Butternut Squash and Coconut Curry

Butternut Squash and Coconut Curry served with chapattis!

They say that owners look like their pets (I’m hoping to be the owner of a pug soon...does this mean I look like a pug?!)

They also say men marry women who look like their mothers (does that mean Mr KG thinks I look like his Mum?!)

But what does the food someone eats or cooks say about them?



Self portrait?

I often think that people who cook exotic food must be reasonably well travelled. There’s a big difference between someone who likes to order the odd Chinese or curry and someone who cooks pasta from scratch, or has an authentic recipe for lamb tagine.

And so I wonder – what do the recipes on this blog say about me?!

Unfortunately I am nowhere near as well travelled as I would like to be. I have been to all of the obvious places in Europe – France, Spain, Germany and Greece. I’ve also been to Prague. But that’s really where the extent of my “travelling” starts and stops.

From a young age I’ve had a desire to go to new places and when I wrote my first ever bucket list when I was 13 it included travelling to India, Japan, Russia and China. These are most definitely still the 4 places I would like to visit the most. Since beginning to learn Mandarin I feel like my dream to visit China is becoming more and more possible. I’d love to fit in a month long tour of China before I start my training contract but I just have to keep on hoping for now – after all a temporary job and a flat with Mr KG are way higher on my list of priorities.

I may not be well travelled but I am well eaten – if that’s even a saying! I’ve certainly tried my fair share of curries, some of which were more authentic than others.

Wherever I’ve lived (or Mr KG has lived) we’ve always been in pursuit of a good curry. I’ve also been fortunate enough in the past to have a friend from Bangladesh who’s Mum LOVED to cook us curries for revision sessions back during my A-Levels. Another friend spent a lot of time in Nepal and brought home recipes for authentic Nepalese curries.

Silky coconut curry with butternut squash, red chilli and lentils

One day I hope that I will be able to share a traditional recipe passed down to me on one of my travels, but that might be for a while yet.

Until then, all I can do is share with you a recipe for one of my favourite curries which I cook at home. The idea has come from a variety of dishes I’ve tried both at home and in restaurants so it may well be a twist on a classic, who knows!

Baked Cod with lentils and lardons

There has been the odd recipe posted on this website claiming to be “brain food” – as a student brain food is very important to me and as we’re getting closer to the end of term and the inevitable horrifying 2 months that is “exam period” I can do with all the help I can get!

When my sister and I started taking important exams like GCSE’s (SAT’s didn’t count!) my Mum started giving us a type of Omega 3 tablet called “Eye-Q” (at least that’s what my memory tells me it was called…). The idea is that these tablets boost your brain power! Seeing as I achieved 6 A*’s, 3 A’s and 2 B’s in my GCSE’s we figured they worked…along came A Levels and what do you know 3 A’s – some of my module results were even 100%! So…fishy oils = brain power right?! The idea that fish is brain food can’t be wrong can it!?

I thought I would do a little research into this long standing idea! After watching a programme on television the other day that dispelled lots of cooking myths (E.g. a glass of wine in a spag bol will get burnt off during the cooking process and meringue can be made if a little egg yolk gets into your egg whites) I thought I’d find out if fish really is brain food!

After a little time spent on Google there is a whole RANGE of evidence that suggests the claim is really true!

2011 Blogging Highlights

It’s New Years Eve and in true New Years fashion I’m going to do a little reflecting on my blogging adventure to date including the trials and tribulations, and of course, the best recipes so far!

I started the blog in April of this year. I had been following other people’s blogs for about 6 months prior and needed somewhere to document my own creations and experiments. Since then, I have connected with fellow bloggers on a whole new level and I’ve been even more creative than before!

Here are my 10 favourite recipes of 2011:

Nepalese Curried Vegetable with Lentils and Home-made Chapathis

A week ago, my family had an old friend come to stay. Her name is Aurelia, and when she was a child she came to stay with my family every year as an exchange student from France, in the hope that we would teach her some English! It’s a tradition my family has had for generations, her father staying with my grandparents when he was a child too!

I think it’s fair to say that in the time she’s spent with us she has taught us just as much as we’ve taught her!

When she came to stay this time round, she decided to teach me a new type of food – Nepalese. She visited Nepal for a couple of months and lived with a number of families eating their traditional food.

Below is our interpretation of the dishes she ate on her travel – as authentic as they can possibly be.

So here is Nepalese Curried Vegetables with Lentil and Home-made Chapathis! (aka chapattis, chapatis).

Chapathis are my new favourite thing to cook!  SO quick and easy, and good fun to make! (Though do not set your tea-towel on fire as I did!!!!!)