Last summer I spent the entire time at home working, cooking and blogging. This summer I am so busy with my work; I rarely get time to cook and blog. That being said, I have some good news to share and this is keeping me on my toes.
Biggest and Happiest news : I passed the TOEFL with 104/120. I needed to get over 100 (required by Harvard).
Other News #1: I am re-designing story of cooks as one of my class project. Matthew and I are creating a WordPress theme from scratch and we are hoping to launch the new design by Aug. Here is a rough design of the site. Let me know what your thoughts are.
Link to the development site: http://66.30.9.152/
{Check the link above to check the recent work}
News #2: I am working on some video tutorials for photography. I am excited to share some behind the scene pictures. By the way, you can find all my photography tutorial here.
News #3: The boring old photography tutorials are getting new makeover.
News #4: Matthew and I are trying to buy a second condo for us. Any of you, who bought a home can understand our situation, right?
And I am running like a headless chicken the whole day between university and home. July is going to be a little slow for blog but once we launch the first phase, it will be smooth. If the design is loved and liked, we might make it available for you.
That being said, I wanted to reduce a few pounds this summer. But last week I had a quiz in one of my class where I performed terribly bad. After that I was busy doing projects and class assignments so I barely had time to cook. So for a long period of time, we ate out. On Saturday I said “Enough is enough, we are doing grocery and I am cooking at home.” I shopped for two hours on Saturday and made a lot of kebabs for 4th July (Independence day of America) weekend. We were planning to barbecue outside, but it was baking hot. So I barbecued at home and we enjoyed a nice dinner in cool breeze of air conditioning while watching movies.
I love kebabs and so does Matthew. And what not to like there? It’s healthy, low-calorie, delicious and it requires bare minimum preparation. Serve with a sauce or a salad, grains or breads, your dinner will be much better than takeout. And on positive note, your calorie intake will be in your control.
Anyway, today’s post will be short as I need to work on the site design. Hope you will enjoy these super simple recipes and keep loving me like the way you always do.
Recipes for Kebabs – Chicken and Fish
Chicken Kebab
Roasted Spice Blend :
5 cloves
5 cardamom
1 piece (1 inch) cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
For Kebab
2 pounds chicken (chicken breast or drumsticks)
1 tablespoon Fried Onion
1 tablespoon whole almond
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 piece (1 inch) ginger, grated
4 garlic garlic cloves, crushed
chile powder to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon black salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon clarified butter/butter
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (as garnish)
- In a non-stick skillet, over medium heat, heat cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and coriander. Take them off the heat and cool down.
- In a spice or grinder, add them and work until smooth. Take it aside in a bowl. Add almonds and work until it’s smooth. Take it aside.
- In a food processor, add fried onion, ground almonds, greek yogurt, ginger, garlic. Work it until it forms a smooth paste. Take it aside in a bowl. Add chile powder, salt, black pepper, black salt and lemon juice.
- In a ziplock bag, add the meat pieces. Pour this marinade mixture, oil and seal it. Keep it outside for 2 hours or refrigerated overnight.
- Brush the kebabs with clarified butter/butter and grill each side for 4-5 minutes. Turn it over and grill the other side. Garnish with cilantro and serve the kebabs with salad, rice, bread.
Fish Kebab
2 pounds sword fish, cut into 2-inch size cubes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 piece (1 inch) ginger, grated
4 garlic garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground all-spice
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
- In a zip lock bag add fish pieces. Add lemon juice, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, all-spice, clove, cinnamon, salt, black pepper and red pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Close the bag and shake it to coat the fish pieces in marinade.
- You can keep it marinated from 2 hours (outside) – 6 hours (in refrigerator).Brush 1 tablespoon oil before grilling. Fire up the grill and grill each side for 4-5 minutes or until it turns golden brown. Turn it over and grill the other side. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve warm.
{Alternative to Sword Fish : Any firm flesh fish. I have used bare minimum spice because we love to taste the fish not the spice. But you can increase the quantity if it’s not spicy enough. }
If you want the lamb kebab, side dish recipes let me know.
Lovely looking kebabs!!