Hot ‘’ smoky baked beans with chorizo sausage

In spring time a man’s thoughts turn to love. In autumn, my thoughts move towards the kitchen — and revolve around the oven. The nip in the air tells me that the time has come to put on my baking mitts. On a cold day, there is nothing quite like a hot baked dish being brought to your table — sizzling away seductively as the sauces within bubble with joy.

I am no mean baker. My Bahamian pie is famous in select circles, and my shepherd’s pie is still talked about in hushed whispers. I like both these dishes for one major reason — they contain no cheese. Now I am as much of a cheese man as the gourmet next door, but I don’t like to overwhelm a dish with a cheesy flavour. So when I bake, I try and keep off the cheese.

It’s a thought that my friend, Chef Pradip Rozario, shares with me. The owner of K.K.’s Fusion has given me a few wonderful recipes of dishes baked without cheese. In one (see recipe) you can use cheese if you wish to. And you can, of course, use cream cheese or hung curds for a sauce.

Oven-baked rosemary scented chicken with couscous pilaf

The dish that interests me the most is his rosemary scented chicken with couscous. I love the flavour of rosemary — and I find that it goes especially well with chicken. For this dish, you need 1 whole chicken, 2tbs fresh lime juice, ½tbs soy sauce, 1tbs fresh rosemary, 1tbs chopped and peeled fresh ginger, 1tbs minced onion, 5tsp olive oil, 1 cup couscous, ¾ cup boiling water and 2tsp butter.

First prepare the couscous. Pour boiling water on couscous in a bowl. Stir in butter and set aside for 10 minutes. Now heat an oven to 500°F. Whisk all the ingredients with 3tsp oil in a small bowl. Blend, and season.

Brush a 9-in diameter baking dish with the remaining oil. Put the chicken in it, pour in half the sauce and coat on both sides. Roast the chicken for 25 minutes, take it out again from the oven, top with remaining sauce and bake again for 10 minutes. In a serving plate, place the couscous. Put the whole chicken on top and pour the cooked juices on the chicken — and serve.

Cartoccio

There is a misconception that baked dishes are necessarily bland. They can be as spicy as you want them to be. Take Chef Rozario’s hot ‘’ smoky baked beans with chorizo sausages. For this dish with Spanish cured sausages, you need 3 bacon slices, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup hot and sweet tomato sauce, ¾ cup beer, 3tbs Dijon mustard, 2tbs brown sugar, 2tbs Worcestershire sauce, 1tbs soy sauce, 1cup baked bean (canned), 2tbs chopped fresh parsley, 200gm chorizo sausages and 2tbs olive oil.

Now heat the oven to 350°F. Sauté the bacon and chorizo in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat until crisp. Drain the oil. In a large bowl transfer the bacon and chorizo, add the remaining ingredients except the beans and parsley and blend. Stir in the beans.

Transfer the mixture to a glass baking dish. Bake uncovered until the liquid is bubbling and slightly thickened. This should take about an hour. Sprinkle parsley leaves on top, and serve hot.

But the dish that you should try out first is his smoked salmon pie with apricot relish. Prepare the relish by mixing half cup chopped apricots, 1tbs fresh lemon juice, 1tsp chopped coriander leaves, 1tbs minced seeded red jalapeno chillies and 1tsp sugar.

Smoked salmon pie with apricot relish

Now make a pie shell by mixing 150gm flour, 40gm fat, 40gm butter and 4-5tbs water in a bowl.

Knead into a smooth dough and leave to stand. Heat the oven to 450°F. Work and roll the pie mixture and place on a heavy baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes until crisp at the edges. Transfer the pie base to a rack and cool. Stir half cup cream cheese with half cup minced onion, 1tbs chopped fresh dill, 2tsp finely grated lemon peel, and salt and pepper. Spread the topping over pie crust. Top with smoked salmon and bake on a toaster griller for three minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with apricot relish.

So air your oven and get the gloves out. Baking is easy — all that you need to do is serve one big dish with a big bowl of salad and crusty bread. And your guests will keep coming back for more.       

Baked stuffed escalope of lamb

Ingredients:

500gm boneless lamb fillet

Olive oil, as required

2½ cup bread crumb (from French bread with crust)

½ cup melted butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

10 fresh spinach leaves

Ground nutmeg, a pinch

Method:

Cut the lamb into six portions. With a steak hammer beat each piece and flatten into a thin escalope. Keep aside. Cook spinach in a large pot of boiling salted water just until wilted, for about 30 seconds. Drain and cool briefly. Squeeze the spinach dry, chop finely and place in a bowl. Add nutmeg. If you want, you can add half cup mascarpone and half cup cream cheese to it. Season.

Heat the oven to 450° F. Brush the baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle the escalope with salt and pepper. Mix bread crumb and melted butter. Top each escalope with bread crumb mixture and spinach mixture.

Transfer the escalope to a baking sheet. Bake until about 12 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.

Courtesy: Chef Pradip Rozario, K.K.’s Fusion, Calcutta