A Lunch by Nigella

A few days ago, I invited over a few girlfriends for a relaxed lunch. LE, sadly, is leaving Bombay for good, and although we have gotten drunk together a record number of times (for my standards) in the last 2-3 months (I am also counting the Sri Lanka girls trip!!), I was keen to have her and a few others over when we can actually have a relaxed, coherent conversation, over some light, healthy food.

Well I am the queen of order-ins and catering!!! My favourite for continental food is Pronto's (www.asklaila.com/listing/Mumbai/Tardeo+Road/Pronto/CV9dz60t/) My guests always rave about it, especially the lasagna and the burnt garlic mashed potatoes are incredible!! And their signature dessert, chocolate devastation, lives up to its name!

Another caterer I was considering was Lotus Blossoms (http://www.lotusblossom.in/), owned by Radhika, a friend from Indus International. It's Thai delicacies have earned quite a reputation in Bombay and recently, at a friend's dinner party, I thouroughly enjoyed their raw papaya salad, citrus fruits salad, tom yum soup and coconut and water chestnut dessert, all served in stylish shot glasses (there were also some delicious satay chicken and tofu skewers).

However, consider who was coming for lunch:

ML, who makes EVERYTHING from scratch, including her own panacotta and recently, an almonds and zucchini dish that I am not ready to forget

LE and VK, domestic godesses par excellence ("swimming pool" cake anyone? Ms LE can maybe share the recipe!!!)

RB, another incredible amateur chef

Gosh, that was seriously intimidating!! I could go wrong both ways - by ordering commercially prepared food, or by attempting to cook everything myself and failing miserably at the task.

I decided to be brave and cook every single dish myself. And, boy, I enjoyed it!!!

I scored a few books looking for inspiration and the absolute winner was Nigella Lawson's "Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast". All the recipes were simple, quick and interesting. And seemed easy enough to lower my risk of failure... The book had been on my shelf for at least 3 years now, but besides flipping through it once in a while, I had never attempted any of the recipes.

I planned the menu a week in advance, along with a detailed shopping list and the crockery and cutlery I would need. I wrote down all the stages of prep and actual cooking, with approximate timings, and in what order to cook what. It really helped me to stay in control and not run around the kitchen like a headless chicken on the day of the lunch.

The menu was:

STARTER:

Vegetable sticks and dip - the only dish made by my cook, but under my instructions - it's a regular in our household. It's fresh, it's light and it does not fill you up so much that you can't enjoy the main course.

MAINS:

Warm potato salad (Nigella)

Slow roast tomatoes, goat cheese and arugula salad (Nigella)

Maple syrup chicken (Nigella)

Salmon and couscous (my own invention)

DESSERT: Bailey's Tiramisu (Nigella)

The tiramisu and dip were prepared the previous day, and the chicken was marinating through the night, just to be popped into the hot oven the next day, to roast for a couple of hours. The rest of the dishes involved minimum cooking / frying or standing over a hot pan. Just assembling some beautiful ingredients, cooking lightly some of them and then last minute assembling everything together. With proper planning, this meal could be a WINNER for any ladies who love to lunch at home!!!

VEGETABLE STICKS AND DIP

An extremely simple starter, always a winner! People always ask for the dip recipe. Here it is:

Full fat yoghurt

Crushed garlic (about a tsp)

Extra virgin olive oil (a drizzle)

Crushed walnuts

Finely chopped dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate before serving.

Can be served with carrots, white radish (mouli), baby corn, bell peppers, plain chips, bread sticks, cucumbers, etc...

WARM POTATO SALAD

About a kg of baby potatoes

4 scallions (I used fresh onion), finely sliced

1 tbsp garlic infused oil (I used crushed garlic and plain olive oil)

8 slices of bacon

1-2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp whole-grain mustard

1) Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and tip in the potatoes. Cook for 20 min or until tender, then drain and cut in half. Nigella leaves the skins on, but I peeled mine, leaving just a few skins on for a rustic look.

2) Put the potatoes into a large bowl and add the scallions (fresh onion).

3) Heat the oil in the warm potato pan and cook the bacon until really crispy. Remove onto a paper napkin.

4) Take off the heat and add the vinegar and mustard. Give a little stir, then tip in the potatoes and scalions and toss everything together before transferring to a serving bowl. You can leave it like this for an hour or so.

5) Crumble the bacon and sprinkle on top.

SLOW-ROAST TOMATOES, GOAT CHEESE, AVOCADO AND MINT SALAD

(the avocado was my own addition and it complimented the cheese and tomatoes amazingly well)

1/2 lb rocket or spinach salad

7 ounces of soft goat’s cheese

1 batch of moonblush tomatoes*

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (I used balsamic)

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint

1 ripe avocado, sliced

1) Arrange salad leaves in a large dish.

2) Make a second layer of the the cooked-down, intensely red moonblush tomato halves (recipe below). Reserve the juices from the tomatoes roasting pan!!

3) Scatter slices of avocado, then scoop out spoonfuls of the soft goat’s cheese and dollop it here and there.

4) In the same dish the tomatoes have been cooking in, whisk together the lemon juice and oil and pour over the salad. Scatter with the chopped mint.

Moonblush Tomatoes

1 lb (about 24) of cherry or other baby tomatoes (I used normal tomatoes which I sliced into long boat shapes)

2 teaspoons table salt

1/4 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the tomatoes in half and sit them out cut side up in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the salt, sugar, thyme and olive oil. Put them in the oven, and immediately turn it off. Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight or for a day without opening the door. (I did not have the time to do this, so I popped the tomatoes in the oven, on the oven baking rack, along with the maple syrup chicken. So they were inside for about 2 hours, on slow fire. That did the trick).

SALMON AND COUSCOUS SALAD

This was my own recipe.

A few slices of salmon fillets, frozen

Couscous

Sliced red and yellow bell peppers, zucchini

Pine nuts

Lemon juice

Olive Oil

Chilly garlic dipping sauce from Fabindia's organic collection

Parsley

1) Marinate the salmon cut in strips for an hour or so in a mix of the dipping sauce, lemon and olive oil. Heat a heavy bottom grilling pan and grill / saute the salmon on both sides. Set aside.

2) In the same pan, stir fry the veggies and pine nuts, using the leftover salmon and marinade juices.

3) Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet.

4) Toss everything together.

MAPLE CHIKEN AND RIBS (I used ONLY chicken drumsticks)

12 chicken drumsticks

1 cup apple juice, as sharp as possible

4 tablespoons/1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick, halved

6 unpeeled garlic cloves

1) Put the chicken pieces in a couple of large freezer bags or into a dish. Add all the remaining ingredients, squelching or everything together well before sealing the bag or covering the dish.

Leave to marinade in the refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days.

2) Preheat the oven to 200C/400 degrees F. Pour the contents of the freezer bag into 1 or 2 large roasting trays and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, by which time everything should be sticky and glossed brown.

AND you can find the recipe for IRISH CREAM TIRAMISU on Nigella's site, here: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/irish-cream-tiramisu-5. It was AMAZING and it took me not more than 45 minutes in total to make it (the previous evening), despite a screaming 15-months old strapped into a high chair next to me, throwing wooden spoons and measuring cups on my head and trying to have a lick of Bailey's!