Thailand, Italy and Malaysia - all in 3 days

Right - I'm thoroughly overwhelmed by the lovely feedback I've recieved over the past couple of days! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my ramblings and let me know what you think. Don't be afraid to leave a comment :)

I made Thai Green Curry on Sunday night for myself and Triona. I'd just like to point out that I'm not an incredible cook who whips up curry pastes in her pestle and mortar - that just isn't the way I roll. Maybe one day when I'm not working?! Does anyone actually do this? I am watching Nigella say the exact same thing on Food TV right now so that makes it all right in my book. Anyway, I'm a great fan of the Kan-Tong brand of Thai green curry recipe base. It comes in a little sachet thing and is enough for 2-3. Here's my non-recipe recipe for Thai green curry

Oil (I use Rice Bran)

1 onion, diced

Chicken - I used breast meat, cut up into smallish pieces, use however much suits you

Thai green curry paste/sachet

Coconut milk/cream - 140/160 ml can (the little one)

Frozen peas

Fry the onion, when softened add chicken. Brown. Add curry paste and coconut milk. Cook until chicken is almost cooked and add frozen peas. Cook for a further few mins. Serve on basmati rice.

Yuuummmm. Thanks Triona for being the hand model!

Tuesday saw my Dad turn another year older so the family trundled off to Caffe Italiano on Cuba St for dinner. Tuesday is also their 2 4 1 pasta night -quite a good deal considering the price of their pasta is pretty dear for what it is ($20 +). Between the 5 of us we had a couple of decent lasagnes, some pretty bright green gnocchi, salmon fettucine and pork and fennel sausages in a red bean stew (good rustic sausies). Service was pretty slow to start but picked up towards the end. We had a pinot grigo and the house red (which was delicious - a Sangiovese) as well as a couple of Peroni's.

Tonight I went to the supermarket for my weekly shop - something I look forward to greatly - and came across some Silk Road corriander and garlic roti in the chiller section. That got me thinking about Malaysian recipes and I settled on Malaysian satay chicken with rice and roti - I was feeling a bit greedy (big day at work!).

I can't understand why my food tastes so good but photographs so badly. This truly was delicious but I think I need to garnish more...

Next time I'll be reporting on the mahousive Mid Winter Christmas that's happening this weekend (and the return of the brilliant and illustrious Emma) and the beaut food and drink that will be being imbibed.

Great India Goodness

Saturday was the kind of day that demanded a filling and delicious lunchon. So my flatmate Millie and I wandered down with one thing on our minds: curry. I had a rather vague memory of a very yummy and appealingly affordable $10 lunch at Great India on Manners St...and my second visit didn't disappoint.

The lunch menu gets you a curry, rice and naan for just $10. I went for a garlic naan, chicken tikka masala and basmati rice. Mil went for butter chicken, coconut and caramelised onion rice and a garlic naan. The smells coming out of the kitchen as we waited for our food made my mouth water in anticipation - it was akin to torture.

All I can say is that it was worth the (barely 15 minutes) wait. Beautiful succulent tandoori chicken pieces in a tasty thick sauce. This wasn't your usual tikka masala though, not a tomato in sight. I asked the waiter what the base was and he said it was the chef's special recipe - a yoghurt and cumin base. Fluffy light naan and decent rice. Great value for $10 - I went away as full as a state school. Possibly could've left a bit but it was too yummy. A really nice touch was that the waiter brought steaming hot minted towels for us to "refresh" ourselves with - what a great way to end the meal!

Highly recommend Great India - I shall give it 4/5 on the Sophie Scale.

Let me introduce myself...

Firstly, thank you for visiting Truly Scrumptious. The name comes from the classic children's movie 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' - and seems to fit nicely as a name for a food blog! This blog will not only feature recipes, musings and new/new to me products, but also my personal opinions on where to eat and, perhaps sometimes, where not to eat! There will usually be photos but my camera managed to get left at home today - so apologies for not having much to look at except my ramblings!

My enthusiasm for food is pretty huge. I think it says alot that I count the supermarket as one of my favourite places to visit. I could spend hours wandering up and down the aisles, mentally planning meals for the week, getting ideas from what's on special and what's freshest. I also love my weekly visits to the vege market and Moore Wilson's.

I reckon I'm pretty lucky to live pretty much right in the city (Te Aro) which means I have loads of options only a few minutes walk away. Today I went to the Willis St fruit and vege market, my usual Sunday morning excursion, and snaffled a few bits of fruit for the week. I wasn't as inspired as usual so decided to wander down to the Harbourside market on Wakefield St. Now, that's not somewhere I usually go, but I was stoked at the great selection of independent stall-holders they have, mostly food orientated. I picked up a beautiful blue cheese and caramelised onion tart for only $6 from a lovely woman who had lots of other delectable goodies in her cabinet - but I had to resist as I know I'm having a big dinner tonight (more on that to come!).

I also checked out the City Market. It's located in the Chaffers Dock Building, just across Waitangi Park. There were so many people packed into there on this nippy Wellington winter morning that it was all I could do to make a lap before I was forced to depart. I'll make sure I go earlier next time; midday is clearly peak time!

I wanted something to go with my blue cheese and caramelised onion tart so made my way up to Moore Wilson's (my old work!). I'd like to just muse for a moment and appreciate how beautiful the new Fresh Market is - it makes shopping much more enjoyable. Anyway, my eyes were drawn, like a moth to a flame, to a half baked loaf in the chiller - its top smothered with caramelised onions and parmesan cheese looked too good to pass by. I hurried home to pop the beauties into the oven - 12 minutes was all the loaf took and I could smell the onions in both as they heated through. What a spectacular result - the tart was so rich with onion and the pastry was flaky and buttery. The bread was oniony and light. Together they were perfect!

Tonight I have a friend coming over and I've promised her Thai green chicken curry. This is currently one of my favourite recipes and I'm salivating slightly thinking about how it's going to taste....mmmm!