What I Ate On My Birthday: 2013

Even though turning 19 isn't the most amazing thing, you do what you love on your birthday. What do I love? Of course you know! Eating! My nineteenth birthday was a total Eatathon. I've always been one of those annoying people who make everything about themselves ONLY on my birthday though ;) I go as far as making it my Birthday Week and everyone has to tolerate it. This BW was so awesome! It ended with an actual long weekend as well!

Since my dad wasn't there on my actual birthday, we had a family dinner the day before, and by family dinner I mean, Thai Pavilion! Gorgeous, gorgeous food. I had one of the best tom yum soups, grilled prawns, fried lobster, chicken wrapped in banana leaf, spare ribs (which tasted deliciously like pork belly) and for the main course, Red Thai curry with clean, steamed rice.

Mouths watering?

The dessert, water chestnut soaked in rose syrup in a creamy coconut cream with crushed ice, HEAVEN.

Looks as beautiful as it sounds, eh?

Thai Pavilion at the Taj President was a great experience, I highly recommend it for a special occasion.

Moving on, my actual birthday lunch. Let's move a little closer to home for this one shall we? You guessed it right. Indigo Deli with my best friends. I must confess, I forgot to click pictures of this lunch so you're just gonna have to let my writing skills convince you (cough).

ChicChick and I had the Crispy Chicken Burger, one of the best burgers I've had in Bombay for sure with fries and a lovely little coleslaw. My other best friend, let's call her Wag, had the Deli Roast Chicken with mashed potatoes and a lovely roasted garlic. For libation, we an an iced tea each. 2 lemons and one peach. We were way too stuffed for dessert but were still eyeing the 'Make Your Own Sundaes'. We decided all our components before we realized out bodies just wouldn't cooperate. So we've left our sundae with waffles, hazelnut ice cream, Belgian chocolate ice cream dark chocolate fudge, pecans and crumble for the next time ;)

We took home some cupcakes from Le15 anyway. Oreo, Red Velvet, Milk, Peanut Butter, Belgian Chocolate and Chunky Chocolate to be precise :)

Just when you think I couldn't eat anymore, another darling friend, let's call him Pore, surprised me with a box of chocolates from Oven Fresh. This local, homey place has come up with the most amazing truffles and macarons. God bless them.

Taste as good as they look, trust me.

So, that's What I Ate On My Birthday this year. I hope there are many more episodes to come, cause I kinda enjoy them ;) Go try this places out, they're really awesome. And if you have friends as awesome as mine, you have nothing to worry about. It's the perfect recipe- Friends + Food. So that's it from me for now, a year older, hopefully a year wiser and definitely a year hungrier!

xoxo

D

JDF: Fifteen's Chocolate Tart.

Hey guys! It's the latest JDF with one of the best ingredients ever, chocolate! Who doesn't like chocolate? And those of you who don't, I'm sorry, but you've been judged. The first time I made pastry and turned out pretty great. This is a classic dessert which you can never get tired of. Let's begin!

Ready? Okay!

Doesn't it look gorg? Doesn't my garnish look pretty? (If I may say so myself :P) This tart is light, creamy with a crisp base, perfect.

Tip's I'd give-

• The recipe says orange zest (optional) but I'm telling you, it's not an option! The orange zest in the pastry just enhances the taste SO much and chocolate and orange is one of my most favourite combos.
• Make sure you line the pastry carefully and make a very thin layer otherwise the pastry will become too hard for you to cut.

Okay, I tried really hard but couldn't find this recipe to share with you guys but I'll post it soon! So go like our Facebook page at the top right side and you will get the recipe soon enough :)

xoxo
D

Eggs.

I'm sorry for the long gap guys! It's exam time. Last papers tomorrow and I'm doomed anyway so figured why not blog instead? So here's what I'm going to talk about today, eggs. One of the most useful mains don't you think? They work with vegetarians and non- vegetarians (most of the time) and you're in the clear. The thing I love about eggs is that there are so many ways to serve them! Fried, boiled, scrambled, poached, you name it! Plus you can use eggs for mains as well as desserts, how convenient of them?

So I'm here to talk about my fav egg dishes and where you can find some of the best. Who doesn't love a good fried egg, sunny side up? The gleaming yellow yolk, the crispy white edges... Mmmm... Fried eggs is one of the first things I learned to make. Okay, not a huge fan of hard boiled eggs but I can totally enjoy a soft boiled egg with it's yolk trickling down some bacon, asparagus and tomato on toast. Are your mouths watering yet? Mine is. Poached eggs are tricky. Every attempt is an independent achievement for me and I can just never depend on my past laurels. But once you get it right, heavenly. It tastes nothing like an ordinary egg. It's creamy and refined. And how about pancakes huh? You need eggs for those too!

My very first poached egg! 

Almost eggs florentine (fried egg instead of poached) complete with creamed  spinach and caramelized toast

Meanwhile, go try the Eggs Florentine and Eggs Benedict at Indigo Deli and the Egg Curry at Shalimar. They're eggcellent. Really. This is my getting-back-in-action post. Hope you've missed me, I've missed you! It's time for me to hit the books now (literally) 2013, let's begin!

xoxo
D