Quiche Lorraine

Here comes the final recipe from my cooking class. In fact the best one. It was very easy to make and one of my favorite. The Chef told me that we can be as creative as we want with this dish. But, we made the most basic and traditional version using Smoked bacon. It was very delicious.

Ingredients:

Short pastry dough - 1

Eggs - 2

Milk - 250 ml

Whipping cream (35% fat) - 250 ml

Salt - to taste

Cayenne pepper - to taste

Nutmeg - 1 pinch

Smoked bacon - 200 gms

Gruyere cheese - 200 gms

Procedure: 

1. Cute the bacon in to 'lardons'. 
2. Saute the smoked bacon in a hot frying pan with a little oil and then place them on a absorbing paper.
3. Take the Quiche mould and butter it generously. Dust the mould with some flour and keep it aside.
4. Whisk eggs and add milk, cream seasoning and blend well.
5. Cut the pastry dough in to the shape of the mould and place it in to the mould and press it gently.
6. Place the bacon and half the cheese on the bottom of the tart. Pour the batter from step 3 on the top.
7. Place the other half of the cheese on the top
8. Cook in a hot oven (200 C) for 35 - 40 mins
9. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving warm.

Enjoy with some nice wine!!!!

Note: Parmesan can also be used to make Quiche. It is very important to note that mozzarella cannot be used to make quiche. 

Salade folle et Vinaigrette

Here comes the second recipe from my french cooking class. This is the first time I made a real salad. It was very tasty and healthy too.

Ingredients:

Mesclun : 200 gms
Radishes : 1 bunch
Carrot - 1
Apple - 1
Lemon - 1/2
Nuts - 50 gms
Dijon mustard - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Balsamic vinegar - 1/4 cup
Olive oil - 3/4th cup

Procedure:

1. Clean and dry the mesclun. Clean and grate the carrot. 
2. Clean radishes and slice in to thin slices
3. roast nuts until lightly golden. 
4. Place salad, carrot, hazelnuts and radishes in to a large salad bowl and mixt. 
5. Cut apples in to julienne slices and sprinkle with lemon 
6. Put mustard in to a mixing bowl with vinegar and salt. Gradually whisk in olive oil until well emulsified.
7. Mix the salad from step 5 with the above mixture (from step 6) and serve.

Enjoy with some white wine!!!

Note: Use a pinch of curry powder and some honey for special flavor. Nut oil can also be used.

Tarte Tatin

 Finally I took my first cooking lesson. I had a wonderful - first : because it was in Paris and second : I learnt french cuisine. We (group of 4) cooked at "La Cuisine". The Chef was awesome. We had fun cooking and the food tasted awesome. If you like cooking then this should be on your list of things to do when you visit Paris. Here comes one of the recipe that we made. Since I love desserts - I will post "Tarte Tatin" first. It was delicious. It goes very well with whipped cream.... If I ever start a restaurant in India this will be a must on the menu :)))

Ingredients:

Apples - 1.5 kg
Butter - 100 gms
Pastry dough - 1
Powdered sugar - 50 gms
Orange - 1 piece

Procedure:

1. Melt the butter in a small pan. Take a baking mould and butter generously.
2. Powder approximately 25 gms of sugar in to the bottom of the mould
3. Peal the apples and cut in to quarters and garnish the mould with the apples as shown in the figure. The garnish should reach the top level of the mould.
4. Place the pastry dough on the apples and then pack them tightly.
5. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar and add 50 gms of (melted and cooled) clarified butter.
6. Place on the fire for approximately 20 mins till the sugar caramelize. 
7. Sprinkle orange juice once medium cooked. 
8. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 C. 
9. Once you remove it from the oven carefully turn it on to a suitable size serving plate.

Enjoy with whipped cream!!!!!!

Chapathi

I have noticed that there is only one recipe in the breads section of my blog. So here comes the second recipe. Very famous Indian bread - "Chapathi". Very famous in the Northern part of India and consumed almost every day for lunch as well as for dinner. Very easy recipe with very few ingredients. Well I have an electronic machine to make chapathi, so I dont add oil for frying. If you are planning to fry them on the pan then do you a little bit of oil.

Rolled chapathi

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 1/4 cup
Water - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1 pinch
Yogurt - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1/2 tsp for each chapati

Preparation:

1. Add all the ingredients except oil, in to a food processor and blend it in to a stiff dough. 
2. Let this dough sit for about 1 or 2 hours. 
3. Knead the dough once again just before rolling the chapathis. 
4. Divide the dough in to lemon size balls and roll them in to a round chapathi. (if you are trying for the first time then don't bother about the shape :))
5. Heat a pan and place the rolled chapathi on to it. let if fry on one side and then turn it to the other side and let it fry for some more time. At this point the chapathi will start to puffup.
6. Then add a little oil and fry it on both sides for some more time. 

Enjoy while it is hot with any curry and yogurt!!!!!

Ginger Chicken

Here comes my favorite experiment!!!.. after more than a month. Back in India I used to go to this chinese restaurant called "Nan King". I actually don't mind going there every night for dinner. It is always among the top 3 of my favorite restaurant list. Every time I go there with my family we order "Drum sticks", "Ginger chicken", "American Chopsuey" and many others. Well this ginger chicken recipe is some what similar to what I used to eat at Nan-King but not exactly the same.

This recipe has a very unique flavor. That is, unlike the traditional Indian chicken recipe this is a little on the sweeter side and this is also the only chicken recipe where I used curry leaves for making the gravy. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 gms
Onions - 3 medium
Curry leaves - 1 handful (10 to 12 strands)
Ginger (grated) - 100 gms
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
Large green chillies (mild) - 4
Soya sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red food color - 1 pinch
pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Oil - 6 to 8 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Blend curry leaves, (half of) coriander leaves along with stems, green chillies and onions in to a fine paste. 
2. In a separate bowl add soya sauce, vinegar, corn flour and salt to chicken and mix well. Let the chicken marinate for about 30 mins. 
3. Take oil in a pan and fry the marinated chicken pieces till they become golden brown. 
4. Add grated ginger and then ginger garlic paste and mix well. Add onion paste (from step 1) and let it cook well. Keep mixing carefully. 
5. Add food color and mix well. Add pepper powder now and adjust the seasoning to your taste. 
6. Finally season the dish with the remaining coriander leaves. 

Enjoy with hot rice or butter nan!!! 

Note: Be a little generous with the oil for the gravy to be cooked properly. Adding the food color will totally change the look of this dish.

Veg Frankie

Frankie is one of the most common street food that you can get in India. It can be made in different variations using different type of fillings or different types of flour. I used very spicy cauliflower curry (I will upload the recipe for this in my next post) as filling and the normal chapathi flour for making these rolls. You can use pretty much any type of curry as filling, just make sure it is not too dry (later I made these with egg fry and they turned out equally good).  One useful tip: make sure you have enough curry and rolls as they will be gone in no time.

Ingredients:

Chapathi - 6

Cauliflower curry - 2 cups 

Tomato ketchup - 6 tbsp 

Onion (thinly sliced) - one 

Eggs - 2 

Salt - to taste

Chilli powder - to taste

Oil - 1/2 tsp for each frankie

Procedure:

1. Beat the egg in a bowl and add salt and chilli powder and mix well. 
2. Heat a pan and add some oil. Pour 2 to 3 tsp of the egg batter and immediately place the chapthi on the top. Do not press the chapathi. 
3. Let it cook and then remove on to a separate place. 
4. Turn the egg side up and apply some tomato ketchup. 
5. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of the cauliflower curry and spread it. Add thinly sliced onions on top.
6. Once again squeeze a thin layer of tomato sauce on top before rolling the chapathi. 
7. Roll gently and make sure the filling does not fall out of the rolls. 

Enjoy while it is hot!!!

Note: Please check the recipe for Chapatis in my other post.

Spring onion Pulao

Here comes yet another easy and very delicious recipe for rice. The mild flavors used in this dish makes it even more appealing. Combination of this rice with Kadai chicken (recipe for you which you find on my website) was very tasty. Raitha can also be used as a side dish. One important tip for this recipe - It tastes best when it is hot, so try to finish it off before it cools down to room temperature...

Ingredients:

Soaked basmati rice - 1.5 cups
Spring onions chopped - 1 cup
Spring onions chopped - 6  (for garnishing)
Oil - 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 9
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. As they begin to change color, add garlic and spring onions and saute till they change to brownish color. 
2. Stir in rice gently. Add three cups of water, salt, garam masala powder and mix.
3. Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked.
4. Sprinkle lemon juice and garnish with spring onions

Enjoy while it is hot!!!