Pumpkin in Sweet Coconut Milk ♥

Here in Thailand everything is bought fresh. 

At the market, the produce you choose to take home can be chopped for you exactly as you wish. This is such a treat specially in the case of pumpkins which are, at times, very hard to peel...

I went to the market and got busy...

Click here to see a video on how Thais make coconut milk at the markets!!!

You will need:

2 cups of kabocha cut in chunks {japanese pumpkin} with or without the skin or any squash you can get your hands on
1 cup of fresh coconut milk {or plain milk if you dont have any coconut milk}
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil {omit if using coconut milk}
Add any spices you may desire {cardamon, star anise, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, ginger...}
Sweeten to taste

Add all the ingredients to a small pan and cook in medium to low heat until the pumpkin is cooked {about 10 minutes or so}. You can eat it hot or cold, both are very delicious and remember that in Traditional Chinese Medicine, pumpkin is a very good spleen tonic. 1 cup contains only 30 calories and 0 fat, rich in Vitamins A, B6, C and E. Strengthens your immune system and is rich in beta carotene, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

Let me know what you think!!!!!!! 

Garlic & Lemon Chicken Roast and Soup

You see the soup first because it is not really nice to open a page and see a raw chicken on top of a few vegetables, is it?

Basically, I made a perfect roast chicken last Sunday and used the left overs to make an absolutely delicious chicken soup as I love the idea of not wasting left overs!!!

I hate waste and for a while now have been recycling my food because the data shocked me: In São Paulo alone, the waste on food goes to about R$ 14 billlions each year { almost double for US $ and treble it for English pounds}. 

I decided I cannot bear to play to much of a part on this, so here is one delicious idea.

Below, what you see is the chicken before it goes into the oven:

Roast Chicken:

1 chicken {organic or free range when possible}
5 cloves of garlic smashed
Zest and juice of one lemon {only the yellow part of the zest as the white will make the food bitter}
2 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
1 pinch of chillies {optional}
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 fennel bulb chopped in 4
Hokaido {japanese pumpkin} in chunks
Mushrooms
Any vegetable you like

Mix the garlic, chopped parsley, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, chillies{if using} and spread it thinly inside the skin of the chicken. Lift the skin with your fingers and put some of this mix in and then from the outside massage the skin so you spread that seasoning on to the flesh. This will give your chicken some flavour, as normally the seasoning stays on the skin. But, as we cannot eat them on this diet, the flavours go on the actual bird.
Inside the cavity put a little of the garlic mix, 2 quarters of the fennel and a bay leaf.

On a pre-heated oven and a non stick tray,  roast the bird with the breast side down for 20 minutes and then lift the chicken from this tray {discard the liquid fat that stayed on it, as this will prevent you from the temptation of eating the fat that runs from the chicken} and lay the half roasted chicken on top of another tray where all the vegetables are laying already sprinkled with some salt and pepper. Take it back to the oven until it is done.
Allow 20 minutes per pound of chicken.
Let it sit for 5 minutes before you serve it, so the juices settle and make sure not to eat the skin if you are on any diet. But if u r not...well, have my bit!!!!

For the Soup:

Add the carcass and any left over vegetables that have been roasted {chop them into small bits first} to a pan with enough water to cover it. Let it boil for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove the bones, shred the chicken and serve with a handful of spinach leaves thrown in just as you switch the heat off and a handful of fresh parsley.
Enjoy!!!!!!

Fettuccini com Amêndoas Tostadas e Delícia {Fettuccini with Toasted Almonds & Delicious Bits}

Estava em Ilhabela. Na beira da piscina, torrando ao Sol e me deliciando com as revistas que ganhei do meu amigo. Importadas e importantes.

Todas de culinária…Claro!

A do Jamie Oliver, que é uma Bíblia Bimestral, me fascinou e eu me inspirei para comer macarrão.

Olhando aquele bando de fotos espetaculares com direção de arte master, resolvi me apropriar de uns ingredientes que eu tinha na dispensa e reaproveitar o restinho de uma abóbora que tinhamos assado na noite anterior para acompanhar o nosso festival de camarões em alho e pimentas… Acabou dando uma cor dourada ao prato…Perfeito para olhar e comer…

Você vai precisar de :

Macarrão cozido al dente

1/2 xícara da água de cozimento do macarrão

1/4 de xícara de amêndoas laminadas tostadas a seco

4 dentes de alho picados grosseira e rusticamente

1/2 xícara de azeite extra virgem

1/2 xícara de abóbora japonesa assada

Pimenta dedo de moça à gosto {opcional}

Manjericão à gosto {eu gostei de 1/2 xícara}

Parmesão {opcional}

Deixe todos os ingredientes prontos e cortados enquanto a água do macarrão ferve.

Use uma panela anti-aderente e grande o suficiente para colocar o macarrão junto com as Delícias.

Aqueça a panela e toste as amêndoas ou qualquer castanha ou semente que você tiver em sua dispensa.

Junte o restante dos ingredientes {exceto o manjericão} e, ao levemente fritar o alho { 30 segundos em fogo médio}, desligue e deixe marinando até que o cozimento do macarrão termine.

Adicione a água do cozimento, leve à fervura e adicione o manjericão e macarrão imediatamente.

Sirva com queijo parmesão de boa qualidade, de preferência ralado na hora.

Dicas:

Não use os queijos parmesão de saquinhos. É sempre um desperdício {e sempre será} estragar uma refeição tão fresquinha com algo que tem o odor tão forte e artificial…

Lembre-se : ingredientes frescos e, quando possível orgânicos, fazem seus Olhos Alegres e seu Corpo e Alma Contentes….

I was in Ilhabela. By the pool, sunbathing and enjoying all the magazines I got from my friend.

Imported & Important Mags. The subject? Food, of course…

Jamie Oliver’s, which for me is a bimonthly Bible, fascinated and awaken my hunger  for pasta.

Looking at all those amazing pictures, with that master art direction, I decided to take some of the ingredients I had in my ladder and use up the roasted pumpkin left over  from our garlic and chillies prawn fest last night. It lended such a golden colour to the dish…Perfect to look at and to eat..

You will need:

Fettuccini cooked al dente

½ cup of the cooking water

¼ cup of slivered almonds

4 big garlic cloves, roughly chopped

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup roated pumpkin

Red chillies to suit your taste {optional}

½ cup of hand torn basil {trust me, it will taste much better than if you chopp it}

Salt

Parmesan cheese {optional}

Prepare all ingredients while the pasta water is on the way to achieve boiling point.

Use a non stick pan that is big enough for you to mix the delicious sauce and the pasta.

Heat up the pan and dry fry the almonds {or any seeds or uts you may have in hand}.

Add the rest of the ingredients {except the basil leaves} and slowly warm up the garlic {30 seconds in medium heat}.

Turn it off and leave it marinading until the pasta is cooked.

Add the cooking water to the Delicioussness {garlic & friends}, bring it to boil and add the basil and fettuccini immediately. Mix with tender love and care…

Serve it with good quality parmesan cheese, preferably grated on the spot.

Tips:

Do not use those pre-packed cheeses. It is always a waste {and always will be} to ruin such a fresh meal with some stale, smelly and artificial ingredient…

Remember that fresh ingredients, and when possible organic, make your Eyes Shine and your Body and Soul Content…}