BESIDES BBQ

A bar-be-que is a lot of fun when enjoyed with friends and family in the pleasant outdoors. When it comes to a BBQ, first, we always think of what protein and vegetarian mains to marinate and grill. The starch and the vegetables are not given equal importance. Just a little bit of time spent on planning the side dishes can make your BBQ a complete and satisfying meal for all.

I have always felt that a rice or a pasta or a cous cous dish is a must at a BBQ. This dish can act as the main starch for the meal. Brown or wild rice salad, pasta salad or a mildly flavoured cous cous are interesting options.

COUS COUS WITH TUNA AND SPRING ONIONS

Potatoes in any form is well appreciated in a BBQ. One of the easier options would be to par cook the potatoes and then wrap them in foil and throw them among the coals to finish the cooking. These potatoes can later be split into two and served with an interesting topping like a blue cheese dressing, mustard and walnut butter or cream cheese and pesto. The other option is to make a potato salad. It can be a cold and creamy one or the traditional warm German potato salad.

POTATO SALAD WITH GRAINY MUSTARD, SMOKED HAM AND PICKLES

Next up, is the all important vegetables. We seldom grill vegetables in any form. Meat is always the star of most BBQs. A couple of salads in a BBQ should fulfill the vegetable requirements of a nutritional meal. Green salads tossed in a simple vinaigrette makes an elegant and simple side dish. Other salad options include a green bean salad, a multi-bean salad, beet root salad, grilled vegetable salad, carrot salad or even a fruit salad.

GREEN SALAD WITH WALNUTS AND CHERRY TOMATOES TOSSED IN A GINGER-LIME VINAIGRETTE

GRILLED VEGETABLE SALAD WITH BALSAMIC REDUCTION AND FETA CHEESE

RECIPE FOR A SIMPLE VINAIGRETTE:

1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced,
1 tbsp white wine/red wine vinegar
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/2 - 1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp Parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste.

Take all the above ingredients in a small glass bottle, screw on the cap and shake thoroughly. Pour it over a salad of your choice and toss.

Who wouldn't want dessert after a meal? A healthy option for dessert would be fresh fruits served with vanilla custard. Other simple and delicious options include cup cakes, brownies with a fudge sauce or a cold and creamy mousse of your choice.

I would say the BBQ is now complete. Its time to put away your left overs, put your feet up and watch a good game or movie on television....................

PICKLES FROM THE JAMIN KITCHEN

Pickles are not very popular in my household unless they are less spicy and have some sort of meat in them. I remember trying out all the seafood pickles from the pickle aisle of the local grocery store, one by one, and being disappointed with my purchase. After a few months, an almost full jar of pickle would be thrown away because we wouldn't have touched it after our first attempt and the pickle would have expired!!!!

About three months ago, someone mentioned to me about this new brand of pickles called the Jamin Kitchen made by someone from the Utthukuli Jamin family, now living in Chennai. I tried to source some of the pickles as I heard that they had a variety of pickles with meat and seafood in them but in vain.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a stall of Jamin Kitchen Pickles at the FICCI Ladies Bazaar event organised at the Velumani Ammal Hall in Ramakrishna Kalyana Mandapam, Coimbatore over last weekend. Without thinking twice, I bought a bottle each of the Mutton, Prawn and Fish pickle.



We first opened the mutton pickle for a taste and was happy to find a good amount of actual mutton pieces in the pickle. It had a strong flavour of mustard which worked well with the mutton and was an immediate hit with me and my husband. Next, we tried the fish pickle which was rather dry and less oily (I know, I shouldn't be complaining!) but the taste was equally good. Finally, we opened the prawn pickle after a couple of days for a taste. It tasted very similar to the mutton pickle and the mustard flavour seemed to work well with the prawns too.

There is a charming little booklet attached to every single pickle bottle about the origin of the recipes. The manufacturer offers due credit to her grandmother who was part of a Jamin family and was actively involved in the daily activities of a Jamin Kitchen and Palace.

The range of pickles from the Jamin Kitchen includes rich mutton, fish, prawn, gooseberry, raisin, mixed vegetable and mushroom. They also have a range of sweet preserves which includes gooseberry, gooseberry and apple combo, gooseberry and papaya combo and orange marmalade.

The non-vegetarian pickles are priced on the higher side with each bottle (300gms) costing a little over Rs300. But when you actually get good quality mutton/fish/prawn pieces often in your pickle then you feel the price is justified. I have not seen these pickles on the counter in the regular grocery stores here in Coimbatore. The following is the contact address to the dealer for Jamin Kitchen pickles in Coimbatore.

Ashha D. Raj,
Dealer for Jamin Kitchen in Coimbatore,
1211, Shakthi Illam, C S R Lay-out,
Trichy Road, Coimbatore - 641045.
Mobile : 98422 02376
E-mail : ashhadraj@yahoo.com

TASTE PARADISE, SINGAPORE

I am a huge fan of Dim Sum. From the first time I visited a Dim Sum restaurant in Chicago (Three Happiness) in 2001, I have been a devotee of Dim Sum. I'll not miss a single opportunity to dine at a Dim Sum restaurant while traveling. In India, the best Dim Sum I have had so far is at The Zen restaurant in Leela Palace, Bengaluru.

Before my trip to Singapore in December I did extensive research online to locate some good Dim Sum restaurants. I came across an interesting blog (www.ladyironchef.com) and it had an impressive list of Dim Sum restaurants in Singapore along with reviews. Among the top 3 Dim Sum restaurants was Taste Paradise at the Ion on Orchard road. Since I was staying very close to Orchard road, I made a mental note to check out this restaurant while in Singapore.

During my visit to Singapore I was at the Ion one day without any concrete plans for lunch. I decided to give the Taste Paradise a try. When I arrived at the restaurant I was told that I had to wait for about an hour for a table. In spite of having two hungry children along with me, we managed to wait an hour for the table. After an hour's wait we were led into a labyrinth of rooms that were all elegantly filled with dining tables.

Once seated, the service was very quick and an array of Dim Sums arrived at our table in less than 10 minutes. There were 2 small menus with a variety of Dim Sums. One thing I noticed in most of the chinese restaurants in Singapore is that Pork belly and BBQ pork runs out very quickly. It'll be wise to reserve these items on the phone while making a reservation if you are very particular about trying them out. We were one of the last tables to be seated and hence some of the pork delicacies were not available.



Hand rolled Spring rolls with Bacon and spring onion. It was recommended to us by the waitress and she said it was very popular among the kids visiting the restaurants. My children truly enjoyed the spring rolls which were served along with some mayonnaise.



Steamed prawn dumpling. This is one of my favorite Dim Sums. All you taste in this Dim Sum is the prawn. It is a very simple dumpling of just prawns encased in a thin wrapper and steamed. With a bit of soy sauce, it truly is a delectable dish.



BBQ pork with a Portuguese sauce. When we asked for Pork belly we were told that they had sold out and there was no more available. Instead of the Pork belly this was recommended to us and it did not disappoint us.



Steamed Scallop and chive dumplings. This is another one of my favorites. I love the subtle flavor of chives along with fresh seafood.



According to the ladyironchef, the BBQ pork buns at the Taste Paradise were one of the best in Singapore. These were definitely the largest and the juiciest I have ever had.



Steamed pork ribs with black beans and chillies. I never fail to order this particular Dim Sum since pork, black beans and chillies are a great combination and they never let me down.



Sui Mai. It is a lovely and simple dumpling of pork and prawn topped with flying fish roe on top. No Dim Sum menu is complete without Sui Mai in it. It really is difficult to get this dumpling wrong, so it is a must-order in any Dim Sum restaurant.



And finally, Shanghai-style pork dumpling. This is was my least favorite of all the Dim Sums I had at Taste Paradise.

Our lunch was delicious and the service was very efficient. We were left with no room for dessert so we never ordered any of the sweet Dim Sums. It was well worth the wait to get a table at the Taste Paradise. We tried to go back the following day for another go at Dim Sum at the Taste Paradise but they were fully booked and couldn't accommodate us. So do remember to make a reservation for a Dim Sum Lunch at Taste Paradise since they seem to be a popular place and are fully reserved, most of the time.

Taste Paradise Ion Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9660

VOM FASS - A JEWEL OF A FIND

I am truly happy to share my jewel of a find - Vom Fass in Singapore. I was walking around aimlessly trying to while away some time while waiting for my table at a chinese restaurant in Ion mall, Singapore. And that is precisely the moment, I walked by Vom Fass, a specialty store that sells liqueurs, gourmet oils, fruit vinegars and special single malt whiskeys.

Since my trip to France in May 2010, I have been on a serious look out to buy Creme de Cassis to make Kir Royale. Kir Royale is a great aperitif and I remember starting my evenings with a Kir Royale every single day. I was very excited to find Creme de Cassis in this beautiful little store. They were also selling Creme de Framboise, which is also used with champagne or white wine for a Raspberry flavoured aperitif.



This store has a fantastic concept where you get to pick a beautiful glass bottle first then get it filled with a liqueur or other specialty product from the store and then they personalise it for you. And when you run out of the liqueur you can always take the bottle back to the store for a refill.

It is apparently a Germany-based company with outlets in the U S, U K and Singapore. For product information and recipes to use their products, take a look at www.vomfassusa.com and www.vomfassuk.com.




The shop carries a wide range of liqueurs - chocolate and coffee based cream liqueurs, citrus based liqueurs (limoncello, orange liqueur, etc), Kirsch, Nut based liqueurs (nussino - hazelnut, walnut, etc) and fruit based liqueurs (passion fruit, mango, apple, blueberry, etc). Some of the gourmet oils they sell are avocado, pumpkin seed, basil, truffle, grape seed, hazelnut and almond oil. The shop also sells a variety of aged balsemic vinegars from Modena.






And the miniature barrels contain a variety of single malt whiskeys, cognac, sherries, rum and armanac.



It is a very interesting store for people who want to pick special ingredients to make cocktails and gourmet creations. And for those us that have encountered unusual liqueurs in baking recipes will be thrilled to find all those and many more other options in this store. I felt like a kid in a candy store in Vom Fass. So those of you that travel to Singapore in the future should try and stop by at this place for unusual finds.

And here is a picture of my loot from Vom Fass, I can't wait to use them in my cocktails and baked goodies.



VOM FASS
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #04-25
Singapore 238801
Phone: 6509-8409/8284-4343

THE CHATEAU MARGAUX AND ALAIN PASSARD EXPERIENCE

Wine from a prestigious estate in the heart of Bordeaux and a three Michelin-starred chef come with very high expectations and of course, a very high price tag. I signed up for a dinner at the Leela Palace Hotel in Bengaluru recently and expected to be blown away that evening. I have to remind you all that Alain Passard owns and operates the restaurant Arpege in Paris which has three Michelin stars and is VEGETARIAN!

The reception at the Leela was regal and warm. We were offered Champagne and vegetarian Hors d'oeuvres at the Lobby bar where we had the opportunity to meet and greet the other guests for the evening. A little while later, we were led across the porch of Leela to the Banquet hall with rose petals strewn over us.

We were seated in predetermined tables and given some time to say hello to the other occupants of the table and get to know each other before we moved on to the five course dinner.

We were greeted by Mr.Sanjay Menon who is a successful wine importer and educator from Mumbai, followed by the CEO of Chateau Margaux. We were to taste 5 different wines from different years along with the five courses of our dinner.




White Arlequin in Himalayan honey and candied lemon
*Pavillon blanc 2009



Tomato and Blackberry "a la fourchette"
*Pavillon rouge 2004



Red roasted Onion in hibiscus sauce, red carrot Orange mousseline
*Chateau Margaux 1999



This dish was undoubtedly the star of the evening. It tasted amazingly good and went to show how a Michelin starred chef can turn a humble onion into a hero. No wonder I licked my plate clean! All you Onion-haters out there, you are missing out on something BIG!!!




Celerisotto with black Perigord Truffle
*Chateau Margaux 1989

Unlike what we expected from the name of the dish, this course did not have any rice in the risotto. It was a risotto made with finely chopped celeriac in a creamy sauce and shaved truffle on top. I have to admit that the flavour of the truffle was very mild and disappointing. A good drizzle of truffle oil would have done a much better job in adding flavour to the dish instead of the fresh truffle on top.



Avocado souffle with chocolate and pistachio
*Chateau Margaux 2003

The final and least impressive of the courses was the dessert. The organisers did mention that they were having trouble with getting the 70 odd souffles set on time to be served to the guests at the same time. But that does not justify serving a dessert that was not completely set. Also the flavour of the pistachio was over-powering and left me rather disappointed.

Overall, the food and wine at the dinner did not meet my expectations. But the evening on its own, was a wonderful experience. I had the privilege of sitting next to a famous and award-winning chef and also a talented writer was seated in our table along with some of my dear friends. Would I sign up for another evening like this? Yes, I would.

The Hidden Kitchen

I had the opportunity to dine in one of the private supper clubs in Paris during my visit in September - October 2011. I had read about the concept in various food blogs and was very curious to dine in one of them. I had read about the Hidden kitchen which is run by two Americans who are restaurant consultants by profession but open out their lovely apartment in Paris to a few guests (16 at a time) for a 10 course dinner along with wine pairing for each of the courses.

I was advised to book at least 2 months or more ahead in order to get a reservation at the Hidden Kitchen. I promptly did so but did not manage to get a reservation as they were either closed or full on the dates I requested. But I took a chance and wrote to them after I arrived in Paris and they happened to have a cancellation on the day I wrote. And that is how I managed to find myself a seat in the Hidden Kitchen.

We were a group of 16 that evening, all seated around their large dining table. I was at the dinner on my own. Among the other 15, 2 were Australian and the rest were American. No French!!!

My dinner at the Hidden Kitchen:
Friday, September 22nd.

*Amuse Bouche - Pumpkin Soup with Muscat grape, pumpkin seed oil and Parsley

*Charred Onion with Wine Poached Medjul, Cerely root and Orange

*Grilled Buckwheat Pizzetta, Anchovy, Fig and Taleggio



*House Smoked Salmon, Egg, White Bean Hummus and Broccoli



*Palate Cleanser - Bourbon Jelly with lime sorbet and Mint Leaf

*Crispy Pork Belly with Beet, Wild Rice, Endive and Olives



*Braised Beef Cheeks, Ricotta Dumplings and Chanterelles



*Apple Tart with Marscapone, Pear & Fig Sorbet and Plum Caramel

*Chocolate Ganache with Candied Fennel and Pomegranate



*Finally some Mignardises and more wine........

It was amazing to see the kind of the food churned out of a small kitchen in their apartment. The Chef and Sous Chef did a splendid job plating up and serving our large group in a fine manner. The wines paired with our food was also chosen well and over all, it was a very fine dinner and a memorable experience.



But I do regret to inform that this special private dining experience in not available at the Hidden Kitchen any longer. They have moved on to open their wine bar and restaurant which is not far from where they operated their private dinners. All the reviews I have read so far are very good and I would definitely recommend a visit to their wine bar and restaurant since this couple know and understand food and are highly capable of producing stunning and delectable food.


Restaurant Verjus
52, rue Richelieu
75001 Paris

Verjus Bar à vin
47, rue Montpensier
75001 Paris

www.verjusparis.com

The Le Cordon Bleu Experience

One of the first things on my Things to do in Paris list was to sign up for a cooking class or two. I had been researching on different cooking schools in Paris and their class schedules for over 6 months. I finally decided to sign up at the Cordon Bleu and the Ritz Cooking School out of shear reputation. More about the Ritz Cooking School in a later post.

There are two kinds of classes one can sign up for at the Le Cordon Bleu, if you are looking to do something on a short holiday. They have cooking classes that involve hands-on cooking in a kitchen and then there are the demonstrations where you sit in a classroom with the other regular students of Cordon Bleu and just watch a Chef demonstrate the recipes. I had signed up for one cooking class that was named "Desserts in a glass" and one cooking demonstration named "Petit Fours and Meringues".

The Desserts in a glass was a fun class. There were 6 American women, a French woman and me in the class. The chef spoke only French hence we had a translator who did translate every little detail of the recipe for us. In fact, we were only given the list of ingredients. We had to write down the method on our own. The two desserts we made were West Indian style coconut-pineapple served in a glass and Strawberry, pistachio and Speculos served in a glass.







The methods were relatively simple. The chef made most of the items. I wish it had been a little more hands-on. At the end of the class, we were given boxes and bags to carry home the fruits of our labour.

The cooking demonstration was another interesting session. Other than the regular students at the Cordon Bleu (there were about 30 who had signed up for this class) we were just 2 other participants at this class. We sat right at the back of the class but we could hear and see everything the chef demonstrated since they had mirrors on top of the cooking counter and tv monitors. The entire demonstration was translated in English since Cordon Bleu is a bi-lingual school and many of its students don't speak any French.

At the demonstration, the Chef demonstrated the recipes for Marshal's Batons, Raisin biscuits, Macaroons and Cigarettes. At the end of the class we were allowed to taste the end products. It was a very interesting experience.



I would definitely recommend a class or two to any one interested in food and cooking at the Cordon Bleu on your next visit to Paris. They also have schools in other countries and have a very detailed website. Take a look at the website for more ideas.