” Celebrating world flavors” event showcases food service corporation “Sodexo” partnerships with culinary organizations and renowned chefs from around the world. To kick of this series chef Hari Nayak was invited as the first international chef to educate the students in various diverse/ ethnic cuisines and engage them in culinary demos/ lectures on food. The 2 week event was held during Nov 10th - Nov 21st to celebrate and educate the flavors and the diverse cuisine of India. The series will continue in the future with renowned celebrity chefs like Micheal Smith, Ming Tsai and Rick Bayless.
Grilled dessert!! Not too many people would think of summer grilling & dessert together. Grilling summer fruits is one of my favorite things to do. i was inspired after i saw my friend chef Vikas Khanna grilled peaches in a Tandoor clay oven at his restaurant in New York City. The flavors were outstanding!
There’s no recipe for grilled pineapple; I take a whole pineapple, cut off the top and bottom, remove the outside bark, then slice it. I cut it in half, but I don’t worry about the core, as that gives you a spot to hold the slice. Even thou as you can see i have taken the core off! I like the slices to be maybe half an inch thick. Then put the slices over a medium-hot fire and cook until they’re nicely caramelized, then turn them over and do the same. It is that simple. Serve it warm with your choice of Ice cream!
You cannot go wrong with this easy to prepare summer dessert.
This book is a collection of easy to prepare contemporary recipes created for the modern living and entertaining. The recipes are simple, global very approachable to impress your guests. It has recipes for more than one hundred elegant, savory and sweet dishes such as Moroccan Lamb, Sole tamarind curry and squid with fragrant chili dressing.
These creations reflect my Indian heritage, with plenty influences from my travels to Far East Asia, Middle East and south America. It is filled with fresh flavors, and practical advice, and this book is an illuminating guide to real entertaining for a modern cook.
For the paste:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves peeled and crush
1 teaspoon hot chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
Sea salt
For serving:
Lime wedges
To make the spice paste, grind the lemon juice, ginger, garlic, chili powder, turmeric, and a little salt together to a fine paste, using a pestle and mortar or a small blender.
Using a sharp knife, slash the sardines diagonally on both sides to allow the flavorings to permeate the flesh. Rub the spice paste all over, and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Cook the sardines in batches if necessary: Place in a single layer in the pan and fry over a low heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side until brown crisp. Serve hot with lime wedges.
This recipe is one of my favorites. Spice it up and eat healthy with this recipe full of flavor. You do not have to wait for summer to make this recipe and enjoy the thrill of the grill!. simply use a cast iron char grill indoors. This is the least amount of work you will ever have to do to be considered the Queen or King of the Grill. Be gentle with the ripe avocado, since it tends to fall apart easily.
enjoy!
Marinate
Serves 4
1 medium yellow squash, sliced on bias
1 medium zucchini, sliced on bias
1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch thick circles
1 red onion, sliced in 1/2-inch thick circles
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
2 Avacado, peeled, seeded, and cut in half
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Preheat grill to high.
Prepare all vegetables. Place vegetables in a roasting pan. Season vegetables generously with salt,pepper, spices and toss with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Place vegetables, cut side down, on the hot grill and cook for a couple minutes on each side, or until tender and nicely marked by the grill.
Remove from grill and toss with an additional 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
“Nawab” means king in Urdu and Hindi. This dish is for a true celebration and a festive dinner meal fit for a king. It takes a bit of work and preparation time but it is well worth the effort. This sure is a crowd pleaser! A 3 pound leg of lamb will serve approx 6 to 8 people! Serve this with rice pilaf and raita.
1 pound fresh spinach, chopped ½ lb button mushrooms, chopped
1 cup almonds, chopped
¼ cup cranberries, dried
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
Salt to taste
3 ½ pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of visible fat, de-boned and butterflied
¼ cup malt vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dark chili powder
1 cup sour cream
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons melted honey, plus extra for drizzle
1 teaspoon clarified butter
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon white pepper powder
Mix together the chopped spinach, mushroom, almonds, cranberries, cilantro and garam masala.Make 2-inch long, deep cuts, each about 2 inches apart, over the entire outside surface of the leg of lamb.
In a bowl, mix together the malt vinegar, oil, salt and chili powder and rub well over both sides of the meat, making sure you work it into all the cut sections. Spread the spinach mixture on the entire inside surface. Then roll the lamb into a log. Tie the roll with a kitchen twine crosswise and lengthwise to secure it.
Mix together the sour cream, onion, garlic, honey, clarified butter, coriander, cumin, and pepper and rub well over the outside surface of the meat. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator at 6 to 8 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400° F
Transfer the lamb to an oven proof dish, along with its marinade and roast for 30 to 40 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300° F and cook until the lamb is golden brown and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the string from the roast, cut the lamb into 1-inch slices and serve hot, drizzled with honey.
Summer is around the corner, try something different this summer.
One thing is hot this season is skewers. A lot of chefs and home cooks are giving the skewer a sophisticated makeover.
Whether it’s a spicy chicken with chillies, sweet scallops with peppers or fragrant lamb with preserved lemon one ting is for sure there will be no cutlery is necessary.
Tips and ideas when cooking with skewers:
When using wooden skewer, make sure you soak them before you cook.
Skewers can be done ahead of time: simply marinate overnight
Experiment with different mediums such as rosemary or lemon grass to skewer meats or vegetables
Create a colorful contrast and flavor by adding cherry tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms between layers of meat
Create a grilled dessert by skewering pieces of your favorite fruit
“Double up” use 2 skewers so that it is easy to cook and the meat will not roll over when flipping.
Do not have a grill a cast iron char grills with handles which fit over two burners is perfect for those crosshatch lines on grilled meat, seafood and vegies.
Stay tuned for interesting recipes………
Above images clockwise
Green Chili and Thai Basil Marinade
Chicken Tikka Skewers
Lemon and Sage Chicken Skewers
Cheese and Vegetable Skewers
Join Honarary Lead Chef Vikas Khanna from New York City
and Chicago’s Top Chefs
Featuring Master Sommelier Alpna Singh (Host of Check. Please!)
Tantalize all your senses with culinary samplings from Chicago’s hottest restaurants and tastes of fine wine from around the globe. Stir your soul with the sounds of live entertainment from singer Greta Pope, Enjoy a whiskey tasting with your dessert and bid on exciting live and silent auction prizes.
Touch the world with your commitment to ending violence.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
River East Art Center
435 East Illinois Street, Chicago, IL 60611
There is no single right way to cook any Indian dishes, nor is there a single proper way to serve an Indian meal. The Indian recipes can be made using a variety of techniques - experimentation and practice are the keys to success!
Spices are to Indian cooking what basic stocks, sauces and dressings are to the Western cooking.The exotic spices add warmth, pungency, heat, and subtlety to dishes. Cooks are judged on their skills in blending seeds, powders and pastes. Adventurous chefs may juggle a dozen or more spices in one dish, but most good Indian home cooks do just fine with around six mainstays, although you may want to keep other spices handy for adding extra flavor dimensions to particular dishes.
Essentials
* Black peppercorns
* Cinnamon sticks
* Cloves
* Coriander seeds
* Fennel seeds
* Fenugreek seeds
* Nigella seeds
* Nutmeg and mace
* Dried red chillies
Buying and storing spices
Spices are at their best when used within three months of purchase. To ensure maximum freshness, buy whole spices rather than powders, and grind only what you need. Buy spices from an ethnic grocer rather than a supermarket. Prices are surprisingly low and quality is top-notch. Store whole spices in tightly lidded jars or in the freezer.
Cooking with spices
Toasting whole spices before grinding them intensifies the flavors. To toast, or dry-fry, heat a griddle over a moderate heat, add the spices, and shake the pan until you catch a warm, nutty aroma - it doesn’t take long, about 30 seconds. Similarly, dropping whole spices into a spoon of hot oil also releases essential oils - ‘Tadka’
There should not be any excuse for letting a drop of good wine go to waste!
We all love a good bottle of wine! You’ve just had dinner with your significant other, and the half-finished bottle of wine remains on the table. It’s late, and you both have work in the morning, so you’re not thrilled with the idea of polishing it off right away.
But it’s a good wine, and cost a lot more than the bargain bin selections at the local wine shop. So how to ensure that the aroma, taste and character of the wine remain consistent for days – or even weeks – after opening?
There are several options these days to keep your wine fresh after it’s first opened, from high-tech preservation systems to simple tricks. “If you’ll be finishing the bottle in a day or two, simply re-cork it and refrigerate it and you’re good to go. In fact, aerating wine can actually improve the flavor after a couple of days.”
But if you’d rather save the remaining wine for weekend entertaining or beyond, here are a few things to know:
Re-pressurizing the bottle is a must. There are several ways to do this. Manual pumps that stick through the cork like a syringe will suck out the oxygen and create a vacuum inside the bottle – necessary to stop oxidation. Simply pump until you feel significant resistance, and you’re done.
Automatic vacuum preservers take out the guesswork. These high-tech devices cost anywhere from $30 to $100. Just press a button, and in just a few seconds they’ll remove the excess air in the bottle before inserting a wine stopper, creating a vacuum that will preserve the bottle for as long as 14 days more than simple re-corking.
Insert a wine preservative. Just point the straw into the bottle, spray a couple of blasts and re-cork. Comprised of a safe, odorless and colorless mix of inert gasses, usually Nitrogen and Argon, these preservatives create a barrier between the wine and the air remaining in the bottle.
Go pro. A new breed of restaurant-quality wine-preserving systems are trickling down to the consumer market. These systems allow upright display, on-tap-style dispensing and Argon gas preservation of three to eight bottles, so there’s always a variety of choices on-hand and ready to serve. Wine Saver Pro offers a classy looking, chrome and black, five-bottle model for around $1,000 and a three-bottle version for $800.
These above tips were taken in conversation with a wine expert and a good friend Dan Soskin, founder of PINOT , the wine accessories superstore in Philadelphia’s historic district. A must see!
Located along India’s southwestern coast, Kerala is home to gorgeous beaches and a pleasing tropical climate. The region is known for growing and exporting spices including pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chilies, and mustard, all of which are featured in local recipes.
My recent visit to Kerala was a memorable one. The time i spent there was one of my best culinary experiences I ever had. What can I say about Kerala cuisine? It is something every person should experience at least once in a lifetime. This was my first time trying the traditional Syrian Christian Cooking in Kerala. It was explosion of flavors in my mouth. Try the one at the Grand Hotel’s restaurant in Cochi.
The essential ingredients in Kerala’s flavorful cuisine include rice, coconuts and a variety of fresh bananas. Also prevalent is fresh seafood, including fish, prawns, shrimp, crabs, mussels and oysters, and fresh fruits and vegetables including jackfruits, pineapples, mangoes, cassava, yam and tapioca. Traditional dishes include appams, chutneys, biriyanis and Sadya, a Kerala feast of more than 14 vegetable dishes served on a large banana leaf. For dessert there are many kinds of payasam.
Banana Chips fried in Coconut oil ” a local snack ”
I spent most of my time around Kochi (Cochin). We were filming for a TV series ” Food of India “.
Kochi is a gourmet’s delight and at all the cuisine is as diverse as it is remarkable. There is a huge variety in seafood, from shrimp, crisp-fried mussel, grilled prawn, lobster and squid done just so and, of course, soft-shelled crabs tossed Kerala-style. But the meen pollichathu, a delicious fish fillet coated with spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf and roasted should be a priority. There is the staple kappa kari, which is fish and tapioca, and puttu (steamed rice cakes) with beef roast. Again Grand Hotel’s restaurant comes top of my list.
Chinese fishing nets
Fort Kochi’s ‘You buy, I cook’ beach side food stalls, not far from the Chinese fishing nets, offer good fresh seafood and beautiful views. You can also choose from fresh catch prawns, pomfret, snapper, shark or king fish. You can choose your own “catch of the day” from one of the fishmongers opposite the fishing nets. Then, take it to one of the nearby “fast food” shacks where they will cook it for you.
Spice Market and Trading Areas
The region is known for growing and exporting spices including pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chilies, and mustard, all of which are featured in local recipes
Curious to learn more about the local cuisine!!
I recommend some hands on cooking experience, with Nimy Paul
Nimmy, a professional cookery instructor,conducts cookery classes. She teaches guests the nuances of traditional Kerala recipes. She offers food and hospitality to guests at her home. Nimmy and Paul belong to traditional Syrian Christian community in Kerala. In keeping with the tradition of their families they enjoy having guests and serving good food.
