Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

  • Home
  • About
    • In the Press, Published Work and Interviews
    • PR and Disclosure Policy
  • Food
    • Recipe Index
      • Indian
        • C.K.P recipes
        • Curry – Meat, Seafood
        • Curry – Vegetarian
        • Sides
        • Chutneys
      • Healthy
        • Soups
        • Salads
      • Quick and Easy
      • Baking
        • Desserts
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Vegetarian
        • Salads
      • Vegan
    • Product Reviews
    • Events
  • Travel
    • UK
    • India
    • Around the World
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Miscellaneous
  • Giveaways
  • Work with me
    • Meet interesting foodie entrepreneurs here

Zingy Turkish Poached Eggs

April 2, 2014 by manjirichitnis 30 Comments

I am a fan of eggs in any form and when I chanced upon this delightful Turkish recipe for combining eggs with thick and fulfilling greek yoghurt I just had to go ahead and experiment! Total Greek Yogurt 0% is fat-free, gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians and pregnant women – all good, no nasties! Besides these virtues its consistency is great and I have in the past few days consumed one of the smaller pots per day part in smoothies and just a dollop with my rice and curry dinner. There are so many versatile combinations that are possible with this yoghurt. From smoothies and shakes to use in cooking as a marinade or cooling dip with chopped goodies like fresh chives, garlic, chilli flakes etc.The thick and creamy consistency is a bonus if you’re trying to watch your weight too!

I made these poached eggs for brunch and served them with wholemeal pitta toasted in the same pan where I made my chilli butter – fabulous!

Traditionally this dish is called Cilbir (pronounced as chillburrr, roll the r’s!) is a Turkish dish of poached eggs with yoghurt (often with garlic mixed in). There are records of Cilbir being eaten by Ottoman sultans as far back as the 15th century. It is now common to serve the dish topped with melted butter infused with Aleppo pepper, for which paprika can be substituted. (Source: Wiki)

1-IMG_6791 (Copy)

Serves :2

Ingredients:

  • 4 large eggs – 2 per person
  • a handful of fresh mint roughly chopped
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped fine
  • 500gm Total Greek Yogurt 0%
  • Butter 50gm
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
  • Sea Salt as per taste
  • a pinch of chilli powder – as per your tolerance levels

Method:

  • Boil water in a large saucepan (my time-saving trick -boil water in the kettle and add to the saucepan), then cover with the lid and allow to simmer on a medium flame for a while
  • When the water is absolutely boiling hot, take off the lid and reduce the flame to a very low simmer. Then, carefully crack the eggs into the water one by one. They seem to sort of go ‘freeze frame’ once dropped into the boiling water. Give them about 30 seconds and when it seems like they have been poached carefully remove them one by one using a slotted spoon. If you suspect that the yolk will just burst open it means it needs some more time inside. Don’t worry if this process isn’t perfect the first time around , its a learning curve and you will get it right in a few tries – in case of disaster scoop out as much of the egg as you can and after you are done with all the eggs use a sieve to save the remaining egg 🙂
  • Use two bowls or plates to serve. First, scoop some yogurt into each of the serving bowls. Season with sea salt, a generous sprinkling of cracked black pepper and a pinch of chilli powder. Mix well
  • Create a bit of shallow space in the middle of the yoghurt mix and place the poached eggs on top
  • Heat a non-stick pan on a medium flame, reduce flame to a simmer. Melt the butter and before it starts to brown add the finely chopped garlic and smoked paprika. Then add some sea salt
  • Quickly pour this delicious golden spiced butter over the eggs and yoghurt
  • Garnish by sprinkling some fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped for a burst of fresh flavour
  • Toast the mini wholemeal pitta bread portions in the same pan that was used to melt and spice the butter and it will give your pitta that extra kick of flavour!
  • Scoop the flavoured poached egg and the cooling yogurt with the pitta bread. It’s a beautiful sensation on your palate as the cold yogurt and smoked paprika work their magic on your taste buds.
1-IMG_6774 (Copy)
Disclaimer: With many thanks to Total UK. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
1-IMG_6766 (Copy)

Egg-citing egg recipes to inspire you!

  • Indian Masala egg omelette
  • Smoky chorizo and chives with eggs oven-baked in pots
  • Masala egg curry, a recipe famous on the street-food stall in Mumbai
  • Soft-boiled eggs and asparagus soldiers
  • An omelette with a twist

Filed Under: Food, Product Reviews, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: #TryTotal, butter, chopped fine, Çılbır, cracked black pepper, delicious, easy brunch idea, easy trick to make poached eggs, eggs, fat free, filling, fresh chives, fresh mint, garlic peeled, gluten free, Good Food, hearty, how to poach eggs, low fat brunch recipe, mini wholemeal pitta breads, Ottoman sultans, pinch of chilli powder, poached eggs, recipe development, sea salt, smoked paprika, sprinkle, suitable for vegetarians and pregnant women, tasty, toast, Total Greek Yogurt 0%, Turkish recipes, wholesome, yogurt, Zingy Turkish Poached Eggs

Caribbean themed Summer Fruit Smoothie

July 18, 2013 by manjirichitnis 11 Comments

There’s no better way to get your summer party guests to cool down and settle in than by offering them a chilled fruity delight that takes away the torture of travelling in summer with the sun not feeling unapologetic as it beats down upon us!

I wanted to create a more complex flavour but settled for a sweet tangy combo with a few ingredients. It’s quick,easy and absolutely exploding with summer fruity goodness.

Makes 1.5 l and the plastic posh glass I served in holds 100 ml.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large organic mangoes
  • 5 juicy strawberries
  • 400 gm Pineapple chunks  with juice – I bought the long life jars since I have a shockingly tiny refrigerator.
  • Juice of 1/4th  lime
  • 225 gm Mango Pulp – I used half of a 450 gm tin of Kesar Mango Pulp

Method:

  • I bought the Mediterranean Mangoes,the ones from a supermarket shelf where the skin appears green but when you gently press down onto the skin and pulp moves easily inside that means, they are ready for consumption, if you buy them a day in advance ensure you refrigerate them minus the plastic packaging to prevent over ripening and also ”sweating” of the fruit inside the plastic packaging.
  • Scoop out the pulp from the ”cheeks” of the 2 mangoes and leave the rest for Caribbean Sweet Mini Pepper salad. Chop into big chunks for the blender.
  • Wash the strawberries, halve them after removing the stalk
  • Blitz the mango pieces, the pineapple pieces and the juice, the strawberries, mango pulp and juice of half a lime ensuring there are no seeds in it.
  • Pour into a jug and leave to cool in the refrigerator.
  • Serve with ice cubes in a fancy glass, I bought these plastic ones on a steal deal from the party section of a discount store. 🙂

This simple but delicious smoothie is perfect as a summer cooler and will not fail to impress your guests and besides its a great way to kick off a summer party!I hope you enjoy making and sharing this smoothie as much as I loved creating and writing about it, each glass refilled made me smile – a lot.

Carribean Themed Summer Smoothie

Why not also have a look at this easy and yum Strawberry Mojito Recipe by Helen who writes the blog Actually Mummy.

Filed Under: Food, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: Caribbean themed Summer Fruit Smoothie, food bloggers lunch party, fruit punch, Good Food, lime, mangoes, original recipe, pineapples, recipe, recipe development, summer party, sweet mango pulp, tin, tinned

”POSH ”Victoria Sponge Cake

August 3, 2012 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

What better way to celebrate the excitement surrounding the Olympics happening in London than sinking my teeth into a perfectly delicious soft Victoria Sponge Cake!

It’s an easy recipe and the result left me feeling like so very happy!

I tried to read up online why it is called a ”Victoria” Sponge cake and the apt answer seems that since Queen Victoria loved this soft cake with her afternoon tea! So I am going to savour the cake and afternoon tea as I cheer myself hoarse in front of the telly whilst watching the Olympics 🙂

Lovely! So let’s get baking and when your done gobbling some of it, drop me a line and let me know how much you enjoyed creating this yummy delight!

This cake serves 8 people, takes about an hour to prepare.

I choose to call it ”POSH” because that’s Victoria Beckham’s pop name, our very own British star and this cake is modernised version of a British Classic recipe with a twist as it is layered with Creme Chantilly’ – very posh sounding indeed!

Ingredients:

  • 225 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 4 medium-sized eggs, organic if you please
  • 225 g caster sugar
  • 225 g self-raising flour
  • 4- 5 Large tablespoons of Strawberry Jam, the traditional version uses raspberry Jam, I used strawberry conserve.
  • 250 gm fresh strawberries sliced lengthways
  • Icing Sugar for dusting on top of the cake
  • Soda Bicarbonate – 1 teaspoon
  • Baking Powder 1 Teaspoon

To make the  crème Chantilly:

  • 300 ml double cream – so sinful 😉
  • 25 g icing sugar
  • I tiny cap full of Vanilla essence, the original recipe inspired by The Good Food Channel advises to use – 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped or vanilla extract

METHOD :

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line two 18cm cake tins with a removable based with baking paper. I inaugurated my brand new weighing scales and cute cake tins I purchased for all future cake making experiments!
  • Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream well until light and fluffy – this will take at least 10 minutes to get it properly aerated. Use the 10 minutes you have to wash and clean the strawberries and slice them lengthwise. This was also a first for me in terms of using my food processor to mix the butter and sugar mix. Then empty this butter sugar mix into a large mixing bowl, I also have a NEW nice bright Orange bowl!
  • Break each egg and add one at a time, whisk the mixture well after each addition to ensure it is soft and fluffy.
  • Add the self-raising flour to the above butter, sugar and egg mixtures, I added one spoon at a times and mixed it really well each time. Add the Bicarbonate of soda and Baking Powder to this mixture, I used this as I do in every cake but the original good food channel recipe does not mention these 2 ingredients. Later I used a hand blender to really get this mixture to feel like one entity and till it felt right to pour into the ready cake tins.
  • Now pour the above cake mix in equal portions into the  2 cake tins and smooth the top with a plastic spoon, the type you get with a food processor.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, with a timer, until risen and golden. Ensure you do not go over the 20 minutes, also if you are using a fan oven as I do, use only the setting that heats from below.

For the crème Chantilly:

  • Put the cream in the food processor, add the icing sugar and the vanilla essence. Whip to the soft peak stage, using the slow speed setting then refrigerate until slightly firmed.
  • Take the strawberry jam into a small pan and warm gently whilst stirring, use low flame and do not leave on pan for tool long.
  • Remove the cakes from the cake tin, on the top of one cake spread the jam from the pan and add the chopped strawberries.
  • Then get the Creme Chantilly’ from the fridge and spread generously over this.
  • Place the second cake on this and press down ever so gently.
  • Dust the top of this lovely sponge cake with a bit of icing sugar and decorate with a blob of the Creme Chantilly’ and some sliced strawberries!

Voila, the classic British cake with a twist – Posh Victoria Sponge is ready for you to savour, impress your family and friends and enjoy baking over and over again!

Filed Under: Desserts, Food, Recipe Index Tagged With: afternoon snack, bake, beat, butter, celebrate, easy, easy recipe, eggs, fluffy, food, Good Food, icing, mixture, pipe, Queen Victoria, recipe, self, simple, soft, sponge, strrawberries, sugar, tea, tea party, Team GB, time, unsalted, Victoria, weighing scale, whisk

Food,travel and lifestyle writer. Photographer.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

  • Baking
  • Breads
  • C.K.P recipes
  • Cakes
  • Chutneys
  • Cocktails
  • Curry – Meat, Seafood
  • Curry – Vegetarian
  • Desserts
  • Events
  • Featured Food and Drink
  • Featured Lifestyle
  • Featured Travel Adventures
  • Food
  • Healthy
  • Home
  • India
  • Indian
  • Kitchen
  • Lifestyle
  • London and rest of U.K
  • Meat
  • Miscellaneous
  • Product Reviews
  • Quick and Easy
  • Recipe Index
  • Rest of the World
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Salads
  • seafood
  • Sides
  • Smoothies
  • Soups
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Featured Blogger on Great British Chefs

GBC_blogger-badge_150x300px    

Need a New Power Blender?

13076814_10154185434898293_7387808474266473605_n

Read Travelfortaste’s interview on Gourmandize UK & Ireland

 Sliceoffme interviewed by Gourmandize UK & Ireland

Travelsfortaste is Featured on Expats Blog

England expat blogs

Read Travelsfortaste reviews on Zomato

View my food journey on Zomato!
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Squaremeal.co.uk - Restaurant Reviews

About me

Writer and Photographer. Food,Travel & Lifestyle, Blogger and Digital Marketer. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Easy Spinach and Pea Soup
  • Grenada Chocolate Festival – Festive Giveaway
  • Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook – Cooking with Heroes
  • The Instagram Foodie Bag – Must have for all Food Photographers
  • Restaurant quality meat – Swaledale Online Butchers – a review

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT