A Day In Orange County San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point

We love random adventures, so thats what we did yesterday. It was Friday morning and we had nothing planned. So we drove down to San Juan Capistrano, a quaint little town just a few miles from the coast.

San Juan Capistrano is home to the mission, the swallows and the famous Swallows Inn bar. We loved the small town feel and the sense of culture in the community.

San Juan Capistrano was bustling with life as locals and cowboys prepared for the Swallows Day Parade, an annual celebration to welcome the swallows back to the city in Spring.

We planned on visiting the San Juan Capistrano Mission, one of many missions built along the coast of California between the 1700s and the 1800s. We both have been here before, separately. Rick visited when he was 10 years old, back in 1969. I visited when I was 10 years old, back in 2000.
Lucky for us, a nice passerby gave us free tickets!

On the grounds of the mission were areas where the padres, Spanish soldiers and the Acjachemen people worked hundreds of years ago.

In the garden were several vegetables, grown to feed those who lived at the mission. Farming was the most important industry for any mission.

Maize, barley and wheat were main staples at San Juan Capistrano. Back then, olives, grapes, melons and livestock, such as cattle, horses, mule, sheep and goats were also kept to sustain the mission.

 

Standing between two large tanning vats, used to soak animal hides.

Some of the mission has been renovated and restored, due to several earthquakes that have damaged many of the buildings and walls. 

But the mission still holds its original integrity, so much that you feel like youre walking back in time while visiting the missions many adobe rooms.

The two smaller bells are original. They survived through the earthquake.

We fell in love with the courtyard, with its many beautiful spring flowers.

 Cactus were in bloom all over the grounds...

And dancing bees ... steadily working away among the flowers.

These were my favorite. 

And beautiful succulents ... 

There was a beautiful fountain, smack dab in the middle of the mission. The fountain is not original, but definitely adds aesthetic appeal.

Rick wondered if these were the same koi that he saw was when he was 10 years old. Koi can live for hundreds of years.

The missions pantry. Some of the bottles were marked camphor, blue vitriol, sweet mercury and purging anise ... yikes. 

More normal stuff. Dried blue elderberry, saltpeter and willow bark. 

The mission still has an active church service. The alter is hundreds of years old, imported from Spain when the mission was first built.

The walls of the church that still stand today. We were awed by how big and thick the walls were, especially for 200 years ago. 

Then we got hungry, so we drove down to Dana Point, just a few miles from San Juan Capistrano. 

The pelicans know the fishing boats from the whale watching boats.

So naturally, they came to beg.

Jons Fish Market, home of some of the freshest seafood you can get. On account of the market being located right on the docks.

Yum.... :-)

For dinner, we had fish/scallops and chips. Sooo good. And so fresh!! 

In conclusion: If you guys come out to California, dont just go to Disneyland. The best places are local and full of history. Were from Orange County, and a lot of people think places outside of the big city are boring and sleepy. But the thing is, Los Angeles is overrated. California is full of history and fun (real fun). You just gotta make an effort to find it.

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1st May Golden Gujarat Day

It is 1st may celebration time every where in Gujarat-India  ,
1^st May 1960, and with first ray of sunlight hitting the ground, Gujarat began a new era. This was to be an era of self confidence, of trend setting, of proving to the world, what Gujarat and Gujaratis have been known for ages. It was to prove to be a watershed in history of Gujarat.

The preceding years had seen a visionary struggle – a struggle for statehood, a charm for smaller geographical units with potential of turning adversities into advantages. The “Maha Gujarat Andolan” as it was called was led by visionary leaders like Indulal Yagnik, Jivraj Mehta, Harihar Khambholja and Brahmakumar Bhatt. The movement had its roots in difficulties for hinterlands of Gujarat to travel all the way to Mumbai for administrative affairs. As Government of India had already carved out separate units for administrative purposes in southern India on linguistic considerations, the desire of Gujarati masses was justified. After a long struggle of four years, the Central Government agreed to the State of Gujarat and under the leadership of Shri Jivraj Mehta, first Government of Gujarat was sworn in on May 1^st, 1960. The oath of office was administered by Pt. Ravishankar Maharaj at the Gandhi Ashram and hence came into being a State called Gujarat with natural geographical formation looking like “Jaws of Lion”.
(Source : http://www.swarnimgujarat.org/ )

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Smoked Haddock Bake for St Andrews Day Night In

On the day that Scotlands First Minister, Alex Salmond, launched the SNPs independence blueprint, which argues the nation would prosper should there be a "Yes" vote in next Septembers referendum, I thought it was rather appropriate to post a recipe for  St Andrews Day Night In  Whatever your views on Scotlands Independence debate, you cant deny that there is some fabulous produce in Scotland or that Scots know how to celebrate!

So who was St Andrew?

• St Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland
• St Andrew is celebrated on 30 November
• St Andrews Day is a day to celebrate Scottish culture, food and dance
• St Andrews flag is the flag of Scotland
• The flag is in the form of a white X on a blue background and is commonly known as The Saltire
• St Andrews Societies celebrate Scottish culture around the world
• St Andrews Day is a bank holiday in Scotland but entitlement to leave depends on the employer
• St Andrew is also the patron saint of Romania, Greece and Russia
• Scotland is one of the few countries to have one of Christs disciples as their patron saint
• St Andrew was one of the Twelve Apostles (disciples of Jesus) and brother of St Peter
• St Andrew is believed to have died on a diagonally transversed cross which the Romans sometimes used for executions and which, therefore, came to be called St Andrews Cross
• St Andrews Day is connected with Advent, which begins on the first Sunday after November 26
• St Andrews Day marks the beginning of Scotlands winter festivals.

St Andrews Day falls on 30 November and is a bank holiday in Scotland, with many organisations enjoying a day off and events taking place across the country to celebrate St Andrews Day in a patriotic fashion, sadly I dont get this day as a holiday, but this year it is on a Saturday so most people will be able to celebrate the day.   The last few years have seen many more events taking place across the country with a number of Scotland’s historic attractions allowing free admission for the day.
Information from Scotland.Org

Seafood Scotlands Young Chef of the Year, Adam Newth, has created a couple of fish dishes for Scotland.org, the Gateway to Scotland.  I made the Smoked Haddock Bake after a long day preparing for a pre-Christmas family feast.  It was so quick easy to make and pop into the oven, everything is in one dish, we really enjoyed it.  There are lovely contrasting textures of salty, smoky fish, creamy but sharp creme fraiche, tender pieces of potato and the crispy breadcrumb and parmesan mix on top.  The dish also contains broadbeans and peas making it a great one pot meal.

Check out the rest of the St Andrews Day menu and maybe you could have a St Andrews Night In this Saturday?

I was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own.

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Traditional Lunch Series Day 4 Capsicum baath Pumpkin Pachidi Thair Saadam

Capsicum baath is something I tasted in Mysore in one of the several feasts during my cousins wedding. This was served on the day after the wedding where just the family members from both the brides and the grooms side gathered for a final farewell. And what a meal it was...the taste of this rice preparation lingered on and on...well after we boarded the train to come back home. Some of them were lucky enough to get a packet of this to eat on the journey back...

The next time I tasted this was some weeks ago when Geetha Chithi made this on-demand and I ate this for 4 continuous meals without tiring (she had prepared quite a quantity) . Yesterday evening when she called me, she gave me the idea of making this for lunch, and why not I though, as I had a bag of fresh capsicums (green bell peppers) waiting just to be made into a Capsicum Baath. A word of clarification regarding baath - while it is pronounced just as you would the English word bath, it has nothing to do with it. It simply means a kalandha saadam or a mixed rice preparation, which can be eaten as it is or with a pachidi (raita). The same recipe can be used to make Kathrikkai Baath by just substituting the capsicums with eggplants. I suppose this recipe is of Hebbal Iyengar origins. Please correct me if I am wrong. The spices used in this are quite similar to my favourite Bisi Bele Baath recipe blogged by Saakshi, which she says is an authentic Hebbal Iyengar recipe.

Recipe for Capsicum Baath - A perfect showcase of Indian spices
(Bell Pepper Spice Rice)
Serves 4-6 people as the first course of the meal, which is concluded by Thair Saadam :)



Please do not be afraid of the long list of spices that is going to follow. This is virtually a spice garden of a recipe, but the end result is a beautiful amalgam showcasing how seamlessly Indian spices can blend with each other....and most of these will be easily found in an Indian kitchen, or your nearest Indian grocery.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups normal grain rice ( I used Doobraj)
5 large green bell peppers, cut into medium squares (no seeds)
1/4 cup peanuts
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp salt

For Spice Mix
1/2 tsp ghee / oil
4 large dried red chillies
2 tbsp chana dal (Split skinned Bengal gram dal)
1 tbsp udad dal
handful of coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp whole black pepper corns
4 one inch long cinnamon sticks
5-6 cloves
1 green cardamom
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup grated coconut (fresh or dried)

1 tbsp jaggery (optional)
1 tbsp tamarind soaked in water for 10 minutes

Step I - Cooking the rice
Pressure cook the picked and washed rice with 3 cups water, for 2-3 whistles. Switch off and cool.

Step II - Preparing the capsicum
In a wok, heat a tbsp of oil. Splutter the mustard and cumin seeds. Add the peanuts. Saute for 2 minutes till they change colour. Then add in the diced capsicum, on a low-medium flame, stir fry till the capsicum is softened but still a little crisp.

Step III - Preparing the spice mix
While the capsicum is cooking on a low flame, heat another wok on the other burner. Add the spices (red chilli through bay leaves - reserving the coconut and sesame seeds). Continuously saute on a low flame till the dals turn lightly golden and everything begins to release its aroma (around 7 minutes) . Remove and cool.
In the same wok, lightly toast the grated coconut till fragrant - around 2 minutes. Remove onto the above dish.
Next toast the sesame seeds. When they start popping (in around 2 minutes), remove them too.
In a mixer, pulse all the above toasted items along with the soaked tamarind and jaggery, till you get a coarse powder.

Step IV - Assembling the baath
In a large deep dish, remove the cooked rice and cool for 10 minutes, separating with a fork if necessary.
Over this add the capsicum-peanut mix as well as the coarsely powdered spice mix, with adequate salt (around 2 tsp). Toss lightly with clean fingertips, until the rice is uniformly coated with the spices and the vegetable mix. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.

Notes
This is best prepared 3-4 hours in advance of the meal, as the flavours are at their very best after few hours of sitting around.



Our accompanying raita was made from golden pumpkin, finely chopped, microwave cooked, mashed and mixed with yogurt and a standard mustard-curry leaf tempering. You can also do a ripe-banana raita or a simple cucumber raita. Take care to keep the raita simple and spice-free as the rice is already brimming with spices.

That was a longish recipe and Im feeling pretty exhausted!




Next and final course was Thair Saadam, which needs no introduction to any Indian. The quintessential yogurt and rice without which no traditional meal ends in Tamil-land. For a daily meal, rice and yogurt are mixed with deft fingers and eaten with a pickle or sambar (if leftover from the first course). On some special days, yogurt rice is brought pre-mixed to the table with a delicate tempering.
I used half broken wheat and half rice for this preparation today (no special reason). Mash with plenty of yogurt (half milk and half yogurt if you are going to leave it out to sour, or lots of milk and tiny bit of yogurt if it is going to be consumed after several hours as the milk will set to curd along with the rice, and our Tamil grannies know how to time this to perfection).
Season with salt.
In a tadka ladle or small wok, heat a tsp of oil. Add bits of minced green chillies, bits of minced fresh ginger, mustard seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. Turn over into the yogurt rice. Give a stir.
Serve chilled with your favourite pickle. (My current favourite is Tomato Thokku from Grand Sweets)

Lunch Series so far

Day 1 - Vengaya Sambar, Vendakkai curry, Potato Roast
Day 2 - Peerkangai thuvaiyal, Red Chauli
Day 3 - Keerai Milagoottal, Cabbage curry
Day 4 - Capsicum Baath, Pumpkin pachidi, Thair saadam

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Kitchen Diary Day 7

Yesterday nothing much happened in the kitchen.  The joiner came back late afternoon to sand off the plastering in the joins between the plasterboard.  Today, we painted the new walls to match the rest of the kitchen.  The colour of the paint is Barbados Sky.

Last night we had ready-made mashed potatoes with our meal (all heated in the microwave).  Tonight we are having smoked mackerel & salad with microwave chips (fries), I havent had those in the house since Andrew left home!

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Big Baking Day

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon baking. It started off with my Christmas Cake, which is an old favourite recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, I have the cutting from the magazine from 1998 and again in 2002 - its the same recipe and thankfully is also still on the website, so I dont have to type it all out for you! Its the Simmer and Stir Christmas Cake and it is just so easy. Last year I made the Nigella chocolate Christmas Cake, which was really lovely but decided to go back to my old favourite this year.

Then I decided to make the Banana Butterscotch Loaf from Marias blog: The Goddesss Kitchen. I had taken the ingredient list with me when shopping last week, but there was no Green and Blacks Butterscotch Chocolate, so I got the Ginger one instead. It was an easy recipe to make although using so much Green and Blacks Chocolate, would be one that I would keep for a special occasion. It is very sticky but very rich with an exceptional sugar hit. I forgot to put the pecans and demerara sugar on the top, which would have made it look prettier, but it didnt affect the taste. Also I didnt have a3lb loaf tin, so I used the one I have and made the rest of the mixture into muffins which cooked in about 15 minutes

Finally, I had to do something with the apples that had been lurking about in a basket for a couple of weeks. My MIL had got them from her friend and some were beginning to get past their best. I made some apple pickle, which I will blog later when I have put it in jars, and then made the rest of the apples into a crumble (cheating with a ready made crumble mix) which I have put in the freezer. I also froze the Banana Loaf, cut into slices, as we would never get through all that.

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Celebrating Memorial Day

Ive always felt a little guilty celebrating Memorial Day by enjoying delicious barbecue and drinking cold beer. Part of me thinks maybe we should really honor our veterans by eating some of those freeze-dried, ready-to-eat meals, paired with warm water (from the tap, no bottles from Fiji)…chipped beef anyone? An army travels on its stomach, so be sure to remember all the brave cooks and chefs that have made the ultimate sacrifice while feeding our troops in times of war.

This photo by Jorge Gomez, shows two soldiers participating in the U.S. Armys Culinary Arts Competition. I dont know if these guys would beat the Iron Chefs, but they could certainly kick their ass. While most chefs act like they are risking their lives to grill your portabella mushroom, these brave cooks actually are.

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