Pasta with Peas and Potatoes

Since I've been at home, lunch is my department. The summer heat has been quite annoying. It brings with it lethargy and irritability. Definitely not the weather to be cooking hot rice and dhal (unless of course the kitchen was air conditioned). 

Pasta is usually a dinner thing at home, but today it would be on the lunch menu. 

I'm going to modify this recipe a bit from what I actually made that day. I have this problem of often making less sauce than required for the pasta we need. And this time too, I did just that. So it ended up being a bit on the dry side.

Finely chop up a medium sized onion and a few cloves of garlic and add to hot oil. Fry till onions are translucent. Then add 2 tbsps of rosemary (fresh is best). Potatoes and rosemary make an excellent flavour combination. Also add 1tsp each of dried oregano and sage, 2 tsps of salt and 1/4 tsp of ground pepper. 

Chop up 3 medium potatoes into roughly 1" cubes. I usually leave the skins on for more flavour and added bite, so make sure you scrub them really well so that you don't get any mud into the pasta. Add a tiny bit of water and then cover the pan to let the potatoes cook. Stir every few minutes. (If you have less time than I did, boil the potatoes first) When the potatoes are half done, add 1 cup of frozen peas. 

Once it's all cooked and fried well together, add 200 ml of cream, 200 ml of milk. (creme fraiche would have been ideal) Mix well, till it forms a smooth sauce. If you want it a bit more runny, add some of the brine from a bottle of olives (will give it some extra saltiness too). 

Last of all, mix together with boiled pasta and a very generous grating of Parmesan cheese. 

NOTE: 
1. If the cream you have is really runny, add 300 ml of cream and only 100ml of milk.
2. If there was pesto in the fridge, I would have added some, so if you have, add 1 tbsp. 
3. Add olive oil to the pasta immediately after draining the water out.

#100 - Painting, Portfolios and Summer Weather

This post marks a big milestone- the 100th post! 

I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to come up with an interesting enough post to mark this event, but sadly, had no such inspiration. 

My parents thought I should blog about my new job, but sadly I don't have one yet. Having sent out my job applications just a few days ago, I'm still waiting for replies. Oh, just in case any of you readers are architects and are recruiting, here are my portfolios- semester 1-9 and semester 10. :)

A couple of weeks ago, The Renegade Arts and Theatre Society put up a production of Paula Vogel's 'How I Learned to Drive'. It was great fun working on the production from stage design to actually painting the backdrop. It was a bit of a risk volunteering to paint 32 ' x 12' of canvas, considering my not-so-great talent of painting and the four days I had before show day. It finally took two of us, a LOT of paint, worn out rollers, a couple of bottles of turpentine, two and a half days to complete it. It looked better than I expected it to look on stage. I guess it was all worth it. 

After such a successful production, I decided to create a separate page for R.A.T.S on my blog. Check out here. And just in case you didn't notice- the blog also has a new header/background etc. :)

So, in celebration of #100, I've decided to share some of my favourite blog posts so far.

1. Most favourite food post:

Making pasta from scratch is much easier than most people think and mushroom and pasta combination is hard to beat. 

Mushroom Tortellini/Ravioli

2. Most favourite architecture post:

I never expected to find great architecture whilst camping. Merging perfectly with it's natural surroundings, Charles Benninger's campsite was rare treat.

Written in Stone

3. Most favourite place post: 

It's got to be Covent Garden. I've never been so fascinated with how much life one place can have. Food, music and everything else I enjoy.

Opera, Food Fairs and Chainsaw Jugglers

4. Most favourite trip post:

A recent bloggers trip to the Serai, Chikmagalur was quite extraordinary. Exquisite suites, private pools, delectable food, tractor rides through coffee estates and I got to meet some great ladies. 

Coffee Scrubs, Poolside Dinners and lots of Good Conversation

and to complete my list, 
5. My favrourite random post:

A bit hard to choose one more post to round up my favourites. Crossing off bucket list things bring so much satisfaction, that this post had to be here. That rush of adrenalin! I can still feel it.

Free Falling

Happy reading. 

Until the next post, I will brave the heat with lots of buttermilk, some swimming and constant mail-checking waiting for someone to hire me!

Adios. 

P.S Fudge Together now has it's own Facebook page- Go and 'like' for updates.

London Laureates

My escapades in London included many architecture walks. I had a long checklist and managed to cross off most of the list.

Out of the list, I can group some of the buildings under Pritzker winning Architects. For the non-architects among my readers, the Pritzker prize is the Pulitzer and Nobel equivalent for excellence in Architecture. 

Here goes...

Renzo Piano 1998 Laureate

Central St. Giles court designed along with Fletcher Priest Architects sits in the middle of Camden town. The lego colours are like sunrise and spring in contrast to the greys and browns of the surroundings on a the rainy day that I was there. Even the chairs in the courtyard matched. 

The Shard- Europe's tallest building is London's newest addition to it's skyline. The multi-purpose building has 11,000 panels of glass on it's facade covering 56,000 sq. m of surface area. London's most expensive apartment will be a penthouse on the 65th floor. *I want*

Notice the difference in weather. And no, the picture on the left is not desaturated- that's just how grey the skies were. 

Street Lights

While on my long vacation last year, I remember being quite fascinated with street lamps and managed to take pictures of a few. Only now did I realise that all the ones in Galle were actually the same design. I've made them into postcards.

Reminded me of a Haiku I wrote sometime ago.

Street Lights

Weathered and rusty
Or shiny metal finish
Many sorts I’ve seen

At day forgotten
At night, a guiding beacon
On street corners stand

With styles of eras
Cityscape accessory
The street lights still shine

Coffee Scrubs, Poolside Dinners and lots of Good Conversation

Women's day came with quite a surprise this year. Thanks to a few friends who read my blog, I was invited to spend two days at the beautiful Serai resorts in the coffee estates in Chikmagalur along with 8 other bloggers.

Although initially reluctant, the offer was quite tempting especially once I invited my aunt, a great cook who recently started her own blog.

Coffee and Introductions

The trip began at Coffee Day Square in Bangalore with introductions over breakfast. There was no holding back and the chatter grew louder as we boarded the vehicle. It was almost surprising that most were meeting each other for the first time. 

Villas, Hospitality and High Tea

Five hours later and we were welcomed with jasmine and cold coffee and escorted to our villas. Our own private pool, the beds that beckon you to fall into them and a bathtub by a bay window in a bathroom I could live in! I could get used to this. 

Reasons to Watch the Adverts

I listen to music while I work, but here I am writing blog posts about music. Distractions. Distractions! Sigh...

I don't watch a lot of TV. And the few times I actually decide to while away time watching TV, I end up flicking channels so much, that I probably watch more commercials than programmes. Yes, I'm one of those channel flickers!

Most commercials are easily classified into either 'absolutely ridiculous' or 'brilliant'. But I've found this other classification of 'Okay-ish decent ad, but superb soundtrack'. Sometimes when I need new music, I find them in adverts. 

I've picked out my top 8 (from what I can remember)

1. Nikon: Welcome Home, Radical Face 
Actually, I don't actually remember watching this on T.V. Probably on some website.

2. Sony Bravia: Heartbeats, Jose Gonzalez

They actually used 250,000 colourful bouncy balls on the streets of San Francisco. 

3. Airtel 3G: I Giorni, Ludivico Einaudi

Thank you Airtel for introducing me to the lovely pianist Einaudi.

Free Falling

This experience was definitely one of the most thrilling. I'm not someone who used to enjoy roller coasters. I've hated that feeling of my stomach in my throat or being upside down, but from the time I was small, I would somehow convince myself to just go on every ride. From screaming on the tora-tora at a fair in Vellore when I was 6, to keeping my eyes closed the entire Indiana Jones: the backwards roller coaster, and holding on so tightly that my hands got stuck on Space Mountain at Disneyland, my fears were slowly being conquered.

I think I've come a long way from that. I guess I have to thank my mother- a complete roller coaster freak who even braved the New York New York one in Las Vegas!

Anyway, so bungee jumping is one of the things on my bucket list. So what if the one I did was only 150 ft and off a crane and not off a bridge into a gorge or a skyscraper or something like that, it was still bungee jumping. 

Unable to convince anyone else except my brother to join me, we both prepared ourselves to 'just jump'. The travel across the city, the day hanging out in Phoenix and the pep talks to ourselves could only add to the excitement.

We watched a couple of people jump before us also to practice getting good shots. If we're only going to do this once, we'd better have good pictures. :)

Being at the top of the crane definitely seemed higher than how it looked from the ground. Quite a fab view! Unlike being on a roller coaster where you are harnessed and strapped down quite tightly, this was quite different; just my feet and a belt around my waist that I could barely feel. And before I could think of changing my mind, I dived off! The wind against my face, the ground racing towards me and just as I thought my head would smash into the face of the earth, I bounced back up-- that was the best part- going against gravity-- This is closest I've ever felt to flying. Quite superb. Just as I was thoroughly enjoying the whole thing, it was all over. :(

I will definitely do this again given the chance. Sky diving, base jumping, wing suit jumping are also on my list. :D

The smiles and adrenalin surge lasted the rest of the week!

Valentine Cookies

Hello again, 

Its been a while since I posted a recipe. Since Christmas, I haven't done much baking. Brownie Points is taking a break for a while because I am in the process of finding a job. Yes, I have finally decided that I've had enough of a break. I've already overshot my initial time table to finishing my portfolio. Oh well. It will all get done soon.

I'm not much of a romantic. According to my profile picture on Facebook (courtesy; Alicia Souza), I would happily devour my valentine! But here I am baking heart shaped cookies on Valentines day. I surprise myself sometimes.

One of my friends has a charity sale at work today, so I helped her baked some cookies for her to sell. We baked chocolate and vanilla hearts (and a few stars as well). This is the easiest recipe ever. If you aren't a baker and want to start, this is the recipe to start with.

Chocolate and Vanilla Hearts

(or stars or whatever shape cookie cutters you have)

This recipe is an adaption of one found in 'Cookshelf Baking' by Emma Patmore.

Combine 300g of butter with 250g of sugar, 1 egg and 1 tbsp of vanilla. Beat well with a wooden spoon till nice and smooth. Sift together 450g of plain flour, 1 tsp of baking soda. Add to butter mixture and mix with your hands to form a ball of cookie dough. Roll out to about 5mm thick. Dust flour on the surface, so that it doesn't stick. Cut out as many shapes as you can and then roll the extras out again and cut out more. I got about 40 from my batch. But that kind of depends on the size of your cookie cutters. Place onto a baking tray and bake in a preheated 170 degree oven for about 15 minutes. The cookies should be a little soft when you take them out. They will harden when you cool them.

For the chocolate batch. Put 300g of flour and 150g of cocoa powder. The rest of the measurements should be the same.

Once cooled, dust with icing sugar and eat them. If you're in a good mood, share with people.

Note:

1. If the dough is a bit sticky, add more flour. Even if it's a bit sticky, it's not going to roll easily.

2. Make sure you don't roll it out too thin. If the cookies are too thin, they stick to the baking tray and crack really easily. You will have lots of broken hearts. haha!

3. I powdered my own sugar, hence it's not that fine and doesn't melt fast (which usually happens with the humidity)

4. Store in an airtight container.

Sketch

One of my days galavanting around London, Joanna, Jason, Kim and I had lunch at Sketch. 

Located on Conduit Street just off Reagent Street in London's posh uptown, Mayfair (the most-wanted Monopoly property!), it is an 18th century neoclassical townhouse, which later housed the RIBA headquarters. 

Sketch includes two restaurants; The Gallery and the Lecture Room, two bars; The Glade and The East Bar, and an all-day cafe; The Parlour. French head chef Pierré Gagnaire, known for his three Michelin star restaurant in Paris has successfully earned Sketch two Michelin stars for his french nouvelle themed menu. The Lecture Room is a fine dining restaurant with a meal for two costing about 200 pounds! Crazy!

We ate at The Parlour Room- the little patisserie at the front end of the house. The decor was most unusual. An eclectic mix of 18th century antique with a 1970's twist. Mismatched banquet chairs and footstools, stag heads, metal sculptures, tasseled lamps, post modern art work and wallpaper that was different on every wall provided quite an bizarre, yet fascinating setting. I couldn't help but stare into every corner as my brain tried to assimilate this style. I felt a bit odd to take pictures of everything, so you'll have to rely on Google to get a full picture.

The design of the menu was equally interesting. I counted a total of 11 different fonts used. From 19th century calligraphy and it's contrasting sans-serifed type. It was illustrated with black and white sketches of classical household objects. 

The cuisine in The Parlour, although typically French and English cafe fare, is termed as comfort food. The prices weren't cheap. Thankfully we weren't too hungry and were satisfied with the gourmet portions too. Between us, we ordered a Leek Quiche, Macaroni gratinated with Emmenthal with a side of celeriac remoulade salad, warm pitta pocket with feta, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes, and Asparagus with Hervé This eggs, pecorino and rocket. It was a tasty array of food. The emmenthal flavour was delightful, but I wasn't as much a fan of the celeriac remoulade. The Pitta pocket was slightly ordinary, but still tasty. I always thought 'Herve This eggs' were just poached eggs. On further research, Hervé This is actually a food scientist who discovered that cooking eggs in 65 degrees produces the perfectly cooked egg with the whites coagulated but the yolk nice and runny. 

Dessert was the bigger hit. It was so hard to chose. I have this big phobia of menus. There are always too many options. The names of dishes and their accompanying description only makes the process harder. This was no different. I finally decided that I'd chose the most weird sounding dessert. I remember it having the most unappetising name out of the lot- 'Bob' but had an unusual combination of sweet and savoury flavours. Unfortunately it wasn't available.

This was our final order- Strawberry Hill: Sable biscuit, almond cream with kiwi compote, Greek yoghurt and lime mousse topped with strawberries and an edible yellow pansy. Chocolate Tartlet: Sweet pastry dough with Macae chocolate ganache and chocolate jelly, glazed with dark chocolate. 

Gateau Chocolat: Salted butter caramel, Manjari chocolate mousse, sacher sponge cake and hazelnut and an Exotic Pate a choux: Tangy pate a choux filled with vanilla mousse, caramel, passion fruit jelly and Tonka bean chantilly.

Flavours were quite grand. Many of the flavours were new. My conclusions:
1. Fancy types of chocolate do taste better. 
2. Tonka beans aren't much different to vanilla.
3. Edible flowers have no flavour. They are just pretty. 
4. Kiwi and Lime make an excellent combination!

Most Memorable Meals

This was a thread that started on Facebook a while ago and I've wanted to write a blog post about it since. Here goes. 

1. My birthday meal: The Sabbath before I was born, my Mum had made spaghetti and veggie meatballs and coleslaw. She went into labour that night and I was born early Sunday morning. That was my last meal through the umbilical chord. For as long as I can remember, we have this meal for my birthday, usually for Sabbath lunch the weekend before or after my birthday. It's one of my favourites. Garlic bread has since been added to the menu.

2. Unlimited Children's meal, Kodaikanal: When I was 7, we went on a family trip to Kodaikanal. The day we were heading back, we had lunch at a restaurant where I had the unlimited children's meal. I ate and ate and ate, cleared out every accompaniment. I remember asking for more ghee with the serving of rice. On the way down the curvy, winding roads, we had to stop many times as I emptied out my stomach in different installments. It was still worth it.

3. Haveli: On the way back to Delhi from Chandigarh during our college trip, we stopped at Haveli. This meal was absolutely grand. About 10 of us sat around this big table and we filled up on rotis, naans, paneer curry, pav bhaji, makki ki roti, sarson ka saag, lassi, jalebis and kulfi. Definitely one of the tastiest meals I've had.

4. Lazy Meals: When I was in 10th std, my parents often left my cousin and I alone at home for me to 'study'. We were usually too lazy to cook. I remember one night, we had a movie marathon and we ate chips and curd for dinner. It was grand.

5. Passage to India: I must have been about 10 when my Grandma took me out for lunch to one of the Indian restaurants in Ipswich. We ordered much more than was needed. I remember something like 4 curries between the 2 of us. I also remembered that we ate most of it. We left with full stomachs. So full, that I couldn't walk and had to sit on the side of the pavement and wait for the food to settle.

6. School and College lunches: This memory is quite clear in my head. 9th std classroom. During morning class, we'd open one of our lunches. Pass it under the desks, bend down and fill our mouths. During break, the second lunch would be eaten. During the second class, we'd finish one more. When actual lunch break came, we'd share in the potluck of other peoples lunches and finally, the  class after lunch was to finish the final one. My favourites were puliogere, idilis and onion chutney and chapattis and tomato and green chilis. This happened on most days. I remember only being caught twice for chewing in class.

Similar practices continued in College. Everyday was a different story. This was a general food memory than one specific meal. We covered so many restaurants, so many episodes of food fights. One that stands out was during a Building Construction exam, I brought pesto pasta for lunch. We passed it around and ended it up eating it with our fingers because I couldn't find the fork. I guess the green stains on the sheets were never questioned.

7. Caperberry: This is the best restaurant I've ever eaten in when it comes to gourmet food. It's been a truly brilliant gastronomical experience every time. Fancy spherification, dehydration and cryo frozen food all presented with such intricacy and beauty on the plate with perfect combination of flavours and textures.

8. Cook Outs: Having a gang of friends that enjoy both eating and cooking resulted in cook outs. We choose a cuisine, decide what each will be making, buy all necessary ingredients, spend a few hours in the kitchen cooking together, eat and then do the washing up together. Those have been some great evenings.

9. The No-Rule Day: My brother and I spent many summer holidays with my grandparents in Hosur. One of those times when I must have been about 6, my Papa decided that one day would be 'No-Rule' day. We could get up when we wanted, eat what ever we liked and do as we pleased. We made chocolate-chip cookies in the morning in our pyjamas and guess what we had for lunch?- Chocolate-chip cookies. I guess it was the thrill of getting to skip rice and dhal and make a meal out of cookies that was most exciting.

10. Picnics in the forest: When we lived in Ipswich, we lived close by to open fields and some wooded area. A few times, I remember having picnics in the forest. We'd pack the food and I can still picture the spot where we used log as our table and spread out the mat and ate. Don't remember what we ate, but it was the setting that was memorable.

11. Gatecrashed weddings: Twice we were starving on a Saturday night. We had empty pockets and felt like some adventure. One wedding we ate south indian food on banana leaves and the other we filled up on biriyani and brinjal curry. Even if the food was average, the excitement of celebrating some unknown wedding was more than just memorable.

12. Home food: How can I not end my list with home food. The kitchen is the centre of my house, and when it comes to family reunions, a big part of it is spent in cooking and eating. Whether it be my Mum's homemade pizzas, pies, aloo parathas or waffle dinners, my uncle Steven's famous spaghetti and tiramisu, my grandma's gluten 65, or huge potlucks with huge varieties of food and dessert, home food will always by my favourite!

I struggled to restrict this list to 12. I think I got the most important ones covered. :)