Sunday Feast № 5 | Burmese Vegetarian

As it goes in some sort of succession, it's time for warm vegetarian food as a center piece. The coconut rice is very rich - take note that it might be quite a few servings from what might look like a small volume - and the vegetable curry is a gentle tummy hugging soul warmer - that might disappear faster than intended. The latter is a great "left over" recipe from my days when I gave vegetarianism a go purely as a way to explore vegetables as a center piece of a meal rather than a side. It's an experiment that I would highly recommend to anyone, especially to those of you who will comeback to animal products. Vegetables will look like a serious contender that does not bore.      Recipes are from “Community Aid Abroad Vegetarian Cookbook”, with few of my alternatives.

Sunday Feast № 4 | Broiled Salmon with Sautéed Bok Choy and Broccoli

Memory can be quite random. One week big packets of ramen noodles are bought at a Korean hypermarket. The label at the back gives instructions to cook them for 3 min in boiling water and then eat with favorite dipping sauce, e.g. hoisin. Few weeks later, in a different market, I am looking at Asian sauces, just because. "Shall I? Which one to choose?" I wonder. "How about hoisin? Yeah, let's try that one." A week later, "I feel like fish," not as in I-am-a-fish, but as in I-want-to-eat-fish, and "How about testing that broiler function in my oven?" which I read use instructions for at some point in all those weeks. Rice is always on hand, and cooked well courtesy of a trusty rice cooker. Now just add a vegetable side, and all's good to eat.      Recipes are from “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast” by Martha Stewart Living Magazine, with few of my alternatives.

Sunday Feast № 3 | Beef Braised in Red Wine

I do not believe in frying prosciutto.      Why? It is perfect as is, so why mess with it. However, I have no such qualms about frying pancetta or bacon. So ultimately, my belief makes little sense, and I wanted to try this recipe. Frying prosciutto around a chunk of beef and braising it in red wine is perfection! This does not mean I will be substituting fried bacon with fried prosciutto, as a pair to fried or scrambled eggs or for a sandwich, any time soon, but bending my rules was delicious!      The recipe is from “The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers” with alternatives I use.

Fun on the side and after Music Missy Elliott "The Cookbook" Drink Damilano Barbera d'Asti 2015 Movie "Locke"

Sunday Feast № 2 | Chicken Cacciatore

“Shhh. Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits.” Elmer J. Fudd might, me – not so much. Not that I have anything against eating one, but I am no cacciatore, that’s “hunter” in Italian, and my hunting, if one can even refer to it as such, is relegated to local supermarkets. So no coniglio alla cacciatora, rabbit hunter-style, here. But pollo alla cacciatora I can do!      As far as any hunter-style dishes go, there are regional variations and every household’s tastes different. There are typical ingredients that go into chicken cacciatore, chicken (of course), onion, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, wine, but I was fascinated how often the internet provides images of the dish that are red red red, more so than mine ever come out. Then I stumbled onto this in Wikipedia, not that stumbling onto anything in Wikipedia can be called stumbling: “In the United States, cacciatore dishes may be prepared with marinara sauce” according to Diane Phillips in her “Perfect Party Food” book. That explains the red look!      For now I will stick to how I do, and not forget the mushrooms – that always spells hunter-style to me.      The recipe is from “The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers” with alternatives I use based on what I have successfully “hunted” down.

Fun on the side and after Music Pandora Italian Cooking Channel Drink Alamos Malbec 2013

Sunday Feast № 1 | Eggs in Pots

Happy New Year, and if your December was full of boozy festivities or you topped it all off with a New Year’s Eve celebration that carried into the weekend, by this Sunday morning hangover and you may be well acquainted frenemies. It’s time for breakfast, to end that relationship and to ease into New Year, provided you can get up, stand up, and hold your food.       This is usually when I hear of cravings for greasy anything and “hair of the dog” remedy, and maybe there is credence to both, but personally I subscribe to a steady trickle of water and toast with honey, followed by an indulgence that will not weigh down my already suffering innards. No thanks to running, dripping grease fest, but eggs are good. Very good. Hello œufs en cocotte! Yes, you will challenge yourself a tad beyond quick frying or scrambling, treat that as part of the recovery process, but at a leisurely speed, which you will appreciate while you are hydrating, while that toast with honey is making you sweeter (oh, angel you!), and while your loved ones are asking for attention you literally do not possess this morning. Focus. You can stumble through it. If you have an oven with a glass door and a light, treat it like TV – just like the real thing, staring is welcome, in fact encouraged, as you get to know the water temperature and the time it takes to set the eggs to taste, so you can repeat not as a hangover breakfast but as part of weekend feast to start the day. The cream with eggs will hug your tummy just right.       The recipe is adapted for one egg from “The Little Paris Kitchen” by Rachel Khoo, so you can multiply it as needed and, just like Rachel, if you do not have ramekins, use ceramic cups instead.