I Funghi, I Gamberetti, il Porco e la Pasta

My former classmate Marlene is leaving for China in August to study in Hainan University. As she is going to be eating dogs, cats, rats and pandas for the next year, I decided to send her off with a dinner- Julian style (Italian cooking- as all my recipes are pasta based- due to the fact that I cannot cook rice up to the required standard)
William Cunningham had never met Marlene before so he was invited as well.
I christened the meal "I funghi, I Gamberetti, il Porco e la Pasta"- figure that out yourself!
The taste was heavenly, in some other life I might have been a cook. The ingredients included- pasta (obviously) Mushrooms, Prawns, Onions, Pork sausages- all these fried in honey tinted oil, as usual a chicken accompanied the meal, with some Australian Shiraz wine to wash it all down- Scrumptious
A friend of mine got me some plantains from London, cheaper in London than in Sunderland. I haven't had plantains as a student, so this was special.
Since Marlene was the guest of honour, she got the honour of eating with my sqaure plate- the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a guest.

Unfortunately, the only pics that exist of this meal are really unflattering and do no justice to my culinary skill, but I will make do with what I have



Click for a larger picture

Eating in Persia

Where to eat? that was the question..Cunningham, Ashmawy and I took the trip by Metro from Sunnyland to Newcastle in order to taste the flavours of Lebanon. We reached the restaurant and walked in, the smell from the kitchen was heavenly, I don't know what spice it was, but it was tantalizing, the kind of smell I want to smell forever (okay...maybe not forever, but you get the point) The problem was the the Lebanese restaurant was booked out, it was a small place, and it was packed full! We were told we had to wait 45 mins in order to get a seat...we couldn't wait that long, we were absolutely famished. Ashmawy decided to speak to the Maitre'D in Arabic..we thought we might get special treatment by culturally aligning ourselves with him: That didn't work!
We didn't have the patience to wait 45 mins, so we decided to look elsewhere, we passed by a Spanish restaurant with absolutely no one inside. Passed an Italian, but the last time we three dined together it was Italian, moreover we had an apetite for the flavours of the Middle East.
The closest thing we saw was Greek! Not the Middle East, but still found in the Bible so it counts as 'one of them' We entered without properly looking at the food prices....we were shown our seats and were about to sit down before William (who had his characteristic worried look on his face) quipped 'Guys, we gotta go', but how? It would be slightly embarrasing to just up and leave when confronted with the menu! So we came up with a story, we said we had to go fetch more friends, so we'd be back in a bit. And off we went.
There it was, a diamond in the rough! 'Ali Baba' restaurant (forgive the rather childish name) serving the finest Persian dishes (Persian is Iranian for those that don't know). We went inside, the ambience was lush, I loved it, we loved it, we sat.
The waiter had bragged about the size of the dishes, challenging us as to whether we could finish it. The starters were huge, well at least William's and mine were (we ordered Koofteh..lamb meatballs) Ashmawy had stuffed Vine Leaves..and he wasn't stuffed (bad pun, but it had to be done)
My main course was a meal called 'Ghormeh Sabzi'...absolutely amazing! leek, parsley, spinach and coriander. This mixture is cooked with kidney beans, green onions, chives, dried limes, and lamb meat. It is then served with Basmati rice. I thoroughly enjoyed it!..I'll definately be going back
The price was right as well!


Ali Baba Restaurant
7-9 Bigg Market
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1UN

Coconut

I was wandering through Tesco yesterday and came up to the fruit aisle, I was feeling odd and decided to get an exotic tropical fruit, my first thought was: Mango! but then I recalled that I usually get tummy trouble after eating it..I then thought about Avocado, but I had eaten that a few weeks ago...I scanned the aisle, and my eyes fell on this round, brown, hard fruit...with hair! yes The Coconut. I picked it up and checked out.
When I got home I picked the coconut and stared at it, I asked myself two questions. Firstly, with the absence of a hammer, how on earth was I going to break it open? and then How could I incorporate coconut into my meal?....I also asked myself other questions like Who was the first person to eat a coconut? I mean he or she must have been stranded on an island with absolutely no food, just coconut trees and large stones.
Well, Tesco advises to use the blunt end of a very large knife and hit the coconut at its widest point. I do not endorse this method, as it involves a large blade pointed at your face. If you wanna eat coconut, go to Tesco and get it, then go to hardware store and get a hammer.
Well, I tried the Tesco method and all it did was mess up the kitchen, with coconut hair flying everywhere. My flatmate Vishal (who is less scared of big knives) managed to half the coconut using this method, I then proceeded to break the halves into smaller pieces using our kitchen wall..it worked.
What was left was to seperate the endosperm (or Coconut meat as it is known, but I prefer coconut white....as it does not look like, taste like, or feel like meat) from the husk, this proved a daunting task, and involved us Googooling (notice the extra 'oo' after the 'l', this is to prevent you pronouncing it -Goog-Ling', and since 'Googleing' would add to confusion, I have come up with 'Googooling- Smart!)methods of removing the white from the husk...suggestions included getting 'Indian coconut scoopers from Calcutta'...we didn't have the time, but I had an idea. I decided to boil the pieces for about 20 minutes, this softened the white a bit, and it was much easier to scoop out.
I was eating the remnants of my whole chicken...actually it was still pretty much whole, just missing thighs and wings, so yes, I was eating that, and pasta. I grated the coconut and fried it with the breasts I had carved out, I also added some to the pasta, and it gave it a nice sweet tinge! Innovative!! So yes I had once again formed a new recipe "La Noix de Coco avec le Poulet et Pâtes" (never have recipe names in English it makes it sound normal...use a Latin language instead) which in English simply means "Coconut with chicken and pasta", now you see why French is better!

Unfortunately no pictures of this meal exist as I gobbled it up as soon as it was done.

Oh God I Love Cooking!

Julian O'bubo's Two Pan Method to making the perfect omelette

Do you strive for perfection? Do you want to make a circular omelette, but end up making scrambled egg? Do you think you can never make an omelette like you see in cookbooks? Well fear no more, for Julian O'Bubo (My Irish alter-ego) is here.
Through long research and dedicated dedication I have found a way to make the perfect omelette, it's called the 'Julian O'bubo Two Pan Method' Yes Two-pan method. As the name suggests you will need two non-stick frying pans. Mix your egg and ingredients (mushrooms, fish, chicken etc) in a mixing bowl and begin to fry, when the bottom of the mixture has hardened, get the other frying pan (with oil or butter in it...obviously) and turn the runny side of the omelette unto the other pan. When both sides are done, you my friend would have made the perfect omelette!

Please be careful....hot oil is involved.

Your omelette should vaguely resemble this:

If it doesn't look like this then you have messed up along the way, toss it in the bin and start again!

La Pasta Africano

Yesterday, my flatmate Vishal and I, while shopping at ASDA decided to have a cooking competition. We were to go head to head and create an original recipe, cook it and present it, and an independent judge will taste and assess the food and declare the winner.
Well, being the Cook that I am (if I wasn't doing PR, I'll be doing Theology or Culinary Arts) I created my second original dish, aptly named: 'La Pasta Africano'(pasta is a running theme in my cooking)
The Recipe is as follows:

1 Tin of Sardines
1 fruit of avocado
Dried carrot and Swede
Canned rings of pineapples
White sauce
Small fry-able parts of chicken breasts
2 chicken breast fillets
Pack of salted peanuts
Stir fry vegetables
Mateus Rose wine
Mushrooms
Fusilli Pasta

Procedure

1- Grind the peanuts in a grinder
2- Chop and fry the mushrooms, and add the ground peanuts
3- Fry one breast in the mixture
4- Fry the other breast in the mashed flesh of avocado
5- Boil the pasta
6- Mash the sardines and add to the white sauce, add a dash of Rose wine
7- Bring the sardine sauce to boil
8- Stir fry the stir fry vegetables, add a healthy dash of Rose wine
9- Mix the stir fry vegetables, the carrots and swede with the boiled pasta
10- Serve in a large plate, generously apply the sardine sauce over the pasta
11- Fry three rings of pineapples for about 2 minutes in low heat, with some pepper
12- Garnish the dish with the pineapples
13- The chickens are also on the plate...

After all that, your dish should resemble this:


If it does not look like that then you have done something wrong. Eat your mistake (if edible) and start over again

La pasta di formaggio di Julian

Today I finished my much talked about essay on the USA as a terrorist state, an essay that I am very proud of.
I went with the essay to my lecturer, Dr. Amir Saeed to see if he had any final words, he read it and seemed content. He told me my essay was amongst the 'elite' ever written in the module.
SO with a big smile on my face.. I chose to celebrate. I got the usual pasta stuff, mix vegetables and chicken portions, and grated cheese. Food aside, I went to wilkinsons to get a new 'square black plate' you know, tryna be all modern.
I then created my new dish, the recipe I will keep a secret. It tastes heavenly...ohh so good. Since it was pasta, I decided to give my new dish an Italian name, hence: "La pasta di formaggio di Julian", which translates literally as "The pasta of cheese of Julian"...you get the point!
I still have one more essay to do before I can finally put my feet up!