We have a bit of a soft spot for biscuits here at the Italian household of Blender and Basil. 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…
Category: recipes
Tofu and sweetcorn soup – back to basics – 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…
Prawns, sweet peas and strawberries – a summery stir-fry recipe
It’s Wimbledon season, so it’s strawberry season! There are plenty of delicious recipes for those with a sweet tooth, but savoury recipes with strawberries are harder to find, usually in the form of strawberry salads. That’s partly because while other fruits such as apple and pineapple have made the crossover, strawberry changes taste so quickly…
Baba Ganoush – a simple dip recipe
Following the Levantine/Middle Eastern thread, we are back with another aubergine recipe. This time, we are using our beloved vegetables for a famous dip recipe, Baba Ganoush. While there can be variants, the classic recipe is very simple. This is the ideal dip to serve as a starter with crudities, a few toasted slices of…
Roasted peppers in oil – a simple Italian recipe
The temperatures are as hot in London as in Singapore and it is that time of the year everywhere when fresh veggie recipes come to mind. Also, peppers are in season, which means they are sweet and tasty, what better time to use them than for a simple summer lunch? In Italy we do conserves…
Double layer milk (shuang pi nai) – a simple Chinese dessert recipe
Chinese desserts are relatively few and far between, but there are a few special ones that can be hard to get in the shops, and this double layer/skin milk is one such dessert. The recipe dates back to the 1850s, and comes from the Canton region. The key ingredients are full fat milk and egg…
A Scrumptious Cocoa Cake – perfect for birthdays!
This chocolate cake recipe is inspired by Giallo Zafferano’s Scrumptious Cocoa Cake. In the Italian household of Blender and Basil, the hubby has a soft spot for chocolate. So when his birthday comes along I usually make a chocolate treat to celebrate – this year I made a more elaborate birthday cake than usual. The…
Steamed pork with broken rice/couscous (Fen Zheng Rou) – a traditional Chinese recipe
This steamed pork with couscous recipe is both traditional and modern – in that it uses couscous instead of broken rice, but the taste is so similar to what you’d traditionally eat that it’s very difficult to distinguish between the two. Traditionally the broken rice is made from chopping rice (or whizzing it quickly in…
Roasted Aubergines/Eggplants with Crispy Onions and Feta
Aubergines, or eggplants, are amongst my favourite vegetables to cook, and I really enjoy finding new ways of presenting them at the table and giving them a new taste. This aubergines recipe is inspired by a dish I found in the book Jerusalem, by Ottolenghi and Tamimi, which was given to me as a present not so…
Russian Salad – a simple recipe
For many years, Russian salad has been a mystery for me. In Italy we don’t consume it much, apart from the odd buffet-style dinner party so I never had too much curiosity about making it at home. In London, between my good Russian friend and my Spanish other half, I discovered the many faces of…
The quickest recipe for home made mayo
A very quick and simple one this week, it’s our home made mayonnaise recipe. I learned fairly recently that it is possible to make mayo using a hand blender and it was a life changing discovery. The biggest advantage of making mayo at home is that you will know how genuine the ingredients will be,…
Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan) Barley Risotto – a rich vegetarian recipe
I’m a huge fan of barley benefits: it’s high in fibre and helps lower cholesterol; it’s very nutritious and enriches any stews, broths or even salads. When I saw the unreasonable prices of risotto rice in Singaporean shops, I quickly turned to a barley recipe as a perfect solution! Since I’m making the effort to buy…
