MILO DINOSAURS

I'm not much of a drink person. I'm more of an eat person. So spoonfuls of Nestle's Everyday Milk Powder, cod liver oil, Wood's Peppermint Cough Syrup and Milo from the tin/bottle were weird combinations of snacks for my mid-afternoon-after-school indulgences before I resumed frolicking aka wrestling aka as punching matches with my brother or careering down the tarred, bumpy and sandy road on our nailed together four wheeled sled/plank. Those were the muted turquoise, mint and tangerine vintage-coloured years of my childhood.


I want it back. NOW.

Back to the future........comes Milo Dinosaur. I first heard of this concoction when N the man returned home from Singapore and gushed about it several years ago. I gave a glazed smile and the Milo dinosaur slipped into a small fissure of my brain. Then yesterday H and I found ourselves wandering into a food court like lost and aimless souls. I sashayed over to the drinks counter and my eyes fell upon the printed out price of a Milo Dinosaur at RM 5/. I almost shook with laughter and swore I'll make a Milo dinosaur when I got home. 

However my vintage mind had no clear idea where to begin so I googled a forum by teenage kids discussing their favourite Milo Dinosaurs and incredible Milo concoctions. They were so cyuute that I spent a good hour reading and giggling like a teenage schoolgirl over the threads of their conversation.


It turned out that a Milo dinosaur is a no-brainer and in my experiment I decided against using any hot water at all. I was right. The Milo dinosaur was lumpy, cold, thick, chocolatey and yummy. I also gave it a twist by adding 1/2 a teaspoon of instant coffee. Oh MY...

However, the sizes of what I made were more like baby Milo dinosaurs.....someone said.


More about Milo here.


Recipe ~ 


No exact measure really.....do what you like....its the how that makes it what it is ~


A standard mug or a small mason jar was what I used
2 T Milo powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp instant coffee
2 T (about) of very cold fresh milk
more very cold fresh milk
Crushed ice
More Milo powder


Mix ingredients 2 to 5 in the mug with a spoon until it looks muddy and the Milo granules somewhat dissolved. Add more cold milk 2/3 way up and stir. Top with crushed ice. Then top with lots of Milo powder until it looks like an anthill. Serve cold and immediately. Drink/eat with a  spoon.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S CHOCOLATE EXPRESSO SMOOTHIE

Sometimes, like a Mr. Bingley, I can be 'an unmitigated and comprehensive ass'.  I should not have been put off by Nigella's recipes and think poorly of them simply because I had read a few bad reviews. I should have tried and given at least one of her recipes a chance.

Well finally I did. Because when I saw the beautiful Nigella throwing one of her sensually composed smiles over this on tv I didn't think there could be anything remotely wrong about whizzed malt chocolate, expresso, ice cold milk and frozen banana chunks in a tumbler. 

This is the first Nigella recipe I have ever tried. Poured into an elegant, statuesque, glass tumbler it makes me feel like lifting it high in sacredness, pacing my steps cautiously, falling onto one knee and paying homage to Nigella, The Domestic Goddess. With the hope of being domestically knighted of course. Divinity in a Daiso tumbler. A domestic goddess indeedee.

The recipe ~ wholly adapted from Nigella Lawson

1 peeled banana, cut into 4 from the freezer
2/3 cups milk
1 T honey
4 tsp malted chocolate powder, like Milo or Ovaltine
1 tsp strong coffee or 1/2 tsp instant expresso powder

Put all ingredients into a blender and whizz until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and drink before rushing out the door.

A ROSELLE CORDIAL ~

There is something about a crimson coloured drink that makes it desirable and irresistible. 

I knew I had to make this when I saw it on The Hungry Caterpillar. The Roselle cordial is made from the sepals of the Roselle flower. A species of the hibiscus which is a plant native to the Old World tropics. It is of a deep plum colour, fleshy and crisp in texture, bizarre, kinky, alien-like, seemingly ready to scamper, creep, plunge, squeak, squeal and rule the world through my poor little chocolate addicted body.

H thought they looked weird, and winced when I offered him the cordial. I looked at him as adamantly as I was allowed to and, to my surprise, he relented and took a sip. Then he waved the half full glass of roselle out of my reach. I smacked his arm with my paw. As hard as I was allowed to. We grappled. We drank. We were in ecstasy and in joyful worship. Of Rosella. (Dionysus... move over)

Obviously it passed the test. So now it's bottled. Like a Genie.

It has a lovely flavour that hovers between a grape juice and a Ribena (a blackcurrant cordial). It has a slight tang to it too. It contains lots of vitamins and goodness-ess. Then I gave some to my mother.

 

Cordials are popular in this hemisphere. They are very sweet concentrated fruit flavoured syrups that need to be diluted with cold water, topped with ice cubes and then served.  In short, it contains copious amounts of sugar. It's the poor man's alternative to fruit juices. They are very refreshing.

The seeds found inside the sepals contain natural pectin and if these roselle sepals are to be cooked into a jam the seeds are boiled seperately in some water, drained, the seeds discarded and the gel like liquid that remains behind is added to the boiled sepals-sugar mixture to give it the final gel-like quality of jam. Fascinating.

PS ~ What a lovely and natural way to color cakes and icing.

The recipe ~ an approximation ~

300-350 gm roselle sepals

3 cups of granulated sugar

5-6 cups water

Rinse rosella sepals until clean. Drain. Pluck the sepals and remove all the seeds. 

Place water in a pot. Add sepals and bring to a boil and then a medium simmer for about 8- 10 minutes. The water will turn crimson immediately. Add sugar and simmer again until the sugar dissolves. Give it a stir. When sugar has dissolved and the syrup is a gorgeous crimson drain through a sieve and discard the sepals. 

Cool and store the syrup in a sterilized bottle.

To serve ~  

Pour about an inch and a half of the Rosella syrup into a glass and then fill up to 3/4 way with chilled water. Add ice cubes if you like. Taste for sweetness. Add more of the syrup if not sweet enough or more water if too sweet. Add a squeeze of lime and some slices if desired. Drink and be refreshed. 

It's a beautiful and gorgeous drink. How could one resist ?

RED & YELLOW WATERMELON GRANITA

I know....... summer in some parts of foodie world is over. But in my world ~  summer is forever. 

So there is nothing like an ice cold headache-inducing water melon granita to keep those heat waves at bay. This was just so refreshing that when my daughter and I mouthed the first few scoops of ice cold crystallized melon juice aka as granita while watching tv the heat outside just seemed to dissipate into a mirage-y blur and I felt transported to several degrees below 100. 

It was a continuous effort between cooling down and an ice cold headache. At times it was like my brain was being flashed frozen and the next minute relieved of it. It was a foodie's fight against nature. As hard as that may sound I would do granita again and again if the heat keeps up. Rain? Come again? Pretty please?

Of course granita turned to pleasant slush afterwards and I wished I had one of those big fat drain pipe straws then. Slurpy slurp.

I used red and yellow seedless water melon for these granitas. Since the watermelon was so sweet I cut it down with a few squirts of lemon juice. While I was at it I chopped some mint and threw it into the red watermelon slush/soon to be granita.  Gosh it was so good. These granitas.

So......

When you're feelin' kinda hotta 

Grab an ice cold and crunchy granita.

The recipe ~ serves many or when summers are forever

1 red watermelon

1 yellow watermelon

Juice of 1 or 2 lemons, if desired

pinch of sea salt

some chopped mint, if desired 

Scoop out the red watermelon meat. Place in a blender and blitz. Add a pinch of sea salt, lemon juice if desired. Swish and pour into a tub and when half frozen take out from the freezer and agitate it with a fork. Do it a couple of more times until you get granita according to the texture that pleases you. Scoop granita into individual glasses, layering the red and yellow granitas if you fancy, garnish with a sprig of mint and serve yourself and others. Best served when the sun is relentless and totally beating down on you. Mmm-hmmm. ~ Cooool ~

Ditto for the yellow watermelon granita.

Photographing these granitas was a nightmare. They slushed on me.

STRAWBERRY MANGO SNOW CONE ~ TYLER FLORENCE'S

Did you know that you could shave ice in a blender? You did? In an ice kacang, snow ball kind of way I mean. You did? Well I didn't. I never thought of shaving just plain ice cubes in a blender and making a snow cone. Nope. Never. But Tyler Florence did and I  am so pleased.

But I have to tell you that I was nervous making these. Not because they were difficult to do. They were the easiest things to make imaginable. No cooking was involved. Just some blitzing in the blender and the whole process was over.

But what was nerve wrecking was the thought of photographing food that has the potential to melt right before your very eyes. So I was working against time or rather against thawing and these were what I took. Melting snow cones.

But they are pretty and Tyler Florencehas such pretty ideas. And not an ounce of fat in it. Don't you just love him? Although I would have added a little honey in it because the strawberries and the mango were not quite sweet enough.  But it makes a great tropical and summery treat. Cool and so refreshing. And so easy. Guiltless indulgence these snow cones are. Oh yes. On a hot tropical day this is your answer to thirst.

The recipe ~ Adapted wholly from Tyler Florence


2 mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 lime juice
8 cups ice cubes
mint leaves for garnish
lime slices or wedges for garnish


Puree mangoes and strawberries with the lime juice in a blender until fine and pureed. Pour int  a jug and keep in the refrigerator.


Crush ice cubes in a blender until very fine like snow. Put  a pile of snow into bowls or cups and pour the fruit puree on top until no more white ice can be seen. Serve immediately. :)

ICE COLD CUCUMBER JUICE

I've been a good girl. Hub's been a good boy. So we haven't been fighting. Even though it's been screaming hot out here in the tropics; when every day is a good day for a short temper. When everyday is a good day to be dense and disgusting clods. When everyday is a good day to bake an egg on the pavement. And call it a meal. When everyday is a good day to be seared and scalded by our shower water. When everyday is a good day to be blinded by a glinting sun. Everyday is simply a good day to be BAD.


But then again....... everyday is a good day. Because my busy bamboo tree is sprouting. Because my sweet lavender and irises are blooming (sort of). Because my camera's battery's fully charged. Because my handphone's not ringing. Because I cracked some really funny jokes. And someone laughed. Because the maids just cleaned the house. Because there's some minted ice cold cucumber juice in the refrigerator...waiting. Because...oh....because it's going to rain!

But do you know what keeps us really good? Ice cold minty cucumber drinks served on a cheery cheery tray. mmmmmhmmm.



Here's the recipe.................

1 cucumber, skinned and cut into chunks
1 lemon, juice squeezed out, seeds removed
2 tbsp sugar,
a few or many mint leaves (optional)
1 cup of ice cold water, more or less

Put everything into a blender and swish. Taste for sweetness and adjust if necessary. Serve chilled and ice cold and with ice cubes on a cheery cheery tray. mmmmmhmmm