Jardaloo ma murghi and Lotteria's ramen burger

Jardaloo ma murghi

I tried to find the origin of jardaloo ma murghi and for once the ever reliable Wiki does not have an entry. Based on what I read from a few sites, I guess this is a Persian dish but available in India, or an Indian dish with Persian origins. Adding curry to dried apricots sounds like fusion. 

Curried apricots sounds unappealing but the dish is really delicious. Apricots add slight sweetness, its not overly sweet. The recipe is available here.

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: A Hamburger Today

Lotteria's Ramen Burger, a carb fest. Call me boring but I don’t find this burger appealing

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: BBC

It seems like the insect eating idea may start to fly sooner than expected. Now the UN is pushing for it, saying that eating more insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution. 100 grams of beef contains 27.4 grams of protein and 3.5mg of iron. The caterpillar, even though a much slower animal, is miles ahead with 28.2 grams of protein and 35.5 mg of iron. When compared with beef, grasshoppers and dung beetle have less protein but much more iron. Grasshoppers and dung beetle also contain calcium, which is not present in caterpillars and beef. So if you have calcium deficiency and don't want to drink large volumes of milk, eat grasshoppers and beetle.

A UN report notes that "insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint." As an example, crickets need 12 times less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein.

The whole BBC article (and I presume the UN report) focuses on technical details such as nutritional profile and feed conversion rates, and makes very little reference to taste. That surprises me, I think taste is important, especially if someone wants to promote a new ingredient. I’ve heard grasshoppers being compared with fries, crunchy and delicious. It sounds more appealing than saying 100 grams of grasshoppers contain 20.6 grams of protein.

Insects are probably less popular because people consider it yuck. Consider that in some parts of New England, it was forbidden by law to serve lobster to prison inmates more than once a week. And before the 19^th century lobsters were consumer by widows, orphans, and servants ate lobster.

So this summer, instead of going fishing, go insecting, or do both.

Mocha Meringue, Waffle Burger and Bad Cinnamon

Mocha Meringue

These meringues are the chewy type, actually the very chewy type. I suppose if you bake longer, it will get more crispy, but I didn’t try this.

I find standard meringues to be overly sweet so I used less sugar, and it turned out fine.

By the way, perhaps I am a little biased but these meringues look like something sitting on the side of the road that you don't want to eat, let alone step on. Once you get over the hesitation and actually try it, you won't be disappointed. I am referring to the mocha meringue, in case this was not clear. The recipe is available here.

And if you haven't heard, Arla has released a new product, soft ice cream. See this link if you are interested in testing it.

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: A Hamburger Today

Waffle Burger

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Science Daily

Cinnamon is good for you. That’s the message we usually get but someone had to spoil the party! 

The real cinnamon is good but it is expensive so some manufacturers use cassia bark, or cassia cinnamon, as a cheaper alternative. The problem is that compared with the real cinnamon, cassia cinnamon contains a larger amount of coumarin.  Coumarin is a naturally occurring substance that has been linked to liver damage in people sensitive to it, according to an article published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

I don’t know what the price difference is between the real thing and the cheaper alternative. I just checked the cinnamon I have at home. On the packet it says cinnamon, but in smaller print it says cassia. That’s the last time I am buying cassia. If cinnamon is too expensive I would eat less of the real thing than more of cassia. Just like butter and margarine, I would eat less of butter than more of margarine, which is cheaper. But I just lied, I’ve been eating margarine for the past few month since I have been sent a few packs as samples. Sometimes free stuff can be a headache. Amazing, its free and I am complaining. 

Black Pudding Sausage Roll and Fat Makes you Sleep

Black Pudding Sausage Roll

Or you can call it black pudding wellington, it sounds more gourmet and complex! Its anything but complex. 

Making black pudding sausage roll is far easier than making regular sausage roll. You need 2 ingredients and get a delicious result with minimal effort. Though not so delicious if you don’t like blood sausage. The recipe is available here.

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: Technicolor Kitchen

Ricotta and spinach stuffed shells

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Huffington Post

This sounds unusual. A study shows that eating higher amounts of fat is associated with increased daytime sleepiness. On the other hand eating more carbohydrates increased alertness. The findings were published in the online supplement of the journal SLEEP and to be presented at the annual SLEEP 2013 conference.

I think they will serve a low fat diet during the SLEEP conference to avoid participants from sleeping during the presentation!

The study researcher Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas from Penn State College of Medicine even goes on to say that excessive daytime sleepiness and fatigue “may have an impact on an individual’s ability to function and also public safety."

This finding comes as a bit of a surprise. I associated fat with fuel or energy, and associated omega-3 with positive effects on the brain. However I did notice that when I ate greasy food I felt a bit lazy.