Arusuvai - Secret Revealed..... And Some Chai

Thank to all of you participating Arusuvai - Guess the secret ingredient game. I was having a lot of fun correcting your answers.

Number two seemed to be a no-brainer: Garam Masala - salt and pepper of Indian cuisine, that is correct.

Number three was a bit harder. Some of you guessed habanero or bori in Hindi. Well, pretty pretty close. The correct answer should have been smoked cobanero.

....the Cobanero is also known as the "hot little sister of the Habanero" and officially goes by the name of Cobanero Mayan Love Pepper for it's color and shape resemble that of a heart. Originally cultivated by the Mayan's of Guatemala, it ranks as one of the worlds hottest peppers. The Cobanero is a rare hot pepper that gains its strength from the vine... and like the Cobanero, through cultivation, we can individualize your message with economical vine-like growth.

The very first one was a tough one,... None guessed the right stuff, but to be honest, if I did not receive this spice blend, I would never know what the hell it was or what to do with it. So, here it is, for your curious ears:

Maure Kaoua - a Moroccan Coffee Spice Blend. My supplier Pel of Elaichi Et Cetera... explains:

For each demitasse ("half-cup", "small cup") take 1/2 C of water and 1 t sugar (less or none if you prefer) and set it to boil (there is a special pot called an ibrik, but this isn't necessary). Add 1 heaping teaspoon of finely-powdered coffee-grounds for each 1/2 C of water plus some of the masala (in Turkey, just cardamom is added). It will foam up. Lift it away from the heat to let it settle down. Do this two more times- bring it to boil and lift it away (3 is a sacred number in Islam). Spoon some of the foam into each cup, and then pour the coffee. Let it sit for a few minutes for the grounds to settle at the bottom and enjoy. If any grounds stay floating at the top, grind the coffee more finely next time.

So you wonder what´s in it? Well, I did too... I have to tell you, there is more ingredients than I imagined when I first smelled to it. Pel apparently spent some serious time in his kitchen. Here is his not-so-secret-any more formula:

MOROCCAN COFFEE SPICE BLEND:
(Maure Kaoua)
Recipe by Elaichi Et Cetera, adapted from Paula Wolfert)

• 2 whole nutmegs
• 4 blades of cinnamon (about 1 tsp ground)
• 6-8 dried rosebuds (damask or alba roses)
• 12 whole cloves
• 1/8 tsp gum arabic (aka. gum acacia)
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground galanga
• 2 allspice berries (1/8 tsp)
• 3/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 3 blades of mace (about 1/2 tsp ground)
• 15 green (or white) cardamom pods
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp anise seeds
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp roasted besan flour
  

Pel suggest roasting fennel, anise and sesame seeds before grinding for extra aroma. However you decide, simply grind all the ingredients together to a fine powder and store in closed container away from heat and sun.

To me, Maure Kaoua smells and tastes just like Indian Chai, so I decided to use it exactly the same way. Here is my:

SPICED CHAI:

• 1 cup milk (I used soy milk)
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp black tea leaves
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 heaped teaspoon Chai Masala (I used Moroccan Maure Kaoua - recipe above)

In a sauce pan, mix together water and milk. Bring to boil. Add the leaves and masala and let boil for about 5 minutes. Turn off and strain the spices. Serve hot.

As for the next Arusuvai receiver, I chose Ronell of My French Kitchen, for I was extremely keen on spreading the friendship chain around Europe.

Monday Christmas Cookie (15) - Egg Nog

Even though the weather here is still kind of Christmasy (except that is only cold and not snowy), it is the time to end the Monday Christmas Cookie series. For all these three months, I have been really enjoying writing about traditional Slovakian Christmas, yet I have to admit, I grew a bit bored of all that sugar that heaped on our table during that time. I am quite excited to have this over, so I can fully focus on what I truly adore...... Spicy Food !

Meantime, do enjoy my easy home-made:

CHRISTMAS EGG-NOG:
(vaječný likér)

• 6 egg yolks
• 1 can sweet condensed milk
• 200g powdered sugar
• 500 ml rum
  

Whip up the yolks together with the sugar, add the condensed milk and mix well. Add the rum and pour into sterilised bottles.

Cheers!

Smooth(ie) Seduction

Learning to fall in love with smoothies as deserts have been fairly easy for several reasons: one, they are sweet, refreshing and energy pumping, two they are easy to make and take no time at all, three they can be so diverse that you just never get tired of them.

After New Year, me and Tompa decided to go back on track and loose some extra Christmas kilos. It was him who introduced me to smoothies. It was me, though who ended up pressing the blender button and coordinating the ingredients. "Let´s try this. Throw in some of that! Here, let me just do it" I took over :-)
Now making Sunday Smoothies is entirely my thing. I call it "Blending Stuff".

There is no general recipe on how to make a smoothie. Basically, anything that blends can be blended. Generally, for the sweet ones, consider: fruit (fresh or dried), nuts, seeds, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, oats, chocolate chips, sugar, honey, cream, coffee, herbs (honey mint, mint), spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise...), cooked rice or other grains, marmalade or peanut butter.

As for the savory ones, try: Vegetables, herbs and spices, yoghurt, milk, seeds, nuts, seaweed, yeast pate (really!), cooked rice, other grains or peanut butter.

Here are two of our favorite:

BANANA SHAKE:

• banana
• almonds
• soy milk
  

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with almonds and soy milk and press the button!

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE:

• banana
• frozen strawberries
• honey
• soy milk
• lemon juice

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with the rest and press the button!

Aaahhh, this is so much fun! The Strawberry one is on its way to seduce Mike for hosting Strawberry Seduction event.

Now that I think about it, crab, I should have these more often instead of all the chocolate and cookies I stuff into my greedy .... pockets. My weight is slowly increasing........ again :-S

Celebrating My First MEME With Cuban Mojito

First, let´s get drunk and then, I ll tell you a bit about myself. For this particular occasion, I chose :

TRADITIONAL CUBAN MOJITO:

prep time: 10 minutes

• 60 ml White Rum (I used Havana Club Aňejo Blanco)
  
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 fresh lime
• 15 big fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup ice cubes
  

In a mortar, crush the sugar with mint leaves. Cut the lime into four parts and add to the mortar. Lightly crush, until the juices come out. Add the rum and mix well. Transfer to a big glass. Crush the ice cubes in a mortar and add to the glass. Stir and enjoy.















(Cannot decide which one is worse. Gosh, we were out there, when we were making these, right Tompa?)

So, why all this fuss? Well...

First of all (standing up, raising my cup), I would like to toast to Meeta of What´s for lunch, honey? and her Monthly Mingle Food Event, whose this month theme 'Liquid dreams' came right in time... Great event idea, cannot wait for the round-up to enrich my cocktail recipe collection.

Secondly, I´d love to toast to Saju of Chachi´s Kitchen, who tagged me with a MEME. I love the way she explained the actual meaning of this ´game´. Since this is my very first time being tagged, she made it a lot easier for me to participate. The rules are:

Before you post the answers, you have to:

• ...list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

• When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.

• At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
  

Since I do not have a middle name, I ll have to give myself one. Yes, I could use my blogging name, but Zuzana Zlamushka sounds silly. My first name Zuzana gets mispronounced or misswritten all the time (haha, Saju, believe me, I take no offence at all), so creating a new ´middle name´would be even more complicated. Therefore, following my tagger´s example, I am choosing a name of my family member and that is my beloved newly-wed sister GABI.

Her official name is Gabriela, but nobody calles her like that. In Slovak, we shorten it to Gabi, and sometimes add -ka at the end to make Gabika (or Gabrielka) - a ´cute form´of her name.

Similarly, Zuzana can be shortened to Zuzi, Zu, Zuz, the cute form would be Zuzka or Zuzanka.
But, as I said, many people (especially abroad) call me Sue, Zee, Zuss, Susanna, Susi, Suzanne, Zana... etc. In China, I would be 苏菲雅 Sufeiya.

So, let s go down to business:

G - Globally Growing
Growth or growing is an ongoing process happening in my life. By growth I do not mean actual body size, even though, I am pretty tall (175 cm), but a personal growth. I cherish my life and welcome every day of it. Get up at five, cook, read or write, go, run, dance, sing, eat, drink, shop, socialize, talk, think, make love, sleep or just relax. By everything I do, I try to learn something new and leave something nice behind.

A - Air And Atmosphere
I am a picky person. I pick on my food and I pick on my friends. Atmosphere for me is a crucial element in order to be a true happy Me. I cant live or work in an environment, where there is tension or hatred in the air. Excuse me for being selfish, but I need to breathe...

B - Blabby Buddies
This terms very well describes my socializing needs. Blabby Buddies - smart people that make me laugh, all those goofballs you like to have a coffee with. I am a sociable parasite that would probably extinct if left completely alone. I am therefore very grateful to have found my voluntary victim, the Best Blabby Buddy I can always talk to, my Beloved Tompa (hugs).

I - International I
Traveling, experiencing different cultures, meeting new people and learning new languages have had a great impact on today´s Me. I have lived 2 years in China, half a year in Thailand, 4 months in Arizona and currently, stuck (said with love) in Sweden. I traveled all over Europe, South-East Asia and Southern US. My next planned destinations are India and Africa.
I speak Slovak, Czech, English, Chinese and German. Currently learning Swedish.
I have spent 5 days hiking on 黄花城 Huanghuacheng - Beijing´s only non-renovated part of Great Wall of China, walked some 7000 steps up the 泰山 Mount Tai, hiked for a week through Fengdu, the ´ghost town´ and rice paddies in Chongqing, from where its people had to be relocated, so the great Three Gorges Water Dam could be build up. Met Dalailama, had a rat sitting on my cheek, ate grasshoppers and pig brains, dove in Andaman Sea near Thailand ... and much more. I don't know how long I am going to live, but as long as it gets, there always will be something to explore...

BUT NOW! it is time to hear more about YOU:

• SeeC of En Samayal Arai
• Priyanka of Lajawaab
• Bharathy of Spicy Chilli
  
• Rahin of Lazaat...

Here's a toast to you, girls. I've always wanted to know a bit more about you :)