely diced (adjust according to taste)
1 handful coriander (cilantro), very finely diced
salt to taste

Cut the avocadoes in half, removed the nut, and use a spoon to scoop out all the lovely green flesh.  Mash with a fork or with a pastry cutter.
Add the diced onion, lime juice, tomato, chilies,coriander, and salt.
Stir everthing together ; let sit for about half an hour before serving so that the flavours all blend together.

Do not throw away the nut.  Put it back into the guacamole if you're going to store it or eat it later; this prevents the avocado from oxidizing and turning black!

Eat with some roti chips (roti cut into triangles and deep-fried), home-made totopos (corn tortillas cut into triangles and deep-fried) or use commercially available tortilla chips from the store.

And there you go!  Today's Ashes is going to be a good one, and Hashim Amla is sure to keep on rockin' in Centurion.  Yes!

Happy Eating!  Happy Cricket!

This is a good little dish to make, especially if you're pressed for time and have guests coming over to watch the next Pakistan T20 match!

Punishment, Ponting, and Palak Paneer (Spinach Cheese Salan)

The Indians are taking some bowling punishment from the South Africans!  Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, the SA pace bowlers, have pulverized the India batting line-up in day 1 of the first test.  OUCH!  And of course, the game got delayed 4.5 hours because of the RAIN, so I didn't get to see it.  Today's play should be interesting; I wonder how Harbhajan Singh is going to bowl when it's India's turn to field.  As I said yesterday, anything can happen in test cricket. 

And in Ashes news, Mitchell Johnson scored a big fat 61 runs for Australia yesterday, and the aussies clawed their way back into the match after being at 4/36.  Yes!  Some hope!  However, Ricky Ponting is coming under fire; some say he will lose the captaincy and should retire completely from international cricket.  Talk about punishment!  He's under a heckuva lotta strain; he might become the only Australia skipper who's lost 3 Ashes series under his watch.  What gives, Ricky?  You haven't been following my advice at all, have you?  Anyhoo, we'll see what happens today.  Shoud be interesting...will England get Siddled Silly again?  Would be nice!

And finally, yesterday I started the process of sticking it to the man.  Today we're going to continue our theme of punishing the big cheese corporations by using the cheese we made yesterday and putting it into a delicious home-made spinach salan.  Time to finish what we begun!

Palak Paneer Salan

1 onion, very finely diced
7-9 cloves of garlic, very finely diced or crushed
1 tomato, finely chopped
3.5 cm piece of ginger, very finely diced or crushed
1/2 stick cinammon
5 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
5 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon lal mirch (red chili powder), adjust to personal preference
green chilies
1 large bunch of spinach, washed and roughly chopped
salt
1/2 kg of paneer (see yesterday's entry to make your own), cut into 2.5 cm cubes
fresh fenugreek leaves (optional)

Right!  You can eat this dish without the paneer as well, but if you're going to add paneer, fry the cubes in a large pan for a couple of minutes in a bit of oil first.  Set aside.
In the same pan, fry the diced onion until golden and slightly crispy; while the onion is frying, add the cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, black peppercorns, green cardamom pods, star anise and cumin seeds.
Add the garlic and ginger, fry for a minute or two, and don't burn the garlic.
Add the turmeric and lal mirch.
Add the tomato and "bhunna":  reduce the tomato until it sticks, then add a little water to lift what's stuck to the bottom of the pan, and repeat this procedure until the mix looks like a paste and the oil "leaks" or separates from the tomato mix.

At this point, because this is supposed to be a "smooth" dish, remove the large whole spices from the gravy and discard.

Add 2 or 3 cups of water and the green chilies, and let come to a boil on high heat, add salt.
Add the roughly chopped spinach and the optional fresh fenugreek leaves, and cook on high heat until it is completely mushy and uniform.  This will take at least thirty minutes.  Add more water if necessary to cook the spinach.

If you want an ultra smooth salan, put the palak in the blender then return it to the pan, but it is not necessary.  One the palak is at the desired consistency, add the paneer cubes, and let simmer for a few minutes.

Traditionally, palak paneer is served with a sort of flat cornbread, like a mexican corn tortilla but rougher.  Feel free to eat this with corn tortillas, roti, or naan from the a tandoor bakery.

There.  Rebel against corporations who take our hard earned cash by eating a delicious home-made meal.  Have a great one today, and let's go watch some punishing yet entertaining cricket!

Happy Cricket, Happy Eating, and Happy Rebellion!

Communication Issues, Health Issues, and Paneer Issues

Good morning!  2 big test matches coming up today, oh boy!  India and South Africa which promises to be a real Clash of the Titans, and there is also the 3rd Ashes test in Perth.   There's going to be some Hashim Amla action on the SA side, and Steve Smith is joining the Australians which shoud help them out a bit.  My preview?  India -SA will be a draw, and England might win.  But never take my predictions seriously; anything can happen in Test Cricket.

And now we come up to the Communication Issues of this post.  First of all, apparently Liz Hurley, the model/actress who was married to Arun Nayar (sp?) is having an affair with the famous Aussie spin bowler Shane Warne!!!!  Holy smokes!  People were up in arms about it for a while because Liz Hurley's public relations people failed to communicate to the media that she is no longer with her husband.  So, if he's single and she's single, that's fine.  They're both adults.

And another communications issue:  The PCB has banned pakistani players from using Facebook and Twitter.  While under contract, they are no longer allowed to use social networking sites.  The PCB claims that this will curb corruption because bookies will find it more difficult to contact the players.

 Hogwash.  A ban is silly.  If you don't want bookies contacting your players, then ban the players from publishing their personal contact info on these social network sites.  I have noticed a very disturbing trend on facebook where regular people post their phone numbers, home addresses and birth date on the public forums.  This is dangerous...please do NOT post your personal contact info!  A criminal could do you some serious damage.

And that's not all, the PCB wants to sue people who put up fake player profiles on Facebook and charge them with fraud.  Yes, it sounds silly, but keep in mind that the King of Morocco jailed a student for putting up a fake profile of the King's brother.    So lots of communications issues today.  Be careful in the cyber-world, kids.

And health issues.  Sohail Tanvir of the Pakistan team has a knee injury and won't be playing in the NZ T20's.  Zaheer Khan (yet another Khan in the Khanosphere) the India pace bowler, won't be playing in the first test against South Africa because he hurt his arm or something, and finally; Daniel Vettori, NZ captain, has a sore back.  No wonder, he bowled more than 200 overs against India.   Everyone is breaking down!  As I always say, get some rest and eat some good pakistani food, and you'll all be right as rain in no time.

So all of my jabbering brings me to this:  I have Paneer Issues.  Paneer is a lovely fresh pressed cheese which goes well in Karahi dishes or in spinach salans.  My issue with paneer is that it's VERY expensive in the shops, and you only get a tiny slab of the cheese.  No value for the money!  Aararg!  So today, in order to "stick it to the man", I'm going to show you how to make your own paneer.  This isn't just about cooking delicious food, this is about making a political statement!

For those of you who like mexican food, paneer is the same thing as queso fresco.  So first off, today we'll learn how to make the cheese, and tomorrow we'll learn how to make a spinach paneer salan.  Go get some cheesecloth and let's get started!

Ingredients
1 litre full-fat milk
3 or 4 tablespoons of lime/lemon juice or vinegar
a little bit of salt

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the milk and salt but don't let it boil, about 80 C or 176F.
Add the lemon juice or vinegar one tablespoon at a time while stirring the milk, until the milk separates into curds and greenish coloured whey.   You may need to use more than 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar for this to happen.
Allow everything to cool down to a temperature you can handle, and strain the whey from the curds through a cheesecloth.
Save the whey and use it instead of lemon juice the next time you make paneer.
Rinse the curds, and wrap the cheesecloth on itself in order to squeeze out as much moisture as possible from the curds.  The more you squeeze, the firmer the paneer will be.
Shape the paneer, still in the cloth, into a block shape, and wrap it up very tightly.  Then place something flat and heavy on top of it.  This will squeeze out even more moisture and give the paneer a good shape.  The longer it's pressed, the firmer it will be.
Finally, if you want, you can soak the paneer in cold water for a few hours to improve it's appearance.  But that's up to you.

Right.  Now you have paneer or queso fresco.  Have a good one today sticking it to the man, and I'll see you at the test matches. 

Happy Cricket, Happy Cheese, and Happy Sticking it to the Man!

ps thanks to Wikihow...their article on how to make paneer is the best one I've seen and I've liberally copied from it as they explain it much better than I can!  Thanks wikihow :)

Finally, Some Cricket! Finally, Some Cookies!

All right!  Tomorrow's a big day for me because there's finally some international cricket going on.  There's the third Ashes test, and South Africa is playing India, 1st test.  Very interesting cricket indeed!  I'm so happy!

And here's a bit of Ashes news...Steve Smith, the all-rounder, is back on the Australia side!  Now here's a kid that I like a lot.  I've seen him bat against the Pakistani side,and he kept his composure against Mohammed Amir, the wonderkid swing bowler and had lots of really good knocks.  Which is rare against Mohammed Amir.  So Steve Smith is a good addition to the team and maybe now Australia might have a fighting chance.  I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow!  Yeah! YEAH!!

And a bit of bad news for Pakistan fans;but don't get your knickers in a knot, it's not that bad:  according to the Pakistan Cricket facebook page, test captain Misbah ul-Huq has twisted his ankle and will be out of commission for a few days.

Misbah ul-Haq, teaching his opponents a lesson

According to the source, he should be all right to play by the time the test match happens.  I wish you a speedy recovery, Misbah ul-Haq.  You're just awesome and I'd like to see you crush the New Zealanders like a grape!

I am so excited!  And you should be too, because today I'm finally going to show you how to make my famous Scottish Oatmeal Cookies.  I say famous because my Scottish grandmother was famous in her highland village for this recipe, and I used this generations-old recipe to start my own business when I lived in Mexico.  That's right, Mexicans became mad for scottish cookies and I made a bundle of cash, enough to pay my university tuition and the bills!

What makes these cookies so good are the great raw ingredients.  If you're in Pakistan, these cookies will turn out particularily well because of the fabulous punjabi butter and oats which are available there.  If you're in Mexico, take advantage of the beautiful Veracruz vanilla, and if you're in Canada, you should use Roger's Golden Yellow sugar (the light brown sugar) and not the darker brown sugar.  Golden Yellow sugar gives the best flavour!  But if that's not available , brown sugar still works very well.  Right on!  Let's make some cookies and have some FUN!

Scottish Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
1.5 cups of oats, regular or quick cooking
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (kish-mish)
1/3 cup chocolate chips or a small chocolate bar chopped into small bits (optional)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (use mexican vanilla if possible, it's the best)
1 tablespoon water

Preheat your oven to 375 F or 190 C. 
Stir together the oats, flour, salt and baking soda, and add the kishmish and optional chocolate chips.
In another bowl, cream the butter , and add the sugars gradually, using either an electric beater or a wooden spoon. 
Lightly beat the egg in a separate container with the tablespoon of water.
Add the beaten egg and water to the butter/sugar mix, and add the vanilla; stir with the electric beater or wooden spoon for a couple of minutes.
Add the oats mix, and stir in with the wooden spoon.

Drop the cookie dough by the big tablespoon-ful on a greased cookie sheet. This recipe should give you about 12 big cookies.  Bake at 190 for about 15 minutes, until they're nice and brown.  Eat with a nice cup of dhudhpatti on a cold day.

One last note: you'll notice that there's only 1/2 cup of butter in this recipe.  Most modern recipes call for 1 full cup, but there's no reason to use that much.  Stick with the old-fashioned 1/2 cup.  It's better for you.  You'll also notice there's water in this recipe; that's so the oats absorb the moisture and you'll get a nice, soft cookie.

So give these a try, make them today and enjoy them tomorrow during all the fabulous cricket that's going on.  Have a good one!

Happy Cricket, and Happy Cookie!

Salman Butt, Wahab Riaz, and MS Dhoni

And there's no cricket going on today.  Phooey!  There'll be no cooking for today either, I've got a heck of a lot of work to do.  Phooey!

BTW, Salman Butt said in an interview that he's not guilty of spot-fixing; the marked money found in his room was given to him by the PCB for legitimate tour expenses. 

Wahab Riaz may not be fit for the upcoming NZ tour, but J. Khan, the young seam bowler, will be travelling with the team to take his place if needed.

MS Dhoni, captain of the India team, still has a goofy looking beard/mustache combo.  He's so much more handsome clean-shaven!

Happy Cricket, and Happy Work!
 

Khan, Khan, Khan, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!! And Murghi Ka Salan (Soupy Chicken Salan)

Today's an amazing day!  Another KHAN in the Pakistani Sports Empire!  How fabulous is that?  Here's a quick description of each Khan in this Triple Alliance of Awesomeness:

Amir Khan, Anglo-Pakistani boxer, retained his WBA Light Welterweight title yesterday in a match which is certain to become a classic in the boxing world!  Thrilling!  Good on ya, Amir!  This is your day today!  We're all proud of you, and I believe that I must now become a boxing fan!  Hooray!


With his physique, he makes masala powder with his BARE HANDS!!!!

Imran Khan, Pakistani all-rounder cricketer, best in the world in the 80's and 90's right up to his retirement, and still considered THE authority on the sport!  And Handsome Fellow to boot!  Good on ya, Imran!


Jahangir Khan, Pakistani and World squash champion, from a Khan squash dynasty which dominated the sport for ages!  Good on ya, Jahanghir!

And now, since we're talking about Khans, we must also include the fictional character from the Star Trek series:  Captain Kirk's arch-enemy, the genetically gifted, ultra intelligent, strong super-man athlete gone bad, KHAN.  Originally Kirk's ally, Khan blamed Kirk for his beloved wife's death, and swore to get revenge!  The best enemy in the Star Trek series because you wanted him to win!

Better than Kirk...KHAN!!!

Right!  So for all of this Khan Sports domination, you really do need a meal fit for a King.  Therefore, I'm going to post a dish that I've already posted in Sport Pulse.  Murghi Ka Salan is a soupy version of a rich chicken salan which is ideal for athletes yet flavourful and more than satisfying for the gourmet.  So go get your Khan on and let's make some Murghi Ka Salan (Chicken Salan) Shorba soup style!

Ingredients

1 chicken, cut in about 12 pieces, no skin

1 onion, finely diced

7 cloves of garlic, crushed to a paste

4 cm piece of ginger, crushed to a paste

1 big tomato, finely diced, 2 big tomatoes can be used if you like a more tomato-ey flavour

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon lal mirch (red chili powder)

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon cuminseeds

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

5 black peppercorns

5 green cardamom pods

5 cloves

2 black cardamom pods

1 big handful kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves)

Salt

Chopped green chilies

Chopped coriander

Water

Oil for cooking (two or three tablespoons)

In a big pot,heat the oil and  fry the onion until it’s golden and a bit crispy, over medium heat so nothing burns.

While the onion is frying, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cuminseeds, star anise, peppercorns, green cardamom pods, cloves, and black cardamom pods.

When the onion is golden and crispy, add the ginger and garlic, fry for a minute or two,but don’t burn the garlic!

Add the lal mirch and turmeric

Add the tomatoes and use the “bhunna” method:  reduce the tomatoes until they stick to the bottom of the pan, add a bit of water to lift what’s stuck on the bottom, stir, and reduce the mixture again.  Repeat this procedure several times until the oil separates from the mixture or until the mixture resembles a very thick, almost uniform paste.

When the mixture looks like a paste with the oil “leaking” out, add 4 or 5 cups of water.

Add salt

Bring to a boil, and add the chicken.

Add the chopped green chilies and kasoori methi

Cook on high heat for a few minutes, then reduce to medium low, and allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.  Let the liquid reduce a little bit to concentrate the flavours.

Taste the liquid and balance the salt if necessary.

If you find that the tomatoes you used didn’t  have a good flavour, simply add a pinch of amchoor (green mango powder) to the salan.  Do not add more than a pinch; a pinch will give the dish the tang of the best tomatoes, but more will make the dish sour.

At this point, add some chopped coriander, or you can use it as a garnish.

Serve on freshly cooked plain basmati rice.

Even if you're not a Khan by blood or marriage, it's still something to celebrate by having a great meal and enjoying some great sports.  Have a great one today, and...

Happy Cricket, Happy Eating, and Happy Khan!

Little Update, and What's Needed to Fix the Ashes Muddle

Hi everyone.  No cooking for today because we're going on a little road trip along the Great Ocean Road.  Here are some quick updates:  Bangladesh is playing Zimbabwe, 5th ODI today, and lots of people are furious with the Australia selectors.  The Ashes, my friends, are a hot mess.  There is such a ridiculously simple solution to Australia's cricket woes.  No need to play musical chairs with the players, no need to axe Marcus North, and no need to axe Dougie Bollinger.  You know and I know that the lads from Down Under just need to be fed properly.  No more plain sandwiches and soda!  No more re-heated frozen pizza and no more plain boiled fish!  For the love of all that's decent, feed them home-made qormas, queemas, pilaos, cuchumbers, salans and salade marocaine!

Have a good one today, and if you want more sports updates, why don't you visit the lovely writing lads at sportpulse?  Here's the link:

http://www.sportpulse.net/

Happy eating, and Happy Cricket!  

ps.  Go Bangladesh!  Go Zimbabwe!  I love watching a good competition.

Juicy Pakistan Gossip, Ashes Drama and Moroccan Tea

Waking up to some nice gossip is always a good thing.  Cricket gossip and a good cup of coffee are beautiful together.  So here's the deal:  a friend of mine from Multan informed me that Shahid Afridi is apparently going to be the T20 opening batsman for Pakistan when they tour New Zealand!  His opening partner might be Mohammed Hafeez or Umar Akmal.  Well, good on Shahid Afridi.  Let's hope he's in his best form and scores a ridiculous amount of runs!  Furthermore, I want Umar Akmal to unleash his famous Green Lipstick Power!  YEAAAH!  Rock on, and let's have a spectacular T20 series!

And other quick gossips:  Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik wanted to play league cricket in Bangladesh but the PCB won't allow them to leave the country, saying they should stay in Pakistan and play domestic cricket "just in case" they get called back to the national team.  I got this info from the Pakistan Cricket facebook page.  I don't know what their source is, so this is truly just gossip at this point.  As you may know, I'm not a fan of Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik, but come on.  These two guys need to make a living and have families to support.  They're not playing on the international side, so just let them make the most of the situation and earn some money!

And here's the Ashes drama:  Australia has axed Dougie Bollinger, Marcus North, and Xavier Doherty, and has replaced them with  Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Micheal Beer.  Ok, this musical chairs business is a bit silly to say the least, but who in the heck is Michael Beer?  Is he even a test guy?  Where's Hauritz, who's been positively smashing his way back into form in domestic cricket?  Where's Tim Paine, the wicket-keeper?  Where's Steven Smith, the all-rounder?  Are the Australia selectors trying to save the series by simply confusing the opposition?  I am baffled.  

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world," TS Elliot, The Second Coming

 

 

 

With all this bafflement, I need to restore my sanity.  A good cup of Moroccan tea should do the trick, and I'm going to show you how to make it today.  In fact, we'll learn two varieties of "atay" (darija for tea); one for hot weather, and one for cold weather.  Go get your kettle, a cast-iron tea pot if you have it, or just a plain pot. 
Hot weather version :  Moroccan Mint Tea: Atay bil Na'a Na'a ( pronounced : a TIE bill NAna)
Ingredients
Gunpowder tea
1 bunch fresh mint (use lots)
sugar
water

Put 1 spoonfull of the gunpowder tea and one bunch of mint in your cast-iron teapot.  You can use a cooking  pot if you don't have one.
Pour boiling water on top of the tea and mint, enough to barely cover, and swish it around for 2 or 3 seconds, then pour out the water.  Do this another 2 times.  This is called "washing the tea" and removes the dusty flavour of the gunpowder tea-leaves.  Do not ignore this step as it makes a huge difference to the final result.
After washing the tea, pour several cups of boiling water over the tea and mint. 
Put the cast iron teapot directly on the stove (or your pot ), on the heating element, and boil the tea for about ten minutes.
While the tea is boiling, add sugar; about 2 teaspoons for every cup.  Moroccan tea is supposed to be sweet.
Reduce the tea a bit, making sure that all the sugar is melted.  You should have a beautiful amber coloured liquid at this point.
At this point, the tea is ready to serve.  Pour directly from the cast-iron teapot into a small glass cup or small teacup.  You want to hold the teapot up high, at least one meter from the cup, when you're pouring it.  This will cool the tea down slightly and oxygenate it, adding another level of flavour.  The tea should slightly foam up in the glass or cup.  This is a sign you've made the atay expertly! 

Cold Weather Version:  Moroccan Saffron Tea : Atay bil Zafran
Ingredients
Gunpowder tea
1 pinch of saffron threads
sugar

Prepare the same way as above:  but do not add the saffron until after you've washed the tea.
Add the sugar and the saffron at the same time, and slightly reduce the amount of liquid.  Pour the exact same way as described above.

Mint tea is served in the hot weather in Morocco because it's believed that mint cools down your body temperature.  Saffron tea is a winter drink because saffron increased your body temperature, making you feel all warm.  Just don't go crazy with saffron, fewer than 10 strands will do the trick.  Saffron tastes like bleach if you over-do it.  And on a medicinal note, according to Moroccans, saffron is good if you suffer from back pain, and it's good for women when we get cramps!  And it tastes great!

So there you go; you've learned how to make English style tea, Pakistani style milk tea and chai, and 2 varieties of Moroccan Atay. Along with restoring your sanity after such bafflement at the Ashes, you are now a Tea Expert!  Ain't life grand?

Happy Tea-Time, and Happy Bafflement at the Ashes!

A Day for Dhudhpatti (Milk Tea)

It's a slow one today.  No Ashes drama for another few days, no Pakistan for another 2+ weeks, and I don't have access to the TV today, so I can't watch the Bangladesh/Zimbabwe or India NZ ODI's.  Phooey!   There's not even any gossip.  Oh and it's too wet to go and play some gulli cricket.  Double phooey!

I'm going to continue with the tea theme I started yesterday.  We'll learn how to make a basic milk tea and how to serve it.   First of all, to make a proper milk tea, you need strong black tea.  You can use teabags, but leaf tea is better.  Assam leaves are the strongest and hold up to the milk well. 

You can use skim milk, but if you want the real, traditional rich and thick tea, you must use full-fat or homogenized milk. 

Okay.  In a large pan, pour about 4 cups of milk, and bring to a light boil or you can simply scald the milk.  Add 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for every cup ( use less if you like weaker tea) , and cook the tea in the milk for a few minutes, until you get a nice rich colour.  Strain the tea through a strainer while pouring into a teapot.  You don't want to leave the tea leaves in the teapot because it will make the liquid very very bitter.  Strain them out first!

Add sugar to individual taste.  On a cultural side note:  in Pakistan, the person who makes the tea also serves it.  This same person adds the sugar to the cup, pours the tea, stirs it and serves it to the guest.  A guest is not expected to pour their own tea! 

Furthermore, a pure milk tea is called Dhudhpatti, which translates to "milk and leaves".  It can also be called "Dhudhwalli chai".  If you go to a restaurant or a tea-bar in that part of the world, if you ask for "chai" you'll get a water tea with some hot milk on the side or a half/half mix. 

Right!  So while we're waiting for some exciting stuff to happen, I'll continue tomorrow with the tea theme, when we'll look at the different methodology of Moroccan teas.

Happy Cricket, and happy tea-time!

Who's In, Who's Out, Javed Miandad and Making Proper Tea

It's a beautiful morning; the sun's shining, the birds are singing, and everyone's happy.   Well, except for Australia.  They're not happy at all.  In fact, there's talk of Shane Warne coming back to the team to spin some sense into the squad!  That would be crazy!  That would be pandemonium!  That would be the most fun thing to happen in this bleak Ashes series! We want Warne!  We want Warne!

And here's some Pakistan Cricket Team news.  The Pakistan Cricket Board gave the ICC a list of 40 players to be approved...and guess what...3 players are not approved for international cricket!  Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria will not be on the team for the New Zealand tour, and I believe they won't be on the World Cup team, either, but I'll have to double check that. 

It's not his fault his gloves were made of butter!

To be honest with you, I'm not sad about Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal, but I'm really disappointed about Danish Kaneria.   He was allegedly involved in some monkey business in county cricket in the UK.  By monkey business I mean spot-fixing, not buying and selling monkeys on the black market.  Soo, I'm a little sad about not seeing him any time soon because I love his spin style, and he has the craziest run-up in town.   Oh well.  But let's think about the good things...the team that IS going to New Zealand is flipping awesome and I'm not going to miss a single minute of all the action!

And here's the good news.  Javed Miandad, the legendary batsman, says he's having a grand old time coaching the team and showing them how to perfect their batting.   Things are going well in the Pakistan training camp; there are still some lingering effects from the spot fixing scandal and legal case against the accused trio, but all of the players are hunkering down and working hard.  This tour is going to be a lot of fun to watch because our lovely lads will be fit, fabulous, and prepared!  Furthermore, I heard a little rumour that our chaps on the team are eating great, traditional food!  Excellent!  Nothing makes me happier than to hear that they're eating properly!

So, that brings me to today's food topic:  making proper tea.  Tea is a beautiful thing, and there are so many varieties of it.  Over the next few days, I'll show you how to make the different versions of it, but for right now, we'll learn the absolute basics. Today is British Style (or Canadian style if that's what you want to call it.) Now go get a teapot cuz we're going to make the real deal.

First of  all, heat up your teapot by filling it with boiling water.  If you're using an antique or fine china teapot, put a spoon in the pot first, and pour the boiling water over the spoon...this will prevent the pot from cracking.  Let the water sit in there for a couple of minutes.  This pre-heats the pot and will help keep the tea warmer for longer.

Empty the water from the pot, and add 1 teabag for each person you're making tea for. Read the label on the package, sometimes one teabag is good for 2 people.  Adjust the amount according to how strong you like your tea.  If you're using tea leaves, use approximately 1 teaspon leaves per cup/person.

Pour freshly boiled water into the teapot over the teabags or leaves, and give a quick stir.  Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes, and then serve.  Most old-fashioned or fine china teapots have a built-in strainer, but if you're using tea leaves in a modern pot, use a little hand strainer.  The old fashioned way to serve the tea is to put cold milk and/or sugar in your cup first, and then pour the tea over it.  It is acceptable to serve children their tea in a saucer so that the liquid cools down quickly; however, for adults this is frowned upon.

Right, have a good one today, I know this was a simple post, but try making your english style tea in a teapot.  It makes a huge difference!

Happy Cricket, and Happy Tea-time!

Cricket Gossip, Alarming Health News, and Salade Marocaine

G'day!  The second beat-down of the Australians is over, thank goodness, and I've sent a little message to their captain Ricky Ponting via my article in the SportPulse online magazine.  Here's the link:

http://sportpulse.net/article/ashes-minced-meat-and-qeema-0

You know the recipe, we've posted it here earlier, and if you've tried making it, you already know how effective it is in making you feel stronger.  So if my advice is taken, our lads from Down Under should perform a little better in the next test match!

But enough about the Ashes, it's making me all sad.  I have some small cricket gossip about the Pakistan team!  Apparently, my public enemy #1, Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, will not permit 5 members of the team to leave the country!  The five, which include Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, were supposed to go to Malaysia and shoot a commercial or do some promotional work.  Now they can't go because Mr. Butt is afraid they won't go to their training sessions or come back.  Hmmmm.  Is there any reason why they wouldn't come back Mr. Butt?  Do tell.  Oh, and I've just read that he denies everything.  Good grief.

And some further news.  That Haroon Lorgat guy, the president of the ICC, cricket's ruling body, said earlier this week that he hopes the three suspended pakistani players accused of spot fixing are found guilty.  He in fact said he'll be disappointed if they aren't found guilty.  Talk about being prejudicial!  If they're found to be innocent, isn't that a good thing?  I guess his way of thinking is that SOMEONE must be guilty, and SOMEONE must be punished for the whole mess.  I'm just hoping that these guys will be found innocent.  Or if they are found to be guilty, be lenient with Mohammed Amir.  He's only 19.  We all makes mistakes at that age, and it's not like he robbed a bank or punched someone's sister!

Anyways, I am looking forward to the Pakistan team's tour of New Zealand.  I'm ready for some of that Razzle-Dazzle, Boom Boom and Gullification!

And here's the alarming nutritional news:  We're getting fatter and fatter in developed countries.  We're getting so fat that we're now getting obese; the World Health Organization says it's because we're not eating enough vegetables and fresh food!  This is alarming indeed!  Obesity leads health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems...all because we're not getting enough veggies!   

So here is today's good news:  Salade Marocaine is a traditional salad from Morocco, which is ridiculously easy to make, and it is delicious.  Even people who HATE salad and raw vegetables love this salad.  So stop wasting time, and get your cutting board out!

Salade Marocaine
3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 green peppers (capsicum), diced
1 cucumber, peeled unless it's the thin-skinned type, diced
a handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)
extra virgin olive oil or argan oil (from Morocco, rare but very good for you)
juice of 2 or 3 limes or lemons
salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder (optional)

Toss everything together, and let sit for a few minutes.  Eat and enjoy the deliciousness of the vegetables combined with the olive oil, salt and lime juice.  Heaven!

So no excuses!  Go eat your vegetables, and let's reverse this alarming health trend!  Salade Marocaine combined with Pakistani dishes will keep you fit, fabulous and gorgeous, just like Wahab Riaz the fast bowler!

Have a good one today.  Happy Cricket, Happy Salade Marocaine!

Guests, Ricky Ponting, and a Little Something to Eat with Daal

And a good morning to you.   I've got guests at my place, and I'm taking them to the Victoria Market today, so I've got to make this quick.  Yes, Australia isn't doing very well in the second test of the Ashes,  but I want to give a shout out to Michael Clarke and to Shane Watson.  Good on both of you guys, you've given everyone a little bit of hope!

Ricky Ponting has been coming under fire here in Australia; one headline called him a disgrace.  I've never been a Ponting fan because he elbowed and shoved the young Mohammed Amir in the Australia/Pakistan tests.  Is he a good captain?  Well, the fact that England is scoring runs in the 1000's makes me say:  no, not really.  Morale is low.  Nobody was even watching the match on the huge screen at Federation Square in Melbourne.  Sigh.  Maybe today we'll see some more fighting spirit, and Siddle will get all of the English out 10/15.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Anyhoo, I've got to keep it short today.  Today's little recipe is something very nice called Quick Achaar, or quick pickled onions and garlic.  You put a teaspoon full of this explosively flavourful stuff on the side of your daal (lentils) and take a small amount of it with every bit of daal you take.  This adds another dimension to what is otherwise a rather plain, but good dish.  Here we go on the flavour train!

Quick Achaar
1 onion, chopped extremely finely
1 head of garlic, or about 12 cloves of garlic, chopped extremely finely
2 green chilies, chopped extremely finely
salt
lal mirch (red chili powder)
white vinegar, enough to cover all the ingredients

Put everything together in a bowl and stir.  Let it sit for at least 1 hour before eating so that all the flavours mix.  It's best made 1 day ahead, then the flavour really jumps out.
You can also add some extremely finely chopped fruit to this to add yet another layer of flavour.  I sometimes use in-season mangoes or peaches.

Right, have a good one, enjoy the Ashes today (yeah right if you're an Australia fan), and don't be too hard on Ricky Ponting.  He's not my favourite, but he doesn't deserve to be brutalized in the press.

Toodles.  Happy Cricket, happy eating, and Happy Ashes.



ps Dec 26 can't come fast enough.  I'm having Pakistan Cricket Team withdrawals.  Cricket just isn't as exciting when they're not around.  Love them! 

A Scolding, a Plea, and MCG Mole Verde for Fitness Renewal

And good stuff!  My internet connection is back to normal, so here we go, straight to the point:

Australia is not doing well in the Ashes.  That is all you need to know.
 
To be honest; I'm worried.  Very worried.  I'm an Australia fan, and I'm quite concerned about what the chaps on the team are eating.  It's quite obvious that their diet is lacking in nutrition, and furthermore, in an old interview with Shane Warne from 2006, he says that the Australians eat sandwiches and drink cokes during their lunch breaks!  Soda pop is no good for athletes!  No wonder you're looking like a hot mess and that the English are saying you're bad at batting, bowling and fielding!   For crying out loud, eat properly and stop all of this self-destruction that's going on!  By eating poorly, you're actually helping the English win, and we cannot have that! 

Mr. Ponting, tell your team to eat this mexican dish that I'm proposing today.  It has the proper balance of proteins, vitamins, nutrients  and carbohydrates for your lads to perform at their highest level.  Mr. Ponting, please have some Melbourne Cricket Ground Mole Verde.

Mole (pronounced mo-lay) is a mexican-aztec word for stew/curry/salan.  There are hundreds of varieties, but the one thing they have in common is that they are all cooked slowly and are very flavourful because the ingredients meld together.  A good, rich, delicious mole is just what the doctor should order for the tired athlete to get back into form.
Melbourne Cricket Ground Mole Verde (vair-day)
Ingredients
1 chicken cut in 8, skin removed
6 cups of chicken broth
1 small onion
1/2 tablespoon salt

1 cup pumpkin seeds
3 tomatoes
5 green chilies, use more or less to adjust heat to taste
1/2 chopped onion
5 garlic cloves
1 bunch coriander (cilantro)
1 teaspooon cumin seeds
5 black peppercorns
4 cloves
olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste

1.  Cook chicken in broth with salt and onion; simmer 12 minutes, remove chicken.
2.  Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan.
3.  Blend pumpkin seeds in a blender with 1 cup of the broth from step 1.  If you don't have a blender, crush the seeds to a powder with a mortar and pestle, and add to the 1 cup of broth.  If you don't have a mortar and pestle, use a sharp knife and chop the seeds until they're as finely chopped as possible, then add them to the cup of broth.
4.  Simmer the tomatoes and chilies in salted water for 10-15 minutes.
5.  Drain the tomatoes and chilies, and put in the blender with with the coriander,garlic, cumin seeds, black peppercorns and cloves.  If you don't have a blender, crush the spices in the mortar and pestle first, then crush the cooked tomatoes and chiles.
6.  Heat some olive oil in a big pot, and fry the chopped onion until lightly brown and slightly crispy.
7.  Add the blended pumpkinseed mix, and fry 4 or 5 minutes.
8.  Add the tomato/coriander/spice puree, fry 2 or 3 minutes, then add 2 cups of the broth.  Simmer about 10 minutes.  The longer you cook this, the richer the sauce will be.  Add more water when needed.  If you want an extra smooth sauce, cool it down and put it in the blender again, but it is not necessary.
9.  Add the chicken and salt, and add the rest of the broth.
10. Cook on high heat about 3 minutes, then turn the heat to med-low and simmer for approximately 1/2 hour.

Serve this dish of deliciousness on plain steamed Basmati rice.

Right.  So now Australia has no excuses...with this MCG Mole Verde, my second-favourites (come on people, everyone knows Pakistan is #1 in my heart) will be big and strong and will reverse the painful situation in the third test!  Let's GO, Australia!  Show those English guys how things are done Down Under!

Have a good one, and keep your fingers crossed for today, Day 4!

Happy Mole, Happy Cricket, and Happy Australia!

More Communication Problems, More Australia Problems

Ick.  Ick.  Phooey!  I only have access to a hobbled version of the internet because apparently I've gone over my usage limit.  So no fun post today, just this.  On Monday things should be back to normal. 

And I don't even want to talk about Australia in the Ashes.  They've really got issues.

Have a good one, and tomorrow I'll have a proper post for you if all goes well with my internet provider.

Happy Cricket, and Happy Australia (please play better today!  And where the heck is Tim Paine?  He was good!)

Communications Problems, Australia Problems

Hi.  How are you.  Sorry for not posting yesterday; I'm having big fat problems with the internet service.  Hopefully they'll be solved today and I can get back to the fun stuff soon. 

As you probably already know, England pounded Australia into the dust yesterday...Ashes indeed!  I'm rooting for Australia, but man, yesterday was not pretty.  Mike Hussey was a ray of hope with his 93 runs, but Clarke and Ponting made me wonder.  What in the heck have they been eating to perform so poorly?  Hopefully someone made them nice din-dins last night and today they'll be back in good form.

No play for the Windies/SriLanka test yesterday...I'll assume it was because of RAIN yet again, but I don't really know because I can't access any internet sites.  Phooey!

Right, I'm off to solve my internet problems.  Wish me luck. Ugh.

Happy Cricket, and Happy Internet.

More Rain, More Akmal, Beautiful People and Bitter Melon

A bit of a grumpy post today.  It's raining so much here that my backyard has turned mushy, and there's more to come.  The rain is everywhere this month; Melbourne, Casablanca in Morocco got hit really hard (actually killing people) and Sri Lanka.  Furthermore, the rain has made a mockery of the West Indies/ Sri Lanka test series.  Bah.  BAH!!!   Maybe I'll start watching indoor cricket.  Bah.  Rain can be a good thing, but as I always say, everything is better in moderation.

Speaking of too much rain, Pakistan is still reeling from the floods earlier this year.  Let's not forget about them; if you get the chance, make a donation.  Every little bit helps.  If you've got family or friends in the water-ruined areas, do what you can to alleviate their suffering.  Pakistan is a lovely country; and I must emphasize this:  if the situation was reversed, pakistanis would be the first people to help.  I saw this first-hand in 2005.  We were in Islamabad when the earthquake struck; as soon as people in our building heard that another building had collapsed, all of the able-bodied men immediately went to the collapsed apartment complex to dig out the victims.  By hand.

Right.  On to some cricket news.  Kamran Akmal won't be on the squad for New Zealand, even though he's been cleared by the ICC for selection.  He's all upset about it, because it did look as though the PCB were going to take him back on board.  He claims that he's a better batsman now.  Of that I have no doubt.  He can hit the ball, and he did score an insane 500+ runs in his last domestic game, but he still has issues wicket-keeping.  So for the time being, Umar Akmal and Adnan Akmal are in.  We'll see how things go. 

Before we get to today's cooking, perhaps something to lift our spirits is in order.  Look at this, and let's feel a bit better.


Paulina Porozkova for the Gents



Imran Khan for the Ladies



















Ok.  It's always good to look at beautiful people. 

Now today, we'll be looking at another variation of Bitter Melon Qeema.  Yesterday we learned how to prepare the bittermelons or karelas by taking out the bitterness, and we did a basic sliced karela version of the qeema.  Today we're learning the spectacular version of it.  Oh and by the way, karela is very good for diabetics.  Good to know!

So get about 6 or 7 karelas, peel off the bumpy parts of the skin, slit them lengthwise, but not all the way,  scoop out the seeds, rub salt all over, inside and out, and let sit for an hour or so.   Rinse well, let them soak for a while, and rinse again so they're not too salty.

Now get your prepared qeema, and stuff a few spoonfuls of the queema into each karela. 

Get some cooking thread or plain cotton thread and wind it around each karela to keep it shut.

Now, in the same pan as the queema, fry the karelas in with the rest of the unused queema over medium heat until the karelas start to turn nice and golden.

Serve the qeema and stuffed karelas with fresh roti, pita bread or naan from the tandoor bakery.  Enjoy!

Have a good one, hopefully some of this rain will let up.  It's raining so much that moss is going to grow on my head soon.  Yuck.

Happy Cricket, and happy eating!

Smiles, Re-Hashed Scandals, and Bitter Melons

Instead of focusing on the negative, today I want to bring you a little treat, courtesy of Mohammed Yousef's amazing teeth.  Now we've all seen people commenting on how sauci-licious Shahid Afridi is, or how good-looking Wahab Riaz is, or how nobody approaches Imran Khan in the handsome devil department.   Well, here is someone who's been flying under the "handsome" radar, so to speak.

Mohammed Yousef is,what we North Americans call, a badass.  He looks mean when he's at the crease, like he's out to do some damage to the opposition.  Seriously, if he gave me that famous sneer of his, I'd burst into tears from fear and hurt feelings.  His nasty, grumpy glare has that effect on people.  Opposition bowlers must be quite apprehensive when bowling to him; they must be rather afraid. 

Mohammed Yousef, AKA "Grumplestiltskin"

But here's the awesome news:  Mohammed Yousef has the greatest smile in all of international cricket-dom.  Not only do the heavens smile down on him when he's at the crease, you can almost hear angels singing when he breaks into a smile.  This is no joke, people, just take a look, and you'll see what I mean:

Dental Perfection!  Beautiful, like art!

So look after your teeth, and you'll have a smile as beautiful as Mohammed Yousef's.  He really needs to smile more...the world demands it!  You don't hide teeth that exquisite behind a scowl.  Good on ya, Moyo!

And here's a bit of bad, re-hashed news.  Cric info reports that Mazhar Majid, the shady "agent" involved in the spot-fixing scandal, implicated a further four people in the whole mess.  This information comes from a News Of The World secret video which got leaked to the press, Geo TV in particular.  Well, we already knew that other guys were named, but they were investigated and cleared of wrong-doing.  What gets my goat about this situation is...how did this video get leaked to the press? 

My goat has been gotten.

Was it one of the defense lawyers?  If it was, then our lovely lads need new lawyers; they need good, solid, legal representation; not shenanigans like this!  My favourites deserve the best, and only the best!

And now to the cooking bit.  Yesterday we looked at a variation of a basic vegetable salan, called Bhindi.  Today, we're going to look at another variation of Qeema.  Instead of adding potatoes to the qeema, we're going to prepare and add a very traditional vegetable:  Karela or Bitter Melon.  So here we go with Bitter Melon Qeema.

First things first:  prepare qeema, no potatoes.  Here's the link if you've forgotten how to make it:

http://kikiscookinforcricket.blogspot.com/2010/11/queen-kamran-akmal-and-delicious-qeema.html

You can also use left-over queema.  No problems with that.

Now, you'll need about 7 or 8 karelas.  These things.


This veg takes a bit of time to prepare.  As the name implies, it is very bitter indeed.  We're going to take 98% of the bitterness away, leaving a slightly bitter, delicious veg which will add another layer of flavor to the queema.

With a sharp paring knife, scrape off the bumps on the karelas,or cut the skin off in strips, just getting the knife under the bumps.  Cut off the top bit.

Now slice the karela lengthwise, and remove all of the seeds.  You can scoop them out with a spoon.

Now rub the insides and outside of the karelas with enormous amounts of salt, like handfuls of it. This will suck out most of the bitterness. Leave the salt on, and set the karelas aside for at least an hour. 

After an hour, rinse the karela very well,getting all of the salt off.  Soak the karela for a while (1/2 hour)  in water to get the rest of the salt out and rinse again..  Some people are happy just rinsing the karelas, and don't bother soaking.  I find it's too salty without the extra soak session.

Cut in 1 cm slices, and then fry over medium heat in a little bit of oil, until it's lightly browned.

Add to the qeema, add some water, and cook several minutes over medium heat so that all the flavours can blend.

Eat with roti or pita bread, or, if you can find it, fresh naan from the tandoor bakery.

Tomorrow I'll show you another variation of Bitter Melon Qeema, so keep you little eyes open for that.

There's cricket on today, thank goodness!  So have a good one, don't let the re-hashed news of the "scandal" get you down, and keep smiling...just like our favourite smilin' handsome fella, Mohammed Yousef.

Happy Eating, Happy Cricket, and Happy Smiling!