Season's Greetings & Christmas Specials

How are last minute preparations for Christmas coming along? Are you frantically baking and cooking or relaxing with your feet up while your parents put together the Christmas feast? Either ways, I'm sure you are all looking forward to Christmas celebs tomorrow.

The husband has pushed off to India and I had to stay back because of a hectic work schedule and Id be joining him only in Jan. I was all ready to have frozen pizza and get drunk on wine on 25th, when a friend invited me over to hers for Christmas. Since the entire transport system comes to a standstill on 25th I am heading to hers tonight, attend a midnight Christmas service at the church and ring in Christmas with friends tomorrow. I would have loved to be with family, but hey, I'm not complaining. Atleast I'm not having frozen pizza and watching Downton Abbey reruns in my Pj's.

Anyways, here's wishing all you guys a very Merry Christmas. Have a glass or two of wine on me and enjoy your day to the max. Leaving you with some fun Christmassy stuff ...

Oddka

I love my cocktails and am forever trying to recreate new ones at home, which means scouting the drinks aisle at the supermarket is a treat. I came across this vodka drink called ODDKA and was thoroughly amazed at the flavours on offer. Fresh cut grass.. seriously.. now that's a flavour I'm completely intrigued by. Other flavours include Electricity, Salty caramel popcorn, Twisted melon and Peach Bellini. As luck would have it, I was asked if I'd like to try some Christmas cocktails using ODDKA and how on earth could I say no? Since I'm home alone, I've not really made any cocktails as yet but if I have a girls night out around New Years, I'd definitely be trying out a few cocktails from the list ODDKA has put together. If you do want to try something different this Christmas, then head on over to the ODDKA website and give some of their cocktails a go. Your local Asda or Sainsburys should stock a few flavours of ODDKA.

Castello Cheese

I received this really adorable Christmas stocking, with my name on it and all, filled with Castello Cheese. I had big plans to make Ronnie Murray's Baked leek tart with Castello Jersey Blue and I even bought all the ingredients, but with crazy work schedules I had to put the cooking on hold. I shall definitely give it a go one of these days I'm home. The Castello range includes Creamy Blue, Creamy White, Traditional Danish Blue, Extra creamy Danish Blue, Pineapple Halo i (I made a macaron filling with the Pineapple cheese), and the latest addition just in time for Christmas is the Tickler Cheddar, with a sweet, strong and tangy taste. If you are doing a cheese platter for the parties, don't forget to include this one, its a winner. Pair it with a Rioja Gran Reserva 2001 or a an Italian Barolo wine.

Christmas food and drink matching

Pairing the right drink with the food you serve is really an art. I try hard to actually do this and mostly, because of lack of knowledge, I just do a theme and follow with drinks from the same cuisine. When you do a large spread like for Christmas, this becomes a bit of an issue, especially when you have invited people with different tastes. To make matters easy for people like me, Waitrose has teamed up with wine lover Philip Schofield and wine connoisseur Olly Smith to develop a food and wine matching guide to get the combinations right. The infographic gives you a basic knowledge of pairings which would help you manage your Christmas meal pretty easily. I am sooo going to keep this for future references. There are also some great videos here for some festive inspiration

Parmigiano Reggiano Christmas Cook-off

Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) is one cheese I regularly use in cooking- in soufflés, bakes, dips and just to grate atop pasta. I was recently invited to a Parmigiano Reggiano Christmas Cookalong organised by the Consorzio del Formaggio and lead by top chef Valentina Harris. We started off the evening tasting some amazing starters like dates filled with PR and wrapped in Parma Ham, PR lollipops with sesame seeds and chilli (an absolute favourite) and a 30 month matured PR with balsamic vinegar. We were then split into two teams and set about creating our meal for the night- Venetian duck stuffed with a PR mix, Fennel topped PR and Rosotto PR. It was my first time cooking with duck, and although not really a favourite, I quite enjoyed the whole cooking experience. Highlight of the evening, however, was cracking open a 45kg PR wheel which we all got to taste, after which we all sat down to a fabulous meal. After an evening of like minded food enthusiasts and after gaining such indepth knowledge about PR, I cant wait to cook with the cheese. For more information and recipes check out the website

With thanks to all the brands for inviting me to their events and for review samples.

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Home made lemon extract (DIY edible Christmas gift)

Every year I have major plans of making edible gifts for my friends. Last year I started off with good intentions; to make a hamper of sorts with all cool edible gifts... because you know food blogger and all, people would be more happy to receive things to eat than onesies form Primark. Since sending edible gifts by post to parents in India was not an option, I thought of making a recipe calendar for them with my "gorgeous photographs (self-proclaimed of course)" and recipes. I harassed Ro so much about the calendar - software to use, how to get dimensions right, where to get it printed etc etc- that he finally lost it and asked me to just do my own shit.

And that's exactly what i did... wasted A LOT!!!! of time with the damn calendar. The thing is, I have this image of how it should be in my head and I have to get it that way no matter what. The fact that I was challenged with high end photo editing software meant I had to use Picasa and PicMonkey to take care of my needs, and unfortunately my needs exceeded the basic help these options left me with. So by the time I got to month March it was around 30th of December. No way was I going to finish the remaining 9 plus the main cover in less than a month. So there, that conveniently ended my calendar plan.

You might wonder if I at least completed my edible hamper idea.. nope that also didn't happen in spite of pinning tonnes of packaging and labelling ideas and looking forward to making them. It actually made me wonder if I was more interested in packing and labelling things, than making the edible gifts. The only thing I finally did was send these cupcakes to my neighbour..yes in that red plate itself. Shame on me, I know!!

This year, I started early, in spite of a crazy work schedule. These home made lemon extracts are proof that I actually have edible gifts to send out to friends. The old me would have waited till 24th December to infuse, but no, I'm 17 days early and patting my back for being proactive. They will be one of the gifts my lucky friends receive. My non alcoholic friends will of course get some edible goodies which i'll try and blog before Christmas, but no promises.

First on the list will be the Christmas themed cookies I'll be making with the new OXO Good Grips Cookie Press. This fabulous gadget not only lets you whip out cookies of same size, but you also have the option of selecting from 12 different shapes with snowflake, wreath and tree definitely going into my Christmas gift box. The daisy, buttercup and sunflower are a personal favourite so I'm going to include that too for good measure. The stainless steel blades are dishwasher safe and can be easily stored in the box that comes with the gadget. The cookie press will be available in Lakeland from January 2014 and if you want to make loads of cookies at one go then this is the gadget to have.

Lemon extract basic recipe adapted from here (makes 3, 236ml bottles)

Vodka- 3 cups (any quality is fine)

Lemons- 5 to 6 (make sure they are organic, unwaxed lemons)

Glass bottles with lid- 23 to 250 ml

Sterilise the bottles by washing them in warm soapy water and then leaving to dry completely.

Wash the lemons and wipe them dry.

Peel the lemons with a zester, making sure none of the white pith comes along with the zest.

Carefully add the zest into the bottles. I added around 2 lemons per bottle for a strong flavour. 

Pour in 1 cup of vodka per bottle. If you use a measuring jug with a beak, it would be much easier, or a funnel.

Seal with a lid and store in a cool dark place.

Gently shake it everyday, for about 1 week or so, or alternate days at least.

When ready to use, either strain the fruit and use or simple keep using the extract as and when required with the peel still in the bottle.

Dress the bottle and its a perfect Christmas gift.

Notes: I bought my bottles online at a very reasonable price

I chucked a slit birds eye chilli into one bottle

My next set of 3 will be orange extract. Use one large orange for each bottle and follow the procedure mentioned above.

You can actually go crazy with infusing vodka- vanilla, rosemary and lime, raspberry, blackberry, mango, peppercorns- are on my to do list. If you do want to give it a shot, just eye ball the measurements based on how strong you'd like them to be and use accordingly.

Add the extract to bakes, cakes and custards or add some simple syrup and use in a cocktail. 

With thanks to OXO Good grips for the review sample.

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Comte cheese and spinach tart

 

This is probably the easiest tart I've ever made. I say so with confidence because I was under pressure to have lunch ready with a husband breathing down my neck.

Ro has this habit of heading to work late, especially if he has an early morning conf call to take which he does from home. It would invariably be on a day I don't work, which means by the time I wake up at around 9-ish and settle down with coffee and emails and such, Ro is well into his day. He usually heads into work around lunch time and catches lunch there, but last week he apparently changed his mind and asked me 'what are we having for lunch?' at 11.30 that too. I stared at him, then I stared at the contents of my fridge and seeing the ingredients for this tart, my eyes lit up. They were supposed to be dinner, but that was about 7 hrs away and I had enough time to figure it out. Warned him it would take an hour and he agreed. And there, the easiest tart I've ever made came into existence. 

Photo courtesy: Daniel Jones Photography for Comte Cheese

I attended a Comte Cheese tasting event beginning of last month at La Cave a Fromage. It was a fun evening with Comte cheese expert Claire Perrot giving us in depth knowledge about the complex flavours that Comte is all about. We then went on to taste Comte cheese from different terrains and ages and were asked to figure out how they tasted different, what flavours were persistent etc. I'm no expert at cheese, but the flavours i could get were so obvious, I was quite surprised myself. What amazed me the most was how a slab of cheese smelt completely different from a cut piece and how certain wine and champagne simply made eating cheese a pleasure. One of the pairings with Comte cheese was vanilla paste and I loved how they tasted together. Came back home with a goody bag and a huge slab of Comte cheese to experiment...and experiment did I.

This tart recipe is made using Comte cheese and I must say it tasted fab (don't forget how easy it was make the tart). I think this is going to be the base recipe for all my tarts and I can just play around with the fillings used. The original recipe used a polenta tart base, but remember husband breathing down neck? So short crust pastry it was!

Recipe adapted from the Comte cheese recipe card (makes 5 to 6 tartlets or one 24cm tart)

Spinach- 200 gms

Comte cheese- 200 gms, grated

Crème fraiche- 150 ml

Single cream- 150 ml

Eggs- 3

Salt and pepper- to taste

Butter- to grease the tart tins

Short crust pastry- 1 slab/ roll

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and grease the tart tins with melted butter

Roll out the short crust pastry into a rectangle about 5mm thick and carefully lay it into the tart tin. I used mini tart tins so cut the pastry into 5 equal parts and then carefully laid it into the tins.

Place a greaseproof paper on top of the pastry case and fill with baking beans. I don't have baking beans so used rice instead. Works fine.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until just golden.

Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes to make sure the pastry is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and keep aside.

While the pastry is cooking, you can go about getting the filling ready.

Wash the spinach and roughly chop it up.

Squeeze most of the water from the spinach and cook covered in a microwave safe bowl on high for about 3 minutes.

Drain the water that has oozed out and keep aside to cool a bit.

Meanwhile, mix together the cheese, crème fraiche, cream and eggs in a large bowl.

Season well with salt and pepper.

Once the spinach has cooled down a bit, layer the bottom of the cooked tart shells with spinach and pour over the cheese mix.

Gently stir to evenly distribute the spinach.

Bake for about 20 minutes or till the tart is just set and golden. If a knife inserted comes out clean you are good to go.

Take the tart out and cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before removing them from the tin.

Serve with a salad.

Notes: Original recipe called for Swiss chard. If using chard, then wash, chop and cook in a bit of olive oil till wilted.

You can make the same tart using puff pastry as well.. in fact I prefer that to short crust.
Of course Comte cheese can be replaced with cheddar or rather any cheese of choice.
Use double cream in place of creme fraiche

With thanks to Comte cheese for inviting me to the tasting event and for the sample.

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Christmas pudding ice cream

 

Last week, a bunch of us had a cook-along session on Google+ Hangout hosted by Great British Chefs and Tesco Real Food. We were cooking along with award winning Chef Galton Blackiston who runs Morston Hall, up at the Norfolk coast, and making Christmas pudding ice cream was on the agenda. It was my first time doing a hangout session like this and so was a wee bit nervous as to how it would churn out (pun intended).

We were asked to do a few preps before hand and jot down any relevant questions we wanted to ask Chef Galton during the session. It all went on extremely well and I'm completely amazed at how technology can just make things so much more convenient. I mean we were all in different parts of UK, in the comfort of our own kitchen and cooking along with so much ease. Except for a few glitches with the audio at times, it was an absolutely well thought out session. Thanks to GBC for this fantastic opportunity and to Chef Galston for the demo. You can watch it here.

Now, I know its not the perfect weather for ice cream, but really this one needs to be made this Christmas y'all. We are all going to od on Christmas pudding and even worse, have tonnes of it left over. Chucking them into a custard base and churning them to make fabulous ice cream is THE way to go about using whats left over. I am not a big pudding fan or for that matter an ice cream fan, meaning I can just about have a slice or scoop of each, but when the two come together it just makes it so much better.

I had to try hard to not keep eating spoonfuls of custard while it was cooling down. So the ice cream base is a really good one, to experiment with. You can use it as it is with a kick ass sauce, chuck in some candied fruits, or add some nuts and such to make it appealing. Its pretty basic and except for the whisking bit, doesn't really take too much time. Those in India, remember the rum and raisin ice creams we get..well this ones sort of like that.. but a whole lot boozier..who's complaining about that now? :)

Recipe adapted from Great British Chefs (serves 5 to 6)

Single cream- 300ml

Milk- 150ml

Vanilla pod- 1/2, split length ways

Egg yolks- 3

Caster sugar- 62 gms

Christmas pudding- 125 gms, crumbled into pieces

Add the cream and milk to a sauce pan and scrape in the vanilla seeds along with the pod.

Place the pan over medium high heat and bring to a gentle simmer.

Remove from heat and set aside to infuse for about 30 minutes or so.

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks and sugar till pale and smooth.

Bring the cream and milk mix back to a simmer.

While whisking the egg, slowly pour  in the cream.

Pour the mix back into a saucepan and place over low heat.

Keep stirring continuously till you have a thin layer of custard that coats the back of the spoon.

At this point, take the saucepan off heat and pass the custard through a sieve into a bowl.

Allow to cool completely. Lay cling film on top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.

If you want to speed up this process, place the bowl over an ice bath and keep stirring till it turns cool. I actually chucked it into the refrigerator for a while.

Once cool, you can either churn it in an ice cream maker, stirring in the Christmas pudding once the mixture begins to thicken and then freeze till ready to use.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, then pour the custard into an air tight container and freeze for about 30 to 45 minutes or till just about set.

Take it out, whisk well and then fold in the Christmas pudding gently, to not break it up too much. 

Notes: This is a halved recipe

My air tight container was really good and so i only had to whisk the custard twice, at 1hr intervals and it was perfect. I also added the pud into the custard the first time and kept whisking gently each time.
I may not infuse the cream for 30 mins next time. Couldn't really find much difference.

I was paid for the ingredients and the time. Thanks GBC

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Pastille (Israeli pastry) with chicken and caramelised onions

Israeli cuisine is something completely new to me. I've been told that the flavours and dishes are mostly fusion in nature with Arab, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences, and from the very few dishes I've tried from Ottolenghi, I kind of understand the classification. So when i was invited to the Taste of Israel hosted at Restaurant 1701, in the grounds of Britain's oldest synagogue, I really couldn't say no. I was completely intrigued by the food that was going to be served and even more the Israeli wines that were going to be paired with the food. 

The event was designed to raise awareness of Israeli food in the UK and to break down cultural barriers with the power of food and cooking. WIZO, a charitable initiative brought down 3 renowned chefs who put together the Israeli feast for us. They trained at different WIZO supported institutions and I must say they did a fabulous job. 

We were served dishes like pickled mullet with tomato nectar, gourmet lamb kebabs, sea fish medley with za'atar and pickled lemon etc., and they were paired with a selection of really good Israeli wines chosen by expert sommelier John Wriss of Kedem Europe, importer and distributor of kosher wine in the UK. My favourite dish, however ,was the halva cream with strawberries, rose water pistachio and kediff which I cant event begin to explain how amazing it was. In fact my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I did get hold of the recipe, but most of the ingredients were really difficult to source and so I thought of giving the Pastille recipe a go.

The traditional pastille is a sweet and savoury fusion dish, more or less like a puff pastry pie. But it was served like spring rolls at the event and I decided to make them like samosas just for kicks. It tasted great with duck, but I was a bit wary about cooking duck at home and so used chicken instead. It was not the best substitute but not too bad either. The ras-el-hanout spice lends a distinct flavour so try not to avoid it. I was about to buy it from the store when my generous boss offered me a small pack of the spice which her mum had brought down from Tunisia. Now it cant get more authentic like that I'm sure. Ive linked to a recipe which you can try, or most of the supermarkets do stock them. I know Sainsburys does.

Pastille with some hot mint tea is what you need to eat on a cold and windy Winter afternoon.

Recipe adapted from the Wizo UK Dinner menu (makes around 20 to 22 small pastille pockets)

 

Chicken- 500 gms, boneless and finely diced (1 to 2 inch cubes)

Onions- 2, finely chopped

Ras-el-hanout- 1/2 tbsp (follow this recipe to whip up your own)

Chicken stock- 125ml

Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup

Eggs- 3, small

Almonds- 125 gms, blanched and sliced

Tahini- 3 tbsp

Oil- 2 tbsp + enough to fry the pastille

Brik pastry or filo pastry sheets- around 10 to 12 (I used filo pastry)

Flour mixed with water to stick the edges if its brik pastry and melted butter if its filo pastry

Preheat the oven to 170C and roast the almond slices in a baking tray for about 7 to 8 minutes or till they turn a slight shade of brown. You can do this on a skillet as well. Once done remove from tray and keep aside.

While that's sorted, heat oil in a frying pan and saute the onions till they become golden brown.

Add the chicken, season with salt, Ras-el-hanout and fry till brown, by stirring on and off.

Pour in the stock, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or till the chicken is completely cooked and almost all of the liquid is absorbed.

Break the eggs into the pan and scramble for a couple of minutes, until the eggs absorb whatever liquid is remaining in the pan and becomes a crumbly scrambled mixture with the chicken. Make sure this doesn't get too dry.

Stir in the roasted almonds and coriander leaves and remove from heat.

Mix in tahini and keep aside to cool completely.

Once cool, you can assemble and fry the pastille.

Spread the filo pastry on a work surface and fold over so you get two layers. To make sure they don't come apart, lightly join together using melted butter.

Put about 2 tsp of filling (don't over fill it) and roll like how you do a samosa. if its too long, slice off the remaining. If you think rolling it like spring rolls is easier, feel free to do that instead.

Heat enough oil in a frying pan and fry the pastille in batches till about golden and crisp.

Drain on kitchen towels and serve with ketchup or chutney.

Notes: Original recipe was made with duck slices. If using duck, follow the exact same procedure and measurements, just that duck may take a little longer to cook.

Its not a spicy dish at all. So if you want some kick, add a slit green chilli while sauteing the chicken

Once rolled in the pastry, it can frozen in an air tight container and can be fried directly from the freezer.

With thanks to WIZO UK for an invite to the Taste of Israel event

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Minced pork and egg fried rice and Cooking with Kikkoman Masterclass

I know...been almost a month since I posted here. I'm not going to give excuses blaming work, weather, this, that etc etc. Instead, I'm going to jump right into it and talk about the 'Cooking with Kikkoman masterclass'  I attended a month back at the fabulous Matsuri St James restaurant. Kikkoman is a leading brand of soy sauce and I regularly use it for all my Asian cooking. We networked over cocktails at the foyer before being escorted into the restaurant and seated around a Teppan table. Bing-yu Lee, Manager for Kikkoman UK gave a talk on Kikkoman- how it is made, how its different from the usual ones and we even did a blind tasting between two different types of soy sauces.

Michelin Starred Chef, Simon Hulstone then took over and demonstrated how to use Kikkoman in a mean broccoli and scallop dish which we all got to taste. After a sushi making demo and a theatrical teppan-yaki meal cooked in front of our eyes we went on to enjoy our meal, full on, paired perfectly with wine.

In our goody bag was a Kikkoman cook book and this fried rice is adapted from that. There are so many easy recipes and even though i made this rice a week after the event, it didn't make it to the blog because I wasn't happy with the pictures. I thought id make it again and take better pictures, but nope, that never happened and so you are gonna have to just believe me when I say the fried rice tasted simply good. Its really really simple to make and you should give it a go.

I went a bit crazy with the stir frying and that's why it looks like tiny grain. Its just that the rice broke while I got carried away. So be careful when you do the final mixing.

Recipe adapted from the Kikkoman cook book (serves 2)

 

Basmati rice- 1 cup

Water- to cook the rice

Oil- 1 tbsp

Minced pork - 300gms

Ginger- 1 1/2 tbsp, peeled and grated

Garlic- 2 tbsp, peeled and finely chopped

Spring onion- 1/4 cup, finely chopped (reserve a few greens for garnish)

Green chilli- 1, finely chopped

Salt and pepper- to season

Kikkoman soy sauce- 2 tbsp

Eggs- 2

Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp, finely chopped (optional)

Cook the rice al dente. Drain and keep aside. Make the rice a day ahead and store in the refrigerator. This would make it drier- perfect for fried rice

Heat the oil in a non stick wok and add the minced pork. Stir fry on high heat till the meat changes colour.

Throw in the ginger, garlic, spring onion and green chilli and fry till the pork is cooked through.

Season with salt and pepper and 1 1/2 tbsp of Kikkoman soy sauce. Mix well and cook till the meat turns a bit brown.

Add the rice and stir fry on high heat continuously.

Whisk together the egg and remaining 1/2 tbsp soy sauce in a bowl.

Move aside a bit of the rice from the wok and add the egg. Scramble a bit, turn off the heat and leave covered for about a minute or two for the eggs to set.

Just before serving, garnish with the remaining spring onion greens and coriander leaves.

Notes: The original recipe called for chicken breasts. If using chicken (around 2 medium), dice them into cubes and do as above.

With thanks to Kikkoman for inviting me to the event and the goody bag.

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Jamie Oliver 20 minute meals app review and his recipe for chilli corn chowder

I love Jamie Oliver! Like seriously. I think he's one of those chefs who you develop a liking towards right from the start- so down to earth and simply a sweetheart. I used to watch his 30 minute meals on telly and have even given some of the recipes a shot (obviously I take more than 30 minutes). They are absolutely easy to follow and his photographs (courtesy David Loftus) are to die for. I love how he presents his final dishes on his shows, and the props he uses, sigh!

I was asked to review an app on the Google Nexus 7 tablet available at Argos here- a gadget we have both been religiously using for all our browsing and other nonsensical stuff like watch videos, chat, etc etc. I still am not too sure why people need tablets at all, because it really cant do anything your smart phone cant (techies and gadget freaks, kindly excuse). Of course size matters but I think I would have survived without one. However, now that we have it in our life, its being put to regular use. I even carry it around to our Bloggers Buzz meetings looking all important, and it does make life a wee bit more easier. If you do want to pick up a tablet (among other cool things) then Argos is the place to go to.

Coming to the app. I did break my head about which app to pick up and after some research I decided to go with good ol Jamie (first name basis and all after 2 paragraphs). The tablet is a good thing to have on your kitchen counter but what kept bugging me was the fact that I had to keep switching it on each time the screen turned off when not in use (I don't even know if that's the right term to use, but you get the point right?). My tablet doesn't have a stand, so I had to keep cleaning my hands properly to pick it up and do the same. These may be irrelevant to most of you, but to me it kind of makes a difference and is a bit of a hindrance. I am trying to use the tablet more for my recipes while cooking instead of dragging my ginormous laptop on to a small kitchen counter, so ask me about it a few months from now and maybe I would have a different opinion.

Pro's

• The step by step pictures are fabulous, not to mention beautiful photography. It guides you through the entire cooking process.
• There are basic videos of Jamie showing is how to chop an onion, basic knife care, cooking the perfect steak and so on..something we all may know, but its kind of informative.
• The shopping list is pretty cool, in fact its my favourite feature. You can send it directly from the app to your email, making life a whole lot easier. Yes, I just had to send it to Ro.
• Navigating through the app is easy. Nothing techy about it.

Cons

• GBP 4.99 for an app is pretty steep. You do get 60 recipes for it, but still I find it a little on the expensive side. 
• It keeps crashing!!! Apparently that's been an issue with the app for a while. This definitely needs to be fixed as it gets annoying after a while.

The app is a good one, but not a great one. I mean it wont be something id miss if it was taken off and I think id find most of his recipes in his book or show. But if you are a big Jamie fan and need to hear his voice once in a while, then just buy the app..really, his videos and the way he cooks is just pure entertainment :) 

That said, his chilli corn chowder from the app was excellent. It was my first time with corn chowder (soup to be precise) and was completely surprised at how nice it tasted. Of course i couldn't complete it in 20 minutes (what with me checking fb and whatsapp and a million other 'apps' in between) but it was a winner. Ro gets to taste it today and he can give his verdict. Serve it with some garlic bread and its perfect for an autumn night in,

Chilli corn chowder (Adapted from Jamie's 20 minute meals Android app. Serves 2)

Vegetable stock- 700ml

Onion- 1 small, roughly chopped

Celery- 1 stick, diced

Chilli- 2, slit (de-seed if you cant handle the heat)

Butter- 1 tbsp

Olive oil- a dash

Thyme- 1 small stalk

Potato- 1 small

Frozen sweetcorn- 200 gms (approx. 1 1/2 cups)

Double cream- 2 tbsp (optional)

Spring onions- 2 small, finely chopped

Cheddar cheese- 25 gms, grated

Sour cream- 75ml

Salt and pepper-  to taste

Fill a saucepan with the vegetable stock and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.

While that's simmering away, slice the onion, celery and chilli.

Heat a large deep pan on medium heat and melt the butter along with a generous dash of olive oil.

Add to it the chopped vegetables with a splash of water, stir well and cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.

Pick the thyme leaves and add to the pot of simmering stock. Let it continue to simmer for a few more minutes.

Peel and roughly grate the potato and add to the vegetable stock.

By now the vegetables would have wilted enough. Open the lid and throw in the sweetcorn. Stir it in and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Carefully pour in the vegetable stock along with potato and bring everything to a boil.

Reduce heat, pour in the double cream and let it simmer for about 5 minutes after which you can take the pan off heat.

In the meat time, slice the spring onions and grate the cheddar.

Once the chowder has cooled down a bit, pulse with an immersion blender, but still retaining the texture. Don't make it too smooth.

Taste and season with enough salt and pepper and cover the pot with a lid and keep aside.

When ready to serve, spoon ladles full of the chowder into slightly warmed bowls, top with a spoon on sour cream, sprinkle over the cheddar followed by a generous sprinkling of spring onions.

(Add some chopped chillies if you are brave)

 

Notes: The original recipe called for just one chilli, half of which needed to be added with the vegetables and half used as garnish. Adamant that it wouldn't be spicy, I added two whole chillies to the chowder and skipped the garnish. It was SPICY and apparently, one chilli would have been enough. 

The cream is completely optional, but i had some left over cream that desperately needed to be used and so chucked it in. Worked for me.

The post is in conjunction with Argos

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Sponsored video: Cinco Jotas Iberian Ham and mini master classes

I first tasted Spanish food about 5 years back, when we landed in the UK. I loved it. The tapas, the Sangria, the paella..all good. It was a completely new experience, trying out these small portioned dishes which you doubt would be enough but would nicely fill you up. Oh and the variety of cured meats, that was quite an eye opener. Chorizo was my favourite out of them all for quite some time. It was only after a while that I kind of got the hang of the other cured meats.

The Cinco Jotas Pure Iberico Breed Acorn Fed Ham falls under this category- a class apart and a masterpiece of its own. Its production began way back in 1879 in Jabugo by experts whose mission was to produce the best quality of meat, a tradition they continue even now so us foodies in the 21st century can enjoy this gorgeous ham. A lot of care goes into the diet and breeding of the Pure Breed Iberico pigs and this results in the worlds best quality ham. Talking about flavours, it is very unique and reminds you of acorns and other nuts. They have a high amount of Omega 9 oleic acid (yes the good kind, if you must know) and contains a whole lot more antioxidants than other hams. 

October 12th was Spain's National Day and to celebrate this in style, Cinco Jotas has released a couple of interesting mini master classes with renowned Michelin three starred chef Pedra Subijana of Akelarre restaurant in San Sabastian. The videos show some of the most interesting ways to enjoy the ham and I sure cant wait to get my hands on some. Do check out these videos, and you'd get an idea about how much fun tapas dishes are- both to make and to eat.

Enjoy!

This is a sponsored post for Cinco Jotas, but all thoughts are my own.

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Dum ka murgh (slow cooked chicken curry)

Posting a chicken curry after a really really long time. Some of us BB-ians realised it was National Curry Week and decided to do a curry post together. Of course its the last day of the event, but better late than never right? 

I love a good chicken curry. In fact its my favourite past time to keep browsing the internet for new chicken curry recipes and bookmarking every one of them that comes my way. I have a few delicious favourites, which keep making its way through to our tables, but never to the blog because I find photographing any sort of curry incredibly difficult. I keep taking pictures each time I make a nice curry, but then they never look nice. Its mostly the styling, which I'm stuck with.

Which is why, I was pleasantly surprised at how these pictures turned out. I had initially put the curry in a brown bowl and the colour combinations just didn't work. I was all ready to give up, when I thought I'll try it in the beautiful blue bowl which I'd picked up from this gorgeous Polish pottery store called Blue Dot Pottery. The red curry worked well with the blue pottery and it was a pleasure working with that set up. Half of my worries are over if I manage to get the styling right, which brings me to the Bloggers' Buzz Photography Club (#BBPC) which we run every month. We get together in a central London location, do a couple of food photography exercises and learn from each other. If you are not in London, then you can of course join us online where we'd give a theme a month. Email us at bloggersbuzzuk@gmail.com if you want to give it a go. We are all amateurs trying to learn a thing or two about food photography, so please don't feel intimidated. All you need is a camera and some food to shoot :)

I have tasted dum ka murgh at various restaurants and it wasn't really a big hit with me. I am not claiming this is the best curry I've ever had, but surely one of the nicer ones. It pairs well with naans and parathas and the good thing about this recipe (sans the frying of onions) is how you don't need to saute various ingredients at various stages etc, but just add the chicken, close with a tight lid and let it cook in its own juices. 

Recipe adapted from here and here

 

Chicken- 500 gms with bones, cleaned and cut into medium pieces

Oil- enough to fry

Onions- 2 medium, finely chopped

Cinnamon stick- 1 inch

Cardamom pods- 2

Cloves- 2

Whole peppercorn- 4

Green chillies- 2 slit (optional)

To marinate

Yoghurt- 1/4 cup

Almond powder- 3 tbsp (grind with some water to make a paste)

Garam masala- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

Tomato ketchup/ paste- 1 tbsp (I used ketchup)

Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Mint leaves- 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Ginger paste- 1/2 tbsp

Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp

Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions till golden brown and crispy. You need to keep stirring this at intervals, so it fries evenly. Also make sure you don't burn it.

Drain on paper towels and keep aside.

In a large bowl, mix together all the marinade ingredients.

Crush the fried onions, reserving about a tbsp of it, and add to the marinade. Mix well.

Add the chicken and thoroughly rub in the marinade. Keep covered in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When ready to cook, heat the remaining oil (from frying) and throw in the spices and green chilli. Sauté till it gets all fragrant.

Add the marinated chicken and fry in the oil for a couple of minutes.

Cover with a tight fitting lid, reduce heat to medium and cook the chicken for about 20 minutes.

Check once or twice in between to give it a quick mix and if you feel that the water is really less, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, mix well and continue cooking with the lid closed.

Do a taste test and check if salt levels are good and if the chicken is cooked. 

The curry is ready when you see a thin layer of oil that's separated from the gravy.

Garnish with the remaining fried onions and some coriander leaves just before serving.

Notes: I did the mistake of adding the almond powder on its own without grinding it to a paste and so kept getting the grainy texture in the gravy. Not pleasant, so make sure you grind it.

Its not spicy at all, so add more green chilli/ chilli powder if needed.

Add a dash of cream at the end, just before taking it off heat for some extra richness.

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Sponsored video: Fairtrade and the 'Finding Hannah' competition

Ro and I are hardcore coffee drinkers..well me more than him. I NEED my cup of coffee first thing in the morning and its not funny how grumpy I get when I haven't got my caffeine kick.

Talking about coffee, I'm sure you have noticed the Fairtrade stamp on a lot of the coffee packs. I buy my coffee from  a local supermarket and I'm proud to say that, although not intentional, the coffee I buy is Fairtrade. The Fairtrade Foundation is a non-profit organisation that aims at helping producers in developing countries to enjoy better trading conditions. Their main focus is to tackle poverty and help farmers and workers attain a sustainable price for the products they sell, thereby improving their quality of life and securing their futures. The Fairtrade mark on products mean they comply to the rules and regulations as per Fairtrade standards, and so the next time you are out shopping for coffee, cocoa, sugar etc, make sure you look out for the Fairtrade stamp and support them.

The Finding Hannah campaign aims at creating awareness about fair trading to the general masses. The first episode shows comedian Tony Law roaming around a supermarket trying to talk to shoppers about what Fairtrade means. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally gets 'actor' Hannah (who is a Fairtrade novice) to play the part and sets off with her to show her what choosing Fairtrade coffee really means. Watch the second episode from the series to see what they are up to now.

And before you log off, don't forget to enter the "Finding Hannah" competition wherein you have to guess which location Hannah was whisked off to, and if you're lucky, you'll win a trip there for two. Watch the episodes carefully and you'll be able to gather some hints and clues. Good luck!

This is a sponsored post for Fairtrade Foundation, but all thoughts are my own

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Oeufs en cocotte (eggs in pots) and Paris in pictures

When the husband ditched me on my dream trip to the vineyards of Burgundy region, I was really upset. I whined about it to my friends and suddenly a plan materialised. Ananda and Finla decided to join me and emails started flying back and forth with Paris holiday plans. Its high time I accepted the sad fact that the husband and I have completely different ideas of a holiday, which is good, because then you are not forced to do things we don't like. The practical thing to do would be to meet half way and decide on something we both enjoy, but that's lot of work apparently!

I have been in UK for 5 years and have wanted to travel around Europe ever since we came here. I always felt bad for broaching the topic to Ro because I was unemployed and it didn't feel right. Now that I have started working, I think I can start paying for my holidays and it feels great to be able to do that. Thanks to my blog, I have friends who are equally enthusiastic about travelling and food and it makes the holiday even more fun. I spent 3 fabulous days with the girls and we plan on making this an annual ordeal. Greece is up next and I am going to start saving for it right away.

Our plan was to do a bit of sightseeing, but trying out all the French food we whipped up for the blog, and have become so familiar with, was priority. We also wanted to check out some of the famous cook shops in Paris, known for the copper vessels and pastry making utensils and go crazy there. The vineyard trip was on the list, but we couldn't make it because travelling there without a car was slightly difficult (and expensive) and so it was replaced with another day out in Paris. 

Highlight of the trip was the amazing dinner we had at a quaint French restaurant which Finla found after loads of research. Reservations were made and I cant tell you how glorious the food was. I think I'll never forget the food I had there. After a bottle of wine and some cocktails, we stumbled back to the hotel past midnight and yapped away, till we no longer could keep our eyes open. Day 2 was relaxed since the vineyard trip was cancelled and so we took it easy and generally roamed around some markets and streets and also went up the Eiffel tower. Day 3 was spent at the numerous cook shops and we went crazy seeing all the cooking utensils there. They were expensive so we had to choose and select what we really needed. I can still see Finla's excitement at having bought authentic canele moulds- copper ones at that- which would be like a family heirloom :)  We also wanted to check out the famous Sabre Paris store but Monday was their day off (which we painfully found out only after visiting 2 locations) and so that didn't work out, much to Ananda's disappointment as she was planning to go crazy with prop shopping there ;)

In all honesty, Paris failed to amaze me with regard to the city. Its beautiful alright, but when you actually travel around like the locals you'd see that the metros are terribly dirty, smelly and the number of homeless people sleeping in the stations and people begging were scary. Food, I must admit was fabulous- the crepes, the croissants, the pastries and the wines would never be forgotten. I didn't think it was crazy expensive but of course it depends on where you eat. If you stay clear of the touristy areas (which we decided we would) you wont be bankrupt. I found the French people very very helpful, We'd be standing on the pavement with our maps open and there would be passers-by who would tell us how to get to a place. They'd correct the way we were pronouncing names and generally strike up a conversation. This would have usually irritated me (me not being social and all), but when you are in a foreign country, it somehow makes a difference. 

Back to reality after 3 great days, and dreaming of our next trip to Greece. Thanks girls for coming to my rescue when I was down in the dumps and making it a memorable holiday. 

Hotel de Ville (the local administrative office)

Notre-Dame de Paris - perfect example of French Gothic architecture

'Love Lock' Bridge

River Siene

We picked up a few macarons from Laduree, my favourite being the pink peppercorn.

Of course we checked out rival Pierre Herme as well. I must say, I preferred L'aduree better

Jardin du Luxembourg where we enjoyed our macarons. Of course we only saw the main fountain area.

Dinner was at this fabulous restaurant called Chez Toinette where we had the most amazing French food. Started off with snails (which were yum) and Oeufs en cocotte and went on to the famous Boeuf Bourguignon, Steak au poivre with Potato Dauphinoise and Sea bass with olive oil and thyme

Dessert was of course Creme Brulee at another restaurant (which was not really up to mark)

Day 2 started off with a visit to a farmers market

Breakfast was freshly baked croissants and coffee

Fell in love with the balconies

Eiffel..soaring high. I thought it was a bit over rated. In fact when i saw it from afar I thought it was the BT Tower (like we have in London)
My dream of kissing a guy under the Eiffel Tower is yet to come true. ONE DAY!!! :)

Le Louvre, I thought, was another one of those over rated places, but boy was I wrong. The mere magnificence of the exterior had me floored. I'm kicking myself for not having spent a day at the museum. Next time!

The French Onion Soup which was not that fab, but I HAD to give it a go.

Oeufs en cocotte (eggs in pots) (Recipe adapted from Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking). Serves 1

Butter- 1/2 tsp
Double cream- 2 tbsp
Egg- 1 (or 2)
Salt and pepper to taste
A ramekin that is 3 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high
An pan containing water

Pre heat oven to 187C.
Take a bit of butter and grease the ramekin
Pour in 1 tbsp of double cream into the ramekin and place into the pan containing simmering water over moderate heat.
When the cream is hot, break the egg into it and pour in the remaining tbsp of double cream over the egg.
top with the remaining butter and chuck into the oven along with the pan of water.
Cook for about 7 to 10 minutes..
Its done when the egg is set but still a bit wobbly. Make sure you don't over cook the egg, or else it would turn hard. (which of course I managed to do)
Take it out of the oven but leave he egg in the water bath for about 7 to 8 more minutes after which you can season, add some herbs and enjoy.

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