Some time back, I promised my brother that I'd give him a recipe. Being the lazy person I am, I still haven't been able to type it out into a mail. So, finally I decided, why not share it with the whole world instead? The recipe is courtesy the 'Cook's kitchen handbook & 500 basic recipes".
Chicken Liver Pâté
Serves 6 or more
55 g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
340 g chicken livers, trimmed of all dark / greenish parts
4 tablespoon medium sherry
30 g full-fat soft cheese
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
salt and pepper
55-85 g clarified butter
1) Melt butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and livers and cook until the onion is soft and the livers are lightly brown and no longer pink in the centre.
2) Add the sherry and boil untill reduced by half. Cool slightly.
3) Turn the mixture into a food processor or blender and add the soft cheese and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
4) Add the hard-boiled eggs and blend briefly. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more lemon juice if liked.
5) Pack the liver pâté into a mould or container and smooth the surface.
6) Spoon a layer of clarified butter over the surface of the pâté. Refrigerate until firm.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Our vacation - Part II
The return journey
Finally those beautiful relaxed days at home came to an end and we travelled back to L's paternal home. This is when, I would say, the interesting part of our journey started. Instead of driving straight to Thrissur (like anyone else would), we decided to go there through Allepey.
We went to the beach (at 12 PM - another friend who's an expert on Alleppey - being a localite - said that only looneys like us would be seen there in that heat and I'm proud to say that we were not alone….at least :). The boys loved picking shells…..they picked quite a few of them and we finally left after having lunch at…you guessed it… Indian Coffee House just opposite to the beach.
The next day we decided to visit a few more relatives when L was bitten by the travel bug again
and we turned a different direction to travel to Athirappalli and Vazhachal waterfalls. The falls were at their best, and it was definitely worth the detour. On the other hand, we winded up visiting relatives till almost 9 PM, because we got delayed.
Next day - The day of our journey back. Intended route - Thrissur -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore -> Salem -> Bangalore. Easy, right? And we nearly followed this route, till we saw a board that read "Coimbatore - 11 km". So we haven't been to Cbe yet, so why not deviate from the highway, go to town and then come back? We had nothing to lose. Cbe is a nice town (I am a bit confused as to the differentiation between towns and Cities….) but that's where destiny showed up again. Another signboard. This time with a message for us, "Ooty - (only) 90 km". How can anyone resist that? After a few quick calculations we decided to change our route to Cbe -> Ooty -> Mysore -> Bangalore. That's an approximate difference of 40 km, but definitely worth it.
I've been to Ooty once from college and I totally fell in love with the place. Okay, I didn't remember the hairpin roads that well, but still - the place is wonderful. The climate was divine. The boys were eating and having a party on the backseat - with fights at regular intervals, but generally fine.
We reached Ooty and called our respective parents to inform them about our change in plans. My parents responded with a mild "you guys are crazy". We had lunch at Ooty and drove through the town and left quickly because we had to come back home before it was too late. Driving through Bandipur forest we actually got to see around 4-5 wild elephants (small ones, I think though we heard a big one trumpet), 2 wild peacocks and one wild monkey.
Cutting an already long story short - we reached home by around 9 PM. Tired, but very happy….boys started school after one day's rest and we started office too. Life is back to normal and I am glad I finally got to write….
Finally those beautiful relaxed days at home came to an end and we travelled back to L's paternal home. This is when, I would say, the interesting part of our journey started. Instead of driving straight to Thrissur (like anyone else would), we decided to go there through Allepey.
We went to the beach (at 12 PM - another friend who's an expert on Alleppey - being a localite - said that only looneys like us would be seen there in that heat and I'm proud to say that we were not alone….at least :). The boys loved picking shells…..they picked quite a few of them and we finally left after having lunch at…you guessed it… Indian Coffee House just opposite to the beach.
The next day we decided to visit a few more relatives when L was bitten by the travel bug again
and we turned a different direction to travel to Athirappalli and Vazhachal waterfalls. The falls were at their best, and it was definitely worth the detour. On the other hand, we winded up visiting relatives till almost 9 PM, because we got delayed.Next day - The day of our journey back. Intended route - Thrissur -> Palakkad -> Coimbatore -> Salem -> Bangalore. Easy, right? And we nearly followed this route, till we saw a board that read "Coimbatore - 11 km". So we haven't been to Cbe yet, so why not deviate from the highway, go to town and then come back? We had nothing to lose. Cbe is a nice town (I am a bit confused as to the differentiation between towns and Cities….) but that's where destiny showed up again. Another signboard. This time with a message for us, "Ooty - (only) 90 km". How can anyone resist that? After a few quick calculations we decided to change our route to Cbe -> Ooty -> Mysore -> Bangalore. That's an approximate difference of 40 km, but definitely worth it.
I've been to Ooty once from college and I totally fell in love with the place. Okay, I didn't remember the hairpin roads that well, but still - the place is wonderful. The climate was divine. The boys were eating and having a party on the backseat - with fights at regular intervals, but generally fine.
We reached Ooty and called our respective parents to inform them about our change in plans. My parents responded with a mild "you guys are crazy". We had lunch at Ooty and drove through the town and left quickly because we had to come back home before it was too late. Driving through Bandipur forest we actually got to see around 4-5 wild elephants (small ones, I think though we heard a big one trumpet), 2 wild peacocks and one wild monkey.
Cutting an already long story short - we reached home by around 9 PM. Tired, but very happy….boys started school after one day's rest and we started office too. Life is back to normal and I am glad I finally got to write….
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Our vacation - Part I
Hello to anyone who still has enough faith in me to check the blog!
I know it's been ages since I wrote. Well, I was out of town….rather out of state. We went home to Kerala….for 3 weeks (I know….long leave :)
Unlike last time, we had a pretty uneventful journey. L's parents accompanied us since they had a retreat planned in Kerala. We started our journey at 5:30 AM with a message from my brother whom we had sent off to Kerala by bus the previous evening (in a feverish state) stating that his bus has been stopped at Walayar checkpost (the Tamilnadu-Kerala border) since midnight. We briefly considered changing our route to travel via Calicut but then decided to stick to the normal route. The boys were…..okay, during the journey. We breezed through Walayar when we reached at noon time (Bro's bus was 'released from captivity' at 7:30 AM or so), had lunch near a place called Pattikkad (Advice for travelers, please do not go to any Indian Coffee House in that neighborhood for lunch after 2-3 PM)and we finally reached L's maternal home at approx 6 PM.
Children never show any tiredness after long journeys, probably because they get to sleep. They were their rambunctious selves at home. L's grandmother had a nice time having her first two great-grandchildren creating havoc at home. After a good night's sleep, we woke up in the morning, finished breakfast and left home. L's parents and we parted ways here since they had other plans. We went around visiting L's relatives and generally havin
g a good time. (Advice for parents with little children who love planes - There is a place called Kallumkootam near Nedumbashery airport. It is basically one end of the airport property and the place where planes touchdown for landing. This is as close as you and your child can come to an airplane without having to go to the airport).
So after 2 days of criss-cross driving through Kerala we finally reached my home on the day of Thiruvonam. (Advice for people who love travelling through non crowded roads: Thiruvonam is a beautiful day to drive around in Kerala. It almost seems like a Harthaal day….except that vehicles COULD move if they wanted to. Carry necessary consumables because all shops are closed).
I will not be able to elaborate on what we did every single day of our visit, but I will give you an outline.
Trivandrum: Illuminations are beautiful during Onam. We were not able to see the illuminations at Kanakakunne palace because there was no place to park, so we went to the zoo, and drove through the city, had a coffee at Kovalam beach and headed to our cousin's place for the night. Next day we visited Veli for breakfast, Shankhumukham for lunch (Indian Coffee House ) and reached back home by evening.
L's parents visited us when their retreat ended and they left for Bangalore the next day. After dropping them at Chenganur railway station, we took a small break at Aranmula, the place where the famous snake boat races took place just two days back. We got to the see the boats, which look pretty much bigger when you see them with your own eyes.
Our next travel (these travels are not all on consecutive days….I am just narrating) took us to Munnar for a one-day trip. It took us 6 hours to reach the place, but it was surely worth it. Loved the climate, it was nice cool and we had a nice time there. We shopped for local spices and tea, had lunch, saw some more of the place and then returned home. Tiring, but worth it. Next time we plan to stay overnight and see some more of the place.
We visited a few of my friends' homes. My friends are not staying there (at the moment or anymore), but for me, these relations are not just with them, but even with their families. I met grandparents and parents of my friends. They were pretty surprised to see me…I guess it isn't very often that people visit their friends' relatives. We visited my school and met my old teachers and it was such a nice feeling to have your old (strict) teachers actually hug you and see them so happy to be seeing you. We took another short trip to visit my ex-headmistress who left school in '97 when our batch left school. The best thing was that even she recognized me even though it's been 13 years since we have met.
And oh yeah....in the meanwhile, I got a perfect example of grandparents pampering their grandkids. Guess what my Dad got built for the boys???
(to be continued)
I know it's been ages since I wrote. Well, I was out of town….rather out of state. We went home to Kerala….for 3 weeks (I know….long leave :)
Unlike last time, we had a pretty uneventful journey. L's parents accompanied us since they had a retreat planned in Kerala. We started our journey at 5:30 AM with a message from my brother whom we had sent off to Kerala by bus the previous evening (in a feverish state) stating that his bus has been stopped at Walayar checkpost (the Tamilnadu-Kerala border) since midnight. We briefly considered changing our route to travel via Calicut but then decided to stick to the normal route. The boys were…..okay, during the journey. We breezed through Walayar when we reached at noon time (Bro's bus was 'released from captivity' at 7:30 AM or so), had lunch near a place called Pattikkad (Advice for travelers, please do not go to any Indian Coffee House in that neighborhood for lunch after 2-3 PM)and we finally reached L's maternal home at approx 6 PM.
Children never show any tiredness after long journeys, probably because they get to sleep. They were their rambunctious selves at home. L's grandmother had a nice time having her first two great-grandchildren creating havoc at home. After a good night's sleep, we woke up in the morning, finished breakfast and left home. L's parents and we parted ways here since they had other plans. We went around visiting L's relatives and generally havin
g a good time. (Advice for parents with little children who love planes - There is a place called Kallumkootam near Nedumbashery airport. It is basically one end of the airport property and the place where planes touchdown for landing. This is as close as you and your child can come to an airplane without having to go to the airport).So after 2 days of criss-cross driving through Kerala we finally reached my home on the day of Thiruvonam. (Advice for people who love travelling through non crowded roads: Thiruvonam is a beautiful day to drive around in Kerala. It almost seems like a Harthaal day….except that vehicles COULD move if they wanted to. Carry necessary consumables because all shops are closed).
I will not be able to elaborate on what we did every single day of our visit, but I will give you an outline.
Trivandrum: Illuminations are beautiful during Onam. We were not able to see the illuminations at Kanakakunne palace because there was no place to park, so we went to the zoo, and drove through the city, had a coffee at Kovalam beach and headed to our cousin's place for the night. Next day we visited Veli for breakfast, Shankhumukham for lunch (Indian Coffee House ) and reached back home by evening.
On the personal front, we visited my old hostel and my college. We met my old hostel warden, Sr. Alphonsa and even Sister Breekas who was our Mess-in-charge.
The funny thing is that my warden recognized me even after 8 years. Not that I was a notorious hostler….I just seem to have left an imprint.
College was closed and empty due to Onam holidays.
I walked through the empty campus alone….just remembering places and people. You know, no matter how much we cribbed during our years there (5 years for me)…now that place is one of the best places, a place where I spent some of my best years. I made a lot of friends there….and I am thankful for all that.
The funny thing is that my warden recognized me even after 8 years. Not that I was a notorious hostler….I just seem to have left an imprint.
College was closed and empty due to Onam holidays.
I walked through the empty campus alone….just remembering places and people. You know, no matter how much we cribbed during our years there (5 years for me)…now that place is one of the best places, a place where I spent some of my best years. I made a lot of friends there….and I am thankful for all that.
L's parents visited us when their retreat ended and they left for Bangalore the next day. After dropping them at Chenganur railway station, we took a small break at Aranmula, the place where the famous snake boat races took place just two days back. We got to the see the boats, which look pretty much bigger when you see them with your own eyes.
Our next travel (these travels are not all on consecutive days….I am just narrating) took us to Munnar for a one-day trip. It took us 6 hours to reach the place, but it was surely worth it. Loved the climate, it was nice cool and we had a nice time there. We shopped for local spices and tea, had lunch, saw some more of the place and then returned home. Tiring, but worth it. Next time we plan to stay overnight and see some more of the place.
We visited a few of my friends' homes. My friends are not staying there (at the moment or anymore), but for me, these relations are not just with them, but even with their families. I met grandparents and parents of my friends. They were pretty surprised to see me…I guess it isn't very often that people visit their friends' relatives. We visited my school and met my old teachers and it was such a nice feeling to have your old (strict) teachers actually hug you and see them so happy to be seeing you. We took another short trip to visit my ex-headmistress who left school in '97 when our batch left school. The best thing was that even she recognized me even though it's been 13 years since we have met.
And oh yeah....in the meanwhile, I got a perfect example of grandparents pampering their grandkids. Guess what my Dad got built for the boys???
(to be continued)
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