Recipe time

We are sharing with our readers two recipes from our Mid-Eastern collection. One is a rice dish from Cairo, Egypt which can be an alternative to our sinangag, the Chinese or Japanese fried rice or the Spanish paella. The other is a salad dressing given a curried twist, giving it a new flavor and texture. All ingredients are readily available and you may already have some of them stored in your cupboards and refrigerators.

Egyptian Rice and Lentils

Ingredients:

1 cup brown or green lentils

2 large onions, one chopped and the other cut in half circles

2 tbsps olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup rice

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley for garnish

Procedure:

Wash the lentils, drain and cook until just tender. When done, drain and set aside.

Heat half of the olive oil, sauté chopped onion.

Add lentils, salt and pepper, rice and equal amount of water.

Mix and let simmer until rice is done.

Fry the circle onions then spread over rice and garnish with parsley. Serve at once.

Curried Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

One half cup lime juice

1 medium size onion, chopped

1 knob ginger, chopped

1 pc chili, chopped

2 tbsps light soy sauce

2 tbsps honey

One and a half spoon curry powder

2 tbsps sesame oil

1 cup olive oil

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients. Serve with any green salad.

The makers of Condura appliances have launched a series of refrigerators built for business labelled as Negosyo Refs, obviously in line with their successful “Go Negosyo” campaign.  

The new lines are the Condura Negosyo 5 and Style Series from 5 to 9 cubic feet. The price range starts from P10,995. They have the biggest freezers and chillers, adjustable and tiltable shelves, deepest interiors for long items, and faster ice makers. They are manufactured using cold wall technology and are energy efficient. They come with a 10-year guarantee on parts. Look them up and see if they can be useful in your little (or big) negosyo.

Heny Sison, one of the country’s pastry experts, produced 2,000 cupcakes recently using the no-calorie sugar alternative Splenda. They were laid on a platform, as the picture perfect centerpiece at an event that introduced the new distributors of the sweetener, Johnson & Johnson Philippines. Heny proved that Splenda is not only a beverage sweetener but can even be used in baking and cooking. She topped her chocolate cupcakes with soft marsmallow icing in different colors that added that perfect sweetness to a good dessert item. We have long been using this for our daily coffee and gladly welcome this news about its other uses. Soon, those conscious of their diets will find Splenda cakes and pastries in coffee/bake shops.

More commendations – for Krispy Kreme, which extends senior discounts on all take home purchases.

Have a happy Sunday!

E-mail comments and questions to [email protected]