Feast of Love : 50 Classic Menus

Contents: Introduction. Boring basics: i. The ingredients. ii. Culinary terms and techniques. iii. Eggs. iv. Stocks - for soups - for sauces. v. Sauces - savoury (hot) - aspic - savoury (cold) - sweet. vi. Dressings. vii. Souffle. viii. Baking - cakes - breads - biscuits - pastry. ix. Crepes, pancakes and fritters. x. Sugar. xi. Meringues. xii. Fillings for cakes and pastries. xiii. Glazes. xiv. Icings. xv. Hors d'oeuvres. xvi. Tea. xvii. Coffee. Celebrating breakfast: i. Honeymoon breakfast. ii. Celebration breakfasts, buffets and brunches. iii. Drinks. iv. Eggs. v. Crepes, fritters and other dishes. Feast of love: 1. Prawn and potato soup - chicken Philippe - bean sprout and red bell pepper salad - rice with fresh herbs - lime souffle. 2. Celery, potato and mushroom soup - roast chicken with apple and ginger sauce - potatoes cordon bleu - minted green peas with sweet corn - Avocado and honey mousse. 3. Chicken gumbo - penne with oven-dried tomatoes-pear and fig tart. 4. Cream of chicken and asparagus soup - crown roast of lamb - mashed potato with Cheddar - Sauteed broccoli with spring onions - croquembouche. 5. Chilled avocado soup - Prawn and mushroom risotto - tomato and basil salad - peach gateau. 6. Chilled tomato bisque - terrine of chicken - rice and stuffed egg salad - lychee salad - white wine mousse. 7. Leek and bacon tart - Pomfret in champagne - Lyonnaise potatoes - sweet corn and red bell peppers - chocolate and pistachio gateau. 8. Spinach and mushroom soup - pomfret baked in wine - potatoes dauphine - carrot and zucchini ribbons - Viennese crepes. 9. Baked omelette with asparagus sauce - fillet of pomfret with coriander butter - potato and celery with avgolemone sauce - sauteed snow peas - Gateau Diane. 10. Creme Vichyssoise - chilled tomato souffle - lettuce and pomegranate salad - Prawns with sauce Hollandaise - Strawberry roll. 11. Salad soup - Pomfret mousse - potato, ham and olive salad - Lettuce and mushroom salad - pears with ginger mousse. 12. Tomato and spaghetti souffle - chicken in beer - sauteed baby potatoes with onions and snow peas - Sabayon ice cream. 13. Prawn and noodle soup - asparagus and smoked salmon tart - baked ham with beer and sultana sauce - braised celery and potato - tomato and lettuce salad - chocolate mocha mousse cake. 14. Lettuce soup - poached salmon and mashed potatoes with oregano and orange - cucumber, melon and grape salad - apricot gateau. 15. Lobster a la creme -- Italian chicken - Zucchini with tomatoes and olives - baked spinach, feta and potatoes - byculla souffle. 16. Spanish vegetable soup - prawn quenelles - mushrooms with herbs - lettuce, apple and orange salad - strawberry ice cream. 17. Chilled lychee and apple soup - Lobster salad - smoked chicken salad - German potato salad - snow peas and baby corn salad -- Lettuce and bacon salad - Prune Crumble cake. 18. Chilled avocado - matelote - honey and preserved ginger souffle. 19. Lobster souffle - Duck a la orange - Jardiniere platter of vegetables - gateau Indira. 20. Pish pash - fresh fruit jelly. 21. Spinach and cheese flan - herbed roast leg of lamb - Anna potatoes - Julienne of leeks with sundried tomatoes - Praline-filled peaches with fresh plum coulis. 22. Tomato prawn soup - Grilled sesame chicken - crunchy potatoes - baby bok choi and mushrooms with carrot noodles - rocket and olive salad - Griestorte. 23. Chicken and bean sprout soup - Prawn crepes - Gingered bok choi - stir-fried leeks and zucchini with sesame seeds - baba au rum. 24. Port and onion soup - Prawns in orange sauce - baked potatoes a la Escoffier - stir-fried bean sprouts with spring onions - Pumpkin gateau with caramel and brandy sauce. 25. Ratatouille soup - Avocado and tomato jelly - vegetable stroganoff with pilaf - cabbage, olive and green bell pepper salad - caramelized fresh figs. 26. Eggs sur le plat with wine sauce - salmon mousse with bell pepper and spinach sauces - Parsley potatoes - chickpea salad with roasted tomatoes - fresh fruit in brandy snaps. 27. Jellied gazpacho - chicken in milk - chilled mashed potatoes with pickled pink and green peppercorns - tossed salad with angostura dressing - Frangipane tart. 28. White gazpacho - wine jelly with olives and almonds - spaghetti with sun-dried tomatoes and black olive pesto - avocado and pear salad - sweet lime frappe. 29. Cinderella soup - Pomfret with mushroom sauce - chicken veronique - Danish peach torte. 30. Potage solferino - sole joinville - chicken citron with herbs - baby onions and potatoes in whisky - sauteed mixed sprouts - sandtorte. 31. Smoked fish gougere - apple and lettuce salad - roast fillet of pork with prunes -colcannon - baked tomatoes - date and almond gateau. 32. Paella. 33. Melon cocktail - rolled lamb with mushrooms and wine sauce - crisp-fried baby potatoes - sauteed asparagus and baby corn - creme brulee. 34. Tomato orange soup - roast chicken with almond and pistachio sauce - hasselback potatoes - buttered broccoli - strawberry flan. 35. Baked shell pasta with ratatouille - fritto misto - mushrooms with red bell pepper sauce - lettuce, grapefruit and orange salad - feta and tomato salad with cider vinaigrette - Plum and wine jelly - lime cheesecake. 36. Leek and celery soup - vegetable crepes piquante - baked potatoes with cheddar - mushroom-filled tomatoes - macaroni and vegetable salad - fresh strawberry fool - chocolate souffle. 37. Tomato basil soup - pork chops - potato and kohlrabi sformata - braised red cabbage - pears in white wine jelly. 38. Gazpacho bloody mary - aubergine pate with melba toast - frittata of fettuccine - sauteed broccoli with bean sprouts - mushrooms with spring onions - apricot ice cream. 39. Avgolem soup - chicken and ham rolls - baked baby potatoes with oregano - glazed carrots and onions - peperonata - double chocolate mousse. 40. Aubergine with pomegranate - farfalle with Gorgonzola - roasted vegetables - orange dessert. 41. Hot gazpacho - glazed leg of lamb with pears -- Rosti - Mushrooms and baby onions in red wine - parsley carrots with walnuts - Gateau Premola. 42. Celery and walnut soup - coq au vin - baked potatoes with herbs - sauteed vegetables with bean sprouts - Grape flan. 43. Stein's potato and sesame soup - grilled salmon with Hollandaise and asparagus sauce - buttered green peas - Sauteed carrots and leeks - Peter's mango souffle. 44. Tomato chartreuse - baked vegetables in thousand island dressing - mushroom and celery risotto -  mango mousse - beer souffle. 45. Chilled red bell pepper soup - chicken and melon mousse - potato and chive salad - watercress, spring onion and lettuce salad - Tiramisu. 46. Bouillabaisse - fresh fruit salad. 47. Greek potato soup - baked prawns with feta - Stifado - potatoes with green bell peppers - red cabbage salad - lime mousse with plum sauce. 48. Sweet corn chowder - baked red snapper with mushroom filling chicken paprika-frittata of potatoes-buttered French beans - souffle grand marnier. 49. Avocado mousse - boned chicken with pesto mayonnaise - Lime Jelly with cucumber and apple potato and black olive salad - Peach Brulee. 50. Cammembert and herb millefeuilles - apple salad with olives and wild rocket - Pomfret with cape gooseberry sauce - herbed mashed potatoes - carrots with poppy seeds - gateau Mercedes. References. Index of ingredients, culinary terms and techniques. Index of recipes.

"Bhicoo Manekshaw is unequivocal about the importance of good food in our lives--tasty, wholesome, and served with the right balance of aesthetics and love. Which is why, when she decided to bring together a selection of her favourite recipes, she chose to start with the 'boring' basics. Unless you know your basics, you cannot enjoy the experience of cooking, she argues, and this enjoyment is precisely what makes the difference between an indifferently cooked meal and a delightfully imaginative spread. In the first part of this book, therefore, Bhicoo describes how to fillet a fish and bone a chicken, how to choose vegetables, how to make an omelette fluffy, and a hundred other essentials, simple and not-so-simple.

Once the basics are sorted out, you can move on to the more complex task of cooking--and there are plenty of interesting recipes to try out. For, in this brilliant compilation of fifty menus, each starting with an appetizer or a soup and ending with dessert, you will find the most innovative recipes alongside old favourites. Gently seasoned with Bhicoo's individual touches, sometimes dictated by the non-availability of an ingredient, sometimes by a crisis in the kitchen, most of these recipes have a clear classical base. With a fair mix of vegetarian and meat dishes, these are menus that will allow you to go gourmet any time you feel the urge.

What sets this book apart from other cookbooks is the author's ability to involve you not only in her stories about food, but also her life. We see Bhicoo as an Air Force Wife, cooking for her family and for large gatherings with equal ease. We read about how she started cooking classes; her experiences as a catering consultant at Air India and the India International Centre, where her menus became the topic of discussion; and her current engagement with Basil and Thyme, the well-known restaurant in Delhi where she creates and supervises the cuisine. And so, as you enjoy the recipes, you also share the pleasures of a life well lived in the service of the most wonderful things: taste, imagination and love.

Packed with information and designed to instill confidence in even the most inexperienced cook, Feast of Love is one book that everybody needs to have on their shelf-to savour and to cook from." (jacket)