PostSecret

Chanson du Jour

"Curious" Humans

Albie Logic

Question: How to bath a really dirty big black dog who gets increasingly aggressive and agitated the longer he is in the bath and whose complaints escalate from soft whimpers to surprisingly disconcerting guttural growls and whose paws are like big mother-flipping serrated shovels that can pack one hell of a hook when angled correctly and whose weight (and consequent strength) seems to triple as soon as he is placed (placed?) into the bath. 

Answer: Treat the whole bathing experience like some high-stakes ops-mission where you have to infiltrate foreign territory (i.e. pissed-off Albie territory) by frantically distracting your really dirty big black dog with his fluorescent pink chewy toy whilst singing "chewy toy, chewy toy, chewy-chewy-chewy-chewy-chewy-toy" to the melody of Homer Simpson's "Spider Pig". 

After-thought: Why share this experience on one's blog? 

After-after-thought: I didn't photo-shop that eye. 

Mussaman Curry Stir Fry

I'm addicted to coconut at the moment and so I headed to Chinatown in Cyrildene to stock up on and satisfy my obscene craving for the-best-ever-coconut-drink-ever-(!)(above) as well as to buy some other foodstuffs, such buckwheat noodles (which are ready in a record time of 5 minutes...the quicker the better), fresh vegetables, nuts and tofu.

Truth be told, I also get a kick out of going there because I get to indulge my infantile self by finding as many discretely-placed expletives on the food packaging as possible...sort of like a grown-up (yeah right) version of I spy. 

Anyway I decided to make the above-mentioned (very quick and easy dish) for dinner. Woollies has a really nice curry paste (consisting of onion, galangal, red chilli, lemon grass, coriander, cumin, lime peel, tamarind and various spices) which I used as the base for my stir-fry. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 packet mushrooms, chopped
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 packet firm tofu, diced
• 1 cup cashew nuts
• 1 packet Woollies Mussaman Curry Paste
• salt and pepper to taste
• buckwheat noodles (or noodles of your choice)

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the broccoli and mushrooms with some salt and pepper until they are soft yet firm. Add the tofu, cashew nuts, coconut milk, curry paste and soy sauce and mix. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

Prepare the noodles. If you're using buckwheat noodles, dump those suckers in boiling water for about three to five minutes and voila, they'll be done in no time. 

Serve and slurp 

(in appreciation!)

A Lotta Panna Cotta with Poached Strawberries

I've discovered the most amazing gelatine (eugh) substitute (not that one ever seeks to replace gelatine but rather to imitate its function) called Agar Agar which is readily available in powdered form from most health stores and/or Dischem pharmacies. 

This awesome powder can be used to make vegan cheese cakes, mousses, jellies and PANNA COTTA! Yep. Panna. Freaking. Cotta.

You may have to experiment a little with the Agar Agar powder to get the right measurements for your desired consistency (depending upon which dessert you want to make). The key to using the Agar Agar powder is to bring it to a boil and then to let it cool and set. 

I've been making Panna Cotta in record time because the mixture sets so quickly, so this is a great dessert to make if you want something that looks all fancy without having to offer a quid pro quo of time and effort.

Ingredients

• 300 ml soya cream / coconut cream
• 200 ml soy milk / coconut milk 
• 45g castor sugar 
• 1 vanilla pod / 1 tsp vanilla paste (the latter is available from Woolworths' baking section)
• 4g Agar Agar
• 200 ml champagne or sparkling wine
• 200 g castor sugar 
• 1 punnet fresh strawberries, washed and sliced (but you can use any fruit of your choosing e.g. raspberries, gooseberries, pears etc.)   

Pour the cream, milk, castor sugar and vanilla (if using a pod then slice the pod and scrape out its contents) into a pot. Add the Agar Agar and bring to the boil.

Whisk to dissolve the Agar Agar and allow to simmer for about 2 minutes. 

Remove from the stove, pour mixture into your desired moulds and leave to cool (outside at first and then transfer to the fridge when the mixture is not longer steaming hot). 

While the Panna Cotta mixture is cooling in the fridge, pour the champagne / sparking wine and castor sugar into a pan and bring to the boil. Pour the champagne syrup over the strawberries and allow to cool. 

Once everything has cooled turn the Panna Cotta out from its mould onto a plate (if you struggle to get the Panna Cotta out of the mould, then place the mould in a few centimeters of hot water for about 30 seconds). Spoon strawberries and syrup over the Panna Cotta and serve. 

Left over champagne syrup can be used towards...MORE PANNA COTTA the following day. 

 

Je le veux!

  

stranger things have happened

*then

Thought for the Day(!)

(a reiteration of Tuesday's thought for the day, but also bolded and underlined, with numerous EXPLICIT expletives thrown [yes, physically thrown] in for good measure.)

(!)

thought for the day