Chef at Large

Alone tonight, I forgot to shop, so sat on the kitchen floor to investigate the stock on the shelves.
Quite interesting - I wonder, when I will ever eat three jars of honey?? I ended up with a small can of tomatoes, some dried, wild, Italian mushrooms, dried pasta called Mafalda Corta (from Naples! - I [...]

Thought I’d pop in for a quick bite and read while the family shopped at the Great India Place. I’m gradually getting over my aversion to trying new places and Pizzaria Express looked as good as any other. It’s a new place started by a chap named Raghuvir Sahai. According to Mr. Sahai, he has [...]

The Citrus Cafe is in a small (and very good I must add) hotel called ‘The Lemon Tree’. Rather hard to find due to no signage out front, it is however well worth the trouble, as we found out on Sunday.
Looking for a convenient spot to meet on Sunday, the Lemon Tree was suggested and [...]

Cooking all three meals every day isn’t proving to be as much of a load as I thought it would be. After reaching home around 7:00pm with fresh vegetables and breads, dinner is ready in the next 1 hour. The next morning, breakfast is usually served around 7:30am with sandwiches for lunch ready by 8:15am. [...]

Ashwin and I decided to meet up midweek and yesterday seemed as good a day as any. Since I had had enough of western style food, the general consensus was either an Indian or a Chinese restaurant. Roaming around Khan market, we found SideWok.
If I were to choose a single redeeming feature at SideWok, it [...]

I’ve been meaning to change the way we eat for quite a while, but for some reason or the other, didn’t really get around to it. But now, things are going to change and thats that. I’m tired of being overweight. Hence the new health regime at home now.
The kitchen is now off limits to [...]

We awoke to watery sunshine then went back to sleep.  We dozed for ages, it was so relaxing.  We read and drank coffee then went for a drive at about 3.00pm, by which time it was raining again.  We climbed Mont D’Or where D had been the previous evening but the 56 steps of the [...]

I cooked this for dinner yesterday. It’s interesting what innovative dishes you come up with, when you don’t really have a choice of cooking implements or ingredients.
Looking up my inventory, I chopped up some courgettes, spring onions, potatoes, smoked sausage, mushrooms and french beans. Heated some oil, fried a little cumin seed, added some finely [...]

We awoke to a cool and damp day but as it is our holiday we don’t mind that much.  We did some basic shopping then had a drive out to the countryside.  There is a distinct lack of wild life in this area compared to some places we have stayed, the only things of interest have been [...]

If its one thing Zainab doesn’t like saving time on, it’s her sauces. This sauce was simmered for 3 hours before it was pronounced fit for human consumption.
This sauce used Vine tomatoes as the base, which impart a nicer flavor than the usual variety. Also include was plenty of garlic, some carrots, celery and a [...]