ANGEL HAIR PASTA WITH ASSORTED VEGGIES in a CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients:
Angel hair pasta: ½ packet
Assorted veggies: (diced)
Zucchini- 1 No.
Onions- 5 Nos.
Garlic- 5 cloves
Broccoli- 1 small head
Baby Corn- 1 punit
Mushrooms- 1 punit
Sun dried tomatoes- ½ a jar
Olive oil- 3 tbsp
Cream- ½ liter
Chili flakes
Salt and pepper

Method:
In a pan sauté onions and garlic in the olive oil till golden brown.
Add mushrooms, sauté until they are cooked.
Deglaze with cream, add sun dried tomatoes and simmer.
Cook pasta in another pot. Cook till al dente. Just 2 minutes before you drain the pasta add broccoli to the pasta. Drain.
Sauté zucchini, baby corn add to the cream sauce.
Add the pasta, broccoli to the sauce and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Serve warm and garnish with parsley!

About the Author:
A pastry chef by profession and also a TED fellow, Kishi Arora, spends her day dreaming up ways to tickle surprise and indulge the taste buds of discerning foodies in Delhi.

Kishi started ‘Foodaholics’, a popular Dessert shop. Now Foodaholics extends consultancy services to organisations and enterprises involved in food business. For an exotic desert customized to your tastes place your order at www.foodaholics.in

It was just a few minutes to midnight and we were walking along La Seine in the historic center of Paris. On the right side was the beautifully lit Louvre. Looming ahead of us was the Cathedral of Notre Dame casting its beautiful reflection in the river. Far away at a distance, the twinkling lights show had started and the iconic Eiffel Tower was sparkling in brilliant light. The restaurants and coffee shops of the left bank were buzzing with activity.

We heard loud noises from Pont des Arts and as we hurried to it, we saw the pedestrian bridge filled with people. They were sitting in groups and drinking wine and beer and dancing and singing. All of a sudden we hear a commotion. A guy starts to take off his clothes and everybody rushes to one side of the bridge. We rush just in time to see the young man jump into the river. Another guy follows suit and the crowd erupts in cheers and claps.

Is that a bare butt? Oh My GOD – Is that guy naked” I ask Saru in an incredulous tone.

“Yup…he is! We saw so many naked statues and paintings today – It is only fair that we see one in flesh and blood. We are in Paris baby!
Saru and I went to Paris first in 1999 for our honeymoon, and for a second time this June to celebrate our 10th wedding Anniversary. It is for that reason, this place is very special to us.

This being our second trip to Paris, you won’t see me gushing about the Louvre or raving about the stain glass windows of Notre Dame. The bucket list was checked off in 1999, places sufficiently ‘wow’-ed and the awesomeness captured in a camera, so there was no pressure to visit every single attraction. Given that, I did not have a long list of things to do. I did however have a long list of things to eat (how can you not?). Think of the delicious buttery, flaky, crispy croissants and the soft, delicate, decadent, molten chocolate cake floating in a sauce of Crème Anglaise.

Our Paris trip started with a sandwich. YES, a SANDWICH and not just any sandwich, it was a Tomate et Mozzarella sandwich on pain olive (Olive Bread). We were hurrying to the airport train station when I was drawn to a cool looking cafe. “I am not hungry, you go ahead and buy yourself something” said Saru. Walking towards the train terminal, balancing the bag on one hand, my sandwich on the other while lamenting the fact that the tiny bottle of water cost me 3.5 Euro, I took one bite of the sandwich and came to a sudden halt. I screamed – HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, THIS SANDWICH IS FANTASTIC! I ran along to catch up with Saru while yelling “this sandwich is amazing”!!
Saru “Vam….we are in a public place….lower your voice”.

I stopped talking and was intently eating my sandwich. Saru waited for a few minutes, lost patience and asked “Are you going to share it with me or not?”
“Absolutely not! You said you were not hungry”
“I am not, but I want to taste the sandwich. Eat whatever you want and leave me the rest”
I kept eating my sandwich while Saru was watching with a disgusted look. Half over…..three quarters over… and he saw no signs of stopping. Saru lost it and pulled it from me.
“That’s enough!! It is my turn now”. I would have fought for it, but the train came and we boarded it.
“Oh Man!! This is awesome!” said Saru turning away as I was trying to grab the last piece.

To discover the real Paris, we skipped the usual attractions and walked in popular neighborhoods. Our mornings almost always began in the Latin Quartier, where locals lined up to buy their daily dose of bread and pastries every morning. I would baffle the shopkeepers with my utterly ridiculous French accent to order breakfast- “Un Croissant, un pain au chocolat et deux cafés”

While we loved the quaint shops on Ile Saint-Louis, the restaurants on Rue Cler, and the night life of the Left bank, our favorite district in Paris was Montmartre. Up on a hill, with panoramic views of the city, this locality is quintessential Paris. Pots of flowers spilling over the terraces, colorfully painted alleys, old windmills and outdoor art galleries make this neighborhood absolutely delightful. The walk from the Sacre Coeur to Moulin Rouge has everything from patisseries to porn stores and visiting each of those is a must for a complete Parisian experience.

Pantheon
Mostly ignored by tourists, Pantheon is one of my favorite monuments in Paris. It was initially built as a place of worship, but converted into a memorial for illustrious Frenchmen during the French Revolution. Many great men including Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, and Mirabeau were buried in the crypt. The monument had an amalgamation of religious, political and scientific values from different periods in time. Some walls had frescoes depicting the life of St.Genevieve the patron saint, while some had paintings of political beliefs and dangling down from the dome was the scientific demonstration of Earth’s rotation using a Focault’s Pendulum.

The Louvre was overcrowded and not fun, but we loved the Musee D’Orsay. What a brilliant idea it was to convert the grand old station into a museum that showcases the progress art from the 10th to 21st century. . Moving from room to room, we saw how themes, styles and techniques changed over the years. While religious subjects dominated the early centuries, portraits and events from the lives of royalty were popular in the 14-16th centuries, followed by paintings of common man and peasant life to art nouveau paintings paving way to mordern art of 21st century. In Saru’s simplistic world, the paintings went from creative, elaborate to simple to ‘are you kidding me’!!

No trip to Paris can be complete without walking the Champs Elysees – La plus belle avenue du monde (The most beautiful avenue in the world). The two km stretch of road between the Arc De Triumph and the Obelisk has the most glitzy shops, fashionable boutiques and departmental stores. Sitting in the cafe, watching Paris walk by, I realize that this is one city where the past and present blend seamlessly to create a delightful experience. Beautiful women sashayed around the street flaunting their designer clothes and accessories while we indulged in our favorite activity – ‘People watching’. A few minutes after we sat down, I noticed that Saru was grinning from ear to ear.
Vam: What is so amusing?

Saru: Look around you, 80% of the women are showing their cleavage.

He was right. It was a beautiful summer day and Parisian women were dressed in pleated skirts and blouses with plunging necklines. Unlike America where summer attire is dominated by boring shorts and t-shirts, this place was like a parade of designer labels.

For dinner, we went to a Cafe on Rue Cler. Sounds of lively conversation, laughter and clinkling of cutlery filled the air. The savory crepes we ordered were smooth, soft and delicious.For dessert, I ordered a crepe with strawberry confiture. Food in Paris is edible art and every chef tries to create a masterpiece. I sipped the last of my Beaujolais while watching the cook pour the batter and deftly spread it around into a perfect circle. He poured a gigantic spoon of intensely aromatic butter and let the crepe sizzle in a pool of butter until it became brown and crispy. He then spread a generous amount of strawberry confiture, folded it, sprinkled powdered sugar and served it hot. The aroma of butter made my mouth water to indecent proportions, so I took a quick bite. “How is it”, asked Saru to which I replied “Tres bon”, “Excellente”. We walked back to the hotel, thoroughly satisfied with the food and the trip.

Looking back to our 1999 trip, we realized that we loved our 2009 Paris trip for completely different reasons. There is some parallel to be drawn about this and happiness in our lives over the years.

In Italy they say “Uno non può pensare bene, amare bene, dormire bene, se non ha mangiato bene”.

It translates to “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one hasn’t eaten well”. Such is the importance of food in Italy. This travelogue is about the incredible food we had in Tuscany and some funny incidents that happened along the way.

Pic : Vamsee

My husband Saru and I spent two days in the Chianti wine region of Tuscany. We rented a car at the Florence airport and walked towards the parking lot hoping for a cool looking car. The minute Saru saw the car, he burst out laughing and said “Hey looks like the dog ate half of our car”, “Honey….I shrunk the car!”

If we take a normal car, slashed the width, and cut it right where the front row seats end, we would end up with a Smart car! Our 2-door convertible Smart car turned out to be a toy car with a sunroof. It took some innovative space allocation to fit our luggage in the trunk, if you even call it a trunk!

Pic : Vamsee

Directions were very good and soon we were driving towards the Chianti hills. It was a great day and the scenery outside was spectacular. Green rolling hills were dotted with medieval castles, churches, grape vines and olive trees. The Chianti area is Italy’s most famous wine district.

Pic : Vamsee

We stopped in a town called Panzano for lunch. We picked a great restaurant overlooking the hills. I ordered pasta in pesto sauce and Saru ordered a vegetable calzone. Calzone is a pizza with the top covered with bread too. Saru’s dish looked absolutely delicious; the bread on the top had puffed up like a puri. The chef made a dip in it and poured warm olive oil. It looked divine. The minute Saru poked a hole in the bread, the most tantalizing aromas gushed out teasing our taste buds. Every single bite smacked of freshly baked bread, fresh farm cheese and fresh vegetables. This was without a doubt, the best calzone we ever ate and one of the best meals we had in Italy.

Pic : Vamsee

We drove through a few small villages until we saw signs for a town called Castellina in Chianti. We had booked our stay in a 7th century farmhouse. Locanda La Capannuccia, where we stayed for the next two nights was a beautiful stone house. The host Mario was very friendly and always had a smile on his face. Our room and the facilities were simple, but adequate.

Pic : Vamsee

It was still early in the evening, so we decided to take a side trip to San Gimignano, a town that lures you back into medieval times. Driving in Tuscany was great. People gave excellent directions. On the way, we stopped for cappuccino and a snack. The guy at the bakery recommended the special of that season, a cake made with recently harvested grapes. He warmed it slightly (I love warm cakes!) and put it in a box to go. The first bite we took, we both murmured an Ummm in approval. Second bite, we thought it was too crunchy for a cake. Saru ate it quietly, but I was very curious to find out what was causing it to be so crunchy. I used a cool trick that my little 2-year old nephew Sriram taught me. I spit the cake into my hand, poked around to see what was in it, then, popped it back into my mouth. You won’t believe this! Those lazy ass harvest folks made my cake with whole seeded grapes! I patiently removed the seeds, while Saru decided to save his patience for his next restroom visit.

Pic : Vamsee

The drive to San Gimigniano took us through several beautiful villages. The interesting thing was that lots of homes seemed to have a tower, like the ones palaces and castles have. We later learnt that these towers were mostly built by merchants as status symbols. In the hay days, the town was said to have had as many as 70 towers. No wonder it was nicknamed as Medieval Manhattan. This was a pedestrian town. There were several parking lots outside the entrance gate, where we had to park and then walk inside. The town was just perfect!! This town was full of rustic old stone buildings. We were getting hungry, so started looking at restaurant menus.

Saru: I am going to be like Obelix!

Me: You mean like fat and dumb?

Saru: No. I am going to eat wild boar like Asterix and Obelix.

Me: You do know that wild boar is like a giant pig, right.

Saru: Oh!! Really?

Wild boar is a delicacy in Tuscany. Most restaurants were serving it. We picked a nice one and as we were about to sit when Saru realized that his wallet was missing!! He remembered leaving it in the car.

My husband is almost like George Costanza of Seinfeld fame when it comes to his wallet. People collect stamps, coins etc. Saru collects IDs. In his wallet, he has his expired college id, graduate school, post graduate and post doctoral IDs, expired driver’s license, new driver’s license, and his company IDs. Then there is the host of business cards and receipts from a year ago. So, basically when he is sitting in the car, his left bum is hanging in midair. The easy solution to balancing his bottom is to leave the wallet in the cup holder. We decided to go back to the car and check.

Pic : Vamsee

As we were walking to the parking lot, it started raining. We were getting wet and I was getting irritated. Poor Saru had to listen to my lectures on wallet cleaning and carelessness. We were getting close to the car and Saru was very restless. He started pressing the un-lock button on the remote. Imagine this – it is pouring rain, I am irritated and complaining about his carelessness, when I see the roof of our convertible opening! Saru had pressed the wrong button on the remote! He tried to undo that, but it wasn’t working. We were in panic mode. Saru was yelling expletives at the car, I was yelling at Saru and the roof kept opening wider. Saru threw the umbrella down in frustration. I hit the convertible roof a few times. Nothing worked and the rain was starting to pick up. It was quite a messy situation! I could not imagine driving back in the open convertible in the rain for 1 hour back to the farm house. After a few minutes of panic, the remote miraculously worked and the roof started closing! Whew!! We found Saru’s wallet and started to turn back, when we noticed that in the melee, Saru had broken the umbrella!! We were furious with each other for a few minutes and then burst out laughing.

We walked back into the town, picked a restaurant and had dinner. I had spinach and ricotta dumplings in tomato sauce and Saru had penne in pesto sauce. To make up for the fight, we ended the dinner with a giant cheese cake that was so rich and smooth and delicious that I thought I died and went to heaven. Food this good should be made illegal!

This trip to Tuscany was a culinary treat. Every single meal we ate was unbelievably good. Even the seemingly simple dishes were out of the world. Before the packaged food industry makes its mark there – Go to Italy and enjoy the food there!

“Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never  did.”
-      Dr William Butler

Strawberries…A fruit synonymous with the Wimbledon in London, where strawberries with cream are the order of the day in summer. Every year about 27,000 kilos of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, together with 7,000 litres of cream. The popularity of serving strawberries with cream is possibly as old as the event itself. Strawberries & India…a legacy that dates back to the 1920’s when the British first introduced them to India. Today this beautiful, passionate fruit has taken India by storm.

Strawberry - Source FlickR - Anushruti

A fruit reserved for the kitchen gardens of the British Sahib under the British rule, now adorns our tables, & this beautiful berry can be found at every nook & corner in India in season. Mahabaleshwar, a hill station located in the Western Ghats range in India, about 120 km southwest of Pune, was hit by the strawberry revolution in 1992. The area now produces over 15000 tonnes of this luscious, yet fragile fruit every year. A fruit which is finding its way into our everyday cuisine, be it just eaten as a fruit, as a coulis, in ice-cream, in shakes, or then in spectacular desserts.

Facts:
Strawberries are low fat, low calorie; high in vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, potassium
Strawberries are a member of the rose family.
Strawberries, as part of a 5 a day fruit & vegetable program, can help reduce the risk of cancer & heart attacks.
Over 53 percent of seven to nine-year-olds picked strawberries as their favorite fruit.

Strawberry is the 2nd most popular natural flavour in the world, chocolate being the first. I’m going to share a dessert with you today that combine the 2 flavours beautifully, a dessert that I created with strawberries in mind.

STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE YOGURT MOUSSE
Recipe by Deeba Rajpal
Biscuit base
Ingredients:
100gms digestive biscuits; ground
4 tbsp melted butter

Method:

Mix the crumbs in with the melted butter to form the crumb mixture for the base.

Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:
200gms Curd Cheese (made by hanging yogurt for 24 hours)
200gms Cream
2tbsps gelatin
200gms Strawberries; pureed
4-5 tbsps powdered sugar

Method:
•Line the mousse tins with baking parchment.
•Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup water, & leave in a bowl of hot water until it becomes a clear liquid.
•Blend the curd cheese, strawberries & powdered sugar together until smooth. Add the clear gelatin & whisk again till well blended.
•This makes the dark strawberry mousse. Once you use a portion of this in the first mousse layer, add the whipped cream to the rest to make the light strawberry layer.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
200gms dark chocolate
100ml Cream
1 tsp gelatin

Method:
•Sprinkle gelatin powder over 2 tbsps of cold water, & leave over a bowl of hot water until clear.
•Put the dark chocolate & cream in a pan over low heat till melted, cool & stir in the clear gelatin. Mix gently but uniformly.

Assembly
•Line the tins with baking parchment on the inside. Line a tray with foil, & place the tins upright on them.
•Put 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp of biscuit mixture into each tin, & press down firmly with the end of a narrow glass to make a base.
•Top with about 1-2 tbsps of the dark strawberry mousse (sans cream) into each. Now mix the cream into the mousse & divide equally among the tins.
•If you don’t have metal moulds or rings, you can always set them in glasses.
•Divide the chocolate mousse between the tins, topping the light strawberry mousse. Leave to set for 4-5 hours, or better overnight.
•Gently dislodge from tins before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries & chocolate flakes etc.

You can read more about Deeba’s mouthwatering recipes in her blog.

Source: Information about India