Honey Chilli Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Looking for a recipe that's savory, yet super easy to make to enjoy in this rain? I have got your back! It's been raining 3 days back to back and ordering food is my best bet xD But outside food does get boring and isn't very healthy, so I thought of something that required less dishes to wash and is quick to make and the honey Chilli Smashed Crispy potatoes were born! I have used medium-small potatoes here. I would suggest to get hold of the really tiny ones if possible, gives better texture when bakes. The potatoes are boiled and then smashed which is then baked to crispy perfection. The honey Chilli sauce is like liquid gold. I like to drop a dollop of the sauce over the crispy Smashed potatoes, so that the potatoes stay crispy. These are best enjoyed hot. 

From now on, I plan to write a lot about a particular recipe, if there is a back story etc, otherwie, I plan to keep my blog recipes simple and easy to navigate through. Hope this will help the blog grow in a better way :) 

Now to get back to the recipe.. If you like the sweet and spicy combo, I am sure you will love this one! Let's get to the ingredients...

Ingredients :

Instructions:

 

Notes:

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡

Tomato Basil Soup 

The perfect soup to warm you up during this winter. It’s the perfect dinner when paired with a slice of butter toasted baguette. The veggies are roasted in the oven, which is then puréed. The aroma from the roasted garlic takes the soup to a next level. You just can’t have enough of this warm hug in a bowl. 🥰

NINJA, a very popular kitchen appliance manufacturer send me their 3 in 1 food processor and I am super impressed with its results. I just love how perfect my soup turned out using the blender! I can’t stress enough about how amazing the blades of the machine are designed and how powerful the Ninja Blender which gives the perfect consistency.

Let’s see how the easy yet umami filled soup fills your tummy, heart and soul!

Ingredients:

• 6 Garlic cloves/ 1 Garlic Bulb for roasting
• 3-4 Garlic cloves for sautéing 
• 1 Carrot, chopped 
• 4 large Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small Onion, chopped 
• Rock Salt, as required 
• 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Flakes 
• Olive oil, to drizzle 
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• Fresh Basil leaves
• Red chili flakes and basil leaves for garnish 

Instructions:

1. Chop your veggies like onion, tomato, carrot in uniform chunks.
2. In a parchment paper lined baking tray, add your chopped veggies, garlic bulb, season with red Chilli flakes and rock salt.
3. Roast the veggies for 45 minutes on 200 deg C or until charred.
   
   
   
4. Blend the roasted veggies and add milk and blend again to make the soup more rich and less tangier.
5. In a deep bottom vessel, pour olive oil and add in your chopped/ minced garlic cloves. 
6. Once the raw aroma disappears, add the puréed sauce/ soup to the vessel. 
7. Add in fresh basil leaves and allow to come a simmer.
   
   
   
8. Garnish with red Chilli flakes and basil leaves.
9. Serve hot with butter toasted garlic baguette slices. 
   
   
   
   
   
   

 Roman Style Chicken Cacciatore with Bechamel Sauce

I am back! A vacation that I thought would only last 2 weeks turned out to be a long vacation, but exactly the time I needed to myself for self rejuvenation and that bought in so much inspiration. I can't wait to share all the recipes that I have been creating and planning all this while. The vacation has really helped my creative juices flow.

Talking about the Cacciatore, which is originated in Italy and means Hunter/ Hunter's wife. This means it is a dish prepared by the hunter or his wife with the catch from the day, probably a rabbit. But since chicken is widely available, the dish is now commonly prepared with Chicken now days. And the other main ingredients include anchovies and rosemary. But to suit my Asian tastebuds I have played around the ingredients and transformed the garlic-anchovy-rosemary sauce that wouldn't tickle my family's palate. So I transformed the sauce to a garlic-Bechamel-mushroom sauce. This is a combination that is always a winner. This recipe is very much similar to Chicken Fricassee too..😃

As Cacciatore is usually prepared with bone-in chicken pieces, make sure that you fry and cook the chicken well, before adding the chicken to the gravy. The Cacciatore can be paired with pasta, Mashed potatoes, roasted veggies etc. Super easy to prepare yet finger-licking good; Let's get to the recipe!

Ingredients :

Instructions:

1. Marinate the chicken drumsticks with salt and crushed black pepper.
2. In a heavy bottom pan, drop the butter and fry the chicken drumsticks.
3. Fry on medium high heat for 15-20 minutes and until brown on all sides.
   
   
   
4. Next, to the same pan, add butter and sauté the sliced onion. Once translucent, add the chopped mushrooms, dried thyme, chicken stock, pressed garlic and salt as required.
5. To this, add the all purpose flour, mix and add the milk, allow to come to a boil and add the heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce.
   
   
   
6. Once the sauce comes to a boil, add the fried chicken drumsticks and simmer for around 10 minutes, adjust salt to liking.
   
   
   
7. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
8. Garnish with dried parsley.
   
   
   

Notes:

Make sure to use medium or small chicken drumsticks, so as to ensure that the chicken is cooked well. 

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡