I'm about to begin third year so I'll have some new science tit-bits to share with you as I learn awesome things soon.
In case you don't believe you have any newsworthy activities lined up for this weekend, I do have some delicious looking meals to share with you! When one loves food it is difficult not to share it with others so I'm sharing some of the drool-worthy dishes I have found this week to make you hungry.
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest and check out my Interesting Food Creations board to stay updated with all the bizarre things I do in my spare time.
Behold - Food Porn.
The First Step: Food that is a bit different
These are Dark Chocolate Brownies with Rosemary and Sea Salt. The initial combo of chocolate and salt sounds very strange but hear me out - chocolate is actually a savoury (umami) flavour yet we know it as a sweet treat because of all the sugar that has been added. When sweet chocolate is paired with salt (usually sea salt flakes, like Maldon salt), the salt brings out a rich, coffee, earthy flavour that is absolutely divine! If you love your ground coffee then you'll know the delight of smelling different tones in coffee - such as hints of fruit, wood and the common earthy flavour.
This sweet treat is both indulgent yet full of flavour and the addition of rosemary is great! Definitely pair these with coffee.
I don't think I've ever met someone (who eats bacon) who doesn't like a BLT sandwich. This awesome twist on a classic is enough to make anyone seem like a larnie and win over friends. Kudos for including guacamole and chicken as well!
Click here to check out the updated BLT Sandwich on artisanal bread.
I'm all for trying new foods from different places and cultures. These funky little pitta-looking flat breads are in fact Eastern pizzas called Laham Bajine.
The trick with these isn't the base - although you could get fairly fancy with using different bases like a traditional pizza dough, pittas or I could imagine a hash-type of base would work too. What makes this dish different is the way the mince is prepared. With a myriad of spices or even using lamb, turkey or game mince, you can make awesome starters.
Yes, for the love of chocolate.
This is a Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake - looks good, doesn't it?
The ricotta provides a silky richness that won't be overpowering, yet will rather result in a dark chocolate taste with a velvet texture.
I must try this on my cheesecake-loving friends!
These are some great ideas to make tasty meat-free dishes that taste delicious yet also introduce you and your guests to new textures (like the grilled aubergine medallions) and use common seeds & legumes (quinoa and chickpeas) into something different.
From left to right:
- Crispy Aubergine Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Ricotta Spread
- Lemon Garlic Roasted Aubergine over Labane
- Chickpea and Quinoa Burgers with Hallumi
Why drink your drink when you can eat it? Alongside is a Mojito Cake and I had to chuckle.
It has mint so I'm keen.
Why I love food - Throw mainstream thought to the wind and try anything!
Why make normal creme brulee when you can make Sweet Potato Creme Brulee?
The dish alongside looks to have been made with yellow/orange sweet potato so that will give the warm colour to the dish.
I think this could be very cool! A starch base as opposed to cream. Something new to make!
As per the chocolate & salt brownies above, adding salt to a traditionally sweet dish brings out all the subtle and often-missed flavours that get masked by sugar. Salted caramel is starting to gain popularity because the salt makes the caramel appear less sweet.
Yet this combination - Peach Butter Ice Cream with Salted Dulce de Leche, sounds so odd yet I think it would be amazing! The tartness of the peaches would compliment the sweet Dulce de Leche, and the salt rounds off both flavours.
If not keen for an ice cream, I think using this recipe would be amazing as a sweet sauce over say, vanilla ice cream - warm Dulce de Leche with a hint of peach. Yum!
Why put your orange zest into a cake when you can make your cake in an orange? Brilliant!
These are individual Orange & Yoghurt Cakes.
The yoghurt base yields a silky yet not overly sweet sponge base and baking the cakes in the peel of an orange will result in a soft, flavoursome cake.
These with champagne could work really well!
I'm not too sold on this boozy hot chocolate as usually liqueurs are used instead of red wine.
Guess I'll have to try this Red Wine Hot Chocolate and let you know how it goes.
Orange and chocolate, like coffee and chocolate, will always work.
The green sprinkling over the top of the tarts looks to be coriander sugar (sugar and coriander leaves blitz together).
I don't actually know if this combination will work but I'm so intrigued I just want to try it out.
What looks like raw ice cream sandwiches is actually an amalgamation of so many cool combinations I don't quite know where to start!
These are Fragrant Basil and Peanut Butter Cookies with Coconut & Chili Ice Cream.
To start at the end, coconut and chili ice cream sounds very exciting to me. A classic savoury combination used in many curries, you can never go wrong with coconut and chili. Yet to make it a sweet combination has much promise to it! Then add in peanut butter and it sounds like we have a typical Thai curry gone sweet.
What makes this dish strange to many is the addition of basil yet I think it simply rounds off all the flavours and brings out a fruity freshness that would be lost in the sweetness of the ice cream.
To end on a sweet note, have you ever had grapefruit and wasabi? Now put those two together.
These Yuzo Macaron with Candied Grapefruit & Wasabi seem utterly bizarre and cool at the same time.
Fresh and fragrant grapefruit with powerful wasabi? I'm not too sure of the sensory outcome - whether your mouth puckers or it clears your sinuses. Hopefully the addition of wasabi is a better combination that Lindt's dark chocolate with wasabi.