Ingredients:

1 lb Thick fillet of Monk fish or other firm fish
4 sm Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Ground cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1 generous pinch powder saffron
1/4 cup Chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup Fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup Olive oil
Salt, Black pepper

Preparation:
1. Cut the fillet of fish into 1″ cubes

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, mix well.

3. Add fish to the bowl of herbs and spices, stir well, set aside to marinate for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

4. Thread the cubes of fish onto metal skewers and place under a hot broiler for about 8 minutes, or until cooked through, turning once.   Serve warm.

Chef Renee Rohrig says this is one of the most popular vegan entrees at Google. Feel free to substitute different types of mushrooms.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 yellow onions, finely diced

1 bunch scallions, trimmed and finely sliced

2 green peppers, seeded and cut into small dice

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into small dice

4 ounces lobster mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

5 ounces oyster mushrooms, cleaned and separated (1 1/2 to 2 cups)

5 ounces abalone mushrooms, sliced if large (1 1/2 to 2 cups)

5 ounces clamshell mushrooms, cleaned and pulled apart (1 1/2-2 cups)

1 package (approximately 3 ounces) enoki mushrooms, pulled into clumps

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

Two 14-ounce cans crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

4 cups seaweed stock (dashi), see seaweed Note

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

1/2 bunch basil, leaves torn

1 cup toasted dried sea palm, for garnish (see seaweed Note)

Lemon wedges, for garnish

Crostini:

1 whole-wheat baguette

About 1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, scallions, peppers and fennel. Saute until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until softened. Add the garlic and stir. Add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen pieces of browned vegetables.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, hot pepper flakes and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the basil. Crumble the sea palm over the soup and offer a lemon wedge.

To make the crostini: Preheat oven to 350°. Cut the baguette into 1/4-inch slices and place on a baking sheet. Combine the oil, garlic and paprika. Brush on the bread. Toast in oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Serve with the cioppino.

Serves 8

Seaweed note: To make seaweed stock, place the following dried seaweed in a pot with 1 quart water and 1 tablespoon tamari: 2 tablespoons fucus, 1 piece kombu, 2 pieces wakame, 2 tablespoons dulse. Simmer for 15 minutes. You may use any different combination of seaweed you wish to make a flavorful stock. You may also purchase instant, granulated seaweed stock at Japanese markets, but it is not as good.

Most of the sea vegetables in this recipe are available at premium supermarkets and health food stores.

PER SERVING: 310 calories, 6 g protein, 22 g carbohydrate, 21 g fat (3 g saturated), 0 cholesterol, 467 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.

***********************

Sweet Potato & Jalapeno Bisque

Googlers favor this spicy, tart-sweet soup in the winter because it is chock full of nutrients. Created by chef Tony Castelucci.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds sweet potatoes

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/2 pound shallots, minced (about 1 cup)

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

1/4 cup rum

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock + additional stock as needed

1/2 cup cooked white rice

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1/2 bunch cilantro (leaves and tender stems only), chopped

Zest and juice of 1 lime

INSTRUCTIONS:

Bake potatoes in a 400° oven until they are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let cool.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the shallots and saute until soft. Add the garlic and jalapenos and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the rum and cook for about 2 minutes, or until alcohol has evaporated. Add the stock and bring to simmer.

Cut the sweet potatoes in half and scrape out the flesh. Add to the stock, stirring, until the potatoes are broken up. Add the cooked rice. Remove from heat and, working in batches, puree in a blender until smooth.

Return the mixture to the pot, and place over low heat. Add stock as needed to adjust the consistency of the soup, then season with salt and pepper.

For the topping: Spoon the creme fraiche into a small bowl. Stir in the cilantro, lime zest and 1 teaspoon of the juice.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a dollop of creme fraiche.

Serves 6 to 8

PER SERVING: 210 calories, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 22 mg cholesterol, 490 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

****************************

Origami Salmon

Chef Wade Tamura of the Pacific Cafe at Google created this for the crowds that stream through his restaurant at lunch. It has become a staple.

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets, 4 to 6 ounces each

1/4 cup oyster sauce

4 fresh shiso leaves (see Note)

4 thin slices lemon

4 rice paper rounds, 9- or 10-inch diameter (see Note)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 500°. Put the salmon on a plate and let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Brush each fillet with oyster sauce. Place one shiso leaf and one slice of lemon on each piece of fish.

Prepare a bowl of hot water. Dip a rice paper round in the water for 5 seconds, or until it just softens. Transfer the rice paper to a work surface and pat it dry with a kitchen towel.

Place one of the prepared salmon fillets on the round of rice paper. Wrap the rice paper around the salmon as if you were gift wrapping it.

Place the package on a nonstick baking sheet. Brush oil over the package. Repeat making packages with the remaining ingredients.

Bake the packages for about 8 minutes, or until they are golden brown. The rice paper should puff slightly and become crisp. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Note: Fresh shiso leaves and rice paper rounds are available at Japanese markets.

PER SERVING: 485 calories, 35 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 31 g fat (5 g saturated), 112 mg cholesterol, 982 mg sodium, 0 fiber.
Tuna Confit

Chef Josef Desimone of Google makes his own cured tuna or nicoise salad and other cold tuna dishes. You may store the tuna in the olive oil in the refrigerator and use the oil in other preparations.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

1 pound skinless and boneless tombo tuna loin

3 to 3 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

1 jalapeno chile, seeded and diced

1/2 bunch basil, leaves only

1/2 bunch tarragon, leaves only

1 1/2 shallots, diced

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine the salt and sugar in a wide bowl. Dredge the tuna in the mixture until the fish is coated. Refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours. Rinse and pat dry.

Combine the olive oil, peppercorns, bay leaves, jalapeno, basil leaves, tarragon leaves and shallots in a narrow, deep saucepan. Heat to 180° and cook for 25 minutes.

Add the tuna to the oil and adjust heat until the oil registers 160°. Cook until the internal temperature of the tuna reaches 140°, approximately 20 minutes. Remove the tuna from the oil, cover and refrigerate.

As soon as the oil in the pan comes to room temperature, place the tuna in a storage container, cover with the oil and refrigerate. Keeps in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Use the tuna as part of a nicoise salad with greens, hard-cooked eggs and olives; or other cooked tuna preparations.

Serves 6 to 8

The calories and other nutrients absorbed from marinades vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the density of food, marinating time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.

E-mail Olivia Wu at owu@sfchronicle.com.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/01/FDG32H9OF61.DTL

http://www.somewhereinblog.net/recipeblog

http://giniann.wordpress.com/

http://giniann.wordpress.com/recipe-index/

http://curiouscook.blogspot.com

http://banglarecipe.blogspot.com

http://www.biteofasia.com/Indian/east_indian_menu.shtml

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/recipes/index.html

http://www.bangalinet.com/recipe.htm

http://milonee.net/bengali_recipes/index.html

http://www.banglalive.com/food/foodhome.asp

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/bengali/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Bangladesh

Subject: Amar Pola

This is my son.

Thanks,
Beejone

From: Rima <rima@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola


MASHALLAH!.

“your carbon copy”

Take care,
Rima

From: Farid <farid@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0634-1, 08/23/2006), Outbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Mone hoi apnar pola current political situation nia khov chintito.
Farid

From: Rubayeth <rubayeth@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0634-1, 08/23/2006), Outbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Bap ka beta, Sipay ka Ghora…..

Kuch na hok,Toda Toda………

Best wishes for the nice baby.

Rubayeth.

From: Hannan <hannan@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0622-1, 05/29/2006), Outbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Beejone

Mashaallah……………..

From: Tabarak <tabarak@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola
X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 0634-1, 08/23/2006), Outbound message
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean

Mogo Vatija to Dehi Baper motoi Nadush Nudhush Hoise.

Wishing – All the good luck can be with him till last.

Thanks

Tabarak

NB : IVAN—-? Is it his name ?
Shahjahann Siraj <siraj@basetextile.com> wrote:

Eto kapor pechaiya rakhchen ke? Merchandiser er pola boila!

Apner pola mone hoi ghumaitase

Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:38:59 +0600
From: “Beejone Khan” <beejone@gmail.com>
To: “Shahjahann Siraj” <siraj@basetextile.com>
Subject: Re: Amar Pola

Ghumibonato ki korbo, tanki marbo?

The Mythology about the day

Its called ‘qi xi’ (seventh evening or The Night of Sevens) or ‘qi qiao jie’ in chinese, not ‘aiqing jie’ and its supposed to be the seventh day of the seventh LUNAR month, meaning somewhere early august. the lunar month is something like a month behind the gregorian calander. Sometimes called Chinese Valentine’s Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband.

In the ancient Chinese mythology, the Cowherd named Niulang fell into love with Weaver maid, Zhinü, the youngest and most beautiful sister of seven fairy sisters. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhinü’s mother) finds out that a mere mortal has married one of the fairy girls and is furious. The Queen Mother of the Heavens deemed that they disobeyed the rules that supernatural being shouldn’t love the human being and separate them. The lovers in this story can only meet tonight.

(In another version, the Goddess forced the weaver fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds in the sky because she could not do her job while married to the mortal.) Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratches a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way, which separates Altair and Vega).

Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae).

But once a year all the magpies in the world take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (“the bridge of magpies”) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, the seventh night of the seventh moon.

The Festival

In order to commemorate the mythology, Chinese people consider the faithful love should be respected by the couple and the lovers who express their love and pledge to each other in the Qixi festival. With the development of the literature and folk arts, people will take into account the traditional lover’s day in Chinese culture.

On Qi Xi, a festoon is placed in the yard and the single or newly married women in the household make an offering to Niulang and Zhinü consisting of fruit, flowers, tea, and facial powder (makeup). After finishing the offering, half of the facial powder is thrown on the roof and the other half divided among the young women. It is believed by doing this the women are bound in beauty with Zhinü.

The Chinese Valentine’s Day is also called The Daughter’s Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves having a good handcrafting skill like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. On that night, the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky, girls do a test, which is to put a needle on the water surface. If the needle doesn’t sink, then girl is already smart enough and ready to find a husband. Girls may ask for any wish, but only one per year.

isn’t she cute!

I know you would be agree… ut she is a refugee in Beirut, Lebanon, the picture has been taken from a refugee camp on july 21 2006.

Can’t we do anything to stop the war! we do not want our brothers and sisters to be refugees … we want to have smile for them, smile for life…

If you can donate to help those people, do what ever you can within your reach, at least write some word for those who is dyeing around the world, dyeing in Lebanon… visit: http://www.warinlebanon.org.