Panfusine

When I signed up to Oxo's   latest blogger opportunity showcasing their new range of small kitchen appliances, , my initial plan was to make something as simple as Lassi. I even had a name for my blog post - 'Lassi Galore' - obviously because liquid probiotic yogurt  isn't exactly in that glamorous category of beverages like say, a boozy cocktail. All that changed last week at the eleventh hour last weekend, when a group of blogger buddies got together at Anu Rao's  (Allergyfoodie.org) . We were treated to the most elegant dinner (with all the bells and whistles, place settings, matching napkins - the works). The menu, in a delightful ironical twist comprised of dishes from Bihar, an Indian state whose cuisine is unheard of for all practical purposes. And Voila, I found the perfect dish to showcase the new immersion blender from OXO. My old immersion blender is a relic from last century - 19 years to be precise, from my graduate school d...

Its no secret, I'm a confirmed OXO fan and have been ever since I was gifted my first set of peelers & a knife by my dad when I first came to the US of A. A complete newbie, the only store I had heard of in New York city were Bloomingdales & Macy's, and so I marched out there and had my dad buy me most of  whatever I needed to settle in. Sheesh, it was much later that I discovered other comfort outlets like the erstwhile Lecters.  The fact that I still use the OXO peeler from last century is a testament to the product quality and design. What keeps me loyal to to the brand in addition to the superb quality, is the company's dedication to noble and worthy causes. One such endeavor is raising awareness for the 'Cookies for Kids' Cancer' foundation, a recognized 501c(3) public charity in New Jersey, my home state. The company will donate $100 towards the charity because of this particular post and I owe it to you, my readers to make it well...

There is something about cherries that is utterly addictive. Its a combination of factors, the size - that enables you to scarf down a whole fruit at a time, The childish delight that invariably suffuses you when you sit outside on a balmy summer evening with a big bowl of freshly washed cherries spitting out the pits, one by one (Yes, its summer companion, the watermelon allows for that as well, but the seeds just do not have the size and shape that allows for a good projectile) , and of course the fact that the season is so short and fleeting simply means that cherries get their rightful priority. OXO and NorthWest Cherries sponsored a cherry challenge where they invited bloggers to host a Cherry party with friends and blog about the experience. Each participating blogger received a set of nested mixing bowls with colanders , a weighing scale & cherry pitters from OXO and 10 lbs of the best cherries that you could ever find from the cherry growers association. They were wo...

  I've often been asked why I chose  into food blogging with a niche idea of redesigning and tweaking Indian dishes instead of plunging full fledged into classic recipes that I had grown up with. I had serendipitous stumble upon the best possible answer I'll probably ever get, thanks to Chef Marcus Samuelsson's new memoir 'Yes Chef'. There was one paragraph that practically leaped out of the book searing itself into my mind : "  Who lied? Who started the lie that France had the greatest food in the world? That question ran through my head every time I bit into something new and that changed my notions of what “good food” is. Then that question was replaced by a second: Who’s going to make the people realize that food dismissed as “ethnic” by the fine-dining world could be produced at the same level as their sacred bouillabaisses and veloutes" - Marcus Samuelsson, Yes, Chef! I could not ask for a better validation beyond this paragraph. In time, I...