It all started with a bag of leftover sauerkraut.

A $3 bag of leftover sauerkraut that I didn’t want to go to waste. So I went out and spent $50 on pork sausages, wine and other accompaniments to make a dish that used sauerkraut as a main ingredient.

(I find myself in this type of scenario quite often it seems. The one that happens quite frequently is not wanting to toss out a $1 loaf of French bread so instead I buy $20 worth of ingredients (onions = cheap; Gruyere = not so cheap) to make French onion soup.)

Each time I opened my fridge, that blue-ish bag of preserved cabbage (made in Germany) kept staring back at me as if taunting challenging me to come up with a recipe, something worthy, to use it in. Not that adding sauerkraut to hot dogs or sausages aren’t worthy because those are some of my favorite ways of eating sauerkraut (especially from the street vendors in New York – but I’ll only pay $1 per dog, nothing more!) – but I wanted something more complex.

And then the recipe that was at the tip of my food subconscious finally broke free. Choucroute Garnie!

Juniper berrires, cloves, allspice, and bay leaves

Scotch and I first had Choucroute Garnie at Cafe D’Alsace when we lived in New York City on the Upper East Side. Every so often, we would walk the couple of blocks from our studio apartment to this Alsacian beer/wine bar/restaurant.

The place always felt warm and inviting and the food was hearty and heavenly. A place we never left unsatisfied. We’d start off with a drink at the bar choosing from their extensive beer and wine list, eat some hard-boiled eggs that were set out at the bar (okay, that was just me), then move on to one of the banquettes for dinner.

Scotch was always drawn towards “La Moelle,” bone marrow with fleur de sel and country toast. I was always torn between everything that started with a C: confit, choucroute, cassoulet, or charcuterie? Oh, and then there were the tartares and the sweetbreads!

Juniper berrires, cloves, and bay leaves

This is basically a meat and potatoes type of dish with the added bonus of sauerkraut braised in wine.

“Choucroute” is French for sauerkraut and Choucroute Garnie is an Alsatian dish (Alsace is a region in the northeast of France bordering Germany) made by simmering sauerkraut with Alsatian wine (preferably a Riesling) and a bouquet garnie of spices – traditionally juniper berries, bay leaves and black peppercorns. It is served with sausages (typically Frankfurter, Strasbourg, and Montbéliard sausages), other charcuterie and boiled potatoes.

I adapted my recipe from Epicurious and Food and Wine so my recipe contains cloves, allspice berries, red apples in additional to the traditional flavorings.

I found these spice bags from Daiso (where everything is 7 dhs = $2) and they are so much more convenient than cutting up cheesecloth and twine. Just throw all the spices into the bag, and flip the top flaps over like a sandwich bag and throw it into the casserole pot. Done.

Makes removing the spices at the end of cooking a piece of cake. I loved the flavors of the Cafe D’Alsace version but I hated picking out the juniper berries from my sauerkraut.

Besides the sauerkraut, I had almost everything I needed in my pantry except for juniper berries, sausages, pork, and wine.

For the meats, I picked up whatever sausages looked good at Waitrose (a Western grocery chain) and some pork belly as well. Because…why not?

Goose Fat

The dish was already going to include bacon and goose fat, so why not throw in another artery clogging ingredient? And I just love pork belly.

The sausages I bought for this Choucroute Garnie were Burenwurst, Weisswurst and Bauern Bratwurst.

To make this recipe, I was also quite excited to use my Staub French oven.

It was a birthday present from Scotch a few years ago and I don’t use it often enough. He special ordered it in my favorite color.

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Right, on with the cooking!

To start, I browned a few strips of Oscar Mayer maple bacon in goose fat. I actually had both of these ingredients in my fridge. The maple bacon definitely added a wonderful flavor to the finished dish and I prefer it over regular bacon.

When the bacon was crisp, I removed it from the pot and set it aside on a plate. Next I browned the pork belly in the same pot and when that was done, I set it aside with the bacon.

I used the leftover oil in the pot to saute the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Then I threw in the sauerkraut, apples, wine, broth, bacon, pork belly and the spice bag. The pot was covered and placed in the oven to cook for one and a half hours.

While the sauerkraut-party-in-a-pot were simmering away in the oven, I took the time to brown the sausages in a little bit of olive oil.

These will later be added to the pot at the very end.

I nearly had to slap Scotch’s hands from stealing a sausage:

Me: “Step away from the sausages.”

Scotch: “But they’re calling my name!”

Me: “You must wait and have it with the finished dish!”

Scotch:  “Okay…”

The finished dish was brothier than expected as I got over-zealous and poured in the whole bottle of wine instead of 2 cups. I can’t believe I did that – What was I thinking? I should have saved a few glasses to drink while I waited for the dish to finish cooking.

We were quite impatient to start eating so we just dug in but otherwise, I would have removed all the solids and reduced the liquid down a bit.

I loved the flavors that the juniper and the allspice imparted into the sauerkraut. Every bite was somewhat different and oh-so-satisfying.

Sometimes I would get a bite of maple bacon (Oh Yeah, Baby!) and remember that it was sauteed in goose fat – Double Yeah, Baby! And the red apples had gone all soft and so sweet as well.

Scotch and I served this at a dinner party and among the different sausages – Burenwurst, Weisswurst, and Bauern Bratwurst - we all had our personal favorites.

When I had finished off my Choucroute Garnie, I was dying to lift the plate to my mouth and drink all the remaining liquid goodness of spice-infused Alsatian wine + homemade chicken stock.

The first time I made this dish, I boiled some potatoes to serve as a side dish but personally, I didn’t think the dish needed any and could have done without them. Maybe in the future I’ll roast the potatoes in goose fat .

The second time I made this dish, I didn’t bother with the potatoes and just served it with a side of asparagus. I love meat but I also love vegetables.

Even though it seemed like a lot of meat at first, we devoured it all pretty fast with just a little bit of leftovers for Wee Scotch the next day.

Now, what to do with the remaining goose fat…

Choucroute Garnie

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Recipe type: Entree

Author: ginger and scotch

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 10 mins

Serves: 4

A traditional dish from the Alsace region of France – hearty, warming, and perfect for chilly weather. This is my take on the recipe. Usually served with boiled potatoes, I prefer roasted potatoes or a vegetable side dish.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons goose fat, optional
• 4 slices of bacon, preferably thick-cut and Maple flavor, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound (450 g) pork belly, skin removed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, coursely chopped
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 5 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Red Delicious apples, unpeeled, cored, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 500 grams (1 pound) sauerkraut, squeezed dry
• 1 kg (2 pounds) of fully cooked assorted sausages (such as bratwurst, burenwurst, weisswurst, Frankfurter, Strasbourg, Montbéliard, kielbasa, etc)
• 2 cups Alsatian Pinot Blanc or other dry white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Assorted mustards and prepared white horseradish, as condiments

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Heat a heavy large pot over medium-high heat.
3. Add the goose fat and bacon. Sauté until bacon is crisp but not burnt. Remove bacon from pan and set aside.
4. Brown the pork belly in the bacon/goose fat for a few minutes per side and especially the fatty side on top. Remove pork belly and set aside with the bacon.
5. Add onions and garlic to the pot and sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
6. Place all the spices (juniper, allspice, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves) into a spice bag or wrap in cheesecloth tied with kitchen twine.
7. Add apples, sauerkraut, bacon, wine, and chicken stock to the pot. Give it a good mix.
8. Add the pork belly and spice bag, pressing them into the sauerkraut.
9. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
10. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven to bake for 1 and 1/2 hour.
11. Meanwhile, brown the sausages in a little bit of olive or vegetable oil (about 1 tablespoon).
12. When the sauerkraut mix has cooked for 1-1/2 hour, add the browned sausages and cover and bake for another 15 minutes so that the sausages are warmed up.
13. Serve with boiled or roasted potatoes, assorted mustards and prepared horseradish for dipping the sausages. Enjoy!

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2.2.1

 

Related posts:

1. Back from Switzerland – Time to Get a Job
2. Thursday Thirteen #3 – What’s for Dinner?
3. Thursday Thirteen #6 – Favorite Foods that Keep Me Running
4. An Evening of Wine and Cheese
5. Come Dine With Me – Day 4 of 6 – A Taste of Sweden with No Meatballs

I didn’t realize that Chinese New Year is tomorrow! That means Chinese New Year’s Eve is tonight!

Eek – I feel so out of touch with holidays, living in Dubai, and this one really snuck up on me.

Traditionally, my mom would prepare a lavish meal at home for Chinese New Year’s Eve but now that my parents are empty nesters with all three of us daughters scattered across the globe, my parents will celebrate over at my grandma’s house instead.

Egg Waffle Pan from Williams-Sonoma

Maybe it’s the weather (dark, gloomy, windy, and a chilly 60°F in Dubai), or the thought of not having family and friends around to celebrate this very festive holiday, but I’m feeling a little homesick.

I can’t really muster up the energy to prepare anything special for Chinese New Year tonight so Scotch and I are just going to order take-out from Da Shi Dai. I’m craving dumplings, soup, noodles and wasabi prawns.

I keep forgetting that as a married person now, it’s my responsibility to dole out lai see or lucky money. At least the task isn’t too difficult here in Dubai since I only know one (half) Chinese family.

While I waited for Scotch to come home from work so that I could start satisfying my craving for Chinese food, I decided to make a few more batches of Chinese egg cakes (aka Chinese egg waffles, egg puffs, eggettes, or “Gai Daan Jai“) to snack on with Wee Scotch.

This isn’t a traditional snack to have during Chinese New Year but I just felt like making them.

Since my original post of making Hong Kong Egg Cakes using a custard base (milk and eggs), I’m since found and adapted from this site a much easier recipe that actually tastes like what I remember of Cecilia Tam’s famous red stall of Mosco Street!

With this recipe, I just throw everything into my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, turn it on and voila! Batter done. No need to heat up milk nor temper eggs to make custard, etc., etc.

I’m sure time erodes taste memories, but I really do feel that this recipe resembles what I remember from my childhood days.

The texture is perfect – crunchy around the edges and I love nibbling all the crispy bits that surround each puff before moving on to the soft middle – and with each bite, I am transported back in time, smiling at nostalgic memories.

A few weeks back, I had whipped up a couple batches to experiment with altering the ingredients and found that using either tapioca starch, potato starch, corn starch or custard powder worked just fine. However, using custard powder did give the eggettes a richer vanilla taste since custard powder is essentially vanilla-flavored corn starch.

For those experiments that didn’t use custard powder, I doubled the amount of vanilla extract (or essence) from one teaspoon to two teaspoons.

I think the most essential ingredient for the batter to taste right is evaporated milk. I had never used evaporated milk before and I was curious as to the different brands. I decided to try a few of them…just for fun. And was glad that I did.

The best tasting batch I found was made using Rainbow “Gold.” I think it gave the eggettes a richer, fuller flavor. Even the label reads: “Richer and Creamier.”

I tried omitting vegetable oil from the batter but that wasn’t a huge success as the final product came out a bit dry.

I also made batches pitting vanilla extract versus vanilla essence. Perhaps it was all in my mind or I’m just biased in thinking that anything with alcohol tastes better because I thought the batch with vanilla extract tasted better than the one with vanilla essence.

However, vanilla extract is not available in the UAE as it contains alcohol. I have a precious stash of two bottles that I hope will last me until the next out-of-town visitor arrives to replenish it.

I just love my Nordic Ware egg waffle pan from Williams-Sonoma! Just before I pour in the batter, I apply a thin layer of vegetable oil with a pastry brush. If you own one of these pans, be sure to wash it when it’s submerged under water so that you don’t end up a soaking mess like I did and a soft-bristle brush like this IKEA one works great for getting out all the dried-up batter from the crevices.

Using the pan, it took some practice to get consistently crispy edges and for my electric stovetop, here’s what worked: pre-heating the pans for 5 minutes using heat level 4 (my stovetop has heat settings 0 to 6), then reducing it to heat level 3 just as I poured in the batter. Two minutes on one side – Flip – two minutes on the other.

So it would seem that for my oven, heating it at a higher temperature helped create the crispy crunchy edges that I love and then reducing the temperature down a notch prevented burn-age. You’ll have to experiment with your gas or electric oven to find the equivalent settings.

I’d like to share with you my secret for successful food photography.

And that would be a napping baby .

Halfway through taking photos for this post, Wee Scotch woke up (early, I might add) from his nap and since he was crying, I didn’t want to leave him alone in his crib.

Although I firmly told him not to touch any of “Mama’s” camera equipment nor food, the little rounds of eggettes were just too tempting for a two-year old. Especially since he knew exactly what they were, having been my special taste tester for all the experimental batches.

After he devoured half my set-up, I turned my attention to photographing the inside of an egg puff. Wee Scotch had a whole bag of eggettes in his hand but somehow he just couldn’t resist snatching the one that was in my fingers.

It happened so fast that I didn’t even know it was happening. Wee tyke.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

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Hong Kong Eggettes 2 (Gai Daan Jai)

5.0 from 2 reviews

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Recipe type: Snack

Author: ginger

Prep time: 70 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 4

A popular street food in Hong Kong, I first came across these little egg cakes as a child growing up in New York City’s Chinatown. From a tiny red stall on Mosco Street, Cecilia Tam churned out pan after pan of these eggettes for over a decade but when she closed up shop, she left many die-hard followers forever craving her perfectly fluffy and heavenly egg cakes. This recipe is as satisfying for me as the Cecilia Tam original.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 oz or 120 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon tapioca starch or corn starch
• 1 tablespoon custard powder, optional
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup (4 oz or 120 g) sugar, more if you have a sweeter tooth, or less if you don’t
• 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 5 oz (150 mL) water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
• more vegetable oil for brushing/spraying on the egg waffle pan

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, tapioca or corn starch, and optional custard powder with a spoon or fork. You can also sieve these dry ingredients but I didn’t bother.
2. Add the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract/essence. Give it a whirl with an electric mixer (start at low speed so the flour doesn’t erupt out of the bowl and increase to medium speed) or spatula.
3. Pour in the evaporated milk and water. Mix thoroughly.
4. It may be slightly lumpy and this point and I found that letting it stand for an hour (whether in room temperature or fridge) helped dissolve the lumps.
5. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet.
6. Pre-heat each half of the waffle pans on separate burners over medium-high heat until hot. I heated mine for about 5 minutes.
7. Lightly brush or spritz each pan with vegetable oil.
8. Pour 3/4 cup of the batter into the middle of the egg waffle pan (if you pour too much, it will either leak out the side or prevent the waffle pan from closing tightly) and give the pan a quick swirl to distribute some of the batter to the outer holes.
9. Immediately place the other side of the pan on top, flip the pan over and cook for 2 to 2.5 minutes.
10. Flip again and cook for a further 2 to 2.5 minutes. Exact timing will depend on your stove and heat output.
11. Open the pan and invert the eggettes onto the wire rack and let cool for a minute or so. I used a plastic spoon to help loosen the egg cakes from the mold.
12. Repeat with the remaining batter. Enjoy!

Notes

-Makes 2 cups of batter and 3 batches of eggettes.
-I tried to provide measurements for both American and metric measurements by weighing the ingredients and then pouring them into cups to determine their volume (ie. grams to cups)

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2.2.1

 

Related posts:

1. Recreating a Lost Memory – Hong Kong Egg Cakes from New York’s Chinatown
2. Happy Chinese New Year with Peking Duck
3. Wee Scotch Turns One Year Old!
4. Homemade Chinese Noodles – Reincarnated Cheong Fun
5. Happy Islamic New Year!

When the weather is nice outside, I like to run the path along Dubai Marina right by the water. When I first moved to the neighborhood four years ago, it wasn’t a very nice run because of all the construction and detours. But now, almost all of the trail down by the water is paved and it’s not a bad run at all.

I took these photos on my iPhone during one of my runs in November last year. I don’t know why it’s take me so long to post them.

There are always fellow joggers as well as cyclists, rollerbladers, and kids on their scooters and skateboards. I even saw a lady jogging in her all-black abaya with what I think were (or I might have imagined it) reflective strips on the edges of her sleeves.

There are also kayakers in the water and sometimes, I see teams of dragon boaters practicing as well.

Yacht Club by Marina Walk:

Yacht Club across the bridge from JBR – it is licensed to serve alcohol but only indoors as the license doesn’t apply to the outside terrace.

It’s good to see that new restaurants have opened up along the Marina since the last time I ran this path in early 2011.

This is a bagel place I keep meaning to try – not on the Marina exactly but just up the slope on street level.

And after my run, if I’m feeling for something healthy, I’ll make a smoothie like this raspberry banana one for breakfast.

But more often than not, I end up having bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs .

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4. A Deer Runs the Dubai 10k
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Happy 2012 everyone!

It’s a new year and although I hardly ever make new year resolutions these days (because they’ve been the same year after year so why bother?), I do have one for 2012 and that is to clear out all some of my draft posts.

I often come up with all these great ideas for a blog post and then a few days later, the ideas fizzle out and either don’t seem so great anymore or I stare and stare at a draft post until I give up on it for lack of creativity or interest. Does that happen to you?

So all these draft posts have been nagging at me and I hate being nagged at – I mean, who likes being nagged? It’s such an awful sounding word too.

And as I often do when I’m being n-a-g-g-e-d at, I procrastinate. So 2012 resolution: Stop procrastinating. Stop feigning writer’s block. Stop over-analyzing each post so much. JUST WRITE.

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Some of the drafts I’d like to clear out are posts from my girls’ dinner club. As mentioned in my July 2008 post about “Eating Out for Under 100 Dirhams,” my girl friends and I meet bimonthly to sample restaurants around town. It’s not only an opportunity to discover new (and old) Dubai dining options, but it’s also a time for us to catch up on each other’s lives.

Since the start of this eating adventure back in March 2008, we’ve visited over 80 restaurants. Now, no way am I going to write up 80 retrospective restaurant reviews where 90% of the time I can’t even remember what I ordered or took any pictures BUT I will try to write about some of the highlights and try to be more diligent about posting future eats.

Let’s start with a restaurant called Gulnaz Restaurant & Cafe located in Dubai Marina by Jumeirah Beach Residences.

We had a very small dinner party of three when we visited a few months ago which was a shame as there were so many things on the menu that we’d never had before and were we a larger group – we could have tried them all (insert diabolical laugh)!

But, that didn’t stop us from ordering as much as we could yet stay within our 100 dirham (US $27) per person budget and stuff ourselves silly in the process.

Gulnaz serves Uzbek, Kazakh, Russian and Korean dishes. Oh yes, there was definitely Korean in there like kimchi, morkovcha (korean carrot salad), and kuksi (korean cold soup with rice noodles and beef). I was intrigued so I asked our friendly waiter the reason behind the Korean dishes and he told us that they have lots of Koreans in Uzbekistan. Interesting.

It was mid-November so it was nice enough to sit outside but as the restaurant is located on the main road, we decided not to breathe in polluted car fumes and opted instead to sit inside at one of raised, cushiony booths with privacy curtains – I’m sure there is a proper term for this but I can’t remember it right now. Each table even had a call button to summon the wait staff – something I’ve only seen in Korean restaurants until now.

The Gulnaz menu says “artistically painted walls and plush interiors provides a warm and relaxing ambience. Come and enjoy best of plov, beshbarmak, pre-ordered meals in Qazan pots or bread and samsa from tandir, all prepared in traditional firewood way.”

Is it just me or all those exotic words (well, exotic to me, anyway) make it seem like there was going to be gooood food ahead?

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived early in the evening but we were warmly greeted by the staff and our waiter was extremely friendly, very patient, and quite helpful in explaining the variety of dishes to us. I did have to suppress a few giggles every time he used the words “very tasty.”

As we looked through the menu we passed on some of the well-known dishes like borst and chicken Kiev and opted instead for the unfamiliar.

Besides water, we ordered Urik Sharbat which, maybe it’s just me, made me think of sherbert and non-alcoholic punch and thus baby showers but is actually a drink made from dried apricots. And that’s what it tasted like too – sweet, syrupy, apricot juice.

STARTERS

For starters we ordered Tandir Samsa (20 dhs) which was described as a “delicious samsa stuffed with lamb, baked in Tandir oven with firewood.” The accompanying dipping sauce was made with some combination of tomatoes, herbs like dill and coriander, and garlic.

Tandir Samsa

The samsa had a firm crust, and I wish we had ordered more because it was certainly “very tasty.”

Next we had Blinchick (20 dhs) which were “Russian pancakes with beef and mushrooms.” The waiter asked if we wanted ours to be stuffed with beef or mushrooms, and we all agreed, “both!”

I would describe this as similar to a crepe and the filling was just lovely as the mushrooms weren’t there as background singers to be ignored but really took center stage along with the beef. Our taste buds were singing happily and we were excitedly anticipating the next dishes that were in store for us.

Blinchick

Next we ordered the Olivie (28 dhs) because it was hard not to when it’s described as “famous.” It was a “famous Russian salad, composed of diced potatoes, vegetables and meat, all bound in mayonnaise.”

Another simple yet well-prepared dish that was full of flavor (gotta love mayonnaise) and I loved the tang from the diced pickles. Kind of reminded me of a German potato salad (except without the ham which would have made it even better!).

Olivie salad

I have to say that I really wanted to order Kimchi after seeing it on the menu. I mean, I was seriously craving it and surprised I haven’t bought any from the supermarket yet. Maybe I’ll make my own. I did wonder if the Gulnaz kimchi would be authentic or Uzbek-fusion…

SOUP

We decided to try out one of the soups and ordered Pelmeni (28 dhs) described as “Russian, homemade dumplings filled with beef in a clear soup.” If I hadn’t known that the filling was beef, I would have thought that it was lamb as both the dumplings and the soup seemed to be overpowering with lamb flavor. Probably my least favorite dish of the night.

Having said that though, I did enjoy it better the next day as leftovers. Perhaps the flavors mellowed?

Pelmeni soup

MAINS

This Plov “Bayram” (54 dhs), “pride of Uzbek cuisine…made of rice, yellow carrots and lamb cooked in Qazan pot using firewood.”

Yellow carrots? I’ve never had yellow carrots, I don’t think, and tonight wasn’t going to be yellow carrot night either unless yellow carrots turn orange when cooked.

Similar to biryani, this wasn’t a bit hit for me. I didn’t find the flavors interesting and despised the chick peas (but that’s just me, I hate chick peas).

Plov Bayram

Now the most-awesome-dish-of-the-night award goes to Qovurma Lagman (34 dhs) which is “fried homemade noodles with tomato sauce and ground meat.” Something this good deserves the initials, OMG.

Now with a Chinese background, I was probably biased towards this dish from the start. I would describe it as a spicy noodle stir-fry with, dare I say “very tasty” sauce, which the home-made noodles perfectly soaked up. As I am typing this, I think that I am going to have to order some for take-out…like right now.

Qovurma (Fried) Lagman

Moving on from thoughts of googling a recipe for the Qovurma Lagman which according to Google search results call also be spelled Kavurma Lagman…

Our final dish of the evenig was Manti (44 dhs) which were four “delicious large dumplings with meat / pumpkin.”

Manti

I enjoyed the first couple of bites but then something become too much for me – wasn’t sure if it was cumin or coriander powder – but I gave some to Wee Scotch the next day for lunch and he didn’t seemed bothered at all. He’s such a good eater.

BREAD

We ordered Lepeshka (10dhs) which is “freshly baked Uzbek bread from tandir oven.” Um, I don’t remember any specifics on this but sometimes to me, bread is…well, just bread.

Lepeshka

I hope I haven’t offended any bread afficionados out there with my last statement! And if anyone is still reading at this point then let me ask you this:

Have you ever gotten a little carried away at a foreign restaurant where everything seems so new and exotic and you flag down the waiter to determine the contents of the pretty bowl of spice that has been sitting on your table the whole night, only to be feel like a doofus when he says, “That is black pepper, and that is white pepper.” Doh!

Our final order of the night was Uzbek Green Tea in a Tea Pot (15 dhs). Our nice waiter got into food styling mode and purposely placed the teacups like so:

Have you noticed that all the crockery is very distinctive and floral and I forgot to ask the waiter if they were imported from and made in Uzbekistan. I must remember to ask next time…

Having sat comfortably crossed-leg for most of dinner, I was so stuffed I could have just laid down on the soft cushions and gone to bed. Maybe no one would notice if we drew the curtains around our table?

Well, since there were so many things on the menu that I’d love to try and since I haven’t had lunch yet and since Wee Scotch is just about to wake up from his afternoon nap, I think today would be the perfect opportunity for the two of us to take a walk down the road and order some kimchi and Qovurma Lagman for lunch, and whatever else I think my husband, Scotch, would want for dinner tonight .

*   *   *   *   *

Post-Lunch Update a Few Hours Later: Wee Scotch and I ended up at Gulnaz for a late lunch today as soon as the above was posted. Halfway there I realized I had forgotten my camera but my iPhone cam saved the day.

I decided to sit outside on the terrace so that my son could run around while we waited for the food to arrive but instantly regretted it as there was a faint odor of garbage coming from a garbage skip across the street and upwind from us – nothing the restaurant could do anything about, I guess. But I decided to brave that and hold my breath instead of sitting indoors and cooping up a hyper-active 2-year old.

Since the last time I was at the restaurant, there were already some changes in the menu. The menu itself was now a proper faux-leather bound one instead of a stapled booklet with prices written on stickers.

Fried Lagman (bottom right) and Kimchi (top left)

Disappointingly, the one dish I was craving was also completely changed. Now described as “handmade noodles, stir-fried with tomato paste and beef, sprinkled fresh herbs and egg omelet” the Qovurma (Fried) Lagman was no longer moist, spicy, nor “very tasty”.

Overall, the dish was very dry, noodles included, and the egg omelet didn’t do anything for the dish except add a bit of visual appeal. The beef even had an odd aftertaste. I much preferred the version I had the first time around.

Wee Scotch tasting the Fried Lagman

I also ordered Arabic chicken wings (I love wings!) and was not disappointed – they were crispy on the outside yet moist on the inside, and simply flavored to allow the flavors of the chicken shine. There was no accompanying sauce, which was okay with me as the wings were so good, just a simple garnish of sliced tomato, cucumber and lemon.

I had to order the kimchi as I was curious to see how it would taste at an Uzbek restaurant. I was severely disappointed here as well. The kimchi was so over-salted that I couldn’t taste anything else. I do have a sensitivity to salt so I had the waiter wrap it up for me and I had Scotch taste it when he came home form work. Now my husband has an affinity to salt and likes to put extra salt on his food but even he found the Gulnaz kimchi too salty.

Such a shame about the food on the second visit but restaurant quality in Dubai is often hit or miss so no big surprise here. I would still go back though to try the un-tried things on the menu.

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Gulnaz Restaurant and Cafe, +971 (04) 453 4887 for reservations and delivery; located in Dubai Marina on Al Sufouh Road on the ground floor of The Point building across the street from JBR – Amwaj sector; Facebook Page.

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1. Come Dine With Me – Day 4 of 6 – A Taste of Sweden with No Meatballs
2. A Taste of Arabic Home-Cooking at an Emirati Home

For New Year’s Eve, Scotch, Wee Scotch and I spent a low-key evening at a friend’s apartment overlooking the Burj Khalifa (still the tallest building in the world).

Some photos from our viewing point before the fireworks:

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa (right) and the Address hotel (left)

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Here are some photos of the New Year’s Eve fireworks (with the ubiquitous Dubai crane in the foreground):

Near the finale - hence all the smoke

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We woke Wee Scotch up just before midnight so he could watch his first fireworks display. He wasn’t scared one bit!

Happy 2012!

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year Everyone!
2. Happy New Year!
3. Happy Islamic New Year!
4. Happy 1st Birthday UAE Food Bloggers!
5. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!