Down to hEarth

 The basics of oatmeal are this: 1 cup of oatmeal to 2 cups water. Just double the water of however much oatmeal you are making. Just beware! A cup of oats makes a lot more oatmeal than you might realize! For my faraway daughter - this is what I do so she has oatmeal for a few days: 1 1/2 cup rolled oats  3 cups water pinch of salt 1 cup various dried fruits and nuts A tsp of maple syrup or cake brown sugar - or more up to how sweet one wants the oatmeal. A dash of cinnamon or mixed spice - cardamon is nice too Can also add cut up apple Process: Put water with a pinch of salt in pan and start heating. Cut up nuts, fruits, etc., and add to water. Add sweetener of choice as desired and a dash of spice. Don't add fresh fruit yet. When water starts to boil, add oatmeal, stir and lower the temperature. You want to see that it is bubbling a bit. Add fresh fruit now. Let oatmeal simmer for a few minutes and then put a lid on it, turn off the heat and walk away for about 15 minutes. I...

 Sauteed Spinach has always been a fast side dish - but take it to the next level of richness with a little cream... Looking around the internet at different recipes showed some basic common elements - with lots of different ways to make it just what you want. For me (and faraway daughter) this worked pretty well: Ingredients: 2 packages of fresh spinach - washed and spun dried. Not a big deal if a little wet 2 T olive oil or butter (or both!) 1-2 tsp flour or cornstarch 30 g or to taste chopped shallot or yellow onion 1 small chopped garlic clove (optional) juice of 1/2 lemon 1/2 cup cooking cream or half n half  Process: Add oil/butter to saute pan - heat low. Add shallots, let soften slightly then add garlic. I like to slow cook my shallots/onions to soften them up before caramelizing a bit. Don't burn them.  Add in the spinach and slowly cook it down until it is softened.  Add in 1 tsp of the flour - basically enough flour to absorb the oil/butter and coat the o...

Apparently there are many regional variations on this dish. The one I learned comes from the Terengganu region of Malaysia along the eastern coast. Ingredients: Curry Paste mixture: 30 g  onion, finely chopped 30 g  minced garlic 2 sticks of lemongrass, chopped into 2 inch pieces 20 g   minced ginger 20 g   turmeric minced 2 g     fresh turmeric leaves 20 g   fresh galangal minced   -"the four brothers" 3 pcs cloves 1 stick cinnamon 3 pcs star anise 3 pcs cardamon seed vegetable oil 100 g beef, thinly sliced 1-2 inch width or chicken thinly sliced 30g   fried grated coconut* 30 g  chili paste 30 g  palm sugar - broken up 30 ml  coconut milk 100 ml  water Heat oil in pan or wok.  Add in the curry paste ingredients - stir until aromatic. Add in the 4 bro spices, stirring continuously until mixture is golden brown.  Add in chili paste and fried grated coconut. Add in meat and cook for t...

 I finally found a small cooking class while visiting Malaysia. The recipes were relatively simple due to the fact that all the ingredients are readily available and the visit to the market for ingredients was fascinating. This first recipe was delicious! But I learned some important lessons about using turmeric. The root and the powder stain everything they come in contact with. Knives, cutting boards, counters, hands... if it drips - it will stain. Even as I would like to say to use a food processor to really get a fine mince on the ginger, garlic and turmeric - be mindful that it will be yellow after you are done. Hot water does help quite a bit. Ingredients:  2-3 Tb     vegetable oil Curry paste: 30 g           lemon grass stalk cut into pieces 30 g           minced ginger 30 g         minced shallot 30 g         ...