Recipes From My Kitchen

I realized pasta's are the easiest one pot meals. If you have the sauce ready its just a matter of few minutes to dish up something hot and spicy, especially on cold winter evenings. I have a few packets of different kinds of pasta's stocked up in my pantry. I tried Basil Pesto Pasta earlier and it was too good! Italian cooking uses a lot of fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil. All these really make a difference to the dish. It does take a while for the Indian palate to adapt to this cuisine. What is most important is cooking the pasta well. When you drop pasta into a pot of boiling water, the starch granules on the surface of the pasta instantly swell up to their maximum volume and then pop. The starch rushes out and, for a brief time, the pasta's surface is sticky with this exuded starch. Eventually, most of this surface starch dissolves in the water and washes away, and the pasta surface becomes a soft solid. Here are some tips to keep in mind while cooking pa...

There are some people who enter your life like gems. These are the real diamonds. They have no ulterior motives, no inferiority complex, no superiority complex, no need to prove that they are better than you, or seek to have more than you. They don’t feel entitled and aren’t needy or dependent. They are not superficial or fake. They remind you of God and they understand you, when no other person does. They don’t wear a mask with you or pretend to be perfect. They are just real with you and honestly and sincerely only want good for you. You feel you can tell them anything without worrying that they will judge you or put you down for being imperfect. They know your flaws, but love you anyway. And they are loyal. You know they’ll be there for you. They'll always have your back. And best of all, time and distance doesn’t change this. Just back from an amazing trip to Nagpur, my hometown. Had been for a school reunion. We were meeting each other after 20 years. Many friends couldn...

If you have the pesto ready, this is a dish you can dish out in under 15 mins. Trust me. Ok even with the pesto, it took me about 25 mins. I am super fast! Have been wanting to try out pasta dishes since I attended the Master Class .  Pesto can be stored for upto 1 week. Add olive oil on top of the pesto to make it into a covering and store in the refrigerator. This is the best dish you can cook up within minutes on a cold winter afternoon. Its a great snack and lunch box idea too. Ingredients For Basil Pesto: 100 gms Italian Basil , 1/2 cup pinenuts , 1/4 cup garlic pods , 1/4 cup olive oil , 2 tbsp grated parmesan, Salt as per taste Method: Wash and clean the basil leaves and allow it to completely dry.  Put all the ingredients into a blender and churn it into a fine paste. Adjust salt as required. If you want to store the pesto, just cover it with enough olive oil and keep it refrigerated for upto 1 week. Ingredients For Pasta: 2 cups pa...

A few weeks back I blogged about the Master Class announcement . Held on December 7th with a total of 14 participants, this workshop was full of information and surprises. The concepts of Italian cooking were demystified by Chefs. We learnt the concepts of the right way of boiling the pasta to how much sauce should be added to coat the pasta well. A total of 8 recipes were recreated right in front of us. The tips and tricks shared during the workshop was very very useful. All the dishes prepared by the chefs were served for us to taste and discuss further on how to add variations to the dish. Chef's Shahbaaz and Chef Arun were very helpful and gave us a lot of information about the cultural heritage of Italy as well.  Overall a wonderful learning session, this is a must attend workshop for all who wish to get to know the basics of Italian cooking.  Stay tuned for the next workshop!!! Its coming soon!!!

As you know my friend & I decided to do a Soups & Salads Event in the month of November. Here is a quick recap of what we could cook and blog inspite of our hectic schedules. I know its not much, but the spirit is in trying to achieve a goal. This post also consolidates all the soups and salads we have blogged so far in our respective blogs. Thought this would be a nice way to consolidate everything in one place. Here we go... Soups:                           Salads:                                                                      Oils & Dressings:       Click...