Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Volume 3, Issue 68, Tuesday, December 05, 2006

 

 

News Flash

Farzana Shakil's Eid fiesta

Looking good suddenly got kinder on the wallet this season. Head over to Farzana Shakil's Hair and Beauty Salon for some unbeatable Eid offers. Check out these fab bargains:

* Get 30% off on a Pre-nup facial
* Enjoy 20% discount on a haircut
* Farzana Shakil's Hair and Beauty Salon offers hair rebonding by experts trained abroad, and this season, you get free hair treatment if you avail this facility.
* Get your eyebrows done for free with a Herbal Facial.
* For every Eid-offer bride getting her look at the Salon, one of her guests can get a hair bun done free.

Also during this offer, membership cards will be given out free of cost. Hurry up and take advantage of the great deals, because they're lasting only between Dec 7 and 15.


“Rang" your victory

If you are planning to put on a show of patriotism, December is the perfect time. With the 16th looming ahead, it is important to go down to the culture lane. “Rang” may well be your answer…

This December, this clothing outlet has up for sale its winter line. Primarily, its focus is on the two flag colours- red and green. You can have T-shirts, saris, fatuas, shawls and towels. These are done in different mediums- tie-dye, spray block, appliqué, screen print and embroidery. Furthermore, there are mugs and CDs arranged on the same theme.

So, drop by any of the outlets and check the line out for yourself. Birthdays are also heavy on the schedule- these can be interesting birthday gifts. In any case, go the distance to display the Bengali zeal…

Also, make sure you visit the website: www.rang-bd.com.

LS Desk


Pizza Hut Gulshan celebrates 3rd anniversary

Pizza Hut Gulshan, the flagship restaurant of the country's pioneering pizza brand 'Pizza Hut', will observe its third year anniversary on December 6 2006. To mark this occasion, a day-long extravaganza will take place at their Gulshan outlet. Apart from press & media personalities, a host of guests including customers & dignitaries are to be present to join the gala celebration. Most enticing however, will be the live musical show sponsored by Djuice featuring Roots, Niloy and Arbovirus grom 3pm to 6pm in the evening.

To celebrate their anniversary, Pizza Hut will offer a deal titled “Meal deal @ Tk.99” at both Pizza Hut Gulshan & Chittagong under which a customer can enjoy one Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut's signature Favourites Line. The offer will run until the end of this month. So take full advantage of this month-long party and make haste to your favourite pizza outlet. For more information log on to www.pizzahutbd.com .

Tangy & Healthy

I had previously provided a comprehensive menu based on our traditional dishes. For this instalment, I am providing recipes for a three course meal, based on chinese cuisine. Chinese dishes enjoy almost universal popularity because of their subtle taste and wide ranging variety. Most importantly, a great majority of such dishes are suitable for health conscious people. To savour their delicate taste, chinese meals should be served fresh and consumed immediately. As Confucius, the renowned philosopher, said: “cooked chinese food waits for none”.

WONTON
Ingredients (Wonton Wrapper):
- Egg 1
- Salt ¾ tsp
- Flour 2 cups

Preparation:
1. Lightly beat the egg with salt and add ¼ cup water.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the egg mixture to form smooth dough.
3. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out until very thin and cut into 3½ inch squares; make about 24 wrappers.
5. Use immediately or store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.

Ingredients (Wonton Filling and Soup):
FILLING:
- Chicken breast 8 oz
- Onion (chopped)2 tbsp
-Garlic 1 clove
- Green onions ( chopped)2
- Peanut butter or sesame paste 3 tbsp
- Carrots (shredded) 3 tbsp
-Soya sauce 2 tbsp

SOUP:
- Chicken stock 6 cups
- Green onions (white parts) 6

Preparation:
1. Combine the wonton filling thoroughly and leave for 30 minutes.
2. Place ½ tsp filling slightly off-centre in each wrapper.
3. Fold wrapper in half and press the edges together to seal, and fold in half.
4. Pull the corners down into a crescent shape overlapping the corners, seal with a little water.
5. Drop the wontons into boiling salted water and simmer for 7 minutes. Drain the wontons.
6. Bring chicken stock to a boil and add wontons and green onions. Serves 6-8.

Other Serving Methods (to be served with hot sauce):
A. Simple Boiled: after boiling, drain the wontons and serve hot.
B. Deep Fried: deep fry the wontons and serve hot.
C. Cooked and Baked:
- Cook the wonton filling over medium heat and let the moisture evaporate.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Press one wonton wrap into each cup of a mini muffin pan, with the edges flared out.
- Place a scoop of the chicken mixture into each cup.
- Bake for about 12 minutes (or until the wrappers are crisp and golden), and serve after cooling.

CHICKEN CHOW MIEN
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast (strips) 500 g
-Soy sauce 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Red vinegar 1 tbsp
- White pepper ¼ tsp
-Cornstarch 1 tbsp
- Thin noodles 500 g
- Chicken stock 1 ½ cups
-Ginger (minced) 1 tablespoon
- Onions (thinly sliced) ½ cup
- Chinese mushrooms (thinly sliced) 3
- Green onions (cut in quarters) 2 cups
-Sesame oil 2 teaspoons
-Bean sprouts 3 cups
- Black pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce, salt, red vinegar, white pepper and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.
2. Boil noodles, drain well, and fluff them up to allow drying; when dried, spread noodles loosely on large ovenproof flat dish.
3. Heat oven to medium-high and bake noodles for about 5 minutes on each side until crisp but not burnt. Keep warm.
4. Heat wok over high heat, add stock and bring to boil.
5. Add ginger, onions, and mushroom and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes (stock should thicken slightly).
7. Add green onions and sesame oil; stir to mix for 30 seconds, remove from heat
8. Stir in bean sprouts and season with pepper.
9. Pour chicken mixture over noodles and serve. Serves 4.

Each serving includes: 358 Calories, 1 g Saturated Fat, 100 mg Cholesterol, 5 g Fibre

CHINESE MANGO PUDDING
Ingredients
- Unflavoured gelatine 2 envelopes
-Sugar ¾ cup
- Pureed fresh mangoes 3 cups
- 2% evaporated milk 1 cup
-Hot water 1 cup
-Ice cubes 8
- Lime wedges and
- Mango slices for garnishing

Preparation:
1. Add gelatine and sugar to hot water and mix until dissolved.
2. In large bowl, mix mango puree, evaporated milk and ice cubes.
3. Pour gelatine mixture into mango mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.
4. Pour mixture into jelly mould and chill until set, at least 3 hours.
5. To serve, dip jelly mould briefly in hot water then turn pudding out onto platter. Serves 8.
Each serving includes: Calories 208, 3 mg Cholesterol, 4 g Fibre

TIPS

Saving batman
The art of comic book preservation

How many times have you heard that comic books do not classify as “literature”? No matter what, move over Jane Austen and Charles Dickens…comics are literary reads.

Comic books have been the favourite pastime of countless people. X-Men, Batman, The Fantastic Four…every series has its own appeal, its own nicotine. If you are more the happy-go-lucky kind of a person, there are comics like Archies and Flinstones. In any case, comic books are- for some- addiction personified.

However, every mania has its downsides. Given the flimsy covers (mind you, these are not available in hardcover), they are extremely vulnerable to nips and rips. Most end up having drinks spilled on them or fall victim to a baby cousin's whims. So, here are a few pointers regarding the preservation of these priceless items…

For those who have a stack of comics, get them bound into the hardcover form. This you can do from Nilkhet, and at a very affordable rate. To venture into the comic book nomenclature, the books can come in the form of digests and magazines. The latter comprise of only a few pages with two or three stories, while the earlier may well run over a hundred pages. As such, you could get ten/ twelve magazines bound together. For digests, three should give you a good enough volume.

It is very important to make sure that the final sets of comics are not too heavy. People love comic books because they are lightweight and portable- you should be able to carry them around, read them in the dentist's waiting room and take them on long train journeys. Remember, they are not supposed to feel like those burdensome Chemistry textbooks.

If you, on the other hand, do not prefer binding, there are other means. You have to be more careful with the storage. This is especially vital if you do not need to read them again and again. Instead of shoving them in a trunk, work on them in an orderly manner. Place cellophane sheets between pages to prevent them from sticking together. Also, wrap each digest and magazine in separate cellophane packages. Further, throw in a few pieces of naphthalene, to prevent cockroach attacks.

The paper of an average comic book is made of wood pulp- containing the compound lignin, which breaks down in the presence of UV rays. This is the same chemical that makes old newspapers go brown and brittle. So store away from the sun or UV light.

By Shahmuddin Ahmed Siddiky

 

 
 

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