No. No? No! Nooooooo

Oh She said it all 🙂

ChipsnChutzpah

In this age of live healthy, eat healthy, do good, be good, breathe deeply, exercise and the likes, I shouldn’t be doing any of the things mentioned below; ideally, but then the articles linked to, say otherwise.

– No egg yolks. But this heresays they are good!

– No nuts coz they have fat! But this here says the fats are the good, heart-healthy unsaturated kinds.

– No other oil except olive oil. But this here says olive is good only when used cold, else use canola.

– No alcohol. But this here says “Moderate amounts of alcohol raise levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good” cholesterol)”.

– No bread. But this here says “Bread products can be the foundation of a healthy, low-fat diet.”

 

What should I believe in? How do you choose? Gut feel, trust the source, learn from friends and family’s experiences?

 

This post is…

View original post 15 more words

Chef’s Table:Amiamo La Pizza

Pizza è la prova che Dio ci ama e vuole che siamo felici- Pizza is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Such welcoming lines from the Mövenpick news release. 🙂

Mövenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore recently hosted “Fall in love with Pizza” chef’s table for a couple of bloggers. I being one of them, had an opportunity to experience the finest ingredients and insightful conversations. Chef Mayur was at the table who knows his pizza very well. The event was held at Mezzaluna, their fine dining restaurant.

The best part about the whole experience was the chance to meet the chef and discuss the method of cooking, dough rolling, topping selection and even the choice of the wine [Moncaro].

The toppings included, panchetta. figs in balsamic, hand picked garden herbs, roasted vegetables, smoked chicken with pine nuts and oh the beautiful cheeses. What a stunning makeover these pizzas got at the celebrated restaurant.

We tasted the following:

• Caprina [Wild mushroon, fresh thyme, goat cheese and roasted red peppers] – I missed eating this one 😦
• Contadina [Grilled artichokes, roasted zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms with sun dried tomatoes and fresh herbs] – One of my fav.
• Braccio Di Ferro [Baby Spinach, caramelized onions and feta]- What excellent combination was this one.
• Fromaggi [4 cheese pizza]- I had been shying away from this one for sometime now but it stared at me on a whole wheat base and I would not say no 🙂
• Pizza E Fichi [Parma ham and balsamic marinated figs]- I am a convert to the non traditional toppings with one one. The taste was magical.
• Vesuvio [Roasted veggies, panchetta and ricotta]
• Genovese [Smoked chicken, basil pesto, fontina cheese and pine nuts]- Divine is the word. Aaah the magic of smoked flavor with pine nuts. bliss.
• Bufalina [Lamb meat, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes] The lamb was chewy for my taste but  I am sure it was just one off case. 🙂

Meal ended on a high with the stunning Mövenpick icecream. Oh my God. It was to die for.

High points of the event:

• Wine pairing
• Gracious hosts
• Wheat base option for the pizza
• Super thin crust and just the right portion of toppings on each.
• And yes the ice cream

The non vegetarian pizzas are priced at 550 each and the vegetarian ones are at 450 each. Darn good deal I must say 🙂 [Exclusive of the taxes]

Where:

115 Pipeline Road | Bangalore | India

+91 80 4300 1000 | hotel.bangalore@moevenpick.com

Pic courtesy Tadka-Pasta.

 

 

Low Carbs Pizza

Ever wondered if there was an alternate/healthier version of the otherwise loaded pizza. Being on a healthy-eating spree inspires me to read and understand and appreciate these alternate ingredients.

On one of the blogs I read something about Cauliflower rice to make pizza base. It is absolutely genius and easy to put together.

You shall need: [Feeds 2]

3 cups… Cauliflower Rice [Recipe follows]

Pizza Sauce of your choice

Toppings of your choice [ I used jalapenos, fresh corn kernels, olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and chilly flakes and some mozzarella]

2 tbsp plus more… Cheese of your choice [I used a mix of Cheddar and mozzarella]

Salt

1 tbsp… Oregano

2 eggs [ I used 1 but the binding was not upto the mark. Hence 2 eggs must go in]

Method:

• Clean the florets of the cauliflower.
• Pulse it in a food processor until it resembles coarse rice.
• Boil water in a pan and dunk the cauliflower rice in for 3 min.
• Take it out on a cheese cloth and squeeze all the water out.
• This needs effort and is worth the hard work.
• Once it is nice and dry, add salt, pepper, chilly flakes, oregano, cheese and 2 eggs.
• Mix well.
• Line a try with butter paper and spread the cauliflower mix on it evenly.
• Bake in a 200C pre heated oven for 25-30 min or until it is nice and golden.
• Pull it out and arrange the toppings the way you like.
• Bake for further 15 min at 220C and it is ready to serve.

Cheers,

Sending this to:

  Valli’s Kids Delight event  Hosted By Kalyani

Vardhini‘s blog event hosted by Amrita.

Chocolate and Plum cake

I had a packet of Indian Plums lying around in the fridge. Now who would want to throw away those precious plums? The pati does not like them and there is only so much that I can eat.

While I am on a forced break from cooking due to a bad dog bite on the right hand fingers, I still made this to cheer myself up 🙂

Method and Ingredients: [makes 1 – 8″ cake]

• Sift 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Keep aside.
• Cream 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup brown sugar. Add 2 eggs one at a time until nice and light.
• Alternate flour mix and 3/4 cup buttermilk (add 1/2 tbsp vinegar in milk and let it stand for 5 min)
• Melt 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate and keep aside.
• In a small pan, boil 1/2 cup water add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup plum pieces. Let it reduce to almost 1/2. Let the plums cool well.
• Fold the melted chocolate and plum sauce the cake batter and bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 25 min or until a skewer when inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Let it cool in pan for 10 min and remove from the pan. Serve when it is cooled well. Cheers!!

Cheers,

Sending this to:

  Valli’s Kids Delight event  Hosted By Kalyani

Vardhini‘s blog event hosted by Amrita.