Hummus and Wholemeal Pita Bread

I don’t remember what I ate on my first visit at a Middle Eastern restaurant or who I was with. All I ever seem to recall and crave almost frequently is the humble hummus. One cannot have a Middle Eastern meal and not have hummus as part of the feast. In fact, our cravings for this chickpeas ‘mash’ are so strong that we lumber into Arab Street quite often.

After the Chinese New Year celebrations, my Hummus Attacks appeared much more often and flipping through Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem did not help curb it. In fact, it only made matters worse. As sheep bleat, likewise I groan the word ‘hummus’ like a possessed zombie. By doing so, I have finally succeeded in pushing N’s tolerance levels and thus, there was really no choice but to start cracking at making our own survival bags of precious hummus.

One of the motivations in setting up Thom & Aimee was so that N could venture into the world of bread making. If pastries were her spouse, bread was probably her mistress. There is something therapeutic to smell the perfumes of dough in the oven, it is almost intoxicating. But bread is a temperament lady and requires plenty of affection and attention. Like old wives’ tales about making homemade wines, bread seem to have a hint of pettiness. Treat them with respect and they will do their jobs.

We paired our lovely hummus with some homemade wholemeal pita bread, served alongside cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. Craving satisfied and misson accomplished.

French Crêpes with Caramelised Bananas

The Chinese New Year holidays has messed up the time for me. Saturday felt like a dreaded Sunday, and today feels like a late Friday hangover. Its not alcohol that’s affecting my thoughts, instead the usually harmless caffeine has finally decided to work its wondrous magic last night. I barely slept a wink.

Last week, N made some scrumptious crêpes for breakfast. Waking up to a plate of freshly made crêpes on a weekend is the best feeling in the world. These French pancakes are very versatile. One can serve it alongside any fruits that are in season, and eat them with caster sugar and lemon (which we love) or a dollop of creme fraiche. Alternatively, make it a dessert and drizzle chocolate or caramel all over, or even turn the dish into the famous Crêpe Suzette. They are terribly simple to make and can be served for breakfast, afternoon tea or a indulgent supper.

Serve it with fresh milk, black coffee or dessert wine befitting the meal.

The Novice Cook: Venison With Capers And Lemon

Since N’s away swaying to some indie music at a Gathering of Hipsters (also known as Laneway Festival), I decided to take over the kitchen. Yes, me attempting to make a dish that doesn’t include a hot pot of water and a packet of noodles. Well, the good news is that I did not set the kitchen on fire. The only embarrassing moment was when I had to ask my Mom how to cut a lemon.

Let me tell you the True-True: it’s a secret desire of mine to become a Domestic Goddess. Someday. We all need to start somewhere. That’s where Hugh’s Three Good Things came in. The beauty of Hugh’s philosophy in this book was about easily accessible ingredients, unfussy techniques, flexible recipes and basically, anyone should not be daunted by cooking. What really got me started were the clear instructions; there were no complicated or intimidating methods. Just pure simple cooking at its very core. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks Hugh is strangely attractive.)

In fact, I’m going to start a little project. I’ll try to cook every single recipe from this book to improve my skills and increase my repertoire, which explains “The Novice Cook” title. Nigella, watch your back.

We had some venison leftover from our last post. The zingy flavours of the lemon and sharp saltiness of the capers melded perfectly with the meat. I was surprised how fast it was to prepare this dish. The moment the flesh hits the hot pan was like rainbow shooting out from a unicorn’s mouth. The smoke, the sounds and the colours! I’m very good at undercooking food, so this dish benefitted from my bad habits as venison does not require much cooking. The recipe is so straightforward that extra tips would be unnecessary.

Serve it with some salad, and of course, some red wine. And bon appétit!

(I just received news that my cousin has given birth to a girl. Now I’m giddy with joy and the wine is not helping.)

Apple and Olive Oil Cake with Maple Icing

Every part of the world has an apple cake of their own. An English apple cake would be different from a Swedish Äppelkaka or a Russian Sharlotka. The Americans have their pie, and the French their tarte tatin.

And Yotam Ottolenghi has his Apple and Olive Oil cake. Okay, Yotam is not a country but a chef from Israel who is based in the UK. The fact that this recipe does not include butter but olive oil intrigued us. With the subtleties of olive oil and playfulness of cinnamon, the apple still remains very much the star.

Apricot Packets

This is great for apricot leftovers, and quite a stage for them to shine. It will highlight the lushness of the fruit and allow the hidden flavours to balloon up. Easy to prepare, this is the perfect note to end of any meal.

Issue 1: Apricots

Why apricots? There is no real reason why N and I chose it. It was just an accumulation of ideas thrown back and forth, and it was either them or peaches. But we were very gung-ho, or  just plain naive. Either way, apricots became our first experiment for Thom & Aimee.

Apricots are strange little fruits. They look like peaches with their yellow pinkish bottoms, and that’s probably where the similarities end. They are like Robin to Batman (Peaches). Important but always the sidekick.

Since they are rarely used in Asian cooking, we have never really eaten them before. Both of us being apricot virgins, it was new territory for us and knew not what to expect. (And made our fair share of mistakes.)

Verdict of the Taste Test: “Oh. Right…..”

We were slightly underwhelmed by its flavour – a tad too shy and mildly bitter. Suddenly, we wondered if it was a good decision lugging tonnes of them home. (Mr. Nigel Slater did say that they tend to disappoint.) But do give these apricots a chance; they like to surprise the doubtful after some cooking as we found out. I’ll let N talk about the recipes…