Friday, March 30, 2012

English Love: Jacket Potatoes

It is no secret that ever since I've come back from England, I've been pining away to go back. So obviously, anything related to England gives me immense pleasure. Of course, I'm not going to start eating fish and chips for meals or sausages for breakfast. But something that I can definitely make and have is jacket potatoes.
Jacket Potatoes with Baked Beans
Jacket potatoes, like my mum said, are potatoes with jackets. (You're right. She doesn't care much for my attempts to bring the world in my kitchen.) Basically, they're potatoes with their skin on. It is something so unique to England and its pubs that everytime I even think of a jacket potato, I invariably picture myself sitting in an English pub (a particular one near Victoria coach station in London which once served me simply out-of-this-world jacket potatoes!)

Anyway. Yesterday, my cousin happened to be at home and since she is quite illiterate about world cuisine, I often take it upon me to educate her. Yesterday was the day for some English cuisine. Not that making jacket potatoes is rocket science. But hey, it's pretty darn amazing! :)

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1-1.5 hours
Serves: 1 person

Ingredients:
1 large potato (And I mean really large. If not, then 2 smaller potatoes.)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
3-4 tbsp baked beans (I like Heinz and so, use that one. But, if you don't want to use canned stuff, you can easily make them at home as well.)
1 tsp Olive oil
1 tbsp butter (or more, if you want. :P)
Grated cheese (Cheddar goes brilliantly with this dish. However, if you don't find it or it is too expensive, just use any processed cheese. I made it at a short notice and hence, the only option for me was processed cheese. In Mumbai, you'll find Cheddar at Crawford Market or in any of the Nature's Basket outlets. Also, incidently, if anyone has tried the new Amul Cheddar, can I please have some reviews?)

Method:
If you notice carefully, you'll see where they have been poked with forks
  • Clean the potato thoroughly.
  • Prick the potato with fork several time so that it has an escape for all the pressure while it will be baked.
  • Coat the potato with olive oil and some sea-salt. (Sea-salt works better but if you don't have it, regular salt will also work just fine.)
  • Place it on a baking sheet and bake for about 60-75 minutes. (If you want to reduce the cooking time, cook the potatoes in the microwave for not more than 2 minutes first and then, you will only need to cook it in the oven for about 45 minutes. Don't overdo the cooking in the microwave. If it becomes soft even before it is put in the oven, the skin's flavour doesn't develop as well.)
  • After about 60 minutes (30 if you're using the microwave method), check if it's done using a fork or a knife. Prick the potato with the fork and if it is soft all the way, then it's done.
Potatoes out of the oven should look like these

  • Once out of the oven, carefully make 2 slits on the potato, making a plus (+) sign.The potato will be extremely hot. Be very, very careful. Hold the potato on both sides with a towel and make the slits.
Potatoes with the slits: fluffed with salt, pepper and butter
  • Open the potato along the slit-lines and with the help of a fork, fluff it up a bit.
  • Sprinkle salt and pepper, slide in the butter and cover with baked beans. 
  • Finally, top it up with the grated cheese. 
  • Serve immediately.

There are so many variation you can do with this and change it to suit your taste buds and palettes. For instance, you can top it up with spaghetti and carbonara (for the non-veggies) or spaghetti and tomato pasta sauce for an Italian taste; Mexican beans and spices for a South American taste, even chillies and curry for an Indian taste. 

One of the great toppings I've had is peppers and jalapenos sauteed in dark soy and chilli sauce. I tell you, I was in love!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Back with a Salad!

Well, I guess it's time for me to return from my extremely long hibernation and start food-blogging again. So, here I am! Back with a bang! Err, Salad, I mean. ;)

Recently my father was diagnosed with a heart problem and after that, he had to stop being my partner in crime (of eating all the rich food that I make) and monitor his dietary habits. Plus, I was busy and my mother never favoured my sometimes too extravagant, sometimes too creepy-looking, sometimes too smelly, sometimes just wrong cooking. As a result, my culinary experiments came to a screeching halt for about 2-3 months. But, yesterday, I decided enough was enough. It may be her kitchen but she can't take away my guest visit rights forever!
So, I chalked out a health-food menu, which my father can have and which will tantalize my deprived taste-buds as well: Ratatouille with rice and a nice salad.

Rataouille recipe will follow at some point. But this salad - basically just a mix of all the fresh vegetables I had at hand - was so good, I actually regretted having cooked anything else at all! The colours and flavours blend so well that they leave you with a picture of a very inviting and a very healthy dish.


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3 people (if served as an accompaniment and 1 person if it's for lunch and you're like me.)

Ingredients:

10-15 purple cabbage leaves, shredded
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
7-8 broccoli florets, steamed for 3-4 minutes
1 small tomato
a handful sweet corn, boiled until soft
10-12 peanuts, roasted (optional - I added them after my father had served himself)
2 tbsp flax seeds, roasted
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

  • Toss all the fresh vegetables (after treating them the way they have been described above), peanuts and flax seeds in a big salad bowl.
  • Just before serving, drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on it. 
  • Toss well. (Click pictures. :P) Serve immediately.
Stay healthy, stay happy! Let me know how you used this recipe, how it turned out and what variations you used. :)