My way of Birchermuesli

I know how popular Birchermüesli is in Switzerland but it never looks appealing to me, I see them serving in the hotel breakfasts all the time but I never dare to try. The reason is mainly because I did not like its soaky appearance.

Then all of a sudden, yesterday when I looked into my kitchen and saw the rolled oats that had not been consumed for some time, I was wondering how else I could eat that for breakfast apart from just plainly boil it with water. Although a bit tasteless, my mom eats this every day for breakfast with 2 tbsp of ground flaxseeds add to it to stay fit. The roll oats need longer cooking time than the quick cooking oatmeal so most of the time I do not have patience to cook this myself and therefore explains why the roll oats are untouched for some time and I have not been baking much recently. Impulsively, I went to search around of how Birchermüesli is prepared. There are different ways of preparing but I do not like to use condensed milk as in the original recipe of Bircher-Benner  and I do not like some recipes using too much juices so I have adapted to my own taste. I am very happy with the results and with the fabulous kitchen gadgnet-Bamix Swissline that my hubby got me recently, I am now even more motivated to prepare food that requires grating, slicing, processing or grinding. It really saves me a lot of time from standing in the kitchen.

For recipe, please click for my full post:

http://gourmettraveller88.com/2010/03/16/birchermuesl/

Duck breast nigiri sushi

Having bought the duck breast and kept in the freezer for some time, I finally decided to make it last night. Duck breast seems to be challenging to prepare, I heard that it takes longer to cook then other meat so I always felt restrained to try cooking it myself. I love duck almost in all forms but I have always enjoyed it in the restaurant. Nevertheless, every thing has its first time. I have searched online and found an excellent post on ‘how to pan roast a duck breast from Cookthink. Meanwhile, just like Marisa’s post in Slashfood, I did not need to put the duck breast into the oven but still could get the inside rosé.

I searched and found this duck sushi recipe from Nobu’s cookbook. I got all excited by this and immediately started cracking on it. I had dinner at NOBU Hong Kong recently with my best friend and we both enjoyed it the food, ambiance and service there a lot, that’s why I did not have any hesitation with their recipe.

http://gourmettraveller88.com/2009/11/18/duck-breast-nigiri-sushi/

How to prepare mochi/ savoury kirimochi

Mochi, is an overall term for Japanese rice cake which is made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki as a festive food for Japanese New Year. Meanwhile it is also available all year round but they are machine cut and not hand pounded, known as Kirimochi.

 

 

I found a pack of individually wrapped Kirimochi (切り餅) Fig. 2 from Japan Centre, UK and bought a pack home to try. In the past, my friends would buy a pack and take them with us to BBQ, rather unusal and creative I thought.

To eat this at home as a little savory snack is incredibly easy and quick to make and not much washing to do and it is also fat-free!!!

http://gourmettraveller88.com/2009/11/27/savoury-kirimochi/

Fall Colors in Basel, Switzerland

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Mercedes SLK 200 covered with Swarovski Crystals

While I was in HK, I came across this SLK 200 Mercedes all covered with Swarovski Cystals displaying at Elements Shopping Mall!!!!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Thai Dessert: Mango with Black & White Glutinous Rice

I have seen these Thai yellow mangoes available in the supermarkets and the Asian grocery store here. They are the best the mangoes in the world. The green redish ones are more easily accessible here but they are not as good. The yellow ones cost a few times more than in Hong Kong, so I did not buy any until a few days ago that I would go and buy one. It costs almost CHF 7 for a piece! So instead of just eating it like a fruit, I decided to make something out of it, to give myself a good feeling that I have well spent our money, what a rationale, you may think but that’s me, hahaha!

Anyway, having coconut milk and both black and white glutinous rice available at home, I came up the idea to make this popular Thai dessert: mango with glutinous (sticky) rice.

This is a filling dessert, 2 portions are enough to share among 4-6 persons.

Funny shaped Japanese watermelon, outrageously expensive!!!

I came across this when I was in Hong Kong recently for Mid Autumn Festival. You would think the Japanese can think of anything…….

 

For more watermelons, please see my full post :

http://gourmettraveller88.com/2009/10/19/funny-shaped-japanese-watermelons/