An Update

I've been busy settling in to the new office and I just wanted to give you guys a glimpse of what I've cooked up in the kitchen...the wonderful photos were taken by my arty design colleague...

This is a very simple olive and onion pizza...I decided to make this because I wanted to try out a recipe for a thin crust pizza base that doesn't need to proof...this is a dough that you can just mix and roll out right away and pop in the oven...this is done faster than the time it takes for you to pick up the phone and call Domino's pizza...and homemade is always much better!

All you need is 2cups of flour, 3/4 cup water, 2tsp yeast, 1tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and 2tbs olive oil...mix it all up...knead and roll out as thin as you can get it...add toppings of your choice...pop in the oven at 180C and cook till the crust browns slightly. This recipe makes 2 pizzas.

With this recipe I don't think I'll ever call for a pizza again!

We've also had a lot of filo pastry lying round the office which we've been meaning to use up...so I stewed some fresh nectarine slices in a grapefruit cranberry juice with some sugar...and then I put this together baklava style...a few slices of pastry brushed with butter...then I layered on the nectarines...and then layered on more slices of pastry followed with a ricotta, nutella, nut mixture...this was interesting and tasted like a fruit pie...

I also made spinach, ricotta, walnut rolls...those were delicious!!

This is what I've been busy doing in the kitchen at work over the past few days...next week I'm cooking up a series of burgers from around the world...and also some ghoulish halloween treats!

Figs!

People in my life often find it amusing how I can be so easily excited by food or kitchen items...I mean excited to the point that I can't stop chattering on and on about it even though their eyes glaze over and they haven't a clue what I'm on about...

Before I get into what happened to me recently let me give you a little bit of background information and this might help you understand my glee...

Over the past few years I have come across many recipes using fresh figs...grilled figs tossed in a salad...figs paired with prosciutto and brie or Gorgonzola...stuffed figs and more...the only problem with reading all these recipes is the fact that I had never tried a fresh fig...and to make matters worse in Malaysia I have never been able to come across figs at any grocery store whether it be a specialty store or an organic one or one targeted to expats...I think the whole idea of not being able to get a hold of it amplified my want for it. It became a sort of forbidden fruit in my mind and I just HAD to have it! Soon enough this whole idea of what a fig would taste like became an obsession and every time I went to the grocery store I would browse the fruit and vegetable aisle just in hopes that maybe one day they would have it.

So now on to the scene that took place recently on a trip to the grocery store:

I walked over to the specialty fruit aisle to grab a package of strawberries and even though I was pessimistic I decided to look at the other fruits available in that section just to see if there was any chance sighting of a fig. And suddenly I saw them, 6 figs sitting in a little package. At first I couldn't believe it....I glanced over at the fruit labels reading and re-reading to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. The minute it clicked in my head that these were indeed figs I immediately picked them up and bounced over to R to share my excitement.

Me: Baby! Guess what I found!! Figs!!! Can you believe it???

R: Oh ok that's nice love

Me: No! You don't get it! I've been looking for figs all over...I didn't think I would ever be able to find them in Malaysia...I've been searching for them in every grocery store every time I go shopping...

R: Ok well it's good that you've found them now

Me: I can't believe I've finally found figs! Do you know what I can do with these? Oh I wonder how they taste...it's so exciting...all the possibilities! *I pull my little bag of figs close and I caress them*

R: *Gives me a very strange look and is probably thinking to himself - I'm dating a psycho!*

Me: We have to go home now...I need to see what I can do with these figs...Oh! I have some Camembert cheese at home...maybe I can grill a fig and we can eat it with the cheese...or maybe I can put it on a gourmet pizza...

R: Ok lets just head home now and you can figure it out when we get back...

Me: *Dreamy Sigh* Figs...

So by now I'm sure the suspense is killing you! What DID she do with her figs? Well last night I decided to make my very own gourmet pizza fusing salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavours together...it was very tasty but I think next time I may try an arugula pesto instead of the mango chutney as a base...I felt that the sweet taste was more overpowering than the rest of the flavours.

Figalicious Mini Pizzas

1 Ripe Fig sliced thinly

5 Slices of Prosciutto diced

Spicy Mango Chutney

4 Wholewheat Pita Breads

Thin slices of Camembert/Brie/Mozzarella (Enough to toss a few on each individual pizza)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 150C

Step 2: Lay the pita breads out on a baking tray and spread each with the Mango Chutney

Step 3: Add the prosciutto, figs and cheese to each pita and put the tray in the oven

Step 4: Bake till the edge of the pita bread begins to brown and the cheese has melted

Step 5: ENJOY!

The Obama Inauguration Pizza

A favourite food blogger of mine, Not Quite Nigella created this amazing pizza...She did a brilliant job and I just had to share this slice of hope with you.