One powerful yet simple ingredient

One simple ingredient can often make all the difference when you’re cooking. And now that’s more true than ever. The ingredient in this case is black pepper—freshly ground, of course, instead of pre-ground and packed in a tin. Freshly ground peppercorns pop with flavor and fragrance, becoming a true flavor, not just background noise, and you can control the grind, from fine to coarsely cracked.

Which got me thinking about when I was getting into cooking. I remember always being nervous when I came to the bit in a recipe when it said ‘season to taste’. I knew that meant adding salt and pepper. But how could I possibly know how much? For years I’d just add a few grinds of pepper and a pinch of salt and hope for the best. That was until I had a bit of a seasoning revelation. 

It was a very long ago... when i was a little girl and use to bug mamma in the kitchen when i learnt this small but very powerful trick from her... I was assisting my dad in kitchen trying out a simple tomato soup (ohhh its was wonderful i can still remember the TASTE)

After tasting, she inquired as to whether we’d seasoned it and got us to taste as well. I thought it was pretty good, but at her insistence we added a more salt and freshly crushed pepper. A second taste and the difference was staggering. With her encouragement we continued to salt and taste. Each time the soup tasted more alive and vibrant, not salty but fresh and good.

It was then that I realised that this is what seasoning is about – tasting and tweaking – or fine tuning to bring out the best in the food. After that, I felt more confident with the whole seasoning thing and began to experiment with my own cooking. I like to think of seasoning as an art that I’m continuing to practice and improve.

Chicken Croissants

An experiment that worked out great!! The buns were soft and delicate, a perfect compliment to the yummy filling in the center! And without all that butter that goes in regular croissants too!!! ;-)

Filling Recipe:

Ingredients:

Quarter kg boneless chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
2 small capsicum, red and green if possible, grated or chopped finely
2 tbsp sweet corn
1 grated carrot
1 small onion, chopped finely
1-2 green chillies, chopped
half tsp garlic paste
1 tsp chopped coriander
salt to taste
half tsp grinded cumin powder
a pinch of tandoori masala (optional)
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tbsp butter

Instructions:

Heat the butter in a non-stick pan, add the onions and stir fry until they're translucent. Do not brown them. Add the chopped capsicum and grated carrot, stir-fry for about 5mins until they start to soften. Add the raw chicken pieces and keep stirring until they start browning. Add the chillis, garlic, salt, cumin powder, tandoori masala and sweet corn. Saute until the chicken pieces become tender and well-done. If the mixture sticks to the pan and the chicken is not yet done, add a tbsp of water and cover until ready. Make sure that the mixture is completely dry. Finally, add the coriander and soya sauce, mix well and switch off. Pour the lemon juice on the mixture, and whilst still hot, use a wooden spoon to smash the small pieces of chicken so that they become shredded. Adjust salt/chilli to your taste.

PS: You can smoke the mixture with a coal and some oil to give it a nice bbq aroma. This mixture should be enough for around 16 croissants.

Dough Recipe:

Recipe for Dough (makes 8 croissants)

Ingredients:

2 level teacups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
half tsp instant yeast
quarter tsp baking powder
3 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
warm milk mixed with water about half a cup (although you could need more or less depending on flour/altitude etc)

Method:

Sieve the flour and add the yeast, baking powder, yeast, salt and sugar. Stir it so that it's all well mixed. Add 2 tbsp of butter and 2tbsp veg oil. (Reserve the last tbsp butter for later). Rub into the flour using finger tips until the flour has a crumbly texture. Gradually add the warm milk+water, stirring it in with a wooden spoon at first until the dough starts to hold together, and then continuing to knead together with your hands until the dough has softened. You need this dough slightly sticky, it's a menace to handle but the result is worth the trouble. Just oil your hands slightly to help with the stickiness and keep kneading...adding a little sprinkling of flour when it gets too sticky to handle until the dough is nice and well-kneaded and formed into a ball. Apply a touch of oil all over the ball of dough, place in a container and cover with a damp towel. Place in an airtight cupboard (or even in the oven or micro-wave) and leave it to rise to about double it's original size. (40mins to an hour)


Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a huge circle of about 30cm diameter (use your fingertips to stretch the circle out when you feel you cant roll with the pin any further), then rub half of the reserved tbspn of butter all over this rolled out circle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the circle into quarters, then divide each quarter again to form eighths.

Take the first eighth of the circle, place your mixture of choice on the edge (where the perimeter of the circle used to be). Roll carefully towards the pointed edge (where the center of the circle used to be), tucking the pointy end underneath (you can make a small slit near this pointy end just to give the croissants a nicer appearance, although this is not a must).... Curve down the edges of your rolled up croissant to form the crescent shape.

Place the croissants on a greased tray and cover them again for another half an hour so that the dough can rise again. Switch on the oven on medium high (around 175 degrees) and in the meantime, glaze the croissants with egg yolk to give them a nice colour. Bake for about 12-15 mins depending on your oven's heat.

When ready, remove and place them on a cloth, and take the remainin half tbsp of butter, and gently touch up the buns with it to give them a nice shiny soft finish...and they would smell heavenly too. Cover the buns in the cloth for about 10mins before serving. This gives the butter time to get absorbed fully into the croissants, thereby making them soft and extra delish. Serve warm!!

Butter Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut up into pieces.
2 tomatoes (blended)
2 onions chopped
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
15 cashew nuts (made into a paste using water)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp thick cream
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oil
Cilantro for garnishing

Marinade:
1 tbsp tandoori masala
1/2 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin powder
5 tbsp yogurt
Salt to taste
Mix all the above ingredients well in a bowl

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken in the marinade for one hour
2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep aside.
3. In the remaining oil, fry the chopped onions till golden, then add the ginger-garlic paste and fry sprinkling some water now and then till oil separates.
4. Add the cashew nut paste, chili powder, tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the butter, cream and chicken. Mix well and cook until it is done.
6. Garnish with cilantro.
Serve with hot naan or paratha, or garlic bread.

Tasty Yogurt Dumplings Dahi Vadas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Urad Dal • 5 Green Chillies (chopped) • 4'' Ginger (chopped) • 4 cups Curd • 1 cup Milk • 1/2 tsp Roasted Jeera • 1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder • Oil for deep-frying • Salt to taste

Instructions:

How to make Dahi Vada:

• Soak two cups urad dal for about 6 hours. • Grind the soaked dal. Add salt, ginger, green chillies and little water to make smooth batter. • Beat this batter well, so that there are no lumps. • Heat oil in a pan. With the help of the slotted spoon, leave the batter in form of vadas in the oil. • Deep fry the vadas and keep them on a blotting paper to remove excess oil. • Now dip the vadas in cold salted water to extract their oil for few minutes. • Now squeeze out the water from vadas and keep them aside. • Add milk with the curd to whip the curd well. • Now add roasted jeera, red chilli powder and salt to the curd. • Put seasoned curd in a dish. Dip vadas in the curd. • Keep it in the freezer for half an hour. • Dahi Vada is ready to serve.

Yummy Mutton Dry

 I love how tender the mutton meat cooked this way turns out. It literally gets to an almost 'falling off the bone' tenderness, very enjoyable with pita bread or parathas or even baked potatoes.

 Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

 500gm mutton/lamb pieces with bone

 2 onions, sliced thin

 2-3 green chillies

 4 tbsp oil

 black pepper to taste

 salt to taste

 2 tbsp yogurt

 1 tsp ginger paste

 1 tsp garlic paste

 pinch of turmeric

 chopped coriander

1 tsp cumin+ coriander seed powder

 half tsp all spice pwd

 juice of half a lemon

grated cheese for decoration.

Instructions:

 Boil the mutton / meat with 1 grated tomato and 1 grated onion, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, half tsp garlic paste and half tsp ginger paste....until almost completely tender. Make sure you use just enough water such that it is not in excess. If a little water remains after boiling, it's ok, drain it from the meat and set it aside to be used later.

 In a separate pan, add the oil, followed by the sliced onions. Fry until golden, then add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir-fry for a minute, then add the boiled mutton pieces and fry them in the oil. Add the green chillies, yoghurt, the cumin, turmeric, chilli powder and black pepper. Keep the heat on low and keep stirring everything together until the yogurt is no longer visible. Now add the extra water if you want it to have a bit of gravy/moisture (you can add just a bit of regular water if none remained after boiling the meat). Let this simmer for a few minutes until the masala is thick, then squeeze the lemon and sprinkle the garam masala and chopped coriander and sprinkle the grated cheese over it. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Cover and keep on low heat for about 5 minutes then switch off and serve.

 You can garnish with sliced onions and chopped coriander or mint. You can even garnish with veggies or french fries.

Home Remedies for Cold, Cough.

Adults as well as the Kids often go down with cold and cough... to make matters worse it spreads throughout the household....
What i have personally found effective is that when there is a cold bacteria running in the household, the thing best to do is cut some red onions in halves and place it in different rooms... Drink plenty of water fluids, stock up on your vitamin C like fresh orange juice, chicken soup with lots of garlic....
Then there are couple of home made concoctions i try...

1) Goot http://shayasjourney.blogspot.com/2011/05/goot-natural-remedy-for-colds-flu.html

2) Red Onions And Honey Cough Syrup:
1 medium-large Red onion
1 cup honey (or sugar if you don’t have honey, though honey is best)

Peel and chop the onion, and place the slices in a small bowl or glass jar. As you fill the jar, layer the onion with the honey or sugar, topping off with honey. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap, and allow to sit on counter overnight. Juices from the onion and honey will mix and form a pleasant syrup; strain the onion pieces out. Take 1 tsp syrup every 4 hours, or as needed.
Chewing of plain onion for adults also gives a lot of releif from cold and runny nose... Ofcourse dont kiss your loved ones after eating them though LOL

3) Carom seeds OR Ajwain : Roast a palm full of Carom seeds and sea salt on the griddle, when its nicely hot and you can actually smell the aroma of this on the other end of your kitchen... put carefully the entire seeds in a large handkerchief, or large mulin cloth ... tie it nicely so that it doesnt spill from the sack....
Now just let the kids inhale the aroma coming out of the sack... as well as also try to gently apply on there chest... like pressing the sack gently on the chest, back, their forehead... but beaware its "hot" so first check it on the back of your hand and then see if its bearable then apply for kids... better to wait a couple of seconds rather than burning thier skins.... its highly effective when applies warm. What carom seeds actually do is they produce aroma which clears the bacteria and congestion in the respiratory tract as well as when applied warm on the chest and back it dries the phlegm(mucus or bulgum) in the lungs and chest congesting due to the cold or cough its highly effective on infants and childrens.

4) Cold Potion:-Boil some carom seeds + ginger grated + 3 - 4 black pepper corns + 20- 25 leaves Holy Basil leaves 3 inch peice of aloe vera cut in half the gel layer exposed + and carom plant leaves 6 -8
Take around 250 ml of water and boil this syrup till reduced to say half a cup... if required add more water while boiling.... then strain the mixture through muslin cloth nicely squeezing the pulp, now for kids you can add few drops of honey to a tbsp full of this concoction and give them 4 times a day... For elders they can eat the pulp also as it is very soothing for the throat and they can drink half a cup of this potion 4 times a day with honey.
This way in kids the cold will get runny and get out of the system in a day or two..

5) Vicks Vapourub: Its my personal fav. apply on the their feets, chest, back, throat, even on the pillow while sleeping. the relief is instant... also you can give them steam with little vicks in the water.

6) Garlic  : A well-known immune system strengthener, garlic shines as an antibacterial and antiviral herb for fighting colds, coughs and the flu. One of the best ways to take advantage of garlic's healing properties is by drinking fresh garlic tea. Sweetened with a little raw honey, it's delicious and helps to heal what ails you. Peel 2 to 3 cloves of fresh garlic and lightly crush them with the side of a wide knife blade. Add them to 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for another 15 minutes. Strain the garlic and allow the tea to cool to mouth temperature. Add raw honey, a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Drink as much as desired.

7) Apple Cider Vinegar : The organic one works the best... at the first sign of cold like sneezing or sore throat... Take 1 Tablespoon of ACV(Apple cider vinegar ) + 1 tbspn Honey mix it and drink it... do this 3 - 4 times a day the cold will be nipped in the bud itself.





Hope this helps... will add more of my methods.

GOOT – Natural Remedy for Colds, Flu

When my kids go down with cold and cough the best i could do is give them the home made cure as much as possible.... couple of things which i have tried and vouch by it, i will be writing detailed blogs on them later but first one which makes on my list is Goot....


GOOT stands for Garlic Oil Ointment and is a herbal remedy consisting of unrefined coconut oil, cold-pressed olive oil and organic garlic.


Garlic has been used for hundreds of years to fight infections caused by colds and flu and has been given the name “King” for its ability to help the body to heal naturally. Raw garlic is chalked full of natural agents that help it function as an antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, antiseptic and a germicide. It is also an antioxidant and a diet rich in raw garlic fights against harmful free radicals. Garlic is also known to be a diuretic helpful in combating water retention and helpful in flushing toxins out of the body. Garlic has the ability to be effective against Candida, parasites, bacteria and viruses when directly applied. In addition, it treats systemic infections by absorption through the skin into the blood supply and travels throughout the body.
GOOT Recipe
Warm 3 tablespoons of unrefined, virgin Coconut oil in a small pan until melted and warm (don’t heat it too much).
Add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil, and mix well.
Remove from heat and add 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped organic garlic. Allow garlic to “rest” for at least 3 minutes after chopping and before blending into oil.
Put mixture in a blender and blend at slow speed, and then at high speed for 2 minutes.
Strain the mixture to remove chunks of garlic that the blender may have missed.

Pour into a wide mouth jar and keep in a refrigerator.

GOOT will turn into a thick soft paste after 1 hour. After two weeks, discard and make a new batch.
How to Use it:
OOT, rubbed into the skin, transfers raw garlic oil directly into the blood stream. Raw garlic is a natural antibiotic that does not carry the bad flora that a Rx antibiotic will put into your intestines.

Apply on the feet of children or infants to fight infections. Rub on chest for chest colds, pneumonia or rub into nostrils for sinus infections. Place on cotton swab for ear infections. Apply directly to sores inside the mouth. Rub on Athlete’s foot or genital area for jock itch. Insert GOOT into affected area for yeast or other related infections. Apply on rashes any place. GOOT kills Candida, parasites, bad bacteria and virus by direct application.

In addition, it treats systemic infections by absorption through the skin into the blood supply and travels throughout the body. After two weeks, make a new batch of GOOT.
Most of this information is from Jacques Dixons, and By: Dr. Loretta Lanphier. Thanks for your information which i stumbled upon goolging cure for my little one cough.