Steak pie and not-really-mushy peas

Did some cooking after a looooong time… Perfect winter dish for me and reminds me of Scotland: steak pie

Inspirational video from Jamie Oliver, some internet research and some given spices and cheese leftovers got me to this variant.

  1. 2 onions
  2. 300 g rump steak
  3. 4 carrots
  4. 200 g mushrooms
  5. 330ml guiness
  6. 1 tblsp Tomato paste
  7. 2 tblsp Flour
  8. Ready made puff pastry
  9. Spices: long pepper, black pepper, salt, Worcester sauce, chili
  10. Peas: lemon cest, lemon juice, salt&pepper, fine cut mint, butter

Unknown ex expat

A lot has happened. I’m no more an unknown expat but an unknown ex expat. I moved back to Germany and my life changed a lot: almost no more parties or weekly catch-ups, a freezing climate and a new job.

Here’s a short recap and what happened since the last post:

– visited Libanon one more time and enjoyed amazing food, good parties and relaxing times at the pool and the beach

Continue reading Unknown ex expat

Coriander Garlic Habanero Dip / Salsa

I absolutely love this! It’s one of the things that I do at least once a week for a loong time 🙂

  • Coriander
  • Garlic
  • Lemon (ideally organic so you can use the zest)
  • Habanero (or any other chili for that matter)
  • Best olive oil

Perfect for nachos and since I forgot to buy them, I used it as a salsa / topping on a toast with butter and tomatos… mmmh

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My take on Iran

Because of my job I had the opportunity to go to Tehran. The first time from Saturday to Tuesday and the second time from Monday til Wednesday.

Of course I had the usual impression that you get when you grew up or lived in a western country for a longer time:

  • Iran is not called Islamic republic of Iran for no reason: there is a religious leader who influences politics and regulations for daily live and law
  • Due to the relation to the US and the aggressive foreign policy especially under Ahmadinejad you get a very dark and frightful picture of the country: they want to erase Israel from the map and all American citizens are evil enemies.

Similar like on my trip to Pakistan, I had the chance to get a first hand impression.

First of all: there is a huge – extraordinary huge – discrepancy between the government + the religious leaders and the daily life of the people. Two examples:

  1. Alcohol is forbidden in Iran and recently students have been sentenced to 79 whips because they had some booze when celebrating their graduation. And of course there is a delivery service for alcohol. They come to your home, open the trunk and then you chose. Whaaaat?!
  1. Facebook is blocked (funnily only on wired internet connections, – some? – mobile internet connections don’t block it.). Same applies for the heavily censored tv channels – ever watched or only listened to a football game on an Iranian tv channel? There is barely any sound from the crowd in the stadium. So everyone gets western tv from satellites. Smells a little like the former GDR, right?

Now what I experienced during my visits: all (!) people that I have met are extremely friendly, open and have a very liberal mindset. Strangers on the street approach you and ask where you are from what you are doing in Tehran etc (and no, they are not from the Stasi).

I even participated at a “party”. The conversation went like this:

Hey you wanna join a party tomorrow? Drinks and shisha.

Drinks?

Yep.

Next day.

Well it’s not a real party, only a gathering of friends.

Ok

Well and the location is a little strange. It’s at a nursery.

???????!!

Yeah, a friend of us is the owner and she invited some friends, we totally understand if you don’t want to join.

Sounds strange but I’d still love to join 🙂

… And yes, the nursery was full of children 😀

Some more quick facts:

  • Tehran has around 20 million people
  • It spans from 900m above sea level up to around 1,700m – and the mountains next to it go even up to 3,500m – skiing hooray!
  • It is a very green city, i.e. there are many trees, some parks etc. Still the smog can be quite bad, I guess mainly due to the extremely old cars.
  • Motorbike taxis are cool, cheap, roller coaster-like adrenalin levels are complementary.
  • Food is very good, fresh, mostly local and cheap!

Last but not least: don’t go to Iran. Honestly. Watch this video to see what you are not missing.

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A big THANK YOU to all my family and friends

Sometimes in life there is this feeling: life is good. I am happy. People around me are happy and healthy.

This is the feeling I have at the moment: I have an amazing girlfriend, I have a good job, my family is all more or less healthy, I have many friends and people that I admire a lot – and that includes people from all times during my life: best friends from before kindergarten, friends from my home village and school time, people from university and people from the last town that I spent 7 years living in. And it also includes many people in the new city and country where I’m currently living – I cannot put it in words how grateful I am and how lucky I feel to have exactly those team mates in the office and exactly those friends outside work.

So here it goes: a big THANK YOU to everyone in my life 🙂

As usual there is also something else in my mind: if life becomes too perfect,  it cannot continue like that – sooner rather than later something very bad will happen.

So far nothing has happened and a good friend of mine told me: don’t worry – keep calm and happy and simply carry on enjoying life.

Cheers!

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New category: thoughts for food / inspirations rather than recipes

In case you wanna go pro or prefer a scientific method: read this on wikipedia or sign up directly at https://www.foodpairing.com/ In case you don’t mind relying on friends, recommendations and experience: go on reading.

Lamb chop marinade:

  • Ginger garlic paste (like a lot; standard ingredient in – south? – Indian cuisine – ready made pastes are acceptable according to my Indian friends)
  • Teriyaki sauce
  • Dried chilli flakes
  • a dash of whiskey
  • salt & pepper

Awesome green apples

  • raw green apples
  • chilli powder or cayenne pepper powder

Lebanese standard snack:

  • raw green plums
  • salt
  • good snack while sipping some arak with ice & some water