Last night we went out to catch up with some friends over dinner. The food was just so ooo good. There was this really wonderful papri chat that my friends mother had made from the scratch, was so good. I was drinking the red wine a fruity California Merlot, I don't know what caused it but boy! did I wake up with an horrid headache this morning. It just refused to go away. I took at least 3-4 tynenols, ironically enough last night we were dicussing about the pros and cons of pain killers last night. Well, then I completed the usual chores for the weekend and managed to get some sleep this afternoon, now, how rare is that.
Later, this evening, I fussed around the house. It is mind-boggling just how much junk these kids accumulate. Aug-Oct is birthday season in my kids daycare, this practically takes over our social calendar, and then I am left with all the junk from the goody bags. Well, I filled at least 2 garbage bags of junk and dropped this off in the dumpster on my way for my regular walk.
At night, I decided to put scrounge through my fridge to put together a pasta with whatever I had available. I have to confess I was pleasantly suprised with the results. The combination of ingredients laced with some green chilly and cilantro resulted in a well-balanced dish with just a hint of spice. I would recommend this with a good glass of wine, I have sworn off alcohol for the rest of the weekend after last night.
Red and Green Spicy Pasta
Serves 4
Ingredients
9 oz angel hair pasta
Water and salt for boiling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 green chilly minced
1 red pepper cut finely
1/2 cup finely chopped prociutto
1 cup grape tomatoes halved
1/2 cup prepared marinanara sauce
Salt if needed
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
3 tbsp shaved aged parmasan
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
Method of Preparation
1. Cook the pasta till just done (should be very al dente), drain and set aside.
2. Heat the oil and butter and add the garlic, followed a few minutes later with the chilly and red pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the prociutto and grape tomatoes, and, the tomato sauce, with salt if using. Let this cook for a few minutes.
4. Add in the pasta and mix well for 3-4 minutes.
5. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well to let the flavors mix.
Enjoy!
The cilantro in this recipe makes for an interesting fusion of flavors. This goes to Zorra at Tomate, who is hosting this weeks WHB.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Soy-Orange Ginger Fish
Thinking Quick! Thinking Spicy! Thinking.... Well, you get the drift... As always, trying to whip up dinner, actually to watch with this movie called, "The Holiday." Someone asked me my taste in movies, the answer sounded odd even to me, but I love watching alternate film and good sappy romantic comedies. Yes, the holiday is the later kind, but you know, there is nothing wrong with happily every after.
Anyhow, once in a while we do dinner on a plater, wine in a glass and movie on the screen. So here is the "dinner on a plate."
Dinner on a Plate
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 inch piece ginger
3 green chillies
2 clementines juiced
1 small bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp honey
1.5 lbs. salmon
2 tbsp oil
Method of Preparation
1. Add the soy sauce, ginger, chillies, orange juice, cilantro, garlic and honey and blend till smooth.
2. Add to the salmon and let this sit for 30 minutes or longer.
3. Add the oil on a baking dish and place the salmon in a single layer.
4. Turn on the broil and broil for 7 minutes on each side.
5. Serve hot with rice or salad.
Anyhow, once in a while we do dinner on a plater, wine in a glass and movie on the screen. So here is the "dinner on a plate."
Dinner on a Plate
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 inch piece ginger
3 green chillies
2 clementines juiced
1 small bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp honey
1.5 lbs. salmon
2 tbsp oil
Method of Preparation
1. Add the soy sauce, ginger, chillies, orange juice, cilantro, garlic and honey and blend till smooth.
2. Add to the salmon and let this sit for 30 minutes or longer.
3. Add the oil on a baking dish and place the salmon in a single layer.
4. Turn on the broil and broil for 7 minutes on each side.
5. Serve hot with rice or salad.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Chive-Sun Dried Tomato Omelette
The other morning I had made myself an omelette on a whim, and, my daughter tried it. Well, now she is all into having an omelette usually for breakfast. Well, nothing to inspire your creative juices than your eager 4.5 year old. That (.5) half is especially important, she will make sure that you do not forget it when mentioning it too her. Well, this morning, this is what we had for brunch with a side salad.
It also got me to use a new herb, yes, just in time for WHB. This is being hosted by Kalyn at Kalyn's kitchen.
For Each Omlette
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp chopped chives
Salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Method of Preparation
1. Heat the oil on skillet or frying pan.
2. Beat the egg with the onion, chives and salt and pour on the skillet.
3. Quickly top with the sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes and sprinkly with the pepper.
5. Fold and serve how.
My daughter added some ketchup on hers, I encourage you to have it any way you like it.
It also got me to use a new herb, yes, just in time for WHB. This is being hosted by Kalyn at Kalyn's kitchen.
For Each Omlette
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp chopped chives
Salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Method of Preparation
1. Heat the oil on skillet or frying pan.
2. Beat the egg with the onion, chives and salt and pour on the skillet.
3. Quickly top with the sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes and sprinkly with the pepper.
5. Fold and serve how.
My daughter added some ketchup on hers, I encourage you to have it any way you like it.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Tomatoes and Herbs - Desi Pizza
One of the bounties of summer is of course, amazing wonderful tomatoes! These are so plentiful, enticing you with their rich beautiful color. I have to confess, I love tomatoes all year round and my friend Bob, complains when I buy fresh tomatoes in winter, pointing out how bad that is for our plannet, since they are being transported at some ridiculous cost to the environment (since it takes energy to do this). Well, this is not an agruement that has an easy ending so, for now, I will continue to eat my fresh tomatoes as long as I can afford them of course.
Tomatoes pair beautifully with most herbs, especially in my opinion with basil and cilantro. Here is something interesting that I did with a store-bought un-cooked cheese pizza. I used the "Freschetta" store multi-grain crust.
While the oven pre-heated, I chopped two tomatoes into fairly thick slices. Sprinkle the pizza with cumin seeds (1/2 tsp), crush 1/2 dried red chilli pepper, generously add fresh black pepper. Top with the tomatoes and add 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro.
When the pizza is cooked, spinkle with the juice of half a lime and if you wish 1/2 tsp chat masala.
This was a really simple way to add sparkle to something off the supermarket shelf. I will send this off to WHB, which is being hosted by the chocolate lady, who has some stunning chocolate cookies on her blog.
Tomatoes pair beautifully with most herbs, especially in my opinion with basil and cilantro. Here is something interesting that I did with a store-bought un-cooked cheese pizza. I used the "Freschetta" store multi-grain crust.
While the oven pre-heated, I chopped two tomatoes into fairly thick slices. Sprinkle the pizza with cumin seeds (1/2 tsp), crush 1/2 dried red chilli pepper, generously add fresh black pepper. Top with the tomatoes and add 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro.
When the pizza is cooked, spinkle with the juice of half a lime and if you wish 1/2 tsp chat masala.
This was a really simple way to add sparkle to something off the supermarket shelf. I will send this off to WHB, which is being hosted by the chocolate lady, who has some stunning chocolate cookies on her blog.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Punida-Lemon Rasam and a meme
Well without the camera I have lost a little blogging momentum. This week I did make something interesting. That and then I was tagged by Sharmi, for a meme. So I figured, let me just write without having to worry about the uploading, downloading getting the picture just right...
What I made earlier in the week was Rasam, and, on a whim I added some dried mint leaves to it. The results were pretty amazing. The delicately tart and spicy broth tingled on the tongue and was balanced perfectly by the gentle freshness of the mint leaves.
Now for my random throughts,
1. Living in the East Coast I love Fall. I thing I live 10 months of the year to experice the burst of colors and crisp clean air. I am probably one of the few people who feel happy when summer is leaving.
2. My children want to make me be a better person everyday. That among many other ways is how they have enriched my life. I want to eat better, do better deeds on a daily basis. So, I thank you Aadi and Deepta for helping me strive everyday.
3. Only when you have your own children do you really understand how much your parents did for you. Especially the early years, they mean so much, needs so much and they still continue to give every day of our lives.
4. My one regret is that I am so far away from my parents. I wish I could be closer and do more for them.
5. I love cooking, it helps me feel happy on both good days and bad. Especially on bad days, the calming experience of chopping, mixing and putting everything together makes a big difference in my spirits when I am done.
6. As a mother, it is very difficult to find time for oneself. However, simple things like even doing groceries peacefully (yes, this is what I do every Saturday morning, while my husband feeds the kids breakfast can make a difference).
7. I think overall, I have been lucky with my share in life.
Well, thanks Sharmi for making me thing. I must be so self-obsessed since all my random thoughts are about myself.
What I made earlier in the week was Rasam, and, on a whim I added some dried mint leaves to it. The results were pretty amazing. The delicately tart and spicy broth tingled on the tongue and was balanced perfectly by the gentle freshness of the mint leaves.
Now for my random throughts,
1. Living in the East Coast I love Fall. I thing I live 10 months of the year to experice the burst of colors and crisp clean air. I am probably one of the few people who feel happy when summer is leaving.
2. My children want to make me be a better person everyday. That among many other ways is how they have enriched my life. I want to eat better, do better deeds on a daily basis. So, I thank you Aadi and Deepta for helping me strive everyday.
3. Only when you have your own children do you really understand how much your parents did for you. Especially the early years, they mean so much, needs so much and they still continue to give every day of our lives.
4. My one regret is that I am so far away from my parents. I wish I could be closer and do more for them.
5. I love cooking, it helps me feel happy on both good days and bad. Especially on bad days, the calming experience of chopping, mixing and putting everything together makes a big difference in my spirits when I am done.
6. As a mother, it is very difficult to find time for oneself. However, simple things like even doing groceries peacefully (yes, this is what I do every Saturday morning, while my husband feeds the kids breakfast can make a difference).
7. I think overall, I have been lucky with my share in life.
Well, thanks Sharmi for making me thing. I must be so self-obsessed since all my random thoughts are about myself.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Tala Methi Macchi - Pan cooked salmon with cumin and Fenugreek
Fish is such a salvation for me on weeknights, it allows me to put something together from the scratch on a busy weeknight without much fuss and usually in less than 30 minutes if I am organized. This salmon is not really an exception, a few good ingredients, the interesting taste in this one is from the dried kasuri methi, a simple handy flavorful ingredient. This is the first time I added this to fish, I think this is a keeper.
Tala Methi Macchi
Serves 3-4 people
Ingredients
1 lb salmon fillets
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin-coriander powder
1 lime
2 tsp dried methi
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
Method of Preparation
1. Rub the salmon with the turmeric, salt, chili powder, ground cumin-coriander.
2. Squeeze the juice of the lime and add the methi and set this aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil and add the cumin and ginger cook for a few seconds.
4. Add in the fish and cook on each side for 10 minutes, till it flakes easily and is lightly browned.
I guess I should add that for dishes like this, it is important to use a good non-stick pan, or you will need more oil to get the same results.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
S is for Simla MIrch
OK, so this has been a crazy week and the time for this entry is a little past. Well, I had thought of the letter "S" when I initially developed this recipe.
I had some excess potatoes, and, was wondering how on earth could I boost/add some nutrition into into it. Then my eyes wandered onto these colorful bell peppers.
Well thus developed a dish that was rather flavorful, and, absolutely perfect with the luchis (white flour puffed bread) that I fried yesterday. What is amazing is that this recipe is so plain and does, not really photograph well but the aromas were amazing. In fact, this convinced me no matter how hard we try, some aspects of good food need to be savored though eating and absorbing the aromas, the camera does not quite do the needed justice.
Shimla Methi Alu
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
6 russet potatoes
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp asafetida
a few crushed red chillies
a few curry leaves
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi)
1 cup multicolored chopped peppers
salt to tast
cilantro to garnish
Method of Preparation
1. Peel and quarter the potatoes and set aside.
2. Heat the oil and add the turmeric and mustard seeds and cumin.
3. When they begin to crackle add the red chillies and curry leaves with the potatoes.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes till fairly soft.
5. Add all the remaining ingredients except the cilantro and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Stir in the cilantro and check seasoning and serve hot.
7. Best enjoyed with something like puris.
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