Dining Companions - Insiya Nasrulla

Most of my favorite dining companions are men, that’s not because I’m sexist or anything but that’s because I can enjoy the food without worrying about neglecting/entertaining my fair (sometimes) companion

But there is a devastatingly beautiful lady who is both excellent company and a gourmet herself

Meet Insiya Nasrulla, she’s smoking hot and she loves rare steak (unbeatable combination)

My (repeated) advances aside we enjoy brilliant dinners, where we eat steak and drink wine or beer if we’re broke. 

She’s fantastic company, so much so that I enjoy her companionship as much as I enjoy the food we eat. (true story)

We’ve been to restaurants ranging from the very posh but disappointing Le Pain Quotidien to the really down market and still disappointing Smokin Lee’s.

What was not disappointing however was the sparkling company of one of the most charming people I have ever met.

The best time we’ve had has probably been in HRC Mumbai where we were given complimentary shots (of lemon juice!) by the obliging servers there.

All this apart, my favorite memory of our dinners is not the food on the table but the dancing eyes across the table, laughing at my lame jokes and adroitly spurning my advances.

Our friendship is dearer to me than all the food and flirting in the world.

Though I’d never admit it.

Steak Salad

So steak is something we both love, and I couldn't get her to send me a recipe, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes which I'm sure she'd love.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 pounds beef sirloin steak
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 8 cups romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives

Directions

1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. Lightly oil grate. Place steak on grill and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side or until desired doneness is reached. Remove from heat and let sit until cool enough to handle. Slice steak into bite size pieces.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in the cheese. Cover and place dressing in refrigerator.
4. Onto chilled plates arrange the lettuce, tomato, pepper, onion and olives. Top with steak and drizzle with dressing. Serve with crusty grilled French bread. Enjoy!

Party Tips - Be a good guest

The last post had my tips for throwing a good party, this one has tips for being a good guest at someone else’s party.

Of course how you behave at a party depends on how well you know the person but there are some general do’s and don’ts

Please Note: I have not always been anyone’s idea of the ideal guest and at some point or the other committed all of things I’ve said not to do.

I realize that and I’m trying to improve.

Ok I lied about the second part. I just don’t want to be accused of hypocrisy.

1. When someone invites you to a party it’s REALLY rude to ask who else is coming, you are going because you like the host/hostess/food/free booze/whatever. Asking is always a little insulting. You’re bound to meet people you know there and if you don’t it isn’t really hard to make friends
2. If you are lucky(?) enough to have a significant other who isn’t invited then please don’t force the issue. Couples who refuse to go anywhere without their better halves are a bore in my opinion. (This might cause a few problems)
3. Always carry something, if only a bottle of wine. If you don’t drink (or your host doesn’t) get juice or chocolate.
4. One hour after the invite time is the acceptable time for coming for a party. Two hours later is NOT and if you are going to be late then at least have the decency to claim that work delayed you.
5. Having reached the party don’t stick to the host. They will have a million things to do so let them do it. They will introduce you to a group of (hopefully) like minded people/mutual friends.
6. Don’t hog the conversation. Let it flow (guilty)
7. DON’T BLATANTLY LECH AT PEOPLE! IT IS LAME!
8. If you must hit on people at parties, please have the decency to do it well and with SUBTELTY (I name no names) And for god's sake stop if its clear your attentions are unwelcome.
9. While you may or may not “hook up” at a party it is a really sad reason for going to a party. *Instantly loses half my guest list*
10. PDA at parties with hook up/ significant other are generally frowned upon at houses which do not belong to me. Get a room for god’s sake
11. Here is where I might get accused of hypocrisy. Don’t get drunk and don’t make a scene. Parties are meant to be fun and if you’re lying on the floor passed out (without someone next to you) you can’t really have fun. You probably won’t remember it the next day anyway.

Parties are for meeting people you miss and having fun. There's no need to get drunk and act stupid.

Party Tips

I like parties, they’re a fun way to meet people, I don’t really like parties in nightclubs (can’t talk to anyone and I hate the music most of the time)
House parties on the other hand are always fun You can talk, dance, eat, drink, joke, make out, fight, make up, make out again (Ok the last 4 only happen at my parties)

So here are some tips for a fun house party.


Have a BlackBerry to help you with sending invites NO FB EVENTS! THAT IS LAME though I have done that before (sorry)

BAN people from messing with the music. (Avik this means you)

Invest in a decent pair of speakers

Google easy cocktail recipes (I’ve given some below) and make pitchers of cocktails

Theme parties are fun, but keep the theme simple so everyone can dress the part, e.g. Shorts and T-shirts

Keep small buckets around for people to puke in.

Plastic cups and plates ONLY

Have the local wine store’s number handy when you run out of booze

Make sure you talk to everyone, it can be a little weird going to someone’s house for the first time

Get simple finger food. Wafers and dip are a cheap way to go. Chicken tikkas by the kilo works too.

Don’t be too rigid about the guest list, if your friends want to bring someone, let them. It makes them more comfortable and you get to meet someone new. I know this can go horribly wrong (been there) but give it a chance.

Most importantly, remember the Idea of a party is to have fun. You don’t need to spend too much money (BYOB).Just some nice food and good friends.

And I have the best friends 

Easy drinks

Vodka Tang

The name says it all. You put (orange) tang inside a jug, add liberal amounts of Vodka and a tiny amount of water and ice and you’re good to go.

TIP: Adding some limbu to the pitcher really improves the taste

Love potion

Ingredients

Baccardi
Vodka
Gin
Sula Rose wine
Cranberry juice
Orange Juice
Old monk (just a little)

WARNING This is a potent drink that tastes surprisingly good.

Method:

You take baccardi, vodka and gin and mix them together in a pitcher till it is half full

Add the wine and cranberry juice till the pitcher is nearly full.

Add old monk and orange juice.

Get Drunk

Dining Companions - Bhavs

A very wise lady once told me that

“The best way to cook is to use the best, freshest ingredients and understand the way they behave, the way they taste, use all five senses at all times and make sure you add plenty of love” And then she told me this how every mother cooks.

Meet Bhavini Merchant, the youngest old lady in the world, also the reason I started eating vegetarian food (however rarely) and am now in love with cherry tomatoes, green peppers, asparagus and buffalo mozzarella. I love them for the colour, the texture and the taste that they bring to my boring (joke) non vegetarian meals

She’s not a dining companion in the sense that we don’t go out much. But I still have the fondest memory of the awesome snacks her mother used to make for all of us when we had our “meetings” These often lasted till 3 AM and one of the reasons we kept coming back (apart from the gossip) was the food! Just remembering that fantastic cheese toast (more like pizza on bread) makes me drool.

Whenever I make fun of her for being vegetarian and missing out on the finer things in life (like steak) she always reminds me that I have NEVER eaten anything bad in her house.

She’s also a fantastic hostess, always circulating, always taking care of her guests and best of all always smiling ,she also happens to give the best advice in the world, even if the advice is sometimes less palatable than the food, which is how we know it’s good advice

She’s your one stop solution for good food, good advice and (best of all) good advice about food.

Thank you for the memories, the advice and the food

Cheese Toast

Ingredients

Cheese
Onion
Capsicum
Herbs
Boiled Potatoes
Bread

Method

Make a dough with the above ingredients
Apply it to lightly toasted bread
Bake
Serve hot

Dining Companions - Bro

Dining Companions – Siddharth Bafna

Sid Bafna has been one of my best friends throughout my college years, and he is one of the few vegetarians I have fun eating with.

I still have the fondest memories of the super chana at his house, he has taken me to places I never thought I would ever get good food at, but I’ve always eaten well.

Through our college years we went through all the seedy places Churchgate had to offer. We gorged at places like Satkar, Mocha (when I had enough money) the canteen at the international students hostel, the university canteen and we were once nearly thrown out of New Yorkers (long story)

We were also nearly thrown out of Mama Mia once but that was my fault (longer story and involves French fries)

Siddharth also introduced me to Five Spice, a super Chinese restaurant in Fort where we ate almost every week.

Sid and Mohena gave my granddad a super birthday present when we all went out for lunch to Out of the blue for his birthday, he had so much fun he still talks about it.

We’ve also had many happy times at restaurants all over Mumbai and we’ve had great fun!

Some of Siddhath’s suggestions for places which serve good vegetarian food are

Voleare Colaba – super Greek Food and Pizza’s

Swati Snacks – almost everything on their menu is awesome

China Garden (Kemps Corner) great Chinese food

Joss – the best khausway in Bombay

Babulnath Dosa wala- Dosa’s (duh) and pani puri

Society (Ambassador Hotel) – The best fondue in the city

We’ve had brilliant parties at my house which were organized in 5 minutes with Sid ordering the food and picking up the booze on his way from town.

Here’s looking forward to many more!