Friday night dinner for two: deviled eggs & hasselback potatoes

First of all, here's wishing everyone a Happy Onam. Strange as it sounds...I am now coming to terms with the fact that I will not be able to celebrate certain festivals here with family, miss weddings and get togethers and instead of fretting about it, I have learned to let go. Onam is one such occasion and I am shamelessly pleased to announce that I would be heading to an over priced, pretty mediocre mallu restaurant to have what they call 'authentic sadya' tomorrow. So what if its served in plastic plantain leaves and so what if i order a side dish of beef fry to go with it, I am sure it would bring that wee element of Onam to my mind. On a side note...I am completely J of all you creative women who are preparing awesome full fledged sadya's at home and have people over..sigh! Have fun, nonetheless.

So coming back to the recipe, I am always in the mood to experiment on Friday nights and most of what I try comes out pretty decent (maybe cos its the beginning of two days of not cooking). This Friday was no exception. We had deviled eggs, hasselback potatoes and a fish roast for dinner. Strange combo, you'd think. It was excellent, especially the potatoes which I think had made it to the 'top 10 list of things I'd like to eat every other day.'

Basil Pesto Deviled Eggs

Eggs- 3, boiled and sliced in halves

Ricotta cheese- 1 tbsp

Garlic mayonnaise- 1 tbsp

Basil pesto- 1/2 tsp

Dry Mustard- a pinch (optional)

Paprika- to taste

Salt and pepper- to taste

Remove the egg yolk from the eggs and mash it up with the rest of the ingredients in another bowl. You should get a paste like consistency.

Now the ideal thing to do would be to scoop this mixture into a pastry bag and pipe your way through on to the egg whites, in which ever pattern you like.

Otherwise, if you are lazy like me, just scoop this mixture with a spoon and shabbily place on the egg white. It tastes the same whatsoever :)

Garnish with dried thyme.

Just be careful while adding salt, because the mayo and pesto might already have some.

Hasselback potatoes (recipe adapted from here)

Foodgawked

Potatoes- 2 large, washed and scrubbed well. Skin intact

Garlic cloves- about 2 to 3 per potato, depending on the size of the cloves, peeled and sliced lengthwise.

Butter- a tsp each per potato

Thyme- to taste

Salt and pepper- to taste

Olive oil- to brush

Slice each potato breadth wise, carefully, making sure you don't slice it all the way through to the bottom.

Slide the thin cut garlic slices into each groove, again carefully, making sure the potato doesn't snap in between.

Place the potatoes on a pan lined with silver foil and generously grease brush with olive oil.

Sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme, place a tsp butter on each potato and bake in an oven preheated at 180C for an hour or till the potato is cooked through.

Notes: My potatoes took about 1.30hrs to bake and i kept taking it out every 20 to 25 minutes and brushing with more olive oil. Towards the end, the last 20 minutes, I turned the potato and cooked it that way for a while, just to even it out

You can use any herb of your choice for the seasoning.