Love and Calories!!

Oooh!! PANNA COTTA...This name gives you the feeling that it is the most intricate, sophisticated and  "Oh boy, we can't cook those at home" type of a dessert. Well, atleast that's what I thought until I tried to make it at home. Panna Cotta or "The cooked cream" in Italian is one of the easiest desserts one can make anytime at home. Less time, Less ingredients, Less hassle, No oven (That's a relief), No Egg, Voila....a great looking rich restaurant dish is cooked up!! Panna Cotta, originally from Italy, is a jelly like, rich, wobbly custard made up of cooked cream, vanilla and sugar with a little gelatine to thicken it up. Along with it, I have made a Strawberry coulis to top it off. The silky smoothness of the cream with the tanginess of the berry sauce will make your palate go all wohoooo about it. Make this when your guests come home and earn some brownie points, I say!! ;P Ingredients: 500 ml double cream 5 tbsp sugar 1 vanilla pod 4 sh...

So I decided to bake something to check out how my new oven works. (Oh! Did I not mention that we shifted to  another location a month back??). Thanks to hubby dear's job, I get a new kitchen every couple of years. And to get used to the new location, new home and most importantly new kitchen, takes time. But am not complaining this time as I got my favourite gas burner (how I used to curse the hot plates before) to cook all my Indian stuff. :) I planned to bake a bread this time and  it took an entire half day to bake one. I struggled so hard with my yeast to foam up and later knew that the yeast had already gone dead. So I quickly decided to go to a superstore to buy some yeast before I changed my mind to not to "Bake a Bread". But patience paid off as soon as I saw the result (the pic below). And I can't even explain what it feels like when you bake something and it comes out just perfect!!  "Focaccia"  is an Italian flat bread which resembl...

During the past couple of months, I have tried out many of my favourite dishes at home but when coming to posting recipes, I seriously am not getting time for it. June was completely bland as I have posted hardly one recipe. So to compensate that, I promise, July will be more palatable and interesting. So to start off, am bringing to you, everyone's favourite....the irresistible "Garlic Bread"!! This warm, buttery, garlicky bread can be made at home in no time that you will stop ordering  it from any pizza joint after relishing the home made. Perfect for any tea time parties. Bake it in 10 minutes and earn your brownie points. Forget the frozen garlic bread that you buy from the superstore and make your own at home, only it will be more fresh and delicious!!      Ingredients: 1 french loaf (I have used a cheese baton)  50 gm butter (room temperature) 4-5 cloves of garlic (or more according to your taste) 1 tbsp of finely ch...

"Relax, Sit down, serve yourself a little pasta & taste life" Now that's what I do, when I make Pasta, the love for it just grows each time I make them! And what if some good sauce is combined to it...the pasta only develops its full flavour then. Sauces are of many types which are used in Pastas. Cream and butter sauces blend very well with fresh egg pasta, Meat sauce (Ragu) is so good with any tubular shaped ones, seafood sauces are ideally suited for thin noodle shaped pastas such as linguine, spaghetti or stuffed ones like ravioli. But for the dried pastas, which we normally stock it up in our pantry, a typical tomato sauce is all you need to make.  To start with, I am posting the basic tomato sauce recipe otherwie known as Sugo Al Pomodoro ("Sugo" means sauce or juice & "Pomodoro" means Tomato). Now there's quite a confusion between some of the Italian culinary words which I just can't figure it out, such as, "Sugo...

The dish "Rat-a-too-ee" grabbed my attention only after watching the culinary adventures of Remy the rat in the movie "Ratatouille". Until then it was just any other French word to me. Though it was a light-hearted animated  movie, it inspired me in many ways as to how you must use your sense of touch, taste & smell in whatever you cook. one should not just eat to live but get to know the gastronomy of cooking.  "Ratatouille Nicoise" pronounced as "Rat-a too-ee Neesua" is a roasted vegetable stew originated from the place called Nice in France. The basic ingredient of the stew is tomato & the main vegetables used in this dish are zuchinni/courgette, eggplant & bell pepper.   Ratatouille is mainly served as a side to any pasta or bread but here I have combined both together to bring out a single main dish. This is a very healthy meal as it has no fat content & also packed with nutrients. This recipe is a simpler & q...

I have already praised a lot about Pizza in my previous post "Basic Pizza Dough" , so am not repeating it again. In this post, am going to share the recipe of three main variants of an authentic "Pizza Alla Napoletana". Pizza originated from the region of Naples in Italy and it dates back to the 1800's. Later, some Italian migrant went to New York & started his own pizzeria & from then on the Pizza's triumphal journey around the globe started. I read in some magazine that 40 hectares of pizza is consumed every day in the United States..Holly Molly!! American food joints like Pizza Huts & Dominoes started deking lavishly with a variety of ingredients but when I tasted the true Italian Neapoletan Pizza, it stood apart from these cheap American imitations. An authentic Neapolitan Pizza must be: made of dough that is kneaded by hand. its crust must also be formed & flattened by hand & it must be round. The dough consists...

Now there is probably no other word that can be a synonym for "Italian Cuisine".......PIZZA! Who doesn't know about Pizza & who doesn't like Pizzas! And what a great joy you will experience if you know how to make these perfectly at home. If you asked me a decade back, would you try making a pizza at home, I would have said..."Crazy or what!!...Its a fast food dish, best eaten at Pizza Hut or a Dominoes! It is not & cannot be made at home & it won't be as delicious as you get in one of the fast food joints". But when I saw for the first time how my mom-in-law made some delicious pizzas at home with her own luscious toppings, I was spellbound. I slowly started to have a liking towards home baking. It was when I visited Italy, that I found the true taste & look of the authentic pizzas. My previous notions were all wrong. I got a whole different picture of this beautiful dish called PIZZA! An authentic Italian pizza dough is smooth as b...

I have got something special for the pasta lovers this time . With this recipe, turn your simple pasta dish to a delicious Italian "Fine Food". Steamed Chicken parcels are super easy to make and in no time too. Steaming allows you to cook without fat & these little foil parcels retain all the natural juices of the chicken. So cook up some delicious Italian Chicken parcels and bring your routine simple cooking to restaurant standards. Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 cup fresh basil leaves 2 tbsp hazelnuts 2 garlic cloves 250 gm pasta (any shape, penne or fusilli preferable) (I have used whole wheat pasta, which is a much healthier option) 2 tomatoes (can use sun dried tomatoes also) (chopped) 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp olive oil 10 olives (pitted, green or black) salt & pepper to season Method: Place the chicken breasts between pieces of cling film & eat with a rolling pin to flatten evenly. Blend the basil leaves, hazelnuts, garlic with some...