Panfusine

In the 20 plus years that I have been using OXO, I've seen the product range expand from the traditional Kitchen gadgets (like the peeler I've held on to since 1996) to small appliances to baking equipment. I have been fortunate to test many of these appliances and they've been a firm and permanent fixture in my kitchen. The latest from OXO product line is a fantastic set of bakeware and glass storage bowls with airtight lids . The first feature that grabs your eyeballs is the weight of the pans ans you carefully pull it out of the packaging. Like it or not, glass bakeware has a tendency to make food stick to the bottom. (just think of how many dish cleaning products base their ads on this one fact), and my first instinct as my arms adjusted to the weight of the baking dish was 'I wonder if the heavy base will minimize the scrubbing afterward'.  I did a test run with the 9 inch square baking dish using a ready made brownie package and it aced the test...

Potatoes.. how can ANYONE not fall in love with them in Infancy? On second thoughts. if there is an answer to that, the subjective self centered part of me does not want to hear it!    Raghavan Iyer , A culinary idol of mine, recently mentioned that he was going to work on a book with Potatoes as the main ingredient, and this definitely kicked me out of my inherent laziness with working with these marble sized spuds (i.e, Peeling them after boiling) that had spent more than 2 weeks in my kitchen's Lazy Susan. Summer is here, and so are the garlic scapes. I found these curly, wispy yet wiry beauties at my local Hillsboro farm . Garlic bulbs can be put aside for the winter, this is the time to relish the crisp garlicky flavor of these beauties. Simply dice and saute them lightly to bring out their flavor. You need: 2 lb fingerling potatoes (I used a medley of Reds, Goldens & purple Peruvians)  boiled and peeled 3 tablespoons olive or sesame oil 1 teaspoon cumi...

The Year: 1999, October. I'd just been set up with this handsome Mathematician from Bell Labs and by all accounts hit off wonderfully (set-ups in the South Indian lingo is ALWAYS keeping the long term prognosis , i.e Marriage, in mind). So here I was like a typical Indian girl, taking the BIG step of inviting the guy home for Lunch. Ringing up a huge bill calling my mother back in India about what I should make. 

 In the middle of repetitive daily chores, that go by week after week, there suddenly pop up opportunities that one must simply take advantage of, or else spend the rest of your life regretting it. As you've probably figured out, I'm completely hooked on to Food52. Its not just the recipes, the contests and the little bantering corner for exchanging ideas that they refer to as the 'hotline' (previously known as the food pickle). Its a community of friends I've gained online, most of whose names & faces I have no idea of since most of us go by our usernames online, & yet, my eyes widen in delighted anticipation at their comments, suggestions & recipes.

I can't ask for a better subject to cap this wonderful year of blogging, Chef Suvir Saran's new book. Masala Farm . Taking a break from life in the Garden state, sipping a piping hot cup of coffee, looking out on Crescent lake in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, with family. The entire setting takes the memory cells on a nostalgic trip, of country life, meandering pathways, cows, horses grazing in pastures, tales & anecdotes straight out of Alf Wight's beloved classics. For those of you unfamiliar with  Alf Wight, he was a country vet from Yorkshire, England who wrote a series of delightfully quirky classic books about country life, animals and his career as a country vet, under the pen name of James Herriot . A bevy of four legged characters and their humans with their strengths & failings, their individual personalities, ranging from elegant to right down eccentric. Its a beautiful ode to country life in the 1940's onward. Fast forward to the 21st...