Checkered Cravings

I woke up early one morning to find the house unleashed with a flurry of activities. A quirky buzz with a thwack kept resounding over my head which I realized was my 2 year old niece whacking a pillow which was dangerously close to my head with the mosquito buzzer. I was inches away from being mildly electrocuted when I managed to snatch the buzzer away from her and being wide awake, it dawned on me – it was D-Day. It was my sibling’s engagement day and the house was full of my family & extended family, cheerily going about how one should on an occasion-day. The room was of course a mess with me having more cousin sisters than brothers so it was a lot more clothes (pink everywhere), make-up, towels and hair dryers contrary to cigars, empty liquor glasses and bottles and hooka apparatus in case I had more male family members than female.

I managed to wade my way through the sea of pinks to find more pinks in the living room. Pink wrapping paper, pink boxes, pink ribbons and a reel of pink cloth which I later realized was for stringing along a canopy like structure in the lawn where the decorations and activities were full throttle. I managed to swipe someone’s coffee which was being brought out from the kitchen as I knew I would certainly not get any lest I went and made it myself as my house help was running around in a crazed frenzy as though the king was arriving. My dad taunted me with a “late aren’t we?” snide remark and insisted I get dressed and accompany him for a small errand.

Well I had not taken a four day off from work to laze around. So off I went to find that the errand was to check on some decoration supplies and buy a sari for the maid. Now, seriously! This was getting a bit ridiculous; apparently my Mother had forgotten to bring new clothes for the maid who had been sulking since morning as the male house-help had new trimmings on them. She had conveniently badgered dad into visiting a nearby market to pick up a Sari (Not Green, as that’s what I am wearing, she warned) and dad, having not an inkling of sari shopping conveniently roped me into this for moral support. Another house-help accompanied us and we three set off with the agenda being one sari for the maid. It was indeed a sight to have captured with two men (I refused to get down) alighting from a car outside a non-descript sari store to go pick a random sari. Things went a bit too far when both being undecided on which to pick came up to the car armed with six different designs with a look of utter confusion clouding their faces. I was on the verge of losing it, when thought better of it and pointed to the nearest non-green looking one and we were off.

The day itself went by in a whiz, the sibling was a bit undeterred by the fact that he should be relaxing, aiming at looking good and leaving the arrangements to the rest of the family, instead he was on a trip of his own minding the flower guy, trailing a reel of pink cloth and pointedly expressing his disappointment at the decorators that “it was not the way he expected it”. We were hours away from the occasion and welcoming the fiancé side for the first time into our home, so it was but necessary that arrangements should be top notch. The lights were installed, the bouquets and garlands came in, the caterers were shoved to one side and things were unendingly carrying on. I settled down with the caterer a little before I went back up to get fresh, and he happily thrust a piping hot filter coffee glass into my hands. Muthuswamy our trusted caterer since years never failed to fill us up with his excellent cooking. His manager went on to offer me a plate of fresh idlis and a chaat saying “Saar, you will not be able to enjoy my food later on, you will be too busy attending to your guests and will be tired to even eat later on”. His statement was true to the core and I was surprised that he had adjudged me so well. It was a surprise when he said that he knew me since I was a “baccha” and he was the one who used to come to our house every time they catered, going back to 20 years in time.

I crave for Muthuswamy dishes and somehow am never able to enjoy them when hosting. This gesture Coming from him is what true catering is all about, he knew my weakness for his food and he had ensured that I had my fill a little before the party had actually started.

Speaking about cravings, my extended family was in no mood to excuse me for not cooking up some special dishes for them. They all had insisted that one meal would have to be laid out by me and I had ensured that I would. I dubiously got my way around by selecting breakfast as the meal I would cook and got to making fresh batches of waffles and served them with the freshest fruit amongst home made scones, butter and preserves. Well, no one’s complaining as they all left feeling heartily satisfied.

These waffles are easy to make up last minute and a perfect breakfast dish. You will need to invest in a waffle maker, not a very easy task for me as I had been looking for one all these years and was on the verge of importing it when one fine evening my friend and partner-in-photography eyed one at a local electronic store and picked it up without thinking twice, ensuring that I got the best gift of my life.

Ingredients:

For Waffle Batter

2 Large Eggs (Separated)

3/4 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Melted Butter

3/4 cup White Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

3 tablsp Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with milk and butter and keep aside. Ideally chill this mixture.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in another bowl and stir well. Add the egg yolk-milk mixture and stir evenly to get a thick batter.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until well blended but not foamy, fold into the batter till you get a slightly runny batter.

Pour the batter in the waffle iron till it covers the grid area. I like it checkered so I do not fill it all the way till the top, this way I get crispier waffles with checkered holes in them. Close the iron and bake till they are evenly browned while constantly checking the bottom part as that tends to get cooked faster.

Sprinkle over with cinnamon sugar (a little cinnamon powder mixed with superfine sugar), maple syrup or honey and fresh fruits, serve hot. 

You can even add orange zest to the batter to get a zesty kick, or chocolate powder for chocolate waffles (a couple of spoons of cocoa should do the trick). You can even top with with nutella, chocolate sauce or whipped cream with bananas as a quick dessert. 

The engagement went on to be a hit (how could it not) and it is the beginning of a new chapter in my sibling’s and our lives.

Of 3 Eggs and a Little Wine

I always look forward to leftovers. Maybe it’s just a fetish and somehow I look forward to them every single time I open the refrigerator to decide what I am going to cook up. This Sunday was no different. Dreary eyed and slightly hungover from the night before, I dragged myself out of bed to hydrate and fill up.

A couple of glasses of chilled water and a hot shower later, feeling pine fresh, I decided to warm myself up to an indulgent breakfast. I checked out the ingredients I had and found:

3 eggs
Leftover Spinach and Corn casserole
A Tomato
A glass of Bio-White Wine (I’ll get to this in a while)
Few Slices of Bread
An intact Tin of Cheddar

As I sat there wondering that I could easily scramble that egg, top it over toast and zap the casserole and make it a quick meal followed by a swig of alcohol to cure the hangover (they say the best cure for a hangover is … another one?). I thought to myself, I am not in some frat house after a drunken night of revelry. I am in my home, a fine Sunday morning, after a late night dinner and incoherent babble with too many whiskey sours followed by Bio-Wine and finally losing consciousness on my cozy bed. So I had decided to make my lunch a little more exotic.

I got down to making what I call ... Leftover's Omelet (random, but well, cant call it just Omelet)

I love omelets on any given day, preferably as a breakfast food and a definite addition to Sunday morning meals. This time with 3 eggs in hand and the leftover casserole. A combination of these two was inevitable.

The typical version we are used to is with onions and chillies  This one turned out exotic enough, with it being stuffed with spinach casserole and the tomato. The casserole I had whipped up the night before contained a simple mix of white sauce, sweet yellow corn and spinach baked to perfection with a layer of crusty browned cheese.

I usually make omelets the quick way by torpedoing the eggs in a large vessel with a hand blender, but if you want to have a fluffy omelet with all its random layers intact and the filling which stays “a filling” and not mixed up with the layers, then you have go to whip it the traditional way – with a wire whisk or a fork. So 3 eggs into the mixing bowl and whisking away to glory, I ensure the yellows and the whites are well incorporated with whisk created air. Add salt to taste and whisk a couple of times more.

Mash up a small bowl of the leftover casserole with a fork, chop the tomato and separate the seeds, add to the casserole.

Heat a non-stick omelet pan on low and drop a spoon of butter. Swirl the butter till it coats the surface of the pan, carefully pour the whisked egg mix and do not shake the pan. The egg will find its way to the edges and settle down. Do not worry if the mix looks watery, looks can be deceptive and this is exactly what it’s supposed to look like. (Thumb rule of the making omelets – no fluff in the beginning if you want it fluffy in the end).

Turn up the heat to medium and with a knife, run the edges of the pan with a scoop of butter till it melts generously into the sides of the omelet. Spread the filling of casserole and tomato on one side of the omelet, sprinkle cheese and pepper if you like followed by finely chopped chillies and lots of parsley.

Once you are done with the filling step you will notice the edges of the omelet browning, this is the cue to start your folding process.

Now folding and omelet is no mean feat, there are different kind of folds a person tosses up judging by the personality of the person

Impatient: Just tosses / flips the omelet and cooks it both sides and digs in

Irritable: Tries his level best to fold it as a perfect package, but ends up breaking it halfway through due to high heat and slow folding process, loses it and slaps it onto his plate the nicer side up and digs in.

Lazy: Folds it any which way possible, most of the time manages it, does not care and gives up, landing up with half side cooked and half undercooked. Eats it anyway thinking its good for his body as the gym instructor suggests you should include raw eggs in your daily intake.

All of the above: A perfect combination, because if you are attempting to do this the first time – this is exactly what you will feel while folding an omelet.  

Coming back to the folding process, easier said than done, you have got to notice the edges of the omelet, if you see them slightly browned immediately lift one side of the omelet (doesn’t matter which side, remember – it is round). The middle of the omelet should be partially liquid the bottom light yellow but slightly undercooked and the edges slightly browned. Fold an edge till it reaches the middle part of the omelet while keeping it pressed lightly with your spatula. Toss some butter on the exposed pan area, and tilt the pan towards the side you are folding. By this time the folded part should have stuck to the middle of the omelet. Remove the spatula and shove it underneath the side of omelet with the exposed part of the pan, with a swift flick fold it over till the opposite edge, keep it pressed and you are set with a perfectly folded omelet.

You can now relax, and toss it around as much as you would like it browned adding more butter if required. I like mine well done so I overdo the butter and browning process but you can ideally remove it after one toss in the pan. Served hot with hot buttered toast and chunks of cheddar.

Certain rules you should follow
*do not overstuff
*do not let it cook too much before folding
*don’t add water, milk and the other additions you hear about to make your omelet fluffier.
*the key is in the continuous whisking, low temperatures and correct timing.

You are wondering where the Bio-Wine features here, well since a perfectly good wine should not go waste and the fact that there was no orange juice in the house, a tangy, refreshing, chilled drink is a perfect accompaniment to an omelet dish.

I had opened up a bottle of this so called Bio-Wine gifted to me by close associates the night before. It is brewed in India under the brand name “Shara” and contains aloe Vera. Odd, but the chenin blanc version tastes super and is mildly sweet and smooth (ridiculously smooth due to the aloe) and the best part – its healthy.

Though I did not want to have any more concentrated alcohol and could really do with something lemony, decided to throw together a few ingredients for a Spritzer.

Spritzer’s are diluted cocktail versions of wine and we usually associate themselves with brunches. The next time you have a hoard of people over and not enough wine to go around, whip up this delicious cocktail to lure the senses and save the trouble of frantic wine ordering on the phone.

Ingredients:
1/4th glass of wine for every glass
Lemon Slices
Sugar Syrup (avoided if using extra sweet wine)
Mint Leaves
Lemon Fizz Drink or Soda

Pour the wine into a wine glass till 1/4th full. Add the lemon slices and chopped mint. Top with a handful of crushed ice followed by a little sugar syrup and soda/fizzy drink. Serve immediately.