Author: blenderandbasil

Blender & Basil is an invitation to explore, create, and connect as a global community of food enthusiasts, generate new traditions and create a home away from home. Reach out to us for collaborations and let's share our culinary adventures!
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Recipes

Giant “Lion Head” Meatballs (Shi Zi Tou)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Time to bring out the mooncakes and watch the full harvest moon – as we say, may the flowers be beautiful and the moon be round. This week’s Chinese recipe is also round! These pork meatballs are roughly the size of tennis balls, and are called lion heads or sixi (lucky four) meatballs, as you’d usually make four.

If you’d like a further touch of the autumn, you can also add a few chopped water chestnuts to the mix. The most important thing is to use minced pork belly and not a leaner mince, as it really makes a difference to how light and tender the meatballs turn out in the end. Continue reading “Giant “Lion Head” Meatballs (Shi Zi Tou)”

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Recipes

Italian Chicken Mushroom Casserole (Pollo ai Funghi)

A good chicken casserole (pollo ai funghi) is an all-seasons dish, but we believe it’s a good way to ease you into autumnal vibes, wherever you are in the world. You can still enjoy it on the terrace, if you are in a place where summer still lingers, but it will also warm your heart and make you think of blushing trees shedding their leaves…ahhhh! Use your favourite mushrooms in this recipe (the wilder the better!) and some cherry tomatoes on the vine. Continue reading “Italian Chicken Mushroom Casserole (Pollo ai Funghi)”

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Recipes

Five Minutes Chocolate Cake

Back in Italy, the best colazione (breakfast food) to have at home would be a homemade cake shared with the family. True to my origins, I often crave something sweet for breakfast and I get itchy for the next baking mission. This time, I quickly put together some very basic ingredients I had at home and the perfect homemade cake came out with only 5 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes in the oven. This simple chocolate cake will stay perfectly fluffy and spongy for a few days (even if you store it in the fridge). Savour it for breakfast with a cappuccino or with a glass of milk as a snack. Or bring it to that last minute dinner invite! Continue reading “Five Minutes Chocolate Cake”

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Recipes

Spanish Potato Salad – Papas Aliñás

When your partner is from Andalusia, you don’t just become familiar with Spanish habits, expressions and dishes. You soon learn that Andalusia is an entirely different ecosystem entailing different dishes, subculture and slang from the rest of Spain. This vegetarian potato salad recipe has the philosophy of an Andalusian summer built into its core. One of those perfect dishes to have ready in the fridge: fresh for the sultry weather, nutritious because you’ll probably have a freezing beer with it. The Andalusian passion is carried in its name, which instead of being the correct, extended version “patatas aliñadas” (try to ask for that at any Andalusian tapas bar and you’ll cause hilarity amongst diners and hosts!), is the condensed, coarse version “papas aliñás”. Continue reading “Spanish Potato Salad – Papas Aliñás”

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Shredded_Potato_strips_Stir_fry_with_vinegar
Recipes

Shredded Potato in White Vinegar (Cu Liu Tu Dou Si)

Potato is such a versatile ingredient – boil it, bake it, mash it, make chips with it… or shred it for this stir fry recipe. This simple recipe tastes just as good once the potatoes have gone cold, so it’s a refreshing one to try (despite the spice) now that the weather’s hotter. What gives this its refreshing nature is the vinegar. Usually in Chinese cooking, when you mention vinegar, you’d automatically think of black vinegar from Zhenjiang. However, here you should go for white wine vinegar instead. Continue reading “Shredded Potato in White Vinegar (Cu Liu Tu Dou Si)”

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Imperial_Treasure_Fine_Chinese_Cuisine
Foodie Travel

Singapore Restaurants – Imperial Treasure Fine Dining

National Day in Singapore has just passed, and since my in-laws were visiting, we surely had a lot of fun discovering – or re-discovering – the major food attractions in the city. From the very first time I visited Singapore, the Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Marina Bay’s Shopping area has been a restaurant that made an impression. For Singapore National Day we headed there to enjoy their dim sum menu, exclusively available during lunch hours. You could say that Imperial Treasure left us longing for more, as we headed there again on Friday evening for dinner, when we indulged ourselves in experiencing their Peking duck and other traditional staples of Chinese cuisine. Continue reading “Singapore Restaurants – Imperial Treasure Fine Dining”

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Appointments, More

Bird’s nest – a Delicacy from South East Asia

Last Saturday we were invited by the lovely fellow foodie Sayuri to partecipate to a foodie event in Singapore all dedicate to bird’s nest. As the Italian half of Blender and Basil, I actually had never heard of bird’s nest, so I had to do some research to find out what it was all about. My friends and fellow foodies understood that I was talking about bird’s nest drink, which is very popular in Singapore and described it as a very sweet, very refreshing tonic with some gelatinous bits inside that makes its texture interesting. But when I visited the World of Birdnest Museum on Saturday, I soon found out there is a lot more to bird’s nest than just a derivative drink.

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Continue reading “Bird’s nest – a Delicacy from South East Asia”

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First Time Making, Recipes

Chocolate Chip Biscuits (Gocciole)

In Italy, biscuits are an easy snack, like everywhere else in the world. But they are also an essential when it comes to consuming breakfast at home. Together with the famous combination of jam croissant and cappuccino, biscuits dipped in caffe latte are the definition of what Italians eat in the morning. In London I had it easy, and especially in the North-East, where the Turkish shops have a marvellous variety of Italian products on their shelves.

Continue reading “Chocolate Chip Biscuits (Gocciole)”

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Recipes

Tofu and Sweetcorn Soup – a Chinese Recipe

When you’re not feeling 100% or just want a light soup to start your summer meal, this tofu and sweetcorn soup is perfect – it’s so simple to make, and still nutritious. You can also stir in an egg (just beat it and stir it in right at the end, pouring while stirring so that it forms strings in the soup). There are only two main ingredients: sweetcorn and tofu. I prefer soft tofu for this, just because the texture goes down a lot easier, but firm tofu does make the soup look nicer, because you’ll get more even cubes! Continue reading “Tofu and Sweetcorn Soup – a Chinese Recipe”

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