Crusty Chicken with tossed salad and dry mushroom sauce

 

 

All of us like variety in our food and we get excited to walk into a plush restaurant and eat something exotic and different. But that is just a 'once in a blue moon' experience. I like creating exotic, gourmet dishes in my own kitchen and serving it in an appetizing way!

 

You will be surprised to see how you can whip up a good-looking dish, with just few ingredients in a jiffy!

 

 

There are recipes of crusted chicken wherein you dip the chicken in a batter, roll it in crushed cornflakes and deep fry it to perfection; this also gives us a feel of KFC at home. But, my crusty chicken is different- easy, light and quite healthy too.

 

 

 

Serves: Individual platters with 1 chicken fillet per person.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the chicken:

 

Chicken breast fillet (boneless and skinless)    1 fillet

Melted butter/margarine/olive oil                     1/2 cup

Garlic (paste/minced/grated)                             1 tbsp

Salt                                                                    to taste

Crushed black pepper                                        1/2 tsp

Oil                                                                   few tbsps

Readymade potato chips (unflavoured)        1 small packet  

Note- Yes, you read it correctly. This chicken recipe requires regular potato chips/wafers we buy in the supermarkets.

 

 

 

 

For the mushroom sauce:

Oil                                                             few drops

Fresh mushrooms                                      3-4 nos

Butter                                                        1 tsp

Lemon juice                                              1/4 tsp

Salt                                                           a pinch

Crushed black pepper                              a pinch  

 

For the tossed salad:

Lettuce leaves (any variety or mixed)    as required

Extra Virgin Olive oil                            3 tbsps

Lemon juice                                           1 tbsp

Salt                                                        half a pinch

 

 

Method:

• Crush the potato chips pretty finely. Use a food processor or open the packet of chips and bash the packet with a rolling pin. Two bashes and you will have finely powdered chips. (This is my 'stress-buster' method!)

• Wash the chicken fillet and pat it dry. If the fillet is too thick, flatten it using a mallet, kitchen hammer (also called meat tenderiser) or rolling pin. Be gentle.

• Using a sharp knife, very gently, make slits or incisions on the fillet. Season with salt and pepper. Keep in mind that the potato chips also contains salt. I did not add any salt to my chicken fillet. Alternatively, if you want to serve the chicken as an appetizer for a cocktail party, cut the fillet into cubes/chunks or even into strips.
• In a separate, flat bowl, take the melted butter and add the garlic to it. Mix it well.
• Next, immerse the chicken fillet into the melted butter so that the butter coats the chicken completely.

 

Note- If you are apprehensive with the idea of dunking your chicken into butter or face health restrictions, just omit the butter and use buttermilk instead. Buttermilk works wonderfully well with meats and chicken and it also keep it tender and moist, especially the breast piece of chicken which otherwise tends to get a bit dry after cooking. Alternatively, you can also use a combination of butter and buttermilk. Whatever you choose, do not forget the garlic.. lots of it!

• Next, coat this chicken with the crushed potato chips and make sure the fillet is well coated. Press the chips onto the fillet so it sticks well.

• In a pan, heat few tbsps of oil and fry the chicken fillet on low heat till you get a golden colour on the crust. Each side will take 4-5 minutes on low heat. Turn off gas and keep the chicken aside.

• In the meanwhile, take another pan and heat 1-2 tbsps of oil, saute the sliced mushrooms without covering the lid and without adding water. Do not overcrowd the pan otherwise the mushrooms will lose its shape and will shrink and become cranky.

• Once the mushrooms have cooked slightly and released some of its liquid, add the butter, salt and pepper. If you think it is dry and want it more saucy, add little water and cook it.

• Finish it with a light squeeze of lemon juice.

• For the salad- in a bowl, just toss in all the ingredients.

• To plate it up- place the chicken fillet onto the plate, slightly spoon the mushroom sauce on the side and serve with the salad. Alternatively, you can also cut the chicken into strips and serve.

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!

 

 

 

 





Quick Rabri!

Rabri is a very popular sweet in India, specially in Kolkatta and the Northern regions of India. Traditionally and originally, rabri is basically the residue we get after hours and hours of boiling milk on low flame. This very rich dessert is made by heating sweetened milk in a large open vessel (kadhai). As the layer of cream begins to form on the surface of the milk, it is taken off and kept aside. The process continues until the milk is exhausted. Therefore, rabri is considered to be a very time-consuming and rich dessert- because of the time, energy and resources it takes and also because of its creamy texture.

I love sweets that are creamy and rich, which is why, rabri tops my list. But, because it is so time-consuming, I would always depend on the restaurants and sweet shops, ultimately paying so much money for hardly 4 bites of the sweet, served in a tiny bowl. Sigh!

My love for this sweet and interest to experiment increased when I read a recipe for quick rabri by Tarla Dalal. At first, I could not believe that rabri can be made in this way and that the actual end product will be a rabri. But, there is no harm in trying I thought and if not rabri, this would turn out to be a new sweet dish. No harm.

So, this is "my" version of Tarla Dalal's rabri. I call it "my" version because I have tweaked it (as always) and I believe, frankly, my rabri is simply awesome. Yum Oh!!!

Serves: 5-6 persons

Ingredients:

Full fat milk                                       5 cups + 1 cup
Condensed milk                                 1 cup
Bread slices (crust removed)             2-3 slices
Vanilla custard powder                      3-4 tbsps
Cardamom (elaichi) powder              1/2 tsp
Sugar                                                  2 tbsps
Salt                                                     half a pinch
Roasted almonds and pistachios       as required
Silver varq (optional)                        as required              


Method:

• Take a heavy bottomed, non-stick saucepan and keep the milk to boil on medium heat.

• Remove cardamom seeds from the whole cardamom pods and powder it along with a little sugar. (The sugar helps to powder the elaichi easily)

• Once the milk comes to a boil, simmer the flame and add the condensed milk and keep stirring.
• In the meanwhile, remove the sides of the bread slices and pulse it in the dry grinder or food processor until they become coarsely ground like breadcrumbs. See image below.

 

 

 

• Add this to the milk and stir well. You will see the milk simmering, keep the flame low. Check the sweetness and add sugar. Also add half a pinch of salt.

NOTE- Always add half a pinch of salt to your desserts and half a pinch of sugar to savoury/spicy dishes. As odd as it sounds, it does make a big difference and gets out the best flavours in the dish.

 
• Next, dissolve vanilla custard powder in 1 cup of cold milk and add to the milk.

 

 
• Keep stirring now because the custard powder will thicken the milk, and if we do not stir well at this stage, the milk may stick to the bottom of the pan.

• Once the milk is thickened and is coating the back of the spoon. Add elaichi powder and give it one last stir.

• Turn the flame off and allow this thickened milk to cool a bit at room temperature.

• Transfer it into individual bowls/katoris made of mud or into a serving dish.

• Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.

• In the meantime, slightly roast the chopped almonds and pistachios and keep ready.

• Once cooled, garnish the rabri with silver varq and chopped nuts.

 

 
 
• Put back into the fridge and serve cold.

 

 

 



Happy Cookin' & keep it stylish!!

 

Dark Chocolate Moussé... and quick!

I love chocolates and for me a dessert made of chocolate 'has to be' smooth, luscious and oh so chocolatey. Any compromise made with the quantity or quality of chocolate in a choco-dessert is a strict no-no for me.

 

Chocolate Moussé has got to be one of my all time favourite desserts, but I was never making it at home before because I was apprehensive of using raw eggs in my cooking, moreso in my dessert.

 

And then, one day, when the cooking angels were smiling at me, I came across a recipe of 'quick chocolate moussé by one of my favourite chefs, Nigella Lawson (oh, I really love her and her style of cooking...and eating). This recipe caught my interest because (besides being Nigella's recipe ofcourse) it had NO eggs in it! Awesome!

 

Though the original belongs to Nigella Lawson, I have tweaked it a bit according to my preference without compromising on the taste of the moussé. And hey! I must say, Nigella would be really proud to eat my moussé because it turned out just right.

 

This is my version of dark (quick) chocolate moussé. Here you go.

Serves: 4 moulds for 4 persons.

Ingredients:

 

Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa)                           1 cup

Sweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips               1/2 cup

Soft butter (at room temperature)                     1/2 cup

Big Marshmellows                                        3/4 cup or 7-8 pieces

Cream                                                            1 tin or 160 g

Plain water (a little warm)                                1/2 cup

 

 

Method:

 

• Chop the dark chocolate into small bits. Take a non-stick saucepan and combine together the dark chocolate, chocolate chips, butter, marshmellows (if big, cut into pieces just to speed up the melting process later) and water.

 

• Keep the saucepan on medium heat and stir gently.

• You will see that the chocolates are starting to melt and getting incorporated with the butter and water.

• Slowly the marshmellows will also start melting. Keep stirring gently to avoid it from sticking to the pan.

 

• Once you see that the marshmellows have melted completely (it may take some time, so have patience :) ) and you have now got a smooth chocolate mixture (control your temptation of licking the wooden spoon or eating this mixture straight from the saucepan.. haha!), turn the gas off.
 
• Take a mixing bowl (preferably a glass bowl which is heat-proof) and empty the tin of cream.

• Pour the smooth chocolate mixture onto the cream and just stir it all gently. Ideally, I would use the term 'folding in' here, but thankfully this recipe does not need that level of cooking expertise. So, I will leave the folding in for another day and another recipe where we will use that technique.

• So once you are done with gently mixing the cream and chocolate mixture and you now have got one, uniform, brown chocolate mixture, pour this mixture slowly into a serving dish or individual moulds/shot glasses/ramekins- choose whatever suits you. Just keep in mind that smaller portions are better when you serve this moussé, as this is a rich, heavy dessert and nobody would be able to eat more than 4 spoons.

 

• I chose individual glasses as it looks classy and makes for beautiful presentation.
 
• Allow it to cool at room temperature and then cover with cling wrap and keep it in the fridge to chill for atleast 4-5 hours or more. Please do not try hurrying with the chilling process and do not put the moussé  in the freezer. Again, have patience :)
 
• After 4 hours, test if the moussé has set by taking the mould and shaking it gently. If there is no wobble, then you know your moussé has set and ready to be served to your guests or devoured by you ;)

 

 

 

• Voila!! There you have it, a spoonful of sinful goodness.

 

Tweaking Tips:

 

•  If you are not a fan of the taste of dark chocolate which is usually bitter, you can use 1 cup sweet chocolate chips instead of 1/2 cup and reduce the quantity of dark chocolate from 1 cup to 1/2 cup.

• Alternatively, if you do not have or cannot find chocolate chips, feel free to use regular milk chocolate like Cadbury Dairy Milk (plain) or any milk chocolate that is available.

• The marshmellows are used here instead of eggs to set the and give it the desired texture.

• Incase you have not eaten marshmellows before and are not comfortable with the idea of using it in your cooking, please don't let that stop you from trying out this moussé. You can still make it without the marshmellows. Just use plain gelatin (now available in all the supermarkets). We even get vegetarian versions of gelatin now. Just use it in this dish according to packet instructions and you are good to go!

• Always use a wooden spoon to mix and stir chocolate or any dessert or sweet-dish and use a wooden spoon specially while using a non-stick vessel.
 
• The original recipe calls for whipped cream to be mixed along with the chocolate mixture. But, I have used tinned cream because it is easily available and does not have to be whipped using a fancy electric beater. However, if you wish, you can buy the whipping cream from the supermarket and whip it with 3 tbsps of sugar and a pinch of salt until you get soft peaks. The tinned cream does not take away from the texture of the moussé- rest assured :). And I will deal with the technique of 'whipping cream' in my later blogs.

 

 

Happy cookin' & keep it stylish!!