Photo Journey of California's Scenic Highway 1

My idea of a relaxing vacation is not a long vacation you wait a whole year to take; but instead a bunch of small weekends scattered here and there, spent on a scenic location away from the hustle bustle of the daily chores and enjoyed with lots of fun and happiness with people you love. Add some tasty food, cheese and a glass of wine to pair a breathtaking sunset over the ocean and it's as good a vacation as any.

These small sprinkles of get-away can be so relaxing! We recently took one such 3 day weekend away renting a small cabin overlooking pacific ocean on California's scenic highway 1, central valley coast. It was a beautiful rustic place at the heart of a charming little seaside town.

As anyone who drove on Highway 1 through central valley will tell, the journey in itself is as good as the vacation stay! 

Most of the journey consists of a small road winding through breathtaking views of pacific ocean on one side and shear large cliffs on the other side. In between there are many scenic overlook points to stop and catch your breath. If you go at the right time you can also catch sea lions basking lazily in the morning sun for your little ones to marvel over. 

As if you needed another incentive, the road takes you through some of the best wineries around sporting abundance of grape loaded shrubs. Cattle will accompany you on the way feeding on the ranches overlooking the ocean and you wonder, is that where the happy cow campaign came from :)

Since I was not the one driving, I decided to take my phone out to take as many pictures as I can from a driving car. This is a compilation of my photo journey through highway 1 as seen from the passenger seat :) (incidentally I am very happy with the camera performance of my new phone, Google's Nexus5, which is now the exclusive "camera" feeding this blog, but more on that later). 

Hope you enjoy!

stunning views of pacific ocean and the ever changing rock formations on the other side..

In between you can also see the beautiful California yellow golden grass sparkled with native plants!

We stopped at a place overlooking ocean for a cup of coffee and a bit of sandwich. A simple and delicious meal tasted so out of this worldly when coupled with the views!

and more gorgeous sea and the cliffs!

and historic bridges on the way..

In between you can also see big ranches with cattle feeding on grass and ranchers strolling around.

and more of the golden green valley...

and big farms of fruits and vegetables and local farmer's fruit stands!

It is one of the most beautiful road trips that I have ever been on - and mind you, this is my fifth time enjoying this drive. The stunning beauty never seems to get any the older :)

Until next time...

Thai Yellow Curry

We love Thai food! Our favorite Thai meal starts with a hot bubbling tom yum soup coupled with fresh vegetarian rice-paper rolls and progresses on to some green or yellow curry fish with coconut rice. Oh, and I forget the best part - coconut ice-cream afterwards to satisfy the sweet tooth :)

This Thai yellow curry is so tasty and quick to make - 30mins start to finish! And no, it is not made from store bought yellow curry paste. Infact, I am hoping this recipe will help make the point that you don't need to settle down for a canned taste to enjoy a good Thai curry at home without slogging for hours.

The recipe has 3 steps: coarsely chop, blend and simmer, that's it! The trick is a good stocked pantry or a well purposed trip to grocery store. Many of the ingredients it calls for are not likely to be pantry staples (atleast aren't at our home)

This recipe is my put-together version and not what you would call authentic by any means; but it tastes just as good as any to me and quite close to the yellow curry at our favorite Thai place. I used South Indian curry powder instead of the Thai version but the end effect is very good.

I made this with fish but you can as well use tofu or some thai eggplant for a vegetarian version. I used a light coconut milk as we are trying to be tummy conscious recently, though I can only imaging the curry would taste even better with a regular version coconut milk with cream on top - yum!

So, let's dig in!

Recipe:

Serves 3

Ingredients:

3 tilapia fillets (can substitute with tofu or eggplant for a vegetarian version)

1 15oz can coconut milk (light or regular)

handful of fresh or frozen peas

1/2tsp turmeric powder

2tsp mild curry powder (south Indian version preferred - a Madras curry powder available at Indian grocery stores)

1 dried red chilli - soaked for 15mins and then de-seeded

1/2 stalk of a lemongrass - chopped into pieces

handful of cilantro (optional)

3 green onions 

1/2inch piece of grated ginger or galangal

3 cloves of garlic

3Tbsp vegetable oil

juice of 1 lime

salt

Recipe:

1. Marinate the fish - Cut into each fillet into 2-3 pieces. Add 1/4tsp turmeric, juice of half lime and salt to the fish and rub well. Set the fish pieces aside to marinate for 15-20mins.
   
2. In a grinder/blender, add lemongrass, cilantro, onions, ginger & garlic, chili with 1tsp oil. Chop together.
   
3. To the blender add coconut milk, turmeric, curry powder, some salt and blend everything together, set aside.
4. Sear fish: Heat remaining oil in a non-stick pan and sear the fish 2-3mins on each side (optional step, you can also choose to boil the fish with curry until it cooks through)
5. Pour the blended mixture in a large pot and turn heat on to medium. Let simmer for 15mins until all the raw smell is gone.
6. Add fish pieces and peas to the pan and simmer for another 10mins or until fish is thoroughly cooked.
7. Season with salt & pepper.
8. Serve with some plain rice or coconut rice and lime wedges.
   

Sesame Tikki/Sesame Candy

If you want a tasty treaty to fulfill your sugar cravings without piling up on butter, look no further - these candys or tikkis are waiting to be your best friends! 

These tikkis are no health food and definitely recommended in moderation due to the high sugar content, but hey, everyone craves a good candy at times, right? We think it's always better to make it at home rather than visit the candy store - not sure about you, but it will be difficult for some to resist the temptation to buy the store outright :)

Candy making is generally looked upon with fright. And for good reason. The temperature has to be just right and melting has to be done perfectly for it to be not too hard or too soft. In candy making difference between getting it right and ruining it is just a little. These are all valid concerns. However the recipe below is a good starter recipe in getting your handy into candy making - it's simple with minimal ingredients and does not require special equipment such as candy meter.

I have made this recipe a couple of times without using any candy thermometer and it has turned out perfectly well. But you do have a pay a very close attention while cooking - no parallel processing for this one. Do not be discouraged if it turns out too hard or too soft on first attempt; candy making is like baking and it can take an attempt or two to get the formulas right. But when you do get them right, you will be so glad you tried!

Recipe:

Makes around 20-25 small diamonds

Ingredients:

1/2C white sesame seeds

3/4C granulated sugar

2 cardamon pods - crushed

1tsp ghee or butter

Recipe:

1. Roast sesame seeds: Roast sesame seeds in a skillet over low-medium heat for 10-15min or until their color starts to change slightly. As with all steps in this recipe, pay close attention, continue stirring to make sure seeds do not burn. Turn the heat off.
2. Prep the candy rolling surface: Apply butter to the surface on which you will roll candy. I used a large stainless steel plate placed face down. You can also use a baking tray. Also grease a rolling pin and a kitchen knife which you will use to cut the tikkis.
3. Melt the sugar: add sugar and cardamom pods to a large bottom pan and heat on low-medium heat until sugar starts to melt. Continue stirring constantly. If after 5mins sugar has still not melted, increase the heat gradually.
4. Immediately after sugar has fully melted add roasted sesame seeds to melted sugar and mix well. Remove from heat quickly after seeds are thoroughly coated with melted sugar.
5. Roll the candy: as quickly as possible spread the seeds/sugar mixture onto the rolling surface and using rolling pin roll it out evenly as thin as possible (a quarter of an inch thick).
6. Then using knife make outline cuts to cut the slab into small squares. This step needs to be done before mixture cools completely. Do not remove the squares yet.
7. Let it cool completely.
8. Now using knife remove the squares/break them apart from each other.

Note: at a beginner attempt in candy making, you can also skip the cutting square shapes part and instead when cold break the candy using your hands. It tastes equally good :)

Baked Samosa Puffs

Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to food. And samosa is mine. The crispy fried dough filled with very tasty potato & peas filling to dip into a tangy tamarind or fresh coriander chutney - add a cup of coffee along-with it and it's a perfect cure for a rain or snow-washed mind and soul.

This version is a baked version which I like even better than the deep-dried version taste-wise. Yup, you heard that right. The trick is to using a puff pastry dough instead of a regular all purpose flour dough.

Best part is from the time you crave samosa to the time a plate is in front of you is less than an hour! I used puff pasty wrapper with traditional samosa filling. I love puff pastry and may be that's why I like this version better than the deep-fried one or even a restaurant version for the matter - yes, it's that good!

I wouldn't call it necessarily a healthy version because puff pastry is not a health-food by any means. However it is a quick version and that gets it a lot of points in my books :)

You start off by thawing a packet of puff pastry on your counter for 15mins. I used Trader Joe's artisan pastry which contains 2 rolls. Each roll can make ~5-6 samosas. One packet can make ~10-12 samosas.

Pre-heat oven to 415F.

Prepare potato filling:

1 large russet potato

1 green chili

quarter of a red onion

3 cloves of garlic

handful of peas

1/4tsp turmeric powder

1Tbsp oil

1/4tsp mustard or cumin seeds

salt

While puff pastry is thawing, boil one large russet potato in microwave for 10minutes. I find if you cut potato into 4-5 pieces before microwaving, they cook much more quickly.

Once potato is boiled and cooled to handle, remove the skin and mash them well.

Meanwhile finely chop 1 green chili, quarter of a large onion and 3 garlic cloves. Heat oil in a large pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop. Then add chili, onion and garlic and let cook until onion browns slightly. Then add 1/4tsp turmeric and mashed potatoes and handful of frozen peas. Add salt, mix well. Let cook for a couple minutes and remove from heat. Allow it to cool

Assemble puff pastry:

Remove the rolls from the packet after nearly 15mins and check if they are thawed. If properly thawed they will be cold to touch but pliable - you can unroll them easily. If you can't unroll easily, leave them alone for a few more minutes.

Unroll one roll on a large cutting board or a lightly floured surface. Using a knife split into two stripes length-wise.

Then cut each stripes into 2 or 3 somewhat square shapes.

Add 1 heaped Tbsp of filling into each square like so:

Fold the square into a triangle like so:

Using your finger lightly seal the edges. Or us a fork to make a pattern like so:

Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil or parchment paper. Spread the samosa puffs on baking sheet. If desired, brush with olive oil (will enhance the color of the puffs).

Bake at 415F for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven; let cool. Serve with a tamarind or green coriander chutney or any dipping sauce of your choice. Plain old ketchup also works well.

Quick Cooking Quesadilla!

We love quesadilla at our home. Our favorite is a vegetarian version with a whole-wheat or a multi-grain tortilla filled with spanish rice, black bean salsa and lots of mexican cheese and heated just until the cheese is bubbly! Melted cheese helps seal the quesadilla making it a perfect finger food. So yummy and so quick to put together too!

We serve quesadilla with side of guacamole and pico de gallo salsa. 

If you are low on time to put dinner on table, you can always skip the spanish rice and use some left-over white rice for filling. Just reheat the leftover white rice in microwave and mix with a dash of oil or butter, lime juice, salt and finely chopped cilantro for a quick cilantro rice instead of spanish rice.

If it's one of those days you have an hour extra to prep for dinner, by all means, engage your fancy - you can always add more sides or condiments for a round mexican meal such as some home-made pico-de-gallo salsa or a quick guacamole or some extra yummy sauteed shrimps coated with mexican spice blends...

Or just keep it simple with the quesadilla and store bought salsa to dunk them into. Either way, I can assure you a quick and wonderful meal on the table which kids and adults alike would enjoy.

Looking Back at Feburary'2014:The List

(The List is a new series on G&G where we summarize our month in a post - inspired by similar posts on One Hot Stove! Our month is full of so many little interesting moments and tidbits, many of which are too trivial to be blog-worthy on their own but combine all those small moments of amusements, happiness or discoveries and gift-wrap them with a nice little bow of "looking back at month", and there you have it, that's our list :)

I try to keep the list food related - afterall that's what you are here for! - but I also feature reading and watching lists; what's a month without a good book to dig your nose into, right?.. Hope you enjoy! )

On My Mind:

The ever elusive rain gods are finally smiling on the bay. After an unusually dry season this year, February turned out to be our first wet month of the season. Not a lot of rain or wintry weather still, but just enough to give those umbrellas a chance to peek out of closets and those beautiful hills surrounding the bay to sprout new green grass.

This has been the driest season on record here in California.

Image Credit: Saurabh Deoras @ California Naturescapes

Meanwhile this severe drought and water shortage has presented local almond growers some tough choices such as sell their almond fields at a discount price, let them dry up or chop all the trees. Drive through central valley and you can see various almond fields for sell signs....It's so sad it breaks my heart.

These are the same almond fields we visit every spring during almond bloom to take pictures (this is an image captured two years ago)

Living in cities we don't feel the effect of drought but it's harsh for the farm owners - read more about almond farms fate in California this season here.

Eating:

Lots and lots of citrus fruit! Oranges are in season - said it before and will say it again, grab them before they go :) So sweet and so many varieties - I am recently falling in love with meyer lemon all over again. Meyer lemon is a cross between lemon and mandarin orange. They are a lemonish looking fruit which has a super smooth bright yellow skin and a sweet flesh with lemonish tinge. So good! On my todo list is a meyer lemon butter this season..

Carrying over from last month, our Japanese food fever is still going strong. Sushi and soba noodles and noodle soup and tempuras are making their regular appearances at our dinner table. I am also getting better and better at making sushi - it's an art honestly.

Also in season are sweet potatoes or yams. Our favorite method includes roasting sweet potatoes at 375F for 40-45mins and then broiling for 5-10mins to get a charred skin. They are so good, you can eat them like candies - a perfect healthy no butter desert. If you have a sweet tooth but want to be tummy conscious - roasted yams are your friends!

Reading:

This month work turned an upward slope so it was back to only a comfort re-read in the night - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Image credit: goodreads.com

We added a new book to little one's library this month: How Does Baby Feel by Karen Katz. Where is Baby's Belly Button which is another of Katz' book is a major favorite with my little one, so we bought this book with a tunload of expectations and it did not disappoint us in the least!

A baby has so many emotions and there is a trigger for every emotion. A baby can be happy when someone tickles his tummy, sad when she breaks a toy, hungry when she is looking for milk and cookie and loved when family hugs and kisses him! That's what this book is all about. Simple concept adorn this lift the flap hit. Little ones can lift the flap to see what emotion baby is experiencing and you can see them act along. My daughter will pretend cry, laugh, do silly things all with hand motions and all while reading this book - it's so precious! I must say this book is another winner for us.

Watching:

I am watching Ted talks food matters series on Netflix and enjoying it immensely! The latest one we saw is Jamie Oliver's Teach Every Child About Food segment. As regular readers of G&G know, at our home it's all about simple quick cooking with fresh local sourced ingredients and avoiding preservative-laden processed ready-made food as much as possible. 

This program starts with outlining appalling state of school children's food habits today and goes into simple everyday measures we can take to make the most precious of our society members adopt better food habits. His advise is mostly common sense, but sadly in this highly corporate profit driven world, repeating common sense can go a long way.

There are so many exciting authors and topics in this Ted food series, I can't wait to watch them all!

Enjoying:

The rain! We are so happy it's raining back again in the bay this month! There is something very therapeutic watching rain steadily pounding on the windows with an occasional splash of lightening. That constancy it's almost rhythmic. It can beautify anything - including a simple ginger-lemongrass chai and some bhujia to go along-with it, don't you think? :)

Till next month, enjoy!

Grab them before they go - oranges are in season (citrus salad and orange marmalade)!

(Starting off a new series on G&G - "Grab them before they go". In this series we feature a seasonal produce or fruit our family is enjoying thoroughly these days. Infact it's so good that we think it deserves you opening another tab on your browser right now and finding out your nearest farmer's market to visit! 

We at G&G strongly believe in simple & quick recipes with local and seasonal produce and fruits; not only you will be enjoying fresh bounties of the nature without the preservatives and 100s of food miles, you will also be helping the local farmer's ecosystem and sustainable growing)

It's that time of the year again when citruses are everywhere in California. Farmer's markets are filled with rows and rows of navel oranges, satsumas & mandarins (peelable oranges), cara-cara oranges (rose color flesh), blood oranges, grapefruits and pamelos and meyer lemons too!

I have a detailed post here going over different citrus varieties and their taste differences.

We know it can be over-whelming at first to know that "orange" is not just "one variety", but fret not, it's as simple as trying out a piece of each and taste testing at home!

Oh, and while you are at it, try out this winter citrus salad.

It's so pretty, you can substitute this salad for a table centerpiece for the next gathering you host! A centerpiece which is so yummy you can eat it off the table, now that's something :)

Recipe is very simple and extremely adaptive. 

Recipe: Winter's bounty citrus salad

Ingredients:

1 navel orange

1 cara cara orange

2 blood oranges

1 meyer lemon (sweet lemon)

1 grapefruit

1/2Tbsp chopped mint

1/2Tbsp very finely chopped shallot or red onion

handful of toasted slivered almonds

2Tbsp olive oil

1tsp lemon juice

salt & pepper.

Recipe:

Salad dressing:

1. Zest one navel orange to get 1/2Tbsp orange zest.
2. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, orange zest, red onion, mint, salt & pepper. 
3. Mix well. Taste, add more lemon juice if not acidic enough; add more olive oil if too acidic. 
4. Set aside.

Assembling the salad:

1. Using a knife remove the tops and bottom parts of the citrus so they stand well.
2. Peel the orange using a knife. Cut as much of the white skin as possible.
3. Dice the citrus into equal thickness disks.
4. Arrange the various colored citrus disks.
5. drizzle the dressing on top.
6. Sprinkle some toasted slivered almonds and enjoy!

And while we are on the topic of oranges, I have got to tell you about this orange marmalade I made! I don't make it as often as I should now a days, but it's so wonderful to make a big batch - you and your family can enjoy spreading on a piece of toast, or as a marinade for chicken pieces or homemade marmalade makes great gifts too you know! Free up one of your Sunday afternoons and cook a big batch of these...

Anyway, however you like to enjoy your oranges, be sure to grab them before go out of season!

Easy Breezy Chicken Tandoori (v2)

This tandoori chicken recipe is a favorite one at our home! The reason it's named v2 is because I already have one tandoori chicken post on this blog - however I have been recently feeling that there is scope of improvement there. In particular chicken could be more moist while keeping the skin still crunchy.

The v1 was made when our oven did not have a broil function but now that we have a working broiler I thought I would give it a few tries and tada, there comes v2 - better and improved but still the same easy breezy!

After many attempts, this is the recipe I narrowed down on. The skin will be crispy with a slightly burnt taste (which I love so much!) while the inside is still very moist and juicy. I have had success with this recipe 3 times in a row, so I feel pretty confident calling this a blog-worthy recipe now :)

Do you enjoy Tandoori chicken at restaurants? Have you tried making tandoori chicken at home? If not but if you enjoy eating it out, I highly recommend giving it a try. Contrary to perceptions, it's a very straight-forward recipe with lowest run to run variation of most Indian recipes!

It's super easy to put together and once you get the formula down, making 2 or 10 or 20 take nearly the same amount of prep and cooking time - making it a perfect party or a large gathering dish. I made this for my little one's birthday we hosted at home this year and it was a smashing hit - everything gone within minutes and guests were still craving for more :)

This is also a good recipe if you are inviting spice sensitive friends for dinner. It's a good recipe to introduce someone to Indian food and it's spices without making it too hot so that tears run down their eyes while eating - we don't want anyone to cry eating this, do we? ;)

Another change I did in v2 is reduced the spice list and added pre-made spice mixes indtead. You can always buy tandoori mix sold at most Indian markets, but I find putting one together is quite easy and the variations are endless. This is another recipe which could greatly benefit from a good quality curry powder (such as Trader Joe's or Penzy's Maharaja blend) and garam masala powder.

So anyway, enough about the background, let's dig in!

Recipe:

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

5 pieces chicken drumsticks - skin on

1C yogurt

1Tbsp curry powder

1tsp garam masala

1tsp cumin powder

1/2tsp turmeric powder

1/4tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

1Tbsp paprika (for color)

2Tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

Recipe:

Beat yogurt lightly in a large pot. Add all the spices, 1Tbsp oil and salt & pepper to taste. Mix well.

Wash and clean the chicken pieces. Using a sharp knife, make deep gashes (3-4 a piece) to the chicken pieces and add the chicken to the yogurt pot and mix well making sure every piece is well coated with spiced yogurt.

Cover and leave in fridge for upto 2-4hrs to marinate. (this step is critical for a moist and a tasty tandoori taste)

When it's time to cook, take the chicken out. Preheat oven to 375F

Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and place chicken pieces gently. Drizzle remaining Tbsp olive oil over the pieces and sprinkle some salt & pepper.

Bake at 375F for 45-50mins until chicken is well cooked.

Then turn the broiler to high and broil for 5-10mins or until black-brown spots start to appear on the outside. Turn the heat off. Take off chicken from oven and cover with another foil and set aside for 15mins.

Serve with some sliced onion, lime wedges! Enjoy!