My heartfelt thanks to all those who went patrolling the other blogs for drink recipes this month. When I came up with the theme Mixed Drinks for MBP, I was not sure what to expect. I was secretly hoping for some cocktail recipes, but my ever resourceful fellow bloggers came up with some really creative entries for the event. Whatever you are in the mood for- hot or cold, cocktail or moktail, thick or thin, fruity or milky- you can find something here.
Thanks again to Coffee of The Spice Cafe for this opportunity. Check out this page for more details about MBP and the previous themes. Next month’s host is Pavani of the Cooks Hideout.
Now, time to check out the 48 fabulous Drinks in the order in which the entries were received. If I missed any, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail. And whoever said it is hard to capture a good drink picture is so wrong, just look at these gorgeous photos! I am getting thirsty just by looking at these!!
by Dhivya of Culinary Bazaar from here
by Happy Cook of My Kitchen Treasures from here
by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive from here
by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen from here
by SilverMoon of Dragon Musings from here
by Jayasree of Experiments in Kailas Kitchen from here
by Nupur of One Hot Stove from here
by Veena of Honey & Butter from here
by Deeba of Passionate About Baking…& beyond from here
by Namratha of Finger Licking Food from here
by Siri of Siri’s Corner from here
by TBC of The Budding Cook from here
by Nags of For The Cook In Me from here
by Nags of For The Cook In Me from here
by Raaga of The Singing Chef from here
by Dhivya of Dhivya’s Cuisine from here
by Uma of Telugu Ruchi from here
by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons from here
by Easycrafts of Simple Indian Food from here
by Kalai of Samaithu Paarkalaam from here
by Pooja of My Creative Ideas from here
by Homecooked of Homecooked from here
by Suganya of Tasty Palettes from here
by Rachel of Tangerine’s Kitchen from here
by Jyothsna of Curry Bazaar from here
by Lavi of Home Cook’s Recipe’s from here
by Cham of Spice-club from here
by A-Kay of Lemon and Chillies from here
by Naina of Naina’s recipes from here
by Bharathy of Spicy Chilly from here
by Sowmya of Creative saga from here
by Dee of Ammalu’s Kitchen from here
by Sia of Monsoon Spice from here
by Anuzi of Livin life with spice from here
by Coffee of The Spice Cafe from here
by Coffee of The Spice Cafe from here
by Sig of Live to Eat from here
Mango Margarita and Extended Deadline for MBP
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008Filed Under Cocktails, Mango | 26 Comments
I am going to be on a break from tomorrow, will be back online end of this week. Since I won’t be able to do the round-up till then, the deadline for Monthly Blog Patrol - Mixed Drinks is extended to March 28th midnight PST. Please e-mail the entries according to the guidelines, I will respond by this weekend.
Before I leave, here is my own entry for MBP. MBP is about trying a posted recipe from a fellow blogger, and I got my inspiration from a recently discovered blog by the charming White on Rice Couple. I became a fan at the first glimpse of their amazing photographs and versatile recipes. This simple and delicious cocktail was the perfect antidote to the packing fatigue on Saturday night.
Refer to the original recipe here: Mango Margarita
Only change I made was to use canned mango nectar instead of the fresh mango puree they used. But even with it, the drink turned out perfect! Thank you White on Rice Couple!
Keep those MBP entries coming!
Saffron Rice cooked in the Microwave
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008Filed Under Rice, Rice Or Biryani | 21 Comments
After almost two weeks of eating out, the cravings for homemade food got unbelievably strong today. I had some frozen spareribs in the freezer, which I cooked with Indian spices to make a spicy pork fry. I don’t mind eating dry dishes with plain rice, as long as it is spicy, but Siv usually prefers a gravy with white rice.
First inkling was to make a fried rice, but the fridge was completely empty, even the eggs had expired almost a week ago. Then I suddenly thought of saffron rice, we had recently got some take out from a Caribbean restaurant near by, and their Saffron rice was awful! Ever since then I have been meaning to try my own version of it. Along with that, the prospect of an event participation prompted me to make this Saffron rice completely in the microwave. The basic technique for cooking rice in the microwave is from here.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups jasmine rice washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads soaked in warm milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1/2 tbsp vinegar
- Salt to taste
Method
Place the butter in a large microwave safe bowl with a tight lid and heat on high uncovered for 1 minute.
Remove from the microwave immediately and add the paprika, turmeric and cumin powders and bay leaves to the melted butter and mix well. Heat for another 30 seconds.
Add the rice , soaked saffron threads, salt, vinegar and water to the bowl and mix well to combine.
Microwave uncovered for 10 minutes on high power.
Remove from the microwave, mix well and cover with a tight fitting lid. Return to the microwave, and heat for another 3 minutes on high heat.
Remove from the microwave and let it stand for about five minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.
Serve warm with any spicy side dish.
This goes to dear Srivalli who hosts a monthly event called Microwave easy cooking. I only use the microwave for reheating and for cooking rice occasionally. So this is the only month I can actually participate in this event, since her chosen theme is Rice.
Don’t forget Monthly Blog Patrol!I am guest hosting MBP this month. The theme for March is Mixed Drinks and the deadline is March 24th.
Check out the details here.
Grilled Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad
Thursday, March 20th, 2008Filed Under Fruits, Pear, Soups and Salads | 21 Comments
I am not a habitual list maker, but when things start to pile up so much that there is no way one can possibly get through it all without missing something, even I resort to making a prioritized list. The problem here is that I keep adding more to the list as soon as I strike something off it. I have barely four more days to get through them all, that is the reason I’ve been so bad in replying to comments and visiting fellow bloggers lately.
To top it all, I even have a bunch of blogging related activities I need to get off my list before I go on vacation. Main one being the Arusuvai Friendship chain, the premise of which is to send some surprise ingredients to fellow bloggers. They will in turn pass on some other surprise ingredients to other bloggers, thus creating a chain of friendship linking everyone together. My dear friend Musical sent me a bunch of stuff weeks ago, which I still haven’t put to use. The main reason being that I haven’t been cooking at home for a couple of weeks now. I unfortunately won’t be able to get to it till middle of April, but wanted to make sure that the friendship chain is not broken by me. So before I make the official Arusuvai post, I am extending the friendship to two really cool people- one I had the pleasure of meeting in person and the other I feel like I know through her writing. KayKat and Indosungod, your surprise ingredients are on their way! Hope you like’ em!
So, what does this salad got to do with the Arusuvai chain? Well, it is a virtual treat for another dear friend, who is all the way over in India. Our singing chef Raaga is hosting A Fruit A Month event in March, and she chose Pear as the theme. I have been buying pears ever since she announced the theme, it being my favorite fruit and all, but all I have done so far is to eat them before they go bad. Luckily I had a picture in my drafts of a simple pear salad, which really doesn’t require a recipe, but looks like this is all I can do for AFAM this month. 
It’s been a while since I made it, so I don’t remember the measurements, but it is one of those forgiving recipes where you can use your complete creative freedom.
Method
To make the Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette, Heat a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet. Add some minced garlic and saute on low heat till garlic turns brown. Remove from the heat and add a tbsp of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well to make a dressing.
Toss the walnuts with some olive oil and salt, and toast them on the stove or in the microwave.
Slice the pears into thin wide strips, brush them with some lemon juice and arrange on the grill or a broiler pan. Grill or broil turning once till the sides start to brown, about three minutes on each side.
Toss some mixed greens with the dressing, top with warm sliced pears, and place the goat cheese on top of the pear slices, so the cheese starts to melt from the heat of the grilled pear. Sprinkle toasted walnuts and salt and freshly ground pepper.
This is my entry for AFAM - Pear hosted by Raaga. A Fruit A Month event was started by Maheswari of Beyond the Usual.
Don’t forget Monthly Blog Patrol!I am guest hosting MBP this month. The theme for March is Mixed Drinks and the deadline is March 24th.
Check out the details here.
With a catchy name like that, how can anyone resist! Though one can’t help but wonder if the food is any good or is it just the cool name behind all this hype! You have to admit that the name does carry a certain irresistibility factor, which might be one reason behind the unbelievable difficulty in scoring a table at this latest hot spot in town.
How to Cook a Wolf is the title of a book by M.F.K. Fisher; a famous 20th-century American food writer. I haven’t read the book to figure out if the owner of this restaurant Ethan Stowell (of Tavalota and Union) - obviously a fan - was just going for a catchy name or there really is some significance to it, but the name got us into the restaurant for sure!
Siv and I had to try three times before finally securing seats at the bar last Friday night. On the way back from work, we stopped by the place and put our names down in the list for seats at the bar which were going to be opening up in another 90 minutes or so. Then we went home and changed and relaxed a bit before driving back over there, by when we got the call saying that someone is paying their bills and our spot will be ready in 5-10 minutes. It is a great system that they take your cell phone number along with your name, so that you can hang out at a neighborhood bar or cafe, or even go home if you live close enough.
We had to wait a while before our seats opened up at the bar, since the three ladies who paid their bill decided to stay back in their seats and chat for another hour, when there were so many people waiting for the coveted seats! I think it speaks volumes about how much value they place on customer service that they didn’t kick these women out. The staff started giving them dirty looks after a while though, but these three were completely oblivious to everything around them. We were served wine and olives in the narrow alley between the kitchen and the front door which acts as the waiting area and we got to watch all the action in the open kitchen, so it wasn’t all that bad waiting. About 20 minutes into the waiting period, another couple left the bar and we got seated at the bar, again with a good view of the open kitchen.
The menu is very small, with a bunch of Italian influenced small plates and five different pastas. We started with a Beef Carpaccio with Reggiano, olive oil and salted capers ($13). This was a fantastic start to the evening, The saltiness of the capers and the cheese was the perfect accompaniment to the tender and flavorful beef. The soft and hard textures of the beef and Reggiano nicely complemented each other. We couldn’t get enough of it.
Then came the best dish of the night. Whole Roasted Sardines with Lentils, shallots and aged sherry vinaigrette. ($14). I saw the tray full of fresh sardines seasoned with salt going into the oven when we were waiting for the table, and that was an irresistible sight. I grew up in a state where sardines were the most common fish available, so I am totally partial to it. Siv on the other hand is not a fan, but the look of these fresh sardines tempted him as well. We had to wait for a long time for this, but it was totally worth the wait! The fish was so fresh, and roasted crispy, we even ate the head. It was paired well with the lentils. I had never had fresh sardines here, so I even got the name of their seafood supplier, I might just have to order some wholesale, these were so good! We wanted to have another order so bad, but by then we had ordered two more dishes, so we resisted the urge. 
While waiting for the roasted sardines, we ordered the Seared Sea Scallops with white bean and Porcini puree and arugula salad. ($14). Perfectly seared scallops with the slightly sweet bean puree tasted great, but you can get the same in any other good restaurant in Seattle. Next time we will try one of the more unfamiliar items from the menu.
To finish off the meal, we ordered the Fettuccine with bacon, onion and hen egg. ($15). The subtle flavors of the pasta with an occasional bite of the chunky bacon pieces rounded up this wonderful dinner. 
This is going into our favorite Seattle eateries list, we sure are going back here soon. The menu changes often, so hopefully there will be more stuff to choose from next time, and hopefully the sardines are a permanent fixture. The service was fantastic, though a little slow, but that is because the dishes took that much time to get ready and the place was completely packed. As long as the alcohol was flowing and our olive bowl wasn’t empty, we were totally fine.
Steamed Tilapia with a Roasted Onion Marinade
Sunday, March 16th, 2008Filed Under India - Kerala, Mains, Seafood | 32 Comments
I’ve been real busy lately with work deadlines fast approaching, and preparing for a trip coming up in a week or so. I didn’t get time to look at my rss feeds for three days, and suddenly the number of unread posts were in three digits. I have way too many recipes and restaurant reviews waiting in my drafts. If I don’t type those up soon, the details will be forgotten for sure. The to-do pile for blogging is as tall as the to-do pile for work… Blogging is more fun, if only someone paid me to do this… sigh… Till then, I have to go through my work pile first, and use my R&R time for blogging related activities, so bear with me!
Ever since I saw the mouthwatering pictures of Aswin’s Pan Fried Fish with Roasted Onion Marinade I have been planning to try something similar. Finally I got the chance last weekend, when we picked up two Tilapias from the live fish tank in Uwajimaya. I am not very fond of the pre-packaged Tilapia filets, I think those lack flavor, but the fresh ones out of the tank taste really good. I am partial to whole Tilapias, since those look so much like my favorite fish -Karimeen aka Pearl Spot from Kerala. In fact Tilapia is called poor man’s Karimeen in Kerala.
I made some modifications to the original recipe like adding coconut to the roasted ingredients and also some tamarind juice to the spice paste. The marinade on its own tasted so good, I didn’t want to pan-fry the fish with this marinade. Pan-frying will work great for thin filets, but these Tilapias were too big, there was no way I could cook the fish without burning half of the marinade. My oven broke down a couple of days ago, so I couldn’t bake these either, so I decided to steam the fish instead to make sure the fish is cooked through and the taste of the marinade stays intact.
I have never steamed a fish before, I don’t have any of the fancy steamer equipments, so I improvised by lining the steamer attachment for my electric rice cooker with parchment paper. Steaming was the greatest idea ever, since even the marinade inside the fish got cooked wonderfully. Normally when you pan fry a whole fish, the marinade inside never gets cooked completely, and always have a raw taste which I hate. It only took about 10 minutes to cook the two large Tilapias, much quicker than baking or pan frying. I still like the taste of the fried fish more than steamed, so once the fish was steamed, I quickly flash fried the fish a couple of minutes on each side with very little oil. The outside turned out really crispy, while the inside was tender and moist, best of both worlds! This is going to be my favorite technique for cooking large whole fish.
Ingredients
- Two large sized whole Tilapia
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tbsp dried tamarind soaked in warm water. (1 tsp tamarind paste)
- For the Marinade
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced ginger pieces
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 3 small green chilies sliced
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
Method
Clean the fish and make some gashes on both sides. Rub the fish well with salt and lemon juice and keep aside.
To make the marinade, heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add the shallots, ginger, garlic and sliced chilies. Saute till the shallots are soft and translucent. Add the coconut and saute till the coconut mixture starts to brown. Reduce the heat and add the salt, pepper, chili powder and turmeric powder and saute till the spices are completely roasted. Remove from heat.
Grind the roasted ingredients along with the tamarind water to form a smooth paste. If using tamarind paste, add some water to help the grinding process.
Apply this marinade liberally on the cleaned fish inside and out. Keep for about 15 minutes.
Line a steamer with parchment paper so that the marinade won’t drip out. Steam covered for about 10 minutes.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a large non-stick pan, and flash fry the fish about 2 minutes per side, turning once so that the outside of the fish gets a crispy texture.
Serve hot with lemon wedges.
The perfectly steamed marinade inside the fish tasted so good… We had a fish each with some simple pan roasted potatoes on the side for a delicious lunch. The potato wedges dipped in the marinade was heaven! Siv had his with a fried egg on top, restaurant style. First I thought he was crazy, but it kind of worked… and it made a great picture too!
Sausage Fried Rice - Javanese Style
Monday, March 10th, 2008Filed Under Pork, Rice, Rice Or Biryani, South East Asia | 37 Comments
The husband is away on a business trip, the fridge is practically empty and it is pouring outside to go shopping. This was the situation at home tonight when it was time to start thinking about dinner. I raided the fridge to find some Portuguese sausage links, eggs and left over rice. First thought was to just have sausage and eggs, breakfast for dinner, why not? But then I thought of Meeta’s Monthly Mingle, and that today is the last day. An event is always a motivation for cooking, and the thought that if I make enough of something tonight, I won’t have to worry about cooking tomorrow night, lead me to this dish.
This is my own version of Nasi Goreng , the Indonesian fried rice. Topping fried rice with a crispy fried egg is a Javanese tradition. The egg is fried in hot oil till the white is crispy golden color, and the yolk is still runny. There is nothing like breaking the yolk with the fork and mixing the liquid with the fried rice! If a runny egg is not your cup of tea, by all means scramble the egg. 
(Adapted from a Nasi Goreng recipe from Savoring South East Asia by Joyce Jue)
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups cooked and cooled rice
- 2 sausages diced (about 1/2 a cup)
- 1/2 cup cut green beans
- 1/4 cup shallots thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp tamari sauce (sub: light soy sauce)
- freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- For the spice paste
- 1 large shallot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 large dry red chillies
Method
Grind the shallots, garlic and red chillies with a little water to form a smooth paste.
Place a large wok or a deep frying pan on the stove. When the pan is hot, add the oil and swirl to cot the pan. When the oil is hot, add the diced sausages and fry till the pieces are brown. Remove the sausage pieces with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
Add sliced shallots to the pan and fry till brown, remove from the pan and keep aside.
Add the green beans to the pan and saute till crispy and keep aside.
Reduce the heat to medium, and add the spice paste to the remaining oil in the pan and fry till all the liquid is evaporated.
Add the cooked rice to the pan, increase the heat and mix well to make sure the rice is coated with the spice paste. Add the tamari sauce and pepper and mix well to coat the rice.
Add the prepared green beans and sausage to the rice and stir well, and cook on high heat for about 3-4 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
To fry an egg, pour enough oil into a frying pan or wok to form a generous coating on the bottom. Heat on high heat, when the oil is hot enough, break an egg into the pan. Season with salt and pepper. When the edges turn golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Serve the rice hot, topped with a fried egg and sprinked with the fried shallots. Garnish with cucumber and tomato slices if needed. A hearty and filling meal on its own.
Vegetarian option - omit the sausage and add plenty of mixed vegetables like diced cabbage, bean sprout, carrots etc.
This hearty meal was exactly what I needed this cold and lonely night. My usual home alone special salad wouldn’t have cut it today, sometimes a girl just got to have her meat and rice.
This is going to the gorgeous hostess Meeta over at What’s for Lunch Honey for Her One-Dish Dinner party.
Announcing the Winners of the Cookbook Contest
Sunday, March 9th, 2008Filed Under Blog Events | 34 Comments
Thanks everyone for joining me in my 202nd post celebrations. Wow, I can’t believe most of you could guess most of the answers right! Thanks again to one of the sweetest people in the blogging world, my dearest fried Musical for these thoughtful gifts.
First, here are the answers to the guessing game.
- Punjabi Wadi In Musical’s own words they are spice cakes made out of daal (urad or urad+moong) and petha (ash-gourd), with lots and lots of spice-sun dried to perfection and used as condiments in Punjabi cooking.
Check out the following Wadi recipes for more information.
- W for Wadi-toriyaan di subzi and Wagocha -)) - Musical’s Kitchen
- M for Mooli-wadi sabzi -) - Musical’s Kitchen
- Of Wadis and Papads - A Mad Tea Party
- Potato ~ Brinjal Curry with Punjabi Wadis - Mahanandi
- Panch Phoron
- Kalijira Rice
- Kali Jeeri (Update: Sorry, this was not Kala Jeera, but Kali Jeeri, Thanks Anita for pointing it out.)
- Anardana / Dried Pomegranate seeds
The only person who got all the right answers and won the first prize is…
Richa
But wait, there is a consolation prize for those who were so close! The Kalijira rice was the toughest for everyone. Since different varieties of rice look kind of the same, only difference being the fragrance. So to be fair, I will accept rice as an answer for #3, and add one more prize for a randomly chosen person from the following who got the other 4 answers correct plus rice.
I put the names of the people who got the answers right, in the order in which they got the correct answers, and with the help of the Random Number Generator , the winning number was picked.
And the winner is …
#9 - Anita
Now, the two random winners from the 62 entries received.
#43 - Sandy
#7 - Raaga
Congratulations Richa, Anita, Sandy and Raaga! Please e-mail me your mailing address and your choice of cookbook.
Don’t forget Monthly Blog Patrol!I am guest hosting MBP this month. The theme for March is Mixed Drinks and the deadline is March 24th.
Check out the details here.
Bloggers Night Out at Tamarind Tree
Thursday, March 6th, 2008Filed Under Asian, International District, Vietnamese | 49 Comments
We may not have as many bloggers out here in Seattle as in the Bay Area, but the Seattle foodies sure know how to have fun! 
Can you guess who these lovely ladies are?
So, drum rolls please… For the first time in food blogging history, unveiling the beautiful faces behind these amazing blogs - Archana of Archana’s Culinary Adventures, Mythili of Vindu, KayKat of Cooking from A to Z and yours truly! Hmm…does Mythili remind you of someone, the resemblance is uncanny! Don’t we look like we had fun? That is because we did, a ton of it!
It took us just two days and about 25 e-mails to plan this get-together, one of the easiest planning sessions I’ve ever been involved in! Normally there are as many different opinions about a venue as the number of people involved, and finding a date and time convenient for everyone is a nightmare! But not for this group - we zeroed in on a date through a very efficient elimination process and when Archana suggested Tamarind Tree as the venue, everyone unanimously agreed.
As usual, I was a bit nervous about meeting a bunch of strangers, You never really know what is in store for you in such situations. But as it turned out, I was worried for nothing! We hit it off like some long lost friends within no time at all. It was so surreal, we all already knew so much about each other through our blogs, it didn’t really feel like we were meeting for the first time. We talked about everything in the world, including a great discussion about our common trait - various levels of addiction to blogging. We had some super hilarious discussions around the topic, it almost felt like an AA meeting - not that I have ever been to one 
.
Tamarind Tree is a Vietnamese restaurant tucked away in a little strip mall in the International District. I have been there before, but I still had to drive around a bit to find it. It really is in a dingy location, but once you are inside the restaurant, it is stylish and modern and buzzing with well dressed diners. We had the coveted table near the fireplace, the restaurant was already quite warm and crowded, so didn’t really get the idea of a fireplace there and an ugly one at that too. Anyway, the food and drinks were amazing. The service, even though a little on the impatient side (as in - order fast and get out - attitude) was really good, friendly helpful staff.
We didn’t really need alcohol to break the ice, we had all bonded even before these amazing drinks arrived, but a few drinks can only make a party better right? Tamarind Tree has a vast selection of cocktails and Asian inspired mixed drinks, it was way too hard to choose one. We started with the Tamarintini (Vodka, tamarind juice and fresh lime juice), Greenteani (Zen green tea liqueur, vodka, lime juice), Guava martini (Gin, guava juice, fresh lime juice) and Pomelo drop (Vodka, triple sec, fresh pomelo juice, fresh lime juice). My tamarintini was tart and sweet and delicious, and was on the lighter side as far as the alcohol content was concerned. Next I had the Greenteani, and that was a much stronger drink, and both absolutely rocked! All the cocktails were just $7 each.
We ordered a couple of appetizers to start with. Archana and I shared these amazing Quail grilled in tamarind - Grilled marinated quail in tamarind sauce served with fresh lime chili sauce and peanuts. Can you believe this was just $6.50! The quail was perfectly done, not too dry and the bones were soft enough to eat,. The sauce went so well with it, the tamarind flavor was not at all overpowering. An A+ dish, will be ordering this again for sure!
M & K had the Lemongrass tofu satay - tofu marinated in lemongrass, onion, garlic, peanuts and seasoning served with mixed herb soy sauce. It sure looked great, you know tofu and I don’t get along so well.
We all ordered individual main courses. There are way too many items in the menu, it gets quite confusing to pick a single dish. My choice was the Lily blossom halibut - Steamed halibut in whole soybean sauce, fresh shiitake, oyster, straw and black mushrooms, dried lily blossoms, green onion, and clear vermicelli noodles. The halibut was very fresh, and the ingredients on their own very nice enough, but overall I wasn’t too impressed with this dish. I guess it was the steamed fish part that I didn’t like.
Here are the rest of the entrees. I was so wrapped up in conversation, don’t remember what everyone else ordered. I do remember everyone getting served two plates, the main dish with a side of plate full of greens! This restaurant is very concerned about the well being of the patrons, making sure everyone got a week’s serving of greens from a single meal! Most of the food was packed and taken home, since these portions were humongous!
The night was so much fun, we lost track of time and were sort of kicked out of the restaurant. When you are the last table at a restaurant, and they start cleaning the floor around you, that is the warning bell before the actual kicking out part happens. We said goodnight with the promises of doing this again real soon! Thank you girls for the great laughs, I can’t wait to do this again! Here is a final shot of the famous 4, err… the famous one and the rest of the us!
www.tamarindtreerestaurant.com
Portobello Mushrooms - Two Ways
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008Filed Under Mushroom, Side Dish - Dry, Vegetarian | 28 Comments
After coming back home from work really late, I had two choices tonight - curl up in bed and watch American Idol or sit in front of the PC and blog. It sure was a no-brainer after the kind of day I had. But my stupid DVR chose today to completely @#$% me over. The whole show was recorded with no sound! I have no energy to call up the Cable company and crib, and the most they can do at this point is to offer me a refund for today’s cable service… Well, they can keep my $5!
It feels like the whole universe is out there to get me today, I am in a very pissy mood! Siv has gone to sleep early, since he only got a couple of hours sleep last night, what with the cricket match and some presentation stuff he had to finish. I have half a mind to wake him up and pick up a fight, just to get my mind cleared, but that is only going to end up in disaster for me - Hell hath no fury like a sleep interrupted Siv!
So, here I am, in front of the PC, desperately looking for inspiration through the tons of pictures in my drafts. These quick and simple portabella recipes looked like the easiest ones to blog about today. Portobellos are the large brown mushrooms with a thick cap, these are just the grown up versions of the brown crimini mushroom. These can be grilled, sauteed or roasted to make a hearty side dish. The longer you cook the portabella the meatier (firmer textured) the mushroom gets. Along with some grilled chicken or fish, it will make a nice and easy weekday dinner.
Sauteed Spiced Portobellos
The first one is a sauteed spiced portabella recipe courtesy of my friend H. She is a fantastic cook, who throws these elaborate dinner parties that are in the same league as the tasting menus at some fine restaurants. These sauteed portobellos make a frequent appearance in her dinner menu, and it is a great course on its own.
The measurements are all guesstimates, both these are very flexible recipe, you can modify it for your taste.
Ingredients
- a few sliced portobellos
- truffle oil for sauteing (or olive oil)
- red chili flakes
- salt
- A mixture of cumin seeds, cinnamon and cardamom pods broken coarsely using a mortar and pestle
- a little bit of ginger paste and garlic paste
Method
In a large skillet, heat the oil. When the oil starts to heat up, add all the spices and stir well. When the spices are aromatic, add the ginger and garlic pastes and stir well. Place the sliced mushrooms in the pan and season with salt. Cook on medium heat until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes, turning the mushrooms frequently making sure the spiced oil has coated the mushroom slices all over. Serve hot.
Roasted Portobellos with fresh herbs
The second one is my own roasted version, along with some chopped fresh herbs. We have this normally as a side dish with fish or chicken.
Ingredients
- A few slices of portobellos
- extra virgin olive oil for brushing over the mushrooms
- crushed black pepper and salt for seasoning
- chopped mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme etc)
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 425F. In a small bowl, combine the oil, seasonings and the chopped fresh herbs. Brush the portobellos with this oil mixture generously. Place on a baking sheet or an oven proof non-stick pan. Roast for about 15 minutes.
Wow, just typing up the recipes, and thinking about food actually got me back into a good mood. I always knew blogging was therapeutic!
Don’t forget Monthly Blog Patrol!I am guest hosting MBP this month. The theme for March is Mixed Drinks and the deadline is March 24th.
Check out the details here.
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