Thai style mussels recipe and kaffir lime tree growing from a seed

kaffir-lime-treeAs far as you don’t know yet I am addicted to Thai food. I love to cook Thai curries all ways and noodles and everything about that. I adapt it to myself as far i don’t eat so hot dishes as they usually are. One day I decided to have Thai herbs garden. Well, it’s cold outside and I was thinking about starting indoors. I bought seeds of thai basils and the Kaffir lime at thaiseeds.com and started to propagate the Kaffir.

The first experience was bad. They died under mildew. I gave it a try for a second time with extra re-hydrating them in wet cotton for 24 hours before I put them into Jiffy’s tablets. The tablets are made from substrate for propagating seeds and easy transplanting them in a pot or a garden.

After almost 2 weeks I saw the seed raised a bit and the next day it was like on the picture one. After 4 more days it looked like at the picture two. It’s growing fast. i transplanted it in a pot and covered with a jar until it gets bigger.

kaffir-lime-from-seed

Kaffir lime leaves are most often used as an essential ingredient for flavoring many Asian dishes. I found fresh in local Mars and Spenser store for USD2.5 for just 4 leaves.

The dark green leaves come in double form – a more pointed top leaf joined to a more rounded bottom leaf. They impart not only a sweet, lemony scent but a wondrous flavor of their own to soups, salads, curries and stir-fried dishes. For watery simmered dishes, the leaves are bruised and added whole; for dry dishes, they are cut into very fine hair-like slivers. To sliver, stack a few leaves at a time and cut at a slanted angle with a sharp knife; or use scissors.

let’s return to our muttons, I meant mussels. We stuck to some Belgian restaurants for a couple of months and, of course, all that is about mussels. We tried different but the most favorite is Thai style in coconut milk.

Remembering mussel’s evenings in France we decided to repeat it here. We bought 4 kg of fresh mussels (it should be for 5 persons). My husband always wash and clean them. I tried once and all my hands was scratched and in pain, mussels still were not good enough and since then I have never tried it again. This is the most unpleasant part about cooking mussels.

The recipe contains two parts: mussels boiled in white wine with celery and onion and Thai sauce.

I prepared spices and herbs for the Thai sauce.

You need:

  • lime juice
  • lemongrass 2-3 sticks
  • ginger (I love to eat it cooked if to cut in thin pieces)
  • galangal (optional but worth to find) It’s a type of ginger but it has more specific aroma. It’s not edible by the way. Too hard.
  • chili fresh or dried
  • 2-4 kaffir lime leaves
  • coconut milk 1-2 cans depends on how thick sauce would you prefer
  • a pinch of brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp of fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp of green curry paste (as for me it would be good enough and without it)
  • 1 tsp of coconut oil or any oil

Preheat oil and curry paste, add one tablespoon of coconut milk and stir the paste.

Add all milk and all ingredients all together (except lime juice) and cook for 5-10 minutes after boiling. Add lime juice at the end and leave by side.

For mussels you need:

  • about 1 kg of them per person if it’s a main dish
  • 1 celery
  • 1 onion
  • 1 bottle of dry white wine

Cut celery and onion into small pieces. Put mussels and vegetables in a pot and add wine. Cook them about 3-5 minutes after boiling. Than pour off the wine to another pot. You will probably want to mix it in Thai sauce later. Put mussels in a big pan by portions. Pour Thai sauce and wine sauce on top.

Precooked mussels and prepared herbs and spices.

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Can be eaten with jasmine or basmati rice.

Ready to eat

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February update

I decided to order skating dress from Thuono and I have to say it was right. The dress is super warm so I don’t need to wear many layers anymore. The only thing it is made as a body, so if you need to go to the restroom that would be a problem.

I was advised to buy L size because of the length and still, despite I am not a tall person, I feel a kind of short in the shoulders inside the dress. I wish it would be longer.

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I had long flue and after flue recovery. I lost more than one month in total. Finally I feel I am as healthy as I was before the flue. But unfortunately I am not as strong as I was what makes me quite sad.

February is here and its windy. I gained few kilos this winter and started 100% protein diet for two days today, then I am going to continue with high protein meal plan to be ready for the spring.

My garden is starting blooming. I have many plans to grow veggies this year. I will keep it updated soon. I propagate a lot of seeds at the moment. Asparagus, 7 kinds of tomatoes, melon cantaloupe which I bought in CA this summer (see below),

melon

4 types of basil (2 of them are Thai for my curries) and normal for pesto and tomatoes.

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And my baby girl was eight this month.

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Ice skating in Prague and autumn pumpkin soup recipe.

Hello everyone!

Seems, I have been lost for a couple of weeks. I am all gone to figure skating and, I must admit, it is not so easy. I decide to work hard and I am so exhausted all the time now. I have long lasted health issue because I have to breathe with my mouth on the ice my throat is sick all the time. I could not run for those reasons, I skipped many swimming workouts but I am very very happy. The ice gives me a feeling of childish joy and forgotten chill on my cheeks. We have almost no freezing here and I found that I missed that a bit.

I am training with Ice Skating Ligue with small girls but I don’t care much about that. The only problem I faced with is that they think I am a trainer and I am better than they what is very very false. I hope every girl soon will understand that fact:)

I got my new skates Riedell Diamond133. We baked them in an oven and they fitted so well that I completely forgot I have skates on after an hour.

Screen shot 2015-11-09 at 6.06.49 PMWhile I am trying to get well I cook a lot of vegetables. The pumpkin season is here now and a very popular pumpkin coconut soup. Easy to cook, warming and delicious.

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Recipe of Pumpkin Coconut Soup

1 small pumpkin about 1kg or 4 lbs

1 can of coconut cream (400 ml)

2 teaspoons of red curry paste

seasoning salt, parsley, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin oil – all optional

  1. Cut pumpkin into halves
  2. Bake in the oven with salt until soft
  3. Peel it and put in the pot with coconut milk and curry paste
  4. Boil it all together for few minutes and blend with a blender
  5. Eat immediately 🙂

Have a good and fit week!

I am back!

Hello, everyone!

I am back after a long trip through USA including Hawaii and then right after we had landed in Czech Republic we started driving to France Atlantic coast. It took me two month to get back home. I plan to tell about it here during this year. I hope so=)

I have not been training for two months also. So, I am trying to be back in form as soon as possible.

I had a 10k race this weekend, which was not successful, as you could understand. Moreover I was so unlucky to be caught on a cobblestone at 9th kilometer and fall with injured knee and elbow but finished with slightly under 54 minutes. I love this race. It takes place in the center of Prague every year.

birell10kPrague

Sandwich Project: #7 – jamon Serrano and basil pesto sandwich!

The true Italian styled sandwich with

wholegrain ciabatta bread
jamon Serrano
mozzarella
basil pesto
dried tomato

Jamon Serrano is much cheaper than Iberico and it is sold everywhere, so we use it often.

Fresh hams are trimmed and cleaned, then stacked and covered with salt for about two weeks in order to draw off excess moisture and preserve the meat from spoiling. The salt is then washed off and the hams are hung to dry for about six months. Finally, the hams are hung in a cool, dry place for six to eighteen months, depending on the climate, as well as the size and type of ham being cured. The drying sheds (secaderos) are usually built at higher elevations, which is why the ham is called “mountain ham”.

sanwich_with_jamon_serrano_dried_tomato_recipe

And for cheering up Italian spirit on this post I will show you some of the pictures with me and my very tiny daughter seven years ago.

Continue reading

Protein pizza-pie recipe

This pizza can be either gluten free or not. It is as delicious but also high in proteins, because it is from tvároh or cottage cheese (or quark);)
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It must go in there

500g of tvároh or cottage cheese. I usually take 0.5% fat. Fattier is tastier, but we have to keep an eye on our lean body.

12 table spoons of olive oil. That’s why I take 0.5% of fat tvároh.

2 cups of flour (can be gluten free)

1 tea spoon of baking soda or powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt (I usually do not put it at all, because I use a lot of cheese)

1 table spoon of sugar (it must be there)

2 eggs

and whatever you like for topping. I usually spread canned tomatoes on the pizza, fresh tomatoes, sweet onions, olives, mozzarella and a few other types of cheese. I am trying to use small pieces of cheese which are left in my fridge.

Bake it in the oven 180C until golden (about 30 minutes). Cold tastes even better.

Sun protection and summer skin care

I want to introduce a short review of my favorite summer care products.
best french sun protection 2015

I have been using Bioderma Photoderm for five years in a raw. I am very happy that the products are not only about sun protection, but skincare in general.

My top summer cream is

Bioderma Photoderm AKN Mat – Matifying Fluid SPF30 40ml

It is for oil skin and it prevents from oil skin look in summer.

When I need even more stronger protection I add

Bioderma Photoderm MAX Cream SPF 50+ tube 40 ml.

Both are waterproof. Used for surfing and cycling.

Total body is covered with Bioderma Photoderm MAX Spray SPF50+ 200ml, so when I am in an airport after one or more months in Mexico, I am the only one who is pale. people think I had a short break. Haha!

For hairs in summer I use Morrocan oil serie. Yes, it is a little bit oily for some people but in summer its exactly what my hairs need. I even do Coconut Oil 100% Pure hair mask with any organic coconut oil. I put it on dry hairs and leave for as long as I could, then wash with morrocanoil. Look silky!

And two life hacks for a face care.

Konjac Sponge with Activated Charcoal  for soft everyday peeling. Works better than soap and any cleanser, but just with water. And any of these serums at night Vitamin C Serum for Face with Hyaluronic Acid | 20% C + Vitamin E.

Take care of your skin this summer!