THE RECIPE LARDER

Cheese Toast

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Cheese toast with Cucumbers, onions and green chillies

Cheese toast with Cucumbers, onions and green chillies

Whats so special about cheese toast? For me — very special, because my grandmom used to make it the minute I entered her house. It was my absolute favourite and I still have it when I need some comforting.

Why is it special for you? Because it’s not just a cheese toast. It is many other things clinging to the cheese. Cucumbers, onion, green chillies….

My grandmom (Nani) was an amazing cook. Hell- she was an amazing lady. We lost her a few years ago, and that hole will never fill up. But the memories now make me smile and laugh and sometimes shed a tear or two. Always perfectly coiffured, immaculately dressed, Nani taught me everything I seem to know to survive and exist.

my perfect grand mom

my perfect grandmom and me

She decided she must perfect her English, so she grabbed hold of a teacher and started reading and understanding books I would not read unless I had an exam on it. She borrowed some money from her husband, learnt how to dabble in stocks, and struck gold. Then she decided she should help the underprivileged kids for education, so she opened an NGO, which now runs 2 schools and 1 vocational training centre. We used to get sweets as treats every year when the school results were declared.

When I made the cheese toast recently, the smell emanating from the oven, gave me a huge wave of nostalgia. I was thrown back into her house where I practically grew up.

open cheese toast

open cheese toast

The heavenly very soothing and reassuring fragrance of my favourite food, unlimited coke, my Nani’s gorgeous smile, those days spent learning how to walk, speak, garden, just about everything that a kid needs to feel loved and wanted. I know she is with me, when I cook when I eat and when I hug my loved ones.

my nani's special cheese toast

my nani’s special cheese toast

I make many of her recipes, but this one has a special place in my heart. It can be a complete meal on its own, or just pair it with soup- serve it as an appetiser. However, you use it – don’t forget to derive comfort from the melting cheese and crunchy cucumbers and onion as it hits your palate.

And Hey!! Go hug your grandmom right now!! Life is full of small pleasures!

cheese toast

cheese toast

 

 

Cheese Toast
Print Recipe
Melting cheese with a heavy dose of cucumbers and love.
Servings Prep Time
2 slices 10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Servings Prep Time
2 slices 10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Cheese Toast
Print Recipe
Melting cheese with a heavy dose of cucumbers and love.
Servings Prep Time
2 slices 10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Servings Prep Time
2 slices 10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Ingredients
Servings: slices
Instructions
  1. Slater the bread slices with butter and keep aside
  2. Pre heat oven to 150 Deg C
  3. Grate cucumber and squeeze out the water.
  4. Chop onions finely.
  5. Add all ingredients together and give it a good mix.
  6. Spread the cheese mix on the toast and bake in hot oven till cheese melts.
  7. Cut into squares and serve hot with ketchup or chilli sauce.
Recipe Notes

You can increase or decrease the spice level to your liking, but don't do away with it altogether.

Enjoy!

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Italian Tomato Sauce

By 2 Comments

 

italian tomato sauce

Apologies about the link —- this is the corrected version.

———————————————————————————————————————

I am super super excited about this recipe. It’s complicated (a little bit!) but it looked so brilliant. I saw a version of this on a cooking channel and I got up from my chair, headed to my bar, collected the vodka, (yup! It has Vodka!!) and all the ingredients and started making it, changing a little bit of the recipe here and there.

After 15 minutes into cooking, the fragrance wafting from the kitchen to the rest of the house drew many of the family members and a few neighbours into our kitchen. I tell you I am on my knees, worshipping this sauce.

It’s a thick sauce. Really thick. It’s not to be had on its own (but you might finish a lot of it while tasting it – I warn you!). You will have to mix it with some stock water, hell even mixing it in the water used to cook pasta lends it an amazing flavour.

Use it as a pizza base, as a base for Bruschetta, in a salad! Just make it, creative ideas will flow in.

I don’t want you to read all these descriptions and explanations. What I want you to do is get hold of all the ingredients and start making it. Let the family members walk in with appreciative sniffs and exclamations. Keep them waiting, and then hit them with a pasta made from this recipe. Lie back and bask in the glory!

PS: There is one very important thing that you have to follow, that’s – the instructions. There will be times while making the recipe you might think I am joking or that I have lost my mind. Have faith. I am very serious when I say what I say, and I am very sane and going to wait for your comments after you have made this recipe. You can advocate my sanity.

Without more blah blah – here is the recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce.

PS _AGAIN__and here is the link to the video —–

A shout out to my school friends who always have my back — hey there girls 🙂

Thanks to Brinda – for helping me with this video.

 

Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat a heavy bottomed non stick pan. Add olive oil and butter. Olive oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Let the butter melt
  2. Add garlic and saute till it's a bit brown. Take out the garlic and keep it aside.
  3. Add 1 1/2 tubes of tomato paste to the hot oil/ butter mix. DO NOT STIR. I kid you not - DO NOT STIR!! Just see to it that the paste is completely submerged in the oil.
  4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes in med/ high flame.
  5. Add Brown sugar, salt and pepper. Once the bubbles subside, add the diced onions and cherry tomatoes.
  6. Now you can stir and mix. You might see a little blackened sauce when you mix. Don't worry, its normal. Ofcourse the entire bottom shouldnt be burnt. This means your pan wasn't thick enough at the bottom.
  7. Cook covered till tomatoes get squishy and cooked.
  8. Add the left over 1/2 tube of tomato paste.
  9. Add lemon zest and cayenne pepper and mix.
  10. Add the pre cooked garlic.
  11. Mix
  12. Add the vodka and mix.
  13. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Then add the basil. Cook again for 2 minutes.
  14. Add the red wine vinegar and taste!!! Voila-- you are done.
Recipe Notes

Dilute with pasta water or stock and add to pasta.

Liberally coat a salad.

Layer your pizza.

Use in baked dishes.

Use for base of crostini or bruschetta.

 

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

By 2 Comments

Our trip to Japan was largely about Japanese food. Tofu meals, Zen meals and meals in the temple. We all developed a love and respect for Tofu and all its variations. This one restaurant that we went to and which was purely fusion was Rigoletto, in the Roppongi area of Tokyo. They had very few choices for vegetarians, but all of them were sumptuous.

I made the garlic mashed potatoes for my husband’s birthday. It was a smashing hit.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Yeah yeah, it has a lot of calories and all that. But hey! it is really tasty. And you gotta cheat once in a while right? How else will you enjoy life?

The potatoes have to be boiled and later mashed along with all the other ingredients. The entire mixture can be a heavy load for most blenders. Even mine protested mightily but held its own. By no means am I proclaiming Technora blenders to be the best, but where I am concerned it has stood the test of time and use. I love their inbuilt stirrer. I don’t have to open the lid and stir the food, I can do it while the blending is on. Pure genius.

garlic potatoes

This is a copycat recipe, so my imagination can take no credit for it. But I added a twist to its story, by cooking it in an earthen bowl. It wasn’t coated inside with any kind of ceramic polish. Just pure earthenware. So when the garlic mashed potatoes cooked, the flavour and fragrance of the natural clay seeped into the potato, giving it that extra kick and twist.

Wash the earthenware once and dry it in the sun if you can. Fill the mashed goodness, add dollops of butter, garnish and bake. It’s a quick and easy recipe, and I shall become famous – because everyone is going to ask you for this recipe.

😉

Have fun guys – I promise you a piece of heaven!

Ciao!

garlic mashed potatoes 2

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Print Recipe
Served in earthen ware, so the smells and flavours infuse into one good yummy dish!
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Print Recipe
Served in earthen ware, so the smells and flavours infuse into one good yummy dish!
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the potatoe
To Garnish before cooking.
Accessories
Servings: pieces
Instructions
  1. Boil the potatoes.
  2. Once the potatoes are boiled, peel and run it through the ricer.
  3. Add all the ingredients for the potatoes and load it into the blender.
  4. Blend well. You might have to do it in parts. It should have no lumps.
Garnish
  1. While the potato is boiling, peel the garlic meant for the garnish. Slice the garlic into thin slivers.
  2. Rub the olive oil and salt on it and pop into the oven. Bake for appx 10 minutes, till it is dehydrated and a wee bit brown. You don't want to make it crisp and completely baked
    Rub the olive oil and salt on it and pop into the oven. Bake for appx 10 minutes, till it is dehydrated and a wee bit brown. You don't want to make it crisp and completely baked
Final Dish
  1. Ladle the mixture in the earthen ware / baking dish, garnish with parsley, chilli flakes and the par baked garlic.
  2. Add dollops of butter (the one kept aside for the garnish) on all sides and slide into the oven.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes. First the butter will melt and then cook and infuse into the potato. When the butter sizzles, and the garlic on top looks browned, take out and serve hot.
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Scrambled Eggs with Truffle Oil

By 4 Comments

Scrambled eggs with truffle oil

Scrambled eggs with truffle oil

We ate at the most amazing restaurant in Hong Kong a few months back. Chef Patrick of La Table De Patrick. It was a small restaurant, with immediate and intimate service. We had called earlier to let them know we are vegetarians. He rotated our entire 5-course meal around it, using wonderful freshly available ingredients.

One dish which Chef served had a sprinkling of truffles on it. With gleeful hands, we tore at the food, but it came up short on the truffle flavour. It was crunchier and had very mild to non-existent truffle taste.

Chef explained that it was summer truffles, and has very little flavour. We uneducated, but truffle fans, learnt a lot that evening.

The most flavourful truffles are the winter ones. The white winter truffles are available from October to Christmas. These have a strong flavour and can deter new truffle tasters.

The black winter truffles are what most people serve and is more easily available. Its the most preferred variety of the lot. Available from Mid Jan to Easter. (What will happen to us truffle lovers from Christmas to Mid Jan? Hoarde! Hoarde! )

The summer Truffle is available from April to July and has a very light flavour. Almost non-existent. None of us much appreciated it.

Autumn burgundy truffles are more medium bodied and great for someone who likes truffles but cannot have too much of it because of the strong flavour and aroma.

scrabled eggs

 

scrambled egg with truffle oil

scrambled egg with truffle oil

In my family of four – three of us adore it, while the fourth needs to taste the autumn burgundy one to start developing a taste. (I have no clue where to get it from!!)

scrambled on toast

It was an educative and tasty evening and inspired me to make this scrambled egg.

If you have seen the movie or read the book – A hundred foot journey- the, to be a great chef, Hassan meets Mallory the owner of the restaurant. This is a synopsis from the book -Hassan, having heard from Marguerite that Mallory hires potential chefs by taste-testing an omelette and deciding whether the person is indeed a great chef, asks if he may cook an omelette for her to his recipe. Due to his injured hands, Mallory helps under Hassan’s supervision. After tasting the omelette, Mallory recognizes Hassan’s potential and invites him to work for her.

The omelette they made looked so amazing!! I used a part of the recipe for this blog.

Take a look!

 

scrambled egg and oil bottle

Scrambled Eggs with Truffle Oil
Print Recipe
Simple scrambled eggs, finished with a copious dash of black truffle oil.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Scrambled Eggs with Truffle Oil
Print Recipe
Simple scrambled eggs, finished with a copious dash of black truffle oil.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Ingredients
The Eggs
The Accessories
Servings: person
Instructions
  1. Break the eggs in the bowl. Yolks and all.
  2. Add the milk, salt and pepper and whisk gently. We dont need air here, just the mixture semi blended.
  3. Add the mint and chilli flakes, and mix gently till incorporated well.
  4. Heat the skillet (medium high) and drizzle some butter. Coat the skillet with the butter and let it sizzle.
  5. Pour the mixture into the skillet and let it be for approximately 45 seconds. It should not set and start turning into and omelette.
  6. Now start agitating the eggs, with the wooden spatula. Keep moving in small but consistent circles all over the skillet.
  7. After about 45 seconds, the eggs will clump but still be runny and soft. At this point if you like your eggs a bit runny, take it off on a plate.
  8. If you like it a little more well done, continue cooking, moving the eggs in the same round pattern. Do not stop agitating the eggs.
  9. Take it off on a plate and immediately drizzle the truffle oil. Enjoy hot off the skillet!!
  10. Umm! Goes really well with Champagne or white wine 😛
Recipe Notes

Here is the link to more happy education on truffles.

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