Tip of the day/week/month

I am simply passing forward the wisdom shared by my Indian friend:
Before boiling the rice, wash it several times - 3-4 could be enough - in order to get rid of all the impurities.

My Carrot Sticks

Very often, a picture could be a good inspiration for a successful recipe. Sometimes, it is a measure of the success - or failure - of an amateur cook. 

In my case, I started by being mesmerized for a couple of seconds by this wonderful picture, and went as far as away as I dared to try my own variant. In my picture, the result doesn't look too tasty. Or even not tasty at all. But, believe me, at the end of the first 5 minutes of complaining about how unskillful cook I am, half of the products were eaten - and not by me, as a form of extreme punishment. At the end of the day, maybe I am only a bad photographer.

The ingredients, for 2 persons:
10 carrots peeled and boiled and thereafter sliced
2 cloves of garlic
100 ml. sesame oil
2 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
All ingredients are fried at 250C for between 15 - 20 minutes.
Bon Appetit!

Broccoli and sesame

As in other cases, this tasty recipe is the result of a cross-reading of various recipes, to which I added a tablespoon - or two - of creativity.

The recipe is for 3 persons.

Ingredients

400 gr. broccoli - boiled

200 gr. mushrooms - half-fried

100 ml. sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Sliced and carefully mixed, the composition is fried for almost 20 minutes and then served on a place. Adding yogurth and salt might be very good ideas for having a light, healthy and tasty dinner.

Ideas about risotto

I must recognize that in the last 2 weeks I've been more focused on style than on content. In other words, I tried to work a bit for improving my knowledge and bibliography and writing qualities, instead of posting regularly (as I wished to). But this area is still very new for me and lots of changes are more than necessarily. If you want to hear a secret: not even cooked too sophisticatedly (call it cook's block), but I have some reserve recipes right in my left pocket.

During my wondering across the city libraries, I stumbled upon this book about Risotto. My personal encounter with risotto took place a couple of years ago when I visited for the first time the wonderful city of Milan and since then it was hardly for me to repeat the olfactive experience of a right rice combination.

After reading this book - with careful notes, as for any serious (almost academic-wise) approach, I am nurturing the hope that I will reconstruct my Milan memories every two days. In some of my dreams I see, smell and taste Risotto with: Gorgonzola and figs; raspberries and goat cheese; pears and chilli; pumpkin, mushrooms and lemon.

An extra disclosure of two tips: add some butter (I knew), but also some white wine (I didn't). 

I have prepared another book review, but after writing this I can't switch my mind from my risotto memories...

Do you need a new saucepan collection? CSN Stores have the sollution (P)

Image by nate steiner via Flickr//The joy of cooking is only one saucepan away

If yes, just have a look at this variety of saucepans offered by the CSN Stores. Hard decision, as I would like to test at least five different models. Even if you are not a dedicated cooker, you would like to learn how to prepare your own tasty food.

As for me, would be back soon with a fresh review of some products!

Food trends: Coconut oil

After reading this article, I would like to try cooking something with coconut oil.