Sunday Lunch Idea...Grilled Fish...

Well considering my roots...and the awesome benefits of Fish..somehow it's not a surprise for me that I am so in love with Fish. Below is a Sunday Lunch menu..which works well for Mr. B & me.... easy to make , yum to eat.

Grilled King Mackerel with Vegs' in Black Pepper Sauce

3 Fillet of King Mackerel (Surmai)

For Marination

9-10 Garlic peeled and sliced.

7-8 Fresh Basil Leaves chopped

7 - 8 Fresh Oregano Leaves chopped (you can also used the Oregano available in market, coarser one, not fine powdered)

Cilantro Leaves chopped

50 ml White Wine

2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tsp Chilli Flakes

1 Tbsp Fish Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Paprika Powder

Salt as per taste

Pepper as per taste

1. Clean the Fish well and pat dry with Kitchen Towel

2. Marinate the Fish in the above ingredients for 30 mins

3. Grill the Fish using an Electric Grill. Sprinkle Olive Oil on the grill before placing the Fish. In interim, apply the marinade liquid while grilling the fish and turning it

4. Use the remaining marinade as sauce. For same, heat the marinade in a small plan, and reduce by 50%

5. Remove the Fish and place on a plate of serving and pour the reduced sauce on top before serving. Serve and enjoy without much wait (don't let the fish cool :-) )

NOTE: If you don't have an electric grill, you can fry the Fish on a pan, with little Olive Oil.

For the Vegetable Side Dish

1 Cup chopped Cabbage

1/2 Cup Chopped Spinach

1 Tomato de-seeded and sliced in long thin strips

1/2 Yellow & 1/2 Red Capsicum sliced in long thin strips

1/2 Cup Carrot sliced in long thin strips

7-8 Button Mushrooms sliced

Add the vegetables that you like.... it's your take.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt as per taste

Pepper as per taste

1-2 Tbsp Black Pepper Sauce

1. Heat Olive Oil in a large Pan

2. First add Cabbage to same, followed by Spinach and sprinkle a little Salt

3. Once they soften, add the mushroom and cook till half done

4. Add the carrot, Capsicum and Tomato's and cook for a while. Sprinkle Salt and pepper as required

5. Once you can see the vegetables are almost done, add the Black pepper sauce and mix well

6. Close the heat and transfer the vegetables on plate

For Bread...I usually pick Olive or Garlic bread...choose as per your taste, and enjoy the meal with a glass of white wine with your loved ones.

Black & White...if only

Damn if only things were black and white

Not the facades and not the masks strewn aside

Why messy them have so conflicting personas

Immoral and disturbed..vouching for rules & order

I sometimes find enactments so surreal

Pinching myself to feel was that really real..

If only Atlas Shrugged was just a book

If only it could be really made to come up to boot

The great Lady sure did talk some sense

For back then too people disturbing crawled to no end

And you wondered...why what is right and wrong

Where does one draws the line and says I am so done

I'll tell you what...maybe she did find it out

Maybe there is John Galt...

Recipe: Chicken in home-made Funky Sauce

Hello Again... now Chicken is something which most of us love to eat..and boy there sure are tons of ways to make same. I kinda mixed matched different recipes to come up with one that I sure love and enjoy a lot. It's the ideal thing to go with Port wine or white wine on a Friday evening party with Mr. B. Below is the recipe of same for same...try it, it's kinda good :-)

Chicken in Home-made Funky Sauce

500 gms Chicken Breast

1 Bulb Garlic ..peeled and cut in thin slices

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Cedar Vinegar

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce

1 Tsp Fish Sauce

1 Tbsp Honey

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsp Ketchup

1 Cup Water

1 tsp Paprika Powder

Salt & Pepper for seasoning

1. Wash the Chicken breasts and cut into small pieces. Season salt & pepper for Marination in a bowl.

2. Heat Olive Oil in a non-stick sauce pan

3. Add Garlic and fry till golden brown

4. Add all the Sauces and water. Bring to Boil

5. Boil the Sauce mixture for 1 min.

6. Pour the mixture onto the marinated chicken.

7. Seal the bowl with plastic film and let it rest for 30-45 mins.

8. After 45 mins...heat a non-stick pan and pour the chicken and sauce mixture into it.

9. cook in slow flame till 20-30 mins...till chicken is done. In between, if the sauce dries..add a little water.

Chicken in funky sauce is ready to be served.... enjoy

Basic Chocolate Cake... :-)

It has been claimed that the scent of fresh baked goods lifts the mood and makes people nicer.

Well not to overlook such a strong motivator..I believe investing in baking goes beyond just making you nice... it kinda makes me happy..feeding yummy food to loved one's & seeing the joy in their faces sure makes my day. Below is my recipe for Basic Chocolate Cake. You would need a Microwave with Convection mode facility for same..and off you go..

Basic Chocolate Cake

4 Eggs

1 Cup Flour (Maida..ensure you keep it in Sun for some time so that it looses all moisture)

2 tsp Banking Powder

4 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 Cup & 4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar (this is important, if you don't have powdered sugar, just grind regular sugar to make some)

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Cup Oil

2 Tsp Vanilla Essence

Handful of Cashews (broken) and Raisins

1. Sift Flour with Baking Powder and Cocoa powder and keep aside (Use a sieve/channi for same)

2. Beak eggs & sugar till the eggs turn fluffy and more than double of their initial volume. Add essence. (Ensure you don't beat the the mixture too much either...if using an electric hand mixer..usually 2-3 minutes is enough)

3. Add Oil tot he beaten mixture and mix well (beat for 30 seconds with the electric hand mixer)

4. Now gently fold in the flour gradually till all flour has been used (You would need to be careful at the this step...for folding, put a little flour i the mixture and always move the spatula only in circular motion clock-wise till it is dissolved..continue the process till all is mixed)

5. Once mixed..add Milk to the mixture to get a slightly thinner consistency.

6. Pre-heat the oven at this time by keeping your Microwave in Convection mode at 200 degrees Celsius.

7. Grease a deep bowl (I use Borosil's baking dish) by spraying/ spreading a little oil in it and coat it lightly with loose Flour. Ensure you don't let excess Flour stick to the baking dish.

8. Pour the mixture into the bowl and top it with the cashews and raisin.

9. Now bake it in Convection mode for 45 Minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Ensure you place the dish on a low rise grill inside the oven so that heat reaches the center of the dish as well.

10. After cooking and 15 minutes cooling inside the oven..remove the cake from the Microwave using baker gloves.

11. To remove the cake from the dish..place a plate on-top of the dish and invert it. The cake with fall onto the plate upside down. Move away the baking dish and by using another plate at bottom of the cake, invert the cake upside.

Easy chocolate cake is ready to be served... enjoy with family and friends :-)

Suji Kakara Pitha - Odiya Delicacy for Puja Days

Whenever I think about my childhood and the festive occasions gone by...what strongly comes to my mind is the amazing food that Ma would cook for us. I would hang around the Kitchen to steal from the first batch of food cooked, and gobble it down the minute it was out..all pipping hot..tears flowing from my eye, but a big smile beaming across my face.... the food Ma cooked was heavenly.

Job..marriage..all happened and I moved out of my parents home...what I miss most is my Mom's food.. whatever she would make was always soooo good, that it would just make your day. I remember my Mom cooked some of the best dishes when she cooked in a hurry..juggling work...running around in mayhem..and then emerge with a platter full of heavenly bites...ohhh boy old days :-)

I think the passion I have for cooking comes from her...from Ma's family..well I'll spill the beans on them some other time.. Today I am going to share a fantastic recipe of one of my Mom's chosen festive dish - Suji Kakara Pitha

Recipe -

500 gms Suji

6 Tablespoons sugar

Salt to Taste

1 Shredded Coconut

1 Tsp Cardamom Powder

Oil to Fry

2 Tablespoon Ghee

1. Boil 1 Litre water (as a rule: boil water equal to double the amount of Suji taken)in a deep pan (Kadhai)

2. Once water is boiling add 3 Tablespoons of Sugar and Salt and mix well.

3. Reduce the flame, and add the Suji slowly..mixing with other hand through-out. Ensure no lumps are made.

4. Once the mixture is ready..close the flame and let it cool.

5. In another pan, heat the shredded coconut but mixing it with 3 Tablespoons of Sugar and Cardamom powder. Once mixed, close the flame and keep it aside to cool.

6. Once the Suji dough is cooled...kneed the dough with Ghee to make it softer.

7. Make small round balls from the dough. Flatten them and fill the coconut mixture in them. Close it to make a ball again and flatten a bit by pressing from both sides.

8. Keep some flattened balls plain..with no filling.

9. Heat Oil in a deep pan (Kadhai) and fry the flattened balls till they turn golden brown on both sides.

10. Enjoy once done :-)

Kosha Mangsho..Bengali Style..Diwali Special

I know Diwali is all about Laxmi Puja in majority of India....for Bengali's who do Shakti Puja, Diwali marks the day for worshipping Ma Kali (the angry version of Durga Ma). Traditionally Bengali's keep fast the whole day..and do the Puja at night followed by the feast....

Well..I didn't keep fast...but I cooked the dish of the day for family - Kosha Mangsho. for those interested..below's the recipe for same -

Ingredients:-

1 Kg Mutton

3 Tablespoon Mustard Oil

Ginger-Garlic Paste - 3 Big Pieces of Ginger and 2 Big Bulb of Garlic or 15-20 big cloves of garlic

4 Big Onions Chopped

4 Big Tomato's Chopped

2 Potato's - Peeled and Halved

2 Tsp's Turmeric

Salt as per taste

1 Tsp Lal Mirch ( you can add more if you like it Tikha)

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Tsp White Pepper

2 Tsp Garam Masala

1. Wash and clean the Mutton well. Marinate it in half of the Ginger-garlic paste, turmeric and salt for 1 hour.

2. Heat Mustard Oil in a Cooker..once it leaves fumes, add rest of the ginger-garlic paste & onions

3. Once the mixture turns light brown, add Tomoato's and cook it, ensuring it doesn't stick to the bottom.

4. Once it is reduced to pulp and oil starts leaving the mixture, add Lal Mirch, White & Black Pepper and a little salt and cook well.

5. Add the Mutton once the masala is cooked and mix it well. Keep turing the mutton on regular period so as to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom. Let the mutton cook in it's own water released for 1 hour over small flame.

6. After an hour add the potato's and cook for 20 more mins or till meat is tender and potato's cooked.

7. Garnish with Garam masala and check for salt...

8. Serve hot with Luchi or Rice

To cook it early...you can after adding the Meat to the Masala cook it on slow-to-medium flame for 45 mins, followed by adding Potato and cooking for 15 mins. Then, add a little water and close the lid of cooker and give it two Whistles to tenderize the mutton.

Skyfall...!!!

Loved it...just Loved it... five words to sum the movie:-

1. Sleek 2. Raw 3. A little Filmi 4. Machoism 5. Loads of action

From all Bond movies I have seen till date...to be honest (not that I am not usually)..Daniel Craig as Bond are the best one's. The movie is a fantastic tribute to Mr. Bond, exemplifying some of his very good traits..loyalty, perfect Gentleman, resurrection, human...ohh yes, Unlike our dearest Agent from Bourne series...Bond post his resurrection is strong and quite ready for action.

Not much of womanizing nature, however another trait of "man", spoken of much in all genres takes precedence in this movie:- Loyalty and the Protector.

The vulnerability shown along with the strong resolution, makes this Bond my favorite...putting him in the "strong epitome Hero" category..you know like Russell Crowe from Galdiator kinds. And the action sequence is quite nice...not as gadgetie as Mission Impossible..but damn good and in a genre of it's own

In between..the movie does become a bit stretched..and some action sequences timing are questionable...however in all, quite a good movie and a very good watch

Crying therapy !!

Recently I was watching one of the episodes from Everybody loves Raymond, where Debra in her me time sits and cries out...to get a cathartic feeling....well Ray sure doesn't gets it and makes fun of her, leading to yet another hilarious episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.

It got me thinking..if crying really can be as helpful as proclaimed by a character on a show...and come to think of it, I think I am going to agree with the overworked housewife of the Barone clan.

For someone with repressed emotions and pent-up anger...an outlet in form of crying might actually do good, by way of a vent out session. Instead of taking out the mis-placed emotions (as termed by society) on honest citizens...this mechanism sure can be a controller.

I thought about doing a dig up to see if my supposition had any basis...and not to much surprise I got About 2,420,000 results (0.31 seconds) on Google (what will one do without it).

Turns out biochemist William Frey said something on similar lines and proclaimed this much earlier, with a theory that crying is important to overall health. In his book Crying. The Mystery of Tears (Winston Press, 1985), he explains his research and points out that people feel better after crying because the shedding of tears removes "chemicals that build up as a result of emotional stress." (source:http://control-your-emotions.blogspot.in/2007/10/crying.html)

One study analyzed 140 years of popular articles about crying and found that more than 9 in 10 found tears to be a good way to release pent-up feelings. An international sample of men and women from 30 countries found that most reported feeling relief after a good cry. And about 70 percent of therapists say they believe crying is good for their patients. (source: http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/is-crying-healthy.aspx)

On the contrary...a school of thought is of the opinion..that crying is more or less influenced by our society and general expectations as well. Also...it is said that too much crying can be very counter-active and rather than playing the cathartic role, can actually be damaging and damn the spirit and soul of an individual.

Ohhh..boy..everything said and done...I guess..crying is like everything else in life. In moderation it is a blessing (I mean helpful)..and in excess and in deprivation..quite harmful..

So taking Debra's view..well give a good cry a shot sometime..may be helpful in getting rid of all the pent up emotions that we carry in today's hectic crazy world and kept it locked away in our quest to be prim and proper :-)