The Truly Wonderful Scotch Eggs

The word ‘Scotch’ is invariably associated with Scotch whiskey, and the age-old distilleries of Scotland. However, there are many more products that are associated with the word, like Scotch tape, Scotch bonnet chillies and the wonderful Scotch eggs!

By the way, the Scotch bonnet chillies are named so only for their shape resembling the traditional Tam o' Shanter hat of Scotland; they are not grown anywhere near Scotland!

The best thing about Scotch eggs is that it is a meal in itself. Add a green salad of any kind, and you have a well balanced meal. 

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Kare Kare… a Meat Stew Perfect for the Winter!

Last week was real cold… and breezy to boot. Perfect weather for a meaty stew. I had been planning to make a Kare Kare for a few days and last week, I finally got around to it. And man, am I glad! It looked good, tasted good, and was healthy as well!

The vibrant orange colour of the dish is achieved by the use of achiote seeds, something new for me.

Achiote seeds are commonly used in Latin American and Caribbean cuisines to add colour and flavour to food. I had seen them used by one of my friends from Puerto Rico and I was charmed. And I bought a bottle of the seeds from a Hispanic store. So the Kare Kare was the perfect opportunity to try it out!

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Kicked Up Potato Skins

So the other day, when the craving for potatoes hit me, as it does every so often, I chose to do a combo – a dish of potato skins stuffed with goodies. And what did I do with the scooped out potato flesh? That is a topic for another day! :-)

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Quick & Easy Chicken Curry

However, when a friend from my zumba class spoke about looking for an easy to make chicken curry recipe, I did not have to think at all… I knew right away the perfect one!

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Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

There is this funny story about how humans first started cooking their meat... how a barn got burned down along with the animals in it and the sad owner burned his finger when he poked a dead (and apparently perfectly cooked) animal... and put the finger in his mouth... and went yummm... but I have not heard a story about how we started eating shrimp. Only thing I can say is, whoever started the trend, he or she must have been a courageous soul! To look at one of those grumpy looking things with all spindly legs and stalk eyed stare and think... “umm... that must taste lovely!” would have taken a truly adventurous mind.

Whoever it was, I’m eternally grateful to that person. For, that indeed tastes lovely! In fact, shrimp is the favourite of a majority of pescetarians.

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An All-time Favourite Bread Pudding

White chocolate, berries, bananas… What is not to like? Each of them lovely on their own. So what if you put them all together? That is what is happening with this wonderful bread pudding, that I had mentioned a while ago. This was to take to a party that I went to, with some of my friends...

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Potato Salad – the Taste of Summer!

Finally… summer is officially here! Today is Memorial Day… the starting of beach days and spaghetti tops and sangrias and salads! A season embodied by that Nat King Cole song I love… ‘Those lazy crazy hazy days of summer… of soda and pretzels and beer…’. And of course disagree with the last line, ‘You wish that summer will always be here…’ I’m sure no one would give summer a second thought if it was always here! Okay, okay, I digress, that is topic for another post. 

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Mediterranean Summer Bread Pudding

This Sunday, I have a party to go to. And I’m planning to make a bread pudding with lots of lovely stuff – white chocolate, bananas, cranberries – in it to take along. But then, that is only on Sunday… and people have to eat till then, right? I was not in a mood to go food shopping in the middle of the week. Looking in the refrigerator, I realised I had bits of different cheeses that I needed to use up. But how? And remember, I had bread pudding on my brain… voila, the end result is this Mediterranean summer bread pudding!

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Zucchini Carrot Bread for Breakfast

So these days, I’m looking at healthy breakfast options. Not the routine stuff, but something a bit more attractive… which doesn’t take a lot of time in the morning. Going through my recipe files, I came across this breakfast bread… slightly on the sweet side, and choke full of veggies. Seemed like the perfect solution, and when done, the zucchini carrot bread turned out to be exactly that.

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Rice Crispy Treats

While I was clearing my kitchen store cupboard I found a bag of marshmallows long forgotten. So I kept them aside and waited for my girls to come back from university for the holidays to make some rice crispy treats. I just wanted to bring back those fun filled days when we used to make these sorts of snacks quite often.  My younger daughter was the one who insisted that I should go and get the recipe for rice crispy treats from a "big book" when she was in Year 2. They were learning “how to write instructions” as part of their literacy curriculum and she wanted me to make them for her right away.

Blackened Tilapia – a page from a Creole Cookbook

Originating in Louisiana, the Creole style of cooking combines the European cooking methodologies with the local American ingredients. Though it has influences of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian cuisines, the major inspiration comes from the French. The blend of classical European cooking styles with new ingredients found in the New World gave rise to a very rich and flavourful cuisine.

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Mango Mousse

The light, airy and creamy mousse is a dessert I like to serve at dinner parties as it can be made ahead of time, be served in individual helpings and you can also make many variants to cater to the taste of guests. Mousse with the freshness of mangoes is one I just couldn’t resist.

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Quesadillas for Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo… is not an excuse for margaritas! In fact, it commemorates the against-all-odds victory of the Mexican army against the much larger French forces of conquest at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Though the victory in the battle did not lead to victory in the war, it served as a morale booster and matter for pride for the Mexican army and people. Interestingly, that war was the last time a European power invaded any country in the Americas!

Today Cinco de Mayo – Spanish for ‘fifth of May’ – has come to signify a tribute to Mexican heritage and pride and is celebrated widely in the United States and in Mexico. Usually parties with awesome Mexican food drink and music…

Quesadilla is one of the quintessential Mexican dishes. One of my favourites to make as well, because of the variety one can work with it. And I’m certain that the quesadilla as it originally was hardly resembles its modern version.

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Vanilla sponge cake with chocolate frosting

Although I make frosted cakes occasionally, birthday cakes are not really my forte. So when I had to get a birthday cake for my friend’s son, I decided to improve my skills and make one myself. It had been a long while since I last made a birthday cake, the last one I remember baking was a three layer cake for my daughter’s birthday a few years ago.

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Cilantro Pesto Pasta

Basically, a pesto sauce needs a nut base to give it body. Add to it any green herb to form the foundation of the flavour. And olive oil to bring it all together. The rest is entirely up to you... you can try various accent flavours to focus on, till you find your favourite combinations.

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Eggless Butter Cookies

I can never say no to a cookie. They are always good to savour with a cup of tea or coffee or to serve with ice cream or other light desserts. I love to have savoury cookies with soup. Americans call them cookies and British traditionally used the term biscuits, although now the word cookie has become common all over the world.

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Palak Paneer - Cottage cheese and spinach

Conducting cooking classes for my friends and colleagues was something I really enjoyed doing. We had so much fun during those classes where we cooked together and then devoured all the fruits of our labour afterwards. Though I didn't manage to hold many sessions, I will always remember those fun filled classes with a smile. Palak paneer and chicken tikka masala were some of the most popular dishes among my friends so naturally, I received many requests to make these two in the sessions.

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No Fail Chocolate Cake

I always love to make this chocolate cake because it's so simple and it turns out right every time. I’ve been making this cake for years but I definitely made it the most when my girls were still in school, a few years ago. They had the annoying habit of remembering quite late on the night before that they had to bring something in for a bake sale the next day. So I would make my no fail chocolate cake late at night before bed or early in the morning just before leaving for school as it can be made without much planning as the ingredients used are store cupboard staples.

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Quinoa and Lima Beans Salad with Walnut Dressing

2013 was declared the ‘International Year of Quinoa’ by the United Nations General Assembly, with the objective drawing the world’s attention to the role that quinoa can play an important role in eradicating hunger, malnutrition and poverty. 

Though quinoa can be prepared in many ways – quinoa burgers are quite tasty! – my favourite use for it is in salads. It is very versatile and you can add a lot of varied stuff to it to come up with interesting combinations. I like it best when I add a lot of my favourite things and come up with a satisfying meal in one dish!

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Houmous – A guilt-free pleasure

Creamy houmous drizzled generously with olive oil is more or less a permanent dish featured in a Middle Eastern meal. Consisting mainly of chickpeas, houmous can be eaten as a dip with crudités, pita chips etc and as a spread with pita bread. Sometimes I do enjoy houmous on its own, and with no guilt as the chickpea is a legume that’s high in protein and fibre with a low glycemic index making it a good choice for weight control as it gives you the feeling of being full with fewer calories.

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Chicken Cacciatore

The other day, I was watching television and saw chicken cacciatore being made. And realised that I hadn’t made it for a while, though it was one of my quick go-to recipes a while back. To pick out the recipe from the file (I do keep a physical file of my favourite recipes!) and create a shopping list was just a five-minute job!

Chicken cacciatore is very versatile dish in that it can be served with pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes...

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Pumpkin Soup – tasty and healthy

Pumpkin and papaya were two of the vegetables I detested most during my childhood, but once I started cooking that slowly changed. Pumpkin found its way into my culinary escapades as my husband was very fond of it and papaya was only made appealing to me by the lovely Pawpaw man.



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A pie for Pi Day!

March 14^th, as you know, is Pi Day worldwide, a day on which math enthusiasts celebrate the constant 3.14, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. One way to celebrate the day is to have pie parties, or at least make and eat pies! And to join in with the spirit of celebrations, that is what I decided to do too… make a pie!

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Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee pudding is an indulgent and comforting pudding on a cold winter day The warm, sweet decadent crumbs drenched in toffee sauce, topped with some cold ice cream, is a treat indeed.

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