Still Here...

I know I haven't posted in a few days but I am still here and doing the food tour thing, I have not abandoned my goal. Painfully though I have been coping with headaches, and as those who suffer them will agree you just don't feel up to much when they are bad. So I have been taking it easy and not cooking.

I don't have a picture to show you yet but.........Some exciting news is that I won a competition over at "Not Quite Nigella" and I am excitedly waiting for my Citta Paper Napkins. I know some of you are thinking *rolling your eyes* yeah great wow napkins, but I love pretty and functional things and I enjoy cooking dinner for my friends and family and dressing the table. So I am excited to be receiving a little gift in the post. So thank you Lorraine over at "Not Quite Nigella" for hosting a great competition.

Great Northern Hotel‎
40 Elbow St, West Kempsey NSW 2440
(02) 6562 4323‎

Keeping with my Indian theme Mr Saphire brought home some Indian take out tonight, now this is quite a feet considering there is no Indian restaurant in our town, but he was excited when he spotted that the restaurants behind The Great Northern a local pub, does different cuisines on a Wednesday night.

This week it was Indian (next week I believe is Japanese if anyone is interested). The take out we had tonight was Rogan Josh, and a fish dish. I am not sure what the fish dish was called and either is Mr Saphire. The fish dish had a pickle or chutney on top and the fish was steamed. It was all quite nice but I do confess I have had better and it was rather similar to make at home kits you get from the supermarket in a jar or box. But I guess the luxury is in this case it taste fine and no one had to cook and there were no dishes either. Mr Saphire also managed to score an Indian desert called Burfi.

Burfi we had was a sweet coconut based desert, that we both agreed I should try and make. So I am going to share a recipe for Coconut Burfi with you that I found at http://www.bellaonline.com/

COCONUT BURFI

Ingredients:

2 cups grated coconut (you can use desiccated, just make sure it is unsweetened)
½ cup sugar (you can use Splenda), to taste
1, 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
pinch of cardamom powder
2 tbsp toasted coconut flakes for garnish

METHOD:

In a small dry skillet on very low heat, lightly toast 2 tbsp of coconut flakes until golden brown. Remove from the skillet immediately and set aside until needed. This will be used for the garnish.

Since the condensed milk is already sweetened, you may not need to use any sugar. This is a personal preference depending on your level of desired sweetness.

In a saucepan on medium low heat, add the condensed milk and the sugar. Stir well and allow the sugar to dissolve. Add the coconut, stir well to combine and let cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and the coconut starts clumping together. Keep stirring continuously so the mixture does not burn. Add the cardamom powder, remove from the heat and allow to cool just slightly.

Spread evenly on a lightly greased (butter or cooking spray) baking sheet or tray. The thickness should be at least ¼ inch but no more than ½ inch thick. This is easy to do while the mixture is still warm. Decorate with the toasted coconut flakes and allow to cool. Cut into diamond shape pieces and refrigerate in an airtight container.