Breakfast Waffle

All my trying to stay away from traditional European breakfast items fell flat when I saw the line cook for the egg dishes had two waffle irons on heat and a bowl of batter sitting beside it.

In Manam, Bahrain, I had a very good and crispy enormous sized waffle one morning for breakfast. I was full the whole day.

I wanted to repeat that and ordered a waffle.

A smaller and a bit thinner waffle came out of the iron. It was not as crispy and well browned as the one from Bahrain. It was a bit squishy, but tasted good. 

Some icing sugar and a drizzle of Maple syrup helped.

Paella at the Edge Outside Restaurant

The view overlooking the Muscat bay at night was great, so was the music.

We decided to eat some paella and as a starter share some sushi. The prices were steep, but the quality was on a scale from 1 to 6 a 3.

The California rolls looked pretty. There was enough pickled ginger and horseradish maskerading as wasabi, but the rice was not properly seasoned and it was too much sriracha mayo all over the place.

Our individual pans with paella arrived. Mussels and prawns were sticking out. The rice was very yellow and looked like it was colored with annato seed. No saffron so far. The rice had not developped a crust on the bottom and was too mushy.

It was a large portion, but a bit meh. Since it was the Friday (Muslim Sunday) the Restaurants were brimming with people and kitchen and staff had to manage that.  Maybe that is the reason why the food was not the best.

Breakfast at the Crown Plaza Hotel Muscat

New Hotel, new Breakfast venue.

This hotel caters more to Western and Fareastern people. The Arabic or Indian influence is not so dominant. 

There is hummus and labneh and laban, but no hot dals or meat and veggie dishes. There is a huge egg station and you can get deep fried samosas. 

But lots of breads, Danish pastries, fruit yogurts and Bircher mueslies. An Italian modern coffee machine or two provide cappuccinos or lattes or espressi.

Time to check out the offers.

Seafood Thursday at the Crown Plaza Hotel

We changed the Hotel today to enjoy some quiet time directly beside the sea.

The main restaurant had a seafood buffet Thursday night. It was awesome. It reminded me a bit of some YT Videos from Stricktly Dumpling - Mikey Chen. So much to choose from! 

I tried to stay away from filling carbs and concentrated on different kinds of fish dishes.  Even the very tasty Sushi got only a mere tastetest.

Oysters, lobstertail, scallops, prawns and octopus were presented very well. Sashimi caught my eye and raw tuna and salmon went on my plate. There were tasty small bowls and jars with seafood fingerfood.

I never had a slice of Mango jelly topped with crab meat and lime. Beetroot mixed with fish row and lime cream. The usual shrimp salad was not very far.

They even offered fried Fish 'n Chips with Tartar sauce. That was on the low end of good. Too much soggy batter and not enough cod inside.

For dessert I was not able to resist the chocolate fountain. It was the first one I saw one life in a hotel. I tasted it with some dried pineapple and apricots and ate a piece of dark chocolate stuffed with whole almonds.

That seafood buffet was pricy, but worth every penny.

 

Camel Meat cooked in a special way

Showah Method - the meat is cooked over 24 hrs in a hole in the earth.

We visited a 400 year old town 45 min outside of Nizwa, Oman. That was build from clay and straw and wood. Most of it in ruins, but some houses are restored and start looking habitable now. 3 min by bus from there we went to a restaurant that caters to the masses. 

Lots of cars with locals in them, picked up their orders there. Lots of tables on the terrasse were occupied by eaters. Our group picked an other large table. Inside lots of cubicles with shoes on the outside, where whole families with many kids ate.

The service was very fast. After the order to either eat lamb or camel, the broth and the salad came.

Then huge portions of meat and rice together with Arabic flatbread and hummus. Later we also had a cup of cinnamon tea.

A great experiance, but a half sized portion would have been enough for me.

Semolina Cake with Rosewater Cream and Custard

We went to the hot springs and had the chance to take a break at the Keytha Cafe. A great place

Our favourite drink, Lemon Nana, is served there too. This one was the best of our tour so far. We did not have lunch today. A piece of cake sounded good to me.

The Rosewater cake sounded delicious. One slice for me,  please! I found it as a cake called Basbousa. Different flavours are used, like orange blossom water or rosewater or coconut. The origin is in Egypt, but the cake can be found all over the Middle East.

The base was a fluffy semolina base, not too sweet. Topped with a with pudding flavoured with rosewater. On top sat a nice thin layer of egg custard. That was caramelized under a burner. A dried rose flower stuck on top of it.

Falaj Hotel Food Muscat

I am really impressed!

It is a large tour group hotel, that caters to many different nationalities. The biggest groups are Italiens and Germans. But that does not mean that the Hotel has gone the "international Way of Food" - as in tasteless large quantities of pasta and sausages.

I have seen only reheated pasta with the choice of 4 sauces one evening, cooked by a waiter on demand and no Bratwurst aka sausages so far.

Many vegetarian dishes with lots of different vegetable combinations, some even baked in pies! Often dals, pakoras and more spiced veggie dishes the Indian way. Lots of Arabic food, often fish and chicken. We even had beef cevapi from the BBQ.

Most of the tables are outside, sitting under strings of light Pool side is lovely.

Inside are the starters and the desserts. All other food is outside too.

They serve water at the table free of charge. Many guests love their alcoholic beverages. But beware, the prices are stiff. €10,75 for a glass of beer. A bottle of wine €75.

 

Mallow, fresh from the Market

We have been to the very modern Fish Market in Barka. Outside are still the traditional fruit and veg sellers along the street.

The building of the fish market is just 4 years old and very clean and pleasant smelling inside. But since I can't cook here, I took a couple of photos and watched an fish auction, I went outside then.

99 % of the fruits and veggies were common to me. Then a plate of small red fruits caught my eye. Was this a spice or an edible fruit, no idea!

I asked the shopkeeper, but not arabic speaking problems prevented any kind of conversation. But he gave me a piece and took one himself. He ripped off a leaf and told me with hand guestures to do the same. The middle piece had to be discarded.

The leafs are a bit sour, but nice. But the taste did not bring the answer to the question about that the heck that was. I asked our tourguide.

He looked a bit strange since I was eating the red leafs. The dried version of the leaves are a great tea: Mallow Tea

I bought some dried tea at the Souk in Nizwa.

Later I had arabic cardamom coffee and dates dipped in Tahin at a castle. These combination was very tasty.

Camel and Goat Meat for Lunch

When in Beduine region, eat what is eaten there.

After our stay at a natural pool in a large Oasis, most of us wanted some lunch. Our tourguide offered to take us to a traditional Omani family restaurant that served camel.

Most of our group balked first. But the restaurant served fish and chicken too. So we went there.

It was buffet style and we all grabbed some plates. One lady of our group was the first to open the camel goulash. She took a serving spoon full on her plate, then picked up one chunk and popped it in her mouth. 

"Tastes like beef".  We all took some of it. It was tender meat. It looked a bit lighter then the beef you'll see in goulash. But if nobody would have told us that we eat camel, we would not have asked about it. 

To me it looked like chunks of beef that had cooked in a sauce without been seared before. No Mallard reaction. Now I know, that camel meat is very tasty.

But the real adventure was the goat meat. Lots of bones with some chunks of meat on them on the hot plate. When I took the cover off, the smell was very intense and nothing I smelled before.

I was the only one who took a piece and the other waited for my verdict. Tender and a bit gamey. It reminded me a bit of mutton. Now 2 of the group took the chance and tried it too.

Saffron Cake with Orange Glaze

We visited a cultural museum in Muscat. During our lunch break I walked in the coffee shop.

The first thing that caught my eye was a sponge cake in bright yellow. I asked the waiter: Omani special saffron cake.

I had to get a slice. Paired with a good cafe latte it was a treat for lunch.

Since I bought Afganian saffron spice this morning in the souk, this cake will be one of the next things to bake. 

The glaze was a mixture of bitter orange and saffron.

Very tasty!

 

First Dinner in Muscat

After a quiet day at the pool soaking up the sun our group met for dinner. Sitting outside in the darkness, just some strings of colored lights overhead, was awesome.

The food was versatile. Lots of vegetable dishes. Very good seasoned. There was even a pasta station where you had the choice of 4 different sauces and 2 precooked kinds of pasta.

As always I looked for traditional kinds of food. Chicken and seasoned yellow rice. Chickenbreast, potatoes and mixed vegetables in curry sauce, a great pie with leek, cauliflower and mushrooms in a very flakey crust.

Later I went inside to check the dessert table. Lots of cakes, cream desserts and ice cream.

Arabic Breakfast in Muscat

After a very short night due to  red eye flight and a long wait at Immigration, I had my first breakfast in the Falaj Hotel in Muscat.

It is great to sit outside in the sun to enjoy breakfast. At home icy roads and lots od snow made the way here difficult, but worth it.

A huge line of tables with heated serving containers started after the juice and coffee section. That got me curious and I grabbed a warmed plate and started my forage. 

Deep fried cauliflower, Okras in chickpea tomato sauce, an onion and brown bean dish and small fried chicken pieces.

Then there were potatoes, chicken sausages and the usual egg dishes.

I stayed away from them, but went for Hummus and some other creamy concoction. The parsley salad was like the one I prepare from my Jordan recipe.

Some fruits and watermelon juice together with coffee were a great start to this holiday

 

 

 

Cucumber in Chmeli Suneli Dressing Georgian style

I found a new spiceblend when I was looking for a soup recipe. I ordered some refills for existing spices and looked for the new one in the onlineshop. I got lucky.

I am not making soup today, but a cucumber salad. Dried herbs together with some fresh parsley are a good combination in a dressing. 

Chmeli Suneli comes from Georgia. Not the US state, but the country in the Caucasus. It is often used for stews and lamb meat.

The spiceblend contains coriander, dill, basil, tumeric, fenugreek, parsley, majoram, chili, tarragon, savoury, bay leaves, marigold leaves.

To have a creamy dressing I used curd, some olive oil and one of my Advent calender vinegars - the tomato blend, salt and pepper.

To prevent the cucumber from becoming soggy fast, I cut it in blocks instead of slices. They were salted and rested for 5 min, before the salt was washed off. The salad kept over a long time and was crunch still after hours.

Deep fried Polock on Toast

I wanted to make a Sandwich. But it was too much fish and it had lots of thin fishbones in it. Better to see what I was eating, I kept it open faced.

This was the last dish I wanted to use the frying oil for. When it is cold now, I bag it and throw it in the trash. I rarely deep fry stuff. It is too expensive to use the oil just once. When there is a chance to prepare the dish in the Air fryer, I switch to it. Even when it is not sooo good as deep fried food.

At lunchtime I used the oil in the frying pan for the double coated Mini Mozzarella Balls. There was egg/cream mixture still there and I had enough Indian snack mix/cornflakes breading left. Waste not, want not. The pollock got the same breading as the Mozzarella.

That went very well with Remoulade sauce on toast.

Ingredients:

275 g pollock

2 slices of toast

Fish seasoning

1 egg, 25 ml double cream, 50 ml milk 

1 cup cornflakes, 1 /4 cup Indian hot snack mix

Remoulade

Oil for frying at 180 C for 4 min.

 

Mini Mozzarella deep fried

I saw that on an Insta Reel. But as always, I made it my own way.

I still have some Indian Snackfood from Bahrain. Mixing it with cornflakes gives the Mozzarella a nice spicy outer crust.

It is important to coat them twice. Otherwise the cheese will leek out. I did not freeze the coated balls. They were very cold from the fridge and it worked very good.

I put some Balsamic cream on the plate. That worked well with the fried cheese.

Ingredients:

20 mini Mozzarella balls

2 eggs

50 ml double cream, 100 ml milk

1 1/2 cup cornflakes, 1/2 cup Indian hot snack mix

Toothpicks

Balsamic vinegar and oil for frying.

Lasagne Soup

I saw this soup so many times on different Internet platforms and was seldom excited.

They often looked less appetizing. Today I wanted soup and pasta and remembered the deconstructed lasagne in soup form. The only ingredient to buy was the ground pork/beef. All other ingredients were at home. 

The unopened box of lasagne sheets was sitting on top of my kitchen cupboard for a very long time. I wanted some fresh veggies in the soup. Not only canned tomatoes. 

Recipe for 2:

250 g ground pork/beef

1 tbsp olive oil

5 garlic cloves, 1 large yellow onion

2 medium carrots, 1 red long pepper

1 can crushed tomatoes

650 ml beef/ veg stock

Oregano, majoram, thyme, Toscana seasoning blend, Arrabita seasoning blend, pepper

7 lasagne sheets

50 g grated Gouda/Mozzarella

30 g parsley

2 tbsp creme fraiche

Heat up the oil and toss in the meat and brown it. Add chopped onion and garlic and the seasoning.

Next comes the carrots and the red pepper. Add the stock and the canned tomatoes.

Let it come up to boil and cover and reduce the heat and cook for 12 min.

Break the lasagne sheets in pieces and put them in the soup. I used some that did not need precooking. They were done in the soup in 6 minutes. Check your box of lasagne for cooking advice.

Put a hand full of cheese and the chopped parsley in the soup and serve with a bit of creme fraiche.