Ratatouille - Mission Toscano

I am crazy about movies.....I can watch an entire movie just for one particular scene I love....for example....Gladiator...I can watch the movie for that one single dialogue that I am just crazy about...the part where Ruselle Crowe turns around and faces the king and says "My name  is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. and I will have my vegeance , in this life or the next".....That is one hell of a dialogue....well similarly....I can watch the movie 'Ratatouille' for that one single scene where Remy the rat makes ratatouille for the infamous brutal critic Anton Ego.....just one bite and he is taken back to his childhood....to the kitchen where his mother makes ratatouille for him.

I have never thought of making ratatouille until I went for the French cuisine demo at Toscano....everyone has their own version of Ratatouille.....in Toscano they showed us the pan roasted method...I was not for it coz whenever I close my eyes and think of ratatouille all I can see is Remy the rat layering those delicate slices of zucchini, yellow squash and aubergines on a bed of fresh tomato puree....and I knew my Ratatouille should look something like that.

This dish is nothing fancy...very simple comfort food.....a good accompaniment with pasta.

Ingredients
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• 1/2 Zucchini
• 1/2 Yellow Squash
• 2 small Aubergines
• 1/2 Red pepper 
• 5 to 6 fresh Basil Leaves
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/2 Onion,chopped
• 3 to 4 cloves Garlic, crushed
• Salt to taste
• freshly ground Pepper to taste

For tomato puree

• 4 medium size Tomatoes
• 3 cups water

Method

1. Make tomato puree - -Boil 3 cups of water, while the water is coming to boil, make a small 'X' on the tomatoes. Drop all the tomatoes into boiling water for few seconds(blanching). Remove from hot water as soon as the skin around the 'X' curls up or loosens. Dip the hot tomatoes into cold water to stop the tomatoes from cooking further. Peel the skin of all the tomatoes and keep aside.You can remove the seed and pulp, but I used the whole tomatoes to make puree.Keep this aside.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degree C.
3. Slightly grease a round or oval oven safe dish, pour the freshly prepared tomato puree into it,add in the chopped onion,basil leaves and crushed garlic.Season well with salt and pepper,add 1 tbsp olive oil and mix.
4. Thinly slice the zucchini,yellow squash,aubergines and red pepper.
5. Place one layer of red pepper on the tomato puree(you can layer it along with other veggies,but I preferred this method)
6. Now lay the zucchini,yellow squash and aubergines on the red peppers in a circle.
7. Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil on top of the veggies,sprinkle some salt and pepper.Cover with butter paper (as shown below)
8. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
9. Serve hot with pasta or cous cous.

Gratin Potato - Mission Toscano

Toscano is one of my favorite restaurants in Bangalore and I did not want to miss the cooking demo they had last week on French cuisine and who would miss the amazing three course meal....for a price of course...it was a nice experience ...got to learn a lot and also met few nice people out there.

I got to learn 4 dishes and I will try to create it in my kitchen and it is going to be called 'Mission Toscano'......yeah I have a thing for silly names....how else do you think I ended up with 'Cherie's STOLEN recipes".........hopefully I will get to take part in the next months demo too.....I can add more recipes to the 'Mission Toscano' list

Gratin potato is a very simple accompaniment with pastas and steaks......I think, I am more of a 'mashed potato' person.

Ingredients
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• 5 large Potatoes
• 200ml Milk
• 200ml Cream
• 1 medium Onion ,chopped
• 1tbsp chopped or crushed Garlic
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 100grams Mozzarella , grated
• 100grams Cheddar, grated
• 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
• 4 to5 tbsp Butter

Method
1.Prepare cream: Place a saucepan on medium flame, add 1 tbsp butter ,when butter melts add chopped onion and garlic and fry for few minutes,till onion is translucent.Now add milk,cream,salt and pepper.Throw in rosemary sprigs and bring to a boil.Keep this aside.Let the cream be little salty,the potato will absorb it.
2.Remove the skin of the potatoes (do not soak in water-aim is to retain as much starch as possible in the potatoes.it is the starch that is going to hold the gratin together).Cut potatoes to thin slices-I used a mandolin to get super thin slice, you can test your knife skills.
3.Blanch the potatoes -Throw the sliced potatoes into a pot of salted boiling water and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes (more time if the potato slices are thick),drain the water.
4.Now assemble the gratin- butter an 8 inch baking pan, get set for layering ,put one layer of cream,arrange the blanched potato slices on top of cream, now another layer of cream,sprinkle some salt and pepper,apply tablespoon of butter and spread around, sprinkle some grated cheese on top now potato layer and cream again butter, repeat layers.I got up to 5 layers.
5.Let the last layer be the cream.top with the rosemary sprig and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.Remove sprinkle grated cheese and bake again for 10 more minutes till the top browns slightly.

Yellow butter cake with Chocolate butter cream icing - Happy birthday Dad

                                   Again......planned to write 1000 words....but this is all I could come up with...

Dad you are my hero........Happy Birthday

Recipe Source:Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
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For Cake

• 480grams Cake Flour (4 cups + 2 tbsp)
• 2tsp Baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 225grams unsalted butter (softened)
• 400grams Sugar (2 cups)
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 4 large Eggs (room temperature)
• 2 cups Butter milk

For Butter cream icing

• 225grams unsalted Butter (softened)
• 188grams Icing sugar
• 1 1/2 cup Dark Chocolate (melted and cooled slightly)

Method

1. Make cake flour : Once you measure plain flour remove 8 tbsp  and replace with 8 tbsp Cornflour. Sift 3 times.Cake flour is ready.
2. Buttermilk substitute : add 2 tbsp vinegar to 2 cups of milk,let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes,use this for cake batter.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degree C.Line two 9 inch baking pan with baking paper and grease the sides.Set this aside.
4. Sift all the dry ingredients cake flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside.
5. In a large(when I say large I mean really large,coz you are gonna have crazy batter)bowl beat butter and sugar till light,fluffy and pale, add vanilla extract and mix, now add one egg at and time and beat after each addition and keep scraping down the sides.Beat on low speed and add in the buttermilk,add this point the batter will look curdles.
6. Add in the dry ingredients in three batches, beating after each addition till all the dry ingredients are well incorporated and you are left with a smooth batter.
7. Divide the batter equally among the greased cake pan.
8. Pop it in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted it comes out clean.
9. Cool the cake in the pan for 10minutes and transfer onto a wire rack and cool completely for one hour.
10. Meanwhile prepare the butter cream icing, in a bowl beat butter and sugar till light,fluffy and pale,add in the melted chocolate and beat till well combines and smooth.
11. Assemble the cake, place one cake on a cake tray or plate ,top with 1/4th of the butter cream icing and spread with a spatula evenly.Place the second cake on top and spread the remaining frosting on the cake.

Cherry Clafoutis

Anyone who watches Masterchef would have come across this dish,I have seen quite a few contestants creating Cherry Clafoutis.....recent one being Fillipo and I remember the judges saying that it tasted like sweet cherry omelette.....well that is exactly what I ended up with in my first attempt of making Cherry Clafoutis....I did not enjoy it and was wondering whats so great about this dish with a fancy French name and I was also very glad that I was smart enough to have halved the recipe....I was so surprised that my granny enjoyed it...in fact she was asking if there was more...then I thought....maybe its just my palette that is so used to having chocolate....and maybe this dish failed to hit the right chord for me....so I decided to give it a try again...this time I made few changes ....increased the level of sweetness and baked for lesser time(coz I definitely did not want to end up with cherry omlette).....my mom,dad,daughter, granny and my maid enjoyed Cherry Clafoutis......but I did not ........damn those chocolates. 

So I think maybe its just me....coz Cherry Clafoutis is famous French breakfast dish...so Iam assuming there must be something really unique about it....but its just not for me I guess.....maybe it is for you...you like it ...great......if you don't .....please do not grill me :)

Recipe source:Joy of baking
Ingredients
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for batter

• 1/2 cup All purpose flour (65grams)
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 large Eggs
• 5 tbsp Sugar 
• 3/4 ml Milk (180ml)
• 1 tbsp Melted butter
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

For Cherries

• 350gram Fresh cherries ,pitted
• 1 tbsp unsalted Butter
• 2 tbsp Sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 210 degree C.Keep a 9 inch oven proof dish or in my case 4 ramekins ready.
2. In a food processor (or use electric beater or hand whisk) add flour,eggs,salt,sugar,milk,butter and vanilla extract.Process for a minute till you get a smooth batter.Let it rest for few minutes while you prepare the cherries.
3. In a saucepan melt butter, add cherries to the bubbling butter and cook till the cherries have softened and are coated with butter.Now sprinkle sugar and cook till sugar dissolves and turns into syrup.Pour the cherries into the baking dish or ramekins.Pour the prepared batter over the cherries.Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until just set and the clafoutis is puffed.( my clafoutis took 14 minutes to bake completely)
4. Do not open the door until the end of baking time there are chances the clafoutis will collapse.
5. Dust some icing sugar on top and serve immediately.

Pots de Creme au Chocolat - Baked Chocolate Custard

Have you ever fallen in love........with a dish.......when I say love I do not mean....'feeling weak in the knees' love......or having an 'organism' love...neither 'getting turned on' love.......nor 'sinful love'......I am talking about just 'Pure Love'.......from the heart love.......coz believe me this is that dish......LOVE.

I know I am in love with a dish ....when ...'ME'...known for my laziness.....actually gets up middle of the night,walks down two floors...in pitch darkness...into the kitchen.....all the while praying that there is no ghost following me....open my refrigerator....just to steal a bite.....yes.....that is when I know I am in LOVE....from the heart PURE LOVE. 

Creme au Chocolat is like heaven for a dessert lovers and perfect for couples in love......or maybe for my sisters and me who are in love with chocolate.There is no way anyone can hate this dessert......spread some LOVE.....make some Creme au Chocolat.....oooooo...I can dance 

Recipe Source - William - Sonoma

Ingredients

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• 1 cup Cream
• 85 to 90 grams good quality Dark Chocolate (40% Cocoa)
• 3 Egg yolks (room temperature)
• 2tbsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1tbsp Rum (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree C. Keep ready a pot of boiling water and baking pan big enough to accommodate 4 normal size ramekins for water bath.
2. Place the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips in a bowl.
3. Meanwhile heat cream in a small saucepan over low heat.Once small bubbles start forming in the sides ,take off the heat (do not boil the cream) and pour the cream on the chocolate and let it stand for a minute till the chocolate melts.Mix well and set aside to cool down slightly.
4. In another bowl beat egg yolks and sugar using a hand held electric beater till it turns pale yellow,light and thick and should fall from the whisk like lazy ribbons, slowly add in the warm chocolate and cream mixture into the egg mixture(Yo need to be careful here,make sure the chocolate cream mixture is warm or you might end up with scrambled eggs-not a pretty sight) ,add vanilla extract and rum and mix well till well combined.
5. Place the 4 ramekins in the baking pan and equally divide the chocolate egg mixture among the ramekins.Now pour at least an inch deep of boiling water into the baking pan.
6. Cover the ramekins with aluminium foil and carefully transfer into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes(mine took 18 minutes to bake to perfection)
7. Remove from the oven and let cool,transfer to refrigerator to let it set for at least 4 hours.
8. You can have it with strawberries or raspberries or in my case I made cute heart shaped white chocolate....even better ....just dig in...

Cookies for Kooky - Happy belated Birthday

We cousins are a crazy bunch.....if one zones out....the other one just loves to dance and eat ........one loves to cook and eat.........and our cousin Kooky is one of a kind......apart from her unique feature....her big beautiful ears she is also known to go mad after 11pm and is just crazy about chocolates....what better way to celebrate her birthday by sending her virtual 'Totally Chocolate - Chocolate chip cookies'........and the best part .....'Cookies for Kooky' sounds cool :).....Wish you a very Happy Birthday Kooks....I have wonderful memories with you.....I love your after 11 madness....throwing your leg up in the air and singing ....Yeh jho mohabbat hai.......you are special.........waiting to see you soon.

This post was long due....Neetu, Devs and me wanted to make these cookies for Kooks for long time...Well here it is


"Kooksu.....
My chaddi buddy....only cousin who tolerated me as a child....as described by my sister....Kooksu is our MAD CRAZY ONE....this one may look all quiet and docile from the outside.....but do not go by her looks...she is a mad wild  cat!!!!!(Literally.....she uses her long sharp nails to scratch your eyes out)....So here is a little dedication to our Chocoholic Kooksu ....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!....hope you have a great year ahead"
Love Devs

        

"Kooky Akka
Growing up I always knew that Kooky Akka,most of the time,was in her own little world! Little did I know that I would one day end up to be a zoner out like her! Sounds shady but I mean zoning out in the most innocent way! People think we are big thinkers but honestly we are probably just wondering if we can sleep standing up! Happy birthday Kooky akkaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! I hope you had an amzing birthday and have an awesome year ahead....Keep zoning out :) "
Love Neetu

Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
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• 125 g Dark Chocolate
• 150g All purpose flour (Maida)
• 30g Cocoa
• 1tsp Soda bi carbonate
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125g Butter, softened
• 75g Light brown sugar
• 50g White Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 Cold Egg
• 200g Semi Sweet Chocolate chips(we mixed white chocolate chips and semi sweet chocolate chips)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degree C.Line baking sheet with parchment paper.Set aside.
2. Melt 125g dark chocolate over double boiler or in a microwave.
3. Sift flour,soda bi carbonate, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
4. In another bowl cream butter,brown sugar and white sugar till light,smooth and fluffy.
5. Add melted chocolate and mix together.
6. Now add vanilla extract and cold egg and beat till well combine.
7. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. 
8. Add the chocolate chip and stir.
9. Using an ice cream scoop,scoop out the cookie dough and place on the prepared baking sheet 6 cms apart,don't flatten the dough.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes,test by inserting a toothpick and it should come out semi clean and not wet batter.
11. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring on to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Store in cookie jar or air tight container.