Restaurant Review : Burma Road, Gaithersburg MD

Burma Road : http://www.burmaroad.biz/ 717 S. Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg MD 20877

Burma Road as the name suggests is a restaurant catering to Burmese cuisine although they have a separate section for your run of the mill Chinese food as well. Burmese cuisine is very similar to Indian and Chinese cuisines and is a fusion of sorts of both.

I've been to this place a few times and have always had a good experience. The place is very easy to miss on Rt 355 in Gaithersburg, but it's worth to find this place for the food.

I've tried the Coconut Noodle Soup which is a personal favorite of mine. Rib sticking soup made of coconut milk, egg noddles , onions and shredded chicken with spices make this a delicious treat.

Another popular item on the menu is the Chicken/Lamb and Potato. It's very similar to the Indian curry, chicken cooked in tomatoes and spices along with potatoes. 

Their menu lists the Pickled tea leaf salad as a must try although I am not too fond of it.

Food : Good

Ambience : Okay

Service: Good

And if you're not sure about tasting Burmese cuisine there's always the Chinese menu here.

Vegetables and Egg Casserole

Today I have a breakfast item which is a good substitute to the common omlette. It's the Vegetables and Eggs Casserole. This preparation is similar to the breakfast quiche recipe .

Ingredients :

• One Medium sized Zucchini/Squash
• Small pack of Mushrooms (White/Baby Bella/Shitake)
• One Tomato
• One small onion
• 4 Eggs
• Chopped Ham ( You can skip this if you want to keep it vegetarian)

Chop up the Zucchini,Mushrooms,Tomato and Onion into medium sized pieces. Using a Cooking pan on Medium heat sauté them together with a little Olive oil until the vegetables begin to soften. Sprinkle a pinch of Chili powder while cooking to add a little heat to your dish.

In a mixing bowl, break open the eggs and beat them with a fork. Add salt and pepper to this according to your taste.

Place all the vegetables from the pan in a Oven dish. Add the Egg mixture on top making sure it is evenly spread in the oven dish. Add the chopped ham from the top making sure it is evenly spread.

Set the oven to 375 F. Place the dish in the oven until it is cooked for 30 minutes. When the top and bottom of the dish starts to turn brown it is ready to be served.

Enjoy 3 servings for breakfast or lunch. 

Split pea soup with Ham

Want a delicious and cheap way to get more fiber in your diet ? Then consider the split pea soup as part of your regular diet.

Ingredients :

• One pound of split peas 
• One large onion or two smaller ones
• Pinch of Turmeric
• One large piece of ham steak cut up into small pieces ( you can skip this if you want a vegetarian soup)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the split peas in water for 2-5 hours.  Try to follow this for cooking any type of lentils as this will  reduce your cooking time by quite a while ( and save energy!). 

Chop up the onion into small pieces and add it to a large cooking pan. Saute the onion in cooking oil until it turns soft. Add the turmeric to the onion while it gets cooked.

Next add the soaked split peas to the pan. Add boiling water to the pan up to the level that it just covers up the peas. Bring this to a boil on high heat and then immediately reduce the heat to medium.

Cook the split peas stirring occasionally for an hour until the peas break down in the soup. Add the ham to the soup at this point along with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy 6-8 servings which you can use as a healthy lunch for an entire week!

Restaurant review : Pho Apple, Frisco Texas

Looks like the first restaurant review is going to be about a restaurant in Frisco Texas , as posted on yelp.com :

Website : http://phoapple.com/Default.aspx

(Nice place to get Pho, I live in Maryland and googled Vietnamese food in the Frisco area since I was here for work and I love me a good Pho. I got the Curry Chicken Pho (which I have never seen in any of the Vietnamese restaurants in the Maryland area). I got the Medium spicy kind and the soup was excellent. Very flavourful sort of like the Mullogotawny soup. I guess this soup was created for the strong south asian community in the area. I also tried the Grilled pork Sandwich (Banh mi) which was delicous as well. A Baked Crunchy French baguette stuffed with grilled pork, chili sauce, mayo, pickeled carrots,cucumber, cilantro and some other goodies .

If I'm ever in this area again I will definately be back for the Curry Chicken Pho.)

Food : Very Good
Ambiance: Decent
Service : Good

On a similar note this place got me thinking about why Banh mi sandwiches are not mainstream in this country, I would love to see a chain for these sandwiches (#businessidea) and would personally prefer these over the Jimmy John and Subway chains.

Facts about Greek Yogurt

In the recent times Greek Yogurt has come about to be an extremely popular snack competing with the regular Yogurt brands. And you can see why, it has a smooth thick texture similar to sour cream with out the calories and it is high in protein content. But again not all Greek Yogurts are made the same.

So before you reach out for the Greek yogurt in the grocery aisle and put in your cart make sure you read the content on it. If it has any mentions of Milk protein concentrate or thickners avoid it. It is the cheap stuff which is made to look like Greek Yogurt.

This link provide good information about the issues with Greek Yogurt production and how some companies are straying away from the intended production processes.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/19/156997600/high-tech-shortcut-to-greek-yogurt-leaves-purists-fuming

This link provides a interesting read about the issues while producing Greek Yogurt :

http://www.wnyc.org/npr_articles/2012/nov/21/why-greek-yogurt-makers-want-whey-to-go-away/

Hope you find this informative!

Post Workout Sandwich

Many times after getting back home from a long strenuous workout in the gym the last thing you want to do is cook. But again you don't want to reach for the junk food/order takeout and ruin all the gains in the gym. So came up with the need for a quick meal which satisfies the post gym hunger and provides the body with  a protein punch and good carbs. Aaand this sandwich was created :

Ingredients :

• Sliced Bread (I prefer whole wheat)
• Few Slices of Turkey Breast
• Few Slices of Ham
• Boiled Egg (Always keep few boiled eggs in your fridge for a quick snack)
• One Avocado
• Mustard for taste (Honey Mustard works good too!)

Pile all of the good stuff on the bread and Viola, you have a sandwich which will keep you full for at least couple of hours!

Breakfast Smoothie!

I was never a big fan of eating my breakfast. So I decided to drink it instead. Of course it has to be nutritious and tasty ,so here I am sharing with you my breakfast drink which I drink every weekday before heading to work. The good part about this smoothie is that it is healthy and keeps me full until lunch time.

Ingredients :

• Milk
• Greek Yogurt (For an extra protein punch but you can use regular yogurt too!)
• 2 Bananas
• Handful of Berries (Rasberries, Blueberries,Blackberries,Strawberries)
• Oatmeal (Optional, I use it sometimes to make the smoothie thicker)
• Honey 

In a blender add all the bananas and the berries. Add two to three big spoons of greek yogurt. Also add a cup full of milk. Blend together. Add a teaspoon of honey and blend some more. Enjoy 2-3 glasses of  a delicious breakfast.

Tip : If want to reduce your grocery bill, substitute frozen berries instead of fresh ones. The nutritional benefits are supposed to stay the same.