Chicks and Curry

Tried my hand at making chicken korma from scratch, now that I have developed a love of indian food... Well, it tastes nothing like chicken korma. BUT! It does taste like curry. Thats a start! The recipe had no cream or coconut, which I believe are two main ingredients in korma...so I'm hoping that means it wasn't just a fail on my cooking skills... I also added a bunch of veg because it seems like most curry never has any...

I also made chickpea mushroom burgers to freeze for when I am lazy. Little squishy, but a nice alternative to meat burgers, and would taste great with some yoghurt or sour cream and guacamole.

To Infinity.....and BEYOND!

I've been slacking lately. I'll be the first to admit it. We had several hand ins, very close together, and I holed myself away in my room, surviving off of tea and all the frozen food I've been compiling these past few months. Now, we're starting new classes and I've got a bit of a breather. Also, my kitchen is clean for once and I care to take advantage of that....

...by making COSMIC COOKIES! This recipe, from the organic supermarket in Canada called Planet Organic, includes spelt flour, raisins, oats, molasses, sugar, water, milk, pumpkin seeds, linseed, sunflower seeds, and chocolate. The recipe is available on their website, should you care to try them!

I cut the recipe in half, used regular milk and granular sugar, and despite being quite crumbly, they have a nice flavor and they're not too sweet.

Better than Heinz Baked Beans

While in London, I picked up a fun little cookbook called Sam Stern's Student Cookbook. I wanted something that would be almost a document of all the popular things that people eat here, and that would have recipes of the things I have tried and would want to re-create. This book has everything! From all the popular take-away (pork buns, asian noodle dishes, cornish pasties) to proper home cooked British meals (roasts, pea soup, fish pie) and everything in between. All the student staples.

For my first dish, I decided to try the homemade baked beans and polenta. Absolutely delicious recipe! Although the polenta part called for what seemed like an oddly large amount, but I'd never made it before, so thought I'd stick to the recipe. It said it only made enough for two, so I thought, what the hell. Well, let's say that I ended up eating polenta for the next week straight. It was great...but I don't think I'll make that much next time.

The beans were cannellini and haricot, and you mix them with onions, garlic, tomatoes, veg stock, soy sauce, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Highly recommended book.

I See London...

Welcome once again to London Town. Sam and I decided to nip over to London for a few days break, in between our two semesters. She ran off to do sightseeing...while I mostly shopped in fancy food stores. So be prepared for more pictures and stories of food.

Sam and I, on the train at an ungodly hour, very excited!

Started off at the Borough Market, which I'd never been to. My, have I been missing out! Food, glorious food!!!

Cheese, sweets, meat galore. We pretty much had lunch solely through the samples we were given. 

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for the smell of fresh bread. I wish they could bottle that and sell it. Cause that would be my room spray. 

I bought this little guy for 50 p at a vegetarian stall. Its a flower pot bread! Wholemeal with sundried tomatoes, it was wonderful. Too bad I couldn't keep the flower pot too...

Sam also convinced me to try oysters, so we got two in the half shell and slurped em back. 

To be honest, they didn't taste as fishy as I thought they would. Later on, she got me to try canned smoked oysters on crackers with cream cheese and I definitely liked that better. The smoke flavor was much nicer than the salty sea water flavor. 

We also grabbed a sea salt and white chocolate cookie, which despite sounding quite nice, wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. 

We took a lovely stroll along the Thames...

...and I ended up back at the market in the end. 

Another day, we went to one of my favorite shops, Fortnum and Mason. I was on the hunt for steel-cut oats, but we stopped for lunch there. Sam got a chicken caesar sandwich....and I got....

...a cornish pasty! The pastry was flaky and just the right thickness, but I think I enjoy steak and ale pastys more, as opposed to the potato ones. I think I'm in the wrong country, cause I really don't like potatoes as much as all these Brits seem to. 

After having eaten a whole whack of weird and wondrous foods, we opted for a healthy dinner at a place called itsu. This, called a 7 vegetable detox, is really just miso soup with vermicelli and a whole bunch of veggies tossed in. Quite nice. I'm going to try re-creating it sometime. 

They also had frozen yoghurt for dessert, which you could add fruit and granola into. 

Made you look.

On our way to Portobello...

On the recommendation of my sister, I ate a falafel from the Happy Vegetarian falafel stall. Om nom.

Eventually I ended up back at Borough, where I decided to get another flower pot bread, and...

Carrot cake! (with cream cheese icing, of course)

Harrods at night. 

A classy dinner from Harrods food store. One scotch egg and some yoghurt. Eaten on the bench outside. 

Playin Monopoly at the hostel. I was the cheeseburger.

But we got tired and went to bed too fast to really finish it...

Hyde Park, which was right next to our hostel. 

An old tree in the park, that has little figurines tucked into it. 

Duck. Duck. Goose. 

I also decided to take a little bike ride through the park, courtesy of the Barclays bike scheme. Only cost me a pound for a half hour of bike riding bliss. 

Hello gorgeous.

And enter my favorite store: Whole Foods. Oh how I hope to live close to one of you, someday. Some veggie soup, a spelt roll, and a tofu spinach pancake. 

Next pictures are from the Natural History Museum...

Lloyds of London. Also known as the inside-out building. Kinda looks like it belongs in Metropolis...or Tron.

Our hostel was the Smart Hype Park View, which was very close to Portobello, and a good deal all round. Plus there were triple bunkbeds! Sam and I slept on the very tops, of course. Overall, was a lovely trip!