Entree Archives - Page 3 of 7

Appetisers and Hors D'oeuvres, Entree, Salads, Savoury, Vegetables & Sides

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Spring Onion and Goats Cheese

Now apart from my last post on the summer fresh and easy umami chickpea sandwiches, the bulk of 2015 has been written up as sweet posts, including Momofuku’s cinnamon brown butter bun pie, amarula spiked chocolate pudding pots and coconut brown butter cookies with the exception of my Valentine’s Day inspired heart shaped champagne and truffle risotto. Time to give you a more balanced approach to cooking! Today I have for you an absolute stunner – Sweet Potato salad with spring onion and goats cheese. This stunner has been adapted from Ottolenghi’s arsenal of glorious recipes. Now as you may recall, I’ve succeeded at emulating Ottolenghi’s sweet potato cakes, which I still fantasise and salivate over.

There’s enough potato in this significant salad to serve as a meal in itself for 4-5 people, or as a part of a larger gathering of food, for 8-10 people. But I would definitely size it down and serve it to myself for a gratifying and fire-crackingly flavourful lunch or dinner – nutritiously comprising of gluten and grain free carbs along with a handful of vegetables and sprinkling of protein. And my most important food group – spice!

The bulk of the work is done by the beautiful marriage of the ingredients – the perfectly golden…

Truffle Salt Scented Champagne Risotto

To make up for my shamefully long absence, I tried to make something so distractingly decadent and drool-worthy that my hiatus will hopefully be quickly forgiven! This risotto was conceived as all fantastic recipes – while discussing something completely different! We were sitting at my parents home, and having a chat with my visiting Italian brother-in-law about bhel and sev puri, and somehow reached the conclusion that a champagne risotto with parmesan would be incredible.

That just stuck.

All I did was add some truffle salt and sliced truffles.

One of the many fabulous characteristics of this recipe is that it involves absolutely no fresh ingredients (unless you count one small white onion ‘fresh’). It is just a fabulous way to use up that almost over bottle of champagne (yeah, because that always happens. NOT!). You can always spruce it up with some fresh spears of asparagus, or swap the champagne for merlot and then add some beetroot.
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February 12, 2015 | 1 Comment

Entree, Savoury

Potato Dauphinoise

Never underestimate the power of the potato. Not only because it gives us pretty little things like vodka and fries, which are ah-mazing. But also because their humility allows you to really work magic with them. Add eggs and they make an awesome frittata. Bake them and season, resulting and glorious potato wedges. Grate them onto a skillet for a quick and crispy potato roesti. You get the gist.

What I chose to do with (or rather, to) my potatoes was a little more luxurious. My mum was having her gaggle of friends over for a lunch soiree, and in addition to a bunch of salads and desserts, the main course was heralded by this version of potatoes – the Dauphinoise.

Lets rewind. The first time that I tried this spectacularly simple dish was at a restaurant in the city for a buffet lunch. I remember some friends of my parents going ga-ga over the preparation, which prompted them to call the chef out to the table to learn more about this new
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September 8, 2014 | 1 Comment

Entree, Savoury, Soups & Sandwitches

Open Face Caprese Sandwich

I am in the process of researching an imaginary trip to Italy.

Rome, Milan, Florence, maybe the Tuscan countryside, and wine country.

From the crux of my initial research, lets call it Eataly. It is almost like a dream, to be able to eat and live life on the robust flavours of Tuscany, the gorgeous wines and the exceptional deserts. I think my version of a dream holiday in Eataly involves waking up early to beat the long queues spiralling alongside the museums and art galleries, with a mandatory quick stop at a local cafe for a double espresso. After the gallery/museum of the day, walk around one of the many quaint squares and their attached by lanes, poking around the local stores and boutiques, collecting pantry essentials (truffles, olive oils, cheeses, herbs, you get the gist!) and enjoying the local vibe. Next stop – a trattoria or deli

Tagliatelle with Zucchini Ribbons, Basil and Mushrooms

Do you ever get obsessed with eating or fantasising about eating one particular thing, week on week, day on day, meal on meal? I have that obsessive tendency, where I fall in love with a particular dish, and just can’t get enough of it – until one fine day, the obsession dies out completely. I’m still unsure about whether its because I overdid it, or because the dish outlived its welcome. In either way, the evidence is clear – when my heart falls into a plate, it takes a while for me to get it off that plate!

It started a few weeks ago, with creating Ribboned Zucchini with Almond Pesto and Truffle Drizzle. Unhappy with the actual ribbons that were created, I went out and bought a cute little handheld spiraliser, to give me those perfectly extra long and thin spaghetti like zucchini ribbons. After step one was done, I decided that I wanted to make a pasta that wasn’t ‘saucy’ in the slightest, but which burst with flavours, was clean on the palate and looked amazing.

Cherry Tomato Mascarpone Arrabbiata

To the entire world, India has always been associated with its abundance of spices. Not surprisingly, Indians favour the spicier offerings of global cuisine, which brings us to the famous arrabbiata. The literal translation from Italian means ‘angry’, an ode to the fire and heat that is prominent in this sauce, my version using none other than ground bits of emaciated Kashmiri mirchi.

This recipe came about after pottering through the larder and the refrigerator, with the aim of satisfying my friends who we invited over for a long overdue tete a tete consisting of vats of wine and a bounteous spread. Read more…

April 28, 2014 | 0 comment