Wednesday, November 11, 2009

House Cleaning (Part 1) - Cheese & The Joys of Sunny Days

Winter has come to Bangalore. My immediate temptation is to reach for my soup recipes. But first, there is the small problem of clearing the cheese rack in the refrigerator. My latest batch of mozzarella was in its brine for over a week, not something you want to subject fresh cheese to.
There was bread that Shantala had baked the day before. and there were 2 full packets of fresh italian basil. The orders from the kitchen matron were to finish what was lying around before embarking on further exploits with broth.
A couple of week ago, we had some lovely sunshine. I took advantage of that and made my first batch of tomato confit, the remnants of which I present below. This also emptied out my EVOO (Rachel Ray acronym). I didn't bother with any marjoram since getting it fresh is such a bother. I must say that allowing the tomato to get to it being rubbery is the perfect way to enjoy it.
I was all for making a fresh batch of feta o blend with this and make a great dip or even a pasta sauce for a rainy day, but it was not to be.
The irresistable homemade bread and the presence of basil was enough to rustle up some rustic bruschetta. We had a German guest who I would like to believe was missing food from back home. The bottle was pretty empty once we were done with it.
Fresh mozzarella is really something. The only reason I buy it is if I have to feed more than 4 people - and I haven't done that in a while. Milk hunting over 2 litres can be a strain on the body on a weekend :-)
Still have half the quantity of mozz. With all the basil around, its probably going to land up on a pizza with the new oven at home.

1 comment:

  1. Very appetising, Rahul and Shantala. I have done this before, but I must again compliment you on your photography.

    That must have been one hell of a lunch. Wish I could appreciate all that you say a bit better though. For all my food knowledge and adventurism, I still have not got over my aversion for Italian cuisine.

    Hope that your pizza which you are probably planning for this weekend - Fliiiiiiiiiiies :-)

    ReplyDelete

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