Aligue Pasta with Baby Shrimps

It's a heart attack on a plate! Crab fat pasta with baby shrimps! I've missed aligue. I used to love it as a kid but haven't had it in a while. Today I decided to reward myself for no reason at all by eating ridiculously calorie rich crab fat! On the upside, I used brown pasta instead of white. That makes it a little bit healthier, right? 

So it's rather easy to make. Just sautee some garlic and onions, throw in the baby shrimps, sautee some more and then add the aligue. Sprinkle some chili flakes and lemon juice..toss in the pasta and you're done! 

Happy eating!

Lazy Sunday

There's nothing quite like comfort food on a lazy Spring Sunday. I have a long list of comfort food and cookies are definitely in the top 10. I went grocery shopping yesterday and I saw these organic cocoa cookies made in Brazil that looked yummy so I decided to try them and they were yummy! I finished the whole box (around 12 cookies) in about 3 sittings. Plus I made a strawberry-mango yogurt shake which was also very comforting.  

Next week and the week after that are going to be craaaazyy busy so I'm going to enjoy what looks like my last lazy Sunday for April. 

Ooh, to digress, I picked flowers today! It's fantastic how many of these pretty yellow flowers grow absolutely everywhere around Innbsruck. I think they're giving me hay fever though--but they're so pretty!! totally worth it  :)

 

Adobo and brown rice

It's Spring in Innsbruck! The days are longer and the flowers are starting to bloom. Work has been really hectic since I got back from Dublin so this weekend was a very welcome break. It was nice enough to eat outside today so that's what I did! I made pork adobo and had a lovely lunch on my porch/balcony/veranda whatever you call it. I loovvee adobo--it reminds me of home. :)


To make it I just sauteed some garlic and onions, added the pork--fried it until brown..then I added the vinegar and soy sauce (I don't measure when I cook, sorry!) I let the pork absorb the flavors for a few minutes then I added some beef stock..I let it boil until the pork was tender then I fried the pork again in oil and added the sauce from the pan with some flour to thicken it. It's a long process but well worth it for some good ol' adobo. 


On an unrelated note, I discovered a new bike path yesterday..it went along the river and the views were absolutely breath-taking. I went back today to take pictures. Yesterday, I was able to do 12 kms..will try to go farther next time :)


Happy Spring everyone!

Eating my way through Dublin

Dublin was fun! It's such a charming city--cobblestone streets, old buildings, and most of all good food! I gained a katrillion pounds over the weekend! I think the best way to explain would be through photo-captions, enjoy!

Day 1 - Have your cake and eat it too!

My first day in Dublin, I set off in search of this cafe I read about online, Cake Cafe. It was about a one hour walk out of the city center and was ridiculously hard to find but well worth it. I had this salad first--greens with goat's cheese, butternut squash, and hazelnuts. It was fantastic.

This was still at the Cake Cafe. I got lucky because this was the last slice left. It wasn't really the best chocolate cake I've ever had but it was pretty good-- not too sweet and very fudgy.

I didn't have any gingerbread men, although I wanted to!
They were just really pretty so I couldn't help but take pictures :)

Isn't it lovely?

 Day 2 - Something's fishy

It was around 6ish and I'd just gotten back from a half-day tour of Newgrange (a passage-tomb older than the pyramids!) and Hill of Tara and I was walking around Temple Bar, starving, when I saw this nice Italian dessert place and I had my second chocolate cake of the trip. It was good! Too sweet though, but good!

Still hungry post-chocolate binge, I saw this fish & chips place that was supposed to be really famous (at least according to their sign). I went in and saw that they'd served Hillary Swank, Kate Moss, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and other celebrities..and hey, if it's good enough for Bono, then I'm having at it! I had the smoked cod and chips which reminded me of daing na bangus for some reason. Anyway, it was a huge plate of chips and a slab of fish bigger than my head, but I finished it all! It was that good!

Day 3 - Color me Irish green

The B & B I stayed at served a very filling traditional Irish breakfast everyday. It was so filling that I'd only eat breakfast, skip lunch, and then eat dinner--which was great because I got to save money!

I'd sworn to myself that I wasn't going to leave Dublin without having a proper Irish meal so I went over to Gallagher's Boxty House, a traditional Irish restaurant, and had a three-course meal that started with this salad. It had greens, caramelized pears, blue cheese, candied walnuts, and a sort of pesto dressing--heavenly!

This was my main course--traditional Irish stew with Guinness bread. I think out of all the meals I had, this was the most disappointing. I kept on adding salt to it--and still it was as bland as cardboard! But I finished it anyway! hahaha

Oh, this was DIVINE! It's a Bailey's cheesecake with raspberry-chocolate sauce. Food-wise, this was the highlight of my trip! Absolutely delicious! Every bite was heaven! Dare I say the best cheesecake I've had EVER!

And that was my Dublin foodtrip for you. I might actually try some Irish dishes soon..okay, probably not.

Happy eating!

Turkish food and the church on the hill

"Kabak Mucveri" - Turkish Zucchini Fritters

"Köfte" - Turkish Meatballs

"Yayla Corbasi" - Yogurt soup with rice and mint

Köfte and Chicken (I don't know what it's called)

In celebration of her newly-purchased couch, a colleague of mine invited me over to her place for an authentic Turkish dinner. I'm not really that familiar with Turkish food and I haven't had the chance to eat that much of it in my life so I was excited to be able to have a proper Turkish meal. She made Zucchini fritters, an interesting yogurt-rice-mint soup, Turkish meatballs, and some chicken. Everything was surprisingly really good! I went home totally stuffed and a big fan of Turkish food. I might even try some recipes of my own soon :) 

To digress, today while exploring on my bike I discovered a lovely little reading spot atop a hill with a pretty church on it. The view was spectacular and it was so quiet, so peaceful--a perfect place to unwind. 

Here are a few pictures so you'll get what I mean...

View from the top of the hill

Pretty church

On my way up

When I got back down

Baked Salmon and Curried Chickpeas

I just finished dinner and I have a stack of dishes to clean (some of them are from this morning!) so I'm going to hurry this up. This baked salmon was gooood. The curried chickpeas I didn't like so much, but the fish was fantastic!

I didn't really expect it to turn out so well because I made it in a hurry and just covered the fillet in salt, pepper, olive oil and some flour and stuck it in the oven, but it ended up tasting great. I got the fish out of the oven at just the right time too!

I made too much of the chickpeas though so I'm going to have to eat those for lunch tomorrow..darn.


Anyway, those dishes aren't going to clean themselves!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

I had some leftover chicken satay and half a head of lettuce so I decided to make chicken lettuce wraps. This recipe will work with grilled chicken, fried chicken, baked chicken--just as long as it's chicken breasts. So the fun part is the peanut sauce. Just mix some plain creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy), with some lemon juice, garlic powder, chili flakes, olive oil, salt, and some pepper and that's it. Just wrap the chicken up in some lettuce leaves, add the peanut sauce and eat up! These would work great as appetizers too.

Happy eating!

Coconut Shrimp Curry

Explored Innsbruck on my bike today. Was riding for about 3 hours or so and when I got back to my apartment I was starvinggg! I finished that whole plate of curry and rice you see up there--the whole thing! I'm stuffed! 

To make it, I sauteed some garlic and onions and added the sliced potatoes. When the potatoes were a bit brown I added the shrimp and some chicken stock. Covered that for about 5 or so minutes and removed the shrimp and boiled the potatoes in the broth until cooked. When the potatoes were ready, I put back the shrimp and added the coconut milk, some ready-made gram masala paste, and some curry powder. Stirred everything until the sauce was thick and that was it! Poured the whole thing on some rice and stuffed myself silly.

Here are some photos from my bike ride...


 

Gouda and Prosciutto Omelet with Grapefruit

Today's shaping up to be a really nice day. The sun is shining and it's fantastic outside. And what better way to start a beautiful day than with a wonderfully-tasty breakfast?

This is the first time I made this omelet. I was looking through my fridge and the ingredients just jumped out at me. You'll need 2 eggs, prosciutto, garlic, gouda, and some chili flakes. 

Just beat the eggs in a bowl, add some salt, pepper, and chili flakes and set aside. Fry the garlic in some olive oil. When the garlic turns brown add the egg mixture. Add the prosciutto and gouda to one side of the egg and when it looks like it's ready, cover it with the other side. Sprinkle some chili flakes if you want some added kick, slice the grapefruit lengthwise into quarters and enjoy!

Sweet Avocados and Spaghetti with Tuna sauce

Sweet avocados are <3

 

In my guacamole post yesterday I mentioned my grandmother's sweet avocados recipe and it got me craving for some so I made it for lunch today with a few minor modifications--I mixed skim milk and evaporated milk and I added cinnamon to it. 

For the tuna sauce, just sautee some onions and garlic, add some tomatoes, anchovies, and tomato sauce, then add the canned tuna. Once everything is mixed together, add the cooked spaghetti, toss in some freshly chopped cilantro, grate some cheese over it and enjoy!

Roasted Lamb and Asparagus

This recipe reminds me of home. We love roasted lamb. It does take a bit of time and effort to make but it's well worth it. 

I used lamb cutlets for this. The secret to making it tender and flavorful is to let it boil over low heat. Slice a small onion, put it in a pan with some water, a beef bouillon cube, some salt and pepper, and the lamb cutlets and let it sit over low heat for a while until it's tender. 

After it's tender, get the meat, grate some pepper on it and stick it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. 


That's it. Simple ingredients that make a fantastically delicious meal. 


Enjoy!

Anchovy and cheese sandwich with guacamole

I remember the avocados in milk and sugar that my grandmother used to make when I was younger. I grew up thinking that avocados can only be eaten with milk and sugar. I feel stupid admitting to this, but I only discovered that avocados were the main ingredient in guacamole a few years ago. :)

It took me a while to get used to eating avocados as guacamole but now I absolutely love it. And I make a mean guacamole too!

Just get one ripe avocado, mash it in a bowl, add some salt and pepper to it, some garlic powder, freshly chopped garlic, some lemon juice, cayenne pepper, cilantro and tomatoes sliced into little squares and that's it--yummy guacamole.


The sandwich is just as easy--it's just anchovies, gouda cheese, garlic powder, and tomato slices. Put it in a sandwich maker, wait a while..and there you have it.

Lunch!

The joys of pre-marinated fish

The supermarket close to my apartment has these packaged pre-marinated pangasius fillets that go for 0.89 cents. Really cheap and the marinade isn't half bad either. There are days, like today, when I'm either too tired or too lazy to cook anything and it's on days like this that these pre-marinated fish packages are a God-send. 

I just sliced some leftover red bell peppers to go with it. easy enough.

The past week we had hotdog sandwiches, tacos, and sloppy joes at the office for lunch--I really wish I brought my camera. I miss eating junk. My boss makes a mean beef taco--really really goooood stuff.


Anyhoot, thinking about it makes me hungry so I'm gonna go cook dinner.

Happy eating!

Tandoori Chicken and Rice

I loooovee Indian food. Well, actually exotic food in general, but Indian food is way up there. I was absolutely thrilled that my tandoori chicken turned out so well. Plus I got to use the Japanese-rice topping thingy on my rice!

The whole process of making it is a bit time-consuming and I've been feeling very lazy lately so no posts on how to make it but there are instant masala mixtures available in most supermarkets that taste equally good so that's an idea right there!

Anyway, it was a really good lunch. :D

Happy eating!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes with Light Maple Syrup and Blueberries

Haven't had the chance to post anything until now because I've been eating out for the past week. We had Italian in town on Monday, Greek on Tuesday, traditional Austrian food on Wednesday and hotel food on Thursday and Friday. It's been ridiculous! Such good food, I've been eating like a crazywoman! But that's over and done with and now, about two pounds later, I'm back to reality and cooking again!

I bought this Archer Farms Apple Cinnamon Pancake mix in the US a few months ago and about six or so pancakes later I've finally discovered the perfect way to make it. The box calls for butter but I use olive oil and low-fat milk so it's a teensy bit healthier. 

I'm too lazy to go into detail about it but I think it's easy enough to follow the box's instructions. Fresh blueberries are a nice touch and eat it with yoghurt for a more filling breakfast.

Okay, I should really go running now. Will post again for lunch!! 

Happy eating!

Happy mornings!

oatmeal with berries and wild honey

half-and-half croissants: one half with cherry jam

..and the other half with peanut butter and bananas

If I had to pick my favorite meal of the day, it'd be breakfast. It's just that breakfast stands out. I mean, you can eat the same stuff for lunch and dinner but breakfast, breakfast is special. And my past two breakfasts have been special because it's the weekend! and I get to take my time in making breakfast. Not that any of these breakfasts I'm posting actually need tons of effort, but you catch my drift. :)

Happy mornings!

Baked Lemon and Onion Pangasius with a Tomato and Radish salad

Look Ma, vegetables!

So we never got to go to the traditional Austrian restaurant overlooking Italy because I had to leave last minute for a business trip to London. And when I say "last minute," I mean LAST MINUTE. But it was a fun trip and I got to help a child out which more than makes up for the lack of sleep and craziness of the other night. But I digress, so we didn't get to eat Austrian mountain food, but hopefully we'll still go next week or the week after that so I can post pictures! 

Anyway, back to this dish. I went for a run after work today and was starving when I got home so I didn't really have much time to be inventive for dinner so I ended up making an oldie but a goodie, my baked lemon fish. I've been making this dish for years, it's super easy and is full of fresh flavors.

Just season a fillet of any white fish (I used Pangasius) with salt and pepper, squeeze the juice of half a lemon on it, throw in some garlic, diced onions, some chili flakes and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. That's it!


The salad is just as easy: tomatoes, radishes, olive oil, and crumbled feta cheese. Then mix some balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash together for the dressing and you're done!


Happy eating!

 

The fantastic view from the plane on my way back to Innsbruck