Seduction on a Plate

Have you ever wondered how these self-announced culinary goddesses look absolutely ravishing in their kitchen spaces, day after day, show after show. Not a strand of hair out of place, not even a laughter line showing. They look sexy with their mouths full and their bodies look as if they stopped growing after 16! Nigella Lawson of course is an exception.

They have come-hither looks, husky voices, manicured nails, and botoxed assets as kitchen arsenals. I wonder how all their cook wares look so shiny (must be the sponsors!), stovetops spotless, kitchens gorgeous, pantries full and people like you and me eating out off their palms. Well, almost.

I know I am no Nigella or Giada, not even shortcut queen -Rachel Ray. But sometimes away from public eye, I pretend to be one. Yes, I convince myself that I am the domestic diva who can whip out meal after meal everyday, sometimes twice a day! Though its another story that a lot of the times, I spill, overcook, follow recipe books, make frantic calls to the mother, serve leftovers, or conveniently order take out.

Till about a few years ago, I even used to talk to myself, pretending I was hosting some food show. Well, that delusion hasn’t stopped altogether. Except that now, I also have a camera in my kitchen. I am also contemplating about shedding my PJs and slipping into fashionable clothes, curling up my hair and batting mascaraed eyelashes the next time I step inside my kitchen. Some day soon. Very soon. Till then, keep coming back to check on me and my un-sexy home cooked meals.

Today I made my usual, to-be-patented winter staple of clear tomato soup and served with croutons made of French baguette and Spanish Chorizo sausages. They paired well with a light salad made of baby spinach, arugula, red cabbage, sliced avocado, red bell pepper, generous shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a good drizzle of EVOO (just the way Rachel Ray says it!). For the uninitiated, EVOO is Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you cannot find baguette, take any long-thin bread and make even slices of it, preferably with a serrated knife. Drizzle olive oil. Slice the sausages too to fit on the bread.

Preheat your oven to 350°F, and leave the breads to turn into golden, crusty croutons topped with melt-in-the-mouth sausages.


For the salad I just tossed in everything at the very last minute and served in individual bowls with freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, a dash of extra virgin olive oil, few squirts of lemon juice and some black pepper straight from the pepper mill.

Seared Shrimps and Parsley Couscous Salad

This meal is for one of those days when you can just sit back and relax and do the prep work and the meal right when you are about to eat. It is also good for bachelor nights.

First the Parsley Couscous Salad, which is of course Mediterranean-inspired.

Ingredients for Parsley Couscous Salad are:

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
1 firm tomato, very finely chopped
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
1 cup cooked couscous ( I use the Israeli variety)
Lemon juice
Fresh cracked black pepper
Salt
EVOO

Mix everything together except the salt and couscous and keep in the fridge. Just before you are about to eat, mix the couscous and salt and serve. Well, I haven’t written a shorter recipe than this. So…

As a last minute thought, I added some pomegranate leftover from the Fresh Fruit and Cream Cake. And the salad looked very Middle Eastern!

That being taken care of I just about had time to get my shrimps seared on my flat tava.

Ingredients for Seared Shrimps are:

400 grams shrimps, shelled, deveined and tail on
4-5 fat cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 teaspoons dry herb of your choice, I used oregano
Lemon juice
Freshly cracked pepper
Olive oil
Salt

Poke the shrimps on wooden skewers and keep them lined up. Remember to throw the bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes so that they don’t char or break in the heat.

Heat a tava or a flat skillet. Add little drizzles of oil, and the minced garlic. Sauté for a minute making sure not to brown the garlic. Add the dried herb. Mix.

Place the shrimps-on-skewers over the spices and let them sear on high heat. Turn the skewers midway. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Remove the skewers from heat when you see the shrimps turning pink in color and curling up. It takes about 5-6 minutes to do the shrimps.

Finish the Seared Shrimps with a squirt of lemon juice.

All this under 30 minutes! I could give Rachel Ray a run for her money. Is anybody listening?

Baptism To Biryani

Some people may cringe at this shortcut (chicken) Biryani I make. Which I admit wholeheartedly, I do often.

But do not look down upon this Chicken Biryani unless you have a more viable option for a very eager 16-year-old. Okay, I am not 16 anymore. But this Biryani still holds fond memories for me.

From making instant two minutes noodles (which actually honestly take about five!) to innovative omelettes, my jump to more high ranking cooking happened with this Chicken Biryani.

My Mum was travelling for work and the two of us, actually make that two and a half – my father, little sister and me were left on our own – heating and eating the bowls of curries and daals my Mum had made and refrigerated. We also looked up to our domestic help when the bowls needed a refill!

Clearly, even when I was all confused about grade 10 Physics, my thoughts about food were fuzz-free.  I quickly elbowed Bali didi from the kitchen after a couple of meals of brilliantly boring anda curry and sagging cabbage tarkari.

Hence my culinary christening with this Chicken Biryani should be treated as a great achievement and ought to be mentioned in the Book of All Things Great and Good!
Someone in Calcutta who ardently follows my Blog called this- Biryani for Dummies. But there is nothing variously dumb about the clever layering of chicken and rice with caramelized slivered onions and boiled eggs.

Now back to the Chicken Biryani recipe. This requires you to make chicken curry – just like this.

The rice for the Biryani is quite simple to do too. Toss cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, black cumin, star anise and bay leaf in ghee and fry the rice. Add a little pinch of grated nutmeg, season with salt and cook with enough water. Drain the rice on a colander and sprinkle saffron strands soaked in a couple of teaspoons of milk and cover.

This entry-level Biryani gets a lot of its taste from crisply fried onions, which are used in between layers of rice and chicken.
Now comes the “assembly” part of this meal. Start with a base layer of the saffron rice and follow it up with chicken, caramelized onions, slices of boiled eggs, very finely chopped coriander and pieces of green chilies slit lengthwise. 
The best way to trap all the flavors and present this Biryani is to have rice as the base and the top layers. Garnish the rice with fried onions, eggs, green chilies and chopped coriander.
Heat before you eat. Cut slices of this chicken biryani and serve with raita or garden salad.
Whoever looked down on this Chicken Biryani shall now stand in the sidelines and drool. By the way, I think looking down with my Canon and taking top shots was a good idea!

Make It Tonight

I am always looking out for ideas and inspirations for dinner. Most nights I have what is proverbially a chef’s block.

Yesterday’s dinner was about quickly putting a meal together with some inspirations peeping out from the fridge (remember those black olives and the remaining couscous?) and some fresh white mushrooms and pork tenderloin.

After a rain-drenched afternoon, the idea of a hot soup was all too comforting and the soup of the evening ended up in a bowl of Cream of Mushroom Soup, actually my first time in making a mushroom soup. Nothing fancy, just some unsalted butter melted in a pan and the chopped red onion sautéed in it. Adding flour little by little, so as not to form clumps and then tossing in all that freshly chopped mushrooms. A simple seasoning of salt and pepper and some drizzle of heavy cream. Isn't that the most easy thing to do and under 20 minutes – prep to cook time!
Did you know in Chinese culture its okay to slurp your soup? So curl your stiff upper lip and s-l-u-rrrrrrrr-p.

Oil has always been a cause of worry for everyone whether its deep water or dietary. I have had many anxious moments each time I have wiped off oily fingers from biting on to that chicken or fish finger. Well, this variation of “fingers” made with some lean pork tenderloin may just quell your calorie-intake worries.

Cut thin strips of any meat that you choose – fish, chicken or pork work best. Dust them with corn starch and sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Dip them in an egg batter and roll them in bread crumbs. This is where you don’t turn them into unhealthy chunks of meat. We throw them in the oven at 350 °C with TWO teaspoons oil drizzled over them and bake each side till they turn golden brown. It usually takes about 20-25 minutes.

I made a yogurty version of the mustard-honey dip to go with the Pork Fingers.

Mix together plain yogurt, honey and old style wholegrain mustard. Enliven the taste of your Pork Fingers with this sweet-tangy dip!

 
After a soup and a starter, I went ahead and did a room-temperature couscous salad with pomegranate, broiled corn kernels, garden greens and that one leftover sprig of basil.   This is the freshest a Moroccan-inspired Couscous Salad can get. Toss everything together in a large bowl with the already cooked couscous, throw in a handful of very finely chopped red onion, some garden greens, kalamata olives, torn basil leaves and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add EVOO, salt and white pepper. Serve.

Some things in life are simple. And it never hurts if its this easy.

So what’s your meal plan for tonight?