Merry Xmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Ho Ho Ho

We had a quiet Christmas dinner with family. Turkey was on the menu which we ordered from Radisson Blu in Deira (Boulevard Gourmet) for AED 430. The sides were roast potatoes, roast veggies, meatloaf, gravy and cranberry sauce. The Turkey was a whole of 6 kgs and enough to feed a small village. There was tons of left overs and I packed some for my colleagues at work. I wish the turkey had some stuffing in it though otherwise it made a pretty hearty meal. I'm sure there are lots of things you can do with left over turkey and if you just google you will find lots of tips. I guess the important point is to not waste any.

Enjoy the holiday season for those of you who are on holidays and for the rest of us working we can enjoy the coming weekend :)

This and that...cauliflower soup!

I know I have not written for ages. I have just been really lazy and occupied with work and other stuff. The Eid holidays have begun today - yipeeee. I will be visiting my family in Muscat and I am hoping to catch the 20% discount at duty free (the discount is valid on all public holidays - not sure if it will be available on just the Eid day itself or on all 3 days starting today) :D 

 

I have a quick easy recipe for cauliflower soup - something I tried recently.

 

In a vessel, fry an onion (sliced) and garlic (2-3 pods chopped roughly). To this, add a cube of chicken stock and about 2-3 cups of water. Add cauliflower (chopped) and let it boil. Add any type of seasoning you want (chilli flakes, oregano, mixed herbs, pepper, salt etc). After the cauliflower has boiled and is soft, empty the vessel in a blender and blend till smooth (blend in batches if necessary so that it does not overspill).

 

Voila - garnish with some golden fried onions/shredded cheese on top and serve with garlic bread. Quick and easy and hardly takes up any time.

 

Eid Mubarak everyone!

 

 

Xiao Fei Yang Retaurant or Little Fat Sheep (International City, Dubai)

Feel like sharing? Then head over to Xiao Fei Yang.in International City (Cluster B/Chinese Cluster). The concept of the restaurant is different from any I have seen in a long time. If you go on a weekend the place is quite busy so I suggest you either go early or go late. The first thing you will see is a big pot on every table, or most tables, and people all happily dipping their food into it. Now don't be nervous and ask the waitress to find you a table. Each person gets a small bowl and a pair of chopsticks (you can ask for forks too).

So here how it goes - you can choose any item from the menu and they bring it to you raw and you basically dump it into a big pot of hot broth which continues to boil right in front of you. There are a few tables where you can have your personal hot pot. If you are feeling selfish by all means go for those. The broth comes in spicy and non spicy (go for the spicy!). The pots are divided in half so you can have spicy on one side and non spicy on the other. The menu includes items like noodles, mushrooms, fish balls, variety of leafy vegetables, chicken and beef strips, crab sticks etc.

Each item that you pick can be shared between 2-3 people. After you have placed your order, head over to the sauce section where you can mix and create your own sauces. The sauces include - chilli sauce,  peanut sauce, soy sauce with garlic, satay sauce, chilli oil and some others which I cannot recollect. Then there are bowls of crushed garlic, crushed peanuts, coriander etc which you can add to the sauces. Feel free try all their sauces, they are unlimited.

Oh and try the plum juice, it's yummy. The whole affair can get messy so be prepared! Do visit this place, if you are feeling bored of your usual hang outs.

Have a good weekend!

In Kerala! God's Own Country

If you do happen to visit Kerala (Cochin) you can call up Wilson Tours to arrange a boat cruise for you. I emailed them before my trip and they said I could pay on arrival. I was a bit hesitant that they might cancel last minute and I emailed them like 3-4 times before my trip.  As we didn't want something which kept us out until late evening, we opted for a canoe boat day cruise. The total cost for 2 was Rs 2,800 which is approximately AED 185. It included lunch, pick up and drop to the hotel. I thought this was an extremely good deal. At this price do not expect an air conditioned car. The lunch was simple but nicely prepared. It included 3 types of vegetarian dishes, 4 pieces of fried fish (which was some local catch) and rice. If you forget to tip the boatman do not worry, as he will remind you :P.

 Visit their website http://www.wilsontours.co.in/about.htm for more details.

If you prefer staying somewhere close to the backwaters, check out Ilona Lake Resorts, Kumarakom (http://www.ilonahotels.biz/factsheet.html). We booked them through Iris Holidays (http://www.irisholidays.com/) and paid Rs 8,500 (around AED 580) for one night stay (including breakfast).


The resort has a variety of things you can do like mini golf, badminton, cycling, swimming etc. I would suggest not visiting their "Ayurveda spa". I cannot say much for the food either, however the rooms were clean, the showers had hot water and the folks were hospitable.

Oh and if you are in Cochin do make a dinner reservation at the Marriott (near the airport), the servers there are extremely polite and friendly and the food is awesome.

Happy holidays :)

 

BBC (Belgian Beer Cafe at Crowne Plaza, Dubai Festival City, Dubai)

This weekend hop on over to the Belgian Beer Café and sample some of their delicious beers. If you cannot make up your mind, they also have a sampling tray pictured on the left. Excuse the picture quality as it has been taken from my mobile phone. If you do make it there you can also try the Belle-Vue Kriek (Fruit Beer which tastes like cherry) and mussels either in a plate or a pot. And you can take part in their contest - "pop in before 14 June 2013 and tell the manager how to pronounce the new chef's name (Stijn Surinx) and you will get into a draw to win dinner and drinks for 8". For more information visit their website which has other offers too http://www.diningdfc.com/.

 Cheers!!!

Coffee and Coconut Spa Review at Oxygen Spa (Dubai, UAE)

So in my previous post (http://oopssorrywrongblog.blogspot.ae/2013/03/oxygen-spa-deira-dubai-and-random.html) I mentioned that I was dying to try out their coffee and coconut spa. The name itself sounds delicious. The spa includes a full body massage, body scrub, hair mask, milk body wrap, honey facial and blow dry for AED 169 in all (we had purchased the vouchers beforehand via "Hit the Deals").

The aromatherapy massage was just perfect for me. However the rest of the spa was not as expected.

So here goes - My friend and I were seated together in a big room with 2 stone/granite tables in the middle. We were seated on a bench which was attached to one wall.  

A therapist entered and sprayed me with a hand shower, then rubbed some shampoo on my hair rather quickly and washed it off. I realised at that time that my friend and I would be sharing the same therapist for reasons unknown. Anyhow , following  the vigorous hair wash she then put some conditioner and washed that off too and then added a hair mask. All this was probably done in a span of 5mins. She then did the same for my friend.

Then came the process of the scrub. We were made to lie down on the stone tables. The therapist started with me first and applied milk and honey on my entire body and proceeded to scrub me with the coconut and coffee scrub (which were actual coconut shavings and coffee powder). This process was not very soothing and it somehow seemed like she was in a hurry. She then applied some honey on my face which was supposed to be the "facial" bit of the spa. The scrubbing process was also done in a span of 5-10 mins. She then repeated the procedure on my friend.

We were then left in the room with steam rolling in for about 10 minutes, after which it was just too steamy and suffocating. We had to call her to turn it off.

We were then given some soap and told to wash ourselves off. We were given robes and told to go for the massage. The body massage was heavenly (remember to take the towel off from your head before you go in for the massage  I stupidly didn't).

The blow dry which followed later was relaxing. The hair stylist was a very sweet woman and if anyone deserved a tip, it was her (unfortunately I don’t recollect her name).

Oh and the masseuse too was very good. My friend was very pleased with her massage too.

After the spa treatment I felt very very very clean and thoroughly scrubbed, down to the last coffee grain. But if you are looking for something more relaxing then I suggest you opt just for the massage. The whole spa deal can also be quite scandalous and you have to be prepared to bear it “almost” all! We definitely weren’t expecting to be put in the same room…lols

Oxygen Spa (Deira, Dubai) and random...

Hello folks! I have just been a lazy bum and have not posted anything in a long time. I haven't tried any new recipes which are worth mentioning here.

Hotmail is now appearing as Outlook and it is soooo slow.

The other day we watched Jack the Giant Slayer and it didn't live up to my expectations. It could have been saved with a whole different cast.

Hardees has an awesome Cheese Steak Burger for AED 20 when you are hungry and low on cash. Take that with some chilli fries and you are set. They also serve fresh orange juice for AED 6.

The Oxygen Spa in Deira (Marriott Executive Apartments, Tower B) is amazing. I tried out their deal for Microdermabrasion on "Hit the Deals" for AED 99 and was totally satisfied. The deal is still on so HURRY! They have another deal for Coconut and Coffee Spa which I have bought and can't wait to try. They are also nice enough to give you the same rate if you haven't had a chance to purchase the deal. Call first to make an appointment (00971 4 2222920).

Let me know how it goes :)

Coconut Rice

I actually saw this recipe on a blog but I don't remember which blog it was so whoever I took this recipe from - Thank you!

Serves 4 people

1 cup rice
1/2 cup coconut milk in a tin (if you have fresh coconut milk even better)
2 onions
1 inch ginger (chopped fine or ginger paste will do)
2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped fine or garlic paste will do)
Oil for frying
1 inch Cinamon stick
Few Methi (Fenugreek) seeds
Salt

Soak the rice for about half an hour. Drain the soaked rice well and keep it aside.

Fry 2 onions along with the ginger and garlic. Add the drained rice to it and stir it very very gently. Now add the coconut milk and around 1.5 cups of water (double the quanity of rice in the vessel). Do not stir. Add cinamon and Methi seeds and leave it on a medium flame to boil. When you notice that the liquid has almost dried off switch it on to a very low flame and cover the vessel so that it cooks all the way through for about 10-15 mins. Finally fluff the rice with a fork.

Note - It is important not to stir the rice so that in the end you get separate grains of rice and not just a mushy blob! Do not add too many Methi seeds as they are bitter (

Enjoy and let me know how it goes :)

Shrimp Spaghetti in Red Sauce my style!!

Serves 4

Spaghetti

Half a packet of spaghetti (or as much as you would consider appropriate for 4 people)

1 cube of shrimp stock

1 tbsp of oil and half tsp of salt

Shrimps (as much as you would consider appropriate for 4 people)

Sesame Oil for frying the Shrimps (optional for a different flavour)

Pinch of salt and pepper

Sauce

Bacon (approx 2 slices of bacon chopped very fine; they should hardly be visible in the sauce)

2 red onions

1 Spring onion

5 cloves of garlic chopped very fine

Fresh mushrooms chopped in quarters (again as much as you would consider appropriate for 4 people.)

1 red capsicum sliced

2 tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

Chilli flakes/pepper/salt/mixed herbs

Soy sauce/Tabasco sauce

1 cube of stock (try different flavours; I used mushroom stock)

Fresh herbs (optional for garnishing)

Boil half a packet of spaghetti with a little salt and oil. Add a cube of either chicken or shrimp stock. I went with Shrimp stock for a change. While the spaghetti is boiling it’s time to create your sauce.

Take a big pan (should be deep enough so that the sauce does not spill over). Add some oil to the pan and fry your bacon bits. After a minute or so it’s time to add your onions, spring onions and garlic. Fry them all nicely together until the onions are translucent. Now add the sliced red pepper/capsicum. Fry for another minute or two. Now add the tomatoes and fry again until they have gone all soft and mushy. Now it’s time to add the tomato paste and mushrooms. At this time also add a good sprinkle of chilli flakes, crushed black pepper, various dry herbs (like oregano/basil/thyme), a splash of soy and tabasco sauce and a pinch of salt. You may also want to add a stock cube for more flavour (I added Mushroom stock). Stir is around a bit so that the stock cube is completely dissolved in the sauce. Now let this sauce simmer for a good 10 minutes or so.

Fry your shrimps separately in a little sesame oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the shrimps to the spaghetti and pour the sauce over it. If you have some fresh herbs you can garnish the spaghetti with those otherwise just go right ahead and serve hot!