Lemony Pasta

What's a Lemony pasta, you might ask. I wanted to go with Lemon Pasta, but it sounded like the pasta was made from lemon rinds or something. But that's not what this is.

I came across a pasta recipe in a magazine a long time back. It had pasta that was flavored with lemon zest and ricotta, and several other ingredients all of which I've forgotten. But, adding lemon zest in pasta was new to me and it stuck with me. Last evening, I raided the fridge trying to put together a simple dinner. Pasta is usually a go-to resort for me. So, I started thinking along those lines and was reminded of the lemon zest infusion.

I kept it very simple (for the first time) by trying out Pasta without any tomatoes or sauce. I think the Italians might scorn at this, but it tasted surprisingly decent - and refreshing! If you're a fan of lemons, you should try this out. This is a dish with clean, crisp, minimal flavors.

Ingredients:

1. A bag of uncooked pasta (1 pound)
2. 1.5 lemons (or 2 lemons)
3. 1 teaspoon of salt
4. 2-3 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper (this is the only spice ingredient)
5. 1/2 cup of ground/grated parmesan cheese
6. 1/4 cup of olive oil
7. a handful of flat-leaf parsley (Italian parsley)
8. a few basil leaves (if around)

Preparation:

1. Cook the pasta in a pot of heavily salted water and a drizzle of olive oil. 11-12 minutes is ideal cooking time for most pastas. 
2. Drain the pasta and reserve a ladle of  the pasta water. Mix the cooked pasta with the ladle of warm pasta water so that the pasta is not overly dry (remember there is no sauce)
3. To the pasta, add the zest of 1.5 (or 2) lemons and the juice of 1 lemon. Gently mix.
4. Add salt, pepper (to your taste), chopped parsley and basil. Combine.
5. Finally add a few drizzles of olive oil to moisten the pasta, and add the parmesan cheese. Toss gently and serve.

I loved this! It was so simple, yet every flavor was distinct and complemented each other very well. This recipe can be updated by adding some herb de provence  (dried Italian herbs), raw grape tomatoes (to give some color and vegetable), and some minced garlic sauteed in olive oil.

Lemon-Mint Cake

I never realized how much I liked lemons until recently. I have always loved mint in any manner. So, the combination of lemon and mint is just the perfection of refreshing lightness to me. When I saw Giada making this cake, I made a note to myself amidst the cleaning and random glances at the TV, that I should surely try it sometime. 

So, I did. It is a decent cake, but it didn't live up to my ideal expectations of a light, airy, refreshing cake. I followed most of the recipe. I didn't have any mint leaves on hand, so I added peppermint extract (1/2 teaspoon). But, it was not a good substitute. There wasn't much of the mint flavor. But the lemon flavor was pretty good - I was happy. I especially liked the lemon syrup. So, here are some changes and tweaks I made, and wish to make in the future. 

1. Reduce the amount of sugar that goes into the lemon syrup. I would recommend adding 1/4 - 1/2 cup. I added 1/2 cup of sugar, but it could have been slightly reduced. 
2. Use lots of slightly crushed mint leaves. Or use peppermint oil, and not extract. 
3. Use cake-flour instead of all-purpose flour. It should make the cake lighter. 
4. Beat the egg-yolks and sugar until the mixture reaches the "ribbon stage" - wherein the batter falls in ribbons. If the egg-yolks, sugar and oil are beaten together lightly, the cake might smell of the yolks, and nobody likes that.
5. Let the baked cake cool for 10 minutes. Then poke holes on top using a fork and drizzle lemon syrup on top, allowing the cake to soak it all in. The more the cake rests in this syrup, the better. This allows for better absorption of flavors than adding the syrup during the time of serving. 

I think I've made some progress in my quest for the perfect lemon cake through this one! Let's see. 

Peppermint Hot-Chocolate

No need to rush to the nearest Starbucks for a Peppermint Hot Chocolate or Peppermint Mocha. It doesn’t have to be a rare, limited-edition holiday drink either. It’s ridiculously easy to prepare at home and I guarantee that you can enjoy several cups of the drink without stepping out of your warm house. I rarely make such promises - so trust me. 

 

Ingredients (serves 3):

1. 3 cups milk (1.5 cups of cream + 1.5 cups of milk will make it richer, but I only used 2% milk and it still turned out good)
2. ¼ cup sugar
3. a pinch of salt
4. ¾ - 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
5. 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
6. 1 teaspoon peppermint extract or 3-4 drops edible peppermint oil
7. a couple of dollops of whipped cream and caramel syrup (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, and salt on medium-heat. Do not boil the milk. Wait for it to scald and steam.
2. At this point add the chocolate chips and instant coffee and stir continuously till the chocolate melts completely. The coffee brings out the chocolate flavor.
3. Add the peppermint oil or extract and remove from heat. Stir well. If you possess a small cordless whip/beater such as this handy-dandy one, vigorously whip/beat the chocolate till it froths. It’s a very useful little gadget that I got as a Christmas gift - it beautifully whips up coffee and chocolate in minutes!

Pour into mug/s, top with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup and serve!

Add a little more coffee granules and you end up with Peppermint Mocha!

Brownie Pie

It’s the week of chocolates and roses. Since there is a chocolate fanatic at home, I decided that he deserved a round of indulgence. I’m trying to keep up the happy and warm spirits of every occasion and festival. No harm done in breaking the monotony of the weeks with such small celebrations, right?

So, I tried a simple and basic brownie pie. No frills, no nonsense chocolate brownie with a molten center. It’s chocolately and fudgey to put a chocolate lover in a slice of heaven. It’s also not too sweet. The coffee in the recipe brings out the richness of the chocolate and adds an additional note of bitterness to the bittersweet chocolate. So, this is actually an “adult” brownie rather than a kid-friendly one. The top of the brownie is crusty and crispy while the middle is moist and gooey. Have my descriptions tempted you enough to try this?

Thanks again Ina, for yet another fool-proof recipe.

I  didn’t drizzle the top with chocolate ganache - even the chocoholic admitted it would be too much. I also didn't add any nuts - I just wanted pure chocolate delight.

Mango Chutney

The Mango is the sweetheart of all tropical fruits. It’s the most sought after, universally preferred fruit that is good when it is raw or ripe - or even in-between! I am perhaps the rare exception - I am not a fan of mangoes. I like them when they are raw (who doesn’t), but I don’t like their pungent ripe flavor. So, the sub-par mangoes we get here are ideal to experiment in cooking because they have no strong sweet or tart flavors like the rich Indian ones. These mangoes exude just a little bit of mango-flavor and take on the flavors that are added.

For a recent cook-out that consisted of an international mix of people, I thought I would bring something totally tropical, widely familiar and ever exotic - the mango chutney. Having never prepared mango chutney before, I drew inspiration from the mango pachadi and came up with this. I’m happy to have come up with this recipe - for it’s a keeper. It blends the line between sweet and savory and can be had as a side-dish with anything. Anand prefers to eat it as is.

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

1. 2 Mangoes - halfway ripe (a little sour, a little sweet)
2. 3 green chillies (for a milder spice)
3. 1.5 teaspoons minced ginger
4. 1.5 cups water
5. 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
6. 2 teaspoons cumin powder / jeera powder
7. 2 teaspoons coriander powder
8. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
9. pinch of hing / asafoetida
10. pinch of saffron
11. 1 teaspoon salt
12. 2 tablespoons brown sugar or jaggery (increase or decrease this amount based on how sweet the mangoes are. My mangoes were hardly sweet, nor were they tart enough)
13. ¼ cup cilantro / coriander leaves
14. 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
15. some lemon juice (depends on how tart the mangoes are)

Preparation:

1. Peel the mangoes and cut into small pieces
2. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat some vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, splutter the mustard seeds. Add the minced ginger and green chillies along with a pinch of hing. Saute for a few seconds.
3. Add the mangoes and saute them on medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add enough water to cover the mangoes (about 1.5 cups). Add the spices to this - salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, brown sugar/jaggery, and a pinch of saffron. Close the lid, reduce the heat a little bit and let the mangoes cook completely. Periodically, check on them and give a stir so that they don’t stick to the pan.
5. Remove from heat when the mangoes are completely cooked and soft and there’s hardly any water. Let it cool.
6. When cooled, add roughly chopped coriander leaves and pulse the chutney in a mixer a couple of times. The consistency of the chutney is up to you. You can puree it to form a smooth paste like chutney, or give it a little bit of texture and bite. Or, you don’t have to pulse or puree. Just serve as is.
7. Taste the chutney - it should be sweet, spicy, and slightly tangy. If there’s no tang (because the mangoes are too sweet or just not tart enough), squeeze the juice of half a lemon and mix well.

The chutney goes well as a savory dip, jam, and spread. It can even be had as a side-dish with rice.