Budapest, Hungary

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When I arrived in Budapest, it was already late afternoon. We had a pub dinner near the Budapest parliament, which lightened up when it got dark. Such an amazing neo-gothic architecture that makes you feel so small in front. We took a river cruise to have a look at a beautiful night view of Budapest. Parliament building, chain bridge, castle hill, etc.

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We also went to Heroes square which is located at the end of Andrassy Avenue. The monument was erected to commemorate the 1000 year old history of the Magyars.
After a couple of wines on the river cruise, I was so ready for bed since I was still jet-lagged (well..I don’t think I never got out of it until I left Europe…I’m so bad with time difference!)

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I was not a big fan of local foods in Europe. From my experience, they seem to have quite heavy salty foods with lots of meats and potatoes.
Best meal of the day for me was a hotel breakfast unfortunately. Fresh fruits, vegetables and some protein! A couple of plates lasted me almost all day 🙂

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Fishermen’s Bastion.. Apparently there was a fish market nearby in medieval times, and this bastion was built to commemorate the fishermen who protected this part of the city.
There is a lookout at the top. The view from there in the morning was quite different to the night before. Then we took a walk through the Castle hill that has old citizen houses and narrow streets. The best aspect of the building that I was very fascinated by was the intricate design on the balustrading. This design was on many monuments when we were exploring the place. This is also something that I was very fascinated by and was a design that I would apply for my home.

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Beautiful Autumn colour trees covering up the hill. It was only late September though Autumn here seemed a bit early. My favorite season of the year!
You can find a lot of ittle souvenir shops had paprika (chillies) hung up to dry in the sun. Apparently a person who discovered vitamins in this chillies won the Novel prize.
After a only short walk we arrived in the Royal Palace, which was build in the 13th century after the Mongolian invasion. It’s used as the national gallery and history museum now.

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Last meal in Budapest was pork, potatoes and rice (where is my greens?), then we headed to Wien, Austria.
It was a short stay in Hungary and definitely didn’t have enough time to get around the city and park area. I would love to go back there and stay a little longer next time to go to the parks, museums and local bistros and brasseries, too.
So many things to do in so little time in Europe:)

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Posted in: Europe, Travel

Sushi

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Sushi (well..a.k.a Kimbap in Korea) used to be a special meal for me when I grew up.
We had a picnic day in Spring and Autumn twice a year when I was at school. Sushi was a must dish that everyone brought in their lunch box and compared whose tastes and looks better. I liked that excitement the night before, waiting for a picnic day, sometimes sleepless night with a big smile on my little face. Mum used to get up really early and made noises in the kitchen to make my lunch box when I was still sleeping in bed. Then I wake up and walk to the kitchen. The kitchen bench is a full of colourful ingredients like a rainbow. Spinach, carrot, pickled radish, ham, cheese, eggs, some herbs, etc. My family ends up having mum’s sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner that day. She made the prettiest sushi in the world and it, of course, tasted delicious! Ah..nostalgia..my childhood food 🙂

I know sushi has become a big trend of healthy take-away food. To me, though, western sushi has so much rice and no flavour compared to Korean sushi. And did I mention it is a bit pricy for a small roll of sushi >.<
I normally make one myself home because it is so easy and fun to make. If you haven’t done it before, it may look a little intimidating task but trust me on this! You just need to practice a couple of times until you get the hang of it. Always the first one is the ugliest, exactly like when you make pancakes. I used two cups of sushi rice and some vegetables to make two big rolls. A bit of chilli sauce to spice it up as well. I find it helps to have the sharpest knife you’ve got at home in runny water before you slice them up so that rice doesn’t stick to your knife and ruin your beautiful sushi. Writing this post…I think myself I really should call this Kimbap, not sushi!!!!

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Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Paté Platter for Dinner

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Having vegetables and fruits most of the time, I can feel quite exhausted and a lack of energy at times. The micro-nutrients from vegetarian diet are great though it is true that you get iron and vitamin B12 deficiency.
After my visit to my uncle who is a oriental medicine doctor back home, I had to find a list of foods that contains high iron to boost more energy in myself. I tried a pan-fried liver before but somehow the flavour got more intense after cooking, and it was hard to eat after a couple of mouthful. Pate, on the other hand, needs a little bit of preparation but I think it has better texture and flavour.

The liver is a storage for many important nutrients, a rich source of iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin A. It has a incredible nutritional benefits when compared with fruits, veggies and other meats. I guess having the organ meats helps the farmers and environment as well. People worry about a high cholesterol content in the liver, though it is a good cholesterol (you need it in your body unless you have hyperlipidemia!) and a small amount is okay. It is all about moderation after all.

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Problem with making pate, though, is most recipes suggest using so much butter or oil to make a smooth texture. Well I had to give up on that. There is no way I use that much butter in my food.So I used a couple of table spoons of coconut oil, hoping it helps to hold everything together. I also had the liver in milk for an hour before cooking to get rid of any bad smell. Then I boiled it with white wine, bay leaves, peppercorns and some other spices in a saucepan until it’s cooked through. Remove from the heat, cool down a bit, blend it all up, put it in a ramekin, and set in the fridge. Well…it turned out to be so crumbly without butter >.<
I might need to try again with some other substitutes to make a buttery texture next time.

Viola! I served with zucchini bread, red onion jam, home-made pickles and green salad.
Very satisfying dinner 🙂

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Posted in: Dinner, My recipes

Raw Cheese Cake

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I’ve been craving for nice cool sweets as a snack recently and been meaning to try to make “raw cheese cake” to see what all those fusses are about.

So here it is…my very first attempt to make “raw cheese cake” with no cheese. This delicious dessert is gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free, but has a full of flavour and nutrition in it!

I soaked 200g of raw cashew nuts in water for about 6 hours, then drained and washed them. Put them in the blender with two table spoons of coconut oil, a cup of frozen blue berries and a heap teaspoon of maca powder. Whiz all up until you get a nice smooth texture. Pour into the mold and set in the fridge before you serve. You can also keep them in the freezer for a hot summer day!

Did you know cashew nuts have a lower fat content than other nuts? 75% of this fat content is unsaturated fatty acids, and 75% of this unsaturated fatty acids is oleic acid a.k.a omega-6, which is good for your cardiovascular system. Cashew nuts are high in antioxidant and a good source of protein, fiber, potassium, vitamin B, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and copper. On top of that, soaking nuts not only releases the enzyme inhibitors but also starts the gemination process, which releases the good enzymes and nutrients.

This awesome dessert blew my mind away!

Firstly, it has a beautiful creamy texture like a real cheese cake. It is super-easy to make – no baking involved, don’t need to measure ingredients accurately. You can be creative with ingredients to make other types of cheese cake, for example, lemon, green-tea, chocolate, you name it! It is incredibly easy to digest cause it is made of soaked and blended nuts. It definitely fills you up with a little piece and satisfy your sweet tooth or teeth 🙂

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Posted in: Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged:

Vegetable Stack with Blue Cheese

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Another vegetarian dish I made up from what I have in the fridge!I made a jar of char-grilled red capsicum and caramelised red onions last week, which lasts in your fridge for a couple of weeks. It means that you can save time when cooking and it is a great addition to other dishes.
I highly recommend preserving vegetables like this so that you can quickly grab from the fridge and make something up when you are in hurry or don’t have many ingredients in the fridge.
I always have some kind of pickles and kimchi in my fridge, never run out of it! Also it is fun to make them.
Tonight I just needed to cook some eggplant and zucchini in the pan and stack up all the vegetables in beautiful layers:) I try to have as many colours of vegetables as I can on my plate. It is good for you and looks pretty too.
As a treat, I also put some gorgonzola cheese on top. When I tried blue cheese for the first time, I was in a shock why people consume this moldy cheese which both looks and smells horrible. Seriously it smells like old socks >.< After some courageous attempts and my taste buds have developed over years, now I’m so enjoying this distinctive flavour of blue cheese and it is one of my favorite cheese. Especially French and English ones, so yummy! A good combination is blue cheese with a slice of pear, caramelised onion and walnut wrapped in prosciutto. Juste delicieux!

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Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes