Appetizer ideas

Raspberry-lemon spritzer recipe here

Cool Lassie kinda inspired me to try and post a recipe every day for a week. I know its already mid-week but then you have to start somewhere right? :)

Another reason being...my computer is low on disc space and I need to move all my pics on to an external drive in fear of losing it if something happened to my comp. So probably for the next couple of days I shall post stuff from my archives..stuff that I have either been too lazy to post or have refrained from posting because the pics haven't come out great. The recipes however are too good to lose, so here are a few appetizer ideas that I have borrowed from other blogs. The weather is back to being awful and I have been sneezing like mad for some strange reason. Hope it is not the hay fever that Ro is now going through and being a baby about.

Oh and one more thing..this is for the anonymous lurker out there. Please leave me a name and address I can reply to the next time you decide to grace my blog with your comment because I can then directly address you personally and not have to write shit like this in public (a major waste of time). If you find it incredibly painful to read my blog..please stop doing so instead of sending me anonymous messages. First of all you are spamming me and second no one out here is forcing you to read on..I really couldn't care less if you are not interested in the fact that I use words and messages that might make you uneasy. Its my blog and sadly I can post whatever I want. 

See I don't take blogging seriously and I didn't want to impose restrictions and things like that. I don't mind being criticised or whatever as long as you say who you are. Judge me all you want but I don't owe anyone explanations. Posting nasty stuff unnecessarily is like back stabbing and I am too bored and lazy to create an issue about this. But these anonymous messages are getting to me and I have allowed only registered users to post comments. Sorry about this. I have some lovely readers who post anonymously but still give their name at the end (thanks you guys), sorry that you will have to now use your email id to post comments. I had to write this out because I didn't want you to suddenly realize that you are not able to post comments. Hope you understand.

Anyways, coming back to the kick-ASS recipes.

Chicken 65

Numerous bloggers have posted recipes and reasons as to why it is called Chicken 65, so I am not gonna ramble. I found this recipe on vahrehvah, but Nashira of Plateful has described it gracefully and I followed her recipe to the dot, except I used boneless chicken thighs and didn't have the chilli-garlic paste so I substituted that with chilli ketchup. It was a nice substitute and I don't think it made that much of a difference to the final outcome. I also omitted the ajinomoto and red food colour. The next time however, I am gonna try and bake/ grill the chicken instead of deep frying because I kinda detest the whole idea and I somehow end up making a mess. Do hop on to her blog or to the vahchefs website for the recipe. Pics are horrid because we were still having longer nights then.

Tortilla cups with meat filling

A blogger that I recently got introduced to is Kankana of Sunshine & Smile. Her pics are gorgeous and her recipes versatile. The moment I saw her Tortilla cups recipe, I knew I would try it and it was such a big hit. You can basically fill it with whatever you want and serve as an appetiser or as a snack at a picnic. I followed her procedure for the tortilla cups, but filled it with mince meat (this recipe) and topped it with some cheddar cheese and grilled it for about 8 to 10 minutes, just to get the cheese melted. Topped it with an jalapeño and it was a great starter to our Mexican inspired dinner.

Pigs in a blanket

The quintessential British favourite especially during Christmas time, is this easy peasy starter. I had a friend over for lunch a few weeks back and I made this with some leftover puff pastry sheets. It is so easy to make and I'm sure it will be a big hit among all, kids especially.

Rolled puff pastry sheet- half of one (I used jusrol)

Chicken or any sausage- 8 (I used small frankfurters)

Egg- 1, (for wash)

Ketchup- to serve

If you are not using the rolled out pastry, then roll it out and cut into two. Store away the other half.

Place the pastry sheet on to a lightly floured surface and cut them into four equal halves and then each half into two. So basically you get 8 medium rectangles.

Place the sausage on each pastry and roll/ fold over and seal the edges lightly with your hand. If it doesn't stick, brush the beaten egg and stick it. Repeat with all the sausages.

if you want you can serve the sausage as a single one, but I sliced each of it into 4 small ones which looked incredibly cute.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and so an egg wash for that light golden colour.

Bake in an oven preheated at 220C for about 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve with some ketchup.

Sending the Raspberry-lemon spritzer to Food Palette series- Pink over at Torviewtoronto

Thomas Keller's Macaroni Gratin (a very dignified mac n cheese)

The 3 year old (read Ro) has been nagging me AGAIN! This time for macaroni and cheese of all the things. I have tried making mac & cheese so many times but it has always failed. I mean taste-wise its kinda fine, but I've never really got the consistency, the sauce or the look (????!!!!) right. Marks & Spencer has a good mac n cheese in their ready to eat section and I've resigned to buying it from there whenever I'm craving it.

So the other day Ro comes home from work and he's craving mac n cheese. I give him the brilliant idea of popping over to M&S and picking up a tub but no, he wants his super awesome food blogger wife (exact words) to make it instead. Sweet talking me into anything works, except cooking. I don't fall for it..never have and I'm pretty sure I never will. I tell him it takes at least 2 hours for me to make it and that I'm craving Chinese instead and he instantly changes his mind. We head to our favourite Chinese joint just down the road and are both happy. Ro more than me for some reason. How can someone juts let go of a craving like that???

Weeks passed and the mac n cheese idea was long forgotten. Everything was fine with the world, until I stumbled upon Ellie's stylish mac n cheese. Now when I crave something, its different..I have to have it no matter what. I've dragged Ro to a zillion stores and restaurants at ungodly hours just because I wanted the perfect churro or the perfect espresso coffee and baked at 10 in the night because I wanted something warm and sweet out of the oven.  He humours me most of the time, but otherwise tells me to piss off or make my own espresso at home.

So anyways, I'd bookmarked the recipe and decided to make it on a day I was lazy. mac n cheese, how long can it take anyway??? Apparently quite long. Its only after I started that I actually read what Ellie had written...30 minutes for the sauce alone...Ro was gonna get back home soon and I didn't have dinner ready (this after teasing him all day saying oh you are soo gonna thank me for tonights dinner). I almost changed my mind and postponed mac n cheese for a day I was proactive, and that's when Ro called to say he was grabbing a couple of drinks with his colleagues and would be home a bit late, but would definitely come for dinner (I didn't tease him any more..yeah sure, was my calm reply).

I started off the cooking process and this is no simple mac n cheese to make but taste-wise it was probably the best mac n cheese I ever had. It cannot really be called mac n CHEESE because its more of the white sauce that adds the richness than the cheese per se. Maybe that's what I liked about it because too much cheese can make it oily and unappetising, It cannot be whipped up in no time and you need to have immense patience. But the recipe is a total keeper, and so I'm penning it down for a day I'm super proactive and want to make gourmet mac n cheese :)

Recipe halved from here, originally from Thomas Keller's cookbook Bouchon

Macaroni- 115 gms (approx. 4 oz) (I used spirali since I already had a pack with me)

Cooked Ham/ Bacon- 1/4 cup, diced (I used bacon)

Grated nutmeg- a pinch

Thyme- 1 tsp, minced

Parmessan cheese- 1/4 cup, grated

Bread crumbs- 2 tbsp

Salt and pepper- to taste

Mornay sauce- 1 1/2 cups (recipe below)

Mornay sauce

Butter- 2 tbsp

White onion- 1/3 cup, diced (half of one large onion)

All purpose flour- 2 tbsp

Milk- 1 1/3 cup

Heavy cream- 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp

Bay leaf- 1

Peppercorns- 2

Whole cloves- 2

Ground Nutmeg- a pinch

Cheddar cheese- 1/4 cup

To make the sauce, place a diffuser (a tawa or so) on medium heat and a large saucepan on it.

Melt the butter and add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes or until the onion turns translucent.

Sprinkle the flour and cook for a further 3 minutes, whisking constantly and making sure the roux doesn't burn.

Whisking constantly pour the milk and cream till they are mixed well.

Bring to a simmer and then add the bay leaf, black peppercorns and cloves.

Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, whisking in between to make sure the sauce doesn't get burnt and doesn't form clumps. If it does, like Ellie says, pour into a new pan and continue the process instead of scraping the bottom.

Let it stay on a gentle simmer for about 30 minutes until the sauce becomes nice and thick, but smooth.

Take it off the flame, remove the peppercorns, cloves and bay leaf and add the cheese. Whisk to melt

You can use this sauce immediately or can make it the previous day or a week in advance and store it in the refrigerator. To thin it out later, if needed, add a dash of heavy cream to it.

Assembling:

Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the cover. Drain and keep aside.

If the Mornay sauce was just made, then take it off the flame and into it add the cooked macaroni and bacon. Mix well and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

It may look a bit loose, but not to worry the macaroni will absorb the sauce while baking.

Pour into a baking dish or individual gratin dishes. Sprinkle with cheese and thyme, followed by bread crumbs

Bake in an oven pre-heated at 190C for 15 to 20 minutes or till the sauce bubbles at the sides.

If you want to brown the top a bit, turn on the grill for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Serve with garlic bread or on its own.

Notes: The taste of thyme and nutmeg was distinct and I loved it. It is obvious so if you don't like it, you can omit the same.

The bacon can be substituted with ham, mushrooms, artichokes might be nice too.

For more tips do head over to Ellie's space.


Sending this to Presto Pasta Nights (#209) hosted by Sweet Artichoke.


PS: I have to tell you that after all the drama, Ro gets back home and gives me a sheepish grin and tells me he grabbed a sandwich on the way cos he was sooo hungry. I had already downed a glass of wine and was feeling a bit light headed or something, I let it pass saying he can take it for lunch the next day..Thanks to the wine, otherwise I would have definitely been a bitch about it!

Borrowed recipe- Achaari Murgh (Chicken curry with pickling spices)

Well..so much for planning to post a recipe every day huh? Just got crazy busy with one thing or the other and I had to abandon the blog. Was on a movie marathon this weekend and now I'm totally tipsy on a massive cocktail, but I had to post this before I hit the sack.

I first had achaari murgh last weekend at a Hyderabadi restaurant. We went there to have Dum biryani which was horrible and ended up liking the achaari murgh instead. Well we decided on that after quite a hiatus, but nevertheless enjoyed the achaari murgh a lit. So I then thought I'd recreate it at home and went on a ballistic search. Google threw me a lot of recipes, but I settled on the one Soma of eCurry posted on her blog. Even though the taste wasn't anywhere close to the one I had at the restaurant and the colour wasn't as red (gorgeous) as hers, we thoroughly enjoyed the curry and I'm sure I'll be making it again. Thanks a lot Soma.

Notes: I followed her recipe to the dot, except I halved it and I didn't have nigella seeds with me, so avoided that as well. I am not too sure if that changed the flavouring a whole lot.

I also used vegetable oil instead of mustard oil

Puréed 3 tomatoes instead of grating them or using the paste.

Borrowed recipes

I am back after a really hectic, but fun weekend down at the coast. Some of you on FB might have already seen the pics. Well the pics haven't done complete justice to how incredibly beautiful Durdle Door was, but something is better than nothing right? Sandbanks in Poole, on the other hand, was a crowded beach but we still splashed around in the water and did some water sports etc. Came back super tanned and now my face is all red and hurting quite a bit.

On the food front, we ate and drank so much that Ro and myself are now living on sandwiches and salads. Until I get back to proper cooking, I'm leaving you with recipes I borrowed from two incredible food bloggers. They both came out so darn beautiful, and would definitely make its way back into our lives. Enjoy!

Cheesecake Truffles

The moment I saw them on Nags' page, I decided I was making it. It turned out so so good that it got over the exact same day is made em. These cute lil things are delicious and easy to make. Do hop on to her blog and check out the recipe. Thanks Nags for this wonderful recipe. Keep em coming :) 

PS: Like she mentioned, I gobbled down the cheesecake quite a bit, before dipping it in chocolate. It was jus yummeeee

Tiramisu Cake

Tiramisu as it is, is a favourite of mine especially after I got my free standing mixer, since whipping egg whites was initially a problem. Now tiramisu is such a make-in-advance dessert, that its made quite a few appearances while entertaining guests. Tiramisu cake, however, was a lil more tedious than what I expected, but the outcome was brilliant. The icing and layering etc. is not really my cuppa tea, and I did lose my patience quite a number of times, but the effort did pay at the end. The recipe has been adapted from the 'Tuesdays with Dorie' series and can be found here.

Borrowed recipe- Tuna-Fish Pickle

After ten days of immense fun and frolic and non stop galavanting, I am back to square one..well almost. Its just today that i got to rest and while I'm typing this, I'm watching the nail biting match between Germany and England. I am not a football fan, but its impossible to not get involved with all that's happening around me (also the British commentator is pretty darn cute, in a kinda George Clooney way).

So anyway, I have been craving fish pickle for a while now and the store bought ones are so bloody horrible, I figured I should make it on my own if I needed to. When Maya And Lakshmi- the Yummy Team posted this recipe of Fish pickle, using Tuna (kinda the only fish I eat) I had to give it a go. Also, Ro kept asking for it so much that I felt like a bitch saying no every time. So about a month back (well ya, that long ago) I got off my lazy ass and decided to make the pickle. I kinda quartered the recipe because i wasn't sure I had the patience to complete the procedure and didn't want to ruin 2 1/2 kgs of fish. The pickle tasted awesome, but the gravy was kinda less which made it a wee bit dry. But we didn't complain. Ate it like a side to chapathi and rice, rather than a pickle. I am however posting my version here, but do hop on to the Yummy Team's website to get a better perspective of the recipe, and they have even posted the step by step recipe, which somehow gives me the assurance and the support to try a particular recipe :)

Tuna steak- 500gms, cut into bite size chunks

To marinate:

Pepper powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt- t0 taste

Fresh garlic- 10 to 15 pods, peeled and chopped

Fresh ginger- 2 inch piece, sliced lengthwise

Ginger paste- 1 tbsp

Garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Curry leaves- 2 sprigs

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1 tbsp

Fenugreek powder- 1/4 tsp

White wine vinegar- a lil less than 1/4 cup or add according to your taste

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Oil- enough for deep frying

Salt- to taste

Marinate the fish pieces with pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt and keep aside for atleast 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the marinated fish pieces. Drain on kitchen towels. Keep aside.

Pour some of the left over oil from frying into another pan and fry the ginger and garlic slices and the curry leaves and saute till nice and fragrant.Keep aside

In the same oil (add more if required), splutter mustard seeds. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell dies.

Add the chilli powder and fenugreek powder and mix well. Throw in the fried ginger, garlic, curry leaves and fish. Mix them all together and check for salt spice etc.

Add the vinegar, bring to a boil and take it off the flame.

After it cools down completely, store in an air tight container.

Notes: Like i mentioned before the gravy was really less, since i cut down the vinegar and didn't add hot water. If ever i make it again, I shall do as required.

I had to eat it immediately and it tasted just as good. Although a week or two later would have been apt.

Borrowed recipes

King prawns in a spicy coconut gravy

I was all thrilled at discovering a Thai grocery store on my way back from the gym two days back and since i had a Thai cook book from the library with me, i had to try atleast one recipe before returning it. Its actually walking distance from my apartment, but since it was windy and cold i decided to hop on to a bus. It was just two stops away, but i went into day dreaming mode and missed my stop. OK didn't panic because i was sure the next stop wasn't too far, but it was and i ended up pretty far away from the destination, one that i had never been to. Had to walk to another bus stop, wait for a good 15 minutes for a bus and after all that chakkar, i said goodbye to Thai cooking. Picked up some prawns from Sainsbury's and decided to try out one of Shab's recipes. The king prawns and drumsticks in a thick coconut gravy seemed apt for the weather and i wasn't disappointed. Didn't have any drumsticks and so went ahead with just the prawn curry. It was delicious and soothing, not to mention spicy, on a cold day like yesterday. ThanksShab, for the tasty recipe. I followed her recipe to the dot. Do check it out here.

Pear clafoutis

I stumbled upon Mowielicious quite a while back and keep visiting it just for the amazing pictures. However, since i had an abundance of pear leftover (this is before the pear loaf btw) I decided to give a shot at the Pear Clafoutis which is pretty much easy if you have all the ingredients. It was a late night expedition and lighting wasn't good and i was pissed off about something and so only took one picture, that too on the kitchen top, which obviously hasn't come out well. Don't judge this one by the pic, because it really really tasted good...warm especially. Do give it a shot sometime. Recipe followed to the dot and can be found here.

Borrowed recipes

Raw banana's cooked in a spicy coconut mix

I had no clue what to do with the raw bananas I picked up on impulse at the Indian grocery store a few days back and before it rotted in my fridge, I had to rescue it. I honestly didn't even know what the real name was, to do a google search, but lucky for me, I stumbled upon the 'Vazhakka Thoran' recipe Collaborative Curry had posted a while back and blindly followed it, with the assumption we were both talking about the same thing :)

It tasted excellent (although I have no clue how it was supposed to taste) and Ro and myself enjoyed it with hot rice, curd and pickle...absolute comfort food, I must say!

The only change I made was, I added a 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder because I did not have green chillies and I guess that's why the colour is a bit different from theirs.

White Chocolate Cookies

I came across this recipe Dimah of Orange Blossom Water had posted and had to give it a shot. I love white chocolate and ended up eating quite a bit of the cooking chocolate I picked up for this recipe. I omitted the lime zest, but followed the rest of the recipe to the dot. I also wanted to do the drizzle, but chickened out at the last minute due to sheer laziness. I couldn't wait to dig into it and so ate quite a few before cooling them and boy it tasted so good..nice and warm and the chocolate chunks lightly melted. Its a definite keeper.

Borrowed Recipes- Punjabi Paneer Makhani and Masala Bhindi

Punjabi Paneer Makhani

Miri from In Vogue at Home, a cousin of mine, and above all a good friend was telling me how she made this Punjabi Paneer Makhani and the pic she posted on her blog convinced me it was indeed a must-try. After exchanging a whole lotta details about the procedure, I decided to go ahead with it. It turned out extremely rich and tasty and even though it just doesn't look anything like what she's put up, I'm still kicked at the fact that Ro and myself loved it.

When i saw the recipe first, it looked long and tedious, but Miri convinced me it wasn't and she was right. I followed the recipe more or less the same way with the following alterations:

• I didn't have kasuri methi leaves, and so i used a 1/4 tsp Fenugreek powder.
• Before I added the jeera to the hot ghee/ oil, I also added 2 cardamom pods, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves and half an inch of a cinnamon stick
• I also used canned tomato puree and since it was bit tart i added a few tsps of honey instead of sugar and solved the problem.
• I added a dash of cream which was optional :)

We paired it with Coriander Naan (store bought) and it was a hit. Thanks Miri, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Masala Bhindi

I also tried out Tarla Dalal's Masala Bhindi and it looked nothing like the pic on the website. It tasted average, and I think it's got to do with the fact that i have no patience when it comes to deep frying. The ingredients and measurements can be found here and the procedure is simple. Marinate the slit bhindi with all the ingredients and fry till nice and crispy. I didn't want to deep fry it, so i sautéed it in about 2 tbsps of oil.

Borrowed recipes: trial & error

As you might have already noticed, i have given my blog a make-over. If you haven't, I'm a bit bummed, but its ok..not everyone can be as excited as i am about the blog make-over. I had too much time on my hands yesterday and so played around with the blog features a bit. Did some Picasa edits and after numerous trials and errors i finally came up with this new interface. I tried to incorporate the previous header text, but it was a bit 'in your face' and so decided to chuck it. So, what do you think? I think variety is the spice of life and that's exactly what i did to my food blog, 'SPICEd' it up a bit. I love it :)

I haven't been cooking the past couple of days mainly because we had so much left over from the weekend and then it was Ro's birthday on Tue and we ate out etc. Did i mention that the Buffalo wings tasted even better the next day? The sauce flavour is so much more stronger and it has nicely caught on to the wings. Its like biryani..the longer you keep, the better its tastes. So the next time don't feel bad if you cant finish your wings all at once. Keep it refrigerated and feast on it the next day. Tastes twice as nice.

I finally decided to get off my ass and make something for dinner yesterday. Made the Beef Vindaloo from Cicily's blog and mine didn't look half as nice as hers. I think i goofed up somewhere and have promised myself, I'd give it a try again...this time with more patience. Thanks Cicily, for sharing the recipe. Shall do a better job next time and post a pic.

I also tried out the Aloo Methi (Potato & Fenugreek leaves) preparation from eCurry. This was my first trial with methi leaves, and i must say I'm not too disappointed. I usually don't getmethi leaves at the local grocery store. I have to go all the way to an Indian store to get em. A couple of days back i was browsing through Asda and saw one last bunch of methileaves, and pounced on it (ya literally). Asked them if it was a regular and they said no, and gave me some gyan about it. Ro somehow is not a big fan of methi leaves, he says it reminds him of hostel days, and so i don't think id go out of my way to get them. Also because one bunch is quite a bit and i still have some left over which I'm going to use for methi dal which my friend R swears by. Here is a pic of my preparation. I followed Soma's recipe to the dot. Thank you Soma.

I also made some cabbage thoran and that didn't disappoint me either. I followed the same beans and carrot thoran recipe, except it was just white cabbage this time. I am not sure if there is another or better way to do this, but if there is, do let me know and i would love to give it a go. Sharing the pic.