When is a BLT a BMT??……..(And my first horrid kitchen job)

A BLT is a classic American burger consisting of Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato, hence the name BLT! I replaced the Lettuce with Mustard Greens hence it’s become a BMT!! Actually I made a lot of changes. And the result wasn’t exactly perfect but delicious none the less!! To one of the changes there’s a story to go with it. Out with the mayonnaise and in with home made sweet chilli sauce (I bought it in the market actually but it was made in some Khmer persons kitchen). You can buy it in bottles in every Asian food store in Europe and America. But the home made stuff is worlds away from that. At some point I’ll get the recipe and make it myself and of course add it to my blog (might be a year from now at my current rate of writing:-))!

Why I can’t stand mayonnaise……well my very first job in a kitchen in a shi*** little cafe in Berlin probably more than 10 years ago now I was the kitchen assistant. Meaning I had to do all the tonnes of chopping veggies and making basic (boring) stuff that the cook didn’t have time to obviously because he was too busy cooking. Amongst them was the  big plastic bucket of washed and dried salad leaves (that looked like a rubbish bin if you ask me). And worst of all was the 10 (or was it 20) litres of mayonnaise I made and stored in a plastic bucket (that looked also the same as the one all of the food waste went into).  I was absolutely shocked at the ingredients of mayonnaise. 98% vegetable oil, an egg or 4, vinegar…..and salt and sugar!! I mean basically it’s just pure fat. Looks horrible and tastes horrible!! (Apologies to all you mayonnaise lovers out there but having to make buckets of the stuff traumatized me for life I think:-))!

After I half chopped off two of my fingers in a rage chopping some veggies or other whilst thinking about how awful my ex was and hating her to the grave, I didn’t work in a kitchen again for almost 10 years. Anyway, another story probably not for this blog but my fingers were sewn back on and one works perfectly well but the little finger on my right hand I can only move half of. And no, I’m not left handed but I would swap hands at the huge amount of veggies I had to chop out of boredom and because my right hand ached after an hour!! (A gruesome start to a recipe-heheh!!)

Somethings gone strangely wrong with my picture sizes. I can’t seem to adjust the size as usual. And the horrendous amount of time it takes to upload them on my “just about not fly into a rage” working internet connection here, I won’t upload them again.

Cambodian Birds in a Bengali Curry

Here’s the recipe for a dish I cooked a few weeks back. I was in the old market and saw these birds and got over excited and bought a 6-pack or was it 5??

I’ve never cooked small birds like these before. I’ve ate pigeons and quails many times in Bangladesh and here in Cambodia. But I’ve never gotten round to cooking anything like this until now!

Oh and a bit of warning-this post might come across as gruesome-but I’ve written it as it was for me. And to eat meat (or fish) “gruesome” preparation may be a necessity if you don’t get it at the supermarket.

Sweet Thai Basil Mango & Tomato Salad

I was up at 4.30 this morning. By 6 I had cleaned my flat and done the washing. I wash by hand as I don’t have or need a washing machine. Then I was out running. I LOVE running early in the morning. The world is so beautiful and peaceful and so am I. No matter how busy the city, this early in the morning there’s a magic in the air.

Finally, this is the rhythm I want. After weeks of insomnia and topsy turvy sleeping patterns-waking up late afternoon because I can’t sleep all night or in the morning finally dosing off towards midday. Awful. I didn’t sleep more than my usual 4-5 hours last night. But sleeping at night makes a big difference.

I did my 5k this morning which is my norm. Still not very fast but that doesn’t matter. There is a steady improvement! I don’t have a pedometer at the moment so I can’t say exactly how far I ran. But my norm is 5k in 20-25 min. And I ran longer than 25 minutes.

After I came home I made myself this delicious salad!

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