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Mint-Chicken

Mint-Chicken

Chicken well marinated with the essence of mint (pudina) that enhances digestion allowing as many helpings as you can have.

Ingredients

1. Chicken (whole, with the skin) - 1

2. Dried Mint leaves/ fresh Mint leaves ground to paste - 3 tsp
Cinnamon (powdered) - ¾ - 1 tsp
Cardamom (powdered) - ½ tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Balsamic vinegar - 1 ½ tbsp
Salt - to taste

3. Olive oil - 1½-2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Wash the chicken, pat dry and keep aside.
2. Mix the Mint paste with the cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper powder, balsamic vinegar and salt.
3. Pour in the olive oil and use your fingers to knead the spices with the oil.
4. Garnish the chicken, nice and even with the mix.
5. Push the skin from the neck portion of the chicken, backwards using it to tie the legs with the tail.
Fold the tip of the wings inward and keep aside overnight.

6. Heat the oven to 375◦ F.
7. Place the garnished chicken in a roasting pan (breast portion upward) and roast for an hour, without covering.
8. Before cutting, cover the chicken, lightly, with foil.
9. Dress with Mint leaves and serve hot with Mint sauce.

To make Mint Sauce
1. Mint leaves - ¼ cup
2. Vinegar - ¼ cup
3. Powdered sugar - 1 tbsp

Preparation
1. Dissolve the sugar in vinegar, pour over the Mint leaves, refrigerate for a day and serve.
2. If you feel the vinegar is too sour, add a little more sugar, some water, boil for a short while and then refrigerate.

Roopesh Nair

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Curried Chicken Livers

Curried Chicken Livers

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken livers, cut into bite 1-2-inch pieces (I use kitchen shears)
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons canola (or any vegetable) oil
garlic salt, to taste

Preparation

In a small bowl, whisk together: flour, curry powder, tumeric, garlic powder and pepper.

Roll chicken livers one by one in flour mixture and place on a plate.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Place chicken livers in a single layer in skillet.

Sprinkle garlic salt over the chicken livers.

Let cook about 5 minutes and flip livers over. Sprinkle them with more garlic salt.

Let cook about 5 more minutes more and test for doneness. Some people like them pink in the middle. I like them well done and browned through. I usually flip them one more time and cook them until the coating is browned all over and no more blood seeps out (about 15 minutes total). Some of the coating will crumble off or stick to the pan. I just scoop it up and serve it all together. Yum!

Roopesh Nair

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Apple Tart

Crisp autumn apples... sweet, crumbly pastry... deep, indulgent filling... the perfect tart is easy as pie.

Serves: 8
Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling time
Cooking time: 50 minutes You will need:
9in/23cm fluted flan tin with loose bottom

For the pastry (makes 375g):
190g plain flour
Pinch salt
100g cold butter, plus extra for the top
1 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 medium egg, beaten with 1 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
25g butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
3 tbsp caster sugar
4 medium-size Bramley apples, peeled

For the topping:
3-4 green and red Golden Delicious (or use a single colour)
Softly whipped double cream, to serve

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Rub the flour, salt and butter togetherto make fine crumbs (or use a processor).
Mix in the sugar, add the egg mix and combine with a knife, until the mixture clumps together (known as cutting in).
Form into a soft ball with your hands,flatten a little and wrap in cling film. Chill for around 10 minutes, during which time make the apple purée.

2.Put the butter, vanilla and sugar into a pan and heat gently, to melt the butter.
Thinly slice the peeled Bramley apples straight into the pan, stirring after each apple. Cover and cook on a low heat for around six minutes, or until the apples are really soft, stirring once. Whisk to a purée and tip into a bowl to cool. If you want a smooth purée, use a wand blender.
3.Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, until large enough to line the tin.
Drape over the edges and press into them. Roll the pin over the pastry for a clean edge, then push it into the flutes. Prick the base with a fork and chill for 20 minutes. Line the inside with baking paper and a layer of dried beans (they stop the pastry puffing up). Bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Remove the beans and paper, and bake for a further five minutes.

4.Cut each Golden Delicious apple into four and remove the core.
Divide each piece into around eight thin slices. Spoon the apple purée into the base and arrange the slices in two overlapping circles,starting on the outside, then reverse the direction for the inner circleand add a couple of cut pieces to the centre. Melt the extra butter and brush over the apples, dust with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes,until the apples are tender.

Serve with the cream.

Tip:If the apple slices start to go brown during preparation (or you want to prepare them in advance), put into cold water with a squeeze of lemon.
When ready to use, drain and pat dry to remove any excess water.
Delicious alternative:
The pastry can be used for savoury tarts, such as quiches by leaving out the sugar.

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Tapioca and Beef

Tapioca (Yucca) and Beef
(Kerala Style)

Tapioca and beef together make a mouth-watering combination and is a quintessential aspect of Kerala cuisine.

Ingredients

1. Tapioca ( cut into small pieces)-1 kg
2. Beef finely chopped)-1/4 kg,
turmeric powder-3/4 tea spoon,salt-as required

3. Grated coconut-half a coconut,
button onion- 2 nos,
garlic- 2 flakes,
pepper-8 nos

4. Coriander powder-3 small spoons,
chilly powder-2 small spoons

5.Curry leaves-as required
6.Coconut oil-2 big spoons

Preparation

Finely grated beef should be mixed with salt and turmeric powder.
Cook it properly.Heat coconut oil and add the third set of ingredients to it.
After frying it properly, add coriander powder and chilly powder to it and blend it all well.
Make it into a paste without adding water.

Cook the chopped tapioca in water after adding salt.After it is cooked well, drain the excess water.
Then add the cooked beef and the third set of ingredients to tapioca.
After putting curry leaves and salt (if only needed) place it back on fire and stir well.

Roopesh Nair

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Pumpkin Gingerbread

This has to be the weirdest fall ever. High seventies on the first day of November. Beautiful and sunny, though the wind has picked up a bit. The gusts come and go, stirring up leaves from the trees, so it's beginning to at least feel like autumn. Trick-or-treaters paraded through the neighborhood last night, leaving a trail of candy wrappers and smiles. Mr. Jack-o-lantern is still sitting on his perch (maybe we'll light him up again tonight!). We almost always have extra pumpkin sitting around this time of year, either puréed and in cans, or fresh. Two of my favorite sweet quick breads are pumpkin bread and gingerbread. This recipe (an experiment really) I'm delighted to report, happily combines the two—pumpkin and gingerbread. Spicy, molasses-y, pumpkin-y. Easy too. Happy fall!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (200 g) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup (240 ml) pumpkin purée*

1/2 cup (1 stick, or 112 g) butter, melted

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 Tbsp finely minced candied or fresh ginger (optional)

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tbsp water

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

* To make pumpkin purée from pieces of leftover pumpkin, just roast or boil the pieces until tender, then remove the skin. Smash the cooked pumpkin with a fork. If using a whole pumpkin, sugar pumpkins work best. Cut in half, scoop out the strings and seeds, bake the pumpkin halves at 350°F on a foil-lined baking pan until soft, about 45 minutes to an hour. When cool, scoop out the flesh and mash with a fork.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter to keep the pumpkin gingerbread from sticking to the pan.
2 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3 In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together the pumpkin purée, melted butter, sugar, molasses, fresh or candied ginger, eggs, and water.
4 Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the raisins if using. Stir only until incorporated.
5 Place the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then gently run a knife around the edge of the loaf and invert the loaf to remove it from the pan. Let it cool on a rack for 30 minutes or longer.
The loaf's flavor will improve with time. If you cut into it while it is still a bit warm, it may be crumbly. In which case you may want to make your slices with a bread knife.
Yield: Makes one loaf.

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Beans Salsa.

Beans Salsa

For beans salsa, use canned black beans. Mix the beans with corn and chopped onion and tomato along with spices and herbs. Serve beans salsa with chips or as salad over a cabbage leaf or a lettuce leaf.
Makes: around 4 Servings of Beans Salsa.

Ingredients:

Canned Black Beans 1/2 Can
Tomato 1
Onion 1 Small
Green Chile 1 Small
Sweet Corn 1/4 Cup
Lemon Juice 1 Tbsp
Black Pepper to Taste
Salt to Taste
Cilantro few Sprigs

Method of preparation:

Wash the black beans and keep aside.
Wash, discard the seeds and finely chop the tomato.
Remove stem, wash, discard seeds and veins and finely chop the green chile.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Boil the sweet corn and separate the corn kernels.
To separate, place the corn on flat surface and run the knife through it vertically down.
Wash and finely chop the cilantro.

In a mixing bowl, mix together black beans, tomato, onion, green chile, cilantro, black pepper, salt and lemon juice.
Adjust any seasonings if required and keep aside for couple of minutes.
Serve beans salsa on a cabbage leaf or a lettuce leaf.

Notes: Make sure to wash the canned black beans well before using.

Suggestions: If using dry beans, soak overnight and pressure cook for a whistle or two to cook the beans before using in the salsa.

Variations: Also add half of finely dice green bell pepper to the beans salsa.