Baked Broccoli and Babycorn

Its unfathomable, how my mind flutters so much. Sometimes I truly believe in my ‘dual zodiac nature’ that describes me as a person getting bored quickly, of anything and everything. I think I have more often posted about how I don’t know where this blog is headed, than posted about real blog stuff. Yes, one can easily predict that the reason I haven’t posted in the last few weeks (despite having a ready documented dish in drafts), is because I have been thinking and re-thinking the blog. Honestly, despite my resolutions to write more, I struggle to stay convinced. Yes, I have been caught up with work, family and so much stuff happening, but I know that’s hardly reason enough to not do this. Today, as I write this, I am almost feeling guilty for not wanting to do this at all. Am not 100% there yet, but I think I am going to try.

This post is about some of the cooking that took place at our abode, in the last month; some of it extremely simple at the end of a hard day, some of it quite “ironchefy” (I quote the 13 year old RB) such as the fancy lemonade (recipe coming soon, courtesy RB), some to remind us of the good things we enjoyed as kids (and don’t indulge in anymore as adults) - such as Jello, which I re-discovered is an art in itself, especially, to remove from the cases, and some to purely enjoy good food. The Baked broccoli and corn dish is one of my all-time favourite- its simplicity is what makes it a pleasure, to cook and eat as well.

Cous Cous Salad with Mixed Peppers

It was only when started working on this post did I realize that I am in love with peppers; yes, the red, green and yellow variety. In the last less than a year of me writing this blog, and me cooking/documenting a lot, I have made a lot of dishes with peppers and repeatedly. I am surprised people around me haven’t killed me yet. But then again, maybe, it is the prettiness and varied nature of the peppers and for some, the healthy aspect that prevents us from getting bored. In fact, I also realized, that there are so many recipes that I haven’t even documented, but I guess they will find their way in soon.

Today’s post is Cous Cous with mixed peppers. I have always loved Cous Cous and now, it is a regular on our dinner menu. Couscous is a North African semolina dish that is traditionally served with a stew or accompanied with vegetables. Extremely simple to make and very, very versatile, Cous Cous is available in dried, instant form, and can be cooked and is ready to eat in under 5 minutes. Even though it resembles pasta, it is much and is among the healthiest grain-based products. It has a superior vitamin profile to pasta, and In terms of protein, couscous has 3.6 g for every 100 calories, equivalent to pasta, and well above the 2.6 g for every 100 calories of white rice. Furthermore, couscous contains a 1% fat-to-calorie ratio, compared to 3% for white rice, 5% for pasta etc. (Source: Wikipedia)

Now that I have justified the wonderful qualities of Cous Cous, how about an actual recipe? This is a great summer salad; can be had warm or cold, and variations can be adopted. I served it as an accompaniment to some bread and pasta with mushrooms in white sauce- however, I am sure its a much healthier meal, just by itself.

Italiano Grilled Peppers

It’s the peak of summers. Hot and Dry. This weather drains me out completely. Work is at an all time peak- and I feel scattered. Almost feeling disorganized- Very unlike the 'ocd'ish me.

This post has been pending for a couple of weeks. In reality, in fact, it may have been due for a few months- the fact being that this recipe has been tried and tested, many a times over. It is one of my essential favorites and we make it quite often.  These are grilled peppers with Italian flavors, but I do make an oriental version as well, which I will post about another time. The recipe is such, that even people, who don’t like peppers, are tempted by its colourful, enticing aesthetic.

Bell Peppers or Sweet Peppers or simply peppers are one of the most versatile vegetables; they can be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, cooked, stuffed and even baked.  I love peppers in all forms, except the Indian style maybe, which is with potatoes- and that’s probably because I am not a big fan of potatoes. Peppers, especially the red ones, have extremely high nutritional value, especially Vitamin C; in fact, one large red bell pepper contains 209 mg of vitamin C, which is three times the 70 mg of an average orange (Source: Wikipedia). The difference between the three is however not much. Red peppers are merely completely ripened green peppers. These are the sweetest of the variety, and the green ones have a slightly bitter taste. Hence, a combination of the three is a good blend of flavours. This post was a part of a recent dinner for my cousins; where the focus was on assorted food, and since I was the only one cooking, I decided to make some simple, handy recipes. The ingredients here can be mixed and kept well ahead of time; it is grilled/sautéed for a couple of minutes just before serving.

A charming technique to dress up the dinner table!

Spaghetti with Bacon and wine + Italiano Grilled Vegetables

Ak called it “The Quickie Part 2”. I would just say- it was ‘The Use- everything- in- the- Fridge Quickie’.

So, Ak was away yet another time; and that has its advantages and disadvantages. The plus being- I spent the night at parents (Ak+My parents+His Mom: of course- I couldn’t stay alone! Yes people- I have never stayed alone!), and the minus being- the mixed bag of emotions, it brought along. I hate leaving my parents place- yes. I do. each and every time I walk out. Finally when I was back, I was trying to evaluate the pros and cons while feeling horrible - and I did not find a winner.

+@Tk Home: I get to eat stuff that My mom knows I love

-@261: I do consider it home- which means that I miss it.

+@261: I appreciate it much more. That bed is definitely now my bed

-@Tk Home: My room is not my room anymore + Living out of a bag is not fun

+@Tk Home: The unnecessary chit chat till late hours of the night

-@261: All the fresh veggies were not so fresh after my 2 days of being away!

+@261: Well- I get to indulge in more cooking to drown my sorrows for the day J

Simply unacceptable, but Alas, such is life. 

Life in fact, has been so hectic in the last few weeks that my fridge has been stocking up. I have been mostly on a baking spree, and suddenly realized that in the absence of no cooking for 2 days- we had enough things that needed to be cooked on an ASAP basis. So, Brother Ak came over to help me with technology, and got treated to my favorite ham sandwiches, while the other Ak was driving back to Delhi, to be in time for dinner.

I discovered that I had a lot of bacon and peppers (red, green and yellow- Yes, I like to keep my options open) to work with. One of my all-time favorite dishes has been the Penne with Bacon at one of Delhi’s first few Truly Italian restaurants- The Big Chill. Not only does the place hold a lot of special memories for anyone who has been in the age group of 18-26, during that time, but till date, it serves some wonderful food and scrumptious desserts. In due course of time, I have grown over my need to pay a visit there every week, and only occasionally go for dessert, but the food, is surely worth the frequent visit. The Penne with bacon is one of the lighter pasta dishes (most of the others are heavy on cheese and are baked) and has a slightly spicy touch to it. Since Ak is not a Spicy food person, I skipped the dried red chilies and did my own take on it with some left over red wine.  Further, I used spaghetti instead of Penne– simply for its appeal as comfort food. The results were suitably impressive- if I may say so myself, and the accompanying grilled peppers were a brilliant addition to the otherwise unadorned meal. The vegetables are just something that I have cooked up- from my understanding of Italian ingredients. Have been quite the winner, almost everytime I have cooked them. Feel free to improvise!

p.s Sadly, there are no process shots- I wasn’t planning to post this. But the results were so good, Ak convinced me to document it.

Lemon Chicken Risotto

I am very enthused these days; maybe it’s the festive xmasý spirit or that I can see some changes on the blog or maybe it is just the end of the year. A year that has more or less been good; good is an understatement, I should say fabulous. Yes, there have been changes- big changes- and hiccups, but overall, it has been quite nice. Touche’…  Since I have been feeling satisfied with myself, I have also decided not to work much anymore till the 1^st now. That’s my treat to myself; of course I have to go to work for one more day this week, but that will be my last working day for the year! Instead, I had decided to focus on my energies on making one complex dish for Ak, before I signed off the blog for the year. Since Ak was the one who initiated this whole blog, and set it up to make me actually do it, I thought I had to do something fancy, and unexpected. Hence- the risotto. Now, SC, SG and PM are aware of the tomato and basil risotto (and i think i have very good reviews from them :p and i owe them one again!), that I think I have managed to cook reasonably, quite a few times, but I hadn’t really tried a complex recipe. I remembered Ak ‘looooving’ the Lemon Chicken Risotto, sometime when we were out for Dinner, and thought maybe this could be ‘the unpredicted one’. 

                Risottos are considered to be complicated; because it’s very easy to overcook or under cook. Also, the time taken to cook it, is considerably more than an average meal, since it included just standing and watching, refilling with stock and then waiting again for it to cook a little more. I have always been very skeptical of cooking a risotto, because no matter how many times you have made one before, one could still easily go wrong. To prevent that from happening, I thought I should use a tried and tested recipe, since I was also going to add chicken. My first halt was a cookbook on Italian cooking- Nothing; and then began my search online. I found a lemon risotto, a prawn risotto, a chicken risotto, an asparagus risooto, but NOT a lemon chicken Risotto. I searched keenly, but to no avail, since most recipes I found did either not have wine or no lemon or no chicken. I now had newfound regard for the Lemon Chicken Risotto; it seemed like a rare, unusual recipe. I returned to one of my favourite cooks, Nigella, and used the recipe for a Lemon risotto as a base which I planned to tweak (the original can be found here). Even though I reduced the quantities a bit, this recipe is definitely for 3 and not for 2!

                 The Risotto was a winner. Ak was ‘impressed’, so much so, that he brought out some wine in order to commemorate. In this wonderfully cold weather, this surely was more than just comfort food.

p.s. A tip: The recipe does take about 45 minutes to cook. I would suggest, keep a snack handy, for one would surely feel hungry while standing there, watching it cook. We had some magnificent Cranberry Goats Cheese, which was sent by SIL- Totally festive, and delectable. Thanks for the Xmas Goodies!

p.p.s I am not much of an egg person, especially when the yolk is used uncooked. Therefore, I skipped the Egg from the recipe. Feel free to use it though. Also, I skipped the celery, since I had run out of it!

Puff Pastry Wraps- Celebrating Milestones

Communicooking has achieved a milestone. I got featured on Foodista.com as their Featured Blog of the Day on 20^th December. To be honest, I was quite elated! The Yaaaaaay was silent in my heart, because I really could not believe it! For many in the blogging world, this may not be such a big deal, but I am sure, a lot of the bloggers would identify with this moment that they too would have experienced at some point of time! Nevertheless, I was extremely excited, inspired and motivated, Thanks to Foodista!

And there was no better way to celebrate, except to do another post. In the current situation, where there are only 2 people eating, I am constantly worried with regards to excess food around the house- especially perishables like vegetables. In my weekend visits to my wonderland as Ak calls it (well, it’s the local grocery store- and I am like a little child, in a toy shop), Ak had suggested we pick Puff Pastry. I assume he was hoping for the Chocolat Twisties, but this week, being super chaotic at work- had not led to much of anything new worth writing about. I walked into my kitchen, and opened the fridge, and I could see so much stuff- and the puff pastry was going to expire soon! Usually, the basic fresh puff pastry pack is used in 2 batches, but since it was almost close to expiry date- I decided to have a puff pastry day!

The Lazy Chicken (Grilled Chicken in garlic and herb sauce)

I have recently discovered how a lot of my posts have this one quote from Ak, which is the motivation behind the post. This is almost always- presumably a good thing, because on numerous occasions, inertia could get the better of me. Today’s was; “Just because it was easy for you, does not make it ‘not worthy’ of a post. I wonder, what is it that makes something worthy of talking about it. This makes me rethink of what this blog is intended to do.

As much as today was a downer day- when a post would have been out of question, with me not feeling well, and not having slept for a few days now, I thought I would do something quick for dinner. Since Workwise, the momentum is at a different pace completely, efficiency has taken a completely new meaning and this, like always, would reflect in my cooking. The dish for today was going to be Grilled Chicken accompanied with some veggies- (grilled, because I wanted a try a new multipurpose grill pan, that I had been recently gifted by a thoughtful aunt, who is aware of my love for new technology in cookware!). The Grilled Chicken Breast has been one of my favourite dishes for over 10 years now. There was a time, when I would blindly order the Grilled Chicken Breast, wherever I went. The recipe below was invented on the go, recreating my memories of a mildly flavoured chicken that is not overdone with spices; the recipe is simple, not too fancy, extremely healthy and a meal by itself, if accompanied with bread and a little salad (optional).  Maple is optional (I love the sweetness it adds), and so is wine. I call it lazy, only because it really takes no effort, and is perfect for a lazy winter night.

p.s. I think it looked appetizing enough for Ak to pour some wine to accompany it J