Barbecue Night Special !!

Hello friends!!!

Its been a long long time since the last post...but this post will make up for the time I have been missing :-)

Here is an exotic, simple and tasty barbecue menu for the awesome winter, which is just about setting in...
so without further delay, lets begin....

Asian style grilled prawns, Lemon herb chicken with Rice salad and Green side salad...

Recipe I

Asian Style Grilled Prawns:

Ingredients:
1 lemon grass stem, pale portion only..
8-10 kaffir lime leaves
2 deseeded red chillies, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
2cm ginger
1/2 bunch of coriander leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soya sauce
Prawns about 20 or so...say 500gms

Method:

Blend all the ingredients, except the prawns, in the mixer...form a smooth paste and rub the prawns with it. Marinate and put in the fridge for 10-12 hours or better still overnight...take out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking, bring it to room temperature...Grill on the barbecue...and yum! yum! yum! :-)

AAAhhhh....

Recipe II
Now the Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken...

Ingredient:
4 chicken breasts (beaten flat with the food hammer)
Juice of 2 medium sized lemons
3 tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste..

Method:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with the chicken and marinate for 10 to 12 hours or overnight in the fridge...take out of the fridge 1 hour prior to cooking...serve hot....:-)

Recipe III
Rice salad

Ingredients:

Boiled rice
fresh finely chopped parsley
fresh finely chopped chives
fresh finely chopped basil
fresh finely chopped oregano or dried will also do...
half yellow pepper (diced in small bite size pcs)
half red pepper (diced in small bite size pcs)
half zucchini (diced in small bite size pcs)
Grated parmesan cheese to taste
salt to taste

Method:

Saute the boiled rice with little bit of olive oil and keep aside to cool a little..
Add all the remaining ingredients to the rice and serve cold with the prawns and chicken...

Recipe IV
Green side Salad

Ingredients:

Fresh lettuce, roughly torn
Rocket leaves, small bunch
Red Radish 5-6, cubed
Sun dried tomatoes
Apple chopped in small pcs
1 tbsp Cider vinegar
1 crushed garlic
1 tsp ginger honey or plain honey
pepper to taste

Method:

Pickle the chopped radishes in the cider vinegar for an hour or so... and then later combine everything in a salad bowl..serve chilled...

Aha!! so now the meal is ready to eat....
so when am I getting the invites people!!!

Enjoy!

Esme's Mango Pudding / Sauce

Hello again!!

Have got another recipe to share with you all today...this a baked mango pudding made by our neighbor and friend Esme....

It is super simple and quick to make and very handy, to serve people at short notice....

Ingredients:

1 big peeled and diced ripe Mango

11/2 tsps of grated fresh coconut...

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp finely grated ginger.

Preparation:

Put all the ingredients in a baking dish or an oven friendly ceramic bowl. Place it in a preheated oven; 150 degrees, for 15 minutes or so. Take care that the mango does not disintegrate but just becomes soft and releases some juices. You can adjust the temperature accordingly.

Take it out and serve hot with vanilla or butterscotch ice cream.

My variation:

Mix with muesli and serve with ice cream.... call it a Mango Crisp!

Enjoy!

Pesto and Pinenuts Conchiglie (Shells) Salad...

Here is a very special tasty recipe for a pasta salad...I ate it at one of these welcome group dinners hosted for residents...it was delicious.. Must Must try it...Highly recommended...

Ingredients: 

Conchiglie (Shells) OR Rigatoni (fat tubular ribbed pasta) boiled and cooled...

( for pesto sauce)

• ½ a clove of garlic, chopped

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 good handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped

• a handful of pine nuts, very lightly toasted

• a good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• extra virgin olive oil

optional

• a small squeeze of lemon juice

Pesto Preparation:

Pound the garlic with a little pinch of salt and the basil leaves in a pestle and mortar, or pulse in a food processor. Add a bit more garlic if you like, but I usually stick to ½ a clove. Add the pine nuts to the mixture and pound again. Turn out into a bowl and add half the Parmesan. Stir gently and add olive oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce and get it to an oozy consistency.

Season to taste, then add most of the remaining cheese. Pour in some more oil and taste again. Keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency. You may like to add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to give it a little twang, but it’s not essential. Try it with and without and see which you prefer.

Putting it together:

In a large bowl put the pesto and the pasta together and mix. Garnish with some pinenuts and freshly cut basel. Serve chilled...

OR

Hope you guys enjoy it too..

Homemade Mustard-contributed by Bharati Rawat :-)

Hello Friends!!

This recipe is contributed and shared with us by my ma-in-law, Bharati....(original in her own writing) :-)
How to make your own mustard at home.....
Enjoy!!

Mumma says:


Homemade mustard:


100 gms roughly pounded mustard-brown or yellow wholegrain variety.
Put into a glass jar and slowly add cold milk, stirring well to attain a thick paste consistency.
Shut the cap and leave in a warm place and allow to mature for 7-10 days; stirring daily.
Add salt to taste and half a teaspoon of turmeric powder if using yellow mustard.
Taste the mustard, it should have acquired the characteristic zing!
Finally add a pinch of sugar and some good vinegar to acquire the right spreading consistency.
Happy eating! !


So try it and let us know how it came out...
See you later....:-)

Grilled Mustard Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-5 medium sized potatoes, par boiled. Let it cool, then cut in roundels with the skin.
2-3 tsps of good quality granular mustard (mustard with grains and not the smooth variety).

4-5 tbsps whisked yogurt.

Marinate the potatoes in the ingredients mentioned above for about 20 mins at room temp.

Put in the oven in a baking dish to grill for 20-30 mins. Keep checking, unless you want the potatoes to turn black to feed the hungry dustbin.

Serve hot or cold.

Variation 1:
Cut potatoes into squares without the skin and then marinate and chill. Serve cold as salad. Eat as much as you can, then feed the dustbin... if your fridge is too full to store the leftovers, hopefully there should be none.

Variation 2:
Can use cucumber instead of potatoes to serve as a cold salad.

Enjoy!!

Some recipes - try at your own risk....

Hulla girl!!

This one is specially posted for you...

Sausages in red wine sauce....

Ingredients:

About 5 to 6 pork sausages (good quality, PigPo keeps the best in town..)
2 -3 medium sized potatoes cut in roundels...
2 carrots cut in roundels
1 small cauliflower (florets)
1 Capsicum cut as medium sized squares (any colour you like)
Some white button mushrooms say about 5 or six, each cut vertically into 4 or 5 pcs(depending on the size)

For the sauce:
Once I made it with ginger - garlic paste and once only with finely chopped garlic, both came out well..

Some Red wine, about 4 to 5 tbsp, I guess..
2 big fat juicy tomatoes, finely sliced...
2 medium size onions, finely sliced,
1-2 green chillies, finely sliced,
2 -3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced. (if not using ginger-garlic paste)
a pinch of sugar so that the sauce gets a bit caramelised...
Some barbecue seasoning or mexican seasoning...choice is yours..(I am using barbecue seasoning)
or
red chilli flakes/powder
Some thyme either fresh or dried...
salt
2 tsp Coriander powder

Preparation:

• Boil and then fry the sausages in a pan, till they are brown and almost done but still tender not crisp from the outside. Remove and keep aside.

To do the sauce:

• In a pan add oil, then ginger-garlic paste, saute for a little while and then add onions / or if you are doing with sliced garlic, add onions first and then the garlic.
• Once the onion change colour add tomatoes and all the dried masalas.
• let it cook till the tomatoes get soft and the juices begin to cook. Then add water, not much and then let it reduce at a medium flame...this will take about 15 to 20 minutes..(anyways, you will know). It is done when the consistency is like a thick pasta sauce but still lumpy...
• Remove from the pan.

Putting together:

In a baking dish place the sauce right at the bottom..then put the sausages on top. Add all the vegetables (except the capsicum) on the sides and add very little red wine..so that the vegetables just get coated and not drown in it..they will leave their own water once they start cooking and we do not want a watery dish..

10 minutes in the oven at about 200 degrees ( I keep monitoring and changing the temperature accordingly) and once you see that everything is sizzling and just about cooked and the water almost dried up..

Now add a generous amount of red wine into it..and the capsicum..Not too much you want a thick sauce but not mashed veggies...Let it grill now at a high temperature so that the wine starts drying up and we will have a nice thick sauce...(but keep monitoring, thats what I keep doing :-))

And Voila!! the dish is ready, dont know how it will come out...Of course, do whatever variations you like, as I also keep experimenting...

Enjoy!!

Breads and more!!

Hi! today's post is on some traditional swiss breads that we sampled in the past few days...

This one is called Butterweggli 

It has a hard crust and a soft center...Its very popular and is easily available at all supermarts, for about 80 cents each.

This one here is very popular not only with the Swiss but also the tourists, especially the Germans...
Its called a Laugenbretzel (pretzel)...It comes for Sfr 1.40 each..

This is the most basic preparation...they are available with sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin or caraway seeds, melted cheese and bacon bits are other popular toppings...yum yum!!
Usually and the most common topping is the salt crystals....

St.Gallerbrot ruch (which means made out of wheat)...

St. Galler bread is a bread made of yeast dough with a characteristic round shape. It is one of the most popular breads in the German-speaking Switzerland.

It has a regular, compact crumb and a thick, shiny, crunchy crust. The shaping of the dough is still handmade. The baking time is relatively long with an hour.

Easily available again and popular because it has a longer shelf life...comes for about Sfr 2.60...

And the last one, but not the least... Butterzopf. (Swiss braided bread)..its absolutely yummy and my favourite...

A wonderful treat for a breakfast or brunch it is traditionally made every Sunday in Switzerland.

It is available at all supermarts and a 300g will be for about 3.20 sfr...

This is a recipe I picked up from the web...seems simple...will try my hand at it soon...

Make your own butterzopt as follows …

1. Mix ingredients bellow allow to sit a few minutes until bubbles form.

500 grams milk 
2 eggs
42 grams yeast
30 grams sugar

2. Add the rest of the ingredients below. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth & elastic

1000 grams flour
200 grams butter
20 grams of salt

3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth & allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Cut the dough in half & roll into 2 long ropes about 24″ long, thicker in the middle than the ends.

5. Braid into a braid, check out the link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OG64AN6R-c

Allow  the braid to rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place, or until it looks a bit puffy.

Then, brush with the following mixture:  2 egg, 10 grams sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Place into a preheated 400-degree F oven and cook for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

All this food blogging makes me hungry :-)

See you later....

Treasures from France :-)

Hello dearies!

I happened to be in France last week and found a cute little treasure shop for kitchen accessories...
This shop is in St.Louis...very close to the French and the swiss border...

Please don't miss the yummy looking cake and pudding dishes....The dishes were made of ceramic, costing about 30 euros or so...

Tuiles coudees amandes

Hello!!

These are freshly baked almond cookies...picked them up at the french supermarket...

They are crisp and heavy on butter, but absolutely authentic..

Delicious!!

The recipe follows:

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar, granulated
2 egg whites
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup almonds, finely ground
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream sugar and butter together. Whisk in egg whites and then remainder of ingredients. Grease well a sheet pan. Dollop about 1 ½ Tsp. of mixture onto pan. Spread thin in round shapes and place into a 375 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes. Keep them as far as possible. When the cookies are light golden brown remove from oven and allow to sit for a few seconds. With a flat pastry spatula remove cookies from pan and allow to cool on waxed paper. Repeat until all dough is gone.

Enjoy!!

Baguette - au sesame

Baguette, with its crunchy, crisp crust and a soft, delectable center, is a traditional white bread served in France, and a staple of French cuisine. French “une baguette” is translated into English as a “stick”, which truly describes the unique form of this most popular French bread – it is shaped as a wand of about 60 cm long, and weighs 500 grammes (about 1 pound)..


We bought this one at the french supermarket in St.Louis...This is made with sesame seeds...

Bubbling Pots, takes off

Hello people!

Let me introduce myself as an amateur food explorer... I am totally inspired by anything to do with food; utensils, vegetables, fruits, dishwashers and even the supermarts...

I aspire to be a chef, maybe not gourmet, but a one whose food may be simple and plain but will be loved by everyone...

With this blog I am going to attempt to explore all my dreams and share them with you, who knows they may all become a reality for me some day...

I will dedicate this blog to my darling mother; with whom I have spent hours as a kid sitting and later leaning on the kitchen slab, taking in all the delicious, mouth watering aromas and lip smacking sizzling sounds. 

Just hope that I do justice to this small diary that I start today and I sincerely hope that all of you enjoy it.

So lets get started:

I have this wonderful opportunity to be in Switzerland for sometime...so will start my explorations here...

These days we a savouring their variety of breads...

This is the one we had today:

"Ruchbrot" : Wheat Bread

It is a wholewheat bread and has a tough crust but soft and a bit granular inside...It is a little salty....and is easily available at all the Supermarts for about 1.75 sfr...

Hope you also get the opportunity to enjoy it someday..:-)