Spice up your life

Entree @ Frank Restaurant - 88 2nd Avenue
Originally uploaded by wEnDaLicious

With Christmas done and dusted I can say au revoir to the delightful goose fat roasted potatoes,marvelous bubble and squeak ,cooked with the glorious beef dripping.Trifles,honey roasted nuts.Boxes of celebrations. Over the Christmas period my family has a totally English menu, there is no excuse, I must lose a few pounds put on in the period.

Whenever I'm forced into this world of lowering the fat content of my food I revert to the food of my parents.Most of the foods are lower fat(except of course those cooked with coconut.)My favourites meals are those the envelope the western with seychellois spiciness.

There is nothing quite like having barbecue food, food cooked on the griddle always taste so lovely,a whole fish,slashed and filled with chili ,onions,garlic and ginger .Meat, chicken , vegetables all taste so wonderful cooked this way.The seared smokiness adds depth of flavour yet somehow the fish, vegetables, meat taste emphatically of themselves ie ;the fish tastes really fishy.

We rarely ate beef when I was growing up, mainly because in the Seychelles it was rare to slaughter cattle , therefore my parents didn't really eat it very often. If we did eat it it was always a stew (see earlier posts for recipe).Whenever I want to eat less I dont mind eating smaller portions but I will not compromise on flavour.I love to have heat and spiciness.

This is scarcely a recipe,

Take a piece of steak, I love a good ribeye ,use whatever cut you favour,crush garlic,ginger ,thyme (add any of these or all), add tamarind or sour mango powder.This will add a sour note,(these are easily obtained from asian grocers,some supermarkets sell them.) Marinate the steak over night, the seasoning really permeates the meat.However if you dont remember it can be done for a mimimum of one hour.

Sear the meat to your preference.In Seychelles meat and fish are to western standards cooked well done,I however love it rare to medium rare.Whilst the meat is cooking prepare the dressing.

1 red chilli or for ease , 1/2 tsp of chopped chilli.
2 spring onions
2 tbsps of rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
juice of lime to your taste.
Rest the meat.

In a bowl add salad leaves (your choice) and a handful of flat leaved parsley, chopped cucumber just to a crunch to the salad. The above dressing is delicious is has heat , piccancy,and the freshness from the lime. This is the perfect slimming food for me ,packed full of flavour. Bon appetite