Panfusine

A Terrine is basically a French dish traditionally made from scraps of meat pressed down and baked into a loaf. This pressed down technique lends itself beautifully to starchy potatoes bound by cream. When pressed down and cooled, the sliced up loaf can be pan-fried to yield a crisp texture. The end result is a decadent side dish that may be served with your choice of entrée & a simple green salad. Such techniques however never feature in Indian cuisine. Ever. First and foremost, because baking is not a preferred means of cooking, and foods cooked and served the next day are generally frowned upon. This is primarily because of the weather conditions in most of India. Heat & lack of refrigeration do not lend themselves well to edible dishes that are meant to be served the next day, least of all terrines.

 Produce wise, I have no complaints about the past 12 months. Seasonal local vegetables from Hillsborough farm throughout the summer and a wonderful time exploring citrus varieties after that. My  clear favorite was the Mayer lemon. I simply fell in love with its vivid color, fragrance and sweet/tart taste. The best priced ones were from Whole Foods, priced at a modest 3.49 /lb (about 6-7 lemons). Indulged in making 'achar', preserved lemon, Lemon rice, margaritas & a dozen bottles of marmalade! (this was in addition to a community pick testing for Food52 , a fragrant Five-citrus marmalade.

Lesson learnt.. Taking a break of even a SINGLE post makes it that much harder to get back into the groove, the good news, its great to get back into the experimental routine. of experimenting, tweaking and sharing the results with friends & family and , get a real life validation (as opposed to the support that comes with simply reading about my kitchen capers & dishes that I create. It completely revalidated the saying "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

 Slipping through my fingers all the time... Hearing this Classic ballad from ABBA never fails to put me into a wistful mood, get transported to happier  carefree times. As I watch my son getting ready to shed his first tooth and getting excited about a visit from the  tooth fairy, a part of me realizes how I have to helplessly watch time race on and think back to a generation ago about my own experience of that evening when I first discovered that I was about to lose my first tooth. Amma consoling me about how this was a part of growing up and me, with a gargantuan lump in my throat, trying hard not to cry. It wasn't all about that loose tooth. Even at that age, it was a feeling of loss of that cocooned part of life, of an innocent childhood, slipping away to be replaced by life's ever increasing burden of heartaches & stress, with patches of thankless existence, endured solely for the sake of your own  children, who also provide you with some of th...