For the Love of Food

I am sharing the summery of teachings from my two favorite chefs in the world

Chef Ramesh Chaturvedi, God if I may call him ..... Chef Gerard D'souza ... Godfather if I may call him

they taught me to trust my instinct and here is what I learn

I always tell people bring honesty into your food...

Good cooking starts with the heart...

Use all ur senses... good food should not only taste good .... It should look good, smell good, feel good(texture crunch etc) , sound good (sizzle, crispness , crunch ) and then taste...
The food that satiates all the sense buds is way better digested..

Besides cooking savor all your food ... eat in small bites.... chew each bite well so flavors are released...

In cooking, use different textures.... sometimes even different temperatures... add variety to the palette .... If you are combining colorful ingredients .. plan it in a way that your cooking looks like a bouquet of delights .

In all love what u do to your food....  cause it will talk ... some times more than words 

Chatpati Amrood Ki Sabzi ...

Navratras are approaching real soon .... and i would like to share a childhood favorite and a wonderfully delicious dish to  eat during navratri...

In Navratri we cannot consume the following items as a fast

Any Cereal ( wheat / rice / pulses)
Common salt - replaced by pink salt (sendha namak )
Any garam masalas 
Onions
Garlic
Mustard


I will be sharing more Navratra recipes on and off for next few days and I hope you will like it.

I shared this recipe on Radio One 94.3 FM with RJ Arvind in his show Arvind's Kitchen.

Ingredients 

2 large guavas ( less ripe) diced

1 tsp ghee 

1 tsp grated ginger 

2 green chilies chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric 

1 tbsp coriander powder

2 tsp kashmiri chili powder 

1 tsp Raw Mango Powder ( amchoor ) 

1/2 cup yogurt 

Chopped coriander leaves (optional ) 

Salt to taste 

Pepper to taste 

1 tsp Sugar 

1 cup water 

Heat Ghee in a pan and temper with ginger and green chilies and saute till golden 

Add the dry ingredients namely chili, coriander, raw mango powder, turmeric, salt, sugar, pepper 

saute for a few seconds 

Add guava dices and water and saute for a few mins and cook covered for 15 mins

The guavas will go soft and the water with thicken ad evaporate. make sure that the skin of the guava isn't green any more 

Add yogurt and turn off the gas for some time ... switch on again after 5 mins and simmer till oil appears on the edges. This will prevent the yogurt from curdling. 

Please leave your feedback in the comments 

Bon Appetit The Cafe

Dear Friends,

Besides writing this blog, I run two cafes by the name of Bon Appetit - The Cafe and we have introduced a few new dishes on the menu just uploading the pictures here

Special thankyou to Poorna for giving her expert advice and critiquing our new dishes.... the link to her review is given below.  She has a fantastic blog and I recommend her for her knowledge of food and her eye for detail.

http://presentedbyp.blogspot.in/2013/09/psst-bon-appetit-has-new-menu.html

Banoffee - The Diet Killer

There are few things that are good for health, and few that are not... and some that should not be classified. Just cheat on your diet for heavens sake. Banoffee for a layman is BANANA + TOFFEE. and to make it more sinful i put these in my Rich Chocolate Cake and Guess what .... the entire thing takes only twenty-five minutes to make.

Eggless cake ( microwave )

Condensed milk ½ tin

Milk ½ cup

½ cup oil

4 tbsp powdered sugar

100g maida

25 g Cocoa Powder 

½ tsp soda bi card

1 tsp baking powder

Vanilla essence few drops

• Sift dry ingredients together
• Blend sugar , condensed milk and oil together till thick
• Blend in the milk and vanilla essence
• Slowly mix in the dry ingredients
• Bake in a microwave proof dish  for 5 -6 min that has been lined with butter and dusted with flour 
• Let is rest for 5 min 

FOR LAYERING 

4 bananas sliced 

Butter 1 tbs

honey 2 tbsp 

chocolate sauce 1/2 cup

butterscotch sauce 1/2 cup

cinnamon powder 1 tsp 

Whipped cream 100 g 

• cut the sponge cake into two 
• leave to cool under a fan 
• heat butter in a pan and add honey and saute for 1 min till it begins to caramelize
• add bananas and saute for a few seconds and add cinnamon powder
• cool for a few mins and start layering as follows  

1. bottom half of the chocolate cake

2. half the whipped cream 

3. bananas 

4. half the chocolate sauce 

5. half the butter scotch sauce 

6. second half of the cake 

7. remaining cream 

8. remaining chocolate sauce and butterscotch sauce 

Chill the cake for a few hours before serving 

P.s. Layering can be done in a Pie crust and be called a banoffee pie 

Five Spice... The Magic Powder

Most People who use five spice powder know it as a flavoring that masks that meaty flavor of pork and duck. The origins of five spice come from the southern China where the roasts and braises are very popular. mostly used as a dry rub but it can also be used for some amazing stir fries.

The main ingredients of a 5 spice powder are as follows:

Pepper

Fennel Seeds 

Cinnamon 

Star Anise 

Cloves 

For braises one can also add some dried mandarin orange peel as well 

I usually like to pair it with bean sprouts as it really compliments the wild grassy flavor of bean sprouts. Sharing a recipe that has always been a hit for all my health conscious friends 

 Stir fried Bean Sprouts with five Spice

Bean Sprouts 2 cups

Sliced onions 1 nos

Spring onion ½ cup

Fried garlic 1 tsp

5 spice powder 1 tsp

Assorted bell peppers 1 cup

Lemon 1 nos juice and rind

Chili oil 1 tsp

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

Msg 

Oyster mushroom sauce 1 tsp

• Heat chili oil and sauté onion and bell pepper
• Add the seasonings and the sauce and 5 spice
• Toss the bean sprouts finish with few drops of lemon juice and lemon rind

Hope all the people on a diet will not have any complains now... Some diet food can even make people jealous. 

Apple Cinnamon Muffin

There is a barrage of cup cake makers in the market, to the extent that people have stopped focusing on the cake bit of the cup cake. considering how easy it is to make a muffin i find it lame to go buy a dry piece of sponge smothered in artificial color and sugar. Giving u a recipe of a muffin that can be used as a cup cake base too and is moist even 3 days after baking it. 

This can be topped with a white chocolate ganache as shown in the pic and decorated with sprinklers as well 

Apple Cinnamon Muffin

  

Apples 180g (grated)

Eggs 2 nos

Oil 75 ml

Sugar 120g ( powdered)

Flour 110g

Cinnamon powder 1 tsp

Green apple Crush 1 tbsp 

Baking powder ¼  tsp

Soda bicarb ¼  tsp

Salt – a pinch

Raisins 50 g (optional) 

Almonds 15 pcs chopped

• Mix in all dry ingredients together in a large bowl 
• Add the egg and oil and blend into a smooth paste with a fork don't over beat 
• mix in the green apple crush 
• Add the apples and the dry  fruits
• spoon in cup cake liners
• Baked for 25 minutes at 180 degrees celcuis

Seafood Pancakes..

Pan cakes or in this case griddle cakes to most are honey dripping butter oozing mouthfuls of goodness. On the other hand with just a few modifications one can make a really interesting party dish which is savory and sinful and not to forget super easy to cook. Bringing to you a dish that I love cooking when ever I am making a nice meal for people who don't quite like the Indian food palette. Here goes ...

Pancake Batter

250 cream cheese

100ml milk

120 g Refined Flour (Maida)

2 eggs

Baking powder

Oil or butter for grilling

• Separate the eggs
• Whisk the cheese and egg yolk together till light and fluffy
• Whist the egg whites till light and fluffy forming soft peaks. Keep Aside
• Beat the milk into the batter removing any lumps
• Sift the flour and gently fold in the batter.
• Softly mix in the fluffy egg whites
• Add baking powder
• Grill them till golden 

Seafood Filling 

Shrimps ( peeled deveined ) 100g

Diced Basa 100g

Chopepd onion 2 nos 

chopped garlic 1 tbsp 

chopped chives  tbsp 

chopped celery 1 tbsp 

olive oil 2 tsp 

salt

pepper

sugar

• Heat the olive oil and saute the seafood and keep aside
• In the same pan add remaining ingredients and saute till they are all soft and change colour 
• add the seafood back and sprinkle some white wine and cook till the moisture is dried out 

Layer the pancakes with the sea food top with either a basic white sauce or a basic tomato sauce (pasta sauce ) if u like it tangy 

Tip: I never throw away celery leaves, as when soaked in water they get nice and bright and crunchy. They make a lovely garnish .