INTERNATIONAL DISH!!

GRILLED COTTAGE CHEESE ON POTATO CAKE

GRILLED COTTAGE CHEESE

Cottage cheese 250gms

MARINATION

Olive oil 30ml

Chopped garlic ½ tspn

Crushed pepper corns ½

Paprika ¼tspn

Mustard powder 1/8tspn

Salt to taste

Dill leaves ¼tspn

Lime juice 1tbspn

Dry white wine 20ml

SALSA

Dices of mushrooms 10gms

Dices of bell pepper 10gms

Dice of deseeded tomatoes 10gms

Olive oil 10ml

Chopped parsley 1/8tspn

Stuffed olive halved 4nos

Virgin olive oil 5ml

Lime juice 1 tbspn

Castor sugar ¼tspn

Salt to taste

PREPARATION:

Prepare the marinade. Cut the cottage cheese into rectangles 1½inch × 2inch. Apply the marinade & keep in refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours. Prepare salsa & keep aside. Heat grill bars & brown the cottage cheese on both sides until colored.

FOR PLATING THE DISH:

Spread boiled vegetables on the base followed by potato cake & finally topped with the cottage cheese. Arrange the prepared salsa around.

HOT POTATO CAKES

Mashed potatoes 120gms

Egg yolks 1nos

Butter 20gms

Finely chopped onions 20gms

Chopped parsley ¼tspn

Grated nutmeg a pinch

Salt & pepper to taste

Chopped mushrooms 1tspn

Milk 10ml

Flour for dusting

PREPARATION:

Prepare mashed potatoes. Pass through a fine sieve. Keep aside. Melt 10gms butter, saute onions, mushrooms. When dry, add to the mashed potatoes. Combine all the ingredients except flour & butter. Divide the mixture into 2 parts.

Shape into round patties. Dust in flour. Refrigerate for 30minutes.

Melt butter in a non-stick pan. Dust the potato patties with flour, shaking off excess flour. Shallow fry on both sides until nicely browned. Serve hot with main dish.

INDIAN BREAKFAST!!

EGG KHEEMA MASALA

Onion chopped 100gms

Ginger chopped ½ tspn

Garlic chopped ¼ tspn

Tomatoes chopped 175gms

Green chillies chopped 1tspn

Salt to taste

Red chilli chopped 1tspn

Peppercorns crushed ¼ tspn

Garam masala powder ¼ tspn

Oil 20ml

Butter 20gms

Eggs 3nos

GARNISH: lemon n tomato wedge & a coriander sprig

PREPARATION:

Heat oil in a kadahi, add in butter. Add onions, ginger & garlic. When onions are soft, add chilli powder, green chillies, tomatoes & salt. Stir for 2 minutes. Cover & simmer until tomatoes are soft. Light mash with a spatula. Break eggs & add into the masala. Stir continuously until eggs are cooked. Sprinkle salt, lime juice, garam masala, coriander leaves & pepper. Serve hot & garnish appropriately. An excellent breakfast dish!!

MERINGUE!

MERINGUE

Meringue is made of egg whites & sugar whipped together to incorporate air & form soft peaks. The usual ratio of sugar to egg whites is 2 to 1, measured by weight. Egg whites whipped without sugar are not meringue, they are simply egg whites whipped to a dry consistency.

            For perfect meringue, the following are the guidelines.

1.      Use egg whites at room temperature.

2.      Be sure the egg whites are not so old that they have started to deteriorate & get cloudy.

3.      Because fat prevents egg white from expanding, make sure they are clean & free of any egg yolk particles. The mixing bowl & whip or whisk must also be clean.

There are three basic types of meringues. French, Swiss & Italian. The ingredients for each type are essentially the same, but the methods of preparation & results are different.

·         French meringue is the best for mixing with nuts & using as a cake base. It should not be held for more than 10minutes before baking or the egg whites may start to separate from the sugar.

·         Italian meringue is a better choice if the meringue must stand for some time. It is denser because the egg whites are partially cooked & therefore it holds up longer before baking.

Swiss meringue is a mixture between French & Italian meringue. It is usually used in butter, creams & fillings, can be piped out in different shapes, then baked or dried.

Meringue should be baked at low temperature 200°F (94°C).  Meringue should be stored in warm, dry place. Meringue should not colour as it is baked.

FRENCH MERINGUE (2 LITRE, 880 ML)

480ml egg whites

910gms granulated sugar

3drops lemon juice / tartaric acid solution

PREPARATION:

·         If you are using a copper bowl to whip the meringue, omit the lemon juice or tartaric acid solution. Whip the egg whites, a handful of the sugar, & the lemon or tartaric acid for about 2mts or until the mixture has tripled in volume & has the consistency of thick foam.

·         Still whipping at high speed, gradually add the remaining sugar; this should take about 3mts. Continue to whip the meringue at high speed until stiff peaks form. Do not over whip.

·         Pipe or spread the meringue into the desired shape as soon as possible.

·         Bake at 200°F until dry.

ITALIAN MERINGUE (4l, 800ml)

480ml egg whites

680gm granulated sugar

240 ml light corn syrup

1 cup water (240ml)

PREPARATION:

·         Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl so you will be ready to start whipping them when the sugar syrup is ready.

·         Boil the sugar, corn syrup & water. When the syrup reaches 230°F (110°C), began whipping the egg whites on high speed. Continue boiling the syrup until it reaches 247°F (120°).

·         Remove the syrup from the heat & lower the mixer speed to medium. Pour the syrup into the egg whites in a thin steady stream. Turn the mixer back up to a high & continue to whip the meringue until it forms stiff peaks, approximately 5mts longer.

NOTE:

If you do not have a sugar thermometer, boil the syrup for about 8 mnts on medium heat before you start whipping the egg whites. Then let the syrup boil for about 6 mnts longer, before you add it to the whipped whites.

SWIS MERINGUE (1LITRE, 920ML)

480ml egg whites

910gm granulated sugar

·         Combine the egg whites & sugar in a mixing bowl. Place the bowl over simmering water to 49 C (120C), whipping constantly to avoid cooking the egg whites. Make sure all of the sugar is dissolved.

·         Remove from the heat & whip the mixture at high speed until it is completely cool & has formed stiff peaks.

SOME MERINGUE DESSERTS

1.      Baked Alaska

2.      Blackberry meringue tart lets

3.      Frozen raspberry  mousse with meringue

4.      Rum parfait

5.      Meringue black frost cake

6.      Marjolaine

Tartaric acid- is naturally present in most fruits, but commercial product is extracted from grapes. It has a number of purposes in cooking. Cream of tarter is made from it and it is found in baking powder & ammonium carbonate. When used in sorbets & fruit desserts, it brings out the fruit flavor. It is in expression and lasts for a very long time. Tartaric acid also acts as the catalyst for pectin glaze.

DESSERTS!!

JAM TARTS

SHORT CRUST PASTE

Flour 200gms

Chilled butter 100gms

Chilled water 30ml

PREPARATION:

In a bowl, cut flour & butter. Mix with finger tips to resemble white bread crumbs. Now fold in chilled water. Bind together to form dough. Cover & refrigerate for about 30minutes. Roll out the dough, dusting occasionally with flour. Line 8 tart moulds with the rolled out dough. Blind bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes. Demould, pipe in the jam. Serve during tea time, buffets or as a sweet.

JAM FILLING

Mix fruit jam 100gms

Water 50ml

Vanilla essence 4 drops

PREPARATION:

On a table top, cream jam till smooth. Transfer to a pan, add the rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce for a minute or so. Pour into the empty tarts.

DESSERTS!

LEMON TARTS

SHORT CRUST PASTE

Flour 200gms

Chilled butter 100gms

Chilled water 30ml

PREPARATION:

In a bowl, cut flour & butter. Mix with finger tips to resemble white bread crumbs. Now fold in chilled water. Bind together to form dough. Cover & refrigerate for about 30minutes. Roll out the dough, dusting occasionally with flour. Line 8 tart moulds with the rolled out dough. Blind cake at 200°C for about 20 minutes. Demould, pipe in the lemon curd. Serve during tea time, buffets or as a sweet.

LEMON CURD

Butter 55gms

Icing sugar 115gms

Lime (large) 1nos

Egg 1nos

Lemon yellow color 2drops

(Optional)

PREPARATION:

Grate the rind of the lemon. Keep aside. Melt butter & sugar over double boiled. Add in lime juice & rind. Remove, add in slightly beaten egg. Mix thoroughly. Return to double boiler; stir with a wooden spoon continuously until the mixture coats the spoon. Cool to a room temperature. Pipe the mixture into the prepared tart shells. Refrigerate to set. Serve.

NON-EDIBLE DISPLAYS!!

NON EDIBLE DISPLAYS

·        Vegetable & fruit carvings

·        Ice carving

·        Sugar display

·        Tallow / butter sculpture

·        Salt doughs

·        Thermocol carvings

·        Jelly logo

 SALT DOUGH

Refine flour 910gm

Water 480ml

Salt 455gms

Egg wash as required

Method –

Combine the flour & salt. Mix in just enough water to make fairly stiff dough. Roll out to the desired thickness about ¼ inches for most uses & brush the pieces with egg wash & bake at 375° F until the piece have a pleasant light brown colour.

NOTE- When make large piece, check to be sure they are dry enough so that it do not break in the oven also keep the dough.

TALLOW

It is used from 300year but it is outdated because of the popularity that the other non edible food display that has gained over the past few years also the tallow raincid very fast & hence cannot be kept for long time the traditional formula for making tallow culture is as follows:

1.     1/3 animal fat

2.     1/3 paraffin wax

3.     1/3 bee wax

METHOD-

Render pork, lamb or beef & pass through a multi- layer muslin or cheese cloth & set aside.

Over a medium heat melt paraffin wax & bee wax.

Combine all ingredients & stir until thoroughly incorporated pour into non pours & heat resistance container & allow cooling completely at room temperature.

HERBS!!

HERBS

Herb is to continental cooking or western cooking what spices are to Indian food or Indian cuisine. Herbs have been widely used in continental dishes since a very long time and they have the following role to play. They improve flavor & aroma to the dishes as they contain aromatic oil which gets released when the cell walls of the leaf cell break during cooking. Although they do not have much of nutritive value they do help in the process of dissation as they stimulate the release of gastric juices inside the stomach. In some dishes they help in imparting colour to the dish. They are used for decorating the dishes for this use of fresh herb are ideally suitable.

CLASSIFICATION OF HERB:

                               I.            FRESH HERBS

                            II.            DRIED HERBS

Ideally herb should be used as much as fresh possible but due to the availability in scares they may also be dried, packed and exported. Herbs can be grown in kitchen garden.

HARVESTING AND DRYING OF THE HERBS (method) –

·        The shoots and leaves should be collected from the plant just before they bloom.

·        They should be inspected to see, they are fresh and sound, then they are tied in small bundle and hung up to dry in a warm but not sunny place.

·        After 24 hour paper bag should be tied over them to keep out dust and to help retain colour in their leaves.

·        When sufficiently dry they should break up easily if rub between forefingers or thumb.

·        The leaves have the middle vain removed & they are then passed.

·        The sieved herb must be kept in air tight bottle or tins in order to conserve their flavor & aroma.

1.     BASIL- It is a small leaf with a pungent flavor and sweet aroma. It is used raw or cooked. Tomatoes dishes, sauce or salads & lamb dishes.

2.     BORAGE- This is a plant with furry leaves and blue flavor similar to cucumber when added to vegetable & salad.

3.     CHERVIL – It is small neatly shaped leaves with the delicate aromatic flavor. It is best used fresh because of its neat shape. It is employed a great deal for decorating.

4.     CHIVES – this is a bright green member of the onion family resembling a coarse grass. It is a delicate onion flavor. It is invaluable for flavoring salads, horsd`oeuvres, fish, poultry & meat dishes. It is used chopped as a garnish for soups & cooked veg. it should be used fresh.

5.     DIL – It has a feathery green leaves & is used in fish recipes & pickle.

6.     FENNEL – It has a feather green leaves & a slight aniseed flavor & is used for fish sauces, meat dish & salad.

7.     LOVAGE – This leaf has strong celery like flavor used in soup, stew & salad.

8.     MARJORAM – It’s a sweet herb which may be used fresh in salads pork, fish, poultry, cheese , egg and veg dishes & when dried can be used for flavoring soups, sauces, stews & certain stuffing.

9.     OREGANO – This has a flavor & aroma similar to marjoram but stronger used in Italian & Greek style cooking.

10.  PARSLEY – It is probably the most common & has numerous uses for flavoring garnishing and decorating a large variety of dishes. They may also be used for deep fried fish.

11.  ROSEMARY – It has a strong fragrance which should be used sparingly. It is used for flavoring soups, stews, sausages, salads & stuffing. It can also be sprinkled on grills or roasts of meat, poultry, fish & potatoes.

12.  SAGE – It has a strong, bitter, pungent flavor which aids the stomach to digest rich fatty matter & is used for stuffing for duck, goose and pork.

13. TARRAGON – It has a bright green attractive leaves. It is best used fresh particular when decorated chaudfroid dishes. It has a pleasant flavor and is used in bearnaise sauce. 

14. THYME – It is popular herb with the sweet flavor used in both fresh & dried form for fresh juice & stews, stuffing and salad vegetables.

15. FINE HERBS – They are mixture of fresh herbs usually chervil, tarragon, parsley & it is used in classical french cuisine.