CORNFLAKE MACAROONS

This is a very very simple recipe that is basically a meringue. Is a meringue. Quick to make, looks pretty, nice and chewy inside and crusty on the outside with cornflakes to add texture and crunch. Like all things sweet it is a good accompaniment to a bitter cup of coffee.

2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup cornflakes
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat egg whites with the whisk attachment until stiff then add sugar gradually until soft peaks form. Add vanilla essence and beat a while more. Do not over beat otherwise the meringue will 'fall'.

Fold in cornflakes with a spatula.

Put little mounds on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and bake at 170 C for 20 -25 minutes.

Quotes on Food - For Thought

There's nothing that triggers creativity more than when you have cooked something but that something is better left unblogged. But you still have, that irrepressible urge, to post a post anyway. I had three disasters in a row. A burnt lasagna, an ugly korma and a dry cake.

So I begun to see patterns on the bottom side of the pancake that I made this morning and I took a picture thinking, perhaps, that I could present them as food art. The three fingered cracks on the cake caught my eye and I wielded the camera again. Licked spoons in dirty bowls attracted me like flies to garbage. Everything became potentially bloggable as I scrutinized and searched the still uncleared dining table. I pondered. I googled. I looked at other food blogs, I seethed, and then I hated them immensely :D. I did everything but got my bottom off the chair to whip something up in the kitchen.

Then I remembered Woody Allen's line, Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once. Now I know why I can't post and whip something up at the same time!

Then I remembered Francis Bacon's line, Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. And with that I just know now that I have to post a post tonight instead of hoping to post one tomorrow. Do it now! Not tomorrow! Not yesterday! Do it now! is another line by a very successful and young Indonesian entrepreneur who started a kebab franchise and became very very wealthy afterwards.

With that I googled frantically and I came up with a pretty long list of quotable quotes on food. For thought. And for my blog.

Here they are :

There's nothing worse than a wife who can cook but won't than a wife who can't cook but will.
~Samuel Johnson~

Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar and then thrown out.
~Stephen Wright~

Escargot is French for a crawling bag of phlegm.
~Dave Berry~

Personally I stay away from natural foods. At my age I need all the preservatives I can get.
~George Burns ~

Whenever cannibals are on the brink of starvation, Heaven, In it's infinite mercy, sends them a fat missionary.
~Oscar Wilde~

Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal.
~Voltaire~

I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There's no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward.
~John Mortimer~

Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think.
~Tom Wilson~

The only time to eat diet food is while waiting for the steak to cook.
~Julia Childs~

I am not a glutton. I am a food explorer.
~Erma Bombeck~

Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.
~Sophia Loren~

My mom made two dishes. Take it or leave it.
~Stephen Wright~

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.
~Orson Welles~

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce make it Chinese; garlic make it good.
~Alice May Rock ~

There are five elements : earth, air, water and garlic.
~Louis Dlat~

It is so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's finger's have been all over it.
~Julia Childs~

Sigh. Got to buy some food. A mouse hung itself in my fridge and left a note 'Can't live like this'.
~ Ustas~

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure.
~I did not note the author~

The only way to get your wife to cook good is to get her to blog food.
~me~

SEASONED AND BAKED POTATO SLICES

These potato slices are not as crispy as I would have liked them to be but they are very delicious and much much better than frying which would have been extremely messy. I used olive oil so I did not have to worry about using too much oil. Good to make as a side dish while something else is cooking on the stove.

3 medium potatoes, I used Holland potatoes (That's what they call it here)
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne pepper
Olive oil

Large baking tray lined with Non-stick baking paper

Serves 4

Slice potatoes thinly, skin on, with a knife, about a millimeter thick or thin.
Arrange on the lined tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dribble olive oil over the pieces. Rub the seasonings in with your fingers and then rearrange them on the paper in a single layer as much as possible. Sprinkle over them some cayenne pepper for extra spiciness and colour.

Bake in 190 C oven until the potato slices are golden brown and the edges curl very slightly. Serve hot or warm as an extra dish to a meal.

CHICKEN KORMA

A chicken korma dish from scratch. Dry roasted spices in a pan and ground to a powder. Aromatic. But I have given the measurements for ready ground spices for easier cooking. Korma is a mild and creamy curry. Originating from India korma uses no chillie powder or paste unlike the red curry.

In most of my cooking I prefer using 4 chicken whole legs chopped up with the bones in rather than a whole chicken simply to avoid the breast meat which no one at home likes.The meat from the thighs and drumsticks are always more succulent and tasty.

4 chicken whole legs, cut up into medium sized chunks

8-10 shallots, half of them sliced finely
4 cloves garlic
7 candlenuts

2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp fennel powder
1 tbsp white pepper powder

1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 cloves
2 cardomom pods

2 tbsp yoghurt
about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup thick coconut milk

Serves 4-6

Pound of grind to a paste ina food processor half of the shallots and the candlenuts. Heat up about 5 tablespoons of oil till hot and saute the finely sliced shallots until golden. Add the whole spice, that is, the cinnamon stick etc then add the ground shallots and candlenut paste and fry till the paste is translucent and almost golden in hue.

Mix the powdered spices with water until the consistency of evaporated milk and add it to the sauteed onion mixture ans saute until the spice and onion paste turns a darker shade. It will take a good few minutes to allow the spices to really cook through.

Pour in about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk and bring to a boil then add the chicken pieces and stir to coat. Allow the chicken to simmer in the spices and coconut milk and in its own juices a while. Add salt.

When the juices have evaporated some then add the rest of the coconut milk and yoghurt and salt if necessary and potaoto pieces if you like. Allow to simmer until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through.

Serve hot with rice.

TIP : The gravy should be thick and not thin so control the amount of coconut milk that you pour in leaving behind a little and adding it if necessary towards the end if you think the you would like more gravy.

TIP : When cutting the potatoes in a curry like this I usually bevel the edges of the cut potato with a knife. A beveled edge is stronger and the potato pieces do not disintegrate easily while simmering in curry or soup, even if slightly over cooked.