Spanish Frittata

Overview:

My apologies for the delayed advent into writing about another eggitarian delicacy I prepared last month itself. The Spanish Frittata or most conveniently described as the baked Spanish Omelette. Making use of limited vegetables like potatoes, onions,mushrooms, tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, French Goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, Some fresh parsley and basil and a little spices like salt and black pepper.

Cooking Time : 40 mins including pre-cooking preparations and baking.

Ingredients :

• 8X1/4 inch aluminium pie pan.
• 4 large white eggs
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin Olive oil
• salt and crushed/powdered Black pepper
• 1 thinly sliced red pepper and yellow pepper
• one thinly sliced Potato
• one big onion thinly sliced
• half cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• one thinly sliced small tomato
• fresh Parsley and basil leaves (chopped)
• Fresh French Goat cheese and shredded Mozzarella cheese

Recipe :

1. Beat all the eggs in a large bowl and add salt and crushed black pepper to them.
2. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil on high flame and stir fry all the sliced vegetables, namely potatoes, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms and onions. Saute till they are medium glazed with a grilled appearance. Using an old skillet does the trick of giving that charcoals glazed look and flavor to the veggies. Turn off the flame, Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the veggies and mix finely diced tomatoes at the end. Keep covered.
3. Preheat the oven at 380 degrees F or 194 degree Celsius approximately. In the pie pan, pour the egg batter and add all the vegetable mixture to it. Cut 0.5X0.5 inch cubes of the goat cheese(around 10 cubes) and place at various places in the batter inside the pie pan.
4. Now sprinkle chopped parsley and basil all over the batter and garnish it with good amount of fresh Mozzarella cheese.
5. Very carefully , place the pie pan inside the oven and bake for around 20 mins. Keep on checking in between to make sure that the texture looks okay and not burnt. That has to be done because eggs cook very fast, and you would not want the awesome flavors of cheese and eggs to just be covered by a burnt stench ;)
6. Result will look something like this ;) . You will be able to smell the aromas of the eggs baked in those herbs and cheese by now. Its all done !!

Serving and Presentation :

Carefully cut a piece and serve with salad and bread sticks  I made a sauce by mixing mayonnaise and parmesan-romano sauce with lemon juice and garlic, and made a little presentation of my own !!

Omelette du fromage

Overview:

Easy to make and probably a snooty french breakfast ;) I bet, after you prepare this once , almost everyone having it would feel sitting in Paris :)

Well, its always good to have a change in the regular omelette breakfast for us Indians. With flavors of parmesan and smooth creamy french goat cheese,  dried thyme, basil, rosemary and fresh parsley leaves,  omelette du fromage (fromage : french for cheese) makes a filling and tasty and aromatic breakfast. Prepare it or savor it with butter, some crisp bread.

Cooking Time : 15 - 20 mins including dicing peppers and onions. Serves 4

Ingredients :

• 5 large white eggs
• grated Parmesan cheese, mixed with some freshly grated Mozzarella cheese.
• finely chopped onion, red , green and yellow pepper.
• finely chopped fresh parsley leaves.
• dried thyme,basil, rosemary leaves(these can be obtained from any dried seasoning mix)
• salt as per taste ( 1 teaspoon roughly)
• fat free cooking spray or 1 tbsp butter ( as you please)
• fresh french goat cheese( I use "President" french goat cheese. Its smooth creamy, mostly used for salad blends)

Recipe:

1. Beat the eggs nicely in a large bowl along with salt. Set aside.
2. Mix the grated cheese (parmesan and mozzarella  with some seasoning mix of thyme, rosemary and basil. This will help spread the aroma of these herbs into the inner layer of the omelette along with the cheese. With every bite, you'll be able to distinctly taste the cheese and relish the aroma of these herbs :)
3. Cut the goat cheese into small cubes of a little less than an inch. I recommend setting aside atleast 4-5 cubes for each omelette you prepare.
4. Heat a medium-small skillet on high flame and spread some cooking spray on it. You can also use butter to fetch the authentic french taste, but I suggest going easy on calories because we would be adding nice amount of cheese as well.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and keep that for another 2 mins. Now pour 1/4 th of egg batter in the pan and let it set. 
6. When the top of omelette is just a little moist, sprinkle the mixture of grated cheese we prepared evenly over the omelette so that no area is left that isn't sprinkled with a little cheese mix. Garnish with some red, green and yellow peppers. 
7. Keep the flame on medium low to low and now add the small cubes of goat cheese at all places evenly over the omelette.
8. Sprinkle some more dried seasoning mix of thyme,rosemary and basil  to increase the aroma. The goat cheese and vegetables will release a very little amount of water. Let it evaporate for a while and then put the freshly chopped parsley over the omelette. Now fold the omelette into half. This will be easy to do as the omelette must have cooked thoroughly by this time under low flame.
9. Let the omelette set for around 45 seconds In this interval, all the water lost by the vegetables will almost dry up keeping the inside of the omelette soft, mushy and moist by the melted cheese. By this time you will be able to smell the aroma of all the cheese along with the seasoning of rosemary, thyme,basil and fresh parsley filling up the kitchen. This means we are done !!

Presentation:

Serve in a platter garnished with fresh parsley, along with freshly baked crisp bread and butter....

Or... just the plain omelette. It tastes and smells like something you can find in a high end restaurant, but its just at the counter of your very own kitchen ! Bon Apettit !!

PS: I did not cut the vegetables very finely so my omelette broke in between. That's why I suggested "finely chopped everything" :)
The pic on the left is the perfect outcome !

Saag-blend with rice( eastern-UP saagpaitha)

Overview:

Green veggies have been my weakness since like forever.. well actually may be from the time I began to like the greens.. Let me strike an analogy.. Its like a child loving candies but despising them as he or she grows old.. and loving something he or she despised as a child..  seriously, how many of you like those sugary candies that much now.. and how many of you have started to like the greens, ones you despised when you were kids..

Anyway, so this one is also a recipe that runs in the family from my mother's side I suppose. Makes use of greens like Spinach, Methi (oregano) and Dill. Its extremely healthy.. look for yourself.. other than the fat from desi ghee, rest all is I guess Iron and chlorophyll from the greens. And as far as the taste is concerned, I am a huge fan of it !! So trust me, its good. Even my 2 year old daughter likes it :)

Serves :4 , Cooking time : 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 400-500 grams fresh Spinach leaves
• 400 grams fresh methi(Oregano leaves)
• 200 grams fresh dill leaves (Soya saaag)
• 5-6 cloves of chopped garlic
• 3X3 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
• 5 green chillies(chopped)
• salt as per taste
• black lentils (100 grams : urad chilka split)  
• 2 tsp desi ghee
• turmeric and red chilli powder (1 tsp each)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds(jeera)
• 1 tsp hing 

Recipe:

1. Clean all the greens thoroughly(separate leaves), wash them separately and chop them. Set aside.
2. Wash the lentils. Put approx 1 cup water in a steam pressure cooker. Add lentils and salt and turmeric.
3. Add the chopped greens that we set aside earlier.
4. Add chopped green chillies and chopped ginger .
5. Cook on high flame and let go atleast 4 whistles off.
6. Turn off heat and let the lentils and greens cook in the steam.
7. In a separate skillet, add desi ghee and heat on high flame. Add cumin seeds, hing powder and chopped garlic. Saute till garlic is reddish brown and crisp in texture.
8. Now add red chilli powder and turn the heat off. Add this tadka to the saag in the steam cooker.

Presentation:

Serve hot in a bowl along with freshly boiled rice or chapatis. I personally like it with rice, that is the UP style. 

PS: I have heard "Amitabh Bachhan" mentioning this in an interview as one of his favorite dishes in childhood times.

Chicken Biryani (North Indian style)

Overview:

To all my non-vegetarian friends searching for delectable and healthy Non-vegetarian cuisine, this one is easy , requires comfortable preparations and of course, is a delight for eyes and taste buds!!

A biryani, traditionally has to be spicy, with aromas from green chillies and cardamoms whether it is non-vegetarian or vegetarian. These two things will give the best flavor to it. The rice has to be Basmati/Tilakchandan because they give the best Rice-Aromas. In North-Indian cooking the biryani's are given a distinct aroma of cardamoms by a special technique of flavoring the rice. I learned it from my mom who in turn learned it from her father.This method was used by the chefs of "Nawaabs" at that time.. well atleast that is what my mom told me :)

Cooking Time : 50 mins (excluding Marination and Baking) , serves 4-5

Ingredients:

You will need

• Boneless Chicken Meat of your choice cut into 2X2 inch chunks.
• 1 cup Yogurt (Dahi) : With water  drained.
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2X2 inch peice of ginger (chopped)
• 2-3 garlic cloves(chopped)
• Spices : Tandoori chicken masala(3 tbsp), Red chilli powder( 2 tsp), salt, Dhaniya Powder(2 tbsp), 2-3 cloves(laung), 2 bay leaves(tej-patra)
• tomato puree( one cup)
• green chillies diced into halves
• chopped coriander(Cilantro)
• lemon juice
• crushed black pepper
• 3-4 cups of boiled rice.
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds(jeera) 
• 3 cardamoms(break opened)

Marination:

For marination, drain water from yogurt by keeping it in a seive/peice of cloth for around 2 hours. Collect a cup of water drained yogurt. you might need around 3 cups of standard yogurt for this purpose. Now in a bowl mix some salt, red chilli powder, 2 tbsp Tandoori chicken masala and a little crushed black pepper.

Now add all the chicken in the bowl, mix well and set aside with a cover. The chicken needs to be marinated for around 10 hours, so its best to do it first thing in morning if you are planning for dinner, or a day before if you are planning a lunch.

Baking:

Bake the marinated chicken for around 35 minutes at 450 degree Fahrenheit or around 232 degree Celsius.

After baking separate the chicken in a bowl and splash some lemon juice evenly over it.

Recipe for chicken:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the cloves(laung), and bay leaves to it. Now add onion, garlic and "half" of the chopped ginger and saute for a few minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
2. Now add the spices like Dhaniya powder, 1 tbsp tandoori chicken masala to it and stir well. Add the baked chicken to this and mix well. Cook for a minute with a lid on.
3. Now add the tomato puree and cook covered for 2 minutes. Add salt if necessary.
4. Simmer for a few minutes and add chopped green chillies and coriander.

Flavoring the Rice:

The rice should be freshly boiled. Now, flavoring the rice is extremely important to give the Biryani its authentic aroma and even taste. This is a very common method practiced in North Indian culture as I mentioned earlier too. Just heat 2 tsp oil/desi ghee in a large spoon or small skillet and add the mentioned quantity of jeera and cardamoms to it. Make sure, you break open cardamoms so that few seeds get into the   ghee. I recommend ghee instead of oil for a better taste and aroma, but if some of you are really picky about the ghee fat, you can replace that by oil. Fry for 5-6 seconds and add this to rice. Mix well so that all of rice gets the aroma from cardamoms.

Presentation:

In a large serving bowl, make a layer of flavored rice and run a layer of chicken gravy on it. Run alternate layers of rice and chicken till you reach the top of bowl. Decorate with green chillies diced in halves and cilantro, serve hot !!

Farfalle Pasta in sauteed peppers, onions,eggplant and mushrooms with rosemary chicken

Overview:

The Farfalle pasta is yet another ingredient that will add an aesthetic look to your food. Pasta is not a very healthy meal altogether, but when blended with vegetables or your choice of meat, it can be a delight for eyes and taste buds and will keep a good score on health factor as well. So, this mix and match came up in my mind just a couple of days back and I started cooking it in my head even before actually trying it for real.. !

Italian food mostly makes use of vegetables like onion, garlic,peppers,eggplant,tomatoes and mushrooms. Sometimes greener ones like romaine lettuce etc. but for this recipe I have used the ones I mentioned first.

Cooking time : 50-60 mins , serves 3-4

I really hope someone would try this recipe someday and let me know if they liked it :). It feels like "Julie and Julia" playing around. But thankfully, I am not obsessed with the cooking :)

Ingredients:

You will need :

• Farfalle pasta (one cup)
• Diced mushrooms(around 5-6) and 1 small diced eggplant(around half a cup)
• 1 Diced pepper each of your choice : Red, green, yellow
• 2 Diced onions
• Tomato puree
• Parmesan-romano pasta sauce(available at stores)
• grated Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese
• Italian Bruschetta dressing
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• Salt as per taste
• 1 tsp Margarine/butter
• 7 garlic cloves (grated)
• boneless chicken thighs (2)
• Italian seasoning with dried Thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil.
• crushed black pepper
• lemon juice
• some red wine

Recipe:

1. In a pan, boil pasta along with some salt, drain it and set aside.
2. Wash chicken and cut in small pieces(1 x 1 inch). Sprinkle some salt, crushed black pepper and Italian seasoning over the chicken and set aside for 15 mins. Preheat the oven at 420 degree F or 215 degree Celsius.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add a tsp of grated garlic. Saute for a few seconds and add all the chopped vegetables like onions, mushrooms, peppers and eggplant. Saute or stir fry for a few minutes until the vegetables start loosing water. Add salt as per taste and cook covered for a minute.
4. Now add 2 tbsp of Italian Bruschetta dressing and saute well.
5. Cook open until the water starts drying up. Pour some red wine over the vegetables(around 2 tbsp) and then sprinkle Italian seasoning all over the mixture and set aside covered so that it doesn't loose heat and gravy.
6. Now in the preheated oven, bake the chicken for around 6-7 minutes. After that take out the chicken, drain the fat lost by it and pour some lemon juice over it. Set it aside.
7. Now add together the pasta and vegetable mixture and mix well without disrupting the shapes of individual ingredients.
8. In a separate skillet, heat some margarine/butter and add the rest of grated garlic. Saute until light brown and then add tomato puree. Heat for a minute and then add the Parmesan-Romano pasta sauce. Heat this mixture well. This will be the sauce for our pasta salad made in step 7.

Serving/Presentation :

In a platter, serve the pasta salad of "step 7" and top up with the baked rosemary chicken. Now pour some pasta sauce over it centrally and sprinkle the grated Parmesan,Mozzarella and Ricotta cheese. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning at the end to increase the rosemary aroma. Serve hot.

** For Vegetarians :Just Don't add chicken !!! ;)

Roasted Minced Eggplant with tomatoes (Baingan Bhartha)

Overview:

Among most of the North-Indian, central and western Indian cuisine, this is my favorite dish. I am a sucker for eggplants. Like, such a big fan that I can eat eggplants in any form, shapes, sizes and cuisines. Someday, I am going to learn to make authentic "Eggplant Parmesan" and I'll share the recipe too. But for today, its an Indian thingy !!

The characteristic of this dish which really stands out is that it has a really nice smoky flavor because of the roasting process. If its there, then you are in a for a real good eating time.

Cooking time : 60 mins including pre-cooking preparations and roasting the eggplant.

Ingredients:

You will need :

• 2 big eggplants 
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes finely chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves (chopped)
• half cup finely chopped ginger
• coriander powder (2 tbsp)
• red chilli powder (1 tsp)
• salt as per taste
• Zafrani Garam masala (from shan foods)
• cooking oil (2 tbsp)
• 3 chopped green chillies
• chopped cilantro(coriander) leaves

Roasting the eggplants:

Roast eggplant on flame directly. In case of  metallic plate burners/glass lid heaters use a grill stand to cover the burner and roast eggplant over it. It might take some more time in the later process.The roasting process should be slow so that the smoky flavor resides in the eggplant without actually burning it. Try using eggplants with thinner skins, they have juicier pulp and it makes the roasting process faster. The roasting should be done evenly all over the surface and you'll know when its done. The eggplant will loose water and become soft throughout and the skin will start to crack in many places.

Set the eggplants aside in a large bowl to cool down. After cooling, peel the skin off and mash the eggplants together into a large soft lump. 

PS: This process will look gross, but you will get over it soon ;)

Recipe:

1. In a small bowl take mentioned amount of coriander powder, red chilli powder, 1 tsp  garam masala, salt as per taste and add water in it to make a smooth paste.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet on high flame.
3. Add the chopped onion, garlic and half the amount of ginger to be used into the oil. Saute till golden brown.
4. Now add the masala paste we made in step 1 to the skillet. Saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Now add the mashed eggplants and stir nicely. Cook covered for around 5 mins on medium flame.
6. Add the diced tomatoes, green chillies and rest of ginger and stir evenly. Again cook covered for around 5 mins on high flame. If needed, add more salt.
7. You can add some tomato puree or amchur to give a more tangy taste to the eggplant. In some time you can whiff the roasty smell :)
8. Cook until the eggplant mixture turns brownish in color. This means that the eggplant is thoroughly cooked and even somewhat extra-roasted. This almost does it !

Serving/Presentation Instruction:

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with chapaties/paranthas.

Steamed Eggs

Overview:

Extremely easy and quick to make given its a feast worth waiting for.. Well, I don't really want to brag about it but could not help saying all that because this delicacy is something I make for lunch/dinner when I really don't have anything left to cook at home and everyone wants to eat "something nice". 

My husband's friends stopped by the other day and I had no idea what to offer for dinner, that would look nice to serve and quick to make.. so with simple daal-chaval I thought of adding "Steamed eggs" on the serving tray so that nobody goes disappointed from the house of a "born-chef" !! :)

Now Eggs cook very easily in just a little steam, just like you can poach the eggs in boiling water. 

The process has to be gradual , and trust me.. the result looks beautiful.

Cooking Time : 20 mins, serves 4-5

Ingredients :

• 4 White eggs
• 2 chopped onions
• some finely chopped ginger
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• Spices: 2 tbsp Dhaniya (coriander) powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 0.5 tsp haldi(turmeric), 0.5 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• chopped coriander(cilantro) and green chillies for garnishing.
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Recipe:

1. Heat oil in a skillet and add onions and ginger to it. Fry until golden pink.
2. Now add all the spices and mix well.
3. Now add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle salt all over the mixture. Add a little tomato puree to increase acidity. otherwise, just add 3 tbsp water.
4. break open all the 4 eggs over the mixture. Yes, just break open the egg and empty it out in the skillet over the mixture.. that is exactly what you have to do !!
5. After adding all the eggs, put flame on medium heat and sprinkle salt and garam masala over the recently added eggs to even out the taste. Just make sure you do not add excessive salt.
6. Cook covered for 5 mins. Open the lid and with a spatula gently tap on the eggs to see if they are still mushy.
7. Cook (covered) for a longer time if eggs are mushy. Eventually they will become firm throughout. That is because, We added water and tomatoes drained enough water to generate steam which cooked the eggs. So, we are all done !!

Presentation :

Serve in bowl garnished with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves and chillies. Can be eaten with Chapaties/Rice.

** So, You can play with the ingredients and spices used. This is a recipe with Indian spices, but I am thinking of making it "Italian" !!!