Back to Chopping

Here go the mushrooms for the third day in the row. My daughter has decided she is making Pasta. "Do you have all the things ready for the pasta?" I don't know if I will master this, but I will make a good sous chef by the time Kyra is done with me!

More anon.

Completing the Circle

I have figured out hot to email my blog from my BB to Blogspot/ blogger which sends my new post to my google buzz which updates my twitter which updates my facebook. I will undo it in a day because I will go crazy....but I had to do it. Manisha is right, learning Technology. On my Own should be next.

The attack of the almonds coninutes. I chopped the mushroom steps and half an onions to lightly saute the cottage cheese with it and then stuff into my mushroom crowns and I LOST THE PANEER.

It turned up this morning but that was after I had finally lightly sauteed the mushrooms with barbeque sauce and had them on toast!

Today will really do healthy mushrooms.

Blue and yellow!

Just was too blah and too out of it to cook. I don't think  i can cook when i am angry, anxious or agitated. Its scary enough when i am even tempered. That must explain why I haven't cooked in the past 33 years. I love when the dishes in my monthly menu (yes I actually have one - for breakfast, lunch and dinner) almost exsctly coincide with the dishes I want to experiment with.

Lets see if I can get the 5 year old to earn her supper and help me with the mushrooms. Just crowns please. I will chop the stems. I realise hers is the more skilled part of the job, but lets face it, she has a natural talent for it and I am the nightmare that shakes the Cordon Blue Foundation!

Carb fest gone healthy!

Today's dishes are potatoes in lemon sauce and cheese stuffed mushrooms. I am replacing butter for a tsp of extra virgin olive oil in the first and cottage cheese in the second.

Fingers crossed.
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Finally

She ate with relish. The Lemon Ricotta pancakes with not too heavy and rose to the occasion. My daughter ate 3. The orange sauce - with fresh orange sauce was a bit thick. this one thread consistency is a tough one. The batter was a bit thick, but i didnt want to mess with proportions too much. But a wee bit more milk would have been more pancake and less Idli! ;-)

Oranges and Lemon

Okay, so the best part of this learning to cook thing is that my daughter is loving it. Yesterday she saw Ratatouille and told me that she wants to be a chef. This is my life. I am struggling to make something that doesn't offend the kitchen sink and I am surrounded by culinary giants. Or would-be giants.

Today we are making Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and with lemon curd, orange sauce or mulberry jam on the side.

Break ke baad

Wed night is idli chutney sambhar. Who messes with a perfect meal. Although in indulgent retrospect I think green beans sauteed with kadi patta and rye with dresh grated coconut might work.

Maybe next wednesday.
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I Need Almonds

I make the lists. I pull out all the ingradients and set them aside
and when it comes to throwing it all together - HOw do i forget
jalapenos and pickled in a sandwich. Its like I am losing my
Indianness! (I know neither of those are Indian flavours, but the love
of price and tanginess masking the inherent joy from the crunch and
flavour from fresh salad vegetables is definately Indian).

The Avocado dressing was a bit thick so lets call it dip and move on.
I served it on the side of the salad bowl, so Neeraj could try the
salad without being avocadoed out. But i also added some cubed avocado
to the salad for the buttery texture to come in even without the
dressing.

I gained like 11/2 kgs i think in that meal and missed the tart in my
sandwich, but i am able to eat without flinching. This is good, right?

Raunaq Roy
raunaqroy@gmail.com

Blog: http://learningtocookonmyown.blogspot.com/

Canned, not Pickled!

So girls night got canned. Again. And I have finished making my avocado dressing and got my salad ready for tossing. I am going to skip the corn chips for two very good reasons.
1. I forgot to buy them @#$%^&*
2. I dont like crunch of a chips type in my salad and if i have to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow then i will be eating soggy chips!
Oh and I did taste the dressing and it does taste good. Its a bit salty though. I think its cause i had salted my yoghurt - which is actually the 3 pepper dip left over from last night. I have to use the food i make for something!!! and the recipe included everything that was in the dip except the paprika.
So i added paprika to a guacamole salad bowl - shocking! Give it a min and you will get over it too. I already have.

The sandwich bread is ready, as is the lettuce, french dressing, cucumbers and some red and yellow peppers. Cheddar is waiting to be grated. Now i only have to wait for dinner.

PS: Kyra is eating my avocado dressing with soya chips - yipppeeeeeee!!!!!

Today's Dishes - sandwich and salad.

Have decided to to learn how to make a great sandwich. Like a sub. I eaten and seen them being made a gazillion times. Some of the hot rolls remain with me :-( I am also making some salad.

Sandwich: like a chef's salad sandwich. with the option of turkey slices, slices chicken and hard-boiled eggs for the non veg:
Lettuce, sandwich bread - I have to buy
Olives, jalapeno, pickles, tomatoes, cucumber, mustard, barbeque sauce, tabasco, salt, pepper, chicken, turkey, eggs, cheese - sorted.
French Dressing: olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper - sorted

Salad: Guacamole salad bowl:
Lettuce, Avocado, corn chips - I have to buy
Tomatoes, olives, green onions, cheddar - sorted.

okay, shopping and taking salad for girls and sandwiches for the family.

Cook Off off!

I have to say, I am only partly disappointed. My friends don't cook either. By choice. Not by sheer lack of know how.

OMG

So this cook off becomming real. I tried to be sneaky and accept the fennel and orange salad as my dish but nearly got laughed out of the house. So apparently we are having a summer pasta a la pattu, the roy salade and not sure what the mongia platter will include.

Wine suggestions? Pinot grigio?
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Eaten, even if not relished!

So we did go out for dinner. My daughter was sold on the idea. But i got the Malhotra ladies - Mama and Reshma to come across for starters instead before we head out. And much as they tried, it is hard not to be critical of something that tastes like nothing!

The mashys were too stiff. I offered - not enough milk. As it turns out my mother says if you whip them too much also you let all the air out. NOW I FIND OUT. The cutlets tasted like cottage cheese. Period. With some salt. And my mother and sister loved the coriander chutney i served with it. Yes, you got it right. Thats the one thing I did not make. They did take down the recipe for it though. No pressure. No Problem. The devilled eggs turned out okay said my mother and then didn't touch anther piece. Maybe Manisha was right about relish. And the dip well, my sister said if nothing else, Raunaq willl have a lot of quick fix recipes at the end of this.

Wow, i think the food I make is easier to eat alone. Because along with the awful pasta i can also make believe. It's very hard to stay unaffected when the people who love you most in this world are hoping in silent prayer you will give it up and still smiling their encouragement as they brush their teeth after tasting your cooking. Husband, daughter mother, sister. How many more people in my family can I coerce into eating the food I cook. Maybe I should make a list of everyone I am not a fan of and invite them one by one.

Brave, bailing Manisha, who has not actually tasted my food, has suggested a cook off tonight. I guess cooking can be fun for some people. Like the relish, I have coolly said "Sure". Now I am panicking. What can i make in front of other people that doesn't make look like an utter nincumpoop. Damn book on my desk at work!

Mother Daughters do bond in the Kitchen

My daughter loves to cook. She is pretty good at it too. She isn't afraid to finger the food. She seasons as per instinct. And confidently at that. And she hums and sings and taps her feet to the beat in her head while she mixes and adds and whips. My daughter is FIVE YEARS OLD.

What started out with Cottage Mashed Potatoes, Devilled Eggs and Horseradish sauce/ dip evolved on the way as per suggestions, advice and our mood. My friend Manisha (she who ditched the girls' night out plan) called and said she loved Devilled Eggs - how pleased  was, i felt efficient. Then says "Why isnt there any relish in your Devilled Eggs. I am trying to sound cool. Actually I am panicking. Relish. Do i have any? "okay will get some...." One more thing to buy. Turns out some friend of hers is coming over to meet a possible suitor so she bailed! But now I had relish in my head. So when i stop to buy the cottage cheese, I buy some.

I pick up my daughter and head home. Change into pyjamas and head for the kitchen. And there are somethings i love about Learning to cook. ON MY OWN. I have no Sharda Pargal speaking to me in my head. No Martha Stewart looking over my shoulder. I cook the way I want to. (I don't know why - god knows I need the help.) The other is that I don't have to wash up - cooking makes a LOT of dirty dishes to the uninformed. I am convinced that is the business plan for all take out joints.

The cottage mashed potatoes became just mashys - I didn't want raw onions in my mashed potatoes. I did leave the carefully bookmarked recipe book on my desk in office so i was allowed to adapt. I will gloat for a minute at the NOT A SINGLE LUMP mashys that took no time to put together and 1.5 hours to mash and whip.

The Horseradish seemed to still be in my system and not in my fridge so its is now a dip of hung yoghurt with 3 peppers and salt (paprika, fresh ground pepper and lemon pepper).

The cottage cheese which my daughter painstakingly mixed in with the grated onions and salt, Maggi all purpose seasoning and pepper was looking suspect. To bind I added a tblsp  of the mashys in. (I know its all going to taste the same - and awful) it starts out so well.... I make little cutlets out of these and pan fry very lightly.

I boiled 3 eggs to devil! Manisha wasn't coming. And I am not in the egg eating business till December. But I had bought the relish. So i peeled an egg, which suddenly appealed to Kyra's fancy and washed hands were back to help. I neatly sliced two eggs as i waited for the third to be peeled - smooth on the outside!!! It was so smooth and so perfect, that she popped it in her mouth - whole and what came out was just the second bite. Now with incredulity on my face and her face filled with egg - we both started laughing. You know where it went from here. Anyway after all this, I decided against the relish! and devilled the two eggs i had left.

Once she had the egg dealt with she looks at me with wishful thinking and says, 'I had a dream that we went out for dinner.' YUp. Everytime I get in the kitchen she has that dream. I haven't eaten so will post again.

PS figured out how to email a post. Most thirilled. :-)

Hands Off

Just realised that between rudimentary guitar lessons and learning to cook, my hands are going to be epicured instead of manicured. Most distressing. I owe myself the best hand cream in the world!

Black Out and I'm golden

So there is a black out and I decided to make a list of all the ingredients I need, call home and check if I have them so I can plan by return accordingly.
Devilled Eggs: Got the egs, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper and tabasco! Sorted.
Cottage Mashys: Got potatoes, onions, salt, milk, salt, pepper.... Gotta buy Cottage cheese and errr.... Butter.
Creamy Horseradish sauce: yoghurt, horseradish 9from yesterdays shopping) salt, paprika.  Sorted

Its time to say it so I never have to again. I have bought butter once in the last 7 years of my marital bliss. Ghee and butter would be grounds for the love of my life to never come home again. Even when he s travelling. A tell tale sign that the golden drops of heaven were in my house would constitute breaking of one of my wedding vows.

My mother suggests Eggless Mayo. Any other suggestions?

Drinks with girls - yes, my place –no. I am taking them a little tiffin

Monday Madness

So late. So so so late. Luckily I got a message delaying meeting. Unfortunately its in a tailspin now. This day is sounding crazy! The reason I am not emailing everyone about the cooking thing, I think that my BIGGEST fear is that someday I will have to admit that I can't do something. And can't succeed at it. Or be the best!!! In my head at least.

My dish for today was cottage mashed potatoes. Which is comfort food but with a healthy food spike! But now I feel a dip to go with the chips that will go with the wine is a must!!! Creamy horseradish sauce (sour cream/ dip) and devilled eggs.

I think I may be having a drink with the girls. Phew. I will need this.

Now I am late for even the delayed meeting.
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The Proof of the Pudding...

i have decided not to foist my new found brain wave of the rest of my world. I have also decided that I will eat - and eat completely - all that i cook. So I served the corn which was nicely done - although the flavour of the horseradish was so very very subtle. I decided against encouraging Neeraj - god bless his tummy. I left it on the table. It was sobering to see that I was the only one who ate it. I guess traveling at 5am will keep everyone against food experiments.

The corn was sweet and cooked just right. I had left the husk on the corn so it was interesting to look at but a bit messy on the table. What it also did was the outer husk had browned enough (grill, not directly on the pan) to allow for the flavour to seep in.

This is the first meal that looked okay and was immensely satisfying to eat. unfortunately i was the only on who ate it, so you will have to take my word for it. :-)

Finished the book and the ear of corn with horseradish is ready

I had bought the ears of corn.  I knew I was making this and i realised many things in the course of the day

1. i must be crazy for not getting the horse radish. Am i hoping for reasons to postpone - Note to self: Re-examine commitment?
2. Discussing it with your mom helps - she made healthier suggestions that 1/4 cup of Butter - really 25 more pounds and it's christmas and i am in a red suit!
3. I should taste the food as I go along - for example blended in the horseradish spread, salted it, didnt bother to taste and spread it on to the corn. Now if its too salty or sharp - its done.
4. My daughter said she doesn't want to try it. So still humbling.
5. I expected the book to be more. But its descriptive like a travelogue. I was transported.
6. The book i have started with (and has a grand total of 2 tickmarks has too much red meat to last. Not only am i vegetarian - my husband and daughter stick to white meats. So there is that!

I added a dish - salad like - with the extra horseradish - i can never cook or shop for 2 - mooli ka saalan. Hugely popular in Uttap Pradesh - ginger, finely chopped chillies, grated horseradish and lime juice and salt.

My father used to say: proof of the pudding is in the eating. Will post after that!!!

Ear of Corn and Horse Radish Butter

Ear of Corn and Horse Radish Butter is meant to be roasted in a very hot oven or over hot coals. I already see a small problem, but i am going to do in my magic titanium oven type pan, with a piece of coal inder the grill! eeps.


Basically the cooking is nothing. the prep is the butter.... the picture looks pretty good. Sunday lunch.... Kyra is brutal but likes corn - will keep a plain buttered one for her!!! back up!!!!

Glazed Me and Brown Carrots

Even after the blog and comments.... I forgot to COOK the damn carrots. I have also realised that shopping when cooking by recipe must be done by self. Shakar is not the same as brown sugar. and when melted into salt and olive oil it becomes chikki/ candy-like - and not lightly glazed with a gorgeous warm brown hue.

Also i had to let them brown to a dark chocolate so that the carrots cooked as i had forgotten to steam them. What should one do, if your sugar is glazing and you forgot to steam your veggies.

Honest confession: It looked like muddy slugs but tasted pretty good.

It might just be Rocket Science

If you don't where the wires go, don't try and acquire the parts to make a Rocket Ship. I have been humbled and realised my mistake. With the chicken and the frou frou I was aiming too high. Plus being vegetarian, could not taste it!!! So I have taken down the dozen plus books I have acquired over the past 7 years and a couple that were handed down to me and decided to learn by recipe and build to cooking by instinct.
Today's dish: Zippy Glazed Carrots.
Basically a question of lightly sauteing 'cooked?' carrots (thats what i thought i was trying to do) with a pinch of brown sugar, salt and mustard and garnishing with parsley.

Ques to answer before 'cooking': cook means boil or steam?

AWOL

I used a secret email address to send in my posts, but it turns out it isn't working. How are you all? Today I skipped lunch. Cottage cheese and leeks turned into a mash of charred brown, soggy onion-y things with cottage cheese. But it still tasted ok - it had the right amount of salt.

Fried brains and boiled vegetables

Do not go hand in hand. The friend brains win. Soup tomorrow. Today I nurse my migraine.

Leftovers are only TASTIER when the dish was to begin with

Just ate the pasta. Again. And it was awful. Again. You know how leftovers always taste better the next day. When you make Frankies or Shawarmas out of the chicken masala or turkey sandwiches after christmas. Not true about rescue pasta! And if your food was too salty, time will only make the sting more acute. Tomato and vegetable soup tonight.

Wish Neeraj and Kyra luck.

The Julie Julia syndrome

In October of 2009, we formalised the institution of our company The Budding Gourmet. A site and services company addressing people who want to expand their culinary horizons. No lofty goals like Mastering the Art of French Cooking but given how small the world is becoming, we have a taste or must have a taste or want to enjoy the flavours from the global village.

In December of 2009, I became vegetarian. My friend and partner Dipti is still mad at me as i write this. 'Who starts a food related company and then stops eating half of all food?' Good point. But its only for a year and she will come around.

March 14, 2010 I have been talking food, thinking food, look like a whale and came to the realisation that unless I start to cook, I am making a glass ceiling. When i say learn to cook - anything more than coffee (from the machine) is a feat. My daughter hates my cooking and loving what i make is meant to be a part of her job description.

I decided to make:

Pasta Arabiate - more tomato than cheese

Grilled Chicken in a Garlic Rosemary sauce (from a bottle *confession*)

Feta and belle pepper salad with dijon mustard (salad I actually can throw together alright)

Bachelors Slim a Soup - (I admitted it, realisation is the first step of improvement!!!)

The salad was not hard. Chopped up the feta and peppers and added a heaped tsp of french mustard. toss and chill in refrigerator.

After thawing filets of chicken breast, i put a quarter of a cup of sauce in the bowl with it and left it for a couple of hours. After which i let it further marinate in the fridge. NOTE TO SELF: Taste ready to cook sauce before using to see if you like the flavour to begin with.

Since I had gotten here, I decided to take out my recently purchased but not yet considered, copy of Julie and Julia and put it in my swimming bag. Instead of swimming with Neeraj and Kyra, I lay on a sun bed and read. The hideously bland Veg burger I ordered at the JW Marriott poolside only reinforced my belief that cooking was my way to save my taste buds.

Neeraj is encouraging. He frowns and says, "I think its a really good thought" I could have just asked him if I should become a buddhist monk and he would say exactly that. Adding that it was the vegetarianism driving me to learn to cook, got me an additional nod. (The pensive look I attributed to his understanding that he would be at the receiving end of this new hobby.)

When it came to lightly grilling in a pan, I used extra virgin (yes, I have all this stuff and never use it!) olive oil and put the filets in, on a light flame, turning occasionally. Thankfully I asked my husband Neeraj to try a piece. Poor man - its not done. infact quite rare. Needs spice or you know flavour! ( I didn't know I was to hear the same words again in 20mins from the third member of our family)

When in doubt, I use garlic. I am ashamed to admit it, but I do. So I did. I finely chopped two cloves, allowed them to brown in the juices of the chicken, squishing the cloves as I went along and then added the grilled filets back in the pan. It worked to some extent but the flavour "was on the surface".

Over cooked the pasta in all my chicken making enthusiasm. Seinfeld in the background may also have made me lose track of time. Also thought a tiny bit of cheese sauce mix and a timy bit of pasta sauce from a jar should make lots of flavour. Nope. My 5 year old said, and I quote, " this has no taste. It tastes of nothing." More garlic, more pasta sauce, Maggi All Purpose Seasoning, fresh ground pepper and salt later, she ate it. Not happily. I am taking the damn pasta in my lunch box. Neeraj is eating fruit and Kyra said PBJ will be fine.

Day 1 is meant to be a disaster. Today I will make a soup.