One of the thrills of my Saturdays shopping ritual during these warmer weather months are the joy of scoping out the farmers markets. The outdoor markets start next week, but I have been shopping bagfuls at the Briarcliff Manor indoor market.
I have also realized that I am now seriously, seriously hooked on the bread from Bread alone. If you like bread and have not yet tried their bread, be prepared to fall in love. I cannot have enough of the bread and now the kids love it too! h
Deepta, usually has her dance class on Saturday afternoons, the past couple of months she has been rather good about practicing herself and this has made me a little lazy about working with her on the dancing. Well, the past two weeks she had not made time for the dance and I have to confess I did not think to remind her. Come, dance class we have a very regressed student and a extremely disappointed instructor. Indian methods of teaching and discliplining can be considered very tough love on occasion and Deepta experienced this first hand from her instructor. I have to confess being the softer parent, this was a little difficult for me but I am actually proud of myself that I did not interfere and later told my daughter that I need to also make time to work with her on her practice. It is difficult, but very important to remember that in the classroom the teacher reserves the right to set the tone, possibly in a different pitch from me.
Left with a bit of a mixed mood I remembered that I needed to work through dinner. We were expecting my surrogate brother Anju and his wife and it is always a joy to cook for them. I also like to get things in place so that I have enough time to enjoy their company. These appetizers I put together a something that is always a hit!
A wonderful marriage of Indian spices and olive oil! I do like using olive oil in my cooking since I actually think that the flavors work well with Indian food, but depending on t
he technique of cooking you might need to vary the olive oil variety. I play around with different varieties but usually tend to have the basic variety Italian olive olive from Trader Joes on hand, this works for most of my sauteing and broiling needs. I was very intrigued when I saw the Creative Concoctions mostly because, I had not tried Greek Olive oil that Ivy mentions here, so I figured I might drop my hat into the ring.
Tandoori Shrimp Bruschetta
I had created this recipe last summer, when the tomatoes were in abundance, last night they turne d out well, but it really was mostly about the rich deep lightly seasoned juices soaking into wonderfully well toasted bread. I tried this with the peasant loaf and the organic sourdough rye, and we like them both so the recipe really is about some good crusty slightly aged bread.
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes (mostly unattended)
Serves 6
Ingredients
20 large slices of good crusty bread, (at least 2 days old
1/2 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil
3-4 ripe tomatoes
1.5 teaspoons minced ginger
3 pods garlic pressed
Juice of 2 fresh limes
2 green chilies, minced
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon tandoori masala (store bought or homemade
)
2 teaspoons of dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1/2 pound medium sized fresh shrimp, shelled and deviened
2-3 tablespoons cilantro minced
Method of Preparation
1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut the bread into 2-3 inch pieces.
2. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet, drizzle with about half the olive oil.
3. Pour the remaining oil into a mixing bowl. Chop and add in the tomatoes.
4. Add in the ginger, garlic, lime juice, green chilies, salt and tandoori masala.
5. Stir in the kasuri methi and the shirmp and set aside to marinate at room temperature. The mixture marinates for about 15-20 minutes, while the bread is cooking.
6. Place the bread in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, until the bread is crisp and warm.
7. Remove the baking tray and top the bread with some of the prepared shrimp mixture, take care to add a little of the soaking liquid but not too much.
8. Increase the oven temperature to 350 and place the baking tray back into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
The “kids” liked it so much they moddeled their happiness for me. We had this with a pretty and fruity sangria, I shall share the recipe shortly.
About rinkub
Rinku thank you very much for participating in Creative Concoctions event and this appetizer has made me hungry and it’s only 8 a.m.