Ladled

When I looked at  Cooking for Gracie , it was familiar from Keith Dixon's humorous 'Alternate side cooking' Man with a Pan  where he has trouble coming to terms with a leak of his power on what his infant eats, once his wife starts cooking and his daughter starts liking the new food. He also compares cooking no-nos and kitchen to road and its rules. His dismay in losing control of being the sole food maker for his little daughter is just one of the difficult things that new parents have to deal with. As a child, we might just answer very easily to the question of who our favourite parent with all the taking sides that happens in the family. I wonder how the parents feel pitched against each other for their children's love. Touchy, as the subject is, I appreciated the author's honesty. For new parents theres ton of preview into the 'horror show' of not only sleepless nights but also days and nights merging as well. I learn that you dont feed a baby und...

Delicious memories

In the kitchen with a good appetite

My husband wanted something spicy for an evening snack. There are many great tasting Indian snacks but they require frying which is not easy for me. I landed upon these baked chips  and baked manchurian  recipes. Oh and the mint chutney. Finally after having it so many times in the restaurant and thinking that I should make it someday. New dosas to try bajji dosai  and spinach oat dosai

Sweet magic I am making Cherry Clafouti from this book. The rest didnt appeal to me due to the use of corn starch or xantham gum. I thought I saw fresh cherries like last week at he grocery store. And now, theres none. I went with frozen dark cherries. What a relief Maraschino is not the only way to treat cherries. I look at Julia childs cherry clafouti . The procedure is slightly different. she puts some of the batter in first, after a film is set, she adds the cherries and then the remaining batter. Its more cherries but the sugar to flour ratio is 2/3:1/2. My main reason to crosscheck with another recipe is to see if the 1hr time makes sense. It must be the low temperature of 325F. Also, I have divided the portions into 2/3 and 1/3. I hope 40 and 20 min will do. Or that I exactly know when the center is still jiggly and outside crisp. What a help it is that Julia Child suggests 'stick the fork to done' method. Another recipe  bakes it for only at 30min as the oven is se...

Man with a pan Gullah  - red rice Steak Diane Sous vide  in Jesse green's 'Who the man?' Mt Ararat Pilaf Food mill  for  removing seeds from tomatoes

Reading of Balzac's childhood hardships in Balzac's omelette , regarding the bad food he had to live on, I was reminded of my relation with food at hostel. The students who ate meat were seated in a different section. under the tubelight, the chicken pieces glistened with tiny hair. Lemon cucumber  curry was our least favorite. My sister would throw some of her share under the table.  Sappadi pappu was my favorite. Its a simple runny version of boiled lentils with salt added. My love for it had made rounds. seniors asked me if I liked it, I said "yes". Then they dumped all their food into my plate. I had already had my fill. when I said yes, I meant in general and not limitlessly. Thats my first gorging unpleasant memory. Goduma rava upma in huge quantities turned out perfectly dry with no icky sticky business. Tamarind chutney with its red tantalising color and red chili pepper seeds in it, I wasnt grown up yet for that taste. Before being sent to the hostel, my p...