Presto Pasta – in Creamy Mustard Sauce

Presto Pasta Nights– in Creamy Mustard Sauce

Sometimes I go through the phases in which get hooked on something and have to eat it day in and out, more often than not a visit to Café Leopold does that to me…then for days I crave for the rich creamy taste – but then I cant have the creamy sauces for the sake of my ever-growing waist, so it’s a double whammy! To make something at home, I searched and searched and then adapted a recipe from Heart and Hearth to suit my Bengali sensibilities.

The Pasta – in Creamy Mustard Sauce


1 pack pasta around 300 gms (Macaroni, Fuseli, whole wheat...just any pasta u fancy) cooked al-dente

1.5 cup milk

2 tbsp English mustard sauce

1 packet button mushrooms, chopped

½ broccolis (for that green velvety colour and crunch)

2 stalk green onion, coarsely chopped

Salt and white pepper to taste

1 tbsp Cheddar (or any sharp cheese as a topping)

1 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley (as a garnish)

Method

1. Thaw broccoli, then stir fry the mushrooms and broccoli in a cooking pan until slightly browned and cooked yet crunchy.

2. Sauté the green onion until softened. Add in half of the stir fried button mushrooms. Turn off the heat and add the milk and sauce is thick and bubbly. Mix the Cheese till it melts.

3. Sprinkle salt and white pepper as per your liking

4. Serve hot and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.

The pasta sauce is tangy and bursting with flavors of mushroom and fresh parsley. The original recipe calls for bacon bits on top – so if you want add fried bits of meat/seafood on top for added flavor. Being a vegetarian, I omitted that part. For Xtra zing you can add more of the mustard sauce!

Sending this entry to More than Burnt Toast   and Once Upon a feast . So Presto Pasta Night's it is . 

An evening at Colaba :: Café Leopold :: Mumbai

When it comes to picking one place out of the hoards we have in Mumbai, I can think of only one – Café Leopold. warm, buzzin, welcoming, forever crowded and always celebratory….Ahh..the foods’ delicious too…Though I don’t like too many variations with my beer, crisp toasted peanuts, fried baby corn and french fries would be my regulars (yeah I’m so boring at times!), somehow a wide selection and happy faces compel me to order for a variant here. Whenever we visit Leopold we order for a pitcher , the regular accompaniments’, the chef’s special and wait for magic to happen on our table . This time we ordered for fried eggs, stir fried veggies with extra broccoli and cheese (yumm!), pasta carbonara and dinner rolls. Once the food arrives there is always competition to eat – which makes me a super failure at taking food pics, will the empty dishes do any good?...

The penalty we pay for visiting Cafe Leopold is having to endure an insanely full tummy, and a velvety creamy pasta taste stuck the lips – if you too like us favour pasta over the rest .

Meal for two with beer : 700

India's first Ice bar :: 21 Fahrenheit :: Mumbai

India's first Ice bar :: 21 Fahrenheit :: Mumbai

Visiting an all ice bar was had its own charm for my 20 something brother. We were looking for an apt place to celebrate my husband’s new job – in a new city, and the place had to match our spirits. With that intent the 21 Fahrenheit was voted for. Needless to add – my brother was super excited.

A first of its kind in the country, the place boasted of an all ice bar at -6degree C , with special winter coats , gloves and boots for the pubbers. Along with the ice bar – which was a bit of a put off in January we opted for the pan Asian open kitchen restaurant and the food did not disappoint us. Albeit steeply priced and lesser than the usual portion size (which indeed was a dampener), the food was cooked to perfection.

The complimentary appetizer was a treat to the eyes. The bite size assorted fries were teeny morsels, much too less to whet the appetite of three hungry Diners, nevertheless it was fun to nibble on the free food. We ordered the Teppanyaki grilled vegetable which was served with a choice of delectable sauces, the sweet n sour peanut dip being the best, the dish was indeed one of the finest accompaniment to the Chilled beer and frozen Margarita.

Devoid of music and steeping prices prompted us to leave a bit sooner than expected! All I can say – that the place is good for one time experience and have a swig or two, would not recommend it for a full fledged dining experience.

Dinner for two with one drink: 1700

A journey into the heart of Chandni Chowk :: Parathewali Gali :: New Delhi

A visit to the Chandni Chowk is must to feel the pulse of Delhi , Walking through its narrow arteries on a summery Saturday noon – and you sense that siesta is the last thing on the minds of the busy traders. You stop here, you gaze at the goodies, and you give a stunned stare, hardly any onlookers. Perhaps most people have on the 'end of the day moolah earned blinders' and don't have that kind of time to bother. Perhaps Darwin’s theory of adaptation is at work here – where people become accustomed to being crowded by people, all over, all day. All said and done—its fun. A different experience.

We went there to participate in a friends wedding trousseau shopping, and the reward for all that hard work was of course food. Naturally, the last stop to our Chandni chowk sojourn had to be parathe wali gali. So much has already been written and talked about the ubiquitous parathas, and I can hardly do justice to the paeans. All I can say is the parathas are no-where near to the regular ones we are used to having. It’s a savoury sin, deep fried roundels of well rolled out kneaded flour , stuffed with your choice of stuffing. And Voila! What a choice they offer – from dry fruit stuffing the bitter karela they have it all. The serve the parathas with one curried vegetable and one dry vegetable, plus a sweet chutney. In case you can stomach more—order for a sweet lassi from the shop next door. The waiters will happily oblige you with lassi at your table. That day we ordered – matar + methi + paneer +alu + gobhi parathas all served with unlimited serving of the veggies, and for sweets we pre-purchased the famous Jalebi. What more can one ask for. We just digged in!

The Parathas were cooked right in front of us – the cooks displayed an amazing cookery feat which involved a combination of swiftness, care, clout, innovation, sincerity and many other things that we totally undermine when it comes to an age-old job of just cooking and serving …and we all agree, its much more than that.

Meal for two : 150 Rs

An evening at YOKO :: Mumbai

Back after a long haul. Agree that I love cooking, a hundred times more than gorging on what is served to me without moving a limb. Perhaps, I’m a behind the scene person… nevertheless a recent visit to Yoko in Mumbai left me asking for more! more of their delectable food. Our order was the usual: Steak Sizzler with Mushroom, cream and cheese, one noodle sizzler, a side of baked bean on bread, egg club sandwich, all washed down by refreshingly cold ice tea. It was just another day of eating out and we weren’t expecting something unusual , BUT it turned out to be olfactory treat, our gastronomic indulgence began the moment the food was laid before us. The ‘sizzle’ beckoned us to taste food; the uprising smoke almost fired up the anticipation…and then we slowed ourselves down to appreciate the charred aroma of the juicy steak, veiled by crisp fries and sautéed spinach and so much more.

The smokey environment was initially a bit of put off, especially emanating from a non-smoking non drinking family restaurant, however no-one was complaining. From the moment you sit down to place your order – the smelling taste is put to action. Food aside, the beverage section is sparsely populated with choices, although full justice has been done to the listings. This is one of the few restaurants where the peach Ice tea smells and tastes of real Peaches.

Dessert – we could not make it to that far …just order the main course, and I promise that you'll be richly rewarded - just like we were.

Approx price for meal for two - 700.