Potato Sausage Zucchini Soup

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of Butter
1 small sized Onion sliced
2 large Pods of Garlic minced
2 fresh Green Chilies minced
1 medium sized Potato sliced
2-3 Sausages sliced
1/2 a Zucchini sliced
3 glasses of chicken stock
1/2 a cup of Parsley minced
1/2 a cup of fresh Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
In a soup pot, brown the onion and garlic in the olive oil and butter on low heat. Increase to high heat, add the chilies and stir in, then add the potato. Saute on high heat till the potatoes start  Add the sausage and zucchini and stir for about 45 seconds. Add the chicken stock and the parsley and lower heat once the soup starts boiling. Cook on low heat till the vegetables are tender. Stir in the fresh cream and add the salt and pepper to taste.

I served this with toasted garlic bread.

Chilli Corned Beef - Kerala Style

I absolutely love the Kerala style of Chilli Beef. Cooking that however involves some preparation and is a tad time consuming. Today I was in the mood to eat something spicy, but was so famished by the time I got home that I wanted it to cook real quick. So I took inspiration from the Kerala Chilli Beef and this is what I created.

I used a can of Corned Beef. Yes, processed. To make up for that, all the other ingredients I used were either fresh or homemade. The masala powder I used is courtesy my Sister-in-Law's Mother. She makes the most aromatic, fantastic masala powder that I actually use when I cook the Kerala Chilli Beef the way my S-i-L taught me to.

Do watch the salt when you use Corned Beef because there's already a lot of salt in it.

Chilli Corned Beef - Kerala Style

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 large onion finely sliced
50-100g of fresh ground ginger garlic paste
3-6 slit green chillies
400-500g of Corned Beef
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of masala powder
50-100g of grated coconut
salt to taste

Method

Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, lower the flame and add the onions. Cook till the onions start turning translucent, then add the ginger-garlic paste. Cook till the raw smell disappears, then add the green chillies and saute on high heat for a minute. Mash and add the corned beef to the pan continuing to saute on high heat till the fat starts to melt. Then add the cumin and masala powders. Stir in on high heat then lower the flame. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the grated coconut, and salt if required. Cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice. Or use as a filling to make sandwiches. 

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum (cosmopolitan.com)

To make the cocktail base:

1 lb. Brown sugar

0.25 lb. Butter

Pinch of salt

4.0 oz. Fresh apple cider

0.5 oz. Fresh extracted ginger juice

0.5 tsp. Nutmeg

0.5 tsp. Allspice

Blend ingredients, bring to a boil before removing from the heat, then let cool and store in refrigerator. Then add:

2 tbsp. of the prepared cocktail base

2.0 oz. Appleton Estate Reserve

6.0 oz. Hot water

Stir the above ingredients together and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Banana Halwa

Ingredients
2 ripe Robusta bananas
1 tablespoon of ghee
2 cardamon pods
2-3 tablespoons of jaggery

Method
Peel and mash the bananas. In a saucepan heat the ghee and cardamon seeds over low heat for about 45 seconds. Add the bananas and stir till the ghee is mixed evenly with the bananas. Add the jaggery and blend well with the banana as it melts. Turn off the heat when the ghee starts separating from the mixture. Serve hot.  

Mashed Potatoes - 02

Ingredients
a pound of boiled potatoes
a cup of milk
a tablespoon of butter
salt to taste

Method
Peel and mash the potatoes. In a saucepan heat the butter and milk over low heat until the butter is melted. Slowly blend this mixture into the potatoes till it is smooth and creamy. Season with salt to taste.