One Pan Mustard-Pepper Baked Chicken

This is one of my favourite go to tricks for when I want something different. It's quick, easy and you only need one pan as the name suggests. This recipe is inspired by Nigella's One Pan Sage and Onion Chicken and Sausage. I've skipped the sausage since I didn't have it stashed in the fridge this time, but the results even without it are remarkable and that's made me quite happy with the end result.

Stay tuned for my next recipe,  Home made apple pie!

INGREDIENTS:
1 whole pre-cut chicken (skin on or off- whichever way you like
100gms butter cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons Aatash Foods - Super Chef's​ English Mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
250gms baby potatoes halved or big potatoes cut into wedges
2 red onions quatered
1 whole pod of garlic (peeled, individual cloves crushed by hand)

METHOD:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Step 2: Line a flat baking pan (if you're metal) with aluminium foil. This makes cleaning afterward easier.

Step 3: Rub butter on each piece of chicken. Try inserting small cubes of butter into the more meaty pieces like drumsticks, thighs and breast pieces. This helps the meatier pieces remain succulent.

Step 4: Arrange the chicken in the pan. In the gaps add the potatoes, garlic and onions. See picture below, you want the pan to look a little crowded.


Step 5: Add the mustard and rub it into all the ingredients in the pan. Flatten them out once more and cover the pan with aluminium foil. Set aside for a few minutes

Step 6: Place the pan into the oven set to 250degrees for 50 minutes and then for 20 minutes at 225degrees without the foil covering it. To allow it to brown a little.
IF you're using a fan oven, then 250 degrees covered for 35 minutes alone would suffice.

Step 7: Serve hot with garlic toasties :) For the health conscious there's always chapatis ;)

Leftover Rice Pudding (for Two)

I've started cooking for two lately.. and I must admit, I quite enjoy it. After a long day at work, THIS is what keeps me sane. Oh, and if you're wondering what I meant by cooking for two, I wanted  to use this as an excuse to announce I got hitched (about a month ago) and thereby distract you from the fact that I haven't blogged in the longest time.

I've spent over a year playing busy working girl & bride-to-be, which meant yes—I haven't baked or cooked in over a year. 2014 hasn't really been a favorite but hey! I can't complain, all the effort payed off, I started 2015 with a big bang wedding and a whole new chapter of life.

A glimpse of our D-day :)

So getting back to where I started, I've been cooking for two lately, and while I quite enjoy it, I'm constantly finding ways to minimize wastage and create something new with leftovers. And while I might not always be able to judge exact quantities to cook for two, which is a tough call with both of us always on the go, as long as leftovers are being used up, I am a satisfied soul.

This leftover rice pudding is a product of--leftover rice from Sunday afternoon rice. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
A plateful of leftover rice
Milk 1 and a 1/2 cups
Sugar (to taste) 5tbspns
Butter 2 tbspn
Vanilla essence 1 tbspn
1 egg
All purpose flour 1tbspn

METHOD:
1. Pour milk in a slightly larger microwave dish, add the rice, butter and half the sugar and heat for about 6 minutes at 3 minute intervals.

2. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and flour.
3. Temper the egg mixture by adding a little bit of the hot milk mixture by constantly whisking it and adding a spoon at a time. This is to keep the egg from curdling.
4. Combine the egg and milk mixture and whisk thoroughly.
5. Pour the liquid pudding into a buttered tin. (I used a 6x6 inch tin)
6. Bake in a preheated over at 180 degrees C for 50 minutes. If you like the top browned, just bump up the heat to 200 degrees for the last 10 minutes and keep a close eye to keep it from burning.

TIP: You're looking for a slight wobbly yet firm texture to know when it is done.

Mini Bacon & Cheese Frittatas

I don't usually host brunches, but when I do, I make sure everyone has a great time with great food. Last Saturday I hosted a brunch for two of my best girl friends and I must say, we had nothing short of the greatest time spent together.

The menu was pretty simple and and well decided in advance (with 3 days notice) - I wanted to make sure everything was just right for us girls.. Pancakes with maple syrup, smokey cheese sandwiches, samosas, a choice of jams, cereals and the star... these mini bacon & cheese frittatas.

I've been watching a whole lot of Buddy Valastro's Kitchen Boss lately and his recipe for frittatas looked and cooked pretty easy. But I'm also a voracious #Pinterest pinner and was absolutely taken on by the idea of having muffin shaped eggs for breakfast. Soo, when the opportunity presented itself to make frittatas, it had to be grabbed... I HAD TO MAKE MUFFIN SHAPED FRITTATAS TODAY!

Upon request from a friend, who I'm sure is eager to make these for her little bundle of joy, here's the recipe for these little bites of comfort.

INGREDIENTS
6 Eggs
50ml milk
2tbl spns fresh cream
1 red, yellow and green pepper chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 chillies finely chopped
300 gms of bacon chopped
1/2 cup of  grated/ diced Cheddar (or any other cheese)
1 tbl spn Olive oil (I used extra virgin)
2 potatoes (boiled or microwaved till cooked) peeled and diced

METHOD
Grease 2 muffin tins well and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
Heat oil in a frying pan and add chopped bacon, garlic and chillies till bacon is cooked
Add the chopped peppers and cook till they get soft. Turn off heat and add potatoes.
In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, cream and season with salt and pepper. Mix half the cheese.
Add the the egg mixture to the bacon, pepper and potato mix and cook till eggs start to cook just a bit and take off heat.
Add the frittata batter to the miffin tins and add the rest of the grated cheese on the mini frittata tops.. these make them look (and taste amazing)
Bake  until cooked (for about 20 minutes)
Pop the lovely frittatas out of the trays and arrange them in a serving plate and voila.. they're ready to be devoured!

Healthy Carrot & Radish Muffins

I love to bake. Wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me to bake, and I'll be game.

But how on earth am I going to keep up with this love of mine while I am trying to stick to a weight loss regime? My oven was on a sabbatical while I'd  fantasize about  baking myself a tray of Red Velvet Cupcakes, Lemon Tarts and Apple Pies, but my brain reminded me better than to give in.

But last Saturday, the morning of 19th January, my hands itched to hold a whisk, and while I argued with myself to control and eventually conquer the urge to bake... time had other plans in store it seems. As I flipped through the pages of the newspaper, I came across a recipe for healthy Courgette (aka zucchini)Walnut Muffins by Pamela Tims (Article in Mint, titled 'Courgettes & Chai'). That was it. Here was a recipe that used Atta for white flour, sunflower oil for butter and veggies. I can finally; and I mean  literally, have my cake (read bake ;-) and eat it too!

When I rushed to my very trusty refrigerator, I knew I wouldn't have any zucchini in there, but I crossed my fingers that there'd be some carrots and there were 4 but I took 2. Half a radish sat on its shelf, as if begging to me with puppy-dog eyes "Pick me?!Pick me?!" it said... and pick  the radish I did! A basket of oranges lay on the table, I was sure that I'd have some nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves stashed in the spice jar in the pantry cupboard and the sunflower oil is a staple at my place. Woohooo!! I was jumping for joy!

I threw the veggies right in the food processor, took out the measuring cups and spoons, equipped my cupcake tray with liners, preheated the oven and I was ready to rumble!!!


Makes 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
(a) 280g Wheat flour (Atta)
(b) 1tsp baking soda
(c) 1tsp cinnamon
(d)1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
(e) 1/4 tsp ground cloves
(f) 1/2 tsp salt
(g) 200g demarara / light brown sugar
(h) 200g finely chopped carrots
(i)  150g finely chopped raddish
(j) 75 ml orange juice
(k) 100 ml sunflower oil
(l) 2 eggs
(m) zest of 2 oranges

METHOD
1. In a bowl, sift together ingredients a to f and set aside.
2. In another bowl add the sugar, eggs, orange juice and oil and whisk until the mixute turns slightly pale and frothy.
3. Now combine the wet and dry ingredients stirring gently until all the flour is incorporated. Be careful not to stir too briskly because that will just knock the air out of all the ingredients.
4. Gently add the carrots and radish and mix slowly.
5. Spoon the mixture into a lined muffin tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

If you're feeling a little bit indulgent you can give these moist babies a dusting of icing sugar. For fans of the extra moist kind, you can go on and mix some icing sugar with orange juice and use the mixture as a frosting.

Oats Upma - Aha!

First of all here's wishing one and all a very happy New Year!

I believe apologies are in order for my prolonged silence ever since my  *ahem first post. This is just my second post and as you might have guessed already, 'discipline' isn't really my thing. But hey! I am working towards it.

That leads me to this post. My second ever and my first for 2013.My resolution this year is to get fit by shedding some kilos (10 to be precise). And in my effort to do so I have started counting calories, working out and make an extra effort (includes talking myself out of food temptations all around and carrying a minimum of 2 fruits to work to snack on) to stick to my diet plan.

Now while I am at it, I have to confess... I hate... No I HATE eating oats for breakfast. Oats look nothing close to appetizing (at least my best friend agrees) and have the most odd texture especially when gone cold- they turn sticky thus painfully hard to swallow (if you are part of the club).

However boring oats may be, the truth is that they are also very healthy to eat. They are low calorie and an amazing source of fiber which can keep you quite full for a while and are also known to be good for the heart, etc...Good enough reason for me to have a bowl of 'em every morning. But if I were to have oats, I had my mind made up- it was not going to be made with milk and sugar. No sir!

They had to be savory and they had to be quick.... Not to forget, healthy. The packaged masala oats aren't tasty... and I believe far from healthy. So I devised my own breakfast recipe for oats  which involves the least bit of prep. involved before I hit the road for work.

Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
(a) 4 tbl spns quick oats
(b) 3 to 4 curry leaves
(c) 1 green chilli (cut right into the bowl with a pair of kitchen scissors)
(d) 1/2 tspn mustard seeds
(e) Salt to taste
(f) 1/2 tspn oil

METHOD
1. Add ingredients b to f in a medium sized vessel and quickly put it on the stove (don't forget to turn on the heat- this happens to me when I am in hurry)
2. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the oats and let them roast a teenie tiny bit and add a tea cup of water.
3. Start stiring once the mixture simmers.Let the water dry out and voila!

Spiced-Yellow Rice

Very simple and very comforting. This yellow spiced rice adds just the right amount of sunshine to your plate.

P.S. - Ignore the serving suggestion if you're having this with the Sahs.

Ingredients :

Rice (any variety of polished rice will do) - the rule of thumb at my place is an open fistful per 2 people at the dining table and I will be feeding a crowd of 7
Water
Turmeric powder - 1 tspn.
Salt to taste
Cloves - 4
Pepper corns - 5
Cinnamon stick - half  - broken into 4 - 6 pieces
Bay leaf - 1 dry - optional
Star anise - 1 dry - optional

Method :

1. Wash and soak the rice in the vessel you're going to cook it in for about 5 minutes.
2. Drain out the water its been soaking in and add fresh water. Water level shout reach the second ridge of the ring finger while your middle finger touches the submerged rice. (see picture illustration below)
3. Place on medium heat and add the turmeric and whole spices. Partly cover the vessel with a lid until all the water is evaporated / absorbed.
4. Voila! Yellow- spiced rice / Khichri is ready.
   
   Serving suggestion : You can also add a blob of butter, which melts away as you add a freshly cut de-seeded green chilli, some lemon zest and a slight squish of lemon juice and have it warm!!
   
   Let your imagination run wild with this one and the possibilities are endless.... Meanwhile, I'm lusting over the possibilities of  a brunt garlic scented garnish going great with this, hmm.. what are the odds??

Sahs (Parsi Style White Sauce)

Sitting pretty on a bed of yellow spiced rice, this is my home cooked version of the festive Parsi treat, Machi no Sahs, often found on the "Lagan nu Patru". A pale goldeny creamy sauce cooked with prawns.

The Sahs or Sauce in my view is an ode to flavors typically Parsi - a perfect blend of sweet, sour and  pungent, delicate and warm  just right to sit on top of  my list of must have and must cook comfort foods for a lazy Saturday afternoon with the family.



Unlike most white sauces, this Parsi-style sauce is made with either rice or gram flour instead of the regular all purpose flour. I personally prefer to use the gram flour over rice flour (which I use as a back up option) because of its goldeny charm which packs a punch full of character and flavor.

One of the core flavors in this dish is brought in by the use of Sarka i.e. dark sugarcane vinegar. The most commonly found vinegar in Parsi kitchens across Bombay has to be Kolah's - a brand from Navsari. This amber tonic of flavor adds a light blush to this pale yellow gravy. Incase you can't get a hold of this vinegar, apple cider vinegar works just fine.



Now coming to my favorite part of the recipe - although most commonly cooked with pompfrets, this recipe goes great with prawns(what I have used this time - an all in all winning combination!), kingfish fillets, boiled eggs and even lamb or mutton (I'd suggest you prepare the dish in a pressure cooker right from scratch in case you're making the red meat variant). You're a vegetarian ? You can totally skip  any kind of meat.



To "bejewel" this dish is a must according to me, and so I plonk in a pack of fresh cherry tomatoes and it almost looks like ruby-pearls peeping out of the satiny syrup and that consistently puts a smile on my face.

To finish, garnish with a few chopped sprigs of fresh coriander for emerald freckles.

At home this sauce is served with Khichri i.e. Yellow-Spiced Rice



Recipe (Serves 6 - 7 pax)

Ingredients :

Vegetable or sunflower oil - 1 Tbspn.
Onions - 2 large finely chopped
Curry leaves - one small stem
Garlic - 4 cloves, Green chillies - 4 and 1 - 2  tspn. of cumin seeds (Ground to a paste with a little bit of water)
Sugar - 1 Tbspn.
Salt - to taste
Gram / rice flour - 4 - 5 Tblspn.
Fish cut into slices /boneless meat/ lamb into small pieces - 500 gms
Water - 2.5 - 3 cups
Fresh cherry tomatoes - approx 12 - 15
Fresh coriander - few sprigs freshly chopped

Method :

1. In a heavy bottomed vessel add the onions, curry leaves and some oil and place on a medium heat. Allow the onions to cook till slightly pink.
2. Add the green chilli, garlic and cummin seed paste, mix well and cook till its very lightly browned.
3. Add the sugar and cook it its melted due to the heat.
4. Add some water to the flour and make it into paste (just to ensure there are no lumps - I place the four with some water into the same container of my mixer grinder n which i made the garlic chilli and cummin paste). Add this to the onion mixture, cook till the entire mixture thickens a bit and add about 2 cups of water and salt. Bring to a boil.
5. Add the fish and let it cook in this mixture for approx. 3 minutes and turn off the heat. For the meat version add the pieces of meat an pressure cook for about 2 / 3 whistles.
6. Add the cherry tomatoes and chopped fresh coriander. Turn on heat again and bring to the slightest boil. (You don't want those baby tomatoes to pop in the sauce while cooking, they  feel great when they pop in you mouth - believe me!)
7. Serve hot with Yellow Spiced Rice (recipe coming soon!).