Amazing Grilled lobster - Catamaran Beach Hotel

Ayubowan Food Lovers,

How are you all today? I missed all my blogging due to the busy schedule i had past few weeks... SORRY if i made you all wait for the spice of food...... :(

Ok back to business..... We (Me and Ash) went to the Catamaran Beach Hotel and they gave us this lovely lobster dish... It smelled soooooo good that we started to drooooool.. hi hi... And believe me when i say it tasted even better than it smelled and it could be easily scored 10 out of 10.. CAN YOU BELIEVE ME??? Me giving 10/10 ????? check the image out....

I met the great chef who created this lovely dish and according to him it was simply the wonders of seasoning. True! A bit of Salt and pepper or etc can do wonders...

But one advice was given by the chef, and it was to get fresh lobster and to grill it without doing fancy stuff to it... cause it preserves it flavors and enhance the taste...

The chef - chef Rohan

oki doki then see you guys soon.....

With Spice,
SJ

AYUBOWAN

Hi Food Lovers,

Hope you all had a lovely week... In sri Lanka we had a biggggg long holiday. We had a great time At the Catamaran Beach Hotel In Negombo. Stay tuned to get all the updates soon....

As a head start, if you guys want to taste amazing grilled lobsters pls go to Catamaran. Chef Rohan does an outstanding job in the hotel.

Oki doki guys then catch you all soon... Till then enjoy this song and stay young.... ;D

With Spice,
SJ

Fresh Water Lobsters

Ayubowan Food Lovers,

Didi you all miss me???? I am really sorry that i could not come to you last couple of days. Well my pc broke and i was so busy, that i did not even have time to make it :D Doing two jobs and taking care of a house is not funny ;)

Now now lets get back to business...

last week myself and some family members went to the fish market and saw these beautiful fresh water lobsters for sale. aren't they gorgeous??

Ashan made it really difficult for us buying around 6 lobsters and making our pockets empty within few seconds.. Typical Ashan... hi hi... 

Let me show you the dishes we made. nothing so professional or fancy. Just our crazy ideas put on to a plate... 

Fresh Water Lobster Dishes

Seasoned and fried lobsters by Ashan 

This was super yummy...So it was the easy way of preparing...1st he took off all the poop and dirt out of it. For seasoning he used paprika, salt, garlic powder and some sauce (That's what he told me. He generally keeps a secret ingredient away from my knowledge to impress me lol). Then he deep fried it till its perfectly cooked. And then wallah.... He served it with a cheesy sauce... yummmmmmmm I Would give this dish a 8 out of 10....

Baked lobster with stew

Our granny loves lobsters and hates its shells.. hi hi..... so i prepared her a dish with a stew specially for her.

I 1st de-shelled the lobster and seasoned with some salt, pepper,oil, a speciale sri lankan spice called Kalu kudu / Black curry powder and fresh tamarind juice. (I love when sea food has both sweet and sour punch in it... )

Then i baked it for couple of minutes on a greased tray. ohhh the aroma you get when you are baking it, is awesome...... Now it was my time for making the stew...

Well it's my own special stew so some of you will love it and some of you will hate it... :D not everyone loves sweet and sour in one spoon...

1st  dissolve some corn flour in seasoned vegetable water ( that you can easily get by the vegetables we will be preparing for the same dish...) Then dice 1 fresh carrot and an onion. Prepare your green peas (i used pre cooked peas.) and sweet corn (half a small can).

Now comes the easy part... add a bit of butter to a pan and shallow fry the onion. then pour some water to it and add the carrots to cook. Once the carrots are tender drain the water to a separate pan to make the corn flour as mentioned above. Then under medium heat cook all the above ingredients in the corn flour dissolve to make your stew. season as you wish.. but i prefer black pepper and salt..

Finally i add some lemon sauce on top of the lobster and served as above to my granny.. She loved it.... :D


Sooo what do you think? Am pretty sure there are 1000 other ways to cook it better... if you have any recipes i would be so glad to get to know them.

Then catch ya soon... have a great day.... TC GBU

With Spice,
SJ

LOVI wine recipe - batoko plum

Ayubowan food lovers,

Guess what? I just made a wine out of Lovi fruits for our Christmas table and it was delicious. You want to try it out?? not much interested yet??? well once you see the below snaps you will want to make it desperately... :D

Step 1

Take 1.5kg of Lovi and wash well.

Step 2

Add it to a pan and then add 2.75l water.Boil it for approximately 30 minutes till the fruits are smash-able.

Step 3

Then smash all smash-able fruits while keeping on the stove under low flame.

Step 4

Once it's done let it rest until slightly warm and add sugar while stirring. (1kg approximately but if you like your wine sweet add another 200g). Then add the 2tsp yeast and let it culture.

Step 5

once it's done stir well and mix all the ingredients until its well cooperated.

Step 6

Then pour this to a glass jar and add 9 cardamom, 6 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, juice of 2 big oranges and 1.5 tsp vanilla essence.

Step 7

Seal it with a cloth and let it rest with out shaking or stirring for 14 days.

Step 8

From the day 15th stir it for about 15 minutes for another 25 days.

Step 9

On the 26th day filter it using filter papers (if you can not find filter papers you may use cotton wool as well) filter well. Follow this for 2 times.

Step 10

This is the most important step. Pour it to a beautiful wine glass with love and share it with your loved once or even enemies to make them fall in love with you :D

If you have any questions please contact me. I will be more than happy to help you. xox GBU

With Spice,
SJ

Sugar sugar

Ayubowan Food lovers,

Feels like a decade since i visited you all :) well i had a big feast and was not available during the week end. But i was taking snaps of all the food i came across to share with you. Keep in touch buddies.. i will be back with all the details very soon. Till then click the below link and listen to this cool song... :)

With Spice,
SJ

Home made Cordon bleu with cheesy croutons

Ayubowan Food Lovers,

Boyy I have a lot of spice i kept to share with you through out the week. Finally its weekend and i have time to spice you up... :)

Back to the topic... My sweetheart made the below to impress me and it was really good for a person who generally doesn't cook. :D Check it out. oh i must tell you all that these cheesy croutons were sooooooooooooooo yummy that i could eat two whole plates of croutons.. :)

Cordon bleu with cheesy croutons

Hats off to Ashan for making this Dish. :)

The cheesy croutons were simply made rebaking in garlic ginger butter and topping with cheese and pepper. yummyyyyy.... A 10 out of 10

The chicken breasts were slice in to thin layers and seasoned with paprika, salt etc and  rolled with a cheese and a ham layer. it was crumb coated and fried and then baked. this is bit over cooked and slightly dry without any sauce. But it tasted quite nice for a 1st time cordon bleu maker. This chicken was kept on ice cabbage. A 6out of 10

 And last but not the least he have done some boiled veggies with some potato chips. seasoned perfectly with a small crunchiness. easy 8 out of 10.

If Ashan could make this, am pretty sure you all can make this better.. hi hi hi.... If you are reading this, "am just kidding Ash :D "

oh by the way he made another version of it for my sister since she does not eat chicken. The chicken was replaced by a creamy omelet.

Well then i will be off for the week.... Have an amazing  week all... May GBU.... xox

With Spice,
SJ

My new cocktail - ''Help me to name it''

Ayubowan Food Lovers,

Well well well.... look what I've come up with to spice your lives. :D A cocktail invented by me...

I kept thinking for a name for it but i could not come up with a rocking name.. Will you help me to name it??? Give me suggestions and i guarantee that i will use only one of the name you suggest.

"........................................ "Cocktail

Ingredients

1 can of beer (500ml)
500g of black grapes
150ml cold water
2 large lemons
3tbsp sugar
ice cubes
1/2tsp salt water

1st step - Wash the grapes and add to your blender along with the sugar, salt water and cold water. Blend well and then use a strainer to strain well to get rid of the seeds.

2nd step - Then add the strained juice to the blender along with the ice cubes and lemon juice from the 2large lemons. Blend well.

3rd step - Pour it to a bowl, add the beer and stir well.

4th step - Ta da...... Drink it and see ;D .... Add to any kind of a fancy glass and enjoy with your family and friends. (Not to forget haters)

This is awesome for a hot sunny day.... :)

With Spice,
SJ

Home made Egg hoppers - Sri Lankan pan cakes

Ayubowan Food Lovers,

Hope you all are doing great.. So once again am here with some new spicy experiences i went through.

Well i made egg hoppers and got some really good comments along with some advices to make more variations of hoppers. This is a lot similar to pan cakes apart from the shape. Have you ever eaten a hopper??? Well if you have not you should try tasting or making to enjoy the magical taste in it.

oh by the way dont worry if your 1st attempt does not come out well cause this will need some practice to get some cool looking and tasty hoppers ;D

EGG HOPPERS

Ingredients for normal hoppers

250g rice flour
1tsp yeast
175ml Thick coconut milk
175ml coconut water or luke warm water
1tsp salt
2tsp sugar

Fresh coconut milk is the ideal but if you can not find this you can use canned coconut milk or powdered coconut milk as well.

1st step - add the flour and the yeast to a bowl and add quarter of the luke warm water and quarter of the coconut milk to it. give it a good mix and make sure that it is well cooperated without any lumps. Let it rest for about 6hours. (if you are using rapid rise yeast you will need only 2hours or less)

2nd step - Then add the remaining milk, water, salt and sugar. Mix well and make a thick batter. Leave this for another 30 -45minutes depending on your room temperature.

3rd step - Heat your hopper pan (look below image) and add a tiny bit of oil. once the oil is heated remove the oil out of it and reduce the heat.

4th step - Add a bit of the batter and swirl it around the pan and close the lid letting it cook. remove it once light brown.

* If you want to make egg hoppers, follow till step 4 and quickly add an egg to the middle of the pan just after swirling the batter. Spice it with a bit of pepper and salt.

5th step - Eat it warm and share it with your loved once and also the once you are angry with to get the best results :D add a bit of spice to their lives.

Soooooo what do you think?? You going to try this out?? :) oh and if you need the recipes to make Honey hoppers, sugar hoppers, chilli hoppers, milk hoppers etc buzz me off .. i will be glad to share them with you.

GBU all... xox

With Spice ,
SJ

Sunset Beach Hotel - Neg

Ayubowan (Sri Lankan way of greeting/may you live longer) Food lovers,

Well today me and some of my family members went out for a swim and stayed for dinner at the Sunset Beach Hotel. The staff was very friendly and the place was so cozy.  It all made my mind nice and calm for a tasty dinner.

Lets get back to what you are looking forward to know. :) There was four of us including me and my husband. We ordered a grilled chicken with mushroom sauce, a chicken caeser salad and a sausages,olives roasted chicken in cream cheese sauce with penne pasta with a grilled jumbo prawns with garlic butter.

We received all our dishes within 30minutes and here are the pictures and comments for each. The service was quite good over all and the charges were fair as well.

grilled chicken with mushroom sauce

It appeared quite good but the garnishing was not that great and not to the standard. But once i dig in, the chicken tasted heavenly. The marinated vegetables had a strong garlic and a buttery taste which agreed with my pallet. The outstanding thing about this dish was the mushroom sauce. I could lick it off the plate if i wanted to. The chips were a bit soggy. over all i would give this dish a 7.5 out of 10.

chicken caeser salad 

 Am sorry dear friends, the image does not stand for the exact way it looked. This dish looked really great. The croutons were crunchy and yummmmmmmy... The chicken tasted really good and the lettuce with lemon juice, parmasan and olive oil tasted nice and crunchy. But the downfall of this dish was that it did not have any boiled eggs. This could be given a 8 out of a 10.

sausages,olives roasted chicken in cream cheese sauce with penne pasta

This lacked garnishing and salt. This was under seasoned and less amount compared to the usual serving. other than that it was an ok dish. I would give this dish a 5out of 10.

grilled jumbo prawns with garlic butter

 
 The prawns were nicely seasoned and grilled. proper in size and amount that served. The salad tasted quite nice with it. This dish majorly lacked some sauce or some dressing. The chips were once again bit soggy. This could be given 7 out of 10.

Well well what do you think? Let me know your thoughts. Also if you have a particular place,a hotel a restaurant in SL in head that you would wish for me to follow and comment, please let me know.
Then see you guys soon. Have a wonderful week. GBU

With Spice,
SJ

Choys - Negombo

24th of August 2013

Hi Food lovers,

Today i went to Choys at Negombo for lunch. The table and the arrangements looked good. The gentlemen who waited seem to be bit nervous either due to his lack of experience or due to the crowd.

I ordered a chef salad with just a lemon juice without any starter while my partner ordered a chicken and corn soup with a cordon bleu and a lemon juice .

We had to wait for more than 20minutes for our drinks while it look 35minutes for the soup. The lemon juice tasted really good with a great punch. Am not quite sure whether it was the waiters hand that made the outside of the glass bit dirty with some wired black marks or it was not washed properly. Anyway the lemon juice would easily get a 9out of 10 if the dirt was ignored. :) The Soup was given a 7 out of 10 by my partner.

After another 10minutes of a wait i got my chef salad like this, with no Cheese, Meat or cucumber as i imagined.

The meat could be ignored due to the bacon but it was way too dry. But i did not want to ignore the fact that they forgot cheese. So i called the waiter and requested for my cheese and meat. After couple of seconds he came back with the same dish answering "Am sorry but this is the way we serve the chef salad in Choys". i was quite shocked with this rude answer and replied saying "Then you rather name it Choys salad than naming it chef salad" , and requested for the chef.

I had to wait for another 10minutes to talk with a manager looking person (But not the chef). He directly asked my what i wanted and i replied "Thank you, This looks really nice but i would love my chef salad with cheese and some meat." and with only one more question he agreed to send me what i requested. "would you like your chicken fried or roasted?" i replied saying i would like it boiled. while i was waiting my partner got his dish.

Though it did not look much appealing it tasted better than what i tasted later in my dish. The chicken breast was crumb coated nicely  and the ham was layered evenly but there was no enough cheese. The dish was craving cheese.this could be given a 5out of 10

After another 5minutes i received this separately.The boiled Chicken, cucumber and cheese. or should i say Mozzarella? Yes. it was mozzarella. i did not want to complain further. i was hungry and tired. so i dig in to my meal.

 The dressing was too thin and peppery but tasted quite nice to be honest.The bell pepper, cucumber, mushrooms, tomatoes and the carrots were cut nicely. I ate everything except the cheese. :) Also we were not interested in having a dessert. Can give this dish a 4out of 10.

If am to talk about the prices, they were quite high compared to their presented food quality.

I would give this meal and the service a total of a 4 out of 10.

What do you think? It added good spice to my day or not? 

With Spice,
SJ