FALL Sandwich ....

I named this sandwich, with this unusual name, when I saw it on a blog here.... Melinda has a beautiful blog, I found many  interesting recipes and this is one of them. I love pumpkin, and it symbolises the Autumn season for most of the northern hemisphere. Though, pumpkin is available here, most of the year, in October the "blogosphere" is full of pumpkin recipes ...:) Usually, I make a yogurt based pumpkin salad(raita), or a soup or use it-- for bread/cake, etc.  I loved this recipe, as it is so unusual and yet so simple. It was delicious too. 

In the original recipe, the author has baked the pumpkin, in an oven, for about an hour, which will definitely give it a lovely flavor. But, I chose the easier and faster way-- I cooked the pumpkin, in a pressure cooker. 

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of whole wheat/multi-grain or white bread (or any other kind you prefer)
• 1 red/green apple
• 4-6 salad leaves (lettuce/baby spinach/rocket leaves or any other kind you like)
• about 4 tbsp of pumpkin puree (made fresh)
• 2 tbsps of cheddar cheese
• a few drops of olive oil (or butter)

Recipe:

• I usually buy sliced pumpkin which is sold in supermarkets here, wrapped in cling wrap around 150 gms or so. Wash the pumpkin thoroughly and keep it whole, in a pressure cooker container -- skin, seeds and all.
• Pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles. Let the cooker cool. 
• Once the pumpkin is a bit cool to handle, remove the skin and the seeds. Take out the pumpkin flesh and give it a whizz in the blender for 30-60 seconds to get a fine puree. 
• Keep it aside. I didn't photograph this step. I made a puree a night before thinking, I would make the usual soup....:)
• Rest is simple.

• Heat a pan. Grease it with olive oil. Take two slices of bread. Butter it on one side(optional-- I omitted this step). Spread about a tbsp of pumpkin puree on the other side. Place it puree side up on the pan.

• Place salad leaves.

• Slice an apple thinly, arrange the slices on the salad leaves. 

• Grate a tbsp of cheddar cheese on top, or you can also place a cheddar cheese slice.

• More puree on the other slice of bread, and put the bread on top. 

• Grill/Pan fry it on both sides for 1-2 minutes, till the cheese is melted.

• Enjoy it, "hot" off the grill and imagine you are in a nice chilly place with colourful fall trees around you. (Unless, you already live in such a place) .... :)

Quantity:

• 2 sandwiches(serves 1 or 2)

Notes:

• If you use a grill pan, you will get nice grill marks on the sandwich.
• Roast the pumpkin in the oven, to get a different flavor.
• More cheese, than just a tablespoon will make it tastier :) 

herbed pan-grilled fish

Salmon or sometimes sea bass are the only fish liked and appreciated wholeheartedly in my home. However, you get such a lot of different fish here, so I wanted to try them out. Tengirri is one of the popular fish that you get here. I was confused as if it is similar or is the Indian fish "surmai" .... after a long discussion with facebook foodie community members and friends and research on the web/google searching for images, I am still not sure :)  ... However, the fish was tasty. So here is how I made it. 

Ingredients:

• 7-8 tengirri fish steaks (or any other fish that  you like)
• 1 small bunch of coriander leaves
• 1 red or green chili(I removed the seeds)
• 7/8 garlic cloves
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• salt
• oil to grease the pan

Recipe:

• Wash and clean the fish. Keep it on kitchen paper towel to drain out excess moisture.

• Sprinkle salt on the fish on both sides.

• Roughly chop the coriander leaves, garlic cloves and chili with a mortar and pestle... or blitz it for 20/30 secs in a food processor or a blender. Add lemon juice to it. Add some salt if needed.(remember you have already salted the fish) .... I forgot to take picture at this step....!!!

• Pour about 2-3 tsps of the above marinade over the fish steaks.

• Rub the marinade on both sides on the fish.

• Cover the dish with the fish with a plastic wrap and leave it for about an hour or more -- up to 24 hours (I used some of the steaks, the next day)

• When ready to cook, grease the pan with some oil... about 1-2 tsp and heat the pan on medium heat.
• Lay the marinated fish steaks on the hot pan with some distance between each piece, and let them cook for 2-3 minutes.

• Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. The marinade will dry and cling to the foil. It is approximate time, but the fish gets cooked very fast, so do not keep it on the heat for long.  

• Serve straight from the pan, sizzling hot with lettuce leaves or mixed salad.
• It makes a yummy appetizer.

Quantity:

• I made two fish pieces per person, along with rest of the regular meal.

Notes:

• You can also bake the fish in a foil at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. The texture is different. 
• I have also used the same marinade on my favorite fish salmon, and tastes awesome.

Grilled Tandoori Potatoes with Mint Chutney

Blogging is interesting. I planned to make mint chutney today. Due to this new blogging hobby, i thought, i will make a post about it... :)  Mint chutney goes well with so many things, especially Indian street food..."the chaats". However, chaats require a lot of ingredients which i din't have. I had baby potatoes and fresh mint and coriander. One of my friend's, Hemali had posted a super delicious picture of Alu Chaat, I wanted something like that.... !!

 Here is how i made it....!!