Coq Au Vin

This is a great signature dish for a party. Remember to pop it into the oven an hour before everyone walks in so the aromas scent your home.

1 big chicken, curry cut

8 tsb. butter (that's why it's a party dish)

1 1/2 cups of burgundy wine, you may use any red

2 pkts. mushrooms, chopped in big pieces without stalks

1 pkt. small white onions

1 pkt. bacon

8 pods of garlic, smashed 

2 sprigs of thyme

1 cup of flour

salt and fresh ground pepper, to season, remember butter and bacon are both salty

Clean and pat dry the chicken. It needs to be dry so you can coat it evenly with flour, if you like dry it with a kitchen paper towel. 

Mix the flour with salt and pepper. I use lots of fresh ground pepper in most things and there is no substitute for it.

Roll the chicken in it.

Put one tablespoon of butter in the pan, brown chicken in batches. Add butter when you think it sticks. Remember the chicken should come out a beautiful brown.

Rinse pan.

Fry bacon till crisp. Keep aside.

In the bacon fat, brown the onions and garlic. Add mushroom and thyme.

Now lovingly layer the pieces of chicken in a big casserole. Borosil is good. 

For every layer of chicken, add some wine, the onion mix and bacon and then the chicken and so on. 

Preheat oven to 200*c and bake for an hour.

Remember to use good wine, or it looks rather purple even though it still tastes delicious.

Grilled Fish

500 gms. of any fish, Rawas, or if you can manage it, Red snapper

2 tablespoons of mustard sauce

a big handful of thyme, plucked from the stem

a big handful of dill, roughly chopped

Salt, to taste

One teaspoon of olive oil to baste your baking tray

Mix all the ingredients except for the olive oil. Clean fish and pat dry and simply cover one side of it with the mix. Place them on the tray with the mustard side facing up and pop into the oven at 250 centigrade for 15 minutes. The fish is ready to eat with french bread and a salad.

Deem's Pasta Salad

A great big salad for a movie night in or even a piss up. Do not microwave it. Use a nice wok and serve in it. It's also a great carb fest for morning afters.

11/2 cup penne, put in a vat of boiling water with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil for 7 minutes

Pork sausages, chopped in large bits (killjoys can use chicken instead)

1 small packet or a big handful of cherry tomatoes

11/2 packets of mushrooms

10 pods of garlic

5 green chillies, chopped in largish bits

Fresh ground pepper

A large dash of tabasco 

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 sprigs of basil, chopped in big pieces

Salt, to taste

Fry the garlic in hot olive oil till it is a beautiful brown. 

Add the sausages and fry for 7 minutes or so till they are brown too.

Add mushrooms till they sweat for about 6 minutes.

Now dunk the chillies, cherry tomatoes, tabasco, pepper, salt and stir till its all mixed nicely. Remember too much stirring breaks pasta so do the mixing now.

Add the pasta, give it a good stir.

Garnish with basil and let the smells tickle your nose, leave a handful to use right before you serve.

Yoghurt Dip

This is a yoghurt dip to die for. It has been the inspiration for many drunk marriage proposals. The only downside is that your friends will always ask you to make a batch and carry it to their parties.

1 dabba of any brand of full-fat curd (Nestle, Amul)

12 pods of garlic, chopped very fine

1 teaspoon salt

11/2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon white pepper (no substitute)

1 handful of chopped green chillies, coriander

Hang the curd in a clean muslin cloth, the best place to do this would be on your kitchen tap so it drips into the sink. 

After 2 hours, take it off and you'll see it comes off the cloth almost effortlessly as it's nice and dry. 

Drop this into a stainless steel vessel and add all the other ingredients. 

Now grind patiently for 2 minutes with a pestle. Keep tasting. 

The proportions are a science as far as I'm concerned but if you feel the need to add, do it. Remember the final taste ought to be overwhelmingly full of full of garlic, pepper and sugar.

Sorshe Maach (Mustard Fish)

A really quick and easy way to make a batch of mustard fish. You can make it everyday or even for a quiet dinner at home. I recommend pomfret or ruhi (rohu) as some people call it. 

500 gms. fish

1 tablespoon mustard oil

3 tablespoons curd

6 green chillies, 3 whole, 3 slit

4 tablespoons mustard seeds

6 tablespoons of water

Salt, to taste

First take the mustard seeds and grind them with water. Add the curd and 3 whole green chillies to the paste.

Then heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker till it's smoking. 

Gently add the washed fish, mustard paste, salt and 3 slit chillies. 

Close the cooker and shut 3 minutes after the first whistle. 

Voila! The fish is ready to ravish with some steamed rice. 

Pesto Potatoes with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Prep is simple. Ingredients are posh so don't get carried it away making it for everyday eating.  

Meat eaters must also take note as it looks great standing next to the stuffed animals.

Ingredients:

100 gm. pine nuts

1 packet of basil

8 pods of garlic

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 packet of baby potatoes, pressure cooked with one whistle, cooled and peeled

1 teaspoon of black pepper, ground by hand in a mortar and pestle, richies can pull out their pepper mill

1 handful of sun dried tomatoes 

Salt, to taste

Prepare your green pesto paste by grinding together pine nuts, garlic and basil in olive oil.

Put the peeled potatoes in a pan and saute in 1 teaspoon of regular oil till lightly browned, don't let them stick to the pan.

Drop in the pesto, fresh ground pepper, salt and sun dried tomatoes into the pan and coat the potatoes.

Take it off in 5 minutes and gourmet potatoes are ready to serve.