Women’s Day Celebration at MiaCucina At 'A Perfect ParTea'

  When I self-invited myself to my cousin’s home for lunch last Saturday, I was not in the know that his wife was not in the town. He answered the doorbell, gave me a quick hug and rushed to the kitchen to complete the task. He had prepared Italian Cannoli for lunch. Not an easy recipe, mind you. He had cooked soya-beans filling, rolled it in garlic flavored tomato paste and layered with cheese. It was a delicious dish.

So who says Kitchen is women’s domain?

No, my cousin is not a chef, and not even a house-husband, its just that when is wife is away, he can cook a decent meal for himself and his guests.

But yes, food is the favorite topic of conversation amongst women. So that afternoon, he drove me to my venue at 'Mia Cucina' (Powai) for the celebration of women’s day hosted by Rushina of APBCook Studio fame.

The room was vibrant with excited murmurs of women from different walks of life, Chefs, entrepreneurs, house-wives, all with a common interest- Food!

The session started with Ashwin Rodrigues talking about ‘CasablancaWines’. It was an interactive session, wine-tasting event of white sparking wine and rose colored fruity wine.

This was then paired with different flavored cheese. Mansi Jasani introduced cheese as ‘just a controlled spoilage of milk’. There were different flavored cheese, some melt-in-the-mouth feta cheese and some aged and smoked cheese. A special mention can be made for the curry leaves flavored ‘Le Pondicheri’ cheese that won the brownie points.

Chef Sunjay Kotian rocked the stage with his delish fig salad, introducing the use of Olive oil in his specialty dishes pointing to the fact that virgin oil be used solely for salads and other olive oil to be used for normal cooking. Four different types of Salad leaves were tossed with dressing of fig sauce, topped with feta cheese, garlic flavored croutons and grated beetroot. He also cooked Spanish Chicken Paella.

Time tickled quickly, but Chef Kainez of TheobromaIndia was quite efficient. She prepared soft, vegetarian green mango and ginger tea cakes in jiffy, each bite so delicious that just one cake was not enough.

While we feasted on Teacakes, we watched short clips from the latest documentary film  ‘India’s Daughter’ Highlight of this event was the beautiful poem on ‘being a woman’ recited by Tess Joseph who had worked on this project along with Leslee Udwin.

This was a fun event; the room was packed with more than 50women. There is always something new to learn from such kind of events. My sincere thanks to Rushina, who takes so much effort to bring women together from all walks of life

Like all food events, the take-away food-gifts are always trendy. The loot that I brought back home

‘Old monk salted caramel sauce’ and ‘Arugul almonds pesto’ by Amrita’s Life ki recipe

‘Madelienes’ by Anurita’s Eighth

‘Cinnamon cookie’ and ‘Nutella sea salt cookie’

by Ruchika’s House of Cookies

‘Organic chai masala’ by Roweena’s Fatfree Almost

‘Tropical nut mix’ from APB Cook Studio’s lust Pantry

‘Classico olive oil’ from Bertolli

‘Feta’ from The Cheese Collective

‘Cooking sheets and frying pan foil’ from Asahi Kasei

Okay, I am thinking of feasting on those Cinnamon cookies and make some fresh salad with tropical nut mix and Feta cheese…and maybe later, try that Chai masala too…..

Assam Tea Party

When friends come home to spend a day, most of the time is spent chatting and eating. This Holi festival, when my friends came home for lunch, we had karaoke afternoon. This is a fun activity, much better than board games or poker. Believe me! We let our hair loose and sang songs like there was no tomorrow. Who cares if there is talent or not? The words flash on the screen with background music and all we have to do is read the words in musical tone. Some of us were reading in poetry form and that was the fun part because most of the songs are popular for their lyrics. This is one group activity where the singer is so engrossed in singing that they don’t care if friends laugh when they sing off tune. It was the afternoon of pure fun and laughter.

The hours ticked quickly and soon it was teatime.

A box of ‘assam1860’ had arrived by courier some days ago, there were about one dozen tea pouches and a small sachet with a zip lock of loose tea leaves (fine round pebbles, black and smooth). I was asked to give my feedback.

What is the fun of trying out a new brand of tea all alone? I found an opportunity to try this brand that afternoon with my group of friends.

Here is what assam1860 has to say about this:

Assam1860 is the single origin and unblended tea sourced from a family-owned tea estate of James Warren in the South Bank of Assam. All leaves are carefully handpicked, lightly cut and allowed to ferment before being dried. Unlike other teas, this tea reaches the market almost as soon as it is plucked, so it remains fresh and juicy.

Normally, when I make tea, I also add ginger and cardamom, but this time, we decided to taste the tea in its unblended form. I just added milk and sugar. Friends loved it. It is robust, flavored, refreshing, strong, it has good aroma. We didn’t miss the regular spices, it had rich taste of its own.

Some of my friends tried the tea pouches

“The teabags need not be kept in the hot cup of water too long, dip it and remove it, because it is quite strong’ said my friend who tried the tea pouch “It is not a green tea, mind you, its black.” It is different in the sense that most of the teas available in market are multi-origins.

If you are a tea person and like to taste the different brands do try this one too, you might adopt it.

This product was sent to me complimentary from assam1860. I have shared an honest and unbiased account of my experience.

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Red Chutney on My Plate

This week on my trip to supermarket, I was very attracted to brightly colored red chilies.

Chutney is on my mind!!

Chutney seems like a bright idea because it pairs appropriately with all kinds of snacks. The tricky part is chopping.

Have to be very careful during chopping, accidents can happen. For example, you might rub your eye after chopping (if this happen, rush to the sink and wash thoroughly with cold water and then use ice pack to cool the eyes)..Your fingertips may also burn (use cold cream, okay?)

Next, plan what ingredients would you use to make your chutney unique. Each time I make, it turns out differently. (I am creative, you see) I cannot recreate the same taste again.

So, this time I used:

100gms red chilies

6-7 garlic pods

1small red capsicum (roasted over open flame)

1tsp red chili powder

1tsp salt

1tsp sugar

1tbsp vinegar

Put it in the food processor and grind it to rough paste.

Transfer the paste into a glass jar and add 1/2cup olive oil

Are you ready to eat? WAIT!

Now wait a minute. It is not ready yet. You have to let it rest for one full week.

Close the lid airtight and cover it with sling film - A new product in Indian market. Ekdum new!! Check out Asahi Kasei India.

Asahi Kasei India cling film is more manageable than other wraps, because it is thicker and firm and it does not does get squashed easily. Moreover, the box has a saw-like blade on its rim that makes it easier to cut out the film easily. I am using this for covering most of my foodstuff and fruits that are stored in the fridge.

I found this to be perfect choice to cover my bottle of chili chutney. My bottle will be kept on my dining table for week till it is ready to consume.

Later, I will invite you for Hi tea perhaps

Hautechef Comes Home With Exotic Meals

I first heard about ‘Hautechef’ when I went for food blogger’s potluck at APB studio.

This idea appealed to me of buying a box of ingredients that has just the right variety used in cooking and the exact quantity of the ingredients. The ingredients were fresh and neatly packed 

For example in the box for ‘Pan Seared Fish With Ratatouille and Mustard Beurre Blanc’

They sent

2tbsp Olive oil

2cloves garlic

1 onion

1tbsp tomato paste

1 red bell pepper

1 zucchini

1 eggplant

1tsp sugar

1 bunch parsley

2tbsp butter

1tbsp mustard

2 fish fillets

4tbsp semolina

The box comes with the recipe card with step-by-step method used for cooking a dish.

There are many times, when we look into the recipe book and decide to follow a recipe. The laziness seeps in when we have to go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients, and when we really do, we either buy more ingredients than necessary or forget one or two ingredients. So this idea of having all the ingredients in one box does inspire me to cook.

During the following week, I ordered two boxes on two separate days. In the mid week, I ordered ‘Arabic Fattoush Salad’ and made a visit to my aunt. I found this a perfect gift to take for my aunt. Together we chopped the vegetables and prepared the salad. It was fun really.

The salad was good, but the quantity of feta cheese and pomegranate was comparatively less as compared to other ingredients such as mint leaves, parsley and pita bread.

On weekend, I ordered French delight: Pan Seared Fish and made a visit to my BIL. I cooked for dinner following the instruction given in the recipe card.

“If we were to eat this in a fancy restaurant, we would be paying Rs2000 for this dish” said my BIL completely pleased with the most exotic dinner.

So, this was a success!!

I would recommend this product to all my friends who enjoy cooking exotic dishes. But remember, you still have to do the cutting, cooking and cleaning up the mess.