I’m currently writing this post from Z’s office cafeteria. On a weekday. Before 6pm. This never happens. I don’t leave work that early. The only time I come to Z’s office is to drop him off ( well technically he drives to work, we just switch seats after he gets off, but that’s besides the point) and when I pick him up every evening. This abnormality in regular schedule is thanks to the neck sprain that decided to come back after almost a year. This time around I decided to treat the cause rather than the symptom. A not-so-quick trip to the doctor later I now have to decide a few things given the prognosis.

Sometime last month I had my victory moment when I finally hit the 100lb mark. But apparently you can drop weight too (who knew? Not me!!). So now I’m back to the higher 90s. And as my doctor said today, without sugar coating, that’s one of the reasons for my current predicament (I’d never used that word in a sentence before ). So now I officially have to gain weight, that means hello to protein shakes and more meals in a day. Everyone keeps telling me that this is a good problem to have as opposed to losing weight.

So I decided to tackle the problem in a different way this time around. I’ve never been a fan of abstract goals. And still I went against my own code. I had an abstract goal. ‘Gain weight’ – that has been my goal for the past n number of years. A moving target and clear lack of strategy. So this time around, I’m going to do things a bit differently.

First things first.

Target weight – 125lbs.
Period – a year.
Strategy: My Get Fit Challenge aka GFC (coz every serious plan needs an abbreviated name!!)

This is going to be the hardest part. I thought I’ll tackle it by finding something I like that would somehow lead to the final goal. And what could be better than cooking. For the past few months I’ve completely neglected cooking. I did make amazing Egg Curry (eggs poached in curry – recipe to follow soon) but that was it. I need to get into the kitchen more. There are so many things that we haven’t tried, recipes on our list. I need to actually get around to making one of those. I need to get back to eating more seafood. Back in India, seafood was a big part of our everyday meal. It was part of our staple diet. That and rice. I’ve not had either in a very long time now.

The next part is to get outdoors more. I’m a web developer. That means I’m pretty much chained to my computer. By choice. But I need to sever that connection for a few hours every now and then. I did start Power Yoga, which I love! The sessions aren’t gimmicky and the teacher doesn’t push you to do crazy things. I need to get more regular at that. And just walking outdoors. Thanks to the awesome weather these days, I can actually do that now.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to hit all my goals, but I know that I’ll give it a fair try this time around. *Fingers Crossed*

~Peetu

Excuse my horrible attempt at coming with an apt headline. Moving along…

It all started on a Friday night when we decided to bbq outside given the awesome weather we’ve been having lately. That meant one of us lugging the chairs outside and back in again once we were done. This is the part that I hate the most when it comes to BBQ-nights. The to and fro of non-food things. So come Saturday morning when Z was talking about how he could get the kitchen faucet replacement (that we’ve been putting off for the past year & a half .. another story..), I was half listening to him while reading this post from Roadkill Rescue. I had my light bulb moment then. We could totally reuse the wood that the previous owners left to make a bench in the backyard!!! I ran this idea by Z and he was all pumped about the project.

We took stock of the things what we would need for the project and what we already had that we could possibly reuse. Wooden planks – check, some 2×4 that the fencing guy had left over – check, grinder/sander – check… Z went to Home Depot to get the rest of things that we would need for the project. After we had everything, we began the most tedious part – getting the correct measurements. Some serious discussion & 15 mins later, we were ready to make cuts. Enter our newest toy, the circular saw. Given my slight fear of machines that can do serious damage, I nagged Z into double checking all the safety measures needed. After cutting, which seemed easy-peasy thanks to the saw, everything else went fairly smoothly. We (read Z) sanded the planks that would serve as the seat and we called it a day.

Today morning, Z started early and then literally dragged me out of the bed to get started. We set a hard deadline of finish the frame and the bench so that we could start staining by 2. The frame was easy to build once we double checked all the measurements. The screwing everything in place is what took us the longest time. After a frustrating 15 mins, 3 stripped screws and a now useless drill bit later, Z finally managed to get the bench done by around 2.30.

Now came the fun part – staining the bench. Since we had already done this, thanks to our last staining project aka the side table, this was done in no time.

We got a deep reddish brown Bombay Mahogany poly stain this time.

Not too shabby for what came from a bunch of unused throwaway wood. The total rundown of things we used:

• 3 wooden planks (free, reused)
• 4 x 1″3′ long 4x4s for the legs ($5)
•  2 1×3 framing lumber ($6)
• Deck/outdoor wood screws
• Wood glue
• Bombay Mahogany Poly stain
• Patience (lots of it)
• Sunscreen

The project roughly cost us around $11 bucks since we had the rest of the items needed at home. It took us around 2 days but it was interspersed with a lot of breaks given that we started late on Saturday. And the end result was pretty sweet…

A different angle:

~Peetu

Egg Biryani experiences have always been a hit or miss (more misses than hits). Every time I see it on the menu it sounds super tempting. So, the other day I ordered it at an Indian restaurant and that was it! I decided to take the task upon myself.

With the whole dinner4two manifesto, the challenge was to make the dish under 30 minutes with no more than 2 pans. But if you have all the ingredients at hand, it’s do-able. So, here it goes…

To hit the 30 minute deadline, I did some things in parallel..

and..

(detailed recipe following….)

The awesomeness waiting behind the curtains.. umm.. lid, but you get the metaphor, right??

And the salan (loosely based on curry, generally made with tomatoes & garlic as the primary ingredients)

So here are the ingredients

Whole spices:

• 3 nos. cloves,
• 1 ea black and green cardamom,
• 10 nos. black peppercorns,
• 1 medium sized cinnamon stick,
• 1 tbsp cumin,
• 2 bay leaves (tej patta)

Ground Spices:

• 1/4th tsp Turmeric,
• 1 tbsp cumin,
• 1 tbsp coriander,
• 1 tsp garam masala,
• 1 tsp red chilli powder,
• 1 tbsp shaan biryani masala (optional)

Other Ingredients:

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large onion
• 6 boiled eggs
• 1 tbsp: besan or gram flour or all purpose flour ( will use flour in the recipe but it’s just a binding agent)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 cup basmati rice washed
• For garnish: a few sprigs of coriander, mint. 1/4th cup of raisins

Procedure:

1. In a pan, heat some oil and add the coriander powder, cumin, red chilli, salt and flour. Sauté the eggs in them so that they get evenly coated.
2. In another wide but shallow sauce pan heat some oil and add all the whole spices. Once it starts crackling, add the onion (cut into julienne) and sauté till the onions are caramelized.
3. Add the eggs with basmati rice to this pan and sauté the entire mixture. Add remaining ground spices.
4. Add two cups of water (twice the rice) and bring to a boil. Add chopped cilantro, mint and raisins (or cranberries, if you prefer) to the boiling mix.
5. Dial down the heat and let simmer for 15 mins.
6. Turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 mins.

And when all is plated it indeed looks mouth watering and tastes wonderful as well. Mission accomplished!

Presenting: Egg Biryani, made by: yours truly

Things have been crazy busy lately.  And all of it has been work related. I didn’t even realize that it’s Thursday today. So in honor of Friday, a new post…

I come across quite a few amazing blogs/posts and I ‘star’ them in my Google Reader. Following are a few of the amazing ones I stumbled upon in the past few weeks..

• Read this excellent post by Anna from Door Sixteen about creativity & inspiration
• I came across this article on how a veteran is trying to piece back his life together all thanks to one woman
• Discovered this blog -> How About Orange and subsequently this blog – Charm Stitch and am in the process of making this iPhone case
• One of my favorite Quora threads – Profound quotes from Calvin & Hobbes
• Since I’ve been in my non-cooking phase for the past few weeks, I fully intend to break the spell by baking this Guinness cake 
• If you love food, you should totally hop over & have a look at Shutterbean
• And finally, this amazing tshirt from Woot
• Update: 33 animals that are disappointed in you

~Peetu

Starting this new series Dinner for two. Will try to write about gourmet dinner made for two people in 30mins or less and within 2 pots. Starting with chicken tikka masala ‘lite’ and drunken mushrooms in Guinness. By ‘lite’ I mean no cream or cashew or any of the heavy stuff while still try to retain the flavors.

Started with marinating the chicken in fat free yogurt, dry mango powder, garlic powder, Garam masala, red chilli powder, salt and olive oil

Sauté the chicken for a minute on each side on high heat

Take the chicken out and let it rest. In the same pan take two big tomatoes and sauté it with coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric, green cardamom powder, salt, nutmeg. Add fat free yogurt and dried fenugreek to the sauce. A little bit of water if it’s too thick. Blend for a smooth consistency. Add the chicken and top it up with cilantro.

For the drunken mushrooms cut the stems off the button mushrooms. On a skillet sauté the mushroom and season it with salt and pepper. Add half a cup of Guinness and finish it off in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Voila you have your yummy dinner ready. Cooking time 25mins with one skillet and a fry pan. Emmm so happy !!!

To summarize the Ingredients:

• 1/2lb Boneless chicken strips
• Fat free yogurt
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1 tbsp Red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp dried mango powder
• 1 tbsp Garam masala
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 pinch Nutmeg powder
• Dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)

Everytime I go to the grocery store, the brussel sprouts invariably catch my eye. They are just sitting there with no prospects to land on anyone’s dinner plate tonight. Except if it’s Thanksgiving. Unfortunately for this amazing veggie, being on every kid’s ‘Hate-this’ list didn’t do them any favors.

My first intro to sprouts (read: brussel sprouts) was via cartoons. They don’t feature in India grocery stores/markets (atleast they didn’t a few years back). I was always intrigued and wanted to try this veggie that every kid in the cartoons seemed to hate. When I tried them for the first time, I was underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t fall in love with it either. Over time I came to a realization that very few people attempted to make a success out of this veggie. So I was always on a lookout for a good recipe. Deb, from Smitten Kitchen, has an amazing recipe for Dijon-braised sprouts. Z liked it, but didn’t completely fall in love with the veggie beyond agreeing to get it once every month. His problem wasn’t the recipe itself, but the texture of the sprouts. I kept thinking about making them crispy. And then I came across the phenomenon that was Kale chips. It was on Smitten Kitchen and in my twitter feed and on store shelves. If kale could be made into chips, surely same would apply to this underrated veggie, right?? RIGHT?? And as usual a quick google search confirmed this theory. Most of the recipes were almost same, so here’s how I made it yesterday.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 brussel sprouts
• 3-4 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Wash and cut stems off brussel sprouts
3. Seperate leaves as much as you can
4. Lay them on a paper towel to remove water, if any
5. Mix oil, salt & pepper in a bowl and add the leaves to the bowl. (We debated adding lemon zest, but dropped the idea since this was going to be our first experiment. And at 10pm on a weekday we didn’t have patience for failed experiments )
6. Mix well by hand to make sure that each leaf gets coated with the ‘marinade’
7. Line a oven sheet tray with parchment paper (This is my extreme aversion to avoid doing the dishes kicking in. I had no idea about the amount of cleanup for this recipe, hence this was my solution to be on the safe side. You can skip this if you want)
8. Place the leaves on the tray. Make sure you don’t have a huge clump of leaves. Spread it out. You don’t have to be super diligent about this though.
9. 15 mins for 350F and you are ready. (Don’t worry if some of the leaves seemed super brown on the edges.)

As soon as we popped this in our mouth, we had the same reaction – Can’t believe this is sooo freakin’  awesome & so easy! The texture was p-e-r-f-e-c-t! Same for the taste. We could’ve drizzled lemon juice over this, but we didn’t. I’m not a huge fan of chips in general (weird, huh?), but this I’m more than ok with. It took us less than 5 minutes to get through all of them. Who’s happy it wasn’t a bowl of store bought potato chips now??

Update: I tried the same recipe w/ an addition on roasted garlic & kale instead of brussel sprouts with amazing results.

~Peetu

Over the past few days, we’ve been trying a new strategy for dinner. A strategy that involves me sitting on the sofa doing nothing except looking forward to awesome meals cooked by Z. And has the wait been worth it!! So, given that this is going to be a regular phenomena, we are creating a new category – dinner4two. Right now we will just be adding 1-2 pictures per dish. Sometime in the near future, Z will go ahead and add the recipes *hint hint*

Vegetable korma with steamed lentils & tandoori naan

~Peetu