Singapore five spice Fried Rice

Aromatic and fragrant Singapore five spice rice that is delicious served as a side dish or a meal on its own.

Ingredients:

12 oz / 360 g  cold boiled rice
1 carrot grated or julienned
8 green beans slit and cut length ways into 3 inch pieces
1/2 red capsicum cut into fine this strips
1 red chilli cut on the slant
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Singapore five spice powder
1 star anise

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large wok, when it is hot add the carrot, beans and capsicums and stir fry  for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the star anise,red chilli, five spice powder and salt and mix well in to the vegetables.
3. Add the rice and toss all the vegetables and rice together and stir fry for 4-5 minutes longer until rice and vegetables are coated with the spice and the rice is heated through
4. Transfer the rice to a serving bowl and serve hot.

NB- To prepare boiled rice wash 1 cup rice in cold water and soak it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes transfer rice to  a large pan and add 2 pints water and bring rice to boil, reduce heat and simmer rice until tender, drain the rice in a colander and pour over some cold water to wash out starch.
Allow the rice to cool before using it in the recipe.

You may like:
Moroccan Tomato Rice

Submitting to:
Lets cook Rice Dishes event by simply.food
Akilas Kitchen dish starts with "S"
Made with Love Mondays event by Javelin Warriors Cooking  w/ Luv

Announcing Event - Lets cook rice dishes

 Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice).It is a cereal grain and it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's population, especially in Asia and the West Indies. There are more than 100 varieties of rice  available in different parts of the world and there are thousands of different ways to prepare dishes using rice be it in grain form, powdered form, in savory dishes to sweet dishes and even rice wine.
This event is all about cooking with Rice in any form.

To Participate:

1.Prepare any  vegetarian recipe with rice as the main ingredient  (eggs allowed) please link your dish using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2.Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3.Use of logo is  not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.

4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.

4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

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Announcing event -Flavours of France

We are now travelling to France in our Flavours of series 4 Europe.
Shruti's Rasoi is guest hosting this event.Please do drop by her blog to participate in this event.
To get more details please click here.

Free giveaway for Foodies Festival Hampton Court 2013

I am really pleased to announce a surprise for simply.food readers.

Foodies Festival Organisers recently gave simply.food readers tickets to the 3 major Foodies Festival happening this year, but they have been super generous and have given simply.food an additional 12 pairs of tickets  for another giveaway to attend the Foodies Festival Hampton Court 2013 so that those readers who were disappointed in not winning the first time get another chance to enter.To see if you were  a winner in the previous giveaway check here

The Foodies festival is back, it is the UK’s largest celebration of food and drink will see visitors flock from the surrounding areas to feast on the vast array of culinary activities

Now in its eighth year, Foodies Festival has introduced new elements to all events in 2013. 

Some of the highlights include:

• Bake and CakeTheatre
• Chocolate Theatre
• Wine Village
• Homeware Village
• New dining and VIP
• Children’s Cookery Theatre
• Producers’ Market
• City Beach
• The entertainment stage

You can check out the Foodies Festival site for booking and ticket information here.

I would like to Thank Foodies Festival for their generosity in providing these extra ticket for simply.food readers. The prize is 12 pairs of tickets to Foodies Festival Hampton Court 2013- only one pair per winner allowed.

How To Enter:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• This competition is open to UK residents only .Please read the rules below .
• Leaving a blog comment is mandatory and failure to do so will void any other entries.
• Closing date - 15th May 2013 6.00 pm

 *Terms and conditions
 1. This offer is only open to UK residents
2. Complimentary tickets are valid for one day only at Hampton Court venue.
3. Tickets are non transferable. One pair of tickets per winner only.
4. Complimentary tickets obtained through this offer may not be duplicated.
5. All tickets will be scanned on entry to the show

How Rafflecopter works:

•  You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.Please note your comment will not show immediately as it needs to be moderated however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of entries.
•  Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog. Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf. 
• For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here. 
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.

Enter here to win tickets for

Hampton Court Palace – Saturday 25, Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Coconut Srikand with strawberries(Gujarati sweetened yoghurt dessert)

Shrikand is a sweetened yoghurt dish that is made from hung yoghurt and flavoured with saffron and  cardamon Occasionally fresh fruit such as mango or pomegranate is added to it before serving.In Gujarati cuisine, shrikand is eaten as either a side-dish served with a puffed bread called poori or served as a dessert. It is commonly served as part of a vegetarian thali in Gujarati restaurants and festivals.
I have given the Gujarati shrikand a twist by making it with coconut yogurt and serving it with fresh strawberries.

Creamy and delicious yoghurt flavoured with sweet coconut and cardamon and served with fresh English strawberries and a sprinkling of pistachio nuts.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts

3 tablespoons icing sugar(plus 1 teaspoon for strawberries)

1 teaspoon cardamon powder

8 strawberries

2  450 g tubs of  Rachels organic Greek style coconut yoghurt

1  tablespoon fresh coconut

Method:

1.Place a large muslin cloth in a colander and pour the coconut yoghurt into it. 

2. Gather the muslin up and tie a knot in the top.

3. Place the colander in a bowl to catch the water that will drain from the yoghurt. Leave the yoghurt to drain over night in a cool place or the fridge.

4. In the morning transfer the drained yoghurt into a large bowl and discard the drained water.(This is called hung yoghurt)

5. To the hung yoghurt add the icing sugar and cardamon powder and fold gently till all the sugar is incorporated. Place in refrigerator to chill.

6. Hull and chop 4 of the strawberries into small pieces, place the strawberries into a bowl and add 1 teaspoon icing sugar and mix.(you can omit this if strawberries are very sweet)

7.In a dry pan  toast the coconut to brown it slightly. Once coconut has started to brown transfer it to a dish to cool.

To assemble:

8.Slice the remaining 4 strawberries and line 4 serving glasses with them.

9. Spoon the coconut shrikand into the serving glasses.

10. Spoon the chopped strawberries on top and garnish with the toasted coconut and pistachio nuts.

Serve chilled.

NB- the yoghurt I used was already sweetened and  had coconut in it if you use plain unsweetened yoghurt than add extra sugar to taste and two tablespoons of fresh grated coconut  at stage 5 of this recipe.

The Rachel's organic Greek style coconut bio live yoghurt used in this recipe was sent to me by Rachels to sample.The yoghurt was extra thick, rich and creamy, it was blended with organic coconut pieces and the  organic creamed coconut that gave the yoghurt a lovely texture with a subtle coconut flavour. 

Rachels yoghurt range comes in many delicious flavours such as gooseberry, honey, ginger, peach and passion fruit, strawberry and rhubarb,blackcurrant,vanilla, lemon and ginger,raspberry,rhubarb,mango pineapple and passion fruit and also cherry.The yoghurts are all made from locally sourced organic milk and organic ingredients. The yoghurts are available in  the 450 g size and also come in small 150 g pots for individual servings, kids packs as well as multi packs to suit all  requirements.Rachels also produce organic milk, butter and rice puddings in their range which is available at most large supermarkets.

I would like to Thank Rachels for sending me lots of coconut and strawberry and rhubarb yoghurt to sample.

All the views in this post are my own.

You may like:

Traditional Srikand

Topical Fizz Mocktail~A refreshing tropical mocktail to celebrate one day of sunshine.

Yesterday for weeks of miserable weather Britain saw some sunshine.Now if you live in the UK you will know that British weather is very unpredictable so you have to be very spontaneous when the sun comes  if you want to make the most of it.To celebrate the gorgeous sunshine as we enjoyed lunch in the garden I made this delicious mocktail by using the Funkin Brazilian cocktail mixer that was sent to me by Funkin to try.We also recreated  the cranberry and ginger beer teaser by using the Cosmopolitan Funkin cocktail mixer.You can find the recipe for Ginger bear teaser here.

Funkin cocktail mixers are are made with 100% natural fresh fruit .They are made using natural ingredients and are free from all artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and additives.I love these mixers are they are versatile and you can create an array of cocktails by adding spirit or delicious mocktails by adding non alcoholic beverages to the mixers to create stunning non alcoholic mocktails.

Taste of tropics with a burst of refreshing lemon in every mouthful.

Ingredients:

100 ml of Funkin Brazilian cocktail mix
3oo ml of bitter lemon
2 slices of lemon
ice cubes

Method:

1.In a tall jug add the Brazilian  cocktail mix, followed by the bitter lemon, ice cubes and stir.
2. Pour into tall chilled glasses and garnish with a slice of lemon.
Enjoy the mocktail with a burst of sunshine.

You may like :
Citrus Cooler Mocktail

Many thanks to Funkin for sending me this wonderful cocktail mixer.Both the Cosmopolitan and Brazilian mixers are very tasty and delicious and vibrant with flavours. All the views in this post are my own.

A visit to Tate & Lyle's cake Hotel in London Soho

Last month I was invited to visit Tate& Lyle's cake hotel in the heart of  London Soho. Tate & Lyle Sugars who are Britain's largest cane sugar brand  had created the world's first hotel made entirely from cake to launch their new Taste Experience range of golden and brown cane sugars.

The Soho-based cake hotel, had taken a team of 14 cake makers more than 2,000 hours to bake and 900 hours to decorate, and has been created using more than 600 kilos of Taste Experience sugar. Guests were invited  to eat their way through vanilla sponge cushions, windows and walls clad with 2,000 macaroons, a rug made from 1,081 meringues hand-stitched together, 20 kilos of marshmallow garlands, windowsills built entirely from fudge and a bath filled with caramel-coated popcorn. There are even edible books on the bedside table, together with edible cushions on the beds, edible wash jug and basin.

The Cake hotel was Inspired by regions from around the world, the eight new and distinctly different Fairtrade sugars showcased the diversity of flavour and texture available exclusively from cane sugar. The new range has been created to encourage a new generation of bakers to get creative in the kitchen and visitors to the Tasting House were inspired by them by eating their way through  eight ‘tasting rooms’, each created with a different sugar in the Taste Experience range.There were  thousands of baked treats for guests to nibble on and over 100 pieces of edible art on show, across three floors and eight rooms, THE CAKE HOTEL WAS TRULY MAGNIFICENT. Each room was beautifully themed and decorated  and showcased cakes and bakes that were amazing.

A Mediterranean-inspired bedroom, with edible furnishings, a caramel popcorn-filled bathtub, over 100 floating meringues and 10 metres of edible pearlescent bunting, all created from Light Soft Brown sugar.

A Pirates of the Caribbean room, had a  giant treasure chest full of edible pearls, ginger spiced doubloons and cutlasses,which  visitors were able to  spray gold themselves.The delicious  rum and raisin chocolate brownies and tea cakes were all made from Taste Experience Caribbean-inspired Light Muscovado sugar.

A British-inspired Golden syrup sugar room, with a giant two metre long golden-syrup lion, patriotic treacle tarts in the shape of the British Isles and a giant tower of donuts.

 A Mayan-inspired room hidden in the cellar featured a Mayan fudge temple,It was complete with floating meringue ‘clouds’, ‘sacrificial’ salted caramel and chocolate hearts, and Mayan-inspired carved gold cookies all made from Taste Experience Mayan-inspired golden caster sugar.

A Mississippi-inspired ‘Mardi Gras’ room was  filled with a  giant five foot long king cake and there were plenty of Mississippi mud pies to taste which were made from regionally inspired Dark Soft Brown sugar.

 A Barbados-inspired library was filled with with edible shells, and beautiful hand-painted cookies, fruit cakes and florentines showcased as museum features inside vintage glass jars, these were all made from Barbados inspired Dark Muscovado sugar

 A Guyanese-inspired room was complete with a giant two metre long sea turtle cake, and ‘turtle eggs’ made of chocolate cake and cheesecake baked inside duck eggs, buried in mounds of Demerara sugar. A South Pacific-inspired room with a huge two metre high Easter Island statue, made entirely from chocolate mud cake with Golden Granulated sugar.

The Cake hotel was one of its kind, truly magical and has definitely inspired me to cook with all the different textures and flavours of sugars. Many thanks to Tate and Lyle for inviting me to this awesome event and also for the wonderful goody bag full of sugars, cakes, cookies and delicious bakes to take home.