Search of Scrumptious

For the love of food...

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Meeting Chef Nuit of Sukhothai As an engagement gift, one my friends, got me one of the most thoughtful things ever! She arranged for me to meet one of my favourite chefs and also have some of her fabulous cooking (I seriously know some awesome people). 

I have been eating at Chef Nuit’s Sukhothai for about a decade and it is one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto. In fact, when I was in India last year, I had my sister buy some Pad Thai from there, freeze it and send it with my mum, when she came to visit! No, I am not kidding, that is actually how much I like it. It would make no sense for me to review or even comment on the Pad Thai as I am obviously biased by how delicious I think it is. As for the complimentary squash appetizer, it reminded me of an indian pakora and it was delish. The thai iced tea, as always, was yum as well. 

The real highlight for me was meeting Chef Nuit and I could barely focus on the food.She was so warm and friendly and even shared with me a signed copy of her Pad Thai recipe (dreams to come true!). I of course tried  the recipe out right away and though it was nowhere close to her Pad Thai yet, I intend to replicate it till I can get it to that level :D. I cant wait to try it again! Happy Eating to Me! :D

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Oh so yum Chicken Biryani 

Hi everyone, it’s been a while since I blogged, but the absence wasn’t without a reason. 2017 was a big year for me! In case you haven’t registered my absence, I was away from home for almost 5 months. And guess what! I’m engaged now and the wedding is later this year. I’ll spare you the details for another post but you have to know this, he loves food and is always down to travel in search of scrumptious. Need I say more as to why I said YES! Oh and he loves biryani as much as my mum does and can probably school me on the nuances of it. Between my mum, him and me, the path to the wedding thus far has had quite a few servings of Biryani. So I figured why not get back to blogging with a recipe for Biryani.

In many ways 2017 was also the year I really started to cook Biryani with my mum’s recipe. As with all children, I could go on and on about how I add the same ingredients and follow the same procedure as her but it just doesn’t taste like my mother’s. But that’s what all the kids say and I suppose it’s the memories and nostalgia associated with it that it just never tastes the same. So, doing away from that unattainable benchmark, this is still one killer Chicken Biriyani recipe and is also rather simple to make. Next time you have a Biryani craving, give this one a try! Happy Eating! 

Ingredients: (Yields 5-6 Servings) 

1kg Chicken, medium size pieces  500 grams rice 80 ml Oil* 1-2 tbsp Ghee* 250 grams Onion, sliced 250 grams Tomato, sliced 25 grams Green Chillies, slit down the middle 50 grams Coriander, finely chopped 50 grams Mint, finely chopped 3 big cloves garlic (approx. 10 grams) 1 one inch piece ginger (approx. 5 grams) 1 green Cardamom 2 cloves 1 small piece cinnamon 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp Lemon Juice Salt, as needed Red Chilli Powder, as needed 

Grind the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon into a paste and set aside 

In a bowl add enough water to cover the rice and set aside to soak 

Warm oil in a pot on medium heat 

Add the onions and saute till well cooked and browned 

Add the bay leaf and mix

Add the tomatoes and continue to cook till the tomatoes are well cooked and no longer hold their shape 

Then add green chillies, coriander and mint and cook for 5 mins 

Add the ginger garlic paste and mix 

Add the chicken, salt and chili powder and mix well 

Let the chicken cook until its half cooked 

While the chicken is cooking, strain the soaking rice and set it aside 

Once the chicken is half cooked add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil 

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350F

Add the rice into the boiling mixture and let it continue to cook until the rice and water are even (the rice should have soaked in enough that the water and rice look even, initially the water will cover the rice) 

Gently mix the rice, bringing the bottom rice to the top 

Then drizzle the ghee on top and cover the pot and put it in the oven 

Set the oven timer to 15 mins 

After 15 mins remove the pot from the oven and you have hot biryani all ready to be eaten  

Optional: You can toast some cashews in ghee and add it on top 

*Not a fan of oily food and so this is the minimum amount without affecting flavour. You can add a bit more if needed.

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Go To Chicken Curry

For my last post under flavours of India for the blogging marathon I have decided to share my mum’s infamous chicken curry (this curry may be more Sri Lankan than Indian, but hey it is something we cook at home all the time, so it still counts). This chicken curry is a legend of sorts. Firstly it requires no oil, yep, NO OIL. Secondly, my mum receives compliments and accolades for this curry all the time, but she always feels it is so unfounded because it requires like no effort in comparison to all the other things she cooks. The combination of spices creates an interesting depth of flavour which often leads people to believe that it took hours to make, but the reality is it takes less than half an hour and the process is like ridiculously easy. So next time you are pressed for time and want to whip up something delicious, give this a try and trust me it will become your GO TO chicken curry as well! Happy Eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 4 - 6 servings)

4 Chicken legs, cut into 3 * 1 small onion, cut into medium sized pieces 1 small tomato, cut into medium sized pieces Few curry leaves 3 big cloves of garlic 1 half inch piece of ginger 1 elaichi 2 cloves 1 half inch piece of cinnamon 1 tbsp chilli powder** 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp cumin powder ¾ tsp fennel powder ½ tsp turmeric ½ tsp pepper ½ tsp fenugreek seeds Salt 1 heaped tbsp coconut milk powder 1 cup water 2 tbsp chopped coriander 1 tbsp oil (optional)

Grind the garlic, ginger, elaichi, cloves and cinnamon into a paste

In a pot add the chicken, onion, tomato, curry leaves, the ground ginger garlic spice paste, salt and all the spice powders and mix well (if you choose to add oil, add that in at this point as well)

Cover the pot and let it cook for 15 minutes, stirring intermittently and checking that there is enough liquid. ( I usually let it cook in the moisture in the chicken but sometimes add around ½ cup of water if I notice it burning)

After 15 minutes mix the coconut milk powder in one cup water and add it to the chicken. (If using canned coconut milk use the medium consistency milk not the thick thai style coconut milk. If using fresh coconut milk, make sure you dilute it to the right consistency)

Mix well and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes or till the gravy is the desired consistency.

Remove from heat, top with chopped coriander and serve

*I mean like the whole leg with the thigh and drumstick, not just the drumstick

**you can add more or less depending on your desired spice level

On a side note, my last 3 posts all had coconut in them, it wasn’t intended but the reality is I love coconut and I cook with it ALOT at home and since the theme was things we cook at home it was inevitable that it all had coconut :D.

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Chunnampakki

Chunnampakki is one of my favourite things to eat when I visit my ancestral village in Tirunelveli, South India. It looks like kesari (sooji halwa) but it is NOT. I have tried googling it several times but have never been able to find the recipe. Last year when I was visiting, one of my aunts made it and I immediately made it a point to get the recipe from her. She doesn’t really measure things when she cooks, so I needed more than a few tweaks to get measurements. But it was worth it, after a bit of trying and tweaking, I am super excited to share with the internet world the chunnampakki recipe with measurements!! :D

Oh before we proceed I have to tell you about the story behind the name. I was telling my mum how it was so interesting how nothing with this name exists anywhere on the internet and she immediately laughed and said that’s because it is a distortion of another name of a dish from Burma. As it turns out when a few of my ancestors went to Burma for work they brought back this recipe with them. The original name is .. wait for it… SANWEI MAKI!! The original recipe along with the name has changed over time but the essence of it all “coconut milk” remains the same :). (read more about the fascinating history of Sanwei Maki here). After knowing the story I love this even more. It is wonderful when people can merge cultures and work together, because great things and great FOOD come out of the collaboration. So invite a few friends, make this dessert and collaborate on finishing it together :D. Happy Eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 8-10 servings)

1 cup semolina 2 cups coconut milk ½ cup coarsely broken cashew  1 cup sugar* 3 elaichi 5 curry leaves** 1/3 cup coconut oil 1/3 cup ghee ½ tsp turmeric pinch of salt  desiccated or grated coconut for garnish

In a pan over medium heat add semolina and toast

Once it is lightly browned, remove from heat and leave aside

In the pan over medium heat add coconut oil, ghee, elaichi, curry leaves and cashews 

Cook till cashews are browned

In a bowl mix coconut milk, turmeric and pinch of salt

Once the cashews are browned add the coconut milk mixture and mix well

When the mixture is just about to boil, reduce heat, add semolina and stir vigorously 

When the water seems to have evaporated, add sugar and stir vigorously

Place a lid on it and let the mixture cook for 3 to 5 minutes in low heat

Pour into plate and flatten it out

Sprinkle coconut on top and let it rest for about 20 minutes

Cut out pieces and serve :D.

* You can add more or less sugar based on your preference, I prefer desserts mildly sweetened.

**I love the flavour curry leaves bring to this, but feel free to leave it out if you can’t find them.

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Easy Coconut Barfi

For recipe number one in my series of posts under flavours of India for the blogging marathon I decided I will start with something I love to eat … Coconut! Given my love for coconut and the fact that my mum makes a great coconut barfi, one of the things I learnt to make early on was (no surprise there).. coconut barfi. Her original recipe is a little more involved and longer but this quick recipe takes less than half the time and is pretty close to the original (I get lots of compliments and at least one person asks me for the recipe every time i make it, so it is a definite keeper).

So the next time you are in a tight spot and looking to make a quick dessert give this a try and you will most definitely not regret it! Happy Eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 4-6 servings) 1 cup grated coconut ½ cup sugar ¼ cup water 1 tsp vanilla pinch of salt ¼ cup chopped cashews 2 tbsp butter or ghee a drop of food colouring (optional)*

Heat butter in a pan on medium heat

Once butter is melted and warmed add cashews and cook till browned

Remove pan and set aside

In another pan over medium heat combine sugar and water and bring it to a boil (feel free to add food colouring here if you want)

Add the coconut, vanilla, salt to the sugar syrup and continue to cook till the mixture till most of the moisture is evaporated

Mix in the butter and cashews that were set aside

Spread the mixture in a greased tray and shape in to a rectangle ½ to ¾ inch in  thickness

Leave to cool, once cooled cut into 1 inch squares and serve :)

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Milk Toffee

For my third and final post on caramel, I am going to share a childhood favourite, Milk toffee! This is super simple to make but oh so good. This is one of those things we always bought. I don’t remember my mum ever making it or for that matter anyone making it at home. It was available so readily in Sri Lanka, I think people just found it convenient to buy.  But when we moved to Canada, buying was not an option and so I had to learn to make it (because I couldn’t just stop eating it, I mean that wasn’t an option). I am still not sure if learning to make it was a good or bad thing. The good thing is I can now make it for myself…the bad thing is well that I can now make it for myself all the time (This is definitely not one of those things where you eat just one, it will most definitely slowly drag you down a path of sugar high). But it is so good, it is worth it. Give it a try and see for yourself :D. Happy Eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 16-20 pieces)

1 can condensed milk 1 cup sugar ¼ cup hot water 1 tsp vanilla  1 tbsp butter ¼ cup chopped cashews  Pinch of salt 

In a sauce pan over medium heat add the condensed milk, sugar and salt

Pour the hot water into the can of condensed milk dissolving any little bit that is left in there and add it to the sauce pan

Continue to mix while cooking for 15 minutes, you will notice it will slowly begin to caramelize and change colour

Add the vanilla, butter and cashews and continue to mix and cook for 5 more minutes.

Pour in a lined or greased baking tray and flatten it with a greased spatula to ½ to ¾ inch thickness. (I typically use a silicon mat)

When the mixture cools a bit cut into 1 inch squares and serve :D!

*The toffee lasts in the fridge for a few weeks (that is if you don’t eat them all before they even make it in to the fridge)

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Jewelled Popcorn

Persian Jewelled Rice is something I love! Cranberries, apricots, nuts... mmmm. As I was thinking of these flavours a couple weeks ago, a coworker brought in some salted caramel popcorn and I thought to myself hey why not Jewelled popcorn!!. And that is how the recipe was born. Don't let the simplicity of the conception of this recipe fool you. I must say this is honestly one of the best caramel popcorn variations I have ever had! You don't have to take my word for it, try it, ASAP!

Ingredients: (Yields 9-12 servings)

1 cup corn kernels 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp oil  3/4 tbsp Pink Himalayan Salt 1 cup Dried Cranberries 1 cup chopped Dried apricots, cut into small pieces 3/4 cup White Chocolate, coarsely chopped 3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted Pistachio 3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted Almonds 

Saffron Caramel 1 1/4  cup sugar 1/2 cup water few strands saffron 1/4 cup butter

Soak the saffron in the 1/2 cup of water

In a deep pot over medium high heat warm the butter and oil until its quite warm. 

Add the corn kernels and mix till its coated and cover with a lid.

The popcorn will continue to pop. Make sure to shake the pot periodically to prevent burning.

Once most of the kernels are popped (you will hear the popping sound slowing down) 

Turn off the heat and shake it a bit more for any last unpopped kernel to pop

Place the popcorn in a large bowl and mix in the cranberries, apricots, white chocolate, pistachio and almond

In a small pot over medium heat add in the sugar and saffron water mixture.

Once the sugar begins a medium amber colour quickly whisk in the butter.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and mix well

Spread it on a lined baking tray 

Sprinkle the salt on top and set aside for at least 30 minutes till the popcorn is cooled.

Break it apart in to chunks and serve :)

Happy Eating!

Note: Feel free to use more nuts if you want a more nutty flavour

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Spicy Caramel Orange Chicken

Consistency in blogging is something I have been having issues with for a while. I have peaks and dips. So I plan to fix that this year. When I was thinking of a way to motivate myself to remain consistent I came across a group of food bloggers who do a thing called a blogging marathon. Essentially you commit to blogging a certain number of days a month on a common theme. You can read more about it here: BM#73. 

The theme I have for the next three days is Caramel. Strangely the first thing that came to mind when I thought Caramel was Duck a l'orange. I made it a few weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about how the sauce is essentially a savoury caramel. I have been itching to use caramel in savoury things and this is an outcome of that. Who says caramel is only for dessert, give this a try and get rethinking on the potential of caramel. Happy Eating! 

Ingredients: (Yields 4 servings)

3 boneless chicken thighs ½ cup all purpose flour 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp baking powder 4 tbsp sesame oil ¼ cup sugar 1/8 cup rice vinegar ¼ cup white vinegar 3 tbsp soy sauce 1 ¼ cup orange juice ½ cup chicken stock** 8 dried red chillies* 3 tbsp crushed garlic 1 tbsp crushed ginger 1 green pepper zest of two oranges 1 tsp cornstarch ¼ cup water 1 spring onion, sliced 1 tsp toasted sesame salt, as needed 

Chicken:

Cut the chicken in to small pieces and marinate it with salt, 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ cup orange juice and 1 tbsp crushed garlic for 30 mins to an hour. (Feel free to read below and start the sauce while the chicken is resting) 

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, pepper and salt 

Drain the chicken from the marinade and leave it for 10 minutes to dry a little

Toss it in the flour mixture

Remove the chicken and arrange it on a wire rack with a baking tray under to catch any drippings. Make sure to not crowd the rack.

(if you don’t have a wire rack, you can use greased baking tray or one lined with a silicon mat)

Leave the chicken to dry for about 30 mins 

Preheat the oven to 425 F

Spray 3 tbsp of sesame oil on the chicken. (if you do not have a spray bottle toss the chicken with some oil in a bowl)

Bake for 10 minutes

Drain any drippings and flip the pieces and back for another 5 to 10 minutes at 450F

Sauce:

Soak the dried red chillies in ¼ cup water for 30 mins

Grind the red chillies along with the water and keep aside

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and vinegars together and let it boil until it becomes a nice amber coloured caramel (you want it to be browned so it is not too sweet but be careful not to burn in)

Slowly whisk in the remaining orange juice, 2 tbsp soy sauce and chicken stock

Add the ground chilli paste, 1 tablespoon garlic and ½ tablespoon ginger and salt as needed

Mix well and let it simmer on low heat for 20 minutes

Putting it all together:

In a large wok or skillet on medium high heat, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil

Add the remaining tablespoon of crushed garlic and crushed ginger and cook for about 30 seconds

Add the green peppers and sauté for about 30 seconds

Add in the chicken along with any drippings that you collected and the sauce and mix well

Add in the orange zest and mix

Mix 1 tsp of cornstarch in ¼ cup of water and add it in

Bring to a boil and turn off

Top with the spring onion, orange segments and toasted sesame and the chicken is good to go :)

*You can adjust the chillies according to desired spice level. I find 8 to be mild to medium for myself but then I have a pretty high spice tolerance. Remember the spiciness balances the sweetness of the caramel, so don’t make it too mild.

**you can also use vegetable stock or water if you do not have chicken stock on hand.

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Chicken and Shrimp Paella 🥘!

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mmm paella......

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Cordoba

The interior arches of the Mezquita in Cordoba are definitely one of the most iconic Andalusian photographs. I feel like everyone who does an Andalusia trip posts a picture with the arches, so I was really looking for my iconic arch picture. We got to Cordoba Mid-morning and the first thing we did was go get Tortilla de patata and Salmojero from the iconic Casa Santos by the Mezquita. 

Let me start by saying I don’t like potatoes very much and I don’t love eggs either, having said that I LOVED the Tortilla de patata (Spanish potato omelette). And the Salmojero was one of the bests we had in our entire trip. We got our food to go and ate in the courtyard outside the Mezquita, delicious food and a great view, what a great beginning to Cordoba.

The Mezquita arches, definitely super cool. All the other little details were really intricate. Also the history of being a mosque and then cathedral has left the Mezquita with such an eclectic design which was quite unique. 

After walking around the Mezquita we went to a restaurant that we heard served halal tapas called Las Piconeras. We had been eating A LOT of seafood (not that it was an issue considering how fresh everything was) and we were looking forward to try some Andalusian meat tapas. We got there and realised they were only partially halal and the menu was still very seafood heavy. I don’t remember the exact details of what we ate but the food was so lack lustre. We then walked around seeing some of the other sights such as the Calleja de las Flores, Roman Bridge, Puerte del Punete, and so on. Most of the sights in Cordoba are all within walking distance from the Mezquita and with the lovely weather, we had a fabulous post lunch stroll. After all the walking we felt hungry again and headed to Casa Pepe de la Juderia for our evening coffee fix. 

One bite of the orange cake with the olive oil ice cream and I instantly regretted not eating lunch at Casa Pepe de la Juderia. The cake was dense, rich and had amazing orange flavour and it paired so well with the light smooth flavour of the olive oil ice cream. 

The Cappuccino was good as expected (we did not have a single cup of bad coffee the entire time we were in Spain). After dessert we headed out to go see the Medina Azahara (ruins of a fortified Arab palace city) before leaving for Seville. We reached the Medina Azahara just shortly after it closed and so we only got to drive by it. After a few pictures of the ruins, our only regret as we set off to catch the sunset in Seville was that we didn’t eat more of the Tortilla de patata from Casa Santos. Learn from our mistake and eat your fill :D.

Happy Travels!

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Osmania Biscuits

I was on one of my "lost in the vortex of food google searches" sessions when I came across this recipe. As it happens I often spend hours reading about the food people eat in different parts of the world and when something catches my eye I add it to my “to cook” list. But occasionally I come across a recipe that has so much potential that it skips the list and gets made right away. This biscuit was one of those. 

There is a particular tea time salt biscuit that they make in bakeries across Tamil Nadu that my mum loves. I've tried a couple recipes but nothing that tasted similar to the original. The first images I saw of the Osmania biscuits looked pretty similar to those salt biscuits and so it immediately caught my attention. Also the addition of custard powder as an ingredient in a biscuit had me curious to know more. I did a bit more reading and learnt that they are not the salt biscuits I was looking for but another very popular tea time snack in Hyderabad. They are served across the city paired with Irani Chai. Osmania biscuits are so widespread and prevalent that they are almost as iconic as the Hyderabadi Biriyani. So much street cred I couldn’t help myself, I had to bake some (I also love Irani chai, so I definitely couldn’t pass up on a reason to brew some :D)

It was definitely a good idea to bake them, they were DELICIOUS. My sister who isn’t a fan of sweet things had more than a few and that says a lot about the biscuits. I did a few regular ones and then I finished a few with pink Himalayan salt because I love the flavour. There are a few variations of the recipe available and this is an amalgamation of many recipes and also my own changes.

Don’t pass up on an opportunity to spend tea time in Hyderabad. Bake a batch of Osmania Biscuits, brew some Irani chai and let the flavour transport you to sunny warm India. Happy Eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 24 biscuits)

1/2 cup butter, softened 2 Tbsp melted ghee 2/3 cup powdered sugar* 4 tbsp milk 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tbsp custard powder 2 tbsp milk powder 1/3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Milk Wash 1/8 cup warm milk a few strands of saffron

Combine the ingredients for the milk wash in a small bowl and leave it aside

Beat together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl for about 3-5 minutes with a wooden spoon or hand-held mixer 

Add the milk and mix it in 

In another bowl mix together the flour, custard powder, milk powder, cardamom powder, baking powder and salt 

Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and knead

When the mixture is coming together add the ghee** and continue to knead to form a soft dough

Wrap in cling wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes

Preheat oven to 325 F

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness

Cut the biscuits out with a 2 inch circle cutter and arrange them on a lined baking sheet

Brush each cookie well with the milk wash and bake for about 14-17 minutes

I like my cookies very lightly browned so it is still soft. But typically they are baked till a light golden colour.

*powdered sugar is not the same as icing sugar. Biscuits made with icing sugar have a more melt in your mouth shortbread texture due to the cornstarch. The ones made with powdered sugar have a more crumbly consistency. I make them both ways depending on the mood I am in.

**the ghee can be added at the beginning with the butter but I like adding it later on. I feel it some how makes the dough have a yummy ghee fragrance

Fun facts: 1. There are several tales as to how these biscuits got their name. One story is that it was named after the last ruler of Hyderabad due to his fondness of them. 

2. Traditionally Ammonium Carbonate was used as the leavening agent. (we are talking pre baking powder era)

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Golden Turmeric Latte

I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes lately. It’s not even that I have not been cooking, I’ve been enjoying the cooking process a bit too much lately to want to stop and write stuff down. Also I’ve been cooking my way across the world and didn’t feel like repeating recipes to check what I had written down. Okay enough with my excuses, now let’s get to this latte. It is pretty common in India and often given as a cold remedy. It is quite healthy for you and also delicious (which is the real win, because not a lot of healthy things are also delicious). I love this in the winter, so warm and comforting. Give it a try and let the aroma and flavour keep you warm this winter :). Happy eating!

Ingredients: (Yields 2 servings)

2 ¾ cups milk (2% or whole) a few strands of saffron 4 cloves 1 piece cinnamon (1 inch) 3 green cardamoms, split open 4 peppercorns 1 piece ginger, crushed (1/4 inch piece) 1 piece turmeric root, chopped (3/4 inch piece)* pinch of ground black pepper honey, as needed**

Simmer together milk, saffron, cinnamon, cardamoms, peppercorns, ginger and turmeric for about 20 mins

Increase the heat and let the milk boil up and then turn the heat off

Add the ground pepper and sweeten with honey as needed

I pour the milk in between two cups a couple times to create froth and then finish it off with a bit of grated pistachio.

* If you do not have turmeric root, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder. ** You can use sugar instead of honey as well

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Torta Ahogada served with refried beans and onions marinated in lemon juice

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Adding some heat to my cold winter days! so spicy and so good!

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Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cheesecake

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Winter makes me want decadent chocolatey desserts all the time!!!

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Jaen, Andalusia, Spain

Jaen was part of our road trip for two reasons, it is the olive oil capital of the world and it is home to the wonderful fortress hotel Parador Jaen. We were enroute to Cordoba from Granada and chose to stay in Jaen on the way. Set in a 13th century Arab fortress, it was something I had definitely wanted to see. 

Our drive there included a lot of olive trees. I could barely wait to try the olive oil and fresh olives mmm. We arrived in the evening just in time to catch the sunset over the valley of the Guadalquivir. After soaking up the sunset, we retired to out room with a spectacular view of the Sierra Morena Mountains. (one of my most favourite hotel stays ever)

We decided to dine in the in house restaurant and it what a GREAT decision that turned out to be. If you want the summary, the food is EXCELLENT, definitely dine here. Now if you would like to read more about how much I loved every part of my meal here it is. To start we had fresh bread with some delicious olive oil. (Jaen is the olive oil capital of the world, and I totally get why, delicious olive oil). They then served us a complimentary aperitif which tasted a lot like a really great avocado salsa. Oh and just like all our other meals so far, there were complimentary olives…so good! For my main I had Black pasta noodles with mussels ,salmon and squid and my sister had Anglerfish and cuttlefish albondigas in salsa verde.

Let me start by saying I really dislike salmon roe and that was the only thing I disliked about my pasta. But even with then I actually liked the pasta as a whole. The squid was cooked wonderfully, the salmon was seasoned well and the pasta was so fresh. It also had a good amount of the delicious local olive oil in it coating the pasta making it that much better. 

Now to the star entrée of the night, my sister’s fish albondigas in a salsa verde. It was one of those dishes where I thought to myself, “why can’t I cook like this?”. Yep, that good. Fish was cooked to perfection and the sauce was the perfect tangy and flavourful accompaniment. My only complaint was that I wished there was more. The portion was slightly on the smaller side.

For dessert I really wanted olive oil Ice cream. I had read so much about the olive oil in Jaen and it was one of those things I really wanted to try in Jaen. Unfortunately much to our disappointment they weren’t serving it that day. So we ordered the Fried milk pudding with warm chocolate and cappuccino of course (because I mean the coffee so far had been nothing but amazing, so why would I not have more). In general I think milk pudding is okay, it is not something I particularly love, but this fried milk pudding I loved!!! This dessert I will be adding to my repertoire of things I need to learn to make. Yum! 

As we sat there talking about how good the milk pudding was our waiter showed up with a scoop of ice cream! He managed to find some olive oil Ice cream for us to taste! The ice cream was so smooth and aptly sweetened and it just sort of felt silky to eat. My sister and I both loved the olive oil ice cream and we were so thankful he made such an effort! It was such a wonderful way to end our meal.

The next morning we woke up early to soak in the sunrise from the balcony in our room. Post sunrise, we took a quick nap and then it was time to continue our road trip. Our whole stay at the Parador Jaen was so fabulous. It was one of my favourite stays and meals of the whole trip! Even if you are not going to stay here, I would still highly recommend a meal at the restaurant. While on the slightly pricier side, the meal is most definitely worth it.

Happy Travels Folks!

PS: I didn’t remember the exact names of what we had ordered and so I emailed the wonderful people at Parador Jaen and they emailed me back right away with all the names. Amazing customer service seriously!

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Gulkand Sharbat (Rose Petal Drink)

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I first tasted this early this year when shopping at the infamous Mint Street in Chennai. After searching high and low, I finally decided to make it at home as there is nowhere in Toronto that sells it!

[searchofscrumptious]

Granada, Andalusia, Spain

It’s been too long since I have blogged and so I figure I should tell you more about my Spain trip today. Granada was the next stop on my trip and my first reaction when I reached Granada late in the afternoon was “umm, I don’t really like it!”. It just seemed so populated and mainstream. Then as we kept driving into the historic core, the city began slowly changing my first opinion.

Our first stop was Mirador San Nicolas to watch the sunset over the Alahambra. Walking up to the Mirador San Nicolas was much longer than I had imagined, those cobble stone pathways are hard on your feet! Slowly but surely we made it up and squeezed our way through the crowd and watched the sunset over the Alahambra. The Alahambra at this point just seemed like some huge buildings, I really didn’t understand the splendour just yet.

We then walked over to the Grand Mosque of Granada which has a garden and viewpoint that is open to the public, that was much less crowded than the Mirador San Nicolas and took a few more pictures of the Alahambra. Once the evening prayer was done at the mosque, we saw someone who looked like they were in charge come out to the gift shop. We asked him if he would allow us brief access to the Minaret to get a higher view of the Alahambra and he gladly obliged. After seeing the sunset over the Alahambra from a couple different viewpoints, we headed out to Restaurant Mirador de Morayma for dinner.

The first thing we saw as we entered Mirador de Morayma was the lovely courtyard garden (see pictures of the courtyard here). It was well maintained and transported us to a time in the past. We had requested a table overlooking the Alahambra and so we were seated upstairs in one of the smaller rooms with a lovely view of the Alahambra.  

We ordered Grilled autumn mushrooms and Cream of crab soup for appetizer and the Monkfish skewer with mango and prawns and the Morayma omelette with cod, shrimps and spring onions for our mains. 

Our meal started with some delicious bread sticks, bread and olives. Spain seriously had some of the best olives I have had. Between the two appetizers I really liked the mushrooms my sister ordered. The flavouring was perfect and it let the mushrooms do all the talking. My soup was firstly too large of a portion for and appetizerand also a tad too fishy for me. It was also very different from a typical cream soup I am used to in Canada. It had much less cream and was more about the crab flavour.

The Morayma omelette and Monkfish skewers were both delicious! The omelette was cooked so well, fluffy and packed with seafood flavour. As for the skewers, monkfish, prawns and mango… need I say more? It was really good. The skewers came with like a ratatouille of sorts which I didn’t care much for, but apart from that I really enjoyed it.

After our meal, we asked the waiter to be seat outside on the balcony for our dessert and coffee. The waiter happily obliged and set up a table outside. For dessert we decided we wanted a bit of everything and went with the Morayma delights dessert platter. 

I had a cappuccino to go along with dessert and my sister ordered some other coffee drink that I can’t remember the name of. The only distinct thing I remember about my sister’s drink was how DELICIOUS and light the whipped cream on top tasted. 

We had told our waiter to exclude any desserts with alcohol and he happily substituted those, which was really nice. We had chocolate mousse, cheese cake, ice cream, an agar dessert and this pastry called bienmesabe which was like a cake topped toasted almonds, and vermicelli. My favourite was the bienmesabe and I have been googling recipes for it ever since i got back but have found nothing so far. Everything else while good wasn’t anything to write about. While the dinner was on the pricier side, it was definitely worth it. I loved the overall experience, the service, food and ambiance.

We started our second day in Granada with pastries in one of the many little cafes and some Churros con chocolat and tostada at cafeteria Bib Ramla. The churros are nothing like what we eat in North America. They are not dusted with sugar or thin and crispy. They are about an inch thick and soft and when you dip it into the drinking chocolate it just absorbs the flavour. It was quite delicious but I found it oily and heavy for my liking. The tostada with tomato and manchega was yum!

The much anticipated Alahambra came next and what a delight that was. For all the simplicity on the outside it is incredibly intricate on the inside. The tour guide mentioned to us that the Muslim rulers believed that it was unkind to flaunt their wealth and make one’s neighbour jealous. This led to the simple exteriors and stunningly intricate interior design.

I was blown away, the Alahambra is not a castle, no it is not even a fortress, it is a city, a self-sustaining city. From fields to grow produce to its own water system to a vacation home, it had everything within the walls. It was breathtaking; these pictures capture a small glimpse of its grandeur.

After the Alahambra we explored the cave dwellings in Sacromonte. But during the daytime there wasn’t much going on, the area is famous for the nightly Flamenco shows. 

All the walking around up and down hills made us hungry and we made a quick stop at a Teteria and had some Morrroccan tea, desserts and albondigas (aka meatballs). This was definitely one of the best meatballs I have ever eaten in my life. (another recipe I am on the hunt for)

Next stop was the Alcaiceria Souq. We found a mish mash of things from scarves to tea mugs to souvenirs and awesome leather bags. This was a primarily Morroccan bazaar and the stuff being sold had a very Morroccan feel to it. 

After doing some impromptu shopping we settled in at the Plaza Nueva in the outdoor Patio and munched on Tapas and fresh juice from one of the restaurants while listening to the live mariachi band. The most memorable thing about the meal was the delicious apple juice. Fresh apple juice is so different from the bottled stuff. (by different I mean SO much better!)

Our last stop before leaving Granada was Casa Isla to try the super popular piononos. Pionono is a cake rolled up like a swiss roll which is cut into small bite size pieces, soaked in syrup and topped with toasted cream. I really wanted to love it but the soggy cake idea was messing with my head (unfortunately I didn’t take a very good pic to share how it looks :(). The flavours were nice, but with all the hype I think I had my expectations set too high. I also found it too sweet (this is just me, I have an eternal struggle with finding desserts that are not too sweet.) After a fun two days of culture and delicious food in Granada, it was time to head out. Next stop Olive oil capital JAEN! Happy travels :)