Roasted rosemary Zucchini wrap

So with recent events as the base I have concluded that dining out too frequently is not what makes me happy. Well I do love dining out once in a while but dining out but frequent dining out leads to a guilty me where I mope about thinking of the unhealthy food and the impending weight gain . So I finally started cooking after a 3 day gap where I dined out quite a lot. I am happy about going back to the normal healthy routine. Now one of the few points which work for me when I consciously eat healthy is having a well stocked pantry, which includes fresh vegetables, fruits and protein of course but what is equally important is to readily have ingredients which make a dish tasty. It can be varied fresh herbs , some paprika , some spices etc etc  Little changes such as replacing that sour cream in a recipe with hung curd is a very useful and healthy way of keeping things tasty yet healthy . Now I was searching for recipes of roasted zucchini when I came across which fabulous roast zucchini from Martha Stewart and with a bit of further reading one of her other recipes amalgamated with the roast zucchini gave me my idea for a healthy and gorgeous yet light dinner. Of course I changed and added ingredients but that is the beauty of food .

And so here I have my roast rosemary zucchini cottage cheese open faced wrap

Serves 2

Its basically a simple recipe for which you need :-

4 to 5 handmade wholewheat flatbread

Creamy tangy spread

200gm hung curd
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper as per taste
1 tsp dried dill

The filling: -

1.5 sliced zucchini (sliced in thin circular shapes) I used a mix of yellow and green zucchini
100gm Paneer / Indian cottage cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
Half a tsp chili flakes
1 stalk of rosemary discard the stalk after removing the herb from the stalk
2 large cloves of garlic
Salt
1 tomato de-seeded and chopped in bite-sized pieces
1/4th onion

Start by preheating your oven to 220 C . Smash the garlic Use oil to grease your baking tray and arrange the zucchini and Paneer/Indian cottage cheese , drizzle olive oil  and add salt , rosemary and chili flakes and toss around and place the garlic on top and once preheated bake for 40 minutes if using convection oven or 30 minutes for regular ovens . Toss after half the time of roasting.

For the creamy dip simply whisk everything together . Spread the creamy spread after warming the flat-bread a little bit and fill with roast zucchini , paneer and a few sliced tomatoes and onion pieces. Enjoy this delicious wrap.

Poulet aux 40 Gousses d'Ail

Poulet aux 40 Gousses d'Ail 

(Roast Chicken with 40 cloves of Garlic)

 One of the big challenges I face when arranging for a special meal is narrowing down the options for the menu and even if you do decide on the menu the ocean of recipes in this galaxy of the internet is sure to confuse you. So the four banditas were meeting again and I was arranging a dinner party and for me deciding on the menu within a day is quite challenging so after much thinking, clicking, typing I decided Roast Chicken it was going to be but then which one ?

Lets talk a bit about obsession. I believe that we all have certain obsessions which we happily indulge in. My first obsession is of course white crockery and white linen and the second is making everything from scratch in my kitchen (as much as possible) and trying to search for by-gone recipes of a particular region of the world. Sure many a  times you need to alter or chuck out a few ingredients due to geography , unavailability etc but the pleasure of hunting it down is something which I find extremely satisfying. With Google translator things are much more easy. A certain image of a roast chicken caught my attention and it turned out this was the roast chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Now I love my garlic and the simplicity of the roast attracted me instantaneously. Now that is the truth about French food. Everything feels its gourmet and difficult when in reality  it is simple elegant and delicious. Originally from the Lomagne region this one is a winner in my kitchen. Of course there were plenty of recipes differing a little bit from each other and I chose one which suited the ingredients available for me.

Now when you begin do remember that no matter what you use and what you don't the ingredients must , must , must be fresh.

Serves 6

1.7 kilogram Whole chicken (with the skin on of course)
40 large unpeeled cloves of garlic
2 stalks of rosemary
1 stalk of parsley
A handful of Thyme with the stalk
Salt and pepper
60 gm to 80 gm unsalted butter
1 medium sized lemon
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock . Here is a recipe for Chicken stock

Now roasting a chicken is the easiest thing in the world but for moist crispy chicken here are a few tips which perhaps you might really find useful. Tips for roasting

So once you have cleaned , dried , seasoned and massaged  let it rest for 1 hour or 2 hours, then prick the lemon with a fork all over and place in the microwave for 40 seconds at high heat (this ensures the chicken gets the full flavour) and put it in the chicken's cavity with the rest of the herbs  tie the legs and then preheat your oven to 180C and grease your baking pan well Place the chicken on the tray and splash half the wine  and then scatter the cloves of garlic all around and pour the chicken stock roast for 1 hour 50 minutes if using the convection oven or 1 hour 30 minutes for regular ovens. Do not forget to bast (in this case you can use the wine in one of your basting) and for the rest of the basting use the liquid from the roasting pan  and cover it in the last 15 minutes. You know its well roasted when you pierce the legs and the juices run clear.

Let it rest wrapped in the kitchen towel once done for 10 minutes and in the meantime peel the garlic and make a smooth paste with a bit of liquid from the pan. This is a topping for bread. Use the liquid as a fantastic gravy. My guests kept licking their lips and fingers. When serving the chicken take out the herbs and lemon from inside the chicken.