Gourmet Goodies from my kitchen

After my article on homemade Gourmet gifts was published in the current issue of Joy Magazine published by Readers Digest, I came to the conclusion that it was high time I practice what I preach.

When you are as food obsessed as I am, with time you acquire a reputation. And I am not embarrassed to say, that I have! And it’s a solidly eccentric one too! Not only can I talk about food endlessly, but I will shamelessly pursue you if you have a recipe I want to learn or access to ingredients that I covet! Luckily for me I am also that person that people bring home all sorts of foodie assortments for; beautiful (and bizarre) cookbooks, exotic ingredients, nifty (and not so) gadgets. And I love every single one of them (fortunately for me, but perhaps my husband will disagree).

But I have a redeeming quality to me as well. I love to cook for people. I love having people over for meals and you will never have me visit your home without a bottle or two of some sort of home made treat. And I have an infallible foodie memory. Tell me once and I will remember to my dying day and predilections toward food you might have. If Kunal likes olives, Naresh likes Garlic, Christina Likes Chamomile tea and Ashu loves stir fried Capsicums, not only will I remember it but I will probably even go ahead and create a recipe or gift with that ingredient, especially for that person!

I studied art at school and when I shifted focus to food, I would often despair that I was not creating anything anymore. Untill one day I realized, only my tools had changed, I was still creating. I wielded a ladle, instead of a brush these days, and my spice box had become my palate as I put together interesting new combinations of tastes, flavours and colours. So I was always cooking up something or the other and it is more often than not in HUGE batches! As a result, by this time of year, my shelves are usually teeming with myriad basket stuffers. This time, however I have been on a hiatus of sorts from the usual kitchen routine the last couple of years (first because I was pregnant and then because my baby daughter took up all my time and attention). I had no reserves of sauces, sprinkles, marinades and rubs to fall back on. So when I set about putting together things for my Christmas hampers, I had to make everything fro scratch. At first Inspiration was slow in coming but some things that go into my hamper are a given and I began with those.

Like the ‘Spice of life’ my mom makes. This is my mom's patented chutney that we, her kids christened "the spice of life" because it’s hot, sweet, spicy, sour absolute deliciousness enlivened endless insipid hostel meals and saved many an amateur cooking attempt. The fact that it is also the secret ingredient in a myriad dishes from Dum Aloo to Schezwan chicken makes it an added attraction and this is something I coerce my mother into making in large batches of every year for her loyal fan following amongst my friends!

The other given in my basket was jam. I love making jam and make small quantities of seasonal jam round the year but my festive jams are usually opulent ones. This year I did a decadent apple, fig and red wine jam scented with star anise, cinnamon and vanilla. The house smelt so delicious as it simmered on the gas that I went and did a whole second batch for that love spicy smell that I associate with this time of the holidays!

As it simmered I systematically went through my kitchen cupboards and freezer and pulled out everything that I had loved working with in the past year.

The first thing I put together was a simple vinaigrette using zest and herbs I had dried at home, cane vinegar from Vasai and organic olive oil from my favourite company Soler Romero. I am divided on the organic debate, but I maintain that good ingredients make all the difference to any dish and this dressing proved my point to myself!

Then my hands landed on a bottle of chilli flakes. I love chilies and I knew I had to do something with these for my hampers. Made from Thai chillies my sister in law brought me from Thailand these were roasted and flaked, very spicy and somewhat smoky from being slightly charred. They needed a strong base of something to carry them. I stirred in a packet full of organic sea salt thinking to myself I needed something robust. Then it came to mind – Coffee beans! I dry roasted a cup of dark roast coffee beans till the kitchen was redolent of that special coffee smell and the beans had acquired a bit of a sheen from their oils being released. Once they had cooled I processed them to a coarse powder and added them to the chilli salt mix. We tried out this crusty mix the very same night. I marinated some chicken breasts in ginger garlic-chilli-paste and dipped them in the mix so they were properly coated and grilled them till they were done. Nice!

I got a whiff of pure vanilla when I opened the jar of vanilla sugar that I had macerating for more than six months. I wanted to do something special with it. I added dried roses in place of green tea and pistachio flakes instead of almonds and got an unusual take on Kehwa, the Kashmiri tea that I love to sip at on leisurely Sunday mornings.

Next on my palate was loomi, the dried lemons used in Irani cuisine. It is used in Bhaji ghosht and Chana dal keema and also goes well in masoor dal (though I have not tried that). I have also used them in a walnut and zaresht berry dip with pita bread and to add tang to delicate roulades of swiss chard leaves spread with hazelnut paste. Limoo have a smoky sour flavor that lends well to green dishes so I decided to make a salad sprinkle by crushing them with white pepper and toasted cumin. To this mix I added toasted sesame seeds. It simply needs to be sprinkled over steamed or stirfried greens or salads. Its also great over paneer that has been marinated in dahi and grilled.

And the last thing to go in were little fridge magnets like the one above that i had found on a Crawford tour.

It’s been a marathon of cooking the last couple of weeks and I have just about managed to finish things up in time to go off to Goa for the New year but I have savoured every second !

Have a Merry Christmas and a great 2009. But do remember to come back soon because 2009 will bring lots of fun things here on A Perfect Bite.

Rushina

My Dehra Dun cookbook - Cooking with flowers - Kaddu Ke Phool or Pumpkin flowers

Imagine my delight to find Pumpkin flowers blooming all over the kitchen garden on arriving in Dehra Dun last week. Living in the city, it is still possible to get your hands on flowers in certain areas but it takes humongous amounts of planning and logistics to get them home fresh and still have the energy to ook them the same day!

Kaddu ke Phool or Pumpkin flowers are large peachy orange blooms that are the harbingers of the Pumpkin season in the monsoons in Dehra Dun. They are also one of the many small rewards of having one's own garden. Cooking this dish was somewhat poingnant for me, since it was a year to my father in laws' passing and pumpkin flowers were a favourite with my him, fried into fritters. I remember with fondness the day he introduced them to me for the first time.

So when the food show - The Foodie hosted by Kunal Vijaykar contacted me to do a sow with them last week, these were the first to ome to mind. They'd seen a recipe feature on cooking with flowers I did for mE magazine and intrigued by the topic, they wanted me to do an episode with them on Cooking with flowers. For many reasons, but mostly because it was totally the wrong season for any sort of fresh flower to cook with (the episode would have been totally pointless without fresh flowers), I opted out of my first chance at 15 mins of TV fame!

But in true Rushina style, I had a lineup of dishes cooking in my head even before I put down the phone; Mushroom stuffed Squash Flowers, Flower embossed Pasta in a Saffron Sauce, Hibiscus Halva squares and a Carnation tea, so despite the fact that I did not do the show, I had been hankering after cooking these dishes.

These Mushroom stuffed squash flowers were inspired by a much more exotic dish that I ate a Pure restaurant when it first opened in Mumbai. Mushroom Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Baby Greens and Truffle Oil was presented to me when I went to interview Mischel Nischan - who conceptulised the restaurant - for a story for BTW magazine. It took me a moment to bring up the heart to disrupt the lovely ensemble on my plate, it seemed such a temerity. However, my palate thanked me, with the first bite. The textures were such a brilliant marriage of crunchy tender greens fragrant with Truffle oil, and crisp - tender Squash flowers that gave way to the bounty of earthy flavours of mushroom inside.

Not having access to more exotic ingredients, I was limited to whatever resources I had access to in Dehra dun where the kitchen is more geared for traditional Indian food than world cuisine. So by elimination I honed in on a simple recipe, stuffing blossoms from our garden using local mushrooms from the market (Unfortunately Mausaji's Mushrooms were out of season, they will only be available in October), steamed in a Tupperware steamer and laid on a reduced wine sauce made from the last of Papas homemade Litchi wine and fresh cream.

Mushroom stuffed Pumpkin flowers

1 packet (200-250 gms) button mushrooms
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oatmeal powder
12 - 15 Squash flowers

For the sauce
1 tsp oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup white wine 1 tbsp cream

To prepare flowers, remove the green base and insides and discard. Do this carefully so you get the upper portion intact. Set aside. Chop mushrooms add salt and leave for 10 mins untill the juices are released. Meanwhile combine the pepper and oatmeal an mix well. Squeese out as much of mushroom juice as you can, into a bowl and reserve for sauce. Place mushrooms in another bowl. Add oatmeal mix to the mushrooms and and toss well to coat. (Use your judgment and add more oatmeal if required.) Carefully stuff each blossom with a spoonful of mixture keeping in mind not to over stuff because the flowers will shrink. Steam lightly (I used a Tupperware steamer in the microwave) for about 4 minutes tops.

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a nonstick pan and add the onions. Stir fry on a low flame until transparent. Combine the juices from the mushrooms and the wine and add to pan. Allow to simmer until reduced to half. Remove from flame, add cream and taste to check seasoning. Pour into serving dish, lay stuffed flowers over and serve.

NOTE: Pumpkin flowers must be picked prior to sun rise because they are pest magnets.

Apologies for blurry camera pics, but I didn't take my camera along this time.

GYAN
Here is a link to my column on Indiwo on Mushrooms inspired by Mausaji's Mushrooms and another inspired by our kitchen garden in Dehra Dun.