Author: Kimberly Low

Quick and delicious recipe for baba ganoush

How funny is the name baba ganoush? It cracks me up just saying it. Baba ganoush. Doesn’t it give you the giggles?

Baba ganoush.

Apparently it means “pampered daddy” or something like that. Despite its rather comical/badass name, it’s a very delicious dip made with brinjals or aubergines or eggplants, depending where and how you learnt your English.

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggplants
  • 130g tahini (sesame paste)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 1/8 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • a half bunch of flat-leaf parsley or cilantro leaves

    • #1 – First, prick each eggplant a few times.

    #2 – Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 190C for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft. They should look like this. Remove from oven and let cool.

    #3 – Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp with a spoon.

    #4 – You will be left with the skin like this. Can throw these away.

    #5 – Throw the scraped pulp in a blender or a food processor.

    #6 – Add tahini. I got my tahini from a grocer, you can try at any expat friendly supermarket.

    #7 – Followed by lemon juice. Yes, yes, I use lemon juice from a bottle! Of course, juice from a fresh lemon is way better :)

    #8 – Don’t forget the garlic cloves.

    #9 – Chilli powder for some kick.

    #10 – And cilantro leaves. I guess you could omit this if you can’t stand parsley/cilantro. That said, maybe you should just omit making baba ganoush altogether? LOL

    #11 – Taste and season with salt and lemon juice, if necessary.

    #12 – Baba ganoush, DONE!

    Serve it drizzled with olive oil. It’s wonderful with crackers, melba toasts, toasted pita chips or even toasted sliced bread. Very flavoursome and quite healthy. In my case I made it to eat with kebab wraps. Delicious!

    # – Lovely in wraps too.

    If you want to make kebabs, I have a recipe here. Happy cooking!

    January updates.

    I kept thinking I blogged here not too long ago. And then I realised that it’s been 25 days. Shit.

    I have been updating my Dayre diligently though, because it’s just easier. Whoever that is still reading this, thank you.

    I guess I should start with the new year. We spent it in Genting, as we had for the previous years. The clock struck 12 while I was breastfeeding Liam, hence the picture below of me with a nursing cover around my neck. That’s okay :)

    ++++++++++

    My son has grown a lot. He’s now a hefty >7kg baby, a far cry from his lightest, at 1.76kg. I am so proud of him. His character is starting to shine though and I can say now that he’s pretty good-natured. The first thing he does the moment he opens his eyes everyday is to smile at us.

    I am now a stay at home mom and I thank my lucky star everyday that I am able to just enjoy every moment of being with Liam while he grows up.

    ++++++++++

    The other day my husband and I were chatting about parenthood and we both agree that it’s one thing that is definitely not over-rated or exaggerated. Parents always say it’s the best feeling ever, it’s fulfiling etc etc etc and of course it is. But you don’t really get it until you produce a flesh and blood of your own. I really feel it’s the most rewarding thing I have ever gotten myself into. And with that a new found empathy for other parents.

    I was watching a musical (Mamma Mia!) with my mother-in-law a few weeks ago and there was a mother seated near us with a toddler who had obviously just learnt to speak. The little girl just wouldn’t stop…..

    I mean, I would give someone a piece of my mind for being noisy over my RM50 movie ticket if you know what I mean. I think the mother must had been sweating bullets as one ticket costed an upwards of RM300. But I kept quiet and stayed positive and just tried to enjoy the show with the extra sound effects. Cause really, I think she would not bring her daughter to the show if she really had a choice. She didn’t need the additional stress from me.

    I hope the universe will reward me with similar empathy should that day come that I am forced to bring Liam to a grown-up event haha.

    +++++++++

    Oh and Liam got bitten by a mossie (I think) and rocked a swollen eye for a few days. We successfully stayed calm and didn’t drive to ER.

    It came down a few days later and he’s my handsome boy again hehe.

    +++++++++++

    I have lost all my pregnancy weight. I didn’t really do much other than breast-feeding and taking care of a baby. This is me most of the time.

    Best weight loss method? Give birth, breast feed and don’t hire help.

    ++++++++++

    Oh and we went for tea at Carcosa Seri Negara. That was nice :)

    Liam even sat in the big boy’s chair while we ate.

    +++++++++

    And we finally got the highchair that we wanted for Liam. It’s got wheels, can be reclined and has adjustable height. It buys us some time to do whatever that needs to be done whenever Liam’s in it. Of course, BabyFirst channel on the tele helps too hehehe….

    What I love most though is that he could watch me while I work in the kitchen. I started cooking more regularly thanks to this chair.

    +++++++++++

    There are more updates really, but I think that’s all for now cause it’s almost 6am and I better feed the baby!

    Thanks for reading whoever you are.

    My 2014 in a nutshell

    Just like the previous years, I’d do a summary of my year. 2014 has been a relatively quiet year for me, but definitely a significant one as our first born arrived.

    Here goes..

    January
    ===============

    We first found out we’re pregnant on 20 January 2014 :)

    February
    ===============

    Nothing much happened other than it was Chinese New Year and my tyre got deliberately punctured in my work place’s carpark. Hmm..

    Luckily my saviour came about 15 minutes later and I didn’t have to wait two hours for Gareth to endure peak traffic to come from the other side of the world to get me.

    March
    ===============

    It’s my husband’s birthday and also the month we formally announced our pregnancy.

    I attempted to make Seremban beef noodles (great) and also salt beef (not worth the effort).

    April
    ===============

    Cel got married to the love of her life and I was honoured to be her maid of honour and helped out! What a beautiful day :)

    It was the month of water rationing, and of course I ranted about people washing their precious cars during the water shortage.

    We found out the gender of our baby! Am not going to bluff, I really wanted a boy so my wish came true. Now that Liam’s born, I really want a girl next.

    I also posted picture of my bump for the first time at 5 months pregnant. Looked like a food baby.

    May
    ===============

    We watched Jersey Boys and it was fabulous!

    Happy days as this was the month that Lance and Mel got married. They’re possibly one of my favourite couples in the world :)

    June
    ===============

    I ate a live octopus.

    We also went to Bali for a babymoon cum birthday trip. Thank you husband! :)

    July
    ===============

    The month I turned 30 and also the month I started a small business. The latter is still in its infancy and growth has been slow due to the baby but my plans and dreams for it are still burning passionately.

    In the middle of July, I exhibited a classic symptom for pre-labour called “show”. I was only 29 weeks pregnant then and it wasn’t a good idea to give birth. My doctor immediately ordered bed rest and also steroid jabs to hasten my baby’s lung development.

    I was a little shaken by the episode but I wasn’t stressed up because I knew that worrying was not going to help me. I went on with life as normally as possible and continued to enjoy my pregnancy, albeit with caution and more awareness of my body. I kept telling my body to hang on till 35 weeks at the least.

    Husband took me to Ten for a Japanese degustation/omakase for my 30th birthday. It was really delicious.

    A week later, on the second last day of July, my water broke and I went into labour. I was 32 week 4 days pregnant.

    Liam was born on 31 July 2014 at 1.52pm.

    August
    ===============

    While I discharged a day after labour, Liam stayed on for 23 days more in hospital, 11 of them spent in NICU. It was a blur of visiting hospital twice a day to give Liam kangaroo care, pumping milk every 3 hours and dealing with changes to my body.

    This was the time I realised that I had married the right man. I don’t know how I could survive this month if it wasn’t for Gareth.

    It was also very rewarding to see Liam improve every day. He’s my strong boy :)

    September
    ===============

    It’s a great month as we finally brought Liam home. While it was tiring to care for a baby, I am just so glad that our baby’s finally home and that he is healthy.

    I also wrote a blog post about what expectant parents should buy. Very relevant if you’re planning on breastfeeding.

    October
    ===============

    Liam turned 2 months old and we did an impromptu photoshoot.

    I wrote a tribute for our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 27th.

    I cooked for the husband and he bought me flowers, donuts and a packet of salt beef. He really knows how to make his wife happy :)

    November
    ===============

    I wrote about why dogs are better for babies than humans.

    December
    ===============

    My favourite month as it’s Xmas. We weren’t planning on throwing our annual Xmas dinner party but alas, we couldn’t resist the festivity, so we hosted a smaller do.

    It’s extra special for me this year because we have both my mother-in-law and Liam together with us.

    Gareth blogged about it here.

    It’s also the month that my brother got married! I was bawling as he and his wife entered the banquet hall, I guess I was happily overwhelmed by the fact that my brother is now a grown-up. I am so happy for him as I know my sister-in-law is a great girl and I wish them all the happiness in their marriage.

    I also got myself a new phone, after giving the same phone to Gareth for Xmas lol.

    So there, a summary of my 2014. I hope 2015 will be a better year for everyone. Less natural and man-made disasters please, and hopefully no haze >_< I’d love to travel more too and get the business up and running by itself. And also to enjoy watching my baby grow up healthily. So much to do, so little time. Happy New Year! ========== To read about my highlights in previous years, click: 2008
    2009
    2010
    2011 (this one was a cheat, honestly was too broke saving for the house until no activities hahaha)
    2012
    2013