Velveteers - Pears and BBQ Baby Back Ribs for fruitful meatiness! and a Giveaway

Sooo.. I am super late with the Velveteers posting this month. I am one of those people who is anal about trying to be on time. Nevertheless, I usually am not too far off the mark, unlike this month. All blame to the weekly travel I have been doing recently...

But, this dish wouldn't have come to be, if not for that travel. So, no complaints,after all! :) While away in Ithaca last weekend, we stayed at a lodge close to Watkins Glen State Park and for dinner one of the nights, I had ordered barbecue short ribs, which, was the night's special.

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Daring Bakers - Baked not-so-Alaska!

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

So, I decided to make the Baked Alaska and to make it on the 26th, yes, yesterday! No, not overconfidence.. ok, perhaps, just a tad bit. And, I was paid back well for it with a blistered finger, a messy kitchen and overall annoyance.

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Farm to Table: Soup and Flat Bread for a rainy day

August 26, 2010: This post was featured on FoodBuzz Top 9 today

It's been a wet couple of days in the North East. I had been away from my home and beloved kitchen for five days and returning yesterday night I was just overcome with relief and happiness. I don't know why.. I typically love travelling and have a constant itch for it. But, I suppose doing it every week is quite another story :) I just don't know how consultants do this packing-up-every-week-for-work thing!

I think what I missed most, is the comfort of my kitchen and home cooked food even it be a simple Poha that I toss up for myself. The restaurant where Mr. FSK was put up was very fine, indeed, but then there is nevertheless, too much of a fine thing. After a couple of butter soaked, French Chef-ed dinners, I was about all ready for good ol' rice and dal!

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CSN Stores Review

Everytime I browse the CSN site I come away amazed; by the number of products they have there and how popular it is with shoppers, for clearly the same reason! :) Anyway, I have yet another opportunity to review an item from their inexhaustible store of treasures from kitchen appliances to bedroom furniture sets to just about everything and the sink! I am really looking forward to it and will keep you posted on how it goes... :)

Their Recipes ....

Fig, Apricot and Nut Biscotti - I tried to stay with the recipe but I don't like hazelnuts. So, I subed with almonds. Worked beautifully.

I was having a conversation with Al, the other day, on Twitter (yep, the 140 characters don't seem deter the long discussions :)). We were discussing how we rarely seem to actually try other bloggers' recipes or atleast blog about having tried them. Al's take was that it was the result of too much creativity and too little time...

Anyway, the discussion happened and was pushed to the back on my mind, until the photo contest at Leite's Culinaria happened. The idea of the contest was to recreate a recipe on the site and photograph it for the contest. Which, ofcourse presented the opportunity for point in para 1...

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Caramelised Onion, Paneer and Basil Pierogis - Daring Cooks August 2010

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

Pierogis are typically boiled or baked dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with variety of fillings from vegetarian to meat to sweet ones depending on the country and region. I always thought of them as European dumplings. And, they pretty much are...

I think I first came across these dough pockets in one of our wanderings in Paris. I have always loved dumplings and took to pierogis in a jiffy. I haven't seen much of them in the US and definitely never attempted making them myself before. Now, I am wondering just why I didn't!! I mean, they are super simple to make and with endless options for filling, so much fun as well!

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Touching my roots: Poha and Giveaway Winner

When I asked in May what you would like to see more of in my blog, I received a surprising number of comments asking for Indian recipes. But, shamefully I must say I have shied away from doing that. I do have reasons, even if they are silly and not entirely pardonable...

You see, I cook Indian food intuitively. As in, I rarely follow a recipe (I have never asked my mom for a recipe yet:) ), reconstructing dishes based on flavor profile and memories. And, most often, this cuisine is my comfort food, something that I can whip up without thinking much about it and flavors that come naturally to me. Which means, I rarely ever experiment with it. I tend to replay cherished palate memories over and over again.

Of course, there is nothing to stop me from sharing these perfect-as-is creations with you, I know. But, here is where my second "reason" comes in. Many things in this cuisine tend to look brown or the end product tends to be uni dimensional visually. I have found it rather difficult to photograph them appealingly. I do realise that this is my own shortcoming and entirely non-transferable to the cuisine.

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Chanterelles and Pasta Carbonara

Here, I'll say it; I love Chanterelles!! From the name, which, is such a melody, don't you think?; to the color, the rich sunset hue!; to their flavor, meaty yet oh so, delicate!

I have been in love with them for a while now and when I saw their stupendous beauty laid out for all to see by Danielle, Spring just couldn't come soon enough for me. Even when it had warmed up considerably enough for me to be hopeful of finding this bounty in grocery stores, I couldn't! My neighborhood stores didn't have any! Every week, I scrounged and came back empty, limping in disappointment. Even the Union Square markets, known for their variety fell short.

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Farm to Table: Red Currant Tea Cake

I always find it amazing when I find fruits that I was used to in India, once again here, in the US, only in a different color and known by a different name. In some cases, I never knew the Indian name anyway. So, unlikely I would recognise the English one! :)

Currant is one such fruit. I have seen the gorgeous red little berries pop out of many a bloggers' site and was pretty curious about them. When I received a small basket of them from my CSA, I was thrilled to, finally, be able to taste them! Imagine my surprise when I realised that they were anything but new and indeed a rediscovery of a wild growing berry in India.

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Guest Post by Trissalicious: Grandma's Mango Cream Pie

I met Trissa only recently when she visited NYC for a few days this Spring. But, I have been familiar with her food and work for a long time. I had admired her writing style; straight from the heart, and her mouthwatering photos of her recipes (head over to her blog, Trissalicious, to see more of her wonderful work!) and was itching to met the person behind it all.

When I, finally, met her, she was just what I expected! Fun, chirpy, warm and happy! :) We clicked, just like that. Over the course of English Tea with her and Christine, I found out more about her, her love for cookbooks, her love for recreating novelle restaurant dishes and her love for New York (YAY!!). Those few hours we spent together weren't enough by any means but sufficient to form a bond across the seven seas that we live!

And now, without further ado, I give the stage to Trissa, who is sharing her grandmother's cherished Mango Cream Pie recipe with us! :)

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DMBLGIT July 2010 - The Winners!!!! :)))

Thank you everyone for participating in this wonderful contest. This month, we received 53 entries from all over the world and some of them just left me speechless! Some mind-blowing-ly original composition that did make judging difficult. But, then, that's the way we'd like to keep it. So, great work everyone and keep up the art flowing... :-)

I would to like thank the fabulous judges, this month, Danielle, El, Ellie and Julia for their time.

Now for the winners. Congratulations to everyone!!! :)

OVERALL WINNERS:

1ST PLACE:

Light on Raspberries by Dario from Food Pixels : Food Photography Blog

{Beautiful lighting that draws your attention to the subject}

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