What do I do when I've got nothing to do? Today I cook crocodile meat..........
No......changed my mind. Cannot find.......
No......changed my mind. Cannot find.......
So I used chicken............
Hollywood celebrities love their chicken......
The Nutmeg
Aptly dubbed Myristica fragrances ("musky scent") by some long-ago botanist, nutmeg grows on a number of islands in the Caribbean—Trinidad's neighbor Grenada, which until recently produced 20 percent of the world's supply, proudly displays nutmeg on its flag—yet it's a relatively new arrival to that part of the world.
The tree is indigenous to the Banda Islands in what is today the Indonesian province of Maluku, also know as the Moluccas Islands, and Indonesia still produces the majority of the world's nutmeg.
For millennia it grew only in Banda, which made the two spices it produces—nutmeg, the seed's kernel, and mace (see "Nutmeg's Other Half,", the red web covering it—a rare and hard-won commodity. Nutmeg arrived fashionably late to the European table—after the turn of the 11th century, far later than, say, pepper or cardamom—and its novelty only intensified its allure.
Along the medieval spice route, every time nutmeg changed hands—from Bandanese producers to Arab traders, from Byzantine spice merchants to Venetian ones—somebody profited, and nutmeg's price increased exponentially.
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when physicians began prescribing nutmeg as a cure for the plague, the price spiked even higher—one small sack of nutmeg represented enough capital to purchase a house in London and a servant, too—and the newly formed Dutch and English East India companies waged a ruthless struggle for control of the Moluccas. The Dutch prevailed, at least for a time.
An 18th-century French adventurer named Pierre Poivre is credited with breaking the Dutch monopoly by smuggling seedlings out of the Moluccas and replanting them on the island of Mauritius, and as nutmeg plantations proliferated in Sri Lanka, Zanzibar, and the West Indies, the price of the spice plummeted.
Today most of the world's nutmeg is produced in the Spice Islands of Indonesia and the West Indies, especially Grenada - the "Nutmeg Island."
Most of us consume more nutmeg than we realize, in everything , food and drinks, include Coca-Cola.
Understand the makeup of the nutmeg.
The nutmeg is the inside part of a yellow fruit from the nutmeg tree, namely the kernel. The ripened fruit splits open to reveal a hard, black nutmeg. This nutmeg is dried for culinary usage. Mace is the inner case of the nutmeg and looks like webbing. Mace has a more delicate taste than nutmeg.
Spicy Nutmeg Chicken
A/ Nutmeg Syrup
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon rum
1/ Preparation for the nutmeg syrup.
In a saucepan, combine the 3/4 cup of water along with the sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg.
Mix thoroughly & bring to a boil, then reduce heat & cook, stirring for 1 minutes.
2/ Combine cornstarch & water & mix thoroughly, stir in to the nutmeg syrup and mix well.
3/ Remove from heat & stir in the rum, then set aside.
B/ Seasoning for the chicken
4 chicken thighs
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup nutmeg syrup
1/ Season the chicken thighs with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, soya sauce, ground ginger and nutmeg syrup for 4 to 6 hours. Chill in the fridge.
2/ Lined the baking tray with aluminum foil.
3/ Preheat oven to 200 deg c.
4/ Bake chicken thighs for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and turn oven temperature to 190 deg c
5/ Baste the chicken thighs with the balance nutmeg syrup mixture. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil & return them to the oven to bake for at least 40 minutes, basting frequently.
6/ Remove aluminum foil, set the oven to grill mode. Grilled for 4 to 5 mins until slightly charred.
7/ Serve hot with additional syrup mixture, if desired.
The meat is soft, tender and very moist.
Nutmeg has an aromatic, sweet, spicy and woodsy flavor. It adds aroma and enhances the taste of the food.
Butter Rice
Melt butter in sauce pan, fry chopped onion until slightly brown. Add in cooked rice and stir fry for 5 mins. Remove from heat, add in chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Mixed fruits salad
Guava - slice thinly
Red water melon - cut thin slice
Yellow water melon - cut thin slice
Grapes - whole
Fruit Salad Sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/ Mixed all the salad sauce ingredients and cook for 5 minutes. Leave to cool, drizzle on fruit salad before serving.
After dinner.....since I've got nothing to do.........
If you've got nothing better to do......try this...
Nutmeg Facial Mask
Nutmeg, a cooking and baking spice, is often cited as a kitchen ingredient which you can use for your acne scars and blemished marks.
1/ For pimples and blackheads.
Mix 1 tbsp of ground nutmeg and 1 tbsp of milk in a medium bowl. Wash your face with your facial cleanser. Massage the nutmeg paste gently in circular motion, always moving upwards. Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes for quick and visible results. Finally rinse the mask off with tepid water, clean your face with soft towel or facial sponge and pat dry. Tone and moisturize your skin with your usual skincare.
2/ For acne scars and exfoliation
Mix about half a teaspoon of nutmeg with about a quarter teaspoon of honey into a paste. Wash your face with your facial cleanser. Massage the nutmeg paste gently in circular motion, always moving upwards.Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse the mask off with tepid water, clean your face with soft towel or facial sponge and pat dry. Tone and moisturize your skin with your usual skincare.
Note of caution.
Nutmeg is a strong astringent, and maybe too hash for sensitive skin. If you have sensitive skin, test this treatment on a small section of skin.
A note of caution:
It is almost impossible to overuse nutmeg, because all you need is a tiny dusting of it to reap its taste and nutrition benefits. Overuse of nutmeg is known to cause palpitations, sweating, hallucination and other discomforts, so do use this wonder spice in moderation.
Cheers!