Rocket Leaves (Arugula) Pesto

Last month, I made my first trip to the famed INA market. I must say, it was embarrassing for me to state that being a foodie I had never visited the INA market ever in my life. I mean, the place is supposed to be a mecca for foodies to get their ingredients and in numerous conversations with other foodies, I have been told to go to the place for my wishlist. So, a weekend trip to the Dilli Haat resulted in me getting the opportunity to visit the market and it was such a big let down. I am sure, this last statement must have upset a few fans of the market, but believe me there was nothing out of the blue that I got there. The condiments available there are available at every grocery store these days.The vegetables and fruits with the vendors lacked in variety. The weekly mandi every Thursday close to my house has a better variety and I get my hands on some excellent stuff. Still, having been there, I decided to get something, atleast a reminder of my visit and that is when we picked up rocket leaves. Fresh from the basil pesto experience, my better half wanted me to make her rocket leaf pesto and I could not turn down this request. So rocket leaves in my shopping bag, we were back to try out the rocket leaves pesto.

As with basil, rocket leaves pesto is easy to make and use later. The peppery and nutty taste of Rocket leaves (Arugula) really lifts up the pesto and rather than making it an alternative to basil pesto really gets you hooked just like it did in our household. 

Rocket Leaves Pesto

Ingredients:
Rocket Leaves - A large bunch
Garlic Cloves, peeled - 3
Walnuts - 50 gms
Parmesan cheese, grated - 50 gm
Pecorino, grated - 50 gm
Olive Oil - 150 ml
Sea Salt

Method:
1. Sort the rocket leaves to discard thicker stalks and unwanted leaves.
2. Add the walnuts, garlic cloves and cheese in a mortar and pound for a few minutes.
3. Add in the rocket leaves and pound again with the pestle for a few minutes.
4. Add in the olive oil and sea salt. Pound with the pestle till a homogeneous mixture is formed.
5. Add more olive oil if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Note: Incase using a processor. blitz all the ingredients to form a mixture. Keep adding olive oil as you process. Do not process for long for risk of having the blades of the processor discoloring the leaves.

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Pesto Genovese

Its been a very long time since I posted on this blog and finally today I found the time to do so. I can tell you for one thing that it wasn't laziness and gastronomically speaking the time gone by has been my most active period when it comes to food and beverages. Even apart from food & beverages this has to be the most active time, period. After 16 long years in the corporate rat race, I decided to take a break and follow my dreams, mind you dreams, not just one dream and even though I thought I will take a nice month off and then get into the grind, it was not to be. Since then I have been working on various projects, two of which are starting a concept restaurant and consulting on a adventure resort for a close friend. There were several meetings with people, both for business and pleasure, and many meals in restaurants.

Infact it was on one such meeting at a friends residence that he showed me the basil that had grown on his farm and how he intended to make Pesto that day. Post making some pesto with him, I carried a pack of Basil leaves home with me to make some of my own. My better half loves Pesto and since she is extremely busy with her business, this being the peak season, this would have been a nice surprise. Though, various versions of Pesto exist, some that involve walnuts, sun dried tomatoes and believe me eggplants, the classic basil pesto has always had a special place in my heart (and stomach). A short detour to the grocery store fr some ingredients, and I was all set to make my own Pesto. 

Now there are few things that I always follow while making Pesto, and that because I'm a purist and like to do things the hard way. Believe me the result shows in the taste. For starters, I always blanch the basil leaves. Blanching the basil leaves gives the pesto a nice bright color and not too forget it reduces the natural bitterness that basil imparts to the pesto (And this is because I do not find young small basil leaves in India).Secondly, everyone that I have seen uses the food processor these days. I prefer using the good old mortar and pestle. It takes long that way, but somehow I love the pesto more. If you want more information on Pesto, its origins and variations wikipedia has a nice post on it.

Pesto Genovese

Ingredients:

Basil leaves, blanched in boiling water for 20 seconds and shocked in ice cold water - 3 Cups

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1/2 Cup

Parmesan, finely grated - 1/3 Cup

Pecorino, finely grated - 2 Tblsp

Pine Nuts - 1/4 Cup

Garlic, finely chopped - 2 Cloves

Sea Salt - To Taste

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients, except the seal salt and half the olive oil in the mortar and pound them to a smooth paste. Continue adding the olive oil during the pounding.

2. Season with sea salt. 

Serving suggestions - You can add it to Pasta, Minestrone, and potatoes while cooking. I love taking a nicely toasted bread slice and spreading pesto on it and adding some shredded chicken or assorted vegetables. 

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Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

Fried eggplant slices coated with tomato sauce, layered with cheese and baked in oven. This is the simplest description of this exotic sounding dish. Yet this simple sounding dish can be such a challenge to make. The thickness of the slice, with skin or without skin, the kind of batter to use, to coat with breadcrumbs or not, the tomato sauce and the type of cheese can all play a very important role in not only how it comes out but how it tastes also.
Eggplant parmesan is a southern Italian dish and there are many versions to the origin of the name. Though many believe that the origin of the dish is due to the use of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, there are still a handful that believe that the name Parmigiana is a corruption of the word Parmiciana, a word from the Sicilian dialect, which refers to slats of wood in a shutter. The dish is so named after the slats, because the eggplant slices overlap each other just like the wooden slats in a shutter.
Irrespective of the controversy, it is a very popular dish the world over with different variations of the same existing, some even involving chicken and veal.
The variation I try does not use breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs made the dish very heavy and I prefer to use a lighter tempura like batter instead.

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:
Eggplant, big, cut into thin slices- 1
Mozzarella, sliced - 5-6 slices
Parmesan, grated - 1/2 Cup
Salt
Oil - For deep frying

For the batter:
Egg -1
Flour - 1 Cup
Milk - 1/4 Cup
Water - 3/4 Cup
Baking Soda - a Pinch

For tomato sauce:
Olive Oil
Tomatoes, concassed - 1 Kg
Garlic cloves, finely chopped
Onion, finely chopped - 1
Basil - 1 tsp
Black pepper, freshly ground - 2 Tsp
Salt - To Taste

Method:
1. Sprinkle salt on the eggplant slices and let them rest covered, so that they lose moisture and the bitterness. Leave aside.

2. To Make Tomato Sauce: Heat olive oil in a wok. Add in the onions and saute till they start to turn golden.
3. Add in the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
4. Add the concassed tomatoes and 1 cup of water.
5. Cook till the sauce starts to turn thick.
6. Add the salt, black pepper powder and basil.
7. Cook for another minute. Take it off flame.

8. To Make Batter: Combine all ingredients for batter.
9. Whisk well till a thick batter forms.
10. Chill for 10-15 minutes.

11. Heat oil in a big wok.
12. Dip the eggplant slices in the batter and deep fry till done.
13. Remove and drain excess oil. Keep aside.
14. Take a baking dish and lightly oil it .
15. Spread a layer of the tomato sauce. Now dip each batter fried eggplant slice in the tomato sauce and add to the baking dish. Make a layer of eggplant slices.
16. Layer with some more tomato sauce and sprinkle the parmesan cheese.
17. Repeat this 3 more times.
18. Add the remaining tomato sauce on top and layer the mozzarella cheese.
19. Bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.
20. Cut into slices and serve hot.

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Pollo alla Cacciatore

A few weeks back, I had a colleague of mine over from Europe. Since she belongs to Italy, we got into a discussion on Italian cuisine and wine in particular. I guess, it stayed with till over the weekend and come Sunday, I was busy trying to recreate some Italian dishes that have always been my favorites.
Pollo alla Cacciatore, was first made by me when I was in the culinary institute. The term comes from the Italian term, Pollo meaning chicken and cacciatore meaning hunter. In culinary terms alla cacciatore means prepared in the hunter style, using tomatoes, herbs, mushrooms, onions and yes! wine. The choice of wine can be tricky with red wine being used in Southern parts and white wine being preferred in the Northern parts of Italy. This is a very popular dish and like many popular dishes each region has its own variation to this dish. It even has a cousin in France which is called Poulet Saute Chasseur.

Pollo alla Cacciatore

Ingredients:
Chicken, cut into large pieces - 1 kg
Onion, finely chopped - 1
Garlic, crushed - 3 cloves
Bacon, preferably Pancetta, finely chopped - 150 gm
Mushrooms, thickly sliced - 125 gm
Red Wine - 1/3 Cup
Tomatoes, chopped - 800 gm
Brown Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Oregano - 1 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Bay Leaf - 1
Black Pepper - 2 tsp
Salt - To Taste
Olive Oil - 6 tblsp

Method:
1. Heat 3 tblsp oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic. Cook till onion turns golden brown. Add the bacon followed by the mushrooms. Cook for 5 more minutes. Transfer to another bowl.
2. Add the remaining 3 tblsp olive oil to the same pan and heat. Add the chicken pieces.
3. Cook till chicken starts to brown. Add the salt and black pepper powder.
4. Add the red wine and cook till the wine has almost evaporated.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, thyme, oregano and bay leaf.
6. Add in 1/3 cup water and mix well. Cook till the mixture comes to a boil.
7. Add in the mushroom mixture that we had cooked earlier. Mix well.
8. Lower the flame and cook for 20-25 minutes on low flame stirring from time to time or till chicken in done and excess liquid has evaporated.
9. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Next Time : Eggplant Parmesan

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A Cuppa Zuppa

My parents are crazy over soups. It's not uncommon to walk in at 7:30-8 in the evening and see them having soup and offering you a generous helping of one. I have never taken a liking for soups but love making them.

This week in Minneapolis the weather at the beginning was not too great ..it was fairly windy and chilly...in short the perfect time to make soup. The ingredients required were not too many and I quickly picked up the ones needed to stir up some good Italian style tomato soup. Staying in a suite with kitchen has its advantages and I make it a point during my visits to book myself in one. That way I can eat out when I want to and cook in when I feel like.
Please do not read too much into the photographs. I haven't carried my camera along and these are all courtesy my phone camera. I also take the liberty to attach a few photographs of what I clicked roaming around the downtown area, and it's not too much ...since it's only a office and back to Hotel routine. Maybe I'll explore the city more this weekend and cook up some more delicacies to post. Till then, Bon Apetit or in this case Buon Appetito (In Italian) !!!

Zuppa Di Pomodoro

Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes, roughly Cut - 6
Onions, chopped fine - 2
Garlic cloves, crushed - 4
Chicken Stock - 1 Cup (Optional)
Basil leaves, chopped - 3 Tblsp
Thyme Sprigs - 2 Tblsp(Some people use Parsley instead)
Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 Tsp
Black Pepper, freshly ground - 3 Tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Salt - To taste
Sugar - 1 Tsp
Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the bayleaf. Fry for a minute.
2. Add in the onions and garlic. Cook till they turn translucent and starting to turn slight golden.
3. Add in the tomatoes, salt, sugar, basil and thyme. Stir.
4. Bring this to a boil. Let the tomatoes cook fully and start to disintegrate.
5. Take the pot off the flame and allow to cool a little.
6. Put the soup in a blender and puree. ( I prefer passing this mixture through a sieve first, to remove seeds and skin).
7. Put the pureed soup back on the flame.
8. Add in the chicken stock. ( Vegetarians can exclude this step).
9. Add in the Black pepper and cayenne pepper. Add in the remaining basil just before taking off flame (2 mins).
10. Serve hot.

Note: You can garnish the soup with some sprinkled grated cheese on top and croutons.

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Heart Shaped Cheese Mushroom Ravioli in Herbed Tomato Sauce

There are weekends and then there are weekends. Of late, the day after I arrived from my Chennai trip, I was told that I would be moving to handle a new business for the organisation. Though it was something I had handled before in the company, the only difference this time being that it was not looking too good and almost everybody was looking at its numbers on a daily basis (read CEO's ). That day was the beginning of the end ...atleast for my spare time. Numerous crazy, 18 hour days followed, days turned into weeks and finally a month. With some sanity coming back to things, I decided to take an extended break...a luxurious 3 day off. I spent the time catching on some much sought sleep :), a lot of golf and quality time with the family. One of the main events of this quality time was the "cook a meal for your wife" day.
After a long time, I finally decided to don the chef cap and cook some exotic fare. It wasn't an elaborate meal, a just right trio of main course, the accompaniment and a 'to-die-for' dessert to round things off.
The menu for the evening was,

Heart Shaped Cheese Mushroom Ravioli in Herbed Tomato Sauce
Mint Potatoes
Strawberry Cheesecake with Strawberry Coulis

Could have tossed in some garlic bread but then that would have meant to sacrifice a round of golf :)

To start with Ravioli is a stuffed pasta whose name is derived from the verb ravvolgere (meaning 'to wrap').

Heart Shaped Cheese Mushroom Ravioli in Herbed Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Pasta:
Refined Flour - 1 Cup
Egg - 1
Salt - a Pinch
Water - To knead into a dough

For the Filling:
Garlic, minced - 4-5 cloves
Onions,finely chopped - 2
Mushrooms, finely chopped - 5-6
Cheese - 10 gm
Olives - 5-6
Black Pepper- 2 tsp
Chilli Flakes - 2 tsp
Salt - To Taste
Olive Oil - 2 Tsp

For the Sauce:
Tomato, concasse - 5-6 No.s
Tomato Paste - 1/2 Cup
Onion, finely chopped - 1 Cup
Garlic, minced - 6 cloves
Basil - 1 Tblsp
Thyme - 1/4 Tsp
Oregano - 1 Tsp
Tarragon - 1/2 Tsp
Black Pepper - 1 Tblsp
Parmesan Cheese, grated - 1/2 cup
Salt - To Taste
Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp

Method:

Make the pasta dough:
1. Combine the ingredients.
2. Knead until a firm & smooth dough forms.
3. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour.

Make the ravioli filling
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. 2. Add Onions & garlic. Saute till onions turn translucent.
3. Add in the mushrooms and cook till they are done.
4. Add in the grated cheese, olives, chilli flakes, black pepper and salt.
5. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes. The filling is ready

Make the sauce:
1. Heat Olive Oil in a non-stick skillet.
2. Add Onions, garlic, thyme, basil, tarragon & oregano.
3. Cook till onions turn tender. (5 minutes)
4. Add tomatoes & tomato paste. Bring to a boil.
5. Add in water, black pepper, salt & grated cheese. Simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes.

Make the ravioli
1. Roll the dough into thin sheets.
2. Arrange tablespoon-size dollops of the filling 1 1/2" apart on one of the sheets.
3. Brush a little egg white around each dollop, then place another sheet directly on top.
4. Gently press around the filling to remove any air pockets and seal the sheets.
5. Using a cutter or a knife, cut out ravioli squares or shapes that you want. ( I used a heart shaped cookie cutter)
6. Sprinkle with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.

Cooking the ravioli
1. Boil water with salt and a few drops of oil added to it.
2. Cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water until they float to the top, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Take out and Drain well.
4. Toss with the tomato sauce.
5. Garnish sprinkled with some fresh parsley. Serve.

Note :
1. The tomato sauce is the basic way to make it. I ended up using the short cut by using Prego. You can do the same by using either Prego or Ragu.
2. Another thing that I tried out was using cream cheese in the filling.

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