Saturday, November 30, 2013

Anna Sultana's Aljotta - Fish Soup #2, Maltese Style


Maltese have been Catholic for a long time.

Since St. Paul was shipwrecked there in the year 60.

Yes, it's been that long.



The Catholic Church used to have a lot of rules about food.

Especially about fish.

Oh, yes, they wanted us to eat fish.



About a month ago I posted a recipe for Aljotta, fish soup.

Well, guess what, here's another recipe for Aljotta.

Just so you don't get bored.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Anna Sultana's Kawlata #2 - Vegetable Soup with Meat, Maltese Style


Maltese are not, for the most part, vegetarians.

And we sometimes get bored with a recipe.

Even with good recipes.

Same old, same old.



On Tuesday I posted Ma's recipe for Vegetable Soup with Meat.

Of course she had another recipe for Kawlata.

Pick the recipe according to what you have on hand.

Or according to what was on sale.





                        Kawlata #2





Chop 

1 1/2

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Anna Sultana's Kawlata - Vegetable Soup with Meat, Maltese Style


Some people are vegetarians.

And some people are not.

Some people are satisfied with a meatless soup.

And some people are not.



I posted the recipe for Ma's Brodu taċ-Ċanga a while ago.

It's a recipe for soup that uses beef.

But just like with Ma's Minestra or vegetable soup, Ma had another recipe.

This recipe uses cubed pork or sliced Maltese sausages.

Or any sausages you prefer.

Or

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Anna Sultana's Minestra tal-Haxix #2 - Vegetable Soup, Maltese Style


In 2010 I compared  the recipes for two zucchini favourites: Carmela Soprano's Googootz Giambotta and Ma's Minestra tal-Haxix.

Well, if you're tired of making those two vegetable soups, here's another of Ma's recipes.

It's similar to her Minestra or vegetable soup.

It just has a slight variation in ingredients.



Soup is a dish that allows for a cook's creativity.

Or for what's in season or

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Anna Sultana's Brodu tat-Tigiega - Chicken Broth, Maltese Style


We've been told - Get the shot, not the flu.

And most of us have done that.

But it is Autumn in Winnipeg.

Which, temperature-wise, is a lot like Winter in many other places.



Because it's colder people stay indoors more.

Germs are indoors more.

Indoors is now the perfect place for catching a cold, or the flu.



When we lived in New York, chicken soup was called Jewish penicillin.

Well,

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Anna Sultana's Soppa ta' L-Armla - Widow's Soup, Maltese Style


Hot drinks like Mulled Wine and Mulled Apple Cider are all well and good.

But, to paraphrase a rather famous saying, man does not live by hot drinks alone.

It's getting cold… it's time to make and serve some soups.



Sometimes Maltese recipes have some rather strange names.

I mean, cookies named Dead Man's Bones?

And then there's Soppa ta' L-Armla - Widow's Soup.

Not exactly the most

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Anna Sultana's Nonalcoholic Hot Chocolate


I hear you… not all your friends want Spiked Hot Chocolate.

Nothing wrong with that.

Especially if they have to drive home.



Ma made nonalcoholic hot chocolate.

Especially for uncles who had to drive home.

Or when she was preparing drinks for us kids.



When Ma made hot chocolate for the younger set, she usually left out the coffee.

She figured we were jumpy enough without the caffeine.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Feng Shui, My Favourite Home, and Christmas Preparations by Margaret Ullrich


Tonight is Full Moon number eleven for 2013.

We've been enjoying very mild Autumn weather for Winnipeg.

Yesterday the Santa Claus parade was staged, and folks in downtown Winnipeg - both those marching in the parade and standing on the sidewalk - were comfortable.
Yeah, well, we woke up to about three inches of snow this morning.
Seasons change in an instant in Manitoba.





Back to Tisha

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Carmela Soprano's Hot Buttered Rum for One Serving l Hot Buttered Rum for Many


Enjoyed the rum in your Spiked Hot Chocolate?

Looking for another rum recipe?

You've come to the right place.



Rum has always been a classy drink.

In an 1824 essay about the word rum's origin, Samuel Morewood, a British etymologist, suggested it might be from the British slang term for "the best", as in "having a rum time."  He wrote:

As spirits, extracted from molasses, could not well be

Friday, November 15, 2013

Carmela Soprano's Spiked Hot Chocolate with rum and hazelnut liqueur


Back in December 2010 I posted two drink recipes:

Carmela Soprano's Candy Cane Martini and Carmela Soprano's Spiked Egg Nog.

Both drinks have a bit of alcohol in them.

Both posts have remained popular over the years.



About a week ago I posted the recipe for Anna Sultana's Mulled Wine.

It is also a drink with a bit of alcohol in it.

This post is also becoming popular.



Okay… I can take

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Anna Sultana's Tuscan Sun Chicken


Yes, my Ma was Maltese.

No, she never went to Tuscany.

But, to me, this recipe will always be Ma's Tuscan Sun Chicken recipe.



Sometimes recipe names are pretty straightforward.

Take peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

What you said is what you get.



Then there are recipes that have a little story that only means something to the cook.

For example, in The Sopranos Family Cookbook Artie

Monday, November 11, 2013

Anna Sultana's Mulled Apple Cider l How to Open a Pomegranate Easily


Yes, Ma's Mulled Wine is great for cold winter days.

No, it isn't great to serve vast quantities of mulled wine to little kids.

Especially not in these politically correct, totally 'no physical contact in school' days.

And it's not good for the kiddies to tell the teacher that they love mulled wine.

Trust me.



But the kids do get cold.

And hot chocolate and cocoa do have sugar and

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Anna Sultana's Mulled Wine


We had to pack away our bird bath this week.

There's something sad about watching birds, desperately thirsty, pecking at a slab of ice.

Not even a very determined blue jay had any luck.

That ice is as hard as a brick.

Yes, it's definitely wintery here in Manitoba.



Warm and hot drinks are perfect for times like this.

But how much coffee or tea can one drink?

All the caffeine can't be

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Halloween, Feng Shui, Reunions, Dr. Who and My Christmas Cactus by Margaret Ullrich


Tonight there will be new moon number eleven.

It just missed adding a bit of light to Halloween for the kiddies.

Ah, Halloween… even kids from countries that don't have the Christian / Celtic background are getting into the fun of trick or treating.



And what could possibly be wrong with a bit of fun?

We're not as easily duped as folks had been by the 1938 broadcast of Orson Welles' radio

Friday, November 1, 2013

Shrikhand for Diwali by Margaret Ullrich


Living in the north end of Winnipeg, I sometimes can't find some exotic items in my local grocery store.

However, one of the nice things about the north end of Winnipeg is that - due to the luck of having neighbours who are an incredible mix of people from all over the world - 

I get to taste food from other countries.



And I'm not talking the bland, toned-down stuff you find in stores, but