Hasselback Potatoes with Pesto

I love potatoes. It's no secret. I have loved them my whole life. It started from childhood, and chips. (My childhood involved a lot of chips - written about here - and waffles, and mash and jackets). Oh, it was the life! 

Choosing my next victim!

Japanese Patties with Ponzu Sauce

So, my last post was a long, long time ago. I did mention I would be away for a while; however it would be a lie to say I have been in India this entire time. My excuse is valid, I would argue, because health related issues always are aren’t they?! And let me tell you, I don’t think I know a single person who goes to India and does not suffer even the slightest of ailments. That’s just the charm of India – chaotic, unclean and polluted (hence those ailments) crossed with vibrant, beautiful and unbelievably tasty!

Just a selection of some of the amazing food I ate in India!

Pumpkin and Chickpea Coconut curry

This post is born out of pity. Pity for all those poor pumpkins left abandoned on supermarket shelves (now that Halloween is a distant memory). That, and the fact that I've been desperate to cook with coconut milk, an unknown ingredient to me as a cook. It has worked out perfectly because I have somehow evoked flavours reminiscent of my favourite katsu curry in that infamous chain Wagamamas!

Mexican Wedding Biscuits

This post is a made in dedication to my new catering venture: Benos' Kitchen.

Random name you might say, given that my name is Sita (“Sita’s Simply Delicious” – duh!). But, this name makes perfect sense. ‘Benos’ means sisters in Gujarati. My business partner (a.k.a my partner in crime) is my dear cousin sister, Nivika. And we’re both of Gujarati heritage.  

Obviously this the perfect time for me to advertise to you all - my lovely blog readers, so let me just get that out of the way first.

We really, really want to cook for you all. Really we do. Cooking is our passion. People tell us they like our food. We don’t pay them to say that. That’s just what they say. It’s party food that we do. Finger food. Bite sized. Bursting with flavour.To sum up our food in four words, we make fusion food made simple.

Here’s an excerpt from our menu so you can get a taste of the food we do.

Courgette Cups – courgette cups stuffed with a delicate blend of rosemary, thyme and garlic topped with crispy, golden breadcrumbs.

Mini Focaccia Bites – handmade authentic focaccia bread, smothered in our secret marinara sauce and melted mild, creamy cheddar cheese.

Crispy polenta bites – crispy polenta rounds topped with smooth goat’s cheese mousse and caramelised fig and red onion relish.

If you like sound of what you read and want to find out more, email us at benoskitchen@gmail.com . We even have a fancy newsletter to keep you all up to date. Send us an email and we’ll add you to our mailing list because we’re nice like that.

You can find us on twitter, and instagram, here and here, too – we basically just post food porn for you all to ogle at.

Okay, advertisement over.

This week’s recipe is for these super cute, really simple yet unbelievably delicious biscuits.

 I came across these when I was researching vegan recipes for an event Nivika and I attended. In my experience vegan food can sometimes feel lacking; Lacking flavour, lacking substance. But these vegan biscuits are just delicious. They literally melt in your mouth. And the use of maple syrup (common in a vegan recipes – as I have come to learn) is genius.

If anyone is celebrating Diwali next week – give these biscuits a go along side your usual sweets. Trust me, everyone will love them.

Mexican Wedding Biscuits (makes approx 25)

290g plain flour
30g ground almonds
85g icing sugar
225g margarine
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

(You may notice those fair hands in the video are not my own. They actually belong to my partner in crime Nivika. I'm behind the camera this week!)


1) Sift flour, almonds and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat margarine, maple syrup and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Get your hands in and bind the dough together.

2) Leave in the fridge to cool for at least 10 minutes. Thereafter, mould into teaspoon sized balls. Pat down and add roasted almond flake on top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175ºc for 11-13 minutes. Until the edges are golden.

 
3) Let the biscuits cool and dust with plenty of icing sugar. 

// Click here to PRINT RECIPE //


Until next time...

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Sweet Corn Chowder

Last minute.com pretty much sums me up at the moment. Time, days, life is just whizzing by. It is so easy to get over whelmed at how time flies as you dash about doing one thing after another, after another, after another, barely having a second to think. Every decision I make seems instantaneous in consequence. This is very disconcerting for someone who likes to plan ahead. My diary is my Bible.

Having said that, it might come as a surprise that in amongst the whirlwind of everyday life I find quiet solace in possibly the most hectic, traumatising (for some) place on earth – the London Underground.

The London Underground is like another world. You are distanced from the wider world, unreachable from the needy demands of cyberspace and commitments to friends, family and work. That time spent on the tube is yours. You cannot give that time to anyone on the phone or anyone in an email or in reply to their text message. You are free from the inundation of news feeds and time lines.

Admittedly noisy, rushing people on the Underground can cause just as much disruption to quiet mindfulness as news feeds and text messages. However this can be blocked out by escapism through music. And you will rarely find me without headphones firmly plugged in whilst travelling on the Underground.

It is here, in the routine forty minutes of my day, twice a day, that I take my solace. Whether I am jammed between a pole and a suitcase or sitting comfortably surrounded by angry, envious glares wishing that the next stop is mine so that they can have a seat; either way those forty minutes belong to me. And on days like the days I’ve been having these past couple of weeks those forty minutes consist mainly of forty winks!

The minute I get off the Underground to head home, my mind is racing and phone buzzing once again. But at the forefront of all these demands is always food. Thinking “need fresh food now” and “can’t be bothered to go to the shops, what have we got at home?” is basically how I came up with this recipe. Store cupboard ingredients plus really simple, fresh execution equals delicious, nutritious, wholesome dinner – a.k.a Sweet Corn Chowder.

Sweet Corn Chowder

Sweet Corn Chowder (serves 4)

1 white onion, chopped finely

5 small potatoes, peeled (optional) and chopped into 1 inch cubes

2 cups sweet corn (approx 250g), frozen or fresh or canned, it doesn't matter

1 hot chilli, split down the middle

1 handful coriander, chopped finely

1 tsp stock (or 1 stock cube)

3 cups milk

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp oil

A dash of cream – if you’re feeling luxurious

1) Sweat the onions gently on a low heat. Add a pinch of salt as they cook to stop them burning. Pop the bay leaves in with the onions. Let them cook together for 2 minutes.

Sweating onions with bay leaves

2) Next add the potatoes and stir into the onions briefly. Now mix the stock into 1 cup of water, pour this over the onion and potatoes. The water should just cover the potatoes. Add the chilli. (The reason I have only split the chilli down the middle and not chopped it is so that it only imparts a mild warming background flavour rather than full on heat. This soup is all about the subtleties.) Put the lid on and let the potatoes cook until soft. This will take about 7 minutes.

3) Add three cups of milk. Let this come to the boil. (Watch that the milk doesn’t boil over. Trust me scrubbing boiled milk off your cooker is not fun or easy.)

Sweet corn

4) Now take about half your sweet corn and blitz with a ladle full of soup. This can be used to thicken the soup. Add the rest of the frozen corn into the soup whole. And mix in the blitzed mixture. (FYI: I prefer frozen sweet corn to canned and fresh over both these options. But for convenience sake I try and use frozen when I can. But use whatever is convenient for you and preferred by your own taste buds of course.)

The finished soup!

5) The final flourish is a handful of chopped coriander. Serve alongside some crusty bread of choice – you’ll want something that will soak up those gorgeous flavours. That’s it - simple, delicious soup!

// Click here to PRINT RECIPE //

Until next time...

Mini Chocolate Scones with Pear Compote

These scones are bloomin’ marvellous!

Mini Chocolate Scones

Oh, don’t mind me over here blowing my own trumpet.  It’s just that I could eat these all day, every day. They are (as most really, really good baking recipes are by my standards) adapted from my Mum’s recipe – so are inevitably going to be scrummy. I would be in a lot of trouble from Mother Hen but, she doesn’t know how to “do a blog” as she says. And well, what’s the point in me spending time teaching her how easy it is? When once she’s in front of the screen, mouse in hand, she’s going to get **new technology fear!! Get me a pen and a piece of paper!!** syndrome and forget everything I’ve told her. So I’ll give her the credit she deserves but put it up in full glory on my blog.

This recipe is adapted from her basic scone recipe, with my added twist of chocolate. And the pear compote is a perfect pairing (and my own recipe!). So actually, this dish is almost entirely my own creation. Mum, you’re lucky you got a mention!

Scones are just perfect for this time of year. Like most people, the darkening days and change in weather has got me down. I remember writing something similar around this time of year last year, when I made soup. This year, the comfort factor has been taken up a notch. Warm, sweet scones are the perfect comfort food and taste of home, alongside a big cup of tea, naturally. And they could be said to be very en vogue what with Bake Off and Downton (follow the links if you’ve been living under a rock or if you are not familiar with these British obsessions) back on our screens.

So over the winter period, on a Sunday night when most of us can be found snuggled under a blanket in front of the box, I would definitely recommend trying these British classics. And of course this recipe can be adapted to incorporate your favourite flavours – apple, hazelnut, lavender, orange and chocolate whatever takes your fancy really, this recipe definitely allows for experimentation.

Mini Chocolate Scones with Pear Compote (serves about 10)

Pear Compote:

4 Williams pears, peeled and chopped

6 tbsp (jam) sugar

1 star anise

2 tbsp hot water

Mini Chocolate Scones:

300g self raising flour

75g butter, cut into cubes

2 tbsp caster sugar

50g chocolate (with at least 40% cocoa solids)

150ml milk



Start with the pear compote...

1. Peel and chop the pears into small cubes. Put all the ingredients into a microwavable bowl. Then follow the same instructions here for my microwavable jam. You should not expect a jammy texture for this compote though – it is much more dry and the pears do not break down as much. However look out for a change in colour. The pears should darken a little and soften slightly. The texture you’re left with goes perfectly with these scones.

Pear Compote

Now for the scones...

1. First put your oven at 200ºC on to preheat so it is well heated before the scones go in.

Butter and flour now resembles sand!

2. Next, weigh out the flour. Sift into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub the butter into the flour between your finger tips (as seen in the video above). Keep going until the mixture resembles sand or fine breadcrumbs. Keep the mixture light and airy by lifting it through your fingers 

Notice the round-bladed knife

3. Pour in the milk and spoon in the sugar. Mix together using a wooden spoon or round-bladed knife. Once it begins to incorporate add in your chopped chocolate pieces. (I prefer these to chocolate chips as they’re all different sizes adding texture, and you can get bigger chunks – which is always a good thing with chocolate!)

Cutting out the scones

4. Once the mixture comes together, tip out onto a well floured work surface. Knead slightly to remove any cracks in the dough. Be gently though as you don’t want to knock out all the air and over work your dough. Flatten out using your hands until the dough is 1.5cm in thickness. Use a 6cm pastry cutter to cut out your scones. (If you don’t have a pastry cutter you can use a knife to shape them manually or trace round a bottle – just try and keep them all the same shape so they cook at the same rate.) You should get around 10-12 scones from this mixture.

Almost ready for the oven!

5. Transfer onto a baking sheet lined tray. Give the scones space between them as they will expand. Brush each scone with some milk – this will give them a lovely golden sheen. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes at 200ºC until golden brown.  

My Mini Chocoalte Scones with Pear Compote

6. Once baked transfer onto a cooling rack. You can have them warm or cold. I like them best warm, with a dollop of whipped cream and a spoon of pear compote. Delicious!

I think I'm ready for Bake Off and Downton!

// Click here to PRINT RECIPE // Pssst - don't forget:- if you like what you read enter your email address into the box on the side at the top ----->. Don't worry I won't spam you or anything! You'll just get an email every time I write a new post :) And you can now follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Bloglovin' too! 


Until next time... 

Chutney Cheese Sandwich with Pickled Onions

With September being the start of the academic year (here in the UK at least), it got me thinking about my school lunch box. Kids these days seem to have such exotic palates, growing up exposed to so many different cuisines both at home and when they go out, I can’t imagine they are satisfied with just a sandwich and a piece of fruit anymore. However when I was growing up my packed lunch always begun with a sandwich – cucumber and mustard mainly, sometimes jam, sometimes peanut butter, often the two together (you can tell I had a limited palate). Something between two slices of bread was always the starting point for my lunch box, followed by a box of fruit, packet of crisps, maybe a chocolate or a piece of cake and a couple of snacks for the journey home (I had a very high metabolism – and also very hungry friends on the coach home from whom it was impossible to hide any scrap of food!).

Since those lunch box days I have progressed in the way of sandwich fillings. Now pretty much anything is permitted between any two slices of bread that enter my mouth. This recipe was born in that vein because almost every Indian household will have some green chutney hanging about in their fridge, and naturally anything that is hanging about in the fridge is game when it comes to sandwich fillings. A lot of people will have their own version of this sandwich adding all sorts such as sliced tomatoes or shredded lettuce. But my recipe keeps it classic; simply chutney and cheese.

Chutney Cheese Sandwich with Pickled Onions

However it should be noted this chutney is not your average sweet mango marmalade-ish chutney. This is the real deal chutney, the chutney that my grandmother, like her own grandmother and her grandmothers grandmother too (probably) means when she refers to chutney. It gets its vivid green colour (and name) from the hoards of coriander that it begins with, plus a little extra from the mint I’ve added in for freshness. This chutney is used as a dip for absolutely anything, so even if you're not too keen on the sound of the sandwich, the chutney alone is worth a try.

To make this sandwich properly, the bread you use has to be white. You just won’t get the same crisp lightness on your toast without white bread. A packet of crisps is never too far away from any sandwich but I like mine with a side of pickled onions. They add a satisfying crunch and sharpness to the dish. Furthermore, they really couldn’t be any easier to make.

So if you want to spice up your lunch box here’s how you make my Chutney Cheese Sandwich with Pickled Onions.

Chutney Cheese Sandwich with Pickled Onions (serves 4)

Ingredients for the Chutney

For the Chutney:

1 bunch of corriander, roughly chopped

Approx 30 mint leaves

2 tsp cumin seeds

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 lemon, juice only

3 chillies, or less depending on how spicy you like it

Approx 10/15 roasted peanuts

For the Pickled Onions:

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 pinch of sea salt

To make the chutney, simply add all the ingredients, apart from the peanuts, into a blender. Blitz until smooth. Check the consistency of the chutney. Add the peanuts to thicken if necessary. Blitz until smooth – and the chutney is done. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. Alternatively you can freeze it ready for a later date.

Ingredients for the Pickled Onion

For the pickled onions, simply mix all the ingredients together and leave the onions to pickle in the juices for at least a couple of hours. (If you can make this day before you want to eat it, even better! The flavours develop over time, so the longer you leave it the better it will taste).

To assemble the sandwich simply toast one side of each slice of bread. Spread the chutney on the un-toasted side. Pile on the cheese (grated/sliced – however you like it) and sandwich together. Serve with the pickled onion on the side. This recipe couldn’t be any simpler but still tastes delicious!

Just couldn't help but take a bite!

// Click here PRINT RECIPE //

Until next time...

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