Meghalaya Smoke-cured Pork Salad with Honey Whiskey Cider Vinegar Dressing

Mary returned from Shillong after an extended 'sojourn' and back brought goodies... Whee!
One of the things that got me all excited was the smoked pork and beef that she got back from home. Resisting the temptation to gobble up the entire (and meagre) stock of the exquisite meat was (and is) difficult. 

A growling stomach reminded me to keep is simple and quick while I tried to decide what to make myself from brunch so I pulled out the first good looking bell pepper from the fridge and tossed, washed and the cleaned the cherry tomatoes that I got from Dadar.

The yellow bell pepper adds a little Warhol to the mix...

A fistful of cherry tomatoes..

 The broccoli beckoned from the crisper and was quickly distributed into crisp little morsels that would do well to contrast both the colour and the texture. Pottery class has resulted in a surfeit of bowls and one of them was quickly pressed into service to do a quick 2 minute nuke of the broccoli florets while I got the other things in place...

Broccoli Florets

 The smoke pork wafted out from the freezer and filled the kitchen with a heavenly aroma as I broke off a bit and chopped them into small morsels...

Smoked pork from Meghalaya...

I wanted a dressing that would be balanced with a little warmth so I pulled out a little whiskey and got the apple cider vinegar (from Himachal) and some glorious honey from the Pune apiculture institute... A teaspoon of each went into a shot glass and whisked with a dash of olive was all ready to make my Sunday happy :) 

Honey, Whiskey and a little Cider Vinegar for the dressing

All ready to pour some goodness...

 The pepper quickly got chopped into little pieces and tossed into my salad vessel...

Yellow bell pepper pieces

Next, in went a fistful of cherry tomatoes to add some sunshine and burst into happiness when I bit into the brunch...

Cherry tomatoes to the mix...

The steaming warm and yet still crunchy enough broccoli came out from the microwave and quickly joined the mix

Microwave quick steamed broccoli 

A warm layer of broccoli...

The pieces of meat went in after this...

Add the smoked pork shreds...

... a sprinkle of salt, a splash of the dressing and brunch was ready...

Allegedly Oriental ...

This one goes out to @Ipsita for shaking me out of lethargy and getting me to start posting again... Here goes... Again...


I'd just lugged all the pottery pieces that I'd made and that'd just been glazed and fired. I was hungry as hell and thought it would be good to try out the bowls to see if they really withstood a nuking in the microwave.


I've inherited a fair bit of oriental sauces when @Subha and @Guru moved to Singapore... Here I thought was a good opportunity to put one of them to good use. Now I can't really categorize this one... Is it is a soup... Or is it a salad... Where do I place it on the map? Since two of the four ingredients originate in the orient, I am going to call it 'allegedly oriental'...


I thought my Sunday deserved some colour, crunch and slurp, so I peered into my long suffering fridge and spotted some Napa Cabbage, a couple of red and yellow peppers, and some broccoli. Nice mix, I thought, of greens, yellows and reds! The peppers would be nice and 'sweetish' unlike the green ones, the broccoli would give a nice little something to bite into while the cabbage (I hoped) would spring a little crunch in the mouth.

A little aside... I always wondered at the many variants of 'cabbage' that is consumed across the orient. I love Bok Choi (báicài or 小白菜 )  but always end up associating the Napa Cabbage (dàbáicài  or 大白菜 ) with soupy things for some reason. Putting both in the microwave produces some interesting results depending on how long you nuke...

For example, Napa Cabbage microwaved at 900w for about 3min produces a near cooked but still crunchy-ish effect. Pushing it for 5min or more releases more liquids and also makes the cabbage more slurpy and limpish...The entire process took about 15min including the cutting of the vegetables. I first washed and diced the broccoli into florets and the bell peppers into little diced pieces.

These all went into the fresh-from-the-glazing-furnace bowl and I also threw in some finely minced garlic...

Next the well washed cabbage leaves got sliced and stuffed on top. The thought process was that if the cabbage stayed near the bottom, the juices they released would stay there and not bless the rest of the stuff (especially the broccoli) with much succulence.

And then I just put on the lid and microwaved it for 5min. I pulled out the dish and mixed the entire lot with a generous dash of the Wo Hup Oyster (flavoured) sauce... Voila! My lunch was ready... :)

Carrot Sesame Basil Salad

It was one of those days when I just could not bring myself to cook anything in the morning. Also I did not have much in the fridge.
So I pulled out a few carrots and three sachets of the of ketchup.

The sliced the carrots...

...and then got out some iceberg lettuce and basil leaves that I had in the fridge...

I quickly chopped the basil...

...and then mixed half of the basil with the shredded lettuce...

I did not want the carrots to be too much of a 'chew' in the carrot, so I microwaved the carrots for a minute and then mixed the rest of the shredded basil with this.

I'd mixed them separately as this way the basil would mix better I thought. 

After this I started making the dressing. I cut and poured all the ketchup into a small bowl...

... then I put in a teaspoon of dark soya sauce...

... and added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar...

I tossed everything together, added the dressing, and then topped everything with sesame seeds and some kalonji.

It was time to pack the salad and then quickly rush off to office after this.

Ideas 01 - Red and Yellow Bell Peppers

Priyanka asked me for something simple that can be made with Red and Yellow Bell Peppers. So here goes... Two ideas from the net and one of mine ...


Idea a.
Chicken Corn Bell Pepper Chaat
Knowing Priyanka's origin, I'd suggest 'chicken' and 'chaat' :D. At a pinch the chicken can be done away with.


Ingredients
1 Red Bell Pepper (cut into long thin strips)
1 Yellow Bell Pepper (cut into long thin strips)
200gm corn kernels (pick up some frozen ones and nuke 'em if you can't get fresh ones)
Half a lemon (for the juice and rind)
Chaat Masala
Salt
100gm Chicken (Boiled and Shredded or just buy a stick of Reshmi Kabab and shred) 


How to make:
Put all the ingedients in a bowl. Mix with a fork. Add the salt and chaat masala. Mix some more. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture and before serving scrape the rind over the mixture from the half of the lemon you just squeezed for the juice.


Idea b. (from the internet)
Garlic and Herb Sautéed Bell Pepper Strips

This garlic and herb sautéed bell pepper recipe can be used as an appetizer, as part of an antipasto platter, or a colorful side dish. The bell pepper strips cook up quickly, and are at their sweet and savory best paired with the garlic and herbs. This sautéed pepper recipe is a great way to enjoy this nutritious summer vegetable. 


Make 8 Serving of Garlic and Herb Sautéed Bell Pepper Strips
Prep Time: 10 minutes


Cook Time: 6 minutes


Total Time: 16 minutes


Ingredients:


3 tbsp olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, seeded, cut into half-inch strips
2 large yellow bell peppers, cut into half-inch strips
2 cloves finely minced garlic
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped basil
1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
toasted Italian bread to garnish, optional
Preparation:


In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the pepper strips, and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the peppers begin to soften. Turn down the heat to low, and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes more. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar and herbs. Toss to combine. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Toss again, adjust seasoning and serve with toasted bread if desired.



Idea c. (Again from the internet...) 
Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Soup (from http://www.grouprecipes.com/56066/red-and-yellow-bell-pepper-soup.html) 

Quoting from the site...

This garlic and herb sautéed bell pepper recipe can be used as an appetizer, as part of an antipasto platter, or a colorful side dish. The bell pepper strips cook up quickly, and are at their sweet and savory best paired with the garlic and herbs. This sautéed pepper recipe is a great way to enjoy this nutritious summer vegetable.


Make 8 Serving of Garlic and Herb Sautéed Bell Pepper Strips

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Total Time: 16 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded, cut into half-inch strips
• 2 large yellow bell peppers, cut into half-inch strips
• 2 cloves finely minced garlic
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped basil
• 1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
• toasted Italian bread to garnish, optional

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the pepper strips, and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the peppers begin to soften. Turn down the heat to low, and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Saute for 2 minutes more. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar and herbs. Toss to combine. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Toss again, adjust seasoning and serve with toasted bread if desired.

Quoted from the site:

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers
• 2 yellow peppers
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 1/4 cups chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander, dill or basil

• How to make it

  ---

  • Make Ahead:Roast peppers earlier in the day and set aside. Prepare both soups earlier in day, and keep them separate until serving.
  • -----------------------------------------------------
  • Roast the peppers under the broiler for 15 to 20 minutes, turning several times until charred on all sides. Place in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap; let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove skin, stem and seeds.
  • In a nonstick saucepan sprayed with vegetable spray, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery; cook for 8 minutes or until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Add stock and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover, and let cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender.
  • Put the red peppers in food processor and process until smooth. Add half of the soup mixture to the red pepper purée and process until smooth. Season with pepper and pour into serving bowl. Rinse out food processor. Put yellow peppers in food processor and process until smooth; add remaining soup to yellow pepper purée and process until smooth. Season with pepper and pour into another serving bowl. To serve, ladle some of the red pepper soup into one side of individual bowl, at the same time ladling some of the yellow pepper soup into the other side of the bowl. Add coriander to soup and serve.
  • Nutrition:Calories 99
  • Protein 3 g
• 
  

Macaroni Salad.... Again

{I poked around and found this post hiding in the draft box... This from many years back ... Must've been an arbit weekend in the Pune kitchen} 

It's macaroni time again... Had started out scratching my head (threw rotting veggies out of the fridge) and then fell back on ol' favourite... :D


















The ingredients:

1. Some Arbit pasta (anything will do) - about 250gm (really depends on how much it becomes after cooking)
2. A Carrot - 8" long x 1" diameter approx.
3. Corn - 200gm (put more if you like)
4. Eggs - 4 , hard boiled (put more if you like)
5. Garlic - lots of cloves (finely minced)
6. Ginger - 1/2" stick (finely minced)
   
7. Celery - (you could substitute this with stuff like Basil. Oregano, etc.)
   
8. Salt & Freshly ground pepper

Chappati Rolls 01 - Egg and Honey Mustard

Subarna wanted something that is quick to make and reasonably tasty for her to cook for herself and her kiddo. I often make Chappati Rolls in the morning since they are some of the quickest things to make when you are rushing out on your way to work.

I'd boiled the eggs the night before but did not shell them and keep since they'd become quite rubbery in the fridge by morning.

Piping hot chappatis are available at a restaurant that is minutes from my place from 5AM to 1AM. At Rs 3 a pop it is a HUGE persuasion for me NOT to make them :).

I put it two teaspoons of mustard powder into my espresso cup along with a pinch of powdered ajwain (to make for an interesting twist :) ) and them dribbled in a little honey along with a few drops of nice olive oil. It is very easy to make the mix too sweet so it is always better to add the honey in a dribble at a time. This way I can adjust the 'hit' from the mustard along with the cloying sweetness of the honey.

Next I quickly sliced the cucumber (to get some crunch) and some tomatoes to get some squishy tang and layered them on the chappati.

I did not add salt and seasoning now since the cucumber and the tomato slices would immediately release some of the moisture and make the entire thing soggy.

Next I sliced the egg and layered that as well. If I layer the lot I get distinct swathes of taste and texture compared to the situation where I just mix them all up...

The honey mustard seasoning went on top of all this...

As an afterthought I chopped and added a sprig of coriander leaves to add to the interesting mix of flavours.

And... this is straight after I chomped a bite of my brunch :)

Salad Idea 01

Baba liked the salad I made yesterday so I tossed this one up today.


Ingredients:

• Half a cucumber (diced)
• A tomato (diced and deseeded)
• Bengal gram sprouts
• Coriander leaves (minced)
• Spring onions (minced) to add a bit of crunch

Dressing

• Lemon juice (half a lemon)
• Vinegar (1 cap)
• Mustard oil (a dribble)
• Worcestershire sauce (a dash of...)
• Rock salt