Love and Calories!!

Gosh, it's been months since I posted anything on my blog and am feeling already guilty about it. I must admit that my work life has truly taken a toll on me that I have nearly forgotten what cooking is all about. London life is fast, super fast! Weekdays come, weekends go and I just go with the flow. Months have gone by and I just left my hobby, my passion somewhere that I did not even get the time to revive it.  But no more....today I bring to you not one, but two recipes of Indo-Chinese influenced dishes. The very popular Gobi Manchurian and Chilli-Garlic Fried rice. So be ready with your wok and spoon, we have work to do!! :) Gobi Manchurian Ingredients: 1 medium cauliflower (break into florets) 1/4 cup Maida 3 tsp cornflour 1 scallion or salad onion (bulb and green finely chopped) 1 bell pepper (cut into bite size chunks) 2 tsp chopped ginger 2 tsp chopped garlic 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp red chilli flakes 1 tsp milk 1 tsp soy sau...

Gargi Mahatme, a staunch follower of my food blog, "Love and Calories", have always admired my efforts put in cooking and has recommended many world foods to me. Some of them, she has tried in her own kitchen and has sent the recipes to me. One such dish is this delicious "Cheesy Mushroom & Spinach Chicken Breasts". I am very pleased to include this dish in my blog as the "Guest Recipe". Thank You Gargi for sharing this recipe and apologies for the delay in publishing it to the world!! Enjoy Cooking!! Ingredients: 6 chicken breasts  oregano flakes grated cheese (generous amount) white button mushrooms (finely diced/chopped) a small bunch of spinach (you can use parsley as an option instead) olives (optional) but if you are using parsley,  add the olives as it will have the Italian touch to the dish.. (cheese+parsley+olives+garlic) 8-10 garlic (finely chopped) butter  extra virgin olive oil salt & pepper for seasoning toothpicks...

Chocolate! Chocolate!! Chocolate!!! I can never get over it...This C word is, was and always will be my weakness and the reason for my weight gain (oops..I shouldn't have told you that). You can ask me to diet if only the menu included a generous piece of Dairy Milk or a Chocolate Mud Cake....oooh! A big thank you to whoever thought of converting those lovely cocoa beans to soft, chewy, rich, smooth and delicious chocolate. So coming to my double chocolate brownies, I baked them two weeks back on a Friday night after coming from work. I was tired, exhausted and wanted to just crash on my couch and watch something nice on TV and welcome weekend. One of the channels were showing Johnny Depp and Juliett Binoche starrer 'CHOCOLAT" ...Oh my God I thought...I loved this movie and immediately went up to check my pantry to see whether I got all the ingredients to bake some brownies. For the chocolate lover that I am, I had everything ready to be baked up. I quickly baked...

The first time I came across this dish was on our honeymoon in Switzerland. The country was beautiful as expected, the cuisine too didn't disappoint us. Since  this picturesque country shares its border with Germany, Italy, Austria and France, its cuisine too has a large influence of these countries as you go towards the respective borders. We enjoyed the famous cheese fondue, Swiss Cheese and Chocolates, Swiss meringue with cream and last but not the least our favourite breakfast item....POTATO ROSTI!! During our week long stay, Rosti dominated our breakfast plates. It was way back in 2007 when I experienced the dangling sound of metal Cow Bells hanging around the necks of the cows, the beautiful alpine meadows, the charming old houses decorated with coloured flowers, the diplomatic capital of the World Geneva where we visited the United Nations office, Jungfraujoch - my first snowy experience at the top most point of Europe and more....everything still remains fresh...

It was a chilly yet Sunny Sunday morning in the countryside called Newtown in Wales where I had gone to spend a weekend at my Best friend Meghana's place. Though she never gives a damn  about this place, I get a sense of serenity, tranquility and at peace whenever I come here. (May be because, I live in a city and I don't get to see those meadows, sheep and mountains anymore).  Sunday was well spent as we made some hot masala chai, poured it in a flask, took some crisps and drove to a tourist spot in Mid Wales called Llanidloes (Please don't take an effort to pronounce it, it's Welsh...and the spellings have no connection with the pronunciation..:P). We stopped at a beautiful man made reservoir called the Llani Lake and what a sight it was. The river Severn was locked inside the dam and tinge of snow covered hills surrounded it. I could only imagine, how beautiful it would be in peak summer. The picture below will give you an idea of how postcardish view it was....

"Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns,      One a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross Buns,          Give them to your daughters, Give them to your sons                   One a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross Buns,                          Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns!!" Remember this nursery rhyme? Oh sure you do!! And how I wished in my school days, that a real Hot Cross Bun vendor should come knocking on my door and I run with a penny or two in hand to buy those delicious looking Hot soft buns...mmmm!! Then the realization strikes, that these rhymes cannot apply in India, girl! You can only run with a 50 paisa to get a delicious Vada pav or a samosa, not Hot Cross Buns!! And how I used to envy the children living in the British land. But only after coming here I knew that these were just a thing in the past. There are no Hot Cross Bun Ve...

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...