Valentines Day special !!

We believe the way to a man's heart is definitely through his stomach!! Celebrate the season of love with the universal language of love – Food. Try cooking some exotic, yet simple recipes for your valentine this season.  This is our guide to surprise your spouse with this quick romantic three-course meal this Valentine's Day !! 

Love Potion

·         Champagne

·         2 tablespoons fruit puree (raspberry, passion fruit, blood orange, peach, pomegranate)

Directions:

Spoon the puree into a champagne flute and pour champagne on top. How easy is that!

Stuffed With Love-Shrooms

·         12 gourmet stuffing mushrooms (Washed with stems removed and set aside)

·         1/2 cup white wine

·         2 tablespoons minced garlic

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         1 chopped onion

·         Half a bunch spinach

·         1 cup breadcrumbs

·         1 tablespoon dried parsley

·         1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise

·         3 slices cheese

·         salt and pepper

Directions:

·         Arrange Mushrooms in a large glass casserole dish, set aside.

         Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

·         In a pan, sauté mushroom stems, spinach, garlic, and olive oil for about 3- 4 minutes.

·         Add wine and continue to sauté for about 5-10 minutes.

·         Remove mixture from heat and place in a bowl.

·         Stir in bread crumbs, chopped onions, parsley, mayo and cheese. Mix well.

·         Scoop small amounts of mixture into each mushroom cap. Bigger caps will need more of the mixture.

·         Sprinkle tops with salt and pepper.

·         Cut  cheese slices into fourths. Place small pieces of onto each mushroom cap.

·         Cook in oven uncovered for 20-35 minutes. The bottom of the casserole dish will be wet when mushrooms are ready, and the cheese on top should be brown and bubbly.

Shrimp Alfredo

·         1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined

·         1/4 cup minced shallot

·         2 minced garlic cloves

·         1/4 cup butter

·         1/2 lb fusilli pasta, cooked al dente

·         4 large egg yolks

·         1 cup half-and-half

·         1/2 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese

·         2 teaspoons minced parsley

Directions:

·         In a large skillet, cook the shrimp, the shallot and garlic in the butter over moderate heat, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, or until shrimp are just firm to touch and opaque.

·         Reduce heat to moderately-low and stir in the pasta.

·         In a bowl, beat together the yolks, half and half and the Parmesan.

·         Add the egg mixture to the shrimp mixture and cook until the sauce is thickened, tossing all the while so the egg doesn’t curdle, about 3-4 minutes.

·         Do not let sauce boil.

·         Stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with Love!!

Strawberry dipped chocolate

·         6 ounces semisweet chocolate

·         3 ounces White chocolate

·         1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried

·         Wax Paper

·         Microwave safe bowl to melt the chocolate

·         Optional:  Nuts, sprinkles or small chocolate chips to dip them in.

Directions:

·         Wash and dry all the strawberries.  Make sure they are completely dry before you start melting the chocolate.

·         Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Be sure to only heat the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time so you don’t burn it.  You will heat the white chocolate in a separate bowl.

·         Lay out a long sheet of wax paper.

·         Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl.

·         Optional:  Dip them in Nuts, Sprinkles or small chocolate chips.

·         Set strawberries on the parchment paper.

·         Repeat with the rest of the strawberries.

·         Finally, dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

·         Allow about 30 minutes for the chocolate to set and then enjoy!

Simple Chinese Egg Fried Rice Recipe

Who says Chinese is all meat and noodles?  Here’s a recipe that can make even the meat eaters drool. Enriched with fresh carrots, peas and a small helping of scrambled eggs, this rice dish is easy to make and yummy to eat! Scroll down, grab your pen and jot down the recipe for this simple, yet tasty dish.

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 15 min

What you’ll Need:

• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 3 cups cold cooked rice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

What to Do:

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add eggs and scramble, then break up scrambled eggs into small pieces. Remove from skillet and set aside.
    
2. Heat remaining oil in skillet; add peas and carrots and cook 3 minutes. Add rice and soy sauce and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until heated through, stirring frequently. Stir in scrambled egg pieces and cook 1 to 2 additional minutes, or until heated through. Serve immediately.

Let's go Chinese!

To all you foodies out there, welcome and Gong Hei Fat Choi (Happy New Year!!) 

With the Chinese New Year up and coming, we thought it would be best to indulge in some Chinese flavours for the week. For the next few days we will unravel the mystery and secret behind traditional Chinese recipes that will leave you asking for more.

Chinese New Year traditionally represents a family re-union with every family spending a good feast on the table with their near and dear ones. This blog will be a sneak peek into all those delicacies on the table like the rice cakes, dumplings, Sweet glutinous rice balls, whole duck, noodles, candied lotus seeds and many more!

Watch this space for some yummy, flavorsome and delicious Chinese food that can set your taste buds tickling for some yummy Cantonese food.

DISCOVER AHOY! ASIA WITH OPERA SOFTWARE

Grimod de la Reynière, a famous Parisian restaurant reviewer in the 18^th century, once said, “The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made.” And well said, since the journey of cooking involves discoveries that are made with every stir. With a passion for food and the willingness to experiment, each time they are mixed in different proportions, a new dish is discovered. And, the exploration of new ingredients, recipes and presentation just adds to the culinary romance.

Discover Food

Along the “discover” theme, Opera Software organized a #DiscoverWithOpera food bloggers meet-up, inviting some of Delhi’s top food bloggers at Ahoy! Asia, one of Delhi’s brand-new Oriental restaurants. Ahoy! was started by friends, Arun Chanda and Satayajit Mukherjee, whose passion for food and experience in the food & beverage industry is reflected in the variety in the menu and the service at the place.

Arun Chanda welcoming food bloggers at Ahoy! Asia 

Just like Opera users set out to discover content on the web, food bloggers were given the opportunity to embark on a journey of Oriental food discovery. The afternoon was well spent, with bloggers passing the test of identifying various cuisines including Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian. According to Arun, “We are here to give everyone an unforgettable Oriental food experience with a great fusion between classic and modern techniques of cooking that is well suited for the local palette. Our main focus was to have a fun family eating-out place with excellent value for money.” Along with an afternoon of fun-filled activities, the bloggers were also quizzed on Asian cuisine, and Arun was successful in busting some popular myths often associated with the cuisine.

Japanese cuisine Okonomiyaki

Talking about Opera’s “Discover” feature, Sunil also added, “Opera gives an opportunity to users to get hot, new content with no browsing necessary, thanks to the new ‘Discover’ feature available on Opera for Android and Opera for Windows & Mac.” The feature allows you to lean back and be fed with new articles from your country, or whatever region you want to get inspiration from, right in your browser — all in one place. Users can pick and choose their category: News, Food, Technology or anything else that interests them. Just sit back, click and discover something completely new.

Read latest food news on Opera Discover feature

The bloggers also got a chance to try out some of popular Oriental dishes including Chuanr Lamb Kebab from Uyghur, Thai Tofu & Bell Pepper Satay, Uyghur DaPanJi (chicken stew), Zhua Fan Lamb Pulao and Banana Spring Rolls with a vanilla ice-cream scoop & caramel sauce.

The popular restaurant in the GK II market is the perfect place for letting your hair down and trying out some lip-smacking dishes. One of the things to watch is Uyghur cuisine from the Xinjiang region of China, which is a rare amalgamation of Islamic and traditional Chinese culinary influence!

Vietnamese Chicken Banhmi Sandwich

Event at a glance:

Opera Browser- Made to Discover

Ahoy! Asia prepped for #DiscoverWithOpera Food Bloggers Meet

Ahoy! Asia ready for a delicious afternoon with Opera Software

Enjoying oriental tea

Sunil Kamath, Vice-President for South Asia, Opera Software welcoming the bloggers

Discover the ingredients

What's going on in the mind- Cabbage, cheese and ???

Japanese Chicken Yakitori

Korean Mandupi Chips

Relishing the food at Ahoy! Asia

Sunil Kamath, V.P for South Asia, Opera Software explains tech 

Tangjiao Uyghur style lamb dumplings soup

Banana Spring Rolls with vanilla scoop & caramel sauce

Say O

Bite into this #DiscoverWithOpera contest now!

Did you know egg white can be used for treating burned skin? Or that ‘Okonomiyaki’ is the name of a Japanese savory pancake that is made of a variety of ingredients? As disparate as they are, both the facts mentioned above are food related discoveries that amazed us.

Opera Software, who enables more than 350 million internet consumers worldwide to discover and connect with the content and services that matter most to them, are in similar mood, and hence are today announcing the launch of the #DiscoverWithOpera contest for testing your gastronomical knowledge.

To enter this contest, you’re urged to share your food related discoveries – which maybe an innovative recipe you made or discovered, or a mixture of ingredients you never realized could produce an outstanding result or a restaurant at some corner of your city that serves some sumptuous food. Share these discoveries on Facebook or Twitter, but it’s essential you use #DiscoverWithOpera in them. Other details are enclosed below:

Terms & Conditions:

•       All tweets & comments need to be accompanied with #DiscoverWithOpera

•       Contest begins on 8th Jan at 12pm and closes on the midnight of 15^th Jan 2014

•       Contest open only for Indian residents

•       Top 10 people, with the most creative &/ or interesting discovered will win cool Opera merchandize

•       Top 5 of these people will also win vouchers worth Rs1500/- from a restaurant in your city. For e.g. in Delhi, our vouchers will be from the newest Oriental restaurant in town - Ahoy! Asia

Food that helps you recover from common cold & cough

The chilly wind has arrived and is here to stay for the next three months. And generally, winters are the time when you love to hog on hot steamy food. Bud did you know, our Indian food, or to be a little more specific Indian spices is not just tasty but have a lot of medicinal value which is much needed specially, to help you escape the usual viral fever, cold and cough.

So these are the top 10 must have’s to get over this seasonal fever which is catching up:

Ginger Tea

Medicinal Value: Ginger is an excellent remedy for the common cold. Ginger tea can be taken thrice daily, along with half a teaspoon of sugar for best results. It helps drying up a running nose and expels phlegm from the respiratory tract

Turmeric Milk

Medicinal Value: Turmeric mixture is a popular and effective way to fight a cough

Lemon, Cinnamon, Honey Syrup

Medicinal value: Prepare syrup of lemon, honey and cinnamon to prevent a common cold

Honey and Brandy

Medicinal value: Brandy keeps your chest warm while honey helps fight a cough. A teaspoon of brandy and honey improves cough 

Garlic

Medicinal value: Saute a few garlic cloves in ghee and consume this, it can help you fight the common cold and cough

Jaggery Solution

Medicinal Value: Boil water with black pepper, add cumin and jaggery to it to get relief from chest congestion

Carrot juice

Medicinal Value: Carrot juice, not only tastes yummy but is an excellent drink which helps to fight a bad cough

- Preeti Nair, Contributing Author