Pineapple Wine

Opened up a bottle of my homebrew 2019 Vintage Pineapple 🍍 Wine. Bottled it in January 2019, so it's almost 2 years mellowed in the bottle. The aroma and the taste blew us all away. A dessert wine for sure. Commercial quality crystal clear. Hands down one of the two top wines I've made along with the Orange mead. 13% ABV/Alcohol by Volume (no added alcohol, just natural fermentation process with quality champagne yeast), same as a store bought wine. This was my very first attempt at making wine, trying to see if I can make something similar to my grandma's famous Christmas wine. Sorry grandma, you'd have stopped making wine if you tasted mine. 🤭😜

My family decided that I should stick to Pineapple and Orange mead. I was planning on making watermelon and strawberry wines in 2021. Might have to put that on hold. Other drinkable wines I've made are Red and Green Grape, Peach and Cherry. These are semi sweet to Dry. I'll probably use them for food preparation. I know that the black Cherry made an insane gravy for Christmas. 

Recipe for my homebrew Pineapple Wine will be posted some time in February, as I will be preparing a new batch this year.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJeMf-BBvlj/

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Merry Christmas

 

Stuffed to the gills, had a nap.. 🤣😂 suddenly realized I probably should post pictures of what my family raved about. 😜 Everything made from scratch, or the darn restaurant critics living in my house would petition to remove my Michelin (not stars, but tires from my SUV 🤭🤣🤪).

What's for lunch?

• A pork Roast, traditional Sri lankan style.
• A roast leg of Lamb, Scarborough Fair style 🤣 (with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme).
• Cabbage Rolls, Ukrainian Style
• Crispy Roast Potatoes, Lord knows who's style 🙄.
• Gravy, made my style, Using homemade Cherry Wine from Last year to deglaze the pan drippings from the lamb roast.
• Dinner Rolls, local bakery style. I was going to bake some at home, but then I slapped myself and promptly forgot about it..

I will post the recipes for Roasted Pork and Roasted Leg of Lamb at a later date.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJPEhdhBLA3/

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Pittu/ පිට්ටු

 

My daughter was sleeping in late after countless sleepless nights. She just completed her last Uni final exam for the year. She comes running in asking if I can prepare something quick for lunch, as she got called in for an emergency shift. I quickly prepared some Rice flour pittu and some sandwiches for her break, as she'd be working till 10pm.

On this plate: Pittu, spicy chicken curry, creamy potato curry, katta sambol, seeni sambol and a bit of the green mango curry.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJs3Z3BvJW/

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Samosas and Tea

 

Dad, anything for tea? So I futzed around trying this and that with dough. Initially meant to make patties, ended up with weird looking samosas with fish and potato (fish cutlet filling 😂). Might look a bit janky, nevertheless disappeared in next to no time.

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI9NvnXBTvS/

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A Simple lunch

 

Catching up on some housework that I had let slide. Todays meal consisted of Dhal, brinjal moju, chicken curry and gotukola salad on steamed red rice.

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Chicken Soup - Recipe

A hearty chicken soup on a cold winter's eve, is great for the body as well as the soul. This is a duplicate of the Chicken soup prepared by the Canadian restaurant chain Swiss Chalet.

Ingredients:

1 Medium sized onion Chopped
4 stalks celery Chopped
4 carrots Chopped
1/2 small red pepper Chopped
3/4 cup of frozen peas

2 cloves garlic Minced
2 Tablespoons oil
4 chicken thighs
1 L (4 cups) ready to use chicken broth
1 L (4 cups) water
1/2 cup small pasta shells (conchigliette)
salt and pepper to taste
Some finely chopped parsley 

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large pot.
• Add the onion and garlic and saute on medium heat until the onion turns translucent (about 5 to 8 minutes).
• Add the Chopped celery and saute for another 2 minutes.
• Remove the skins from the chicken thighs.
• Add the chicken, chicken broth, water, red pepper and carrots to the pot and bring to a boil.
• Cover and simmer on low heat for an hour.
• Add the frozen peas and pasta.
• Remove the chicken thighs from the pot of water. Remove the bone and chop or shred the chicken into small pieces. Add back into the pot.
• Simmer for an additional 20 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.
• Add Chopped fresh parsley (optional).

Find this on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/p/CIcELbbB09h/

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Chicken Pot Pie - Recipe

Nothing gives that warm feeling of comfort than a hearty chicken pot pie. I prepared this dish with a rotisserie chicken, and store bought pie shells. The mix was directly placed into the individual serving bowls, and covered with the pie pastry.

Ingredients: 

500g Rotisserie chicken breast - shredded or cubed

1 cup sliced carrots

¼ cup diced potatoes

½ cup sliced mushrooms

½ cup sliced celery

1 stick of butter

⅓ cup chopped onion

⅓ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 ¾ cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen green peas

⅔ cup milk

unbaked store bought or homemade pie sheets, enough to cover individual serving crocs or a pie pan

Method:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

Step 2

In a saucepan, combine carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

Step 3

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk to make a roux. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick and the taste of raw flour has disappeared. Add shredded chicken and frozen peas, stir well to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

Step 4

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust if using a pie pan or directly into the serving dish. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. brush with egg yolk to give the dish a golden brown finish. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Step 5

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

 

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