On a random saturday afternoon drove myself to Sierra on mombasa road next to Panari hotel. The brewery is in a massive warehouse, the brasserie & lounge are set in the front corner. The decor is really great, minimalist & understated. In one corner is a glass wall through which you can see all the [...]
Archive for March, 2009
Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils
I think Anthony Bourdain once said pork belly is the poor man’s foie gras, he was right on the money. Pork belly is sandwich of lean meat & pork fat, it so sinful & tasty. I fell in love with roast pork belly in Thailand 4 years ago. When every other sunday, I would go [...]
Making quick beer bread
Some say bacon makes everything taste, well in this millennia I say “beer makes everything taste good”. Quote me! I had oxtail braised in beer, now here is beer bread. This quick beer bread features Sierra Amber from my favorite micro-brewery, Sierra. Love the look of this bread, all lumpy & bumpy like the moon’s [...]
Coconut milk risotto with Mango
My version of Thai sticky rice with mango. The Thai version is done by serving fresh mango with cooked sticky rice soaked in sweet coconut milk. Using risotto rice rice gives this Thai dessert an interesting creamy twist & risotto rice cooked al dente could replicate the chewy texture of sticky rice. I kept this [...]
Just bought: “The Cook’s Book” edited by Jill Norman
Just bought! This book has been out since 2005 but it is still relevant.I love this kind of book, it mostly concentrates on technique with recipes included. My take on cooking parallels my background in computing, if you understand frameworks, API’s & patterns you can build great software. The same with cooking, I am not [...]
Simplicity: Steak & Chips
Quick lunch, steak & chips….. the pan sauce with the steak was amazing. Real easy, when steak was almost done(cooked it medium rare). I added about 20 grams of butter to pan, basted steak for a few seconds. Set aside steak to rest, deglazed the great fond(caramelised meaty bits) on the pan with brown chicken [...]
Sierra porter beer braised oxtail with coriander gremolata
This is the best meal I’ve had this year by far, the star of this dish was the sierra porter beer in which I braised the oxtail. Sierra porter is a really amazing beer from Sierra Nairobi’s only micro-brewery. They brew three great beers, Sierra Blonde, Sierra Amber & Sierra Porter. The amber & the [...]
Mille Feuille of Strawberry with Vanilla Chantilly & Strawberry Coulis
This is the classic combo of strawberries & cream. Quite easy to make, it tasted quite good but I think I could tweak it
Cheddar margherita pizza with pimento meatballs
This is a really fast pizza I made for lunch, it is assembled rather than cooked from scratch. This is the lazy pizza that tastes better than anything Debonairs pizza or Pizza inn in Nairobi can do IMO. It is probably cheaper too. Grill ready made meatballs. I used the KMC(kenya meat commision) one’s, sprinkled [...]
Espresso almond biscotti
Baking racks my mind at times, its either because it’s unforgiving or everyone seems to complain about how hard it is. I have not baked bread,cakes or biscuits long enough to develop my own internal compass. So every time I bake it’s a learning experience, however Harold McGee’s “On Food & Cooking” book has been [...]
