Friday, April 29, 2011

Wills n' Kate

Congrats to Prince William and his beautiful wife, Katherine.  Yes, I cried during the ceremony because I remembered the day they announced his birth, and also because I saw Prince Harry getting all teary-eyed.  And that made me boo-hoo-hoo even more.

To the Royal Family:  good on ya!

I'll have my regular blog post ready for you later today.

A Good Royal Wedding to Help Pass the Time Until Test Cricket Returns

God Save the Queen!

Happy Cricket, and Happy Monarchy.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Win?-dies and Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano for Batting Awesomeness

Whoa!  That was some ODI earlier on today! 'Twas a little bit of an low-scoring match but it had plenty of thrills for the drama queens inside each and every one of us.  So, Pakistan have won 3 of the ODI's so far, and the West Indians might want to change their nick-name of "Windies" to "Losedies".  As in..."we have so much talent on this team, but why do we "losedies" ODI's"?  A good question to ponder indeed.

So in today's ODI, there really was some thrilling stuff.  Rampaul mauled Pakistan's top order batsmen: "Manly" Mohammed Hafeez who usually belts 'em out was caught for a wimpy 5 while Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq both quacked out for ducks.  Ducks!!!  It was carnage!  It was pandemonium, it was crazier than h*ll!!! 

However, my favourite, Misbah ul-Haq steadied the ship and anchored the innings.  With 62 runs not out and forming some decent partnerships with Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam, he set the stage for Wahab Riaz to spectacularily belt out a couple of big 6's to take the team home to victory.
The Haq, in a previous episode of Awesomeness

Wahab Riaz is so much more than just a pretty face.
Yes!  Right on Pakistan!  And I will say to the Windies team: good on you guys today.  You fought hard and Rampaul and cute lil' Bishoo (even his name is cute) bowled wonderfully.  I'm looking forward to the next ODI and I'm itching to see a good fight!
Cute Bishoo, but deadly spin.  Deadly.
Now for today's cooking, I want to dedicate my bestest recipe of all time to Misbah ul-Haq.  That's right.  He's got his batting mojo back and he deserves this more than anyone else.  This one is for kitchen masters; if you're inexperienced, don't attempt this.  Try some of the easier dishes in the blog and work on your "sazon" or seasoning and spice balance first. 

Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano of Batting Awesomeness

Mole (rhymes with Sholay)  poblano is a traditional mexican salan originally from the city of Puebla, in central Mexico.  In cooking circles, making a good mole poblano is considered the Holy Grail of the culinary arts.  The old fashioned recipe had more than 128 ingredients, but nowadays, because we can buy decent, ready-made spiced chocolate, the ingredient list is greatly reduced.

If you live in Pakistan, I'll try to get the name of the market in Islamabad that sells mexican chilies and chocolate.   In Canada, you can get the chiles and chocolate on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, or at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  Make sure you budget plenty of time to make this; you will be in the kitchen for several hours.  You can buy ready-made mole sauce at the store, but don't use it because it tastes unbalanced and is rubbish, I tell you.  Rubbish!  Make your own, and wow your dinner guests.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 chickens, cut in 8 (you can remove the skin if you wish)
8 ancho chilies
15 mulato chilies
2 pasilla chilies
1 chipotle chili
3 red tomatoes
50 grams of almonds
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
50 grams of raisins (sultanas)
1/2 a toasted or fried bun
4 or 5 cloves
pinch of cinnamon
parsley
4 or 5 black peppercorns
1 onion
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 round to 1/2 round of IBARRA or ABUELITA mexican chocolate (european style chocolate will not work well, use the mexican chocolate)
1 fried corn tortilla
1 cup of manteca (lard) or butter if you want halal
salt to taste

The day before, roast and seed the chilies, and soak overnight in salted water.  If you are using dried chilies, simply soak them in salted water for 8+ hours.

Drain the chilies, and grind all of them except the chipotle chilli in a blender with cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, sesame seeds, the fried bun, the fried corn tortilla, the onion and two cloves of garlic.

Roast the tomatoes and remove the skin.
Grind the tomatoes and chipotle pepper in the blender.

Make broth with the chicken necks, water, 1 clove of garlic, onion and parsley.  This step can be skipped if you have pre-made chicken broth.

Fry the chicken in manteca or butter, brown and remove.
Add the tomato and chipotle mix to the pan, and reduce until paste consistency.
Add about 2 cups of chicken broth, and again reduce until paste consistency.
Add the chilies puree.
Add more broth and salt.
Add the chicken, cook until soft and add more broth whenever necessary.
Add in the chocolate and sugar, cook another couple of minutes, then garnish with almonds, raisins, and sesame seeds.

Serve with tomato rice, which is what I'll show you how to do tomorrow.

And there's Misbah ul-Haq's Mole Poblano for batting awesomeness featuring reverse sweeps.  Love the Haq!  Love the Mole Poblano!  Yes!  Yes!! Yes!!!

Happy Cricket, Happy Haq, and Happy Mole!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Yeee-ha for the Canucks, Pakistan Cricket Update and Chicken Pot Pie

YEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  Vancouver must be bubbling over with glee at the moment because in Ice Hockey news, the Vancouver Canucks have made their way into the next round of the Stanley Cup play-offs by just barely beating the Blackhawks in game 7 by one overtime goal.  RIGHT ON CANUCKS!!!

It looked like it was curtains for the lovely Vancouver lads of the ice rink; Luongo himself perhaps may have even felt a little lost as the Canucks headed into this game 3-3.   The Canucks were indeed leading 3-0 and proceeded to be clobbered senseless 3 times by the Blackhawks...things must have been grim and dark, but the lads fought back today, and all of Vancouver is hollering their support for Luongo and the lads.  Go Luongo, Go Canucks!

Lucious Luongo, doin' his thing, the way it oughtta be.
And not only that, there's more.  It's a beautiful afternoon because my lovely lads of cricket, the Pakistan Cricket team, have been looking really good, not just in the handsome department, but in the WIN department.  That's right, they lost the first and only ODI against the Windies, but since then they've won 2 ODI's and they have won in style.  Just look at these visions of awesomeness: 
Shahid Afridi, there's a collect call for you....will you accept the "awesome" charges?

Saeed Ajmal, Poetry in Motion!

Ahmed Shehzad, a vision in ton-netry.

 And let's not forget my favourite, Misbah ul-Haq.  He's making up for his lacklustre performance at the World Cup with his batting in this ODI series.  Keep it up, cuz I'm lovin' every run you've made against the Windies!
How can you not fall in love with that style?  Misbah ul-Haq ...raqs!!!

Right, now all that yakkity-yakking has made me hungry.  Let's not fool around with niceties.  Let's make a chicken pot pie because it's cold out and a growing girl needs nourishment.  C'mon men, put on your big boy panties and a hair net because the kitchen is calling.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients
About 2 cups of raw chicken, diced (use thigh meat for more flavour)
1/2 diced onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 carrot, diced
2 or 3 stalks of celery, diced
some chopped mushrooms
1 small zucchini, diced
1 green chili, diced (optional)
a handful of green beans, roughly chopped
1 large potato, diced
a bit of oil for cooking
about two tablespoons of flour
some water
about 2 cups of chicken broth.
salt and pepper
1/2 a pastry recipe (see below)

Right. Put a bit of oil in a saucepan and sautee the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and mushrooms for a few minutes, until the onions are golden.
Add the chicken, and brown it, making sure you don't burn anything.
Add the broth, salt and pepper and the rest of the veg, including the potatoes.
Cook until the chicken is cooked through, about ten minutes or so, on low heat.
In a cup of cold water, add the flour and stir thoroughly.  Then add this to the chicken and veg that's cooking in the pot; this will thicken it up.
Place the chicken stew in a baking dish.
Cover with the pastry, cutting some slits in the top so the steam can escape.
Bake at 200 C or 400 F until the pastry is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Pastry recipe (just use about half for this chicken pot pie recipe)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
5 - 6 tablespoons ICE COLD water

Cut the butter into the flour and salt with a pastry cutter or two knives.
Stir in the water, but don't handle the dough too much.
Roll out the dough on a floured board, and place on top of the chicken pot pie filling.

Okay, there's yer dinner, so quit whining that I don't show you how to feed yourselves.  I'm so nice to you it's ridiculous.  Anyways, have fun watching the cricket, and I'll see you all back here soon.  Go Pakistan!  Go Canucks!

Happy Cricket, Happy Hockey, and Happy Luongo!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

H*ll, Pakistan vs. Windies and Rhubarb Crumble for Tumbling Wickets

Ugh!  Since the World Cup wrapped up, I have been going through the worst h*ll a girl can go through...that's right, I'm living a practically cricket-free existence and my gawd it's been h*ll on wheels.  Sure, the IPL is going on with all the fanfare and cheerleaders and big names, but it all seems a little "Harlem Globetrotter"-esque, meaning it's more about showboating than cricketing.  I'm sure that it must be very exciting if you live in India and watch the matches live; but here in Australia the games are not broadcast, and we've got a slow internet connection so watching on the webbernetz is a no-go.  Phooey!

So thank goodness for me and all other cricket-watching people of the world that our little h*llish existence will soon become a heavenly one:  PAKISTAN IS TOURING THE WINDIES AND THE FIRST MATCH IS ON THE 23rd!!!!!!!  Yee-haaaa!
Oh yeah, I want Victory Fingers!!  Lots!!!!


Seriously, nothing can make a girl like me happier than some proper international cricket...I'm thrilled about the T20, ecstatic about the ODI's....and flipping over the moon about TEST cricket!  YES!  YES!  YES!  It's been so long since I've seen a test match that I've almost forgotten what it's all about!  My cricket drought is about to be over in just a few more days!  And we'll be seeing lots of the bestest team in the world...the lovely lads of Pakistan! 

I'm also looking forward to seeing the Windies, to see what they've done with the team since the world cup. 
Chanderpaul:  Not playing in the T20 or the ODI's!!! Boooooooooo
That crazy Chanderpaul dude with the crazy front-on batting stance won't be there, and neither will Chris Gayle.  Major frowny face, those guys made the World Cup very entertaining.  Oh well.

But basically, today we're going to learn how to make a basic rhubarb crumble so we can encourage Windies wickets to tumble.  Yes.  A little bit of this healthy dessert will give Pakistan's bowlers even more of an edge, and I'm sure the lads will take plenty of Windies scalps.  Long live Pakistan bowling violence!

Rhubarb Crumble to Make Wickets Tumble

Rhubarb is a very tart vegetable which looks like red celery.  Only eat the stalks, because the leaves are toxic.  Right, go put on an apron and get your act together before I scold you.

Ingredients
at least 2 cups of chopped, raw rhubarb
a few tablespoons of  white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oats
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat your oven to 180 C or 350 F.
Spread the chopped raw rhubarb into a greased, 8 inch baking dish.  Make sure the layer is at least 1 inch thick.
Spread the white sugar on top of the rhubarb.
In a separate bowl, use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour, until the flour resembles bread crumbs.
Stir in the oats and brown sugar.
Spread the flour, oat and sugar mix over the rhubarb in the baking dish.
Bake at 180 C (350 F) for anwhere between 25 and 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the rhubarb is soft.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve by itself, with ice cream or with custard.

So you see, with all the nutritional goodness of rhubarb and oats, you'll be in tip top form with a spring in your step and a song in your heart....just what our lovely lads need!  Right on, guys!  Let's see you destroy the West Indians, just like you did a few weeks ago!!!!   Be good to us, your loyal fans, and give us your best!

Happy Cricket, Happy Rhubarb Crumble (Make those wickets tumble!)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Zulqarnain Haider is goin' back to Pakistan.

Mornin.  It's been a while, sorry...we'll be getting back to the regular format tomorrow morning.

I read the news today and I just gotta share it.  Zulqarnain Haider, the ex wicket-keeper is going back to Pakistan after receiving assurances from the Pakistani interior minister, the (in?)famous Rehman Malik, that he and his family would be safe.  He has withdrawn his application for asylum in the UK.

Check out the whole sordid story here.  Personally, I'm very worried about this kid's safety.  Those were some huge allegations he made back in  2010.  If what he said was true, then there is a whole heap of trouble waiting for him in Pakistan.

Stay safe, Zulqarnain.  If you have any doubts, just stay put in the UK.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A Few Days Off Because My Garden is a Mess.

Hi everyone.  No, I'm not speaking in euphemisms.  Seriously,  I'm taking a few days off because I have to do some heavy yardwork and get the garden ready for the winter.

But do not panic!  I'll be back in a soon enough with some new food and some new cricket gossip.

When I finish taming the @@%#(*% jungle in the back yard, I will definetly be pointing some Victory Fingers towards the sky, just like my hero.  I bet his garden looks really nice. 
In the meantime, why don't you visit the lovely lads at http://sportpulse.net/?  There are articles by Awesome Aziz ul-Qadir, Fabulous Faisal Caesar, Saucy Salik Khan, Kaptivating Karam Khan, Kruisin' Kris Hinz, and Marvelous Matt Hodgetts, , just to name a few of the talented writers we've got on board!

Have a good one, and wish me luck with the bleeping $#(*&%T garden.  It really is a jungle out there!  If I work hard now, I should be done by the next World Cup.  Phooey!

Happy Cricket, Happy Garden.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Dhoni! Dhone! Dhony! It Feels Good!

You bet it feels good because Dhoni! Dhone! Dhony! has done it again....that is lead his team to win the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup!
Dhoni!Dhone!Dhony!!!

Congrats India!  You totally deserved this one!

And India's skipper Dhoni....what a man for keeping his cool!  What a man for his captain's knock when his squad needed him the most!  And flipping handsome when he shaves his beard and mustache!  A Cricket superstar and Bollywood hero, all rolled into one!  Woo-hoo!

And Sachin Tendulkar..."I couldn't have asked for anything more than this. Winning the World Cup is the proudest moment of my life. Thanks to my team-mates. Without them, nothing would have happened. I couldn't control my tears of joy."  If you didn't fall in love with him a little bit when he said that, there is something seriously wrong with you!

Anyways, as all of you know, I'm in love with Team Pakistan, but today I'm cheering for India because they played some mind-blowing cricket with some great fielding and defeated the fantastic Sri Lanka.  Hooray!

I'm writing a nice story for SportPulse today about Sachin Tendulkar and Rice Krispie Squares.  Come visit us at http://sportpulse.net/ and get all the World Cup Cricket scoop!

Again, Congrats India, you  ROCKED this world cup and gave all the other teams a thrashin' they'll never forget!

Happy Cricket, Happy Dhoni!