“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you might get!”
These words by Tom Hanks’ character Forrest Gump branded my brain intensely. It made me sit up and look deeper into my life.
Showing posts with label Food Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Reviews. Show all posts
Step into Hotel Chocolat | Happy Diwali | Giftaway
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you might get!”
These words by Tom Hanks’ character Forrest Gump branded my brain intensely. It made me sit up and look deeper into my life.
Design*Sponge: In The Kitchen With a Spicy Bowl of Curry Noodles
This weekend was busy and filled with lots of fun, friends and food. It was the annual Onion Market Festival (I wrote about it in 2008) here in Weimar this weekend. The Onion Market in Weimar is always a great occasion for us to invite friends and simply enjoy Weimar in a totally different atmosphere.
He joined the running club at his school this year and has been training hard. His aim was simple: not to repeat the debacle of last year, where he fell and scraped his knees fairly badly. Being the tough kid he is he got up and continued running, making it to the finish with a few tears but determined to come in as a finisher. This year he was driven to do better. His will and resolve did surprise me and I had all my toes and fingers crossed for him.
He had worked out a simple strategy and in the end it worked well for him.
The weather was simply perfect, the gorgeous blue skies with speckles of fluffy white clouds certainly made the Onion Market experience memorable. We spent the whole day at the Onion Market, enjoying the Zwiebelkuchen, Federweisser, riding the Ferris wheel and simply indulging in good company.
That evening Soeren’s last words before he went off to bed were “I’m nervous to check my ranking in the computer tomorrow!” He came in 12th in his age group. He was fairly chuffed about the result!
The weekend also brought in some great news, one of which was that my feature for In The Kitchen With over at Design*Sponge was live. I think it was back in April when Kristina and I began working on the feature together. I loved her easy going way and professionalism. We contemplated a few ideas and quickly decided on one – it fit perfectly.
These Thai Red Curry Noodles are pretty much what my kitchen is all about! Head on over to Design*Sponge to get yourself a bowl of theses spicy noodles. Let me know what you think!
I’d like to say a huge Hi! and welcome to everyone who’s visiting my little space here from Design*Sponge. It’s great to have you all over and hope you’ll stay around for more. Maybe you’d like to get to know me better, or just browse through a few of my recipes – grab a cup of tea though – I have over 600, or even travel with me to some exciting countries and cities. Hope you are ready to join me on my crazy roller coaster ride.
More fun news to come later and stay tuned – tomorrow I’ll tempt your sweet tooth again!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2010 Meeta Khurana Wolff unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
Spanish Flavours: Roasted Pumpkin & Mushroom Salad
Blogging does have so many positive sides to it. I've often said this - it's about the people you meet, the experiences you gather, the motivation and trying out things you would not have dared to before.
Blogging has been all these things for me and much more. There have been times when through blogging I have actually improved certain skills and learned new things, all of which have molded my character a little more. I want to cross boundaries, which normally I might have hesitated to do so. I want to see what happens if I try out new things.
From the very beginning though I knew one thing. I always want my blog to be a place where people have an experience for all their senses.
I want people when they come here to feel comfortable and homey. But I also want to share all the things I have learned or picked up along the way too. I'd like to inform people of what is out there, what is available, what is good and what is not.
In the past I have received a few mails asking me to review this or that. In the beginning I was hesitant. I was not sure how to handle something like that and how it would come across. So I declined. But I am an inquisitive person by nature and always hungry to make new experiences. I decided I would tell people that I would review their products but they would expect the honest truth from me in the reviews and I would only post about something that I thought my readers would benefit from. Some never wrote back and the fact that I have never had a food review on the blog to date tells you enough about what I thought about the other products.
A short while before I left for Dubai I got a mail from David Toro. He too inquired if I would like to do a review about the products they sell online. As I visited Spanishflavours.com I was quite pleasantly surprised. It was like visiting a wonderful Spanish delicatessen. I realized soon that this was the kind of thing people should know more about.
In Weimar we have a delicatessen that sells many products from around the world - at steep prices I might add. I am sure many of you have experienced the same thing or maybe even do not have the possibility to buy such products because you live a little out of town. This is where such websites come into the picture. It gives you a possibility to enjoy exclusive products like wine, cheese, hams etc. without even leaving the home.
I agreed to David and told him the same that he could expect a review if I liked the quality of the products and thought that they might be of interest to my readers.
David put together an impressive package for me and upon my arrival from Dubai I was greeted with a few scrumptious items. Ever since then we have slowly been going through the package.
The first thing I was interested in was how the items are packed. After all, depending where they are headed to, the food needs to be packaged and handled in such a way that they arrive fresh and in good condition. Here I have to say that the packaging was ideal. The hams and sausages were vacuumed sealed and the breakable bottles and jars were carefully bubble wrapped.
What caught my eye straight away, was of course the olive oil. A wonderful full bodied extra virgin olive oil from the Bajo Aragón region. I am the type of person who almost always has at least 2 to 3 different types of olive oil at home. Mostly the oils originate from Greece or Italy. I admit that I very rarely have one from Spain. Shameful actually as I soon realized that this oil had a lot to offer. Hand picked and preserved in a dark bottle to contain all of the flavor, I found the oil to be smooth and full bodied. Perfect for a salad or to dot over on top of a soup.
Last week I made a wonderful salad using some of the products I received. I decided to use the olive oil and some of the gorgeous Serrano ham. We were enjoying the ham on slices of fresh bread, but I thought serving it on the salad would really bring out the rustic flavor. The ham has a powerful taste and smell - unlike any other Serrano ham I have tasted and bought here. It has undergone a curation period of 16-20 months and comes in slices of 150 g, vacuumed packed to preserve that wonderful aroma.
Finally our dessert! And my joy. Gorgeous nougat. I am talking about the Arabic type of nougat made with honey, sugar and egg whites. This nougat was jam packed with whole almonds and wonderfully crunchy. David had also sent us a packet of the softer nougat - but we really took a passion for the crunchier version.
There were a lot of other items in the package like (peaches in syrup, roasted peppers and mussels) and I hope to try them out as the next step. I will inform you about those in a future post.
I hope you enjoy my wonderfully rustic salad using a few Spanish flavors to add an excellent touch. Maybe you might want to drop over at Spanishflavours.com and browse through their incredible delicatessen items. They've also put together a few incredible Christmas hampers that are worth checking out.
Please Note: You will find the delivery conditions, payment methods and shipping costs here.
Ingredients
Printable version here.
200 g Hokaido pumpkin - sliced and cut into bite sized pieces
6-8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil - Olive oil G.O.
150 g brown button mushrooms - sliced
1 medium red onion - finely chopped
Handful of parsley - finely chopped
200 - 300 g mixed green lettuce and greens - I used rucola, argula, raddichio, frisee etc.
2 tablespoons Crema di Balsamico
A few slices of Serrano ham - Serran Ham G.O. Teruel
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
Juice of half a lime
Salt and fresh black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. In a mixing bowl place the pumpkin slices and then add the lime juice 4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat the pumpkin with the marinade. Place the pumpkin slices on a baking tray and roast for 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin has become slightly softer and turned a wonderful golden color.
In the meantime sauté the onions and mushrooms in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Prepare your salad greens by placing in a large salad bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and the roasted pumpkin. Sprinkle some more olive oil on the salad and top off with the Crema di Balsamico. Toss well and place on individual plates.
Sprinkle each plate with some pumpkin seeds and place a few slices of the Serrano ham on top of the salad. Enjoy with a rustic bread and a glass of wine.
Verdict
It's a fantastic salad bursting with incredible flavors. Each ingredient adds it's own special note making it a perfect starter for any feast. I love the limey flavoring of the roasted pumpkin drizzled with the olive oil. The effect you get when paired with the Serrano ham in simply outrageous.
Here's a list of ingredients I used from Spanishflavours.com for this salad and a few other things I have tried and would like to recommend.
- Serran Ham G.O. Teruel
- Olive Oil G.O.
- Soft and Crunchy Nougat
- Lomo - Cured loin of pork
I'd also like to mention that I have not accepted any monetary payment from Spanishflavours.com and am doing this review as a means to inform my readers about the availability of products that might be of interest to them.
I am now packing up this salad and my party mood to visit Peabody who is having a Housewarming Party in her new home. Pea, thanks for the invitation and hope you have many grand baking, cooking and family moments in your new home.
Reminder!
Come join me for a Traditional Feast this month. Bring along your favorite dish to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanuka or Diwali.
Details can be found here.
Deadline: December 3rd.
Technorati Tags: salad, starter, pumkin, mushrooms, lettuce, serrano ham, olive oil, Spanish, food, recipe, photography, nikon d70s
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2007 Meeta Albrecht unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
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