Genovesi from Erice, the perfect marriage between pastry and cream

Do you know what a genovese is in Sicily? It is a pastry filled either with ricotta cream or a very delicate milky cream. The most famous genovesi, at least in the western part of Sicily, are the ones made in the medieval village of Erice, in the province of Trapani. They are delicious, soft and tasty, especially if eaten warm. Here there is the recipe of the genovesi made by the famous Patisserie of Maria Grammatico in Erice.

Ingredients and preparation: 
Pastry

250 g hard wheat flour

250 g flour 00
200 g sugar
200 g butter or margarine cut in pieces
4 yolks
Some table spoons of cold water

icing sugar to sprinkle on top

Cream

2 yolks
150 g sugar
40 g starch (wheat or corn)
½ lt milk
grated lemon zest

Pastry preparation:

1. Mix both the two flours with the sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add the pieces of butter, then the yolks one after another, stirring slowly with a professional spatula. 3. Add the water until the pastry is soft and elastic. 4. Form a ball without kneading too much otherwise it will get hard. 5. Wrap the pastry in plastic and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 6. Roll it out giving them an oval shape, like shown in the picture.

Cream preparation and baking

1. Preheat the oven at 200° degrees. 

2. In a bowl beat the yolks with the sugar using a whisk. 

3. In a sauce pan on a low heat melt carefully the starch in a half glass of milk, then add the remaining milk and mix well. 

4. Pour the mix of yolks and sugar into the milk slowly. Keep stirring for 10-15 minutes, until it becomes solid and smooth. Add the grated lemon zest. 

5. Once ready put the cream in a bowl and let it cool down. 

6. Once is cold take a couple of spoons of cream and fill the oval shaped pastries, one after another (about 2 cm in diameter). Then stick together the two parts giving the shape of half moon, like in the picture. 

7. Once they are all filled, place them on an oven tray and bake them for 8-10 minutes (200° C) at the most. You should have about 15 genovesi. 

8. Finally, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve while still warm. Enjoy!

3 COCONUT WATER RECIPES. COCONUT SMOOTHIE RECIPE. COCONUT SMOOTHIE WITH DRAGON FRUIT- COOKING-VARIETIES “WATER IS LIFE” RECIPE SERIES.

CUT GREENS WHEN IMMERSED  IN WATER, WILL REMAIN FRESH  FOR  A WEEK.

NAME OF COOKING VARIETIES RECIPE:
COCONUT AND DRAGON FRUIT SMOOTHIES
COOKING-VARIETIES "WATER IS LIFE" RECIPE SERIES

COCONUT SMOOTHIE WITH DRAGON FRUIT

Ingredients: from cooking-varieties "Water Is Life" original recipes collection. Serves 4.
Water from 1 half ripe coconut (about 2 glasses)
1 medium size red dragon fruit (about 2 glasses)
1 cup yogurt or 1 glass yogurt
Peel dragon fruit and blend with coconut water and yogurt. Serve immediately with ice cubes. Use chilled glasses if you don’t like ice cubes. Coconut water is slushy and has a uniquely delicious taste.

UNRIPE COCONUT FRUIT SUITABLE FOR DRINKING IT'S JUICE

Health benefits of Dragon fruit
The dragon fruit or( Pitaya thanh long in vietnamese) contains a lot of water, is rich in vitamin C, minerals and fiber. Eating dragon fruits can help prevent colon cancer and diabetes, neutralize toxic substances, lower cholesterol level and high blood pressure. The red dragon fruit variety is rich in antioxidants.
Health benefits of Coconut water
Coconut juice has a cooling effect on the body, thus a cure for fever and lower down body temperature.
Fruits contain a lot of water. Water covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface and is vital for all known
forms of life. The human body contains from 55% - 78% water, depending on size
The next essential element after oxygen for human life is water. WATER IS LIFE. Water should be highlighted in cooking-varieties recipes
The UN General Assembly recognized WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT. 

DRAGON FRUIT SLICES

Global rivers are in severe crisis due to pollution of all sorts, loss of wetlands, changing climates, and other natural disasters such as earthquakes.
 Earthquakes too have gone global, not just in Indonesia but also Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, The Philippines and latest quake at Myanmar, with the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami being the hardest hit.
The Fukushima nuclear plant, still emitting radioactive vapour that made the Japanese capital's drinking water unsafe for infants and sparked a global food scare.
Water is used in every cooking, Keep your rivers and water sources clean.,
'WATER IS LIFE' RECIPE SERIES FROM COOKING-VARIETIES

And the award goes to...

Yesterday morning I woke up and found a nice comment on my post. This normally makes me happy, but when I followed the link I was even happier and very touched by the fact that someone, the Addicted Baker blog, had chosen me together with other 14 excellent blogs because she liked and appreciated my recipe for the Saint Joseph' Sfinci.

I want to thank The Addicted baker from the bottom of my heart, because it means that passion does have recognition sometimes!!! I wanna pass this award to some other blogs that I like:

1. My home cooking (where I learnt to cook my very first apple pie and there are amazing recipes)
2. Cooksister (I love her way of writing especially the lattest post)
3. Italian foodies (lovely Italian recipes and not only Italian)
4. Oh my sugar high (Absolutely gorgeous sweets and desserts)
5. Jim's pancakes (I love his pancakes and the shapes as well)
6. Kara's party ideas (just the idea of organising parties makes me smile, very nice blog)
7. The decorated cookie (how a normal cookie can become art)
8. Extra icing (the cakes I'm dreaming of make)
9. Gluten free goddess (another interesting way of eating)
10. Traveler's lunch box (I like its recipes)
11. All things sicilian and more (very nice blog that talks also about my land)
12. Food and thoughts (I agree with eating and thinking what to eat)
13. Simple recipes (nothing is better than a simple recipe!)
14. Dashi Dashi (I like how they care about japanese cuisine)
15. The Addicted Baker (a lovely person who gave me the award and a lovely blog that is teaching me a lot)

Thank you so much, I hope it makes you smile and happy too!

Nendoroid Hirasawa Ui

Woooo !!! It's been long time I didn't receive my Nendoroid Hirasawa Ui ! The announced release date is said to be in January but I received it this month.

Ah, good also lah I receive it later due to monthly budget concern.

However I mix her up with her elder sister Yui while shooting.

Flash was used in these photos by 430EX II :D

When Ui disguise as her elder sister, it's hard to differentiate :D

Senget shot lol

IND vs AUS

ICC CWC Warm-up LIVE: IND vs AUS

What a warm-up win for India! Chasing 215 runs for victory, Australia were bundled out for 176. For latest, stay tuned with ESPNSTAR.com.

CLICK HERE FOR SCORECARD

So finally, Indian spinners got the better of Australian batsmen and ensured that Men in Blue start the ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in style.

Over 34.4: Smart work by MS Dhoni as Ricky Ponting fails to get his back-foot back in time. Harbhajan Singh finally won the little battle.

Over 30.4: Chawla dismisses Callum Fergusson. Shane Warne kind of delivery! Slip coming into operation as Kohli completes the formality.

Piyush Chawla is living a dream spell. A huge blow for Australia as they have now lost 7 wickets for 148 runs with Ricky Ponting playing on 51.

Over 28.2: Huge wicket! David Hussey gets a stunner on the very first ball he faces as MS Dhoni rattles the stump.

Over 28.1: Piyush Chawla induces a false shot Cameron White lofts, only to perish at mid-on.

Over 21.5: Yuvraj Singh has struck for India as Tim Paine's lofted shot lands staright in Munaf Patel's hand. Great running catch from Munaf.

Over 20.2: Oh! hoo! A spectators catch by Sreesanth in the deep on a top edge of Harbhajan Singh's ball just made Indian fans interested. A contest you would not like to miss. For the moment - Aussie skipper survives.

Harbhajan Singh gets the ball and bowls a tight over. But what India desperately need at this moment is wickets and that too in bunch.

Over 18: Chasing 215 for victory, Australia found themselves cruising along with 103/1.

Shane Watson led Ausssie chase in style as he carted Indian pacers all-aroun the park. Kangaroos would take huge confidence if at all they win the current match as lot of pre-match talks centered around how the visitors would fare on a slow pitch. India Innings: 214/10

An impressive Brett Lee produced a fast and furious second spell to skittle out India for a modest 214 in their first warm-up match ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Lee (3/35) accounted for three Indian wickets in his second spell of five overs, giving away just 12 runs. He was ably supported by John Hastings who returned with figures of two for 24 from his six overs.

David Hussey also picked up two wickets during the fag end of the Indian innings with the part-time off-spinner giving away 25 runs.

Opting to bat, India produced a listless batting display as they lost wickets at intervals to be eventually bundled out under 250 in 44.3 overs.

(Can Sachin Tendulkar really change India's fortunes? We would value your comments!)

Virender Sehwag was the top-scorer for India with a 56-ball 54 while Yusuf Pathan took his time to the open up during his 32 that came off 39 balls and was studded with two towering sixes.

Apart from Sehwag, the Indian batters were found wanting from the onset against Australia's lethal pace battery. Virat Kohli (21), skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11) and Suresh Raina (12) all got starts but gave away their wickets when the team needed them.

India's agony in the batting department can be gauged from the fact that they failed to notch up a single 50-run partnership, the highest being the 49-run ninth wicket stand between Pathan and R Ashwin (25 not out).

Gautam Gambhir never looked in his comfort zone from the very first ball. He was circumspect throughout his 15-ball stay, which included a maiden first over from Brett Lee.

His agony finally came to an end in the fourth over when he edged a Doug Bollinger delivery to Cameron White at the second slip.

Virat Kohli (21) looked in supreme confidence from the time he arrived at the crease and hit a boundary both of Lee and Bollinger in consecutive overs to continue his impressive run of form that was visible in the five-match ODI series in South Africa.

Sehwag, on the other hand, patiently waited for the bad deliveries to hit and brought up India's 50 in style in the 10th over, clobbering John Hastings to the cover boundary.

But just when it seemed Kohli is in for a big innings the right-hander slashed a full length Hastings' delivery to David Hussey at point.

After just two overs spell, Ponting replaced Hastings and introduced spin in the form of Jason Krejza, but it was left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson who struck the third blow for Australia. Yuvraj Singh's awful form continued as he looked completely out of sorts from the time of arriving at the crease. He scored just one run of seven balls before edging an accurate Johnson bouncer to Tim Paine behind the stumps.

The bowling powerplay worked wonders for Australia as they conceded just 12 runs, picking up two vital wickets in those five overs.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too did little justice to his reputation as he contributed just 11 runs before edging a Hastings delivery on to the stumps to cut short his stay at the crease with the India scoreboard reading 101 for four.

Sehwag, however, was at his full display at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as he took Krezja for special treatment before the off-spinner picked up his man.

After a sedate start, Sehwag opened up and struck as many as eight boundaries and a six during his 56-ball innings before giving away his wicket after doing all the hard work.

Sehwag raised his half-century in ominous fashion sending Krejza over the long-off fence. But the off-spinner took his revenge in the very next ball when he bowled the Indian opener as he went for a cut only to get an inside on to the stumps.

With two new batsmen out on the pitch in the form of Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, Ponting gave the ball back to his strike bowler Lee and the right-arm pacer did not disappoint, striking twin blows in the 28th over.

Raina, who is struggling to find a place in the playing eleven, did little help to his cause and was Lee's first victim. Going for his trademark on-the-up cover drive off good length delivery the left-hander gave a simple catch to Paine behind the wicket.

As if that was not enough, a ball later Lee castled through the defence of Harbhajan Singh with a full length fast delivery to leave India tottering at 136 for seven after 28 overs.

Lee was unlucky not to have picked up his third wicket in the next over when Paine dropped dangerman Pathan. But the Australian pacer was not to be denied as two balls later he sent Piyush Chawla packing for a duck.

Pathan got another life when he was on 13. Going for a big swing over the off-side off a Johnson delivery he got a thick edge, which flew fast to Watson at the first slip but the Australian opener failed to latch on to the chance.

Ponting was bang on target with his bowling changes today. He brought David Hussey on to the attack in the 39th over and the part-time spinner did not disappoint his captain.

Inspite of being hit for two huge sixes by Pathan soon after his arrival, Hussey did not lose his cool and got the big-hitting right-hander in the same over as he went for one too many.

India managed to cross the 200-mark thanks mainly to Ashwin and Ashish Nehra (19), who stitched 27 runs together for the last wicket.

Ponting: Nice to get back to playing cricket and atmosphere is just huge. Not sure about the pitch at Bengaluru so we will concentrate on making inroads.

MS Dhoni: Not a bad start, especially when you are used to losing tosses. Sachin and Zaheer won't play today. Others will get a chance to feature and get some practice. It is very important to concentrate on basics, it will be good to play in front of a packed home crowd.

Pitch News: Ian Chappell says there is a bit of even grass and a couple of cracks ahead of the good length spot. Harbhajan Singh will fancy it.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XV): Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(w), Ricky Ponting(c), Michael Clarke, Cameron White, David Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Doug Bollinger, John Hastings, Tim Paine, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson

India (Playing XIII): Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth
Follow these links to find out all you want to know about the Teams, Star Players , Captains, Statistics, Factoids, History, Venues and of course the Fixtures of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

IND vs WI

West Indies Cricket
West Indies related Cricket News

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011 Quarter Finals- Latest News
Cricket World Cup
ICC World Cup 4th Quarter Final, Sri Lanka v England (Match D) -
Mar 26, 2011
09:00 GMT | 14:30 local | 05:00 EDT

* 4th Quarter Final Sri Lanka v England (Match D) in Colombo

ICC World Cup 3rd Quarter Final, New Zealand v South Africa (Match F) -
Mar 25, 2011
08:30 GMT | 14:30 local | 04:30 EDT

* 3rd Quarter Final New Zealand v South Africa (Match F) in Mirpur

ICC World Cup 2nd Quarter Final, India v Australia (Match E) -
Mar 24, 2011
09:00 GMT | 14:30 local | 05:00 EDT

* India Cricket Team For World Cup 2011
* 2nd Quarter Final India v Australia (Match E) in Ahmedabad

ICC World Cup 1st Quarter Final, Pakistan v West Indies (Match C) -
Mar 23, 2011
08:30 GMT | 14:30 local | 04:30 EDT

* 1st Quarter Final Pakistan v West Indies (Match C) in Mirpur

ICC World Cup Cricket Quarter Finals
Date Start Time Match Venue
Wed Mar 23 08:30 GMT | 14:30 local | 04:30 EDT 1st Quarter Final
Pakistan v West Indies
(Match C) Mirpur
Thu Mar 24 09:00 GMT | 14:30 local | 05:00 EDT 2nd Quarter Final
India v Australia
(Match E) Ahmedabad
Fri Mar 25 08:30 GMT | 14:30 local | 04:30 EDT 3rd Quarter Final
New Zealand v South Africa
(Match F) Mirpur
Sat Mar 26 09:00 GMT | 14:30 local | 05:00 EDT 4th Quarter Final
Sri Lanka v England
(Match D) Colombo

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011 Group Round
ICC World Cup Cricket Group A
Teams Mat Won Lost Tied N/R Pts
Pakistan 6 5 1 0 0 10
Sri Lanka 6 4 1 0 1 9
Australia 6 4 1 0 1 9
New Zealand 6 4 2 0 0 8
Zimbabwe 6 2 4 0 0 4
Canada 6 1 5 0 0 2
Kenya 6 0 6 0 0 0

ICC World Cup Cricket Group B
Teams Mat Won Lost Tied N/R Pts
South Africa 6 5 1 0 0 10
India 6 4 1 1 0 9
England 6 3 2 1 0 7
West Indies 6 3 3 0 0 6
Bangladesh 6 3 3 0 0 6
Ireland 6 2 4 0 0 4
Netherlands 6 0 6 0 0 0


ICC World Cup 42nd Match, India v West Indies, Group B - India win sets up Aussie showdown
Mar 20, 2011
India set up a World Cup quarter-final against holders Australia with a 80-run victory over West Indies, who face Pakistan in the last eight. West Indies paceman Ravi Rampaul took 5-51 on his World Cup debut including the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar for two.

Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped twice, hit 113 and shared a third wicket stand of 122 with Virat Kohli (59) before India collapsed from 218-3 to 268. Devon Smith hit 81 but West Indies lost eight wickets for 34 to finish on 188.
India 268 (Yuvraj 113, Kohli 59, Rampaul 5-51) beat West Indies 188 (Smith 81, Sarwan 39, Zaheer 3-26) by 60 runs

* World Cup Cricket Group B Matches
* India v West Indies Group B Match 42

* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Schedule
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Group A Matches
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Group B Matches
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Quarter Finals
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Semi Finals
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Final
* ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
* Indian Cricket Site | Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI


India vs West Indies Cricket News
India in West Indies 2009
4th ODI washed out, India win series (IND 2:1|4)
July 5, 2009
MS Dhoni's team won the fifth consecutive ODI series since the defeat in the Asia Cup final at the hands of Sri Lanka last year.

Dhoni won the fourth straight toss in the morning and asked West Indies to bat for the second time in the series, and West Indies suffered an early set back as Ishant Sharma removed Chris Gayle in the very first over for a duck. The hosts who went into the game 2-1 down in the best-of-four contest saw their hopes destroyed by the weather.
When the home side was on 27 for one after 7.3 overs a heavy downpour saw the contest called off.

MS Dhoni is the Man of the Series.
Fourth ODI, St Lucia: West Indies 27/1 (Ishant 1-17) vs India - Match abandoned

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, Fourth One Day International

India win 3rd ODI by six wickets to lead series (IND 2:1|4)
July 3, 2009
India won the third ODI with West Indies on Friday in a rain-shortened encounter at St Lucia by six wickets. Rain delayed the start and interrupted play no fewer than four times leading the umpires to shorten the innings and revise the target couple of times.

Dhoni won the third straight toss in the morning and asked West Indies to bat for the first time in the series. Ramnaresh Sarwan, with 62 off 59, top-scored as the hosts made 186-7 from 27 overs.

Set 159 to win from 22 overs, openers Dinesh Karthik (47) and Gautam Gambhir (44) added 84 for the first wicket. Then, skipper Mahendra Dhoni (46 not out off 34 balls) saw India home with one ball remaining.
Third ODI, St Lucia: India 159/4 (Karthik 47, Dhoni 46*, Gambhir 44) beat West Indies 185/7 (Sarwan 62, Nehra 3-21) by six wickets (D/L method)

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, Third One Day International

West Indies thrash India in Kingston, level series (IND 1:1|4)
June 28, 2009
West Indies beat India by eight wickets in the second cricket international at Sabina Park. Chasing 189 to win, Chris Gayle (64) and Renako Morton (85) shared 101 as West Indies won with 15.5 overs to spare.

India won the toss in the morning and batted but they were reduced to 7-3 and 82-8, before Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a patient 95 and shared a record 101-run ninth wicket parternership with RP Singh, who made 23 off 75 balls, to help India score a modest 188 all out in 48.2 overs.
Ravi Rampaul had career-best figures of 4 for 37 and Denesh Ramdin took five catches.

The third one-day international will be played in St Lucia on Friday.
Second ODI, Kingston, Jamaica: West Indies 192/2 (Morton 85*, Gayle 62) beat India 188/8 (Dhoni 95, Rampaul 4-37, Taylor 3-35, Bravo 3-26) by eight wickets

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, Second One Day International

India win high-scoring thriller in Kingston (IND 1:0|4)
June 26, 2009
A 131 in 102 balls with 10 fours and 7 sixes from Yuvraj Singh helped India amass 339 for six in Jamaica on Friday in their first of a four-match series of one-dayers, but the determined hosts ran them close to be bowled out for 319 in the 49th over. India's total was the second highest one-day international score at Sabina Park.

Chris Gayle (37) and Runako Morton (42) put on 65 inside 10 overs for the opening stand before Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and an aggressive Shivnarine Chanderpaul (63) kept West Indies up with the run-rate. They needed 25 to win off the last three overs with two wickets remaining but Rudra Pratap Singh bowled Sulieman Benn for seven in the 48th over, and then wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who had kept the score ticking with a smart 29 off 26 balls, was caught by Harbhajan Singh off Ashish Nehra's first ball of the 49th over.

Earlier, deciding to bat first, India lost Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma cheaply, but Karthik (67) and Yuvraj set them on their way to the big total. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41 of 46 balls), Yusuf Pathan (40 not out off 38) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out off 13) chipped in with useful contributions.
First ODI, Kingston, Jamaica: India 339/6 (Yuvraj 131, Karthik 67) beat West Indies 319 (Chanderpaul 63, Ashish Nehra 3-49, Yusuf Pathan 3-56) by 20 runs

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, First One Day International

India seek redemption in the Caribbeans
June 25, 2009
India will meet West Indies in the first game of their four-match ODI series at Kingston, Jamaica on Friday.
India is looking to restore pride after a horrendous performance at the Twenty20 World Cup in England, where they crashed out after losing to West Indies and then England. It was, in fact, India's seven-wicket loss to the West Indies in the first Super Eights game that started their losing streak in England.
Apart from restoring pride, this is India's opportunity to leapfrog Australia, and target chart-toppers South Africa in the ODI rankings. A four-nil victory will take the team, now placed third, to the lead.
West Indies Squad (from): Gayle (Capt), Ramdin, Baker, Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Benn, Bernard Jr, Chanderpaul, Deonarine, Morton, Rampaul, Sarwan, Taylor.
India Squad (from): MS Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj, Gambhir, Rohit, Harbhajan, Ojha, Yusuf, Vijay, Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant, Nayar, Nehra, Jadeja, Karthik.

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, First One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Second One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Third One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Fourth One Day International

Tendulkar and Zaheer rested for West Indies tour, Irfan axed!
June 17, 2009
BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan announced a depleted Indian squad for the one-day tour of West Indies starting later this month, just days after the holders were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup.
The squad will be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni with Yuvraj Singh as his deputy. The team was selected in London after a teleconference between Chairman of the committee Krishnamachari Srikkanth, East Zone selector Raja Venkat, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten (in London) and three selectors — Yashpal Sharma, Surendhra Bhave and Narendra Hirwani - in Mumbai.

While Sachin Tendulkar opted out, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina are out because of injuries, while Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan were dropped for unknown reasons. Delhi left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra (who has played 72 ODI matches, taking 92 wickets) is back in the team after a long gap of four years - his last match was in in September 2005, while 25-year-old Mumbai all rounder Abhishek Nayar, RP Singh, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay (who has played one Test against Australia) and middle order batsman Subramaniam Badrinath (who has played three one-day internationals against Sri Lanka) also found place in the squad based on their superb performance in the IPL.
The four matches against West Indies will be played from June 26 to July 5 in Jamaica and St. Lucia.

India Team for West Indies: MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh (vicecaptain), Gautam Gambhir (specialist opener), Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, M Vijay (specialist opener), S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home

Indian Tour of West Indies, 2009
May 14, 2009
After the completion of 2nd edition twenty20 World Cup in England, Indian team will tour Caribbean for four match ODI series against the West Indies.

India will play their first one day international on 26th June 2009. And the rest of three one day internationals will be played on 28th June, 3rd July and 5th July 2009. Probable venues included in the schedule.
Schedule Match Venue
Fri 26 Jun
10:30 EDT/14:30 GMT/15:30 BST/20:00 IST 1st ODI – India v West Indies Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Sun 28 Jun
10:30 EDT/14:30 GMT/15:30 BST/20:00 IST 2nd ODI – India v West Indies Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Fri 3 July
09:30 EDT/13:30 GMT/14:30 BST/19:00 IST 3rd ODI – India v West Indies Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Sun 5 July
09:30 EDT/13:30 GMT/14:30 BST/19:00 IST 4th ODI – India v West Indies Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

* Indian tour of West Indies, 2009 home
* India vs West Indies, First One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Second One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Third One Day International
* India vs West Indies, Fourth One Day International

India vs West Indies, World Twenty20 2009
Bravo magic sinks defending champions
June 12, 2009
West Indies Cricket team India Cricket team West Indies beat India by seven wickets in a thrilling run chase at the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord's on Friday. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, India lost quick wickets at the top with Rohit Sharma the first to go for 5, caught by Simmons off Edwards in the second over. Suresh Raina was next for 5, giving a catch behind to Denesh Ramdin off Edwards. Simmons then brilliantly caught opener Gautam Gambhir, taking a superb catch running back as Gambhir miscued a Bravo delivery. Dhoni made a painful 11 before he was out caught on the boundary by Andre Fletcher off Bravo as he tried to force a sixer.
Yuvraj Singh (67) and Yusuf Pathan (31) gave something to the packed Indian crowd to cheer on, and they looked they were taking the match away from the West Indians, but an ill-timed shot by Yuvraj again gave the momentum back to the Caribbeans. Harbhajan hit three fours off the last three balls to give India a defendable target of 153-7.
India celebrated with early wicket of Fletcher for nought, and later when dangerman Gayle was out on 22, but Simmons and Bravo put on 50 from 35 balls, and shifted the momentum decisively in West Indies' favour. Dwayne Bravo who had taken four wickets to keep India down earlier, went on to score a 66 not out and ended up with the Man of the Match award.
2009 ICC World Twenty20 Match 16: IND vs WIN, Group E, June 12: West Indies 156 for 3 (Bravo 66*, Simmons 44) beat India 153 for 7 (Yuvraj 67, Yusuf 31, Bravo 4-38, Edwards 3-24) by seven wickets

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal (born March 17, 1990) is an Indian Khel Ratna winning badminton player currently ranked number 4 in the world by Badminton World Federation.[4] Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina Nehwal made history on June 21, 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in Jakarta. (The Super Series tournament is roughly equivalent to a Grand Slam in tennis).

Saina won her second career Super Series title by winning the Singapore Open title on June 20, 2010. She completed a hat-trick in the same year by winning the Indonesian Open on June 27, 2010. This win resulted in her rise to 3rd ranking and subsequently to No. 2. Later in the same year she also won Hong Kong Super Series on December 12, 2010.

Previously coached by S. M. Arif, a Dronacharya Award winner, Saina is the reigning Indian national junior champion and is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari since August 2008,[5] with the former All England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand being her mentor.

Saina was born in Hisar, Haryana and has spent her entire life in Hyderabad, India. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal,[1] both of whom were former badminton champions in Haryana. She is the top ranked player (women) in Indian Badminton history.[6]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Childhood and early training
* 2 Career summary

* 3 Career Record - Best Results
* 4 2008 Summer Olympics
* 5 2010 Updates (Her Path Breaking Year)
* 6 2011 updates
* 7 Record Against Top ranked Chinese Opponents
* 8 Record Against other top rated Opponents
* 9 Miscellaneous
* 10 References

[edit] Childhood and early training

Saina was born in 1990 in a Jat family from Haryana.

She has got brown belt in Karate. She quit Karate at age of 8, when she was asked to have a motorcycle run over her stomach.[7]

In December 1998, Saina's father took her to meet Coach Nani Prasad at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. Seeing potential in the girl, Prasad asked Singh to enroll Saina as a summer trainee.

Harvir Singh and Saina, who was 8 years old at the time, would wake at 4am every morning and head to the stadium which was 25 km away. After two hours of practice, Singh would drop Saina at school on his way to work. Sitting behind her father on his scooter, Saina would often fall asleep on these journeys which prompted her mother to accompany them for the next three months.

In order to keep up with the rising cost of her training, Saina’s father withdrew money from his savings and provident fund. The tight-rope walk continued until 2002, when sports brand Yonex offered to sponsor Saina’s kit. As her status and rankings improved, the sponsorships increased. In 2004, BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited).[8] signed the rising star onto their payroll, and she is also supported by Olympic Gold Quest.[9]
[edit] Career summary

Saina was the under-19 national champion. Saina created history by the winning the prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton tournament (India Chapter) twice, becoming the first player to do so.

In 2006, Saina appeared on the global scene when she became the first Indian woman to win a 4-star tournament, the Philippines Open.[10] Entering the tournament as the 86th seed, Saina went on to stun several top seeded players including number seed Xu Huaiwen before defeating Julia Wong Pei Xian of Malaysia for the title. The same year also saw Saina as runner up at the 2006 BWF World Junior Championships, where she lost a hard fought match against top seed Chinese Wang Yihan. She did one better in the 2008 by becoming the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships by defeating ninth seeded Japanese Sayaka Sato 21-9, 21-18.

She became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter finals at the Olympic Games when she upset world number five and fourth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in a three-game thriller. In the quarter-finals Saina lost a nail biting 3-gamer to world number 16 Maria Kristin Yulianti. In September 2008, she won the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2008 beating Lydia Cheah Li Ya of Malaysia 21-8 21-19.[11] Maria Yulianti had earlier lost her quarter-final match to Pia Bernadet, Saina's semi-final opponent, thus denying Saina a rematch.

Saina has been named The Most Promising Player in 2008.[12] She reached the world super series semifinals in the month of December 2008.[13]

On 21 June 2009, she became the first Indian[14] to win a BWF Super Series title, the most prominent badminton series of the world by winning the Indonesia Open. She beat Chinese Wang Lin in the final 12-21, 21-18, 21-9. Saina on winning the tournament said "I had been longing to win a super series tournament since my quarter final appearance at the Olympics". Saina is on the par with the likes of Prakash Padukone and her mentor Pullela Gopichand who both won the all England championships which are of similar status to the super series. In August 2009 she reached the quarterfinals of world championship losing to the second seed Lin Wang. Saina Nehwal was rewarded with Arjuna award in August, 2009 and her coach Gopichand was also rewarded with Dronacharya award at the same time.

Saina has been signed up by Olympic Gold Quest to support her in fulfilling her dream of winning the Olympic gold medal.[15] Saina has been awarded with Padma Shri award in January 2010. Saina is brand ambassador of Deccan Chargers, an Indian Premier League team owned by Deccan chronicle. She has also became one of the 8 brand ambassadors of 2010 Commonwealth Games held on New Delhi India

Her strategy, at the beginning of 2010, was to ignore ranking points and focus her energies on premier tournaments. That seems to be working as she has won three titles (including two in India), and has reached the semis of two majors. With the World Championships, Commonwealth and Asian Games coming up, her preparation couldn’t have been better. Saina has been awarded with the highest national sporting award given to players, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on 29 August 2010.

On October 14, 2010 won gold medal against Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 in CWG Delhi and made an unforgettable moment in India's badminton history.

On December 12, 2010 she won Hong Kong super series defeating Wang Shixian of China 15-21, 21-16, 21-17. Saina Nehwal won 2010 Commonwealth games gold in the women's singles badminton event held in the Siri Fort Auditorium, Delhi, on 14 October 2010.

She was recently voted as the third best Badminton Player of the Year 2010 by readers of an international badminton magazine, Badzine. Lin Dan expectedly won the top spot with 30% votes followed by Lee Chong Wei with 26%, Saina winning 9% in the third place.[16]
[edit] Career Record - Best Results
Event↓ Year↓ Result↓
Czechoslovakia Junior Open 2003 11 Gold
2004 Commonwealth Youth Games 2004 22 Silver
Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament 2005 11 Gold
2006 Commonwealth Games 2006 33 Bronze
Philippines Philippines Open (badminton) 2006 11 Gold
Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament 2006 11 Gold
India Indian National Badminton Championships 2007 11 Gold
India National Games of India 2007 11 Gold
Chinese Taipei 2008 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold 2008 11 Gold
India Indian National Badminton Championships 2008 11 Gold
2008 Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 11 Gold
2008 BWF World Junior Championships 2008 11 Gold
2008 BWF Super Series Masters finals 2008 Semifinalist
Indonesia 2009 Indonesia Super Series 2009 11 Gold
2009 BWF World Championships 2009 Quarterfinalist
India 2009 Indian Open Grand Prix 2009 11 Gold
England 2010 All England Super Series 2010 Semifinalist
2010 Badminton Asia Championships 2010 33 Bronze
India 2010 India Open Grand Prix Gold 2010 11 Gold
Singapore 2010 Singapore Open Super Series 2010 11 Gold
Indonesia 2010 Indonesia Open Super Series 2010 11 Gold
France 2010 BWF World Championships 2010 Quarter-finalist
India 2010 Commonwealth Games 2010 11 Gold
Hong Kong 2010 Hong Kong Super Series 2010 11 Gold
Switzerland 2011 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold 2011 11 Gold
[edit] 2008 Summer Olympics
Stage Opponent Result Games Points
First Round Ella Diehl Won 2-0 21-9, 21-8
Second Round Larisa Griga Won 2-0 21-18, 21-10
Third Round Wang Chen Won 2-1 21-19, 11-21, 21-11
Quarter-finals Maria Kristin Yulianti Lost 1-2 28-26, 14-21, 15-21
[edit] 2010 Updates (Her Path Breaking Year)

* Saina successfully lead the Indian Women Team to the Quarter-finals stage of the 2010 Uber Cup finals.

* Saina became the first Indian Woman to reach the semi finals of 2010 All-England Super Series before losing to eventual champion Tine Rasmussen.

* Top seeded Saina reached the semifinals of Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championships 2010 losing out to unseeded eventual champion Li Xuerui of China. Saina's Coach Gopichand advised her not exert too much pressure on herself due to the overwhelming home crowd support.

* Saina wins the 2010 India Open Grand Prix Gold, beating Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in the final and thus justifying her billing as top seed in the tournament. She won a prize money of $8,280 for winning this BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament.

* Saina Nehwal, again seeded no. 1 in the Singapore Open Super Series 2010, entered the finals defeating World champion Lu Lan of China

* Saina won the second Super Series title of her career by beating qualifier Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the final of the Singapore Open 21-18, 21-15. But the fact that she won the tournament in the absence of all the top 5 ranked players (who all happen to be Chinese), takes a little sheen away from her path breaking victory. Saina won a prize money of $15,000 for winning this BWF Super Series tournament.

* Saina has reached a career high of world no. 3 in the women's singles badminton world rankings on 24 June 2010.[17]

* Saina defended her Indonesia Open super series title in three tough games against Sayaka Sato of Japan, 21-19 / 13-21 / 21-11.This is her third super series title and her third successive title following wins at Indian open, Singapore Super series.[18] She again won the top prize money of $18,750 for winning this BWF Super Series tournament.

* On 15 July 2010, with 64791.26 points Saina Nehwal reached a career high world ranking of No. 2 only behind Wang Yihan of China.

* 2nd seed Saina, a tournament favourite, crashed out of the 2010 BWF World Championships in Paris after losing to 4th ranked Chinese Wang Shixian in straight sets 8-21, 14-21. She although equalled her tournament best performance, as she was also a losing quarter-finalist in the last edition held in Hyderabad. She subsequently dropped a spot to be No. 3 in the world rankings.

* Top seed Saina, won the gold medal in the Women's Singles badminton event in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. She beat Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 19-21 23-21 21-13. After her win Saina said, “when I was a match-point down, it was like a shock. It was a big match and winning it means a lot to me. Even many years from now, those present here will always remember how Saina won the gold. It is a proud feeling.”[19]

* In the BWF Super Series ranking for the year 2010 (which only considers the performances of players in the elite world super series tournaments), as on 27 September 2010, Saina has dropped to No. 7 from a high of No. 1 after giving a miss to 2010 China Masters Super Series and 2010 Japan Super Series due to her preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[20] As on Dec 5 2010, for the first time in the year Saina Nehwal dropped out of the top 10 best performers in the 2010 BWF Super Series rankings.

* Saina Nehwal confirmed her participation for the 2010 Hong Kong Super series to held from 7 Dec to 12 Dec, 2010 and is also the penultimate super series tournament of the year. This would be Saina's first super series tournament after a gap of more than 5 months since her win in the 2010 Indonesia Super Series in June 2010.

* On 12 December 2010, Saina Nehwal defeated Wang Shixian 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 in the final of the 2010 Hong Kong Super Series to win her fourth career Super Series title.

[edit] 2011 updates

* After recovering from a ligament injury, India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal will return to the international scene in her season-opening Korean Open Super Series in Seoul starting on 25th January 2011.
* 4th seed Saina Nehwal crashed out of the 2011 Korea Open Super Series Premier on 27 January, 2011 in the 2nd round. She was defeated by the Japanese Sayaka Sato in a tight 3 set match with score 17-21,21-19 and 21-11.
* 5th seed Saina, was disappointed when she was defeated by Eriko Hirose of Japan at 2011 All England Super Series Premier on 11 March, 2011. She was defeated in straight sets with a score of 21-11 and 22-20. It was her second early exit of the year after being defeated in Korean Premium Super Series earlier in January.
* One week later, on 17 March, 2011, she met Eriko Hirose again (in the second round of the Wilson Badminton Swiss Open), but managed to win this time in three games 21-15, 17-21 and 21-11 - on her birthday.
* 2nd seed Saina Nehwal beat Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea 21-13, 21-14 to win the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton title on 20 March, 2011.

[edit] Record Against Top ranked Chinese Opponents

* People's Republic of China Wang Yihan 0-1
* People's Republic of China Wang Xin 0-2
* People's Republic of China Jiang Yanjiao 0-3
* People's Republic of China Wang Lin 1-3
* People's Republic of China Wang Shixian 1-1
* People's Republic of China Lu Lan 2-1

[edit] Record Against other top rated Opponents

* Denmark Tine Rasmussen 0-2
* France Pi Hongyan 0-5
* Hong Kong Zhou Mi 1-3
* Germany Juliane Schenk 5-2
* Japan Eriko Hirose 3-3
* Netherlands Yao Jie 1-2
* South Korea Bae Seung Hee 2-0
* Hong Kong Yip Pui Yin 2-1
* Russia Ella Diehl 6-0
* Bulgaria Petya Nedelcheva 4-2
* Malaysia Wong Mew Choo 3-2
* Thailand Salakjit Ponsana 3-0
* Indonesia Adrianti Firdasari 2-2
* Japan Ai Goto 3-0
* South Korea Bae Youn-joo 3-0
* South Korea Ji Hyun Sung 2-0

(as on 20 March 2011)

Birdhouse Mania and Into the Garden

I must have a secret love of birdhouses that even I didn't know about, because while rummaging through the gardening tools recently, I came across three birdhouses..."Where did these come from?" was what crossed my mind.

Most likely, they came from impulse purchases at the garden center, which I put away upon getting home and promptly forgot about. Anyway,  a stash like that shouldn't go to waste, so I hung them out.

The northwest corner of my garden seemed like a good place; the houses are facing south/southeast, so they'll get the first rays of light in the morning, and when the leaves come on the trees, that corner of the garden is shady throughout the afternoon.

You can just barely make them out; it'll be fun to see whether there'll be any takers:

I think I'm probably a little late for this nesting season though. Some chickadees already have their nest well underway in the neighbor's nest box.

As for the rest of the garden, I had a nice surprise when I removed the row cover from the main bed. The greens I planted last autumn overwintered pretty well and have started growing again over the last few weeks:

There are some turnip greens, some parsley, a few kale plants, a few collards and a little bit of chard and mustard, as well as a few rows of beets...











and some raddichio.

They've been under 2 layers of row cover and a poly tunnel all winter, and along with the fact that we didn't get a lot of really cold weather, they faired pretty well. I got a pretty good harvest, and should get a couple more before I start spring planting in another 10 days or so. 

The garlic is doing its thing. This is a hard neck variety, and I'm looking forward to garlic scapes, come June:

If you're wondering what all the drinking straws are about, most of them have fallen over, but I stuck them in the soil upright when I planted the garlic to deter the cats from digging there. They seem to love smooth, freshly worked soil, but once there's an obstacle course of straws or sticks, they lose interest. As the plants grow, they become their own obstacle course...if that makes any sense. 

As I mentioned, I'm waiting another 10 - 14 days to plant the bulk of my spring crops, but I've put in peas, favas, and potatoes already. 

I haven't had much success with potatoes in the past.

Two years ago, I built a potato cage, which was fun and rather spectacular, I had high, high hopes, but I got a small harvest.

Last year I switched to these "grow bags", which are containers made out of a thick black cloth that allows some air and moisture circulation. I got a very small harvest.


But, I'm trying again...who knows maybe third time's a charm. Anyone have any potato-growing tips?

The good thing about the grow bags it that they save on real estate in the garden beds.

Hanging bird houses and planting spuds is hungry work. This was a a yummy lunch of curried tofu salad (tofu, curry powder, lemon juice, celery, red onion, green olives, Bragg's aminos, nutritional yeast, 1/2 an avocado and some hot sauce):

"Sarde a beccafico", the unique Sicilian sardine rolls

Do you know what "sarde a beccafico" are? And why they have got this strange name? This is a typical Sicilian dish made of fresh sardines filled with our traditional ingredients: breadcrumbs, olive oil, pine nuts and raisins. Beccafico (which is a little bird similar to a warbler or quail, literally means beak figs). These were little birds called so because they liked to beak figs. In  ancient times Sicilian Nobles used to hunt and eat them. They said that their  meat was nice and tender so they were eating them with all the guts.


The poor people having more sardines than birds started to cook them adding some lemon and orange juice to the filling, to mitigate the strong smell and taste of the fish.


Ingredients and preparation for 4 people:
500 gr fresh sardines

200 gr breadcrumbs
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
50 gr raisins
50 gr pine nuts
Juice and zest of one lemon (or if preferred half lemon and half orange)
20-22 bay leaves

Clean the sardines and remove the backbone. In a pan on a low heat, brown the breadcrumbs with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and remove from heat as soon as it gets golden. Add raisins, pine nuts, lemon zest. Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil, then start filling the sardines, each at a time.


Once you had put the mix roll it up very carefully, because they are extremely delicate and easy to break.Put a leaf of bay to separate each roll and if you prefer stick a small wooden stick on each roll.

Mix the sugar with the lemon juice (or lemon and orange juices) and sprinkle on the fish to moisten and perfume the dish before baking it.

Now bake in a preheated oven (180°C) for about 10-15 minutes. It is a perfect starter or a great side-dish, hot or cold it doesn't matter, you are going to love and enjoy it!!!!

Saint Joseph's Day and the traditional "Sfinci" - The video of March

Do you know what Sicilians eat on Saint Joseph's Day, the 19th of March? The traditional dessert that we prepare is called "Sfinci di San Giuseppe" and they are soft fried puffs with ricotta cream. According to history were the Arabs that introduced the sfinci here, they were initially covered in honey and afterwards replaced with ricotta cream. The name probably comes from isfang which means soft fritters.


A special thanks to the Pasticceria Amato, (via Favara 14/16), just in front of the Massimo Theatre in Palermo and in particular to Antonio Amato and Mr. Pino Amato that showed us how they still prepare these memorable sweets for the festivity.
Have a look at the recipe and the video. I am sure you'll enjoy!!!

For the dough: 250 gr flour 00 - 1/2 lt water - 62 gr lard - 3,5 gr salt - 7-8 eggs (medium size/60 gr. each) - ricotta cream - candied oranges and cherries - vegetable oil or lard to fry
For the ricotta cream: 500 gr sheep fresh ricotta cheese - 300 gr sugar - 80 gr dark chocolate

1. Sift the flour and add the salt
2. Put the water and the lard together in a  sauce pan on a medium heat and let them glue together. Just before boiling remove from gas and mix gently with the flour stirring the whole mix with a wooden spoon. The mix has to be extremely smooth.
3. Transfer now the mix in a blender and add one egg after another until stiffness is very creamy and soft.
4. Put some vegetable oil or lard in a deep pan and wait until very hot. Then, take a spoon of dough and dip them in the oil. Fry until they puff and become golden brown. Remove from oil and try to drain them on some paper.
5. After few minutes with a spatula or a knife and spread some ricotta cheese on top.
6. Decorate the sfince with a thin slice od candied orange and a cherry.
For the ricotta cream:
The sheep ricotta cheese must be very fresh and not too liquid. Mix the ricotta with the sugar. Stir until it turns very creamy, then add some dark chocolate chopped in small pieces.

PASTA VARIETIES WITH BEEF AND MUSSELS RECIPE- AND A TOUCH OF NUSANTARA SPICES



Image-of-Pasta-with-Beef-and-Mussels

 NAME OF COOKING-VARIETIES RECIPE:
PASTA VARIETIES WITH BEEF AND MUSSELS
Ingredients:  from cooking-varieties pasta collections
Pasta for two persons- Use a mixed variety of pastas for this recipe. Boil pasta until cooked (10 minutes or more). Drain water, fold in 1 tbsp olive and mix well, this is to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other. Set aside.
1 large white onion- cut into cubes
2 pieces garlic- minced
1 cup minced beef
8 pieces green mussels.
2 slices young ginger root- minced
2 tablespoons chili sauce
4 tablespoon tomato puree
1 stalk leek- cut into slices
4 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
Parmesan cheese
Heat up oil in a non stick pan. Add in onions. Stir until golden and add minced beef, ginger and garlic.
It’s good to add in ginger, it helps empower the beefy smell
When water/juice from minced meat is almost dried up, add in mussels and 2 cups of water.

When water boils, add tomato puree, chili sauce and salt. After mussels already cook, add pasta and leeks. Stir for 2 minutes and put off fire. Serves hot and garnish with parmesan cheese.
BEEF AND SEAFOOD (MUSSELS) PASTA RECIPE--   

PASTA
BEEF AND SEAFOOD  PASTA

Health benefits:

Pastas are made from refined wheat grain. Most refined grains are enriched. This means certain B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid) and iron are added back after processing. Fiber is not added back to enriched grains

Mussels contain omega 3 fatty acids- decreases heart disease, reduces blood pressure, helps prevent arthritis and abnormal heart rhythms and promotes healthy brain function.
Tomato is rich in vitamin C and potassium. Diets rich in potassium helps maintain a healthy blood pressure
Health experts recommend eating lots of green vegetables- green color is formed by chlorophyll, the compound that has proven effective against cancer.