The Kitchen Diaries! chapter #1

Wednesday - 17/10/12

Why and How I felt like going to the kitchen and picking up those tongs in order to hold up a pan full of white creamy mushroom sauce which in the later series of events will go into heavenly sautéed fresh exotic vegetables.

And my kitchen chronicles began…

After cooking for two days in a row I realized, it is a sense of self satisfaction and a relief in a way. Cooking frees you from the stress, the boredom and the fact that you are bound to someone else for the fulfilment of tongue’s desires and buds’ yearnings. I put my cooking pants on and started the journey alone feeling the 'queen of gourmet' because I decided to start with a not-so-conventional-dish. Day one was Egyptian which I will talk in my next chapter. Today, I floated on a European continent.

Dish of the Day: Baked Vegetable with cheese and bread crumbs served with Garlic Bread.

With the winters settling in; you know that you need that extra muslin sheet or a quilt. You know you want to thrive more on lattes and cappuccinos than the chilled crushed iced coffee. You know a glass of tea with cinnamon and crushed ginger would work perfectly for the season’s chilly evenings. So, the food should also soothe you while the nature announces the incoming of the white season.

French beans, cauliflower, snow peas, orange carrot, mushrooms, onion, capsicum were chopped and sautéed in a spoonful of olive oil and added to the rich white sauce sprinkled with the nutmeg powder. Then, it was gradually transferred to a borosil glass bowl for it to go into an electric oven. I prefer baking in a conventional oven to a nouveau fancy microwave. The dish was garnished with bread crumbs and grated cheese for it to taste richer. After 20 minutes, my hard work paid off and the baked dish was not only appealing to the eyes but also savoury to the buds.

I bought some fresh baked garlic bread from the bakery and buttered it with amul to bake garlic bread without cheese. Aah! Something was missing, was definitely missing, oh I remembered the continental food is incomplete without a glass of wine. Sadly enough, it is not on my list today so something has to match up to that drink. What about a mojito, I said to myself.  Crushed ice with mint leaves and lemon soda in it, I prepared a jug full of mojito.

Now, I can walk out of that kitchen, switch on my idiot box and spread a napery on my bed with a glass of mojito and a bowl of creamy white mushroom sauce lavishly enshrouded with the veggies sautéed complimented by fresh garlic bread neatly buttered and baked. My evening was fulfilling not only for my stomach but also for my whole being. I cooked for myself and that too amazingly well. I felt happy, proud, joyful all at the same time.

With a smile on my face I heaved a big spoon with the vegetables in white sauce and puffed it in my mouth feeling the richness of the cream melting in my mouth. And, I sighed with relief. I did a good job; indeed.