Au Gratin is a French Style of cooking where casseroles are topped with bread crumbs & butter, & are allowed to brown under a broiler to give a crunch. Sometimes cheese is sprinkled which melts & gets crispy under the broiler, but is not a requirement. “The etymology of gratin is from the French language in which the word “gratter” meaning to “to scrape” as of the “scrapings” of bread or cheese, and gratiné, from the transitive verb form of the word for crust” (WIKI). Au Gratins are baked/broiled in the oven & then served in a (usually Oval) baking dish. I did not use an Au Gratin dish as you can see… my dish is as square as it can be. So I really do not know if it would have tasted any different in an Oval Au Gratin dish.
What happens when you have a whole bag of cornmeal sitting idle in the pantry & you see an easy & quick corn bread recipe? You get inspired!! I had this whole morning to myself & i was browsing thru’ a book when I came across this recipe of Bob Beauchamp.. who says this bread reminds him of his grandmother who lived in the deep woods of East Texas- well that is not very far from where we live now! This bread needed no rising, so it would be ideal for the lunch which I had to cook. I decided to stuff in some potatoes in it. Then we had a fusion cuisine for lunch – Potato stuffed Cornbread, some fruit salad & some Tandoori Tofu:) (this one turned out really great, & I’ll be posting that soon).
This dal is one of my comfort foods. Every time I make it, the sound of the sizzling spice & the aroma reminds me of home, of my childhood…. Masoor dal used to be a staple food for me – for I rarely would want to try any other dal. Why? Because I love the flavor these special spices cooked in Mustard Oil– yes that is what is used to season this dal. If you are not aware, traditionally most of the recipes in Bengal use mustard oil for cooking. It cannot be denied that the flavor that mustard oil adds can not be replaced with any other substitute. To season this recipe, you would need a very little of the oil- & I would warn that this would not taste the same without this particular combination of Mustard Oil & the Panch Foron (very commonly used spice mix in Bengal to temper lentils & vegetables….I have explained that later in the post).
Rich in history, flavors & sensational tastes, Moroccan cuisine is one of the most exotic food in the world. The recipes are simple and easy to prepare. Even the everyday salads and vegetables take on an immediate exotic flavor when it comes Moroccan recipes and cuisine.
Last week I was at the bookstore, just browsing & I came across this Book called “Fresh Moroccan” by Nada Saleh. I immediately got drawn to the beautiful picture of a heap of Saffron on the cover of the book. I started looking through it, & my heart refused to come back home without the book. So I listened to my heart & bought it home…Having cooked Moroccan food before, I knew I was not going regret buying this. It is a wonderful book – full of colors of the food & culture, with equally colorful, healthy & easy to cook recipes.
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