PESTO EGG CURRY !!!

You are expecting Brad Pitt at your door step, and in walks Justin Bieber !!!No wow factor,no appeal at all!! Its a total let down of sorts !! You crave for manly robustness, and you get boyish charm !!If you get what I mean, you will totally understand what I feel about store bought Pesto sauce !!!

I am a fresh Pesto fan !!! So is the man !!! We love our Pesto pasta !!! Freshly ground Basil, Pine nuts, Garlic and Parmesan and Olive Oil. That just screams decadence, doesn't it !! The best part is how easily it can be whipped up and how easily it transforms a weekday dinner into something special.

But then what do you do, with the bottles of store bought Pesto sauce, people tend to present you. People know that you are a Pesto lover, so they start presenting you store-bought Pesto. Maybe its my mental block, or maybe there is actually a  huge difference, I find store bought Pesto, lacking something big, when it comes to the signature taste. The labels scream of generous servings of Basil, Pine nuts, Garlic and Parm, but no, its just not the same thing, when served with some Pasta.

Hence Hubby came up with the idea of using up the store bought Pesto as marinades and even in a curry !!! Yes, Curry, you heard that right. Hubby devised his own Indo-Italian fusion food, and somehow it just turned up so good.We did a trial run at home. It was tasty. Then we served it with much trepidation at a few get-togethers.When everyone asked me for the recipe(thinking that I had made it), we were both pleasantly surprised !!!

So now when we get the all familiar bottled Pesto, we know what to do with it. We dish up some Pesto Egg Curry !!! Who knew that Pesto could be such a great Curry base !!! So if you have a bottle of store bought Pesto, hiding somewhere in your refrigerator, you know how to lend some taste to the plate with it !!

PESTO EGG CURRY: 


Ingredients: 
Boiled Eggs: 6
Boiled Potatoes: 2: cut into cubes
Pesto Sauce: 3 tbsp
Onion: 1 large, cut into slivers
Peas: 1/4 cup
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp
Salt: to taste:
Black Pepper: 1 tsp
Paprika : 1 tsp
Chicken Stock: 1 cup

Procedure: 


Peel the boiled eggs and make some incisions on them with a  knife. Coat the eggs with some Paprika and salt.

In a non stick pan, shallow fry the boiled eggs till they are caramelised, in some olive oil. Drain and keep them aside.

In the same pan, add in the chopped onions and the cubed potatoes.On medium heat, cook down the onions and potatoes, till the onions start getting translucent.

Add in the Pesto sauce, black pepper and paprika and cook for a few minutes.

Add in the peas, and fry for around 3-5 minutes.

Add in the Chicken stock and the fried eggs. Cover and cook till the potatoes are done.

Check for seasoning !

 
Reduce the gravy till it is quite thick !!

Enjoy Indo-Italian fusion !!!

Bon Appetit !!! 

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PORK SOUVLAKI

Never been to Greece, nor can I speak Greek !!!

But I know my Tzatziki and my Souvlaki.I have a weakness for Gyros. And I quite like my share of Baklava.No, I Didn't get married to a Greek hunk, but my cousin did !! So my Greek connect just got stronger.

Feasted on so much Greek food in their pre-wedding ceremonies, that I got gutsy to even try to make it at home. Added to that my Greek Brother in Law is a quite a Home Chef himself. His latest speciality is Authentic Bengali Food. Now if a staunch and orthodox Greek Guy can whip up such great Shorshe Bata Maachher Jhol and Tok Daal, even I can create some Authentic Greek Food. It all runs in the family after all.

Mr. Gyros was given a miss and I donned the chef's hat for some Pork Souvlaki. I had picked up a pack of Pork Chops and its was just Souvlaki which was on my mind. The challenge was how authentic would it taste !!!

A cook book had been presented to me, from the warehouse store, from where we do a lot of  our groceries. Its usually Hubby who picks it up, while making Hors d'oevures for all the entertaining we do over the weekends. Their Souvlaki recipe seemed easy enough, in the short time I had for prep. I had some lovely fresh lemons and some good Greek Oregano.Shallots were absent, hence Red Onions came in to the party. An hour of marination was not that great a call. I had a few more to spare. So that put me a bit at ease. My last experience of ordering some Souvlaki at Holy Land Cafe in my neighborhood was quite a let down. So the challenge for me, was even greater. Making something which would satisfy my own seasoned taste buds !!!

Rather than skewering the pork, I had decided to stick to the whole Chops. To tenderize the meat, I had scored the Chops, so that the marinade soaked in better.The Pork Souvlaki turned out to be quite tender.Much better than I had expected !!

PORK SOUVLAKI :

Ingredients: 
Pork Chops: 4
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 1/4 cup
Garlic Cloves: 3: minced
Greek Oregano: 1 tbsp
Thyme: 1 tsp
Bay leaves: 2
Red Onion: 1/2 : Chopped finely
Salt: to taste
Black Pepper: 1tsp
Lemon: 2 : Juiced

Procedure:  
Score the Pork Chops diagonally.

Make a marinade of the Olive Oil, salt, black pepper, Oregano, Bay leaves, Thyme, chopped Red Onions, minced garlic, and the juice of one lemon.

Marinate the Pork Chops in the aforementioned marinade for a few hours(Overnight if you have the time).

Heat the grill, or a skillet. Lift the Pork Chops, from the marinade, onto the grill or the skillet.

Keep basting the Chops with the marinade so that they do not get dry or stick to the grill or skillet.

Turn them over. Grill the chops until they are firm.

Let the Pork chops Rest for five minutes before serving them, or else the juices would run out of the meat,and it would get all dry. Sprinkle fresh lemon juice on the Pork Souvlaki and serve hot !! You can serve the Pork Souvlaki with a side of Tzatziki !

Bon Appetit !!!

Enjoy Greek Goodness !!!

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