(I have copy pasted the recipe as it was sent to me via email on 2/1/11 by my friend Reema who is an awesome chick and my best friend!)
When I was very little, I developed great respect for Dr. V. Kurien.
Apart from that fact that he fitted my definition of how old men
should look - positively cute and huggable (I was six, don't snigger);
he had also led to Amul, the biggest boon of my life. And Amul Butter
and Amul Cheese Spread make up some of the DNA in my body I think.
I was introduced to cheese spread by my mother, who once packed it
into my tiffin and I still remember that day with tears of happiness.
But my real introduction to cheese happened in Shirdi. I was little, I
was being jostled through the crowds and I managed to procure
blessings and then got whooshed out of the temple hall. The next thing
I did was throw a tantrum about being hungry. I was rushed back to the
hotel immediately (my tantrums were loud and scary) and they gave me
the snack menu so I could order 'something fit for an early evening'.
I closed my eyes, ran my finger down the menu and stopped to look at
what it had landed on.
Chilli Cheese Toast.
"Is it too pungent?" my mother asked the matron. "No, it is
well-balanced," he replied. I ordered.
I don't remember anything that happened after that except for how it
tasted when I sunk my teeth into the toast. Crisp, crunchy and then
suddenly, warm, gooey, creamy, cheesy, and a burst of flavour. I could
not have said it in so many words at that age but I made up by
ordering it for the next five meals we ate in Shirdi, be it dinner,
breakfast or lunch. Or even snack time. That was all I ate.
I was always a nice child that way and did not scream and shout and
demand that mom make it for me at home too - so I went back to my
world of sandwiches, poha, upma, kheer, omelettes etc. Many years
later, I encountered the chilli cheese toast again but in a slightly
new avatar and a new name -cheese capsicum toast. In my college.
Now you know why I decided that I would finish both junior AND senior
college at Xavier's. Five years of eating chilli cheese toast.
I now make it for P. He loves it, I love it, and that's why we are
married. Here it is for you :)
Name: Chilli Cheese Toast aka Cheese Capsicum Toast
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Time: 5 minutes.
Source: That hotel in Shirdi and My college, St. Xavier's in Mumbai,
and my memory that managed to replicate it :)
Serves: 2... OR 1 if you have all of it, you greedy pig!
You need:
100 gms Cheddar cheese, grated (I prefer sharp, use anything you like.
Parmesan is good too)
1 capsicum, deseeded and cut into teensy pieces
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 green chilli chopped
A few sprigs of coriander leaves, chopped
A dash of freshly ground pepper
Four slices of bread
A little butter
- In a bowl, mix the cheese, capsicum, onion, green chilli, pepper and
coriander leaves with a fork.
- Take the bread slices, butter them on both sides lightly.
- Pile your cheese mixture onto the bread slices and then slow cook
the breads on a non-stick frying pan with a cover on top for 3-4
minutes.
- Meanwhile, scrape out the bowl with a fork and wolf down the
remaining cheese mixture and don't tell anybody you just did that.
- Serve hot with nothing else. Don't dilute that burst of flavour you
are about to experience with anything. NOT even coffee.
- Send a prayer heavenwards that I shared this with you :)
When I was very little, I developed great respect for Dr. V. Kurien.
Apart from that fact that he fitted my definition of how old men
should look - positively cute and huggable (I was six, don't snigger);
he had also led to Amul, the biggest boon of my life. And Amul Butter
and Amul Cheese Spread make up some of the DNA in my body I think.
I was introduced to cheese spread by my mother, who once packed it
into my tiffin and I still remember that day with tears of happiness.
But my real introduction to cheese happened in Shirdi. I was little, I
was being jostled through the crowds and I managed to procure
blessings and then got whooshed out of the temple hall. The next thing
I did was throw a tantrum about being hungry. I was rushed back to the
hotel immediately (my tantrums were loud and scary) and they gave me
the snack menu so I could order 'something fit for an early evening'.
I closed my eyes, ran my finger down the menu and stopped to look at
what it had landed on.
Chilli Cheese Toast.
"Is it too pungent?" my mother asked the matron. "No, it is
well-balanced," he replied. I ordered.
I don't remember anything that happened after that except for how it
tasted when I sunk my teeth into the toast. Crisp, crunchy and then
suddenly, warm, gooey, creamy, cheesy, and a burst of flavour. I could
not have said it in so many words at that age but I made up by
ordering it for the next five meals we ate in Shirdi, be it dinner,
breakfast or lunch. Or even snack time. That was all I ate.
I was always a nice child that way and did not scream and shout and
demand that mom make it for me at home too - so I went back to my
world of sandwiches, poha, upma, kheer, omelettes etc. Many years
later, I encountered the chilli cheese toast again but in a slightly
new avatar and a new name -cheese capsicum toast. In my college.
Now you know why I decided that I would finish both junior AND senior
college at Xavier's. Five years of eating chilli cheese toast.
I now make it for P. He loves it, I love it, and that's why we are
married. Here it is for you :)
Name: Chilli Cheese Toast aka Cheese Capsicum Toast
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Time: 5 minutes.
Source: That hotel in Shirdi and My college, St. Xavier's in Mumbai,
and my memory that managed to replicate it :)
Serves: 2... OR 1 if you have all of it, you greedy pig!
You need:
100 gms Cheddar cheese, grated (I prefer sharp, use anything you like.
Parmesan is good too)
1 capsicum, deseeded and cut into teensy pieces
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 green chilli chopped
A few sprigs of coriander leaves, chopped
A dash of freshly ground pepper
Four slices of bread
A little butter
- In a bowl, mix the cheese, capsicum, onion, green chilli, pepper and
coriander leaves with a fork.
- Take the bread slices, butter them on both sides lightly.
- Pile your cheese mixture onto the bread slices and then slow cook
the breads on a non-stick frying pan with a cover on top for 3-4
minutes.
- Meanwhile, scrape out the bowl with a fork and wolf down the
remaining cheese mixture and don't tell anybody you just did that.
- Serve hot with nothing else. Don't dilute that burst of flavour you
are about to experience with anything. NOT even coffee.
- Send a prayer heavenwards that I shared this with you :)
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