Meals at home

Another comfort food that I whip up quickly when in hunger is Pasta (anykind, but i find bavette, linguine, or spaghetti - longish strands works well) Aglio Olio.

Simply mince some garlic, go with more than you're comfortable with, it's afterall one of the major flavors in this dish, toss in hot olive oil (must I add that you should use extra virgin olive oil? It's a principal ingredient and you should use the best!) in a pan (careful, garlic burns easily!) and throw in pasta (al dente, or even slightly under), save some pasta water from the cooking, and add into the same pan to let it boil away (this cooks the pasta further), chop parsley, toss in with some dried chilli flakes (the one shown here in Noira peppers from Spain), and here, I added some batonnets of Calabrese sausage. Spicy! For me, I like to add the (cured) sausage at the last, because, if I did in the beginnning, yes, the flavor will come out stronger, but I will have tough little sticks of sausage. I'll rather let the sausage coat itself in hot oil and let it infuse slowly. Of course, don't forget a sprinkling of fleur de sel, and some ground black pepper.

The funny thing about living in Europe, is that tropical fruits are so exotic! When do you ever get to taste an African banana??

I live in the neighbourhood bordering this street where there're many Turkish/Indian/Lebanese immigrants, it's a safe neighbourhood, but at times you feel like you're walking through Istanbul! The myriad of spices and aromas made me feel for something heartwarming. I bought some Tandoori spice, but instead of roasting the chicken, I marinated it in the spice with some natural yoghurt, brown it very quickly in a pan (be careful, the yoghurt will burn easily), set aside, throw in some chopped onions into the pan to pick up the 'suc', deglaze with some white wine, and add in some water/stock, to let it simmer. When reduced, add in some more natural yoghurt, put the chicken pieces back in and cook till tender, no more. Spinkle some coriander leaves. (You know the stems can be added into the sauce when cooking.)

In place of naan, I have to make do with french baguette, which is excellent anyway! Sliced cucumbers marinated in old Jerez vinegar and pinch of salt, and some sliced small green chilli peppers.

Even in France, the chicken is so stylish, it is so well-labelled, it sure puts our local chickens to shame... lol. Well, this is one of the more common chicken to be had, and it is soooo good!!! The taste is fantastic!

With the bones, I made some chicken stock to put into the freezer to keep. Will come in handy one day. Everybody, say... Mmmmh!! The smell feels up my entire studio apartment!