Stir-Fried Broccoli and Cauliflower

a vegan dish


I actually blogged about eating this dish a couple of weeks ago but I've never really gotten around to posting the recipe until now.  So, yeah, here's recipe #2.

Stir-Fried Broccoli and Cauliflower

It's broccoli, cauliflower and a bunch of other things hungover from partying in a cast iron wok.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with something that would serve:

- 1 hungry person who really wants to eat, or
- 2 people on a diet

You will need:

- 1 cup of broken broccoli flowers
- 1 cup of broken cauliflower heads
- 1 medium tomato, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of dill leaves (only a pinch if dried)
- 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley (only 1/2 if dried)
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (or you can use whatever type of vinegar you have if you don't have Balsamic vinegar; but trust me, this minute amount makes all the difference in the world)
- 1 tablespoon of corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil (preferably extra virgin)

Let's make it:

1. First, boil the broccoli and cauliflower until readily edible and a little bit tender but not too soft.  Set it aside.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil on a wok or skillet over ridiculously high heat.  Make sure your pan has a firm handle.
3. Drop the onion and garlic onto the oil.  You must then quickly grab the handle to toss and turn it around.  It is quite possible that the inside of the wok/skillet will catch fire.  Don't be frightened; it's completely normal.  Only allow 5-7 seconds for the spices to dance around without adding anything else.  As much as possible, do not allow the spices to burn.
4. After 5-7 seconds, when the smell becomes considerably strong, drop the tomato in and toss it around for some 10 seconds.
5. Introduce about 1/4 cup of water so you don't end up with a burnt dish.  Toss around for 20 seconds more.
6. Add the boiled broccoli and cauliflower.
7. With a 5-second interval, one after the other, add the vinegar, soy sauce and one more tablespoon of olive oil.  Continuously move the pan to agitate the ingredients for about 40 seconds.
8. Flick in the parsley and dill and make sure they get fully integrated into the dish by mixing them in properly.
9. Add the corn syrup.

NOTE: If your taste buds somehow find the flavour inadequate, you may increase one or more of the liquid condiments.

Garlic Chapati and Guacamole

a vegan dish

I've been cooking quite a lot these days and posting a couple of food photos on my Facebook wall and on Twitter.

I thought to myself, "hey, why don't I just share my recipe on my blog so they'd learn how to make it themselves?"  So here's recipe #1.

Guacamole

A Mexican dip best paired with tortilla crisps and flat bread like tortillas, roti, chapati, naan, or pita.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with a bowl that would be enough for:

- 4 pieces of chapati

You will need:

- 2 ripe avocados
- 3 tablespoons of lime or kalamansi juice
- 2 medium sized tomatoes (or one large western tomato) peeled, de-seeded and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of coarsely chopped/diced onion
- 1 tablespoon of coriander (also known in some places as cilantro)
- Your choice of hot pepper (jalapeño, bird's eye, tabasco, espada) de-seeded and very finely chopped (add according to heat tolerance with a minimum of one teaspoon)
- 1/3 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder (optional)

To make it:

1. Put the lime/kalamansi juice in a bowl.
2. Scoop out the flesh of the avocados and chop coarsely.
3. Add the avocado to the lime/kalamansi juice in the bowl.
4. Coarsely mash the avocado using a fork or a potato masher until it becomes a bit smooth and creamy.  It's okay to have little lumps here and there.  NEVER EVER BLEND IT.
5. If you don't like the onions to crunch in your mouth, you could crush it using a mortar and pestle.  If you're okay with crunchy onions, skip this step.
6. Add all other ingredients into the bowl with the avocado and mix well.
7. If you think it lacks salt, add a little more to taste and mix it in.
8. Chill in the fridge for one hour before serving.




Garlic Chapati

Chapati is a type of flat unleavened bread that traces its culinary origins from the Indian Subcontinent.  It's commonly made using only flour, water and a bit of salt but, in this case, I'm going to add garlic so we'll call it Garlic Chapati to avoid confusion.  It is best eaten with sauces like curry and marinara, or dips such as guacamole.

For every four (4) pieces, you will need:

- 1 cup (150 grams) of plain flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/3 cup (80 millilitres) of water
- 2 teaspoons of garlic paste

To make chapati:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make some sort of well or hole in the middle.
2. Stir the garlic paste into the water.  You will notice it form a suspension.
3. Pour the garlic and water mix onto the well in the bowl.
4. Mix the flour and the water to form some sort of ball.  Do not add any more water.  Just keep rolling the ball around until it collects the rest of the remaining flour and you are able to form a compact dough that is slightly sticky but soft.
5. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover it with cling wrap or a plate and leave it in room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes.
6. After resting your dough, divide it into four equal pieces.  Using your hand, form each piece into a small round flat disc about half an inch thick.
7. Drop the disc onto a lightly floured surface and, using a floured rolling pin, gently roll the disc out into a very thin and flat circle about 7 or 8 inches in diameter.  Don't worry; it doesn't need to be perfect.
8. If you have a roti pan or flat pan, use it.  Otherwise, you will have to settle for a frying pan with a flat base.  Put it over a stove on medium heat.  You don't want it too hot or you'll end up burning the chapati.
9. Drop on one chapati at a time.  Yes, in case you're wondering, you have to cook it individually unless you have a freakishly large pan lying around your kitchen cabinet.
10. After 30 seconds, you will notice the chapati begin to puff up.  Flip it over using a cooking spatula--preferably perforated.  On the flip side, use the spatula to push the puffed bubbles down without breaking or puncturing the bread.  Do this for about 10 seconds then flip the chapati over again.
11. Press the bubbles gently with the spatula.  Your aim is not to have no bubbles (because if we wanted to do that, we could easily just poke a hole on it but that's not what we want to do).  We want to have just one large puff like a balloon and not individual bubbles.
12. After another 10 seconds, flip it over again and press gently for 15 more seconds before putting it on a plate.  It's not necessary to achieve the balloon effect but it is necessary to keep gently pressing the chapati down as you cook it.
13. Repeat the process for every piece of chapati you cook.

Scott Alan Live

Natalie Weiss, here, sings about how she's a star.  And, boy, is she!  With that voice, she could make the Titanic resurface if she wanted to!

This song, ladies and gentlemen, is the second of 13 tracks you can have the pleasure of listening to by buying composer/lyricist Scott Alan's brand new album: Scott Alan Live.  It also contains vocal performances by Stephanie J. Block (Wicked, 9 to 5), Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid, The Phantom of the Opera), Jeremy Jordan (Disney's Newsies), Pentatonix (They're a brand new YouTube a cappella singing group), Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera), Liz Callaway (Baby, Miss Saigon), Lea Salonga (Do I even need to tell you what she's famous for?) and many more.

Here's I'm a Star as a sample track for everyone who has a dream:

You may purchase the album by clicking on the links below:

iTunes
Amazon
Dress Circle
Sound of Music Shop
CD Baby
Barnes and Noble

Why War?

Just a few minutes ago, I came across an article on Facebook urging everyone to boycott Starbucks.  Yes, I'm talking about the biggest corporate chain of coffee shops in the world.


Here's why:

According to the story, U.S. marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks' corporate headquarters telling them how much they loved their coffee--requesting, at the same time, for some to be sent to Iraq as a gesture of support to the troops.  Starbucks, in turn, responded by saying they were flattered but that they didn't support the war.  Translation: They wouldn't be sending any coffee over to the Middle-East. 

Irked, the person who posted the Facebook article launched an internet campaign to boycott Starbucks as a show of support to the troops.

Well, how about that?

I may not be a supporter of expensive imported coffee but, in my opinion, supporting war brings about a devastation that's quite a far cry from patronage of a stall that sells corporate frappuccino and chocolate chip cookies.

I get it: sympathy to the troops is important.  By all means, tell them you love them and wish them good health but don't encourage the war by supporting means to make it last longer.  War is simply not a humane solution to any conflict--international or domestic.  The feudal times are over.  I thought the modern world's aim was to provide everyone with better living conditions.  I don't understand how sending people to kill other people could possibly have anything to do with better living.

Don't even start a conversation with me about the nobility of efforts done to combat terrorism.  I'm well aware of such efforts and I know for a fact that physical warfare isn't counted as one of them.  Fighting fire with fire?  Come on!  I think a society as advanced in ideologies as ours would, by now, have learned one or two lessons from the last two World Wars.  Believe me, there is no charm in risking to begin a third.  I've talked to enough people who were affected by such wars to learn of the sheer out-pour of misery experienced during those years.

Ever so often, we are bombarded with images of men and women wailing and grieving the loss of their families.  Media shows us countless orphaned children--victims of war.  How can we have the heart to allow things that lead to such gruesome scenarios?  If we truly feel for them, we would never say yes to war.  I'm not ranting specifically on any region of the world here; this one is addressed to all with extremist principles--wherever they may be.  What's most worrisome is the fact that a huge fraction of your violence is motivated by religious fanaticism.  Let me now turn to those--no matter what religious background--who justify their actions as Divine duty.  Look at yourselves!  What could possibly be Divine about taking innocent people's lives?

While there is some truth to the idea that wars have helped shape civilisations, we are over those days.  Aren't we?  We take so much pride in living off greater innovations than the years of the beginning of the industrial revolution.  We sigh and "thank goodness we didn't live around 'those' times" and yet some people still approve of war.  That's not any different from how people's minds ran back then.  I thought the idea was to move forward?  Should it follow that since we've adopted better solutions to hand-washing that we should collectively give science two thumbs up for advanced innovations in destroying other countries?  How about we find better solutions instead?  How about not having wars at all?  How about making the decision to act like civilised people instead of fighting like bloody animals?


You, the financial moguls, who revel in growing wealth at the expense of lives lost in war--this one is addressed to you:  How wealthy do you honestly think you'll be when you're dead?  The cycle of life doesn't exclude anyone.


Look, I'm perfectly aware that the Facebook post in subject is quite dated.  It's been around since the time the war troops to Iraq were deployed.  Now, things are looking up a little since most of the troops have been called back in.  Frankly, I'm not even sure if such an exchange between the U.S. Marines and Starbucks corporate office ever happened.  It doesn't matter.  I just had to rant because it's deplorable to learn that some of my Facebook friends are actually affirmative about war.  They reposted the thing on their timelines, for goodness' sake.


It's really daunting to know that with enough misinformed public support and poor thought put into it, war could easily break out.  Our present age has it especially worse knowing that many countries have so much public funding allotted in manufacturing new ways to annihilate each other.  There are 32 sovereign states in the world who have readily available weapons of mass destruction and nine (9) of these countries are experimenting with nuclear devices.  If another world war ever broke out in the future, it's not only going to mark the end of civilisation but of life as we know it.


The real wars ought to be fought within ourselves against our selfish, reckless, and sometimes unyielding propensity to indulge in our petty desires because, like the war in Iraq, they will prove empty in the end.  They always do.  Think about this for a minute, will you?  The next time you contemplate on expressing support for physical warfare, keep all this in mind.


Blessings of Peace and Love to the reader.

My Vegan Lunch

And, no, I'm not a vegan and I don't think I will ever be one.

Just ovo-lacto vegetarian. :)

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onion, Garlic, Tomatoes,

Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Corn Syrup, Soy Sauce

BAM!  Lunch is served.  Well, was.

A Little Something About Baybayin

So You Think I'm Offensive?

I know I have a huge propensity to be vocal against certain things.

And these things always have something to do with bigotry.



I know I'm strongly opinionated.

I am this way because I believe I have the capability to work up a crowd of like-minded individuals and turn them from silent characters into sensible advocates.



I know I tend to inadvertently offend others with my words.

I am never purposely and unreasonably offensive.  If you find yourself a recipient of one of my open "love poems," know that there are good reasons.  Take time to learn them.