Two for Tuesdays

Well these are two completely unrelated recipes and since they were both stupidly easy, I thought it was pointless separating them into two posts, but had to pen it down for my record.

Asparagus heads wrapped in streaky bacon and grilled

I am completely in love with asparagus. It all started with that asparagus thoran I made and then there was no looking back, Seriously, its just so pretty to photograph and I'm in love with the taste and what all it can do to a simple dish. We had guests over last Sunday and I made a mince meat bake, something like a shepherds pie, but with lots more veggies, garlic bread (thanks to Salisbury's) and then these asparagus heads wrapped in bacon as part of the main course. It was such a hit and the best part... I haven't ever made a dish that is easier than this, but tastes so darn awesome. 

Asparagus heads- 15 to 20

Smoked streaky bacon- 7

Salt and pepper- to season

Preheat oven to 175C and line a baking tray with silver foil or baking paper.

Arrange asparagus heads in sets of three and season with salt and pepper. 

Wrap then up with streaky bacon and place on the baking tray

Grill or bake for 15 minutes, turning it around after about 6 to 7 minutes. 

Drain on paper towels and serve immediately

Foodgawked :)

Notes: The bacon does the whole job of giving it a nice flavour. So there is not much seasoning you need to do. Also watch the salt, cos bacon is really salty.

You can wrap a single long asparagus shoot or do an arrangement of two instead of three.

Beetroot Pachadi (beetroot cooked in a mild coconut and curd gravy)

Yeah I know, what a contrast...well, I'd like to be philosophical and say, 'that's life,' but I'm not that boring, so here's to mallu goodness :)

I hate beetroot and so does Ro..so why did I pick it up, god knows..and that too a whole bunch. So whole of yesterday I spent googling beetroot recipes and was amazed at the number of recipes the www had to offer. I settled for beetroot kichdi and now I have an entire bowl of red stuff staring back at me and I don't know how id finish it and what I'd finish it with. It was pretty alright, taste-wise, but I'm not sure I want to make it a common visitor. Ro is yet to taste it and I can already see him making a face that would make you ask yourself that question, 'remind me again why I married this man!'

Beetroot- 2, medium ones, washed and thinly sliced (I have 3 more left, what do I do with it????)

Green chillies- 3, thinly sliced

Turmeric powder- a pinch

Water- 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Salt- to taste

Shredded coconut- 1/4 cup

Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp

Curd- 4 tbsp

Oil- 1 tsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek powder- a pinch (optional)

Curry leaves- a sprig

Dry red chillies- 2 or 3 (optional)

Cook the beetroot with the green chillies, turmeric powder, salt and water till done. Drain the water, if any and keep aside to cool. I took about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, grind together the coconut and cumin powder to a paste.

Add the curd to this, mix well and keep aside.

In the same blender, puree the cooked beetroot (I am not sure this step is compulsory, but I didn't want bite size beetroot slices to get in the way) and add to the curd- coconut mix. 

Do a tadka with the oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek powder and red chillies and pour over the  kichdi. Give it a good stir and serve with rice.

I think you can put this mix back on the stove the warm it up a bit, but I didn't bother doing that.

Now you know why I don't make that many mallu dishes, I suck at it!

I still don't know the difference between a pachadi and kichdi..someone please enlighten me.

Edited to add: I changed the heading from Kichdi to Pachadi cos I think I got it mixed up and a lot of you wrote to me saying its more like a pachadi...Also I think I have mixed up the two pachadi-kichdi procedures together...like i said..i suck at making mallu dishes ;)

Jalapenos- stuffed and wrapped in Bacon

The Courtyard by Marriott in Chennai has a restaurant called Rhapsody and one one of my food review visits, the Chef there insisted i try the Jalapeno Poppers. It was the best i have ever had and whenever we go there, we make sure its on our starter list. One of the perks of writing for a magazine and doing the PR was the contacts you make. The Director of F & B at Marriott was a very jovial chap and we clicked right from the first interview i ever did of him. Marriott Chennai is like a second home to me now. Just recently when we visited India, we stopped by at Rhapsody for a meal and i harassed them to pass on the recipe for the poppers, but they were like..of all the things on the menu, you want the recipe for the Jalapeno poppers? that's sad! (maybe they just didn't want to give out their trade secret).

Anyways, coming back to London, its so strange that none of the super markets in freaking London have Jalapenos. So on our Friday lunch date at Borough Market i was delighted to see Jalapenos at one of the stalls (this...after going in and out of the several other veggie stalls). Picked up a few and decided to make the poppers. After searching the net for a while, i came up with an easy recipe for stuffed Jalapenos and not the poppers. I have only used up half of the Jalapenos so i shall try the poppers with the remaining. Here's the recipe:

Jalapeno peppers- 6

Shredded cheese- 1/2 a cup or even less ( i used mature cheddar)

Bacon- 3 halved

Slice the jalapeno peppers into half and remove the seeds and veins (this is the really spicy part). Fill the halves with shredded cheese and wrap with the bacon, all around, and make sure the cheese doesn't fall out.

Pre-heat grill to about 170C, layer the peppers on a baking tray and grill for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure the bacon is cooked and browned. Serves as a great BBQ dish.

Notes: If you have cream cheese then its even better, you can mix it with the shredded cheese and use it as the stuffing. More rich and tastier. I didn't have any left, so just used the cheddar shreds.