DAY 2 08.05.13

DAY 2

All kids love chicken and the more fried and crunchy it is the more they are happier! Arnav is no exception. Every week he wants KFC!! Now once in awhile to eat from there is fun but I want him to eat more healthy stuff but of  course with chicken!!! And the other thing he loves is Chinese cuisine! so I thought let me infuse both the style to make chicken wings with Thai overtones and the crispiness of a fried chicken!!!
So after a lot of googling i finally zeroed in on this recipe!!!

Southeast Asian Chicken Wings Recipe Adapted from Fine Cooking
Make 12-14 Chicken Wings | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20-28 minutes
Ingredients:
3 pounds whole chicken wings (12-14) i also used other boneless breast pieces also!!
The Marinade:
1/2 cup (125ml) coconut milk
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, white part only, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 scallions, white part only, coarsely chopped. As I didn't have this so I used shallots!
2 Thai chilies with seeds, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
12-14 long bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. This is more for presentation and ofcourse looks great for a cocktail party!! But as this is for my son, I didn't use it!
Oiled paper towel or cloth
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce (Mae Ploy)
 2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced for garnishing
Method:
Use paper towels to pat the chicken pieces dry.
In a blender or food processor, puree the Marinade until smooth.
Pour the Marinade over the chicken pieces in a bowl.Chill for at least 2-4 hours or overnight.
Remove any excess marinade on the chicken pieces.
Heat a griddle pan. Wipe the pan with an oiled paper towel or cloth or u can also use an oil spray to coat the surface evenly with oil.
Grill the chicken pieces until golden brown, about 8-12 minutes, depending on the heat. Turn over and grill the other side, another 8-12 minutes or until desired tenderness.
Brush both sides of the chicken wings with the Thai sweet chili sauce and grill until the glaze sizzles, 1-2 minutes each side. Transfer the chicken wings to a plate lined with banana leaf, garnish with scallion greens, and serve.

I am going to rate whatever I do on 4 levels and on a scale of 1 to 10!

1. Presentation:         7 nice and sticky, definitely good comfort food!!
2. Health quotient:    8 definitely as no frying and very little oil used for grilling!!
3. Taste:                    9 excellent tangy sweet sour and everything else!!!
4. Arnav's opinion: 10!!!! so totally worth it!! 

wanna go on making stuff like this for Arnav, as wen u see the satisfied look on his face it makes up for all the cooking in this hot hot weather. so that's all for today!!! Oh and the weight.... thankfully didn't go up with the chicken wings!! i guess protein sure is good!! the weight is at 66.5 kg!!

Rest later and now back to the reality.......
Till later
XOXO

Well its been a loonnngggg time since I last posted. Have wondered many a times that I should start writing the blog, but used to always come up with zero ideas, as to what I should write about!!! I don't have an exciting life, no major travels, no major events etc!!! So I thought lets write about something I enjoy doing and that's COOKING!! So I am going to write about my trials and tribulations in whatever I try and cook!!! With a small add on that ill try and cook only healthy dishes with the hope that I loose some weight in the process and also make my son Arnav try all kinds of different cuisines !!! SO HERE GOES.....................


DAY-1 06.05.13

I lovvveeee sandwiches, give me a sandwich anytime day or night and I am game. but of course it has to have some non veg. So I thought what better way to start this food blog than with a sandwich. But of course it has to be healthy also, so I came up with an idea of a Panini. After browsing around a bit and picking up some tips here and there I came up with my version of a Chicken Panini. and as it has to be healthy it also has a of of healthy veggies!! So here's my recipe for Chicken Panini.


CHICKEN PANINI

Ingredients

1. chicken boneless breasts- 2 pieces
2. Italian seasonings powder or any other spice rubs, like tex mex , tandoori, Chinese, bar be que
3. multigrain bread 4 slices or pita bread or ciabitta  bread
4. shredded mozzarella cheese  1/4th cup. Now I know you can wonder how can cheese be healthy, but I believe anything in moderation is always good and even the nuitrionalist  Rujuta Diwakar  recommends a slice of cheese daily!
5. zucchini slices 6-8
6. tomato slices 6-8
7. mushroom slices (optional)
8. roasted yellow/red pepper 6-8 strips. To make roasted  pepper just drizzle the peppers with little extra virgin oil and season with salt and pepper and grill in a aluminium lines baking tray in the oven for 10 mins at 350 degrees. When done and cooled just peel or remove the skin of the pepper and the nice pulpy part of the pepper is left!!!
9. salt to taste
10. pepper to taste
11. and last but not least pesto sauce!! Now to make pesto sauce its very easy!! In a blender put 2-3 cloves of garlic 1 1/2 cup of basil leaves, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper for seasoning and 1/2 cup of pine nuts. Pine nuts are called cilongi in Hindi, but they are very expensive, so u can substitute it with walnuts too! Blend this mixture and slowly add extra virgin oil to make a smooth and creamy paste. This paste can be refrigerated for a week or can be freezed for up to a month!
12. basil leaves few
13. baby spinach leaves few. Most people would suggest and use lettuce in sandwich, but I am using baby spinach leaves as they are healthier and as this sandwich is going to be grilled so the spinach would get cooked in the process and if lettuce was used would become more limp and soggy in a Panini.

Now the making:

Beat the chicken down with a rolling pin so that all the pieces are even. This helps in even and quick cooking of it. Rub the Italian seasoning on the chicken. As this is a Panini so I have suggested Italian seasoning but u can use whatever seasoning you like or even use leftover chicken. Heat a griddle pan and put olive oil in it. Cook the chicken 5 mins on each side and keep aside. Similarly season the zucchini, tomato and mushroom slices with salt pepper and olive oil and cook in the griddle pan.
Now to assemble the sandwich. On a slice of bread spread a little pesto sauce and then some mozzarella. Then put some zucchini slice, tomato and mushroom slices. Put some chicken pieces on top and cover it with some basil and spinach leaves and some more mozzarella. Cover it with the other slice of bread which also has pesto sauce spread on it. Put this on a sandwich maker and close it or you can use the same griddle pan too and put a weight on top of sandwich for it to become thin and also to get the groove marks on it. Cook for 5 mins till the cheese has melted. That's it!!!!

Well I tried it and it came out great!! My son loved it! So Day 1 a success!!

I am going to rate whatever I do on 4 levels and on a scale of 1 to 10!

1. Presentation:         5 as it was a bit messy!!
2. Health quotient:    8 definitely!!
3. Taste:                    8 definitely good and the cheese of course makes it better
4. Arnav's opinion: 10!!!! so totally worth it!! 

So at the end of Day 1, all went ok!! Now to the other important part of this blog!! The weight loss!!! So here goes. Day 1 the weight stands 66.6 kgs. Phew that's a lot and I have a long way to go. The aim is to come to 60, so here's to you, best of luck!!!!!

That's all for today rest later!!
XOXO

begining!!!!

it may b a begining but at the moment it already feels like an end. dont know what to rite and wat to tell abt i, me , myself. blank blank blank :( have just  finished the intial setup of a blog and now have jus got 5 mins left to wirte. sudden plan to go to a friends house, but will surely come up with some tidbits from there, till then see you!!!