A love letter...to my kitchen!!

Everyone has some form of passion or the other. Passion for cooking for example, or passion to serve people. Passion to write, passion in their own world/profession. Again, in culinary, some people have passion for contemporary cooking, whilst someone will have interest in classics.My learning in culinary or kitchen basics had been all around french classics--poulet saute chasseur, poisson duglere or tournedos ala portugaise--these are all french classics, few from Escoffier itself.
However, coming to Dubai changed my thought process in kitchen--plating, menus etc. And there is this menu, which I would love to cook. Yes, it is a love letter to my lost love, which I never had.It is a blend of classics[in my way] & my best contemporary menu.

Tartare de Coquilles St.Jacques

Mango et Avocat

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Raviole de Mozzarella

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Saumon ala moutarde

Pommes Maxim, Fenouil ala orange

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Boeuf Braise

Sauce port, foie gras poele, pomme puree

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Cafe et chocolat

Cafe parfait, sauce chocolate

Recipes:

Tartare de Coquilles St.Jacques

Mango et Avocat

Concept: Whenever, I create a menu or a dish for example, there is a motive[as if a killer, who always has a motive]. Scallops, were actually frozen ones, which I bought a couple of months before. For some, May is the last month for eating Scallops. And for some, the season for shellfishes are those months containing "R" i.e. September through April. I paired Scallops with soft & creamy avocado with mango. All have been seasoned with fleur de sel. The mango was seasoned additionally with cayenne pepper, to give a little kick. The scallops, chopped raw has been seasoned with some lime oil & some lime juice as well, which actually cooks up the protein a bit.

I garnished with two slices of green apple, which is again wonderful with scallops & topped with some caviar.

Ingredients:

Scallops,chopped-100 gm

Ripe Mango, chopped- 50 gm

Avocado,chopped-50 gm

Fleur de sel- to taste

Lime juice-1 lime

Lime oil- 1 tsp

Cayenne Pepper- 2 pinches

Green Apple- 2 thin slices

Caviar-1/2 tsp

Method:

Season the avocado with fleur de sel, mango with fleur de sel & cayenne pepper and scallops with fleur de sel, lime juice & lime oil. On a plate, place a mold in the center & first make a layer of avocado, followed by mango & then top it scallops. Put a quenelle of caviar & arrange the apple slices vertically.

Raviole de Mozzarella

Concept: Buffalo Mozzarella, Basil & tomatoes--It is Italy in one plate. It is also flavours of summer put together in one plate.This ravioli also reminds me of the ravioli I had in my first employment overseas.Dont forget except a vegan, any vegetarian can eat this one!!
Ingredients:

Buffalo Mozzarella-100 gm
Pasta sheet- 4 nos, 6" square
Olive Oil-50 ml
Onion-20 gm
Garlic-10 gm
Canned tomatoes-400 gm
Seasoning-to taste
Fresh basil, chopped-1 tsp
Method:
Drain the mozzarella, cut into half if it is in one whole piece & season. Keep aside. Roll out the sheet & put it in the centre of the sheet. Put one sheet of pasta on top & press tightly to remove any air gap. Keep it chilled
Prepare the tomato sauce in the meanwhile. Saute garlic, onion in 15 ml of olive oil until lightly colored. Add in the canned tomatoes, season & cook slowly until well reduced.
Once reduced, blend it with the remaining olive oil & finish it with fresh basil.
When ready to serve, blanch the raviolis in boiling water for about 1 minute & toss in the sauce. Serve immediately.

Saumon ala moutarde

Pommes Maxim, Fenouil ala orange

Concept: Any (fish loving) Bengali can always swear by his shorshe maach/ilish[fish in mustard sauce]. Generally a bengali prefers a sweetwater/river fish than seafish, but what to do in Dubai, where getting fresh riverwater fish is pretty challenging. So my retake on a bong's favorite is with salmon. Paired with fennel braised in orange juice[and you know why fennel is so good with salmon] & a layer of crispy potatoes, known as pommes maxim otherwise

[No recipes for this one]

Boeuf Braise

Sauce port, foie gras poele, pomme puree

If anyone asks me, if I have any classic, I will always say, "Braised beef short ribs" as one of my many. Texturewise, mostly all are soft-the braised beef, the pan fried foie gras, the creamy mashed potato. To give a bite & change in colour, I added a baby carrot. The sauce is too rich, extravagant but pairs well with the beef & foie gras. 

[No recipes for this one]

Cafe et chocolat

Cafe parfait, sauce chocolate

Concept: It is just thinking over & over again for the dessert. Coffee & chocolates go so well with each other. You can even substitute parfait with pannacotta as well. Equally good.

Will the spring of love ever come in my life??

This is what Neil was asking me last weekend, when he came to Dubai on vacation last month, "Will the spring of love ever come in my life?".
I didn't have an answer for him, even if he asked me astrological possibilities!!Given that Neil has a lot of pros and cons when looking for his *soulmate*, often he relaxes his *conditions* which he looks for in his probable life partner, I find him pretty lenient these days. For example, he got attracted to a Swiss girl few months before, who he came across in another office, Sarah.
"I felt, we share a bond. We exchanged our phone no. & thought of catching up someday soon", Neil's voice was heavy.
"So, we went out to have Italian food in the near by restaurant & spent a couple of hours over there. The only thing worried me was her age. She is so young to me. After dinner, we went to the bar close by--she had a cocktail & myself a beer & then off to home.
"We were texting each other pretty frequently & then it was her birthday. The same gift I gave her on her birthday, as I gave to Melissa on her last birthday in Kent. A perfume & a single red rose.
"The following day, we went to eat in a french restaurant, as we discussed before.But then after that night, her texts started becoming infrequent. Even her calls...we planned to meet again but then, she was not in a mood.
"The entire story finished in just a few weeks. I was already in the mood to move on & let Sarah go. I wasn't wrong my friend. But then, even I was feeling good", Neil added with a smile.
"No, I didn't lose anything. I didn't see anything for me to lose, except a probable friendship may be. But then, its ok. Many will come and go. What matters is those people who will still stay with you in your last minute".
I couldn't agree with Neil anymore. That is so true--people will come and go & how many will stay with you till your last moment.
"Well, there is this girl, who I have started liking, from USA, with who I worked before.But then she is in states now...not sure if I will see her again".
Will the spring of love ever come in Neil's life, when Neil can sing to all her lost *loves*, "Never mind I find someone like you....."