The Lady M story continutes………………..
Lady M never believes in ‘Too much of a good thing’, especially when the good thing is offered very cheap. That’s how she came into possession of a big bag of lemon from the farmer’s market. Loaded with the bright yellow fruit, she set to work her magic around the house. Started off with displaying some of the yellow citrus in cute fruit bowls all around the house. The good thing about lemons is they hold the colour and shape for a long time and so she doesn’t have to bother to stop near the garage shop to pick up a fresh bunch of flowers every 2 weeks. Good for the purse , ahem.
After 4 such lemon baskets Lord M decided to intervene and showed the Red signal. The ever enthusiastic lady decided to put the lemon into other uses, if Lord feels that 4 bowls of lemons scattered around the house is an overkill. The next morning Lord was rudely awaken from his innocent sleep to see the lady standing in front with a tumbler and a smile. Ever so thankful for the small mercies in life, the Lord thanked the god that the lady had finally came into her senses to supply the man of the manor with a bed coffee, later to be discovered how wrong his assumption was. Though nothing compared to a cup of freshly brewed tea, the pale golden concoctation in the tumbler was pleasant in taste. Little did he realize that he was being the guinny pig to test the weight reduction powers of half a lemon mixed with a tea spoon of honey and lukewarm water, taken first thing in the morning. Lord could not complain, its much better than ½ an hour’s brisk walk in the cold morning.
The Lady also started a routine of taking a glass of lemon juice early in the morning as it is believed to cleanse your system and rejenuate the metabolism. Throw the lady hi-fi words like metabolism and health, and you can get her eat cat litter.
Lady offered half a glass of hot water with some lemon juice in it to Lord M, with an offhand ‘behave like grown up’, when he came back on Friday evening complaining about soar throat. Poor Lord M’s hope for some nice hot soup and lots of snoozes in front of the TV during the weekend looks like going in the drain. And to add to his irritation, the soar throat felt much better the next day. No more excuses for snuggling under the quilt and putting the feet up. Here I come, vaccum cleaner!
However, the ever optimistic Lord M tried to plead an upset stomach to get away with the cleaning task, only to be offered a black tea with lemon juice to settle the stomach.
The latest news from the Menon household is that Lord M is desperately preying for a miracle to make the lemon vanish from mother earth – he would otherwise have to rack his brain for more feasible ailments during the weekend which cant be cured with lemon – or hope that the vaccum cleaner breaks!
Showing posts with label Lady M stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lady M stories. Show all posts
Monday, 24 August 2009
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
The Indian picnic menu for an Indian Summer
Lady M was in a dilemma. Not to the Hamletian proportions, but a dilemma nevertheless. The culprit is, as always, Lord M. Lord M and friends were discussing a day out with family while the over enthusiastic Lord M promised home made (read ‘Lady M made’) Indian finger food for the picnic. All this, without bothering to consult (beg) Lady M.
Lady M wanted to be firm and refuse to provide the goodies, in which case, Lord M, in order to save the face will be forced to hit the supermarket shelves for readymade stuff, which will eventually be labeled as ‘home made by Lady M’. As Lady M can’t have the friends to believe that she made those substandard stuff, it’s either cook something or be branded as a no-good cook in front of friends.
Lady M, who has an ego as big as an elephant when it comes to cooking, decided to concede this time, all the while thinking of ways to take it upon Lord M in the most appropriate manner. Lord M, having foreseen the big thunderstorm brewing, had been extremely cooperative and courteous as the picnic day was approaching and even offered to clean up the entire kitchen once Lady M was done with cooking.
Lady M, desperately wanted to impress the picnic goers, planned to make Onion Bhaji, Grilled Tuna patties, Vegetable samosas and a spicy summer fruit salad. The dips would be coriander chutney and spicy raisin chutney, with fresh lemonade for the under aged.
The grilled Tuna patties were made first as the patties can be frozen and can directly go to the grill during barbeque. Lady M chopped an onion, 2 green chillies, one or two garlic cloves and a piece of ginger and emptied them to a teaspoon of olive oil in the heated pan. While they were browning, she opened 3-4 cans of tuna flakes, drained the water and added them to the pan. In went ¼ tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of garam masala and salt. As tuna does not need a lot of time to absorb the flavors, she switched off the cooker and then added a healthy dollop of tomato ketchup, salt, cheese and some coriander leaves. Some boiled potatoes were mashed with salt and added to tuna along with an egg and shaping the mix to round patties was kid’s play.
Next, Lady M heated a table spoon of oil and popped mustard seeds and cumin (1/2 tsp each) in preparation for the samosas. Into the popped mustard, went one onion, a small piece of ginger, two three green chillies, all chopped fine in the food processor and then in went finely cut vegetables – potatoes, carrots, beans and some frozen peas. The vegetables were left to cook on steam on a low flame till soft. In the meanwhile, Lady M rolled the ready made puff pastry sheets to squares. Ones the vegetables are done, she added some lemon juice and salt and coriander leaves to the mixture, mashed them a bit and dolled spoonfuls of the aromatic stuff onto the pastry sheets. The sheet was folded to form perfect triangles and the samosas just needed to be deep fried for 5 minutes or so.
The fruit salad was meant to be a colorful event – juicy strawberries, pink water melon, Creamy yellow honey melons, pink and green grapes and berries – all co-existing snugly in a bowl with honey and chat masala topping (The chat masala was taken out of packet sourced from one of the Indian shops). There are green apples and yellow bananas too, but the wise lady would not be cutting them till the last moment, or they will discolor and look less appealing.
The coriander chutney was easy peasy Lemon Squeezy – a bunch of coriander, 4 table spoons of fresh coconut and a green chilly , ground well and then half a lemon squeezed on top and a sprinkling of salt. The health–un-conscious ones can go for a garnish to intensify the flavour by popping mustard seeds and black gram seeds in a tea spoon of cooking oil.
The raisin chutney was next – Sauté 3-4 garlic, 1 dry red chilly and 1 cup of raisins on slow fire in a bit of hot oil, and blended well to form a ketch-up like consistency.
While Lady M was in the kitchen, Lord M , the eternal peace maker and a suitable candidate for UN, had managed to bathe and put a nappy on a wriggling toddler, who suddenly decided that he was too grown to use a nappy and proudly produce a full load of bed sheets and smelly clothes every 24 hours. And countless waking ups at night too.
While the hamper was being set, Lady M thinly sliced white onions, sprinkled some salt on them and dunked the onions into a batter of 1 cup chick pea flour (Besan), one egg, some cumin seeds, half a teaspoon of red chilly powder and some coriander leaves all mixed with water to form a thin batter. And spoonfuls of the batter coated onion went into the chip pan to form deeply fried sweet-smelling golden onion bhajis. No wonder Lady M is considered as the best onion bhaji maker around. Though she graciously shares her recipe with everyone, she had never disclosed that the secret behind her crunchy-on-the-top-and-soft-inside bhaji lies in pinch of soda bi carbonate added to the batter at the last moment.
So all was set to go for the picnic, when Lady M suddenly remembered the lemonade. As there was no time to squeeze lemons to a jar of water, and slot in a teaspoon or two of ginger juice, some honey and mint leaves for the ’zing’ factor, they stopped at the nearest food store, grabbed a bottle or two of readymade lemonade and emptied them to the pitcher. Lady M sprinkled a few mint leaves and some sliced lemon rings for that homemade touch. Thus a cheater’s version of homemade lemonade was born. Yes, Lady M is an avid follower of Delia Smith.
Lady M wanted to be firm and refuse to provide the goodies, in which case, Lord M, in order to save the face will be forced to hit the supermarket shelves for readymade stuff, which will eventually be labeled as ‘home made by Lady M’. As Lady M can’t have the friends to believe that she made those substandard stuff, it’s either cook something or be branded as a no-good cook in front of friends.
Lady M, who has an ego as big as an elephant when it comes to cooking, decided to concede this time, all the while thinking of ways to take it upon Lord M in the most appropriate manner. Lord M, having foreseen the big thunderstorm brewing, had been extremely cooperative and courteous as the picnic day was approaching and even offered to clean up the entire kitchen once Lady M was done with cooking.
Lady M, desperately wanted to impress the picnic goers, planned to make Onion Bhaji, Grilled Tuna patties, Vegetable samosas and a spicy summer fruit salad. The dips would be coriander chutney and spicy raisin chutney, with fresh lemonade for the under aged.
The grilled Tuna patties were made first as the patties can be frozen and can directly go to the grill during barbeque. Lady M chopped an onion, 2 green chillies, one or two garlic cloves and a piece of ginger and emptied them to a teaspoon of olive oil in the heated pan. While they were browning, she opened 3-4 cans of tuna flakes, drained the water and added them to the pan. In went ¼ tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of garam masala and salt. As tuna does not need a lot of time to absorb the flavors, she switched off the cooker and then added a healthy dollop of tomato ketchup, salt, cheese and some coriander leaves. Some boiled potatoes were mashed with salt and added to tuna along with an egg and shaping the mix to round patties was kid’s play.
Next, Lady M heated a table spoon of oil and popped mustard seeds and cumin (1/2 tsp each) in preparation for the samosas. Into the popped mustard, went one onion, a small piece of ginger, two three green chillies, all chopped fine in the food processor and then in went finely cut vegetables – potatoes, carrots, beans and some frozen peas. The vegetables were left to cook on steam on a low flame till soft. In the meanwhile, Lady M rolled the ready made puff pastry sheets to squares. Ones the vegetables are done, she added some lemon juice and salt and coriander leaves to the mixture, mashed them a bit and dolled spoonfuls of the aromatic stuff onto the pastry sheets. The sheet was folded to form perfect triangles and the samosas just needed to be deep fried for 5 minutes or so.
The fruit salad was meant to be a colorful event – juicy strawberries, pink water melon, Creamy yellow honey melons, pink and green grapes and berries – all co-existing snugly in a bowl with honey and chat masala topping (The chat masala was taken out of packet sourced from one of the Indian shops). There are green apples and yellow bananas too, but the wise lady would not be cutting them till the last moment, or they will discolor and look less appealing.
The coriander chutney was easy peasy Lemon Squeezy – a bunch of coriander, 4 table spoons of fresh coconut and a green chilly , ground well and then half a lemon squeezed on top and a sprinkling of salt. The health–un-conscious ones can go for a garnish to intensify the flavour by popping mustard seeds and black gram seeds in a tea spoon of cooking oil.
The raisin chutney was next – Sauté 3-4 garlic, 1 dry red chilly and 1 cup of raisins on slow fire in a bit of hot oil, and blended well to form a ketch-up like consistency.
While Lady M was in the kitchen, Lord M , the eternal peace maker and a suitable candidate for UN, had managed to bathe and put a nappy on a wriggling toddler, who suddenly decided that he was too grown to use a nappy and proudly produce a full load of bed sheets and smelly clothes every 24 hours. And countless waking ups at night too.
While the hamper was being set, Lady M thinly sliced white onions, sprinkled some salt on them and dunked the onions into a batter of 1 cup chick pea flour (Besan), one egg, some cumin seeds, half a teaspoon of red chilly powder and some coriander leaves all mixed with water to form a thin batter. And spoonfuls of the batter coated onion went into the chip pan to form deeply fried sweet-smelling golden onion bhajis. No wonder Lady M is considered as the best onion bhaji maker around. Though she graciously shares her recipe with everyone, she had never disclosed that the secret behind her crunchy-on-the-top-and-soft-inside bhaji lies in pinch of soda bi carbonate added to the batter at the last moment.
So all was set to go for the picnic, when Lady M suddenly remembered the lemonade. As there was no time to squeeze lemons to a jar of water, and slot in a teaspoon or two of ginger juice, some honey and mint leaves for the ’zing’ factor, they stopped at the nearest food store, grabbed a bottle or two of readymade lemonade and emptied them to the pitcher. Lady M sprinkled a few mint leaves and some sliced lemon rings for that homemade touch. Thus a cheater’s version of homemade lemonade was born. Yes, Lady M is an avid follower of Delia Smith.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The Credit Crunch Menu
Its credit crunch time and the Menon household are trying to save up pennies to make it a mighty pound. The ‘cutting down’ officially started this weekend, though they opted to call the process ‘lifestyle remodeling’ instead, just so that their inflated egos don’t get hurt. And for anybody who cared to ask, they announced that they were following the Jamie Oliver at Saintsbury’s example.
So the Friday evening take away is out, the healthy home cooked meal is in. But What Lady. M did not realize was that cooking was going to be a one (wo)man operation, a tired and irritated full time working woman operation, that is. ‘I am hungry’ announced Lord M upon reaching home and headed direct to the laptop, and the unwilling chef was stuck with Junior M screaming for dinner, who was yet to be bathed, lotioned and be coxed to bed . After a meal of fried chicken and chips, and 10 renderings of ‘Lavender’s blue dilly-dilly’ off he closes his eyes and bang! It stuck 8.
Lady M’s resolutions for healthy home-made were going astray, though she managed to push in two-three baking potatoes into the oven with a sprinkle of rock salt. Tuna and sweet corn came out of the can. Lady M chopped some onions and green chillies to mix with mayonnaise, all the while pretending that she was chopping the one at the laptop! The onions came out pretty small, by the way.
The Lord and the Lady managed to wolf down the jacket potatoes with tuna and corn topping and fresh fruits (plus some forbidden ‘units’ – at a quarter of what they would have spent at the restaurant) and were off to bed by 10, though the satisfaction normally associated with putting the feet up on the Friday night and eating all the calorie laden cheesy pizzas and fries was evading the Lady. It certainly did not feel like a Friday!
The ‘healthy-living’ theme continued to Saturday and they managed to hit the farmers market and came out with lots of oranges, sweet grapes, crispy green leaves, freshly-dug potatoes, perfect strawberries and juicy carrots- all under a 10! Lady M was having goose-bumps with pride and then realized that she still had to clean the dirt off the stuff and actually cook them! OMG, what will happen to the French manicure?
The lunch was plain rice and vegetable curry with coconut milk. And poppudums dry roasted for a minute in the Microwave. That tasted good and yes, its under a fiver!
Great, its left over rice for dinner disguised as one pot Fried Rice meal, decided the Lady. Stir fried some frozen veggies, some chicken strips, eggs and a handful of soybeans and some garlic in olive oil and added them to rice along with a bit of soya sauce.
Then the phone rang, announcing the arrival of friends in 30 minutes- so the menu had to be expanded now, much to the Lord’s delight. The tofu was browned gently with onions, tomoto puree, ginger and garlic paste, to be added with a bit of cream, yoghurt, curry powder, chillies and coriander leaves to form the low fat version of the eternal favorite - Paneer Tikka Masala. Out to impress, she threw in and sautéed some onions, lamb mince and green peas and coriander leaves along with the leftover baked potato from yesterday’s dinner, broken an egg over it and scrumptious mince patties ready to grill happened like Magic.
Some garlic-tomato ketchup jumped out of the jar and got mixed with mayo for that sophisticated dip. The very generous Lord M did a salad of lettuce leaves, cucumber, coriander leaves and cherry tomatoes and emptied a can of cooked drained chick peas on top with a generous helping of lemon juice and the dinner was bursting with texture, colour and nutrition - all with 30 minutes of toiling. And the fun they had at the back yard – No pub smoke to harm the lungs and a gently breeze lifting the spirits under the shiny stars, that was a night out to remember!
Sunday came in with lots of sunshine. So its Italian theme today, pasta! Off pasta goes to boiling water. With Onions and tomatoes and spinach and a bit of bacon and mushrooms all sautéed to perfection and added in, the homemade pasta was a thing of beauty. The strawberries and melons and pineapple met the 5-a-day requirement without adding any extra sugar. The neighbors, Lady and Lord J brought in a carrot cake and some lemonade and hours were spent basking in sun and generally having fun!
By evening, Lady M was so tired that she started longing for a take away and the associated guilty pleasures and above all, rest. Lord M rose to the challenge and came up with spiced meat balls (onions, tomatoes and a bit of curry powder sautéed and mixed with the canned meat balls) and herby noodles (the cheap Asda variety with chopped herbs and a sprinkling of cheese on top) and the plates were licked clean. The Junior was served some grilled cheese too.
Sunday night was the audit night and the Menons realized how much good money they saved without loosing any of the fun! Its friendship and love that matters and what’s more convenient and easy than knocking down two or three dishes and having a good time at your garden with the loved ones?
But the glitter, glamour and adrenalin-rush associated with evening-out still lures, and let’s wait and see if Menons will stick to their resolutions.
(This first came here: http://www.digbritain.co.uk/category/lifestyle/food-and-drink/)
So the Friday evening take away is out, the healthy home cooked meal is in. But What Lady. M did not realize was that cooking was going to be a one (wo)man operation, a tired and irritated full time working woman operation, that is. ‘I am hungry’ announced Lord M upon reaching home and headed direct to the laptop, and the unwilling chef was stuck with Junior M screaming for dinner, who was yet to be bathed, lotioned and be coxed to bed . After a meal of fried chicken and chips, and 10 renderings of ‘Lavender’s blue dilly-dilly’ off he closes his eyes and bang! It stuck 8.
Lady M’s resolutions for healthy home-made were going astray, though she managed to push in two-three baking potatoes into the oven with a sprinkle of rock salt. Tuna and sweet corn came out of the can. Lady M chopped some onions and green chillies to mix with mayonnaise, all the while pretending that she was chopping the one at the laptop! The onions came out pretty small, by the way.
The Lord and the Lady managed to wolf down the jacket potatoes with tuna and corn topping and fresh fruits (plus some forbidden ‘units’ – at a quarter of what they would have spent at the restaurant) and were off to bed by 10, though the satisfaction normally associated with putting the feet up on the Friday night and eating all the calorie laden cheesy pizzas and fries was evading the Lady. It certainly did not feel like a Friday!
The ‘healthy-living’ theme continued to Saturday and they managed to hit the farmers market and came out with lots of oranges, sweet grapes, crispy green leaves, freshly-dug potatoes, perfect strawberries and juicy carrots- all under a 10! Lady M was having goose-bumps with pride and then realized that she still had to clean the dirt off the stuff and actually cook them! OMG, what will happen to the French manicure?
The lunch was plain rice and vegetable curry with coconut milk. And poppudums dry roasted for a minute in the Microwave. That tasted good and yes, its under a fiver!
Great, its left over rice for dinner disguised as one pot Fried Rice meal, decided the Lady. Stir fried some frozen veggies, some chicken strips, eggs and a handful of soybeans and some garlic in olive oil and added them to rice along with a bit of soya sauce.
Then the phone rang, announcing the arrival of friends in 30 minutes- so the menu had to be expanded now, much to the Lord’s delight. The tofu was browned gently with onions, tomoto puree, ginger and garlic paste, to be added with a bit of cream, yoghurt, curry powder, chillies and coriander leaves to form the low fat version of the eternal favorite - Paneer Tikka Masala. Out to impress, she threw in and sautéed some onions, lamb mince and green peas and coriander leaves along with the leftover baked potato from yesterday’s dinner, broken an egg over it and scrumptious mince patties ready to grill happened like Magic.
Some garlic-tomato ketchup jumped out of the jar and got mixed with mayo for that sophisticated dip. The very generous Lord M did a salad of lettuce leaves, cucumber, coriander leaves and cherry tomatoes and emptied a can of cooked drained chick peas on top with a generous helping of lemon juice and the dinner was bursting with texture, colour and nutrition - all with 30 minutes of toiling. And the fun they had at the back yard – No pub smoke to harm the lungs and a gently breeze lifting the spirits under the shiny stars, that was a night out to remember!
Sunday came in with lots of sunshine. So its Italian theme today, pasta! Off pasta goes to boiling water. With Onions and tomatoes and spinach and a bit of bacon and mushrooms all sautéed to perfection and added in, the homemade pasta was a thing of beauty. The strawberries and melons and pineapple met the 5-a-day requirement without adding any extra sugar. The neighbors, Lady and Lord J brought in a carrot cake and some lemonade and hours were spent basking in sun and generally having fun!
By evening, Lady M was so tired that she started longing for a take away and the associated guilty pleasures and above all, rest. Lord M rose to the challenge and came up with spiced meat balls (onions, tomatoes and a bit of curry powder sautéed and mixed with the canned meat balls) and herby noodles (the cheap Asda variety with chopped herbs and a sprinkling of cheese on top) and the plates were licked clean. The Junior was served some grilled cheese too.
Sunday night was the audit night and the Menons realized how much good money they saved without loosing any of the fun! Its friendship and love that matters and what’s more convenient and easy than knocking down two or three dishes and having a good time at your garden with the loved ones?
But the glitter, glamour and adrenalin-rush associated with evening-out still lures, and let’s wait and see if Menons will stick to their resolutions.
(This first came here: http://www.digbritain.co.uk/category/lifestyle/food-and-drink/)
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