Khoresh Bademjan

The first stop on our 10 country culinary challenge. Iran.

We made Khoresh Bademjan with Chelo (failed Tahdig) and Mast-O-Khair. I learnt how to make this dish while chomping on coffee cake and watching my friend’s mom busy away over a stove during my high school years. it is my go to dish when the weather is cold, or when I’m feeling the need for a comforting food hug. So of course I wanted to share this with Q in our 10 country challenge. P.s this is by no means authentic, it is our take on a Iranian dish that we love.

Khoresh Bademjan with Chelo (failed Tahdig) and Mast-O-Khair

Khoresh Bademjan

Cooking time: 2h 30 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

3 x Aubergines Sliced

3 x Tomatoes Diced

1 x Onion Diced

2 x 225g Canned Whole Peeled Tomatoes

2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon

3 Tablespoons of Tumeric Powder

1 Tablespoon of Nutmeg Powder

3 Tablespoons of Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

–        Sprinkle salt on the aubergine slices and lay them to rest so that they can sweat out the excess water

–        Once water has come out of the aubergine, pat dry and then shallow fry them in a pan until golden brown

–        In another pot sauté the diced onions until translucent then add the diced tomatoes

–        Add in all spice and lime juice and fry until the colour turns turmeric orange

–        Add the canned tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to boil

–        Once boiled add the fried aubergine and let it cook on medium heat for 30 min and on low heat for another 1 hour and 30 min.

Chelo

Cooking time: 20 min

Serves: 6 with leftovers for the next day

Ingredients:

3 Cups Basmatic Rice

1 x Potato Sliced thinly

Salted Butter

Tumeric/Saffron Powder (We used Tumeric Powder)

Salt

Preparation:

–        Butter the bottom of the rice cooker and layer the sliced potatoes at the bottom

–        Add the cleaned uncooked basmati rice and water and cook as usual

–

Mast-O-Khair

Cooking time: 15min including prep

Serves: 6 as a side

Ingredients:

1 x Cucumber Grated

1 x Clove of garlic Grated

2 Cups Double Cream Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients and chill in the freeze until ready to serve  

Mario Badescu Follow Up

So, its been a while.

Like I’ve stated before. Lazy blogger syndrome.

Here’s my follow up to Mario Badescu (from here on MB):

My skin is in its almost 5th week of using MB and I am in love. Absolutely in love. My skin is glowing, and my blackheads – gone!

The Glycolic Foaming Cleanser and the Acne Cleanser are fantastic and I’m getting used to the Drying Lotion and Drying Cream. Not the biggest fan of the dry sensation, but it works and soon I’ll be heading over to the moisturizer section of MB.

Fantastic products, cannot wait until all the blemishes are gone so I can move onto healing my skin’s scars.

Let’s see how well I can maintain this skin…

More to follow

 

L

A brighter winter’s day

Morning all.

Its been an extremely busy 2 weeks preparing for Oppikoppi festival, baking, cooking, and attending JowGa SA’s first annual dinner. Will blog about those soon.

But first, a quick shout out to that wonderful soul, or souls, who sat and sewed lots of bright flowers onto mesh and then strew them all over the dead trees along William Nicol drive today. So much of prettiness!! Very wonderful.

Made traffic a little more tolerable and brightened my day.

Whatever their purpose was, I hope they achieved it, because it definitely put a smile on this grumpy face 🙂

Thanks to @DDannhei and @za5 for the twitpics! Busy driving so don’t have my own.

L

Forever Resorts Warmbaths

Can’t stand the cold, get out of Jo’burg!

What to do during an unusally cold winter in Johannesburg? Get out! It has been ridiculously cold in the City of Gold lately and even under 2 duvets and an extra pair of pjs, my bones can still feel the chill. So suzyQ and I took a roadtrip to … Warmbaths!

Yes! 42°C heated pools that spill over from inside the building to the outside section, allowing you to stay in the water and still go outside and look at the stars. Taking an evening dip with the steam rising off the surface of the pool and I’m wondering how my fellow Joburgers are faring back home.

A weekend vacation is really just what I needed. Hardly 2 hours away from Johannesburg North but I feel like I’m a world away. The small town of Bela Bela is so different from the hustle and bustle of the city’s Market on Main I was at just last weekend. There is hardly any traffic and people slow down at the amber light. Its not just the traffic though, even the weather is different. Warmer and when the sun is up, as it is now at a toasty 24°C, I sit outside in my bikini and laptop trying to catch a tan and update my blog. Nothing at all like bleak Jozi town.

I’d love to tell you more, but a whole family of warthogs have just paraded by and I’ve got to place the laptop in a safer environment.

This is one of the best winter weekends of 2011 so far!

L

cut above the rest

did you know : i hate getting my hair cut but for Q it’s one of the things she does just sommer.

So I’m sitting here at Floyd’s Babershop in Fourways Crossing and using their pc and internet blogging about this amazing place while suzyQ gets her hair done. Fabulous! No more waiting for people on stuffy seats and old magazines.

The place also offers PS and coffee and juice for GRATIS! Great music pumping and great hair products as well as hair equipment to browse and buy while waiting.

Floyd’s is covered ceiling to floor with legend rock posters of all time and the service : with a smile! While suzyQ is finishing up her cut and getting a neck massage to boot I’m contemplating a Wild Zebra hair dryer and wondering if maybe I should start cutting my hair a little more often as well.

Pics to follow

L

fancy yourself an exhibitionist?

With the days getting shorter and nights getting longer, the want to rush out and buy a tent, sleeping bag and head out to the great outdoors to breathe in fresh, crisp air and sit around a warm camp fire is wriggling around in me like a… well… I’m not too sure. But I do really want to go camping.

The one thing that deters my love for camping is the tent. Oh, the dreaded tent.. a clumsy contraption of material and netting and hazardous zips with hardly enough space to stretch out your whole body length. Well… problem fixed.

Thank you Pierre Stephane Dumas! His innovative designs labelled CristalBubble are sleek, clear and spacious and more importantly easy to assemble! They also offer you an experience that most other tents don’t : to go to sleep watching the stars and wake up to the sunrise.The CristalBubble offers series of translucent tents that look like the alien cousins of the Inuit igloo. Alien but awesome. Made out of recyclable, anti-UV, crystal-clear material and shipped to you fully furnished – the CristalBubble must be the perfect tent for me.

But there is a price for taking a step closer to nature and braving the exhibitioni

st lifestyle. Depending on what size you buy, either the one sphere of two sphere tent, or even one that is not fully transparent.  A cool US$11,914  or £7451.61. Staggering I know… But what is a girl to do when she falls in love with something?

Starve herself for years to come or brazenly ask for donations? I’m liking the latter!

Anyone out there who has the cash to blow, this is a must-buy!

Nature is calling!

L

Irish Winter Warmer

Did you know : the shamrock, three leaf clover, became Ireland’s icon because St. Patrick taught Ireland about the Father, the Son and the holy spirit using its three leaves.

What’s for dinner tonight?

Something hearty, filling and warming.

The cold air has arrived in here the Southern hemisphere and nights are getting quite nippy.

So what to make for dinner that helps heat up the evenings and make the absence of sun not so bad… A stew.

The options are endless. Tonight I choose to make Irish soup! I figure I learnt how to make Guiness bread successfully a few days ago, might as well stick with the Irish luck.

So what you need for a delicious Irish lamb stew is, obviously lamb. The best choice would be the meat that’s on the bone – I’m using lamb neck as I find it gives the best flavour with just enough meat.

Dice and saute 1 medium onions in oil until they’re almost transluscent in colour. Pull the leaves off a sprig of thyme and throw them in and give it a stir. Throw in the lamb, about 500g. Brown it on high heat.
Chop up 2 or 3 carrots and throw it on top of the meat. Then pour chicken stock over the meat and veggies – about 4 cups should be fine, just so that it covers the meat and not drown it.

Now comes the tricky part. Seasoning. I always find I over do it. Salt and pepper and 1 bouquet garni (its a bunch of thyme, parsley and a bay leaf). If you don’t have a bouquet garni, just throw in sprigs but remember to fish them out.

Cover and cook on a low heat for 2 hours. Peel and chop 4 potatoes and put it on top of the stew, cover and cook for another 30 minutes until the meat is literally falling off the bone.

I know it seems like a long time, but worth it. Prepare all of it and toss it in the pot when you get home after work, and by the time you’ve showered, prepared your Guiness beer bread and had a couple of the beers to relax your stew would be ready for your eating pleasure.

Enjoy with beer bread or rice or eat it by its glorious self. Drizzle the potatoes with herb butter or garlic butter when you serve it. Such a rich decadent meal perfect to warm the cockles of your heart in these progressively chilly nights.

Bon appetit!

L

Castle Crashers

did you know : Sonic The Hedgehog isn’t only the name of Sega’s speedy mascot, but also a gene on chromosome 7 of the human genome. Well, it was until recently when the science community decided to ditch all of its comdedic names.

So recently my fiance sold our Nintendo Wii and bought a sleek new toy. Xbox. I must say, I was not so impressed. All that was played were co-op games like Call of Duty, Left for Dead and other not so interesting challenges.

Then, in the midst of my angst, Castle Crashers swooped down and saved me from my boredom!

Initially quite skeptical about the return to 2D gaming but turns out Castle Crashers is the most fun I’ve had in a while.

The game can be played as one player or up to four players and the mission: To save the kingdom from ninja knights, giant firebreathing cats, greasy blobs and goliath neanderthals.

A race to the end to kiss the princess, or at least one of them, in this awesome fictional medival world. Stages range from volcanic mountains, pirate-ridden oceans, magician’s castles, aliens and monster infested desert terrains.

You get to collect items and barter them for weapons, potions, magic abilities and creatures that increase your defense and strength. The best part is the unexpected combos you get every time you level up.

Ladies, try it out. You’ll understand why the seemingly mindless activity is so enticing for your men. The perfect game for all you gamers out there to buy for your ladies. It is a guaranteed hit and will stop her from complaining that you don’t ever spend time with her and get her to get into gaming with you.

You will be able to get it off your xbox 360 live.

Have fun crashing

L

mastering the art of hookah pipe smoking

did you know : Smoking hookah is inherent in the culture and tradition of the mystical Arab world. Predominantly smoked in cafes, the social hub of the Middle East, it is usually accompanied by tea. These cafes spread in popularity (mostly among the Britons) during the dreadful prohibition times, to make up for the lack of pubs.

The smoking of the hookah pipe has been going on for millennia, believed to have originated from India, along its modern-day borders of Pakistan. This post is going to give you a few top tips I’ve picked up about the hubble (what I like to call my pipe), and a few things you should know if ever you find yourself sharing a puff in a bustling cafe in the Middle East.

The hookah pipe has become such a main stream fad it is known over the world by over dozens of names including shisha, hubblebubble, ghalyaan, argilee, chillium – but its most common name in English is hookah, its Indian derivative. The polite and traditional way to smoke hubble socially is often done out of a one or two hosed pipe. There are some who prefer the triple, and even quadruple hosed pipe. After your turn, the pipe should be folded in on itself and passed on (if you’re smoking a one-pipe) so that the tip is facing away from the recipient. Most smokers have their own amjids, a personal mouth piece (often decorated with precious stones) used for hygiene reasons obviously. In hookah lounges today they do provide you with a plastic mouthpiece for your smoking pleasure.

Okay, so moving away from the eLLepedia spurt of knowledge and down to business.

suzyQ, having just come back from England, has become a hookah pipe lover. Oh, to see young smokers bungle the simplest clay head change…So I sat suzyQ and her Briton friend Nancy down for a hookah sesh I gave them a few tips to help them out with their future smoking sessions.

Clay head :

• When it comes time to pack a new head most people start to walk away, pretend they weren’t smoking or protest that they just don’t know how to pack a new head of tobacco to smoke. It’s really not that difficult, it is a tad messy and sticky though. To avoid the game of “who has to pack the head”, get yourselves a few clay heads and prepare them beforehand, so when one dies you can just pop a new one on top without having to get your hands dirty.
• If you have prehaps lost, broken or misplaced your clay head and need an emergency sesh, don’t worry. You can always hole out half a lemon and use it as a head although it can only be used once. Granadillas work well too

Foil :

• I find that heavy duty foil works best, as it doesn’t allow the coal to burn the tobacco and lets the head breathe well. If you only have run of the mill kitchen foil, just fold it or double up when you slap it onto the head, shiny side down.
• Another top tip on how NOT to burn your tobacco: make small holes! Use a pin, toothpick or even the backend of an ear-ring to pierce your holes. Big holes = burnt tobacco. It also lets large amounts of ash fall into the head and that’s just not pleasant.
• If you find that you do not have foil, then go digging around for the charcoal screen that comes with the hookah pipe. DO NOT use aluminium cans or tins as these are treated with lacquer and the fumes will be poisonous and prove to be fatal. If you can’t find foil or your screen then just give up or pop down to the store – really no point in putting your lungs and life at risk.

Coal :

• The best and the longest lasting brand of coal I have had the pleasure to smoke is SupaGold. Quick lighting and burns tightly so you don’t have ash flying about you when you’re done smoking.
• If you find it difficult for your coal to catch alight, try lighting a candle and holding your coal over it rather than burning your fingers from holding your lighter or matchstick.
• If you are out of coal, you could use a small piece of braai (barbeque) coal although it burns like crazy and you’d have to use a ton of foil for a really short hub sesh.
• Use a coal cover if you smoke outdoors so that the wind doesn’t speed up the burn rate of you coal. Don’t use one indoors as it could make your hubble difficult to smoke.

Tobacco :

• Al Faker is my personal favourite but you should explore and try all flavours. I find it is kinda pointless buying mixed flavours, especially since you can just mix different tobacco yourself and fix it so it tastes the best for you. Forewarning Blue Mix tobacco smells amazing but doesn’t taste all that grand.

Pipes :

• The hose you get when you buy your hubble pipe usually looks like something out of Arabian Nights but they don’t pull so well. Try buying a few lengths of PVC piping from Builder’s Warehouse or any hardware store. Just soak it in hot, soapy water to rid it of its plastic taste. Opting for a plastic hose not only allows for more smoke to be inhaled but it also is easier to clean and does not rust like the beautiful and ornate hoses that are so popular.
• Clean your hose regularly and after each hubble session. Swing it around and around your head to force the water out and hang them to dry. Don’t want mold growing in your hose.

Base :

• I travel with my plastic base hubble as its durable and sturdy but I own a delicate, translucent green glass base that sits pretty at home. I do prefer smoking out of glass though, it just seems more dignified.
• The amount of water you fill in your base determines how well your hubble will pull. Fill it so that the metal pipe, once inserted into the base, has its tip is only just immersed.
• The base can also be filled with milk, to give the smoke a thicker texture.
• Although it would be considered sacriligeous, you could also substitute alcohol instead of water to give your sesh a bit of a kick.

So there you go, my top tips on how to master the art of hookah pipe smoking.

Feel free to leave comments or questions or other tips you think would be helpful

Thanks for reading

L

Madame Zingara: Worth it? Definitely!

did you know : the Japanese word for rice, gohan, is also the word for meal because rice is such a big part of Japanese cuisine.

So suzyQ celebrated her 26th birthday… Gosh… time seems to be zooming by at a lightening fast speed.

Of course, this auspicious event would be celebrated in style. Monday started off with a BANG! The most spectacular Madame Zingara hosted a group of 24 of suzyQ’s fantastic family and fabulous friends… and things got frisky.

The venue was a feast for all the senses. Walking through the heart framed entrance lit by romantic lights, the scene is like something out of a roaring 20’s theatre production. A quaint fortune teller and souped up “shebeen” has been set up outside for early arrivals to dop ‘n bietjie and have their fates revealed before doors open and the show starts.

A gargoyle, that turns out to be a very agile acrobat, swoops down on us as we are shown to our seats and promptly makes himself comfortable on my aunt’s chair before scurrying away to provoke a few shrieks from the ladies seated behind us by crawling around under their table. Its not a surprise people rave about this… well… what should we call it? A restaurant? No. A theatre? No. A circus? No. Its not even all three combined. Madame Zingara is more than just that, much more.

Punting “theatre of dreams” where “love magic” happens is putting it lightly. The Madame truly knows how to serve dinner and a show!

The ticket price is a bit pricy for students and young adults eking out a living, but by golly, it is worth every penny! The tantalizing 4 course meal is served by gorgeous men and women dressed in the wildest costumes and in between all the food and drink, amazing acrobats, exotic contortionists and soulful singers entertain.

The night by far exceeded my expectations. Which is kinda hard to do. I am the fussy one in the family. The night’s MC was the saucy minx, Cathy Specifc… and I do so love drag acts! She had legs that went on forever and the most husky voice on stage.. and was a definite hit with the audience that night.

So for vibe and entertainment MZ gets a big BRILLIANT. Now moving onto the food… Not bad. I absolutely loved the entree… I wanted to roll around in it! It was served as a platter to share between two – with olives, brie cheese, dolmades, humus and a stunning mushroom soup. I confess, I ate most of it, it was that good.

The starter, baked cannelloni, was good. Although I do prefer my pasta to be just slightly more al dente. The service though – once again FANTASTIC. Not a beat missed, as soon as one act ended, the busy busboys and waitrons were already clearing plates, refilling glasses of wine and setting down the next course.

The main meal was a delectable choice of their famous chocolate chilli fillet steak, a meaty springbok shank, seared tuna and a vegetarian red curry. I opted for the tuna but I was clever enough to sample all the dishes. I am lucky my friends love me and are quite generous with their food. My favourite for the evening must be the vegetarian red curry served with a spiced poppadom. As Russel Peters would say, :”it was mind blasting!” The fillet was a bit too well done for my liking, the shank had a strong, game-y taste and my tuna… would have been drool-enducing if only they left the gooseberries out of it. Not a fan of gooseberries as you can tell.

But I am being unfair, the whole tent had to be served at the same time and the kitchen staff must have slaved harder than those elves in the Hogwarts kitchens. For reviewing purposes I do have to be slightly critical though.. Don’t want to seem biased or unrealistic.

The trio of desserts, now that was something to behold. A delicious creme brulee teamed with steaming malva pudding and a fresh strawberry mousse. The perfect end to a practically magical evening.

Rounds of drinks ordered and belts loosened while the night’s events sink and and form wonderful, rose tinted memories… in our blissful states we almost forgot it was a Monday and that we all would still have to face a full week of work…

The mobile venue was quite good in ensuring that we, the consumers wouldn’t have to face port-a-potties and the facilities were clean and tiled. The rustic outdoors shebeen and blinking fairy lights makes it easy to think that in this concrete jungle of  Johannesburg, a fantastical, mystical “theatre of dreams” has spontaneously combusted to exist just for our pleasure… yet Madame Zingara still manages to inspire. Proceeds from their tiny store that sells feather boas, ridiculously small hats, funky glasses and other creative costume ideas (for people who were liquored up enough to join the waiters in dressing up) go to charity and their own sort of reach-for-a-dream foundation.

Women in lycra, angels on stilts, men in heels and muscular young men in feather boas spill out onto the floor and pull patrons up to dance and do the conga. The feasting has ended but the night has just begun…

eLLe’s score: incredible 9 out of 10

Recommendations: book months in advance! Those reading now will probably have to wait until the Theatre is up in Johannesburg again as they’re booked out until May.

All-in-all it was an experience that was one for the books. If you get the chance, POUNCE!

L