tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-113613122008-07-22T04:00:31.003-07:00This is a cooking blog created just so I can chronicle all my cooking experiments. I love to cook and to dine out. I am blessed with a partner who loves to do the same. So this site is dedicated to all in the pursuit of good food....Gininoreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1137628610839546802006-01-18T15:53:00.000-08:002006-01-18T15:56:50.856-08:00

Hi guys...Today I decided to move to wordpress. Hopefully it will be a good move. We will see. So visit me here from now on.

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1137518574203338462006-01-17T08:56:00.000-08:002006-01-17T09:24:11.793-08:00

There have been innumerable posts about mattar paneer. VK of My Dhabha, Jen of Atabela and Tony of Anthony's Kitchen had blogged about it. And I was determined to make it soon, just that I was not as enthusiastic about making paneer. I didnt have the cheesecloth to drain the paneer or for that matter I couldnt even find any piece of cloth that would fit the bill. So on my regular shopping day at

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1136819842821344202006-01-09T07:06:00.000-08:002006-01-10T10:35:43.346-08:00

Had a lot of catching up to do after my vacation. It was a very hectic 3 weeks but time well spent. Got to eat food cooked by someone other than me and S and it was such a bliss! Havent cooked anything so far to blog about..so I thought I might share with you some of the stuff that accompanied me from India. First and foremost the star of the show is homegrown vanilla bean. For the first time

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1134530080131732622005-12-13T19:08:00.000-08:002005-12-13T19:14:40.160-08:00

Officially my vacation starts today. I am off to Kerala for 3 weeks starting tomorrow. It has been a long awaited trip and the thought of seeing my family after such a long time is overwhelming. Hope to enjoy some home made cooking and some quality time with my family. For the New Year there are some ideas hatching in my mind regards my blog. I am thinking of doing some kind of a series, trying

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1134150168876912172005-12-09T09:36:00.000-08:002005-12-09T09:56:03.876-08:00

Todays dinner was S's responsibility. We had leftover butternut squash laying in the fridge from almost a month ago. A split down its middle declared that it was still good and looking fresh. We also had fresh pasta from the nearby Italian store. And we also had the recipe. So S ventured alone into pasta land and created this. How was the dish? It was nice and comforting. Just what we needed on

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1133752322170900812005-12-04T18:52:00.000-08:002005-12-06T19:19:43.073-08:00

I was browsing through some blogs when I stumbled upon this post. Dont be misled by the post's heading, it is one great recipe! Anchovies are among the favorite things in our house. One of S's best recipes is his coconut anchovy chutney. He is in heaven when he is enjoying these little darlings. Anyway so when I saw anchovy mentioned in the recipe I was excited, and although S doesnt like

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1133468076578296632005-12-01T12:13:00.000-08:002005-12-01T12:14:36.596-08:00

Risotto for me was this gooey looking rice concotion that almost looked repulsive. Anytime I am in an Italian restaurant I have shied away from this concotion but recently I saw something on TV that made me want to attempt this dish. Just to know what all this hype about risotto was about. And so I tried and then I understood...It is more creamy than gooey and as the Italians say 'very comforting

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1133229771352447932005-11-28T17:26:00.000-08:002005-11-29T13:20:43.220-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I had a great day with friends and this was my contribution to the turkey meal. I wanted to make the torte the day before thanksgiving but was too busy with work and laziness prevented me from cooking. So we woke up early in the day and made the crust. Did the filling while the crust was cooling. Took it over to friends and I held this beauty in my lap all

Kuttannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1132196000196968892005-11-21T13:10:00.000-08:002005-11-21T10:13:13.046-08:00

OK.. is it biryani or biriyani? I dont know the right way to spell it..and I dont care..as long as it tastes good. And the one I made this time was so good that I have decided to add it to the blog. It was the first time I ever made mutton biryani, and my friend for whom I made it liked it so much that she reminds me everyday to post it..and so here it is. This is how this saga began...My old

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1130276529728184212005-10-25T14:39:00.000-07:002005-11-07T09:31:33.280-08:00

Is there anybody out there who hasn't been bored by the 'regular'chicken curry. By 'regular' I mean the version that you always make, the one you know how to cook without looking up a recipe... I was almost beginning to hate chicken when suddenly I looked at the chicken in the freezer and "Chicken Jalfrezi"jumped at me. I had heard about this recipe but never tasted or seen Chicken Jalfrezi and

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1130276346473389462005-10-25T14:34:00.000-07:002005-10-28T11:48:48.716-07:00

Recently, we did a very daring act. We made a 7 course dinner. Although it seemed very daunting it turned out fine and definitely was worth the effort. The occasion was the wedding anniversary of our dear friends who are food freaks like we are. So what better gift than a homemade dinner. I did not manage to get photos of all the dishes as we thought of the pictures halfway through the dinner and

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1127138609286901462005-10-25T07:02:00.000-07:002005-10-25T15:05:11.080-07:00

Newly acquired curry leaf plant. This guy is now in a pot and is inside the house in an attempt to save it from the cold. Hopefully it will survive. Anyone who is from Kerala will know how abundant curry leaves are in every household. Neighbors feel free to come and pick the leaves off the plants and sometimes these plants even grow up to be medium sized trees. I lived in Florida for a few

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1127138515676762372005-10-25T06:25:00.000-07:002005-10-25T14:49:30.976-07:00

This is a collection of vegetables brought back home after a visit to the house of a very dear relative. Almost every Keralite living in America and owning a house has a kitchen garden. And the list of plants growing in the kitchen garden is very predictable. They are peppers, eggplant, ladys finger or okra, pavakkai, snakegourd,payar and tomatoes.The pavakkai and snakegourd hanging from well

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1126187923433622222005-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:002005-09-13T17:26:46.286-07:00

Dosa is one of my favorite breakfast items ever. Breakfast is one of the things I miss most about staying away from home. I remember quite fondly the trips to Kottayam town which would include a movie and then a stop for masala dosa accompanied by a crisp vada and a cup of filter coffee. Oh man, nothing could beat that! For some reason, I have failed in creating the right batter at home. Finally

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1124294834574812102005-08-17T09:00:00.000-07:002005-08-17T09:07:51.070-07:00

I was reading this post on Slate about vanilla. I will take a serving of vanilla icecream over any other flavor any day. It is the simplicity of its flavor that makes it so elegant, I think. I have only used the vanilla extract as it is the more affordable option. My parents have a few vanilla plants growing in their yard, so I might be able to bring some real vanilla pods during my next visit

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1124215659281728272005-08-16T10:01:00.000-07:002005-08-16T11:58:46.266-07:00

I know that S used to make a lot of rasam during his bachelor days, but my experience with rasam is very limited. I don't remember my mother making a lot of rasam at home.Some of my good rasam memories are from when I visited my mom's sister at Trivandrum and also at my brother in laws house, and my worst rasam memories are of course from the hostel canteen. It has been almost 3 yrs since I

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1123294122119421982005-08-05T18:48:00.000-07:002005-10-25T15:09:05.303-07:00

I was quite bored this morning and was just browsing through the TV channels when this show on food network attracted me and the show was on aphrodisiacs. The show was pretty good and as a result I decided to recreate some of the stuff at home. So when S came back from work, we started on a hunt for oysters. The two local grocery stores did not have any oysters, nor did Trader Joes. And then

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1123249850732963552005-08-05T06:50:00.000-07:002005-08-05T09:10:18.280-07:00

This is what eventually became of the bittergourds. The ones that are sliced are now basking in the sun and are now one-fourth of their previous size and we are still enjoying leftovers of the bittergourd and coconut combo. Posted by Picasa

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1123248385648950162005-08-04T06:26:00.000-07:002005-08-05T09:05:53.036-07:00

So yesterday I was all ready to make some Goan fish curry when unexpectedly the front bell rang. It was one of S's friend who kindly took it upon himself,(bless his heart) to bring us some bittergourd or 'karela' or 'pavakka', all the way from New Jersey. These gourds are grown locally in a farm over there and these were handpicked. I am not sure if the non-Indian public is aware of this

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1122945750939390792005-08-01T18:22:00.000-07:002005-08-01T18:22:48.993-07:00

I am going to be off from work for the next 2 days and I feel inspired to cook but do not know what....I think I am going to hunt for some recipes in some blogs or I might turn to my minimalistic cookbook collection.

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1122854390652462212005-07-31T16:28:00.000-07:002005-07-31T17:04:17.140-07:00

So this weekend was the blessing of the house! In case you are wondering what the heck is this, in our Syrian Orthodox tradition, when you move into a new house, there is a prayer held and the priest blesses the house. The priest marks all the doors of the house with the sign of the cross. I am a fan of ceremonies and I immensely enjoyed it,although it was more of an emotional factor than fun

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1120845921188950182005-07-08T10:40:00.000-07:002005-07-08T11:07:24.536-07:00

When it comes to cooking, it seems like I am a hard core conservative. I hardly venture out from the original recipe and make all efforts to follow the recipe as it is. Although I want to try out risky recipes,atleast that look risky, I almost always chicken out from trying them. Satish is very different from me in the fact that he always try to innovate something in the dishes we make,

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1120674709436036272005-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:002005-07-17T18:17:36.686-07:00

This was going to be our first entertaining session at our new home. And therefore it had to be something special. I used the new cookbook which I had recently bought from Costco, Soups, Salads and Starters from William Sonoma. It had gorgeous pictures and was well organised. So, I was browsing for some recipes in the book when I found a recipe for crab cakes. I also decided to do a potato leek

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1120673135425849602005-06-16T11:05:00.000-07:002005-07-08T11:11:15.513-07:00

>I did not realize how hungry and tired I was until a few minutes ago. Came back from work and was planning to make some chicken enchiladas for dinner, but I felt so tired that I could just lay down and sleep. S just called to say he is almost leaving from their after office party, but he said that an hour ago too..Anyway I called Colony Grill and ordered my favorite...for those who do not know

Gininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11361312.post-1117073946871278202005-05-25T19:19:00.000-07:002005-05-25T19:19:06.873-07:00

Roasted strawberries with ice creamPosted by Hello

Gininoreply@blogger.com