Greek Salad

Greek salad or horiatiki salata is a lovely Mediterranean salad made with fresh crunchy country vegetables. It’s a textural delight for every palette with its combination of juicy cherry tomatoes, crisp red onion, crumbly feta cheese and plump kalamata olives. Greek salad can be served as a starter, a side dish or even as a small snack with some crusty bread.


Serves: 4
Prep time: 10min
Cooking time: 5min

Ingredients
Veggies
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
½ red onion, sliced and ringed
½ cucumber, deseeded and sliced into thick half moons
¼ green bell pepper julienned
¼ red bell pepper julienned
¼ yellow bell pepper julienned
100g feta cheese, cut into small cubes
10 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
Purple lettuce, whole leaves
Green lettuce, whole leaves


Dressing
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper


Method
Place the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Place the salad veggies in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Garnish the Greek salad with a little freshly ground black pepper.


Bench notes
Place all the chopped veggies a large bowl and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate until serving time.


Pour the dressing on the salad just before serving; this will prevent the veggies from sweating and making the salad soggy before serving.


To obtain neat onion rings: Peel a whole onion, cut into thin slices. Place the slices in a bowl of ice cold water. Open up the slices gently with your fingertips allowing the rings to separate. Retain in ice cold water until use (keeps the onions crunchy and fresh).

Mushroom and baby spinach tarts

This one is a real cracker, especially for a flawless first impression with your guests! Serve it as a starter, and see the impressed look on the faces of your worst food critics. Nobody is going to forget this welcome surprise; and I speak with experience when I say that.

If you can’t find white wine to work this recipe, don’t bother making it. The wine lifts and enhances the flavour of the dish to a different level; and I highly recommend that it is not omitted or replaced with something else.

So what’s important here is the making/baking of the actual tart shell. This requires a bit of hard work; read my blog on ‘The perfect puff pastry' and master this skill! I would advice you to practice puff pastry-making at least once before your final day; as there are a couple of ‘moments of truth’ involved in making them. Be sure to get your puff pastry right for a good crispy tart shell.

The rest of the dish is relatively simple for any home cook. It’s a fun starter for any party, so chuck that tandoori paneer out of the window, and think out of the box.




Serves: 6
Prep time: 60min (to bake the tart shells, can be done a day in advance)
Cooking time: 25min (includes oven time of 5-10min)
Baking tools: Baking sheet, ovenproof tart moulds/shells

Ingredients
200g fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and drained
100g mushrooms, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp butter
1tsp olive oil
Red chilli flakes
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube
Salt to taste
White wine
Ground black pepper
Fresh rosemary, 1 sprig
Parmesan cheese
Black olives, pitted and sliced for garnish
Pre-baked tart shells

Method
Blanch the spinach leaves in hot water for 2-3min without a lid. Pull out the spinach leaves with tongs and shock treat by placing them in an ice cold water bath (helps retain the green colour). Remove and chop finely. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Heat olive oil and butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the chopped garlic, red chilli flakes and some fresh rosemary to the pan. Allow the garlic to brown sufficiently. Now add the chopped mushroom along with a pinch of salt; stir till the mushrooms are soft and release all their moisture. Add ground black pepper, and some more salt if necessary.

Turn the heat down to medium low, and add 3-4tbsp of white wine (be generous). Let simmer on a low flame till the wine is absorbed. Now add the chopped spinach, grated processed cheese, and some more rosemary. Stir till all the elements are well-combined and the mixture gains a thick consistency. The mixture will thicken on cooling.

Spoon the mixture into the pre-baked tart shells (let the shells remain in the ovenproof tart moulds). Garnish with some grated parmesan and a couple of sliced black olives. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 5-10min.

Remove the tarts from their moulds, serve hot.

Bench notes
You can keep your pre-baked tart shells ready a day in advance. They easily keep in a refrigerator for 24-48hr in a closed air tight box. However, keep them as they are in their tart moulds, so they don’t break or crumble.

Veggie au gratin

The veggie au gratin or as we call it, the baked vegetable, is a lovely continental addition to a dinner spread. It can be eaten as a meal in itself with some garlic bread and a soup or as an interesting supplement to a main course. It is best compiled with seasonal winter veggies, and the rich creamy cheese sauce makes it finger-lickin-good!

My mom used to make this when I was little, and ever since it’s been comfort food for me. The original recipe is hers, but my little twist to it is the addition of the Worcestershire sauce. I developed a natural liking for Worcestershire sauce during my student days in the UK; and I always have a bottle of it on my kitchen rack. I use it in soups, casseroles, dips, bakes, rolls etc. It has a distinctive taste which adds a nice body of flavour to the au gratin; and keeps your guests guessing why their au gratins never taste as good as yours!

Serves: 4-6 (depends on portion size)
Prep time: 30min
Cooking time: 40min (includes oven time of 10min)
Cooking bowl: Ovenproof bowl for baking


Ingredients
For the cream sauce
1tbsp butter
1½ tbsp plain flour
400-500ml milk
2-3tbsp fresh cream
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube
Tabasco sauce
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Nutmeg powder
1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt to taste

For the veggies
1tbsp olive oil
Roasted garlic paste (read bench note below for details)
¼ cauliflower made into medium size florets
½ broccoli made into medium size florets
1 carrot cubed
½ red bell pepper cubed
½ green bell pepper cubed
½ yellow bell pepper cubed
50g baby corn slit centre-wise
1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Red chilli flakes

For garnish before baking
1 large onion cut into rings (read bench note below for details)
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube

For serving
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Garlic bread




Method
For the cream sauce
For the sauce, heat butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add flour and roast until golden brown on a low flame. Remove from heat, and allow it to cool completely. Add 2‑3tbsp milk to the cooled flour and mix thoroughly dissolving any lumps. Add rest of the milk to the pan and simmer for 5-6 min, stirring continuously till the sauce thickens. Season with salt and ground black pepper; add the grated processed cheese, fresh cream and a sprig of fresh thyme. Add a pinch of nutmeg powder and a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Keep aside.

For the veggies
Preheat oven to 180°C.

Heat olive oil and some butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the roasted garlic and sauté for a minute. Add cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and baby corn. Sauté the veggies for 2‑3min. Add a pinch of salt to the veggies, cover with a lid and allow the veggies to cook ¾ths. Add the bell peppers at this stage and stir well. Season with ground black pepper, red chilli flakes and some more salt if necessary. Add the Worcestershire sauce, and some fresh thyme. Do not overcook the veggies as the au gratin will further bake in the oven. Add the cream sauce to the veggies and stir till all the elements are combined.

Transfer the au gratin into an ovenproof bowl. Garnish with onion rings and generously coat with grated cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 10-15min till the top surface browns and the cheese melts.

Garnish with some fresh flat leaf parsley and serve hot.

Bench notes
Roasted garlic: Take a whole garlic pod (do not peel); smear it with a mixture of olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, and some fresh thyme. Roast in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 or until browned and soft from within. Remove peel and crush with the back of a spoon to make a rough paste.

Onion rings: Peel a whole onion, cut into thin slices. Place the slices in a bowl of ice cold water. Open up the slices gently with your fingertips allowing the rings to separate. Retain in ice cold water until use (keeps the onions crunchy and fresh).

Chocolate Walnut Brownie

What can I say about the classic chocolate walnut brownie? It’s soft yet crumbly, with the bittersweet punch of dark chocolate and the delicate crunch of walnuts. This one is my personal favourite, and I definitely eat a huge piece every time I make it! I can’t imagine thinking of the calories when a scrumptious chunk of brownie is staring at me!

There are a million recipes for a classic chocolate brownie, but I can reassure you that this one is a full-proof one! It’s tried, tested and tasted. The ingredients are easy to find, the cooking time minimal, the taste spectacular and therefore, your admirers many!

Serves: 10
Prep time: 10min
Cooking time: 35min (includes baking time of 20min)

Ingredients
75g dark chocolate chips
175g unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
100g cocoa powder
150g plain flour sifted with 1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs, whisked
50g walnuts chopped roughly
25cm baking tin
Fresh double cream for serving

Method
Preheat oven to 190°C. Line a 25cm baking tin with butter, keep aside.

Whisk 4 eggs in a bowl, add vanilla essence, whisk some more and keep aside.

Heat a non-stick saucepan on a medium flame. Place the butter, sugar and cocoa in the saucepan and stir till the sugar and butter melt. Gently stir, bringing the mixture together till it turns smooth and gooey. Add the sifted flour slowly, folding it in evenly. Remove the saucepan from the flame. Add the whisked eggs (with vanilla essence mixed added to it already) to the cocoa-butter-sugar mix, making sure that the heat of the pan doesn’t scramble the eggs. Work fast, adding the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts to the pan, mixing all ingredients well. Quickly transfer the mixture to the greased baking tin and bake at 190°C in a preheated oven for 20min.

Allow resting time of 10-20min. Serve warm with fresh double cream.

Bench notes
The actual cooking time for the brownie (on the flame) is just about 5min. You need to work fast once the mixture is off the flame, as the butter will begin to cool down and thicken the mixture. This will make it hard for you to mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts evenly. The key is to keep everything ready before you start.

While adding the eggs to the pan, make sure that you create a layer of the cocoa mix at the bottom of the saucepan and pour the eggs onto this layer. Do not pour the eggs directly onto the hot bottom surface of the pan; this might scramble the eggs!

If you want to brown/crisp the upper surface of the brownie a tad more, adjust your oven so that the brownie is grilled just from the coil above for an extra 3-4min. Be careful (keep an eagle eye!), as the top surface turns black very easily, making it brittle, but retaining a soft interior. This might create a mess (crumbling brownie!) when you try to cut the brownie up for serving.

It keeps for 3-4days on the bench and for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. If you decide to refrigerate, be sure to warm it up in the oven/microwave before you eat it!

Fusilli with rosemary cream sauce

Rosemary is my favourite of all the Italian herbs. There are a million ways to use this herb and this one is the simplest. It provides such a beautiful base flavour to the cream sauce that you don’t need much else to carry it through. I have kept the sauce very simple with basic seasoning and simple veggies that you can buy from your vendor next door. This is a very easy and quick recipe, perfectly suited for a small bunch of girlfriends on a girls’ stay-over night, or even a candle light dinner date. Creamy, cheesy and so more-ish!




Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 20min
Cooking time: 20min


Ingredients
Fusilli pasta, 1 fistful per person
3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp butter
1½ tbsp plain flour
400-500ml milk
Black olives, pitted and sliced
1 Green bell pepper, chopped into medium cubes
1 onion chopped into medium cubes
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3tbsp fresh cream
Grated parmesan cheese
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube
Nutmeg powder
Tabasco sauce
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Method
Boil water in a big saucepan. Add the fusilli to the boiling water with some salt and a few drops of olive oil. Allow the pasta to cook 3/4ths and drain into a sieve. Pour cold water on the cooked pasta to cool it, and prevent it from clumping together. Loosen the pasta with your fingers; add a few more drops of olive oil if required. Keep aside.

For the sauce, heat butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add flour and roast until golden brown on a low flame. Remove from heat, and allow it to cool completely. Add 2‑3tbsp milk to the cooled flour and mix thoroughly dissolving any lumps. Add rest of the milk to the pan and simmer for 5-6 min, stirring continuously till the sauce thickens. Season with salt and ground black pepper; add the grated processed cheese, fresh cream and a sprig of rosemary. Add a pinch of nutmeg powder and a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Keep aside.

Heat olive oil and some butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute till brown. Add a sprig of rosemary, and the cubed onions. Sauté till the onions golden. Now add the olives and green bell peppers. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Stir for a minute. To this, add the cooked fusilli, and the cream sauce. Boil for 2-3 minutes until all the elements come together. Mix gently, making sure not to disrupt the fusilli.

Serve with a fresh sprig of rosemary and some grated parmesan cheese.

Bench notes
Be careful while you make the sauce, as the smallest of lumps can change the consistency of the sauce.

Do not overcook the pasta. Remember to drain it while it is still only 3/4ths cooked. The intrinsic heat will help it to cook through within no time; and the pasta will cook again in the final sauce.

This cream sauce is very versatile in its flavouring. Add one herb, or many. Use dried oregano, or fresh basil, or a mixture of fresh rosemary and thyme. You can even make a sauce with sage leaves and scatter roasted pine nuts on top; or tarragon leaves with a splodge of lemon juice. Serve with a cold Greek salad or just a few rocket leaves dressed with salt, pepper and olive oil. The options are never-ending.

You can grow many of these herbs in your garden, or even in one big pot kept in your balcony. Most of these require medium sunshine, and can be grown together in one large, wide pot. They grow well in our winter months, but might be unable to sustain the dreadful summer heat; and so growing them in a pot will give you the flexibility to control temperature, sunshine, rain etc. Most of these herbs will be available in winter in local nurseries. Not that exotic anymore, are they?

Black magic cupcakes with honeycomb, strawberry cream and strawberry purée

My favourite place in the world is my gourmet wholesale store. It’s situated in a very crowded, busy (not to mention dirty), wholesale market in Kolkata. But when I’m there, I don’t see the filth and hear the loud noises, I just feel my senses going berserk with all the mesmerizing smells and flavours…cheeses, sauces, essences, vinegars, and chocolate! Yesterday I found these amazing Belgian bitter chocolate chips and I had to have them! Like a child in a candy store, my eyes gleaming with desire, I bought them home and made the most indulgent bitter chocolate cupcakes! Personally, I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but dessert is just incomplete without it!

I was disappointed when I couldn’t get the cupcake to ooze chocolate from within (as per my fantasy), so I made them a second time, without much success again (although these were better than batch 1; almost oozing but not wet enough). I realised that it’s the shape of the mould that requires changing and not the actual technique. Read my bench notes below to understand this concept better. Try them and let me know if you got the stubborn babies to ooze chocolate!

Ooze or no-ooze, this cupcake is just divine. Hence the name black magic (kala jadoo sounds more dramatic though)!




Serves: 12
Prep time: 20min
Cooking time: 40min


Ingredients
Cupcakes
125g unsalted butter, cubed
150g dark chocolate roughly chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp baking powder
50g plain flour, sifted with baking powder
Muffin paper shells
Muffin tray/moulds

Honeycomb
100g caster sugar
50grm liquid glucose
100ml water
1tbsp bicarb soda

Strawberry cream
50ml double cream, whipped
1tbsp icing sugar
50g fresh strawberries, puréed

Strawberry purée
50g fresh strawberries
1tsp caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
30-50ml water

Extra strawberries for serving

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cupcakes
For the cupcakes, grease muffin paper shells with some unsalted butter, and place in a muffin tray.

Place butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl (use borosil) over a pan of one‑third full gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir over medium heat until the chocolate and butter are smooth and combined. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. Next, gently fold in the flour and then fold in the cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Divide the mixture among the prepared muffin moulds and bake muffins for 12-14min or until risen and just set, but wobbly in the centre. Allow to rest on the bench for 5 minutes, before removing the muffin paper shells.

Honeycomb
For the honeycomb, line a deep roasting tray with baking paper (coming up over the edges).

Place the sugar, glucose and water in a large saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 5 minutes or until a pale-golden caramel. Remove from heat and working quickly, whisk in the bicarb soda (it will froth and bubble – don’t whisk too much otherwise you will knock out all the air bubbles). Quickly pour into the lined pan and lightly shake to level out (take care as pan will become very hot). Cool for 45min or until hard. Break into small chunks

Strawberry cream
For the strawberry cream, whip the cream with the icing sugar until it holds firm peaks. Stir through the pureed strawberries and set aside.

Strawberry purée
For the strawberry purée, place strawberries, cater sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and water in a medium saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5min or until syrupy. Remove from heat; allow to cool for a few minutes and purée in a blender.

Finally, remove the cupcakes from the paper moulds, drizzle with strawberry purée, scatter some honeycomb and extra strawberries and serve with a spoonful of strawberry cream.




Bench notes
This recipe requires the use of non-stick dariole moulds which I could not catch hold of, and so I used the usual cupcake moulds. The shape of the dariole mould (like a tiny bucket) is such that it allows the sides of the cake to cook quickly, while the centre remains gooey and oozes out when you cut the cake (12-14min is sufficient for the outsides to cook completely). This is difficult to achieve with the muffin moulds as the shape of the mould allows equal and quick distribution of heat, leaving the centre of the muffin, surely softer that the sides, but not gooey and wet.

However, if you have non-stick muffin trays, don’t use the muffin paper shells. The paper further blocks the transfer of heat to the sides, leaving you with no choice but to wait until the sides get cooked, by which time the centre is no more wet or gooey. If you do use non-stick muffin trays, be sure to grease the moulds generously with butter.

It is important that while melting the chocolate in the double boiler method, you do not let the chocolate boil; stop heating when it melts.



As easy as it sounds, baking involves a lot of science and technique and it’s only when you get your hands dirty will you actually appreciate these subtle intricacies.

Saffron ice-cream with dried figs poached in an orange reduction

I had to make something from the saffron that my husband brought from Kashmir last month; and I didn’t want to do the usual ‘biryani’ or ‘kheer’! So what more interesting that my very own version of the ‘kesar badam’ ice-cream! My version is more of a shrikhand ice-cream with buttermilk as a basic ingredient. This adds a favourable sourness to the ice-cream, making it less rich, and yet soft and creamy. I have slightly changed the flavour profile by eliminating the almonds and adding some cardamom powder instead. It is egg less, and doesn’t require the making of custard; the ingredients are just whisked together and chilled! S-I-M-P-L-E!

It is absolutely necessary that you use saffron strings and not an essence, as the whole flavour quotient of the ice-cream lies in the saffron. Use the saffron sparingly, a little goes a long way! Since the flavours in the ice-cream are so muted, I have done a sweet and tangy orange reduction (fresh juicy oranges are in season) to cut the monotony of the ice-cream. It would be ideal to use fresh figs to poach in the reduction, but dried figs work as well. The fruit neutralizes the sharpness of the orange syrup and adds texture to an otherwise creamy dessert. Every bite should surprise you, shouldn’t it?

I love to mix flavours and textures, and savour food that feels different with every bite! As you play with ingredients and understand the harmony of flavours, you will see what a difference it makes to your dishes. That’s exactly what makes you go back to your favourite restaurant every time and order for the same dish!

I did not use an ice-cream churner to make this ice-cream; instead I just placed the ice-cream in an air tight container in the freezer, removed it every half hour, blended it in the mixer and put it back to freeze again. This will prevent the formation of icicles in your ice-cream giving it the desired creaminess, and the right temperature that won’t make your teeth cry when you take a bite.




Serves: 3-4 scoops
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min (plus the time you need to blend the ice-cream every half hour)

Ingredients
Ice-cream
1 cup double cream
scant ¼ tsp saffron threads, loosely packed
1 ½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of cardamom powder
1 tbsp lemon juice, to taste

Orange reduction
½ cup fresh orange juice
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 dried figs

Method
Ice-cream
Bring ¼ cup milk to a slow simmer, take off the heat and add the saffron threads to bloom their flavour. Cool the saffron-infused milk. Keep aside.

Whisk the double cream and buttermilk together. Add the caster sugar, pinch of salt, pinch of cardamom powder and the lemon juice, to taste. Adjust the sugar to your taste if you'd like a sweeter ice cream. Pour into a clean airtight container.

Chill thoroughly, preferably for 2-3 hours for the first time. Once the ice-cream in chilled, remove and churn in a blender every half hour to dissolve the icicles (they will form because of the water content in the buttermilk). Do this 4-5 times or until the ice-cream turns a creamy consistency. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Orange reduction
Punch tiny holes into the figs with a fork. Combine the orange juice, sugar and vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs to the pan. Bring just to a boil and reduce, turning the heat down to medium-low. Continue cooking until it thickens and is reduced by about half. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools. Once cooled, serve along with the ice-cream.