Make your own: Banh mi

Banh mi, originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

Banh mi are those lovely sandwiches you get on the street in Vietnam that cross from east to west. Lovely crisp French bread stuffed with more Asian style meats, pickles, herbs and vegetables combine to please the palette.

The trick is, if you can't get a baguette that is COMPLETELY fresh and crispy, you have to sprinkle it with water and put it in the oven until it becomes crisp (but before it becomes toasted!).

My filling here is tuna (tinned) with chopped chili and lemongrass, plus a little bit of mayo or sesame oil. Homemade Vietnamese pickles since I've never been able to find them to buy, and fresh coriander/cilantro.

If you wanted meat, you could just use any leftover roast (esp pork), or luncheon meat. The food-stalls in Vietnam always have some kind of mystery meat or a mystery homemade pate/compressed meat kind of thing which is popular. Bon appetite!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

What can fix a rainy winter's day?

What can fix a rainy winter's day?
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

Cardamom green tea!

So confused!

So confused!
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

Mr.P woke up and I found him staring into space and looking a little upset.
"What's wrong?", I asked.
"I feel a little upset ", he replied.
"I woke up with two watches on."

For some reason, and at some time during the night, he somehow managed to put a second watch on his wrist...and even managed to tuck the strap in! And, no, he hadn't been drinking the night before.

Later in the day he still had that glazed look on his face and told me that he was still a little freaked out.

New Look

What d'you reckon?

I have a soft spot for old, chipped enamel things

I have a soft spot for old, chipped enamel things
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti

I'm really just testing my blog-sending button on Flickr. This should be on Threespoons...but I'll bet ya it's on Shantiwallah!

The best rice pudding ever!

The best rice pudding ever!
Originally uploaded by Shanti, shanti.

Imagine yourself in the following scenario. You’ve had a hard day at work and the drive home took longer than the usual hour due to heavy traffic. Summer’s long gone, and you get drenched from the rain and wind while trying to get your laptop safely out of the car and into the flat. After a quick change of clothes you eat some leftover soup from last night (better the second day!) and cozy up in a blanket on the sofa to watch whatever TV comes on because you just want to be warm, and it’s either this or go to bed.

Soon your partner, the love of your life, jumps up saying, “Wait here! I’m going to make you a pudding.”, and disappears for an intensive 5 minutes of surfing the net. Eventually smells start wafting across from the kitchen, gorgeous smells. These are smells of, what is that…coconut?...butter?...something Thai? Yes, it smells like those little Thai coconut jellies. How could he be making those? I wait patiently. This is where we differ. He’d let curiosity get the best of him and look. But me, I like the element of surprise.

Voila! Rice pudding? School days and university residence hall dinners revisited. But wait…this is the best rice pudding I’ve ever tasted. It’s not too sweet, creamy as all get-out, and buttery and rich. NOW I’m warm! Thank god for the internet!

Recipe here
Note: He left out the golden raisins, added cinnamon, and used jasmine rice. He also sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top.