Banc d'Arguin

Création d’une zone de protection pour la nidification
sur la réserve naturelle du Banc d’Arguin


Le préfet de la Gironde vient de signer un arrêté créant sur le territoire de la réserve naturelle du Banc d’Arguin, une zone de protection supplémentaire d’accès strictement interdit, destinée à la nidification des sternes.

La réserve naturelle nationale du Banc d'Arguin, gérée pour le compte de l'Etat par la SEPANSO, abrite un patrimoine naturel remarquable.
Une zone de protection intégrale (ZPI) délimitée par arrêté préfectoral permet à une partie de l'avifaune de la réserve naturelle de se reproduire, se reposer ou de s'alimenter en toute quiétude.

Depuis le début du mois de mai, une colonie de « Sterne caugek », oiseau marin pour lequel le Banc d'Arguin possède une responsabilité internationale pour sa conservation et emblème de la réserve naturelle (puisque sa protection fut à l'origine de la mise en réserve naturelle du Banc d'Arguin en 1972) a commencé à se reproduire en dehors de la ZPI actuellement délimitée.

Afin de garantir la protection et la reproduction de cette espèce rare et vulnérable, une nouvelle zone de protection d'accès strictement interdit au public à été délimitée autour de la nouvelle implantation de la colonie d'oiseaux par arrêté préfectoral du 24 mai 2011, en accord avec le décret ministériel de création de la réserve naturelle actuellement en vigueur sur ce site.

Cette nouvelle zone protégée (située dans la conche Sud) sera maintenue en place et balisée jusqu'à la fin de la période de reproduction des sternes.

Les personnes intéressées pour observer ce spectacle naturel peuvent aller à la rencontre des guides naturalistes bénévoles de la SEPANSO qui pourront les accueillir gracieusement et mettre à leur disposition du matériel optique afin de pouvoir observer à distance les oiseaux sans les déranger.

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June Month’s Event Announcement and Giveaway

Hi friends!

I provide you another opportunity of making chilling food to keep your body cool in the summer. This month innovate new Ice creams and send in your entries to your new host Reva of Kaarasaaram.

The details of the event can be checked from her blog  here.

The book that http://www.tarladalal.com/ is giving away is called Ice-creams and Frozen Desserts.

One can check out many more books on desserts from her site, a few of them are..

  

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Flambéed Mushroom..a perfect starter

Hi.

Holidays surely have started on a sweet note, last few days have been enjoyable and relaxing. I treated my kid with his favourite Mac and Cheese the restaurant way which was not only liked by my kid but S who avoids eating white base Pasta, loved it and gobbled one full bowl himself.

 

I have also spent some quality time watching my favourite cookery shows which I had recorded earlier and could not get time to view them due to the load at work. In one of these shows I saw this particular recipe and I was too tempted to try it instantly ( I again got attracted to the smoky flavour). I had all the ingredients in my pantry so there was no waiting. I have modified the recipe slightly to suit my palate, one is free to experiment more.

I made this as a starter for our meal and me and my son gobbled up the entire platter in a few minutes. What I liked the most about this preparation was that the bland mushrooms had imbibed the flavours well and it tasted delicious with the smoky flavour.

This recipe great party starter as it’s quick to make and does not need many ingredients.

Ingredients

7-8 mushrooms

3tbsp corn starch

1tbsp APF

1-1/2tbsp g-g paste

1/2 lemon’s juice

1tsp vinegar

1/4 cup each of red and yellow peppers cubes

1/4 cup onion cubed

freshly crushed pepper

1tsp finely chopped garlic

1tbsp chopped cilantro

Method

Make slits in the mushroom from the stalk side and marinate them in salt to taste, lemon juice and ginger garlic paste for 15-20mins.

Make a thick paste of corn starch and APF using some salt and pepper.

Dip the mushrooms in the paste and deep fry till crispy.

Sprinkle water on a the cubed onion and peppers.

Heat a pan and add the garlic followed immediately by the wet onions and peppers.

At this stage tilt the pan slightly and one can see that the pan catches fire (flambé) and produces a nice smoky flavour.

Add vinegar and freshly crushed pepper, a pinch of salt and the crispy mushrooms. This entire process has to be done very fast so keep all ingredients ready near the pan.

Toss a little, sprinkle some chopped cilantro, do not overcook.

Serve immediately with tomato sauce or a spicy peri peri sauce.

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Restaurant Style Cheese Macaroni

Hi!

Today was special as I started my month long vacation and so thought of treating the kid with his favourite food. A few days back when S was travelling I and the kid went out to have some fun, we played and we ate out. He decided to have pasta from the live pasta corner and ordered a fusilli in cheese sauce with no veggies. One strong look from me and he requested the chef, please add some corn to mine. He loved the pasta which even I personally liked.

 

My kid can avoid veggies to any extent and is quite picky about it, so when I asked him today that whether he would like to have a similar kind of pasta he had the other day, he simply beamed. I assured him that I would make the pasta provided he lets me put veggies in that. With some reluctance he agreed and I did make him a similar kind rather a better kind of cheese pasta which he ate wholeheartedly and I was more than happy as I made him eat the veggies too.

Ingredients

1tsp finely chopped garlic

2 cups boiled macaroni

2tsp butter

3/4-1cup of milk

1/4-1/2 cup cream

1 large pinch oregano

1 large pinch basil

1/4 cup grated cheese

salt to taste

freshly crushed black pepper to taste

3tbsp of chopped coloured bell peppers

chilli flakes and cilantro for garnishing

Method

In a pan take the garlic and butter and heat it, once you start getting the aroma of garlic (do not let it change the colour) add the milk followed by the cream.

Tip in the herbs, fresh pepper and salt to taste.

Mix in the macaroni followed by the cheese. Keep the flame low and do not cook much as the sauce thickens fast.

Pour the pasta into the serving bowl and sprinkle cilantro and chilli flakes.

 

Eat immediately .

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Whole Wheat Buns Stuffed With Spicy Minced Cauliflower (Keema)

Hi!

I have always said that baking is a great stress reliever and have always used it for the same. I mentioned in my previous posts that the temperatures are soaring high here and kitchen does grill you most of the times and I try to conveniently escape the heat by cooking quick meals.

In my attempt to do so I experimented with Cauliflower Keema and after I relished it’s awesome taste, I realised that it has multi purpose use, will be a great stuffing for a bun and  make a great snack/ breakfast item.

To enjoy perfectly stuffed buns one must take care of the two things,  firstly the softness of the bun and secondly the filling or the stuffing. If the stuffing is not good the buns tastes bland and chewy buns can spoil the preparation completely. I have used whole wheat flour in my preparation which does make the bun slightly dense as compared to the APF ones but are healthy to eat.

I made the buns in the evening and gave the younger one to eat as an evening snack along with some chocolate milk. I then packed a few for my lunch box  and gladly  could share it with my colleagues the next day and every one praised the preparation. They could not believe that they were home made.

Both the recipes, Gobhi Keema and the Stuffed Buns are keepers. One can check the recipe of Gobhi Keema in my other blog Kitchen – Basics.

Ingredients for The Bun

2 cups APF

2 cups whole wheat flour

a teaspoon salt

2tbsp butter/oil

1-1/4 cups luke warm milk

2tbsp sugar

3tsp yeast

flour for dusting

olive oil for greasing

milk/ egg wash

Method

Using the ingredients above make a smooth, soft, elastic dough. ( Detailed post on making a bread dough can be read here and here).

Let the dough rise in a warm place (1st rise) for about 30 minutes and then punch down the dough and divide it into  8-10 equal portions.

Stuff each individual portion with 1-2tbsp of Gobhi Keema and seal them properly from all sides.

Let the stuffed buns rise again (2nd rise) for about 15 minutes.

Apply milk wash.

Bake in  a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes at 180C.

Cool and serve.

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Celebrating II Blog Anniversary With Darsaan and Ice Cream

Hi Friends!

As I had already mentioned during my May month’s event announcement and giveaways that this month is special as my blog baby turns 2 and today is the day when 2 years back with all hesitation and doubts in my mind I had posted my first post.

My blog is now 2 years and 253 posts old today. I had posted a Litchi Kulfi for the 1st Birthday which was appreciated by many. I wanted to post a simple and yet a very simple dessert for this occasion and I had planned the Darsaan many days back.

 

Darsaan is nothing but honeyed noodles served with vanilla or butterscotch ice cream . I was introduced to this dessert by S when I had visited Mainland China about 6 years back. It is a very popular Chinese dessert and is normally available in all major Chinese joints. I developed an instant liking for it but in all these years I have always relished it in restaurants and never attempted making it at home. The blog anniversary was surely the perfect time to try it out.

The recipe has been tried from a book called Delectable Desserts Of The World by Asha Khatau.  I made every thing from scratch but for those who are in a hurry can use fried noodles or fried wonton strips for making this dessert.

 

Ingredients

For Noodles

1 cup flour/ maida

a pinch of salt

a pinch of baking powder

3tsp oil

water for kneading

flour for dusting

For Honey Sauce

2tbsp sugar

2tbsp water

2tbsp honey

For Serving

Vanilla Ice Cream

roasted sesame seeds

slivered almonds

Method For Making Noodles

Make a dough using the ingredients under noodles and let it rest covered for half an hour.

Using more flour roll the dough into a 9 inch circle.

Dust the rolled circle thoroughly and cut it into strips and fry on a medium flame till light golden in colour.

Remove on  a kitchen towel.

Method for honey sauce

While the noodles are almost ready take sugar and water in a small pan, once the sugar dissolves add the honey and mix.

Assembling the Darsaan

Pour the honey sauce over the fried noodles, sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and almond slivers. Serve with the vanilla ice cream immediately. One has to work very fast with the sauce as it thicken and hardens very quickly.

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PECABRE Fritters…Lunch Box Under 10 MINS

Hi Friends!

As my work load is easing down and I’m slowly heading for a month off from work I have gradually started to post regularly here and also managed to visit a few blogs and I am so mighty happy. I was missing on blogging, trying new recipes and reading so many blogs.

My blogger friends are so creative and innovative that it’s completely my loss not to read their posts. Please leave links of those posts in my comment box which you think I have missed out reading in the last one month and which I should not have missed out  and I promise I will surely visit and check them.

Everyday in the morning my attempt is to finish making my kid’s and my lunch box in 10-15 minutes and in this attempt I tried making many new recipes which I’m gradually going to post under Lunch Box Under 10 Mins series. I sincerely feel that it will be very useful for working women who are always in a time crisis and this is my way of helping them out.

Pecabre fritters is a short form of Peanuts, Cabbage and Bread fritters. I made these in close to 10 minutes and these are simply awesome. For saving time, I had deep fried the fritters but one is free to bake them too. They were a super hit in my kid’s and my lunch box too. The peanuts adds a nice crunch to the bite and the cabbage a great flavour.

The only requirement which actually comes out handy to make this is the food processor. I used the chopping attachment and my dough for the fritters was ready in 2 minutes.

These fritters need very few ingredients and are quite versatile as you can change the flavourings as per your choice but the end product using my ingredients is simply too good, try it to believe it.

Ingredients

4 whole wheat bread slices

3 green chillies

salt to taste

2 small handful raw peanuts

a few tea spoon coriander

about half cup cabbage

a few spoons corn-starch

oil for frying

Special Requirement- a food processor

Method

In the food processor run the bread to make the crumbs.

To this add all the other ingredients leaving the oil and corn starch and give it a few pulses. Use raw peanuts as they get fried nicely, add an amazing crunch and saves time.

Add about 1/3 cup water  and give a few more pulses to make a dough. Be careful while adding water as we want to make a soft dough, adding more water can spoil the dough.

Using the dough make small fritters  and roll them in corn starch, remove the excess corn starch  and deep fry over medium heat till golden in colour.

Remove on a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve with tomato sauce or green chutney. I packed the fritters along with a sauce sachet.

Tip- Try adding soy sauce for a Chinese touch.

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