Deli Stuff

I spent the whole day with my sister yesterday just chilling, with not a care in the world, except when the guy at the Ice cream place we went to was getting slightly concerned at me staring at my waffle cone filled with Cranberry Dark Chocolate like I was about to marry it. And the constant giggles because of how happy I was sitting in a little Italian village look-alike in the middle of Chennai city. I did compliment him quite a bit later, so I'm sure he let my eccentricities pass.

We had an eventful day which started off on the principle of window shopping when we hit up a mall, but which ended up with us buying the exact same pair of shoes for a price that would make someone's eyes pop out of their sockets and bounce away. Do eyeballs bounce? I've always wondered.

We got back home, and I wanted to make her dinner. Considering the amount she pampers me, and I mean she REALLY pampers me. Funny bit is she keeps saying, " I know, I really should stop. NEVER AGAIN." Aaaand she just ends up buying me something the next day. Ah the joys of being Me. I just radiate charm and awesomeness.

I wanted to make something different but easy. Something I don't do often. And I suddenly remembered, rather randomly I might add, those little deli diners that there are. I have quite a few readers from the United States, you guys know what I'm talking about right? The little sandwich parlors of divinity. And Subway DOES NOT count. They just tick me off now. But anyway, I wanted to have our own little Deli dinner so that's exactly what I did! And much to my delight, it turned out just the way I wanted it to=)

Have a look, but only if one of you can find me a picture with eyeballs bouncing. I'M CURIOUS.

Pretty fancy eh? ;)

Food is more than just trying to keep yourself alive. It's really an art in itself. George ( any Masterchef fans?),  always mentions how important plating up and serving your food is and I had some fun doing it, apart from the fun I had getting all messy in the kitchen. But I always clean up after I'm done so. It's a really really simple vegetarian dinner, emphasis on the vegetarian considering the number of vegetables I used hee. Point being, it's easy to make, especially if time isn't on your side or even if you live alone. I started cooking when I was about 8. And the first thing I ever made was Toasted Herb Bread. Which was basically toast with oregano and basil in butter. My love for food began much, much before the toast though. In Sydney when I was 3 or 4, Mommai used to cater quite a bit, mainly Indian food and she'd wake up at some ungodly hour to start cooking. But then so did I. To eat. She made some killer Jangiris which are this Indian sweet that look like they went a tad bit bonkers. I'd eat 6 of those at 5.30 AM.

Moving along, like I said, I had a lot of fun making this. The best part about cooking with a lot of veggies is that it makes your meal look like the rainbow spilled over. It makes for good decoration as well. And it's really really easy.

On the black plate, I just sliced some capsicum, bell peppers and onions and garnished it with lemon, salt ( not too much), and pink peppercorns. Pink pepper corns are less pungent than black and have this nice fruity spicy flavour. I sliced some tomatoes and onions as well, clearly, as you can see. Those also had the same garnishes. The beetroot I boiled and then cut up, because eating raw beetroot is just downright insane. I know someone who ate a whole raw capsicum once. My world is rather weird. But I love it.

Mashed potatoes are an absolute must when it comes to a salad/sandwich/ continental meal. I can't do without it. But it has to be perfectly boiled. I'd say about 35-40 minutes till it becomes really soft and squishy. And then you can go all crazy mashing it up. Add in 2 or 3 spoons of cream to get a really velvetty bowl of mash. What I did here is, I ground some fresh Dil and black peppers in a garlic and herb oil and mixed it in. Dil and Taters? Heaven.

I wanted to use Cheddar or Swiss cheese slices but I couldn't get my hands on any. Swiss cheese is perfect for sandwiches. I like my cheeses to be strong in sandwiches, it kinda balances out the vegetables.
The salad is just a congregation of Zucchini, Tomatoes, white Onions ( if you want a more pungent flavour), figs and raisins ( absolutely delish when you get a sudden burst of sweetness in the midst of all the salt and spice), and of course baby potatoes. Again, the baby potatoes must be boiled for about a half hour in some salt and garlic. And you can choose to leave the skins on or peel it off. I couldn't make up my mind so I gave both options a chance. Turned out awesome in terms of decor don't you think? ;)

Caramelised ANYTHING is yummy and what better than mushrooms? I love mushrooms even though people say it's fungus or is a fungii. Doesn't put me off. I'm still in desperate search of Porcini mushrooms here. Spring onions are also a fun ingredient because they go with almost anything. Here what I did is, first put some Olive oil and let it simmer a bit. Added in caramelised vinegar, a little salt and chilly flakes. After it starts bubbling, throw in the muchrooms ( preferably cut from the stalk and not sideways), and let them simmer a bit. Flip them over when one side is done. Once they're close to cooked, add in the chopped spring onions and flip it around a bit. Add more salt if necessary. And just before taking it off the stove, douse the mushrooms and onions with a good amount of honey, I used 4-5 tablespoons and stir a few times before taking it off. The flavour is beyond brilliant.

The Dips: Dips are essential when you're making salad, sandwiches or even little bits of food like Wedges etc. And I almost always need to add something on.  Sour Cream is REALLY easy to make. Mix in a good amount of cream, depends on how much you want to make. I've used about 6 tablespoons here. Heavy cream is ideal, because the heavier your cream, the thicker your sour cream is. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of Yogurt, which ideally you should leave to set for 12 hours to allow it to culture. But I had 12 minutes. So. =P
But it was still good. Add a few drops of  lime, fine Dil, a little salt, and some finely ground chilly flakes just to give it a bit of spice.

The Cheese, Chilly and Onion dip was my favourite. And the easiest. Whip together some cream cheese, and plain cheese spread. And whip it GOOD. Unless you want a few chunks. I couldn't find the beater. Which ended up a little disastrous for me because I had dip dripping down nice outfit due to incessant beating. Chop up some chillies and pink onions. Really tiny pieces, otherwise you'll have a whole dragon thing going on, breathing FIYAAAAAH and what not if you have monstrous pieces of chilly in there. Mix that in and there you have it!

The Tomato Chutney is because of how long I've been living in India. It's just innate now. But a habit which favours taste. Cut two tomatoes and throw it into a grinder along with four or five green chillies, some fresh garlic cloves, not too much garlic because you don't want to scare your dinner buddies or anyone else away. A tad bit of salt and some lemon and you're good to go! Grind it till it becomes a really thick paste. Add a little water if necessary. Then put the mixture on a frying pan and allow it to simmer for a good ten minutes. Don't stir or anything. After you start seeing those little bubbles coming at you like they're trying to say something ( it's really quite psychedelic), turn it down to simmer, fry till it becomes a nice deep red. This complements the mash very well.

And there you have it! A quick, simple dinner that is much more than what grass eaters are thought to eat. You can experiment with this because I had only a limited number of veggies. Avacado dip is another favourite. Pickled onions and Zucchini are a nice touch too.

Wash that down with Orange Juice or Merlot wine and you can be assured of a good night's sleep.

Stay heavy ( literally, after such a dinner)  and Tataaa ^_^