25 55 Restaurant in Marina Yacht Club

Lunch at Twenty Five Fifty Five was a very pleasant experience.
As we arrived, we were greeted and seated promptly.

 Orla enjoyed her welcome kids pack full of activities.

 

 Daddy enjoys more art and ... cheese

 and some bread.

I ordered a delicious smoked salmon sandwich
with a salad and I resisted potential portion of chips.

which proved a good choice as my salad was very fresh and yummy.

Orla's kids meal was scrumptious: delicious egg, baby carrots, petite pois and beans.

 

 This was daddy's choice- red mullet on a bed of rice with asparagus. I liked it more than my man did.

I really recommend it.

Pasta with grilled veggies, green beans salad, oranges and spinach

This is a healthy, pretty looking and deliciously tasty dish.

The ingredients are:

• aubergines, peppers and courgettes for grilling
• spinach, tomatoes for the salad
• pasta (tricolore) 
• balsamic dressing (olive oil & balsamic vinegar)
• an orange cut in chunks
• cooked green beans

She likes it.

My little one and our yummy supper

The Princess and her daddy

This combination is really the right one!

Breakfast time - soft boiled eggs and soldiers

It is breakfast time!

We are up early (around 6 am) and usually very hungry for a good breakfast.

Personally, this is my favorite meal. It has to be with a coffee and especially, hot toast and boiled eggs. 

If I was on holiday, I would pay even greater attention to breakfast. The hotel must have a fantastic selection of omelettes, pastries and fresh fruit. 

At home I prefer soft-boiled eggs.

One of my favourite movie scenes is the one from "John and Mary" with Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman where the  two of them are getting to know each other over wonderful soft-boiled eggs breakfast.

That is why I married Ed- he likes egg soldiers (I am only yoking!)

Toast with sugar free but still delicious French peach preserve - with a bite taken out of it.

Special treat- a  Parisian version of cappuccino, black coffee with whipped cream, my Achilles heel.

It doesn't matter where you are - a croissant is a must!

This is the view from our balcony.

Potato, chickpea and cashew curry

It is the weekend of Eid. A busy time in Dubai. Especially difficult to catch a taxi or enjoy the beach or poolside. The malls are so fully populated that you end up walking there at a snail's pace

My choice for today was potato, chickpea and cashew nut curry. I served it with rice, poppadoms and home-made mango chutney, which I had made earlier.  

  

I fried the onions, garlic, ginger and spices (curry powder) in coconut oil for 10 minutes until my onions browned.

 I added few nice tomatoes

 Mushrooms

 Boiled the potatoes for 20 minutes

 I cooked my rice for 10 minutes until fluffy.

 Voila!

Daughter ate tiny bit. Played a lot with it...

My husband appreciated my passion for curry.

Apple and cinnamon crumble cupcakes for Thomas :)

Last night, I went out with my lovely girlfriend, Inan. It was a "dry night" - no alcohol in Dubai night.

Hilarious! Of all nights, our dinner fell on this particular one.

We ate well in our West 14th restaurant, on the Palm and drank fancy, but fizzy water :)

We had goat cheese salad and crumble for dessert. That is why I made apple crumble cupcakes as a theme of my new blog.

This is our salad - not only beautiful, but delicious and nutritious too.

Today is my friend's boy's birthday so I am going to give him the cupcakes that I made. They are so yummy (I already tried two).

The ingredients for the recipe are:

• apples (two)
• stick of butter (125 g)
• fructose or sugar (brown) (one cup)
• one egg
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• 11/2 cup of flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tbsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup almond powder

I peeled the apples and grated them.

I cooked the melted butter with apples and fructose for 5 minutes on a low heat

 Then I cooled it and mixed in the flour and other wet ingredients and egg mix.

The crumble is made with love and simply by mixing 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of almond powder, 1/2 cup of fructose and 3 tbsp of butter.

 I baked them in the oven in 350 degrees Farenheit for 20 minutes.

Voila! 

Bon Appetite. They are the best served with good vanilla ice-cream :)

Tiffin - home made mango chutney and vegetable curry

 

I love visiting a vegeterian Indian restaurant in Karama in Dubai, called "Sangeetha, but what I like even more, is to be able to recreate the look and aroma of dishes I try there in my own kitchen.

 

Ha! My greatest challenge yet. I have always failed miserably with Indian dishes. But today I was happy with my creations. 

 

I bought fresh and fragrant ingredients which mostly came directly from India (and which are readily available in all the shops here):

 

• fresh ginger
• fresh garlic
• fresh baby limes
• Gyma curry powder
• flaked chillies
• onions
• Egyptian fresh mango
• fresh courgettes
• fresh spinach
• fresh local broccoli
 
 
And I made rice, home-made mango and lime chutney with curry made from courgettes, broccoli and  spinach with light coconut milk. I served it with healthy poppadoms.
 
I smelled like a curry house and I think even a "real" Indian would have enjoyed eating my curry dish.
 
How did I make my absolutely fabulous vegetarian curry dish?
 
I fried minced garlic cloves (3) and chopped onion in coconut oil (few drops) for 2 minutes.
 
Then I added in chopped courgettes, spinach, broccoli and light coconut milk. I stirred in some curry powder and dry ginger and covered it to simmer for 20 minutes.
 

 

 

My husband asked for more and my daughter cleaned her plate.

 

Home-made mango chutney below (really quite simple) and much nicer than the bought stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

I actually can't believe how easy it is to make this stuff and how much fun it gives me.

 

To create this delicious and mouth-watering mango and lime chutney I simply grated the peeled whole mango and mixed it with grated 3 cloves of garlic, mixed with the juice of 3 small limes. Then I added a bit of vinegar and black pepper. I cooked it for 20 minutes. The important bit it is to cool it down and refrigerate it for about an hour.

 

 

 

This is me about to tuck in :)

 

 

Bon Appetite!

Food for cold days

 

I will be back in the UK very shortly. I have shopped for a new stylish outfits here in Dubai to brighten-up grey autumn days.

Now it is a time for a plan how to keep my family & myself well in the cold, wet and sun-free climate.

I am looking for helping hand with Ayurwedic philosophy of eating. What does it mean?

We should eat accordingly to the climate we live in. So to ward off germs in wet and cold climates we should not for example eat as if we were Greeks who live in a hot weather. So, yogurt, fresh fruit and feta cheese are definitely not the way to go.

What am I going to eat this coming autumn-winter season?

I am going to eat foodstuff which will not create a moisture in my body. I aim to eat dishes and ingredients which will keep me dry & warm. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Here comes the list:

1. Dry fruit, such as: raisins, apricots, prunes (maybe not too many) & nuts;
2. Barley, buckwheat, rice, amaranth & similar products
3. Soups
4. Pumpkins, butternut squash, beetroot, cabbage, onions, apples,
5. Oats, cereals,

We need to eat hot food, rich in spices, so here comes list no2:

1. Cinnamon
2. Ginger
3. Garlic
4. Marjoram
5. Thyme

A good example of a winter meal could be anything stewed or baked. Rich in vegetables, buckwheat, dry fruit, cinnamon (has a warming properties) & ginger.

Perhaps I could start with a spicy pumpkin soup, then vegetable pilaf and finish with fruity apple crumble?

My favourite food are home-made Florentines made with pure ingredients, such as: almond flakes, raisins, sliced apricots, honey, flour and dark chocolate. Yummy and not bad for you.

Or I can have a favourite creation: spicy roasted vegetables with rice and impromptu baked banana with dark chocolate. (I could not resist whipped cream too:))

As you could see on the photo my daughter really enjoyed her supper!