Food Dairies: What I Ate this Week

I’m the kind of girl who thinks about what she’s gonna cook for dinner when she’s finishing her lunch. — Padma Lakshmi( author, activist, actress, model, philanthropist, and television host).

Healthy home cooked food is a journey that I am on since the inception of food from my mother’s and grandmother’s hands prepared food when I was a child, although it’s predominantly Indian , travels with my family have opened our plattee to a much diverse cuisines in which Masterchef Australia and various cook shows have also played a role. Sharing easy recipes with a Desi touch that anyone can make at home.

Sharing my innate love for food with fresh locally available ingredients translated into the lip smacking world of food recipes that are ready under 30 minutes. But you need to come back everyday for a new recipe.

Fresh Home made pasta with Chicken topped with Basil & Mushroom

1. Marinated Fresh Tiger Prawns topped with Garlic Chives and Parsley

2. Snack: Charred Corn & Fried Lotus Root Chips

3. Pan fried Salmon with Garlic Green Beans and Butter Roasted Potatoes

4. Baked Salmon with Potato Mash and Garlic Beans

5. Snack: Japanese Udon Noddles with Oyster Mushrooms, Chicken , Bok Choy, Carrots sprinkled with Spring Onions

Recipe( Fresh Home made pasta with Chicken topped with Basil & Mushroom):

Original Graphic for the dish

Home-made pasta may seem intimation to execute but practice makes perfect, and weekly practice makes perfection even sooner. Ingredients: Flour ( wheat flour is preferred instead of refined flour ) Water Semolina( Suji ) Extra Virgin Olive Oil Salt & Pepper Oregano flakes or Chilli flakes for extra pizzazz Garnish: Parsley , Parmigiano cheese or a cheese readily available near you

Process:

Photo by Teagan Ferraby on Unsplash

Combine the dry and wet ingredients together by first combining flour, semolina in 1:1 ratio, semolina is added to add crispness to the pasta. Sprinkle a freehand seasoning of salt and pepper and oregano and Chilli flakes are optional and can be added either in the dough or in the pasta sauce. Slowly combine extra virgin olive oil in a stream and work the dough in a consistent motion by folding it as you combine it over and over again. Work the dough until it reaches a smooth finish, then firmly wrap the dough in an airtight container or a silicon lid to ensure no air dryness. Rest the dough for atleast 1 hour before you start making your sauce of prepare in advance over the weekend for the busy weekday.

It lasts about 3–4 days in an airtight container. Roll your dough with all your might , angry and frustration into the rolling pin, striving for a translucent thickness, main aim is to see whether your finger outline is visible in the light in the rolled shape.

Cut using knife in thin strips in thin or thick fashion depending on the shape you want , but be aware that the shape of your pasta determines sauce absorbion capacity.

Photo by Karolina Kołodziejczak on Unsplash

Hand-cut pasta can be shaped into three pasta types: tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle Or if you want a touch of fancy you can shape the pasta into homemade giant penne using squares of equal length and rolling into the shape with a thin stick.

You can also cut the pasta sheet into bowtie shape using a curling tool cutter.

Photo by Karen Sewell on Unsplash

Make sure to dust the cut pasta with a sprinkle of semolina flour to avoid sticking together and make sure to air dry it for about 5 minutes. I generally prefer making pappardelle ( thick strips) as a pasta lover and wanting the pasta to absorb the sauce. The pasta just needs 2–3 minutes in the water to cook as it will cook in the sauce as well.

Original Photo of the dish

For the sauce: Ingredients: Butter Milk Garlic Gloves Oyster Mushrooms Chicken Fresh Basil Garnish: Parsley , Parmigiano cheese or a cheese readily available near you

Process: To make the perfect complex pasta sauce, using leftover chicken or mutton curry as a base for a red sauce while a white sauce can be made with a base roux ( butter and flour mixture) and milk slowly added to the mixture using a whisk , rosted garlic and cook the mushrooms available near you in it along with boneless chicken pieces and once cooked, add the pasta straight from the cooking pan into the sauce as every minute you keep it without sauce is a minute wasted.

Photo by Tone Høines on Unsplash For the finishing touch, garnish with fresh basil or parsley depending on your base sauce.

Photo by Hanna Stolt on Unsplash

Basil compliments the tomato sauce the best while parsley compliments the white sauce the most.

Photo by Heather Gill on Unsplash

Share your homemade pasta recipes with me or perhaps a new inventive way to make fresh pasta quicker, or moreover how eating fresh pasta makes you feel and tune in everyday for a new recipe everyday, Ciao!