JOIN USFood has always been my first love so being a passionate home chef comes naturally to me. As the old saying goes, way to man’s heart is through his stomach, I love treating myself with good food prepared with my own hands and feed my loved ones too.
More or less my passion for exploring new cuisines or recipes and experimenting with new ingredients, helps me to create an innovative and fusion dish of my own. For instance, making omelette with curry leaves vis-a-vis using fresh basil leaves, creating the same omelette with two different flavours. Simply delicious!
I have inherited a lot of Kashmiri equipments from my father who was also very fond of cooking and had a great sense of traditional culinary art. My ancestral house in Jammu still has big vessels, ‘deghcheese’, pounders and samavar used at that time. I have tried my hand in making Tabak Maas ( pouched and fried mutton delicacy) at home and used a vessel to pouch and a frying pan to create fine golden brown pieces of mutton and served them piping hot.
Apart from Kashmiri cuisine which I have in my genetic coding and try to hone it with my hotel management background, I love making eggs too which is an art not just because eggs are close to my heart but also since you can give this humble egg, various forms. Poached, omletted or fried, I love making them all with my silicon moulds, set of knives and whisker. I enjoy cooking Italian and Continental cuisine which includes pasta al olio or in red/white sauce, salads, sandwiches, finger food and paninis with herbs, cheese and exotic veggies. Now me and my wife are on a culinary sojourn with our food blog called hesaidshesaidyummy.wordpress.com which talks about our food memories, tasting tables, recipes and much more. It is a celebration of food.
A a seasoned hospitality professional, I have worked in the F&B operations space and have been associated with iconic brands like The Radisson and Hyatt Regency Delhi and premium food chains like KFC and Mocha for almost 17 years now. Presently, I am the regional head north for PVRbluO. I have worn many hats in the area of management and have been fortunate to have a 360 degree experience in handling operations and mentoring it too.
I do cook often, especially on weekends as everyone in my family is at home and wait impatiently for me to prepare their platter of joy. “Weekend cooking is always relaxed and healthy cooking for family or friends. I prefer meals which are not only delectable and easy to make, but have healthy alternates too,” he says.
Kids love their pizzas with cheese toppings. So I try to make these healthier by using more fresh veggies and low fat dressings topped with a little mozzarella cheese. The recipe I am sharing today is homestyle crostini that works best as an evening snack and leaves kids satiated.
Recipe
Crostini
Ingredients
Chopped onions – 2
Chopped tomatoes – 2
Green chillies-2-3
Thousand island
dressing-100gms
Mozzarella cheese-150gms
Multi grain bread – 6-8 slices
Method:
Spread onions, tomatoes and finely chopped chillies evenly on a bread slice sprinkle crushed black pepper and salt to taste
Drizzle 1.5- 2 tablespoons thousand island sauce on the bread slice. Now grate the cheese on the slice.
Put it in an air fryer for 5-8 mins sufficient for the cheese to melt. Alternately use an OTG at 180 degrees.
Cut diagonally and serve!
Rajnesh Wakhloo
(As told to Shilpa Raina)