ayonecan-cook

A biryani requires saffron. A spice I hardly use but had the pleasure of using when I made this.  In using saffron i realized that crushing the saffron threads to a powder before soaking them in some hot water is a must if you want the intense crimson liquid to bloom to its fullest and to speckle the rice as if it had caught bits and pieces of golden sunlight here and there making the biryani rice quite attractive.  The second time I made biryani I had not crushed the saffron to a powder and all I got was a yellow hue that made the biryani rice look as if i had cooked the rice in tumeric tinted water. Which is ok if I was making tumeric rice of course....but not if it was a biryani.  Ghee or clarified butter adds so much flavour as well giving it the distinctive biryani taste. This too I had discovered when I had omitted using ghee the second time around. Now I know why rules are meant to be broken. It convinces you that they shouldn't be. Unlike the true India...

I made and ate such a beefy Jamie Oliver burger that I was cleaning the house the whole afternoon. Upstairs and downstairs and in my master's chamber. I dusted, I swept, I mopped and I sweat. I must remember never to have Jamie's burger for lunch ever again. It just gave me too much enthusiasm, excitement and passion ~ for all the wrong things. I need rest. Rest is what I need. Rest is best. Being petite I struggled to eat this big fat thick dolloped-with-curry-mayonnaise-and-piled-high-with- caramelized-onions burger. Heck, I even struggled to clamp it between my two little paws. I had mayonnaise and crumbs smeared within a 2 inch perimeter of my mouth and yet I missed biting down on the beef patty. I must remember that I am not a troll.  I made these burger buns yesterday and 'painted' them with flour. I thought they looked pretty neat. I cut out a small piece of plastic grid that my super duper DIY husband has around the house amoungst a host of other puzzling...