My Breakfast Choice for the Week in Bahrain

Like most Hotels, the Diva here in Manama caters to visitors of many different countries. 

We are three German travel tours of different arrival days here in the moment. Most of them prefare bread, sausages, cheese, eggs and coffee. Some fruits and yogurt are well liked too. 

But other guests are from the Indian subcontinent and some from Arab countries.

Guess, what I eat for breakfast?

Fresh baked Indian chapatties. Hummus, baba ganoush, labneh and feta. I missed the olives this morning. But I had a couple of cucumber slices to dip.

Or Aloo paratha with filled grape leafs.

Eating out in Bahrain

Beating the heat of 37 C, feeling like 47 C, I went out to lunch.

But first order was to get some Bahrain Dinar currency, get a little shopping done and then have lunch. Then I had to walk through the heat again, with an Iced tea in my hand.

I had some Arabic breakfast in the morning with hummus, muammar and labneh with cucumbers and an egg. I was hungry and looked for a treat. 

I haven't been to TGIF'S in a very long time. I saw the outside sign on a  second shopping center and knew, I wanted to eat there.

I was astonished about the food quality. A lunch special for 6,900 Dinar = € 17,40

Choosing from different items I went with a mushroom and cream soup as a starter. A hot soup on a hot day- it was very good.

My main course was a high packed burger and home fries. I haven't had one this good in a very long time.

The lunch special came with a beverage. I choose the Ice tea. The sugar syrup came in a small container to make it your own level of sweetness. Since I emptied my tall glass, I've go a refill. That was the one that helped me through the heat on the way back to my hotel.

Apple and Caramel filled Puff Pastry

Some French puff pastry needed to be baked. I was looking for a sweet dessert.

I made a caramel pudding dessert yesterday. Some of it I ate immediately, most of the pot went in the fridge as a base for my bake the other day.

This is a dessert bake that is fast to prepare. Visitors on a short notice can enjoy a wonderful pastry with their coffee.

Ingredients for 4 pastries:

1 round fresh puff pastry

1 egg

2 pink lady apples

150 g caramel pudding

Black sesame seeds

Preheat the oven 200 C.

Quarter the puff pastry. Wash the apples and core them. Cut two thick 2 cm slices out of the middle. Eat the smaller ones, don't throw them away.

Put 2 tbsp pudding in the middle of each quarter. Press one apple slice on top. Fold the pastry over it.

Prepare an eggwash and brush the pastry. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 15 min.

 

Rose Syrup Drink

I had this drink at the Kish Restaurant in Frankfurt. I wanted to prepare it at home.

All ingredients on hand, even the whole dried rosebuds. They came out of a little bag that was a gift from the restautant. Still enough for more drinks.

But I doubt that most of my friends are adventurous enough to try that. More for me!

Ingredients for 1:

3 tbsp rose syrup

2 ice cubes

1 mint stalk

3 dried rose buds

1 lemon slice

Carbonated water

Beef Goulash with King Oyster Mushrooms, Cherry Liqueur and Red Wine

That is a very long title. But a very tasty slow cooked dish.

You will need 2,5 hrs in total until the goulash is ready. The preptime is about 30 minutes, it needs to cook for 2 hours.

The rich and very meaty sauce comes from the long slow cooking. A lot of veggies are the base of this together with the beef.

Recipe for 3:

400 g beef goulash, salt, pepper, 1/ 3 cup flour, 

4 tbsp rapeseed oil

400 g mixed onions, 3 garlic cloves, 1 large carrot, 2 celery stalks

2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp mild paprika powder, 1 tsp chili flakes

125 ml red wine, 200 ml beef stock, 50 ml cherry liqueur

125 g king oyster mushrooms

Sesaon the beef with salt and pepper. Use a plate and put the flour on top. Drop the meat on it and cover it all over.

Use a wide pan with a lid and add 2 tbsp oil. Brown the meat on all sides and then take it out of the pan.

Add the 2 tbsp oil and all chopped veggies, except the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for 10 min to soften. Get the tomato paste in and cook that for 2 min. The beef goes in again.

Now deglaze the pan with the cherry liqueur. Scrub the bottom and add wine and stock. Now in the paprika and chilli. Bring to a boil and cook on low with the lid on for 1 hour. Roughly chop the mushrooms and add them. Stir well, cover again and cook for 1 hour more.

Serve with any kind of side. I ate it with rice.

 

Asian style Chicken with Vegetable Rice

I had some boneless chicken thighs in the fridge. Korean fried chicken was my plan, but I changed it. I did not want to fry in hot oil today.

Instead I seasoned the thighs and put them in the oven. An Asian style sauce thickened with potato starch was the glaze on the chicken when they came out of the oven.

I had some Chinese CharSu sauce in a jar. The jar was already opened but still good to eat. I mixed some of that with the Korean ingredients and it worked well.

Last evening I made a vegetable rice in the rice cooker. A good amount of it was left over. Together with the thickened sauce it went well with the chicken.

Recipe for 3:

3 chicken thighs boneless, salt, pepper, onion powder

Sesame seeds, chives

Sauce:

2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp Char-su sauce, 3 tbsp Mirin, salt, pepper, 1 tsp Gochugaru pepper flakes, 1 tbsp Gochujang, 1 tsp syrup, 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp potato starch + 2 tbsp water

Place the seasoned chicken in an oven proof dish.  Cook for 35 min at 180 C fan. Turn half way.

In a pan heat up the sauce and let it thicken. Toss the baked chicken in the sauce and finish with sesame and chives. Serve with rice.

 

Watermelon Tapioka Pearls Dessert Chinese style

Watching 90 second Reels are going to be the newest way to get some recipes. I just have to watch them a couple of times on endless loop to get the ingredients together.

This is from some Chinese guy who has a very funny way to introduce Chinese dishes. "Using water from the Mississippi or chop with Grandma's knife ". Some of this dushes are simple and without a lot of work to cook. All ingredients were in stock and my leftover watermelon piece needed to be eaten.

I bought tapioka pearls for an other recipe and stored the leftover pearls in a Tupperwere container. I only needed about 50 g of it. There is enough left for other adventures in the kitchen.

Recipe for 2 jars:

50 g tapioka pearls + 350 ml water

500 g watermelon flesh

200 ml coconut milk

2 tsp coconut flower syrup or any other kind of sugar syrup

Start with the tapioka pearls. Heat up the water and rinse the pearls under cold water to get excess starch off. Cook them until they change color and get a bit translucent. Kill the heat and cover with a lit and let then sit for 15 min. Pour in a metal sieve and rinse under cold water. Drain and set aside.

Cut a 1,5 cm thick slice off the watermelon. Take off the rind and cut in 2 cm cubes. Divide these between two 400 ml glass jars. 

Now spoon the frog spawn aka tapioka pearls evenly in both jars. 

In a blender mix watermelon chunks with syrup and coconut milk. Pour in the jars and take a long spoon to mix everything. Stick in the fridge for 2 hours to cool down