December’s Favorite – Clear Tomato Soup

December is one month we should all take advantage of Nature's bounty in baskets of red tomatoes everywhere.

But you will need only four large hothouse tomatoes for four cups of this Clear Tomato Soup. A delightful soul food I have grown up on. I don’t garnish the clear broth of tomato with croutons or elaborate herbs if I am drinking it straight from a cup, but if you do want to dress it up, I suggest herbs like fresh basil or even the humble coriander to be added only when you turn the heat off on the soup.

Ingredients for Clear Tomato Soup are:

4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, washed and quartered
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
2 beets (optional), halved
3-4 fat cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt

In a pressure cooker, toss in the tomatoes, garlic, beets, onion, pepper powder, sugar and salt. Add four-five cups of water. (I add the beets for an extra red color to my broth, if you don’t have them, omit them from your recipe.)

Cook till three-four whistles go off. Don’t rush opening the pressure cooker, let all the steam release on its own. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook the tomatoes in a stockpot with a tight lid on medium heat for about 20 minutes till the tomatoes are mushy.

Sieve the broth on a larger bowl, mashing the tomato mixture with a ladle to strain all the juices out. Check the seasoning, and adjust accordingly. Stir in a little butter and pour into mugs or soup bowls. Serve hot.

These mugs of Clear Tomato Soup are perfect for a cold snap. Let it snow then, my hands and soul will remain warm thus.

Bacon and Egg Pots

There are some things that I can only fantasize about. Like breakfast in bed. But what is possible though is I let someone else make my breakfast. My trusted oven! And see how.

Ingredients for Bacon and Egg Pots are:

Strips of bacon, 3-4 for each ramekin
1-2 eggs per each person
Finely chopped fresh parsley or chives
Sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper
Half teaspoon butter

Throw the bacon strips in a skillet and cook till they are dark pink in color, but not crisp. Drain them on paper towels.

Line each ramekin with a little butter on your fingers. Place one or two strips of bacon at the base and another on the sides, making a “ bacon cup” inside the ramekin.

Crack an egg or two over the bacon base. Crack some black pepper over it.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place all the ramekins on a water bath and bake for 15-18 minutes or unless the eggs are set and the whites visible.

Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or chives and serve with slices of bread, OJ, chai or coffee.

Crawl back in bed with your tray of breakfast and enjoy! Looks like breakfast in bed is possible after all.

More breakfast ideas are here.

Oven-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

There is nothing more fun than the times someone else cooks for you. This time it was my obedient oven.

I usually make oven-roasted chicken when all my other dinner ideas run dry. Its healthy and wholesome and doesn't need much supervision either.

I will first list out the ingredients for my chicken roast and then the steps.

Ingredients for Oven-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables are:

1 whole chicken, skin on, without giblets (about 1.5 kg)
Unsalted butter
Half teaspoon dried rosemary
Half teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper powder
Salt

1 medium red onion, cut into quarters
Handful of green beans, halved
Baby potatoes, skin on and halved
2-3 carrots, diced
Cloves of garlic

You can even use mushrooms, cauliflowers and seasonal root vegetables.

Truss your chicken. We don’t want Miss Chicken spreading her wings and legs while she is being roasted. That’s very unbecoming of ladies!

Mix the butter, dried herbs, pepper and salt. The idea here is to get under the skin of Miss Chicken. Take little portions of the rub, with your fingers, find edges, nooks and corners under the skin of the chicken and gently rub the butter mixture on. This will keep the chicken moist.

Once the insides are nicely stuffed, rub the same mixture all over the chicken from the outside.

Make a bed of vegetables on your baking dish and place Miss Chicken on top!

Pre-heat the oven to 425° F. I start with my chicken chest down, back up when I am roasting. Once the oven has fired up a bit, I reduce the temperature to 350!

I keep turning the sides after every 15 minutes. The idea is to get the breast side up when I finish. Its as if Miss Chicken is experimenting with different sleeping positions!

It takes about an hour and change to finish roasting the chicken. Poke a fork in the chicken to see if the juices run clear, that’s the sign of a cooked chicken. The melted butter and juices from the chicken will add a lot of flavor to the bed of vegetables.

Let the chicken stand for about 10 minutes before you carve and serve.

I served my oven-roasted chicken with the juicy vegetables and slices of fresh bread.

Bombay Pav Bhaji

No one needs a recipe for Pav Bhaji. Not if you have watched that neighborhood Pav Bhaji wala when you were a kid.

I do not know any traditional recipe for Pav Bhaji, what I do is make this quick meal with the MDH Pav Bhaji Masala, a spice mix available (here too) in Indian grocery stores. I have grown to love the bhaji (vegetable mishmash) tasting of Amul Butter, something that I miss in my Pav Bhaji here. Sadly no Indian stores shelf this brand of butter, which is a legend in India. A butter-eating Indian will bow down to the name of Amul.

But this post is not about my nostalgia or the things missing in my pantry here. Its about Pav Bhaji, just in case you did not get the drift.

For my Bombay Pav Bhaji, I chopped up vegetables like green beans, green bell pepper, green onions, green peas, cauliflower, few cloves of garlic, half a red onion, some fresh coriander. But that’s not the end. I think I will just stop feeling lazy after that bellyful of Pav Bhaji dinner and go ahead and write my recipe out for you.

Ingredients for Bombay Pav Bhaji are:

For the Bhaji:

3-4 medium size potatoes, peeled and boiled
Half cup diced cauliflower
Half cup green beans, chopped
Half cup green onions, chopped
Half cup red onions, chopped
Half cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 juicy red tomatoes, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 green chilies, chopped fine
Quarter cup coriander, finely chopped
Half cup green peas/ frozen or fresh
One cup spinach, roughly chopped
Lemon juice
MDH Pav Bhaji Masala
Butter (Amul if you are in India)
Salt

Boil together cauliflower, beans, onions, bell pepper, garlic, peas, chilies, tomatoes and spinach. I start by the hardy vegetables and add the peas and spinach only towards the end.

While the vegetables are getting cooked, I mash the boiled potatoes lightly and add them.
Give it a good mix and add salt.

Once, the vegetables are cooked. Add the Pav Bhaji Masala and chopped coriander, stirring to mix well. Cook for another 5-7 minutes to take care of the raw taste of the Masala.

Adjust the taste and add a big dollop of butter to the bhaji. Turn the heat off and add lemon juice.

For the Pav:

Small buns
Butter

I used small hamburger buns and tossed them in butter to get a nice caramelization on the sides.

Serve the buttered buns with the bhaji. I usually chop some red onions and drench them in lemon juice and garnish my bhaji with it.

I also sneak in a small dollop of butter on my bhaji.
  

How do you like your Pav Bhaji?

With extra butter…

I hear my inner voice say.