This menu was created when I had to plan a lunch for some
guests who needed a meal that was not too heavy or difficult to digest. Of
course, the dessert isn’t too light - but then the lightness of the main course
kind of balances it off.
The main course, with its accompaniments, is simple and
really easy to make; the dessert however, requires a certain degree of
patience. The recipe for the dessert looks like a short story or something but,
I assure you that it’s not as complicated as the look of the recipe suggests.
As regular visitors to this blog may have noticed, I try to
keep the names of the dishes, I create really simple and that’s what I
initially did with the dessert too, I named it Chocorange but the sound of it
does not befit the look and taste so I just went ahead and ‘Frenchified’ what
it really is: Chocolate and OrangeJ
If you think Chocrange is better, please let me know – I will go with the
majority.
8a) Pan Grilled Fish with
Mint
Ingredients:
500 Gms Fish
Fillets (or largish pieces)
1 ½ Cups
Mint Leaves
1 Onion
(Medium Sized)
½ Piece
Fresh Ginger
2 to 3 Limes
(depending on the juiciness and size of
the limes)
Salt to
Taste
1 Tbsp Oil
(or even less)
Method:
Cut the fish into medium size pieces which are not too thick.
This is essential for even and easy cooking as the oil used in this recipe is
next to nothing
Wash the fish and pat dry
Chop the onion and the ginger and extract the juice of the
lime.
Blend mint leaves, chopped onion, ginger, lime juice and
salt to fairly smooth sauce* in a blender or food processor
Marinate the fish in the mint sauce (that you now have) for
at least an hour, do not marinate for too long as the lime kind of cooks the
fish and we don’t want it to crumble or anything like that when we cook it.
Heat a non stick griddle or pan to medium and brush with
oil, place the pieces of fish on the pan – if the griddle or pan is wide enough
you can put in all the pieces, at one shot.
Brush the ‘top side’ of the fish with oil and leave to cook
on gentle heat for about 3 minutes or until the fish begins to look cooked on
the lower side.
Pour remaining marinade evenly over the fish
Flip and repeat
Once the fish looks nearly done, increase the heat and
caramelise the pieces – serve hot.
* you can add a touch of water or a few drops of
odourless oil to this mixture if the mix does not blend easily – a lot depends
on which blender/liquidiser or food processor one uses
8b) Pesto Inspired Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup basil
(fresh)
12 walnut
halves
3 tbsp olive
oil
2 cloves of
garlic
40 – 50 gms
cheese (I use Monterey Jack but any kind
will do as long as it’s not too strong)
Juice of ½ a
lime
2 flat tsp
sugar
Salt to
taste
Method:
Throw everything but the salt into a liquidiser and blend
till absolutely smooth. Taste and then adjust salt once the sauce is blended,
cheese is salty and you may not need to add any at all.
8c)Mushroom and Bell
Peppers
Ingredients:
1 Packet
Mushrooms Of Your Choice (Or what’s available!)
½ of a Red
Bell Pepper
½ of a
Yellow Bell Pepper
5 - 6 really slim Spring Onions
4 – 5 Fresh Carom
(ajwain) Leaves (substitute with a
generous pinch of dry Carom (ajwain) seeds if you cannot lay your hands on the
fresh leaves)
1 Medium
Sized Tomato
2 Cloves of
Garlic, Grated
A Pinch of
Red Chilli Flakes or Paprika Powder
1 Tbsp Oil
(conservative)
Salt to taste
Clean the mushrooms thoroughly and slice, retaining the
stems as far as possible; the slices should be fairly thin
De-seed the peppers and slice into slender pieces,
lengthways.
Cut off the leafy part of the Spring Onions so that the 'oniony' part is about the same length as the sliced. peppers.
Grate the tomato and keep aside (needless to mention, you
chuck the skin)
Wash and slice the Carom (ajwain) leaves into slivers
Heat the oil and garlic in a pan, adding the garlic at this
stage (rather than once the oil is hot) prevents it from getting burnt and
turning bitter
Add the spring onions and toss gently for about a minute or two.
If using Carom (ajwain) seeds, add as soon as the garlic
begins to develop a few blisters and the oil seems sufficiently hot. You don’t
want to singe any of the ingredients in this recipe.
If using fresh leaves, add these together with the mushrooms once the garlic and onions are soft and look glazed/
Lower the heat and wait for the mushrooms to sweat a bit and
just about cook through, it is best to add the salt at this stage as the
mushrooms will sort of shrink, giving one a good idea of how much salt to add.
Add the grated tomato and the peppers, toss till the tomato
has lost its rawness and most of the moisture from the mushrooms and tomato has
evaporated.
Take the pan off the fire and put a lid on the pan to allow
the mix to cook in its own steam.
I placed the grilled fish over this item but that's a personal choice.
8d)Greens with Oriental
Dressing
Ingredients:
Mix of greens of your choice.
I used iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, olives, spring onions and
cucumber
For the
dressing:
½ cup olive
oil
1 inch fresh
ginger, grated,
3 cloves of
garlic, grated
½ tsp chilli
flakes
Dash of
Honey or sugar
½ a lime (or a teaspoon of Pomegranate Molasses if
you happen to have laid your hands on it)
Salt to
taste
Method:
Add all
ingredients and mix thoroughly. I prefer to put all the ingredients into a
small bottle, put the lid and then shake the bottle with much fervour.
Just before
plating the meal, pour the dressing over the greens and give it a mix
You could
make some sort of crisp potato preparation or even the one using sweet potatoes
or beetroot, I decided to take the easy way out and served this meal with bought
potato wafers.
8e)Chocolat
et Orange
Ingredients:
(Step I)
4 largish
oranges (preferably the kind where the segments are easy to detach from the
skin, like Nagpur oranges)
1 heaped
tbsp corn flour
½ tsp
cinnamon powder
Sugar to
taste
Few drops of
orange colouring (optional)
Method:
Chop the top
off the orange to remove the segments without damaging the skin of the fruit. I
find it best to carefully wrench one segment off and then gently remove the
remaining segments.
Preserve the
cap like top of the orange for its rind, which you will need
Remove the
skin and pips from one or two of the oranges, taking care to keep the segment
as intact as possible
Use a sieve
to extract the juice from the remaining segments (this saves you the bother of fishing out the pips, string and other
such undesirables)
Use a rinder
or grater to remove as much of the skin of the orange as possible from the
‘caps’ of the oranges. Needless to mention, you must take care not to scrape
any of the pith.
Place the
juice in a pan, add the grated rind (save for a generous pinch for garnish
during the final step) and boil on gentle heat till it is reduced by ¼
Take the pan
off the heat
Mix the cinnamon
powder with the corn flour and add minimum amount of water to this mix, to make
corn starch and pour into the orange juice, stirring all the time.
Add the whole
de-skinned segments of orange
Return to
the stove and stir gently over low heat till the sauce is thick and starts forming
bubbles around the edge
The sauce
ought to be of the consistency of thick custard
It’s
important to note that the amount of corn starch you use will vary depending on
how juicy the oranges you use are
Finally add
sugar to taste, take care to retain the tanginess of the orange sauce as that
is an essential dimension of the dessert.
Step II
Ingredients:
4 orange
shells
50 – 75 Gms
of cooking chocolate
1 tsp butter
(optional)
Method:
Use kitchen
scissors to trim the top of the shell into a zig zag pattern (refer to the
picture)
Remove as
much of the pith and strings as possible – it is okay if a wee bit remains
Finely chop
or grate the chocolate
Place in a
double boiler to melt the chocolate
Remove from
heat as soon as half the chocolate has melted, the remaining chocolate will
melt on its own
Use the back
of a teaspoon or any appropriate kitchen brush to ‘paint’ the inside of the
chocolate shells
Pop in the
fridge or freezer, till the rest of the ingredients are ready and you begin to
assemble the dessert. It is essential for the chocolate coating to be firm else
you will have one very messy dessert.
Step III
Ingredients:
200 Gms dark
compound chocolate (or any other if you prefer their taste to that of dark
chocolate)
200 Gms
cream
1 heaped tsp
instant coffee
1 Tbsp hot water
2 Tbsps
butter
What we will be making at this stage is
really a ganache of sorts, the authentic method is to warm the cream and pour
it over finely chopped or grated chocolate. This recipe does not include this
technique but a far easier one which I have found to be just as good for
ganache that’s used as filling
Method:
Finely chop
or grate the chocolate, place in a heat proof bowl.
Add all the
other ingredients and place on a double boiler.
As soon as
the chocolate begins to melt, whisk it using a balloon or a spoon.
Leave to
cool till it is warm (if it is too hot, it will demolish the first layer of the
dessert and if it cools down too much, you won’t be able to pour it too easily)
Step IV
Ingredients:
250 mls
whipping cream
1 tbsp
castor sugar
½ vanilla
essence or a generous pinch of vanilla powder (I use the latter)
Method:
Mix all
ingredients
Whip gently
till it begins to hold its own shape
I must confess that I use Birds Eye Whipping
Cream (which comes in powder form) and just follow the instructions on the packet –
its easy because all you do is add cold water and whip and keep in the fridge
for a bit and hey presto! One could also opt to use whipped cream from a can I have recently used Amul Whipping Cream for another dessert and that too was pretty good.
Step V
Assembling:
Fill the
bottom of the orange shell with a layer of the orange sauce, how much of it you
spoon in depends entirely on the size of the oranges. All you need to bear in
mind is that roughly a third of the shell should be filled with it
Spoon in the
chocolate sauce/ganache next, this layer should stop short of where the zig zag
pattern begins.
Top this
with whipped cream
Garnish with
grated orange rind (or you could opt to
use grated chocolate or a sprinkling of cinnamon or no garnish at all)
You will
probably have extra sauces and whipped cream; arrange these in individual bowls
or a bowl. As you may have noticed, I have included a picture of the dessert in an individual bowl. In fact, if you do not feel up
to it, you can skip the orange shell part and simplify the whole dessert by
assembling all of it in individual bowls or one bowl. I would suggest using
clear glass bowls for the visual factor.
Keep in refrigerator
till you are ready to serve. Make sure
that any other food that has a strong aroma is kept covered as it is quite
inconvenient to cover the oranges and you definitely don’t want your dessert to
smell of anything like garlic, celery, onion or that fish curry you have in the
fridge
While it is not a hard and fast rule, try
and keep the dessert in the fridge for at least an hour or so, allowing the
sauces to firm up. You could even half make the dessert a day in advance; fill
the shell with the orange sauce and the chocolate and add the whipped cream and
garnish just before serving.
