Love and Calories!!

WISHING YOU ALL A MERRY XMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!! This is my last post for this year....See ya all next year with more amazing world class recipes. This is my 100th post of my blog which I started almost a year ago. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I tried to cook up a three course set menu for this Christmas. The Menu is completely vegetarian (for a change, let the turkeys jot down some wishes to their bucket list)!! Starter - Vegetarian Strudel Main - Christmas Veggie Wellington Dessert - Baked Chocolate Puddings with Rich Chocolate Sauce I just wanted to cook up something good and delicious for the lovely vegetarians so they too can enjoy a good Christmas meal. So I opted for "Veggie Wellington", a recipe of Simon Rimmer from BBC food. The recipe looked delicious, wholesome & perfectly suited for a Christmas meal. Preparation time 40 minutes Cooking time 30 minutes Serves 4-6 Ingredients For the filling - 60g/2oz basmati rice - pinch of turmeric - 1 lemon, ze...

Vegetable Strudel can be a perfect Christmas dinner first course or starter where you can slice up the veggie log and serve with some healthy greens. A Strudel is a German word meaning "Whirlpool", where the rolled layers of pastry dough is made to form a shape of a spiral. Stuffing can be made from sweet to savoury. thought of making a vegetable strudel to cater both vegetarian & non-vegetarian friends. Enjoy making this one as your Starter and I will be back very soon with my Main Course! Merry Christmas! Preparation time 30 minutes Total Cooking Time 35 minutes Serves 4-6 Ingredients: - 10-12 spinach leaves - 2 tbsp olive oil - 1 onion, finely chopped - 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), seeded & cut into strips - 1 green capsicum (bell pepper), seeded & cut into strips - 2 zucchinis (courgette), sliced - 2 eggplants (or 1 aubergine), sliced - 6 sheets of filo pastry - 40 g butter, melted - 20 g basil, finely sliced - 60 g grated ch...

Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is around the corner & every one is in a festive mood. Hustle bustle on the streets, malls full of people ticking their Xmas shopping list, Santas giving free goodies to kiddoes, lights & decor galore in shops & homes & FOOD of different varieties are kept to fill in your little tummy. Well, you can almost find me near the Xmas special food aisle, By Default. You must be wondering about the Title of this post by now. The word "Christmas" is fine (she must be putting something special in her blog as it is the most important time of the year) but what is "Centennial" ? Well, I just recently noticed that I have posted almost 97 dishes in my blog since February & 3 more dishes will make my 100th post. So I merged my happiness, festivity & my 100th dish into one big post & thought of publishing it in three different parts. So I came with an idea of creating a simple but grand Christmas 3 course Set Menu which will ...

Another spicy chicken dish comes your way & this time its from South India. Karaikudi, is a big town in Tamilnadu situated in the region of Chettinad. It is also the unofficial capital of Chettinad region. As I have already introduced the Chettinad flavours in my Urulai Chettinad recipe, this time am here with a non-vegetarian dish. It will be very peppery, very coconutty and very very tasty. "Karaikudi Chicken Curry" will remain a special dish for me as this was the first dish which I cooked and served after my wedding at my in-laws place. My in laws were bowled over my cooking and declared that I am a Super-Cook.....So every time I make this dish at home, I remember my initial marriage days & thank the recipe every time. It saved my reputation in the kitchen in front of all. Ha! Ingredients: 1 kg chicken (cut into bite size chunks) 2 big onions (finely chopped) 2 big tomatoes (finely chopped) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder + 1/2 tsp for marination 1/2 tsp red chilli powde...

The moment I returned from my visit to the " Cheddar " village last month, I wanted to make a yummy bake with the Cheddar Cheese bought from the village. As I had already posted a Tuna Pasta Bake in my blog, I wanted to make a quick Gratin dish. There was one more reason to make a Gratin because I wanted to use my "Le Creuset oven cookware" which was lying in my Kitchen shelves for about 2 months now. Now you must be thinking, look at her flaunting things what she has got but NO..This mini casserole set was given to me by my best friend Shakthi during my last visit to her place. And that was very sweet of her, so I wanted to show her that I am indeed using these Casseroles and not kept to let the dust settle on them. :) Not promoting any brand over here but I recommend Le Creuset if you want to buy a good quality Oven Cookware. Now some good things about the Gratin, I made a "Traditional English Cheddar Cauliflower Cheese Gratin". There are many other n...

I realized that I have not posted any linguine recipe yet in my blog, so here goes another tasty healthy pasta recipe which is very easy, simple & is specially made for the vegetarians. Pardon me but I had to compliment it with some chicken, so I made a quick grill to go with it. So Veggie lovers, please ignore the Chicken part alone. Linguine and lime go hand in hand & with a generous amount of grated courgette, it becomes a wholesome healthy meal. Courgette & Lemon Linguine Ingredients: 250 gm linguine 1 medium sized courgette (zucchini) (coarsely grated) 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon juice of 1/2 lemon large pinch of crushed chillies handful of basil leaves (can use dried basil too) 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin olive oil to drizzle salt & pepper for seasoning grated parmesan cheese (optional) Method: Cook the linguine following the pack instructions, then drain quickly so some cooking water is still clinging onto the strands. Tip them...

Lazy Saturday & Pasta comes to your rescue again!! I tried to make it as much veggie as possible and successfully cooked a cauliflower pasta...The unique combination of chilli, lemon, nuts & sultanas makes this pasta & cauliflower surprisingly tasty. Try to use a tubular pasta so that the cauliflorets, nuts and raisins trap inside them and u get the crunch at each pasta bite!! :) Ingredients: 1/2 medium cauliflower (cut into small florets) 250 g pasta (tube shaped) 4 tbsp olive oil 2 garlic cloves, sliced 1 tsp red chilli flakes 1 tbsp pine nuts (can use chopped almonds) 10 sultanas or raisins zest of 1 lemon juice of 1/2 lemon 4 tbsp chopped parsley 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese Method: Cook the cauliflower in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop it cooking further. Drain. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to he packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the cauliflower and fry for 3 min...

Of all the cheeses in the world, which is the most popular one?? "Cheddar" Cheese of course!! And what if I tell you that I recently visited the village from where it first originated?? Wow!! Right?? Some of you must be already knowing the history of a Cheddar Cheese but I recently came to know. Cheddar, is a small beautiful, quiet little village situated in the south west of England in the county of Somerset. Cheddar was our last weekend's long drive destination. When I "googled" about the place, I then came to know that it is the birth place of "Cheddar Cheese" . That made the trip more interesting. I just want to share my experience with you all thus here goes a small travelogue of the Cheddar Village famous for its CHEESE!! This small scenic village attracts many tourists firstly because of the CHEESE which it produces, secondly the Great River Gorge on the base the village is located & lastly the dark, mysterious yet beautiful caves within th...