Jacket Potatoes

Jacket potatoes are potatoes baked with their skin on. When we say baked, essentially the skin turns crispy retaining the fluffiness on the inside. At places like Ashford they are commonly available as street food, and that's where I had the original version. They use huge, firm potatoes; scrub them clean, bake them in the oven till crisp on the outside, slit them vertically into two halves, scrape the inside slightly and give you a choice of filling - baked beans, corn and cheese, bacon et al.. garnished with salt and pepper.

Even the version that mom made at home was equally delicious and absolutely simple to make.

For this, use evenly shaped potatoes, boil them if you don't have an oven/microwave to bake them. Just ensure that you do not overboil them for then they would crumbe when you try to slit. Alternatively, slit them first and then boil them. That way they would cook quicker and you wouldn't end up overcooking them.

Once you get your baked/boiled potato halves, scrape the inner center with a fork or spoon and create a shallow bed to place your filling. For the filling you can use baked beans (available in a can. You may add sauteed onions to the beans) and garnish with shredded cheese, or use shredded cheese, boiled corn and green chillies mixture.

If you have managed to get a nice and crisp "jacket" of potato skin, you can scrape off more of the inside and mix that as well into your filling.

Use your imagination and create your own filling each time.. break the monotony!

Finally garnish with salt and pepper.

Dee.. as promised this one's especially for you. :)

Haven't made it recently, so sorry no pictures. But google it and you are sure to find some which will make your mouth water.. slurrrrpp!!!

Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

A very quick, no-nonsense salad... inspired by my visit at the 1000 Oaks in Pune. Special thanks to Rohan for recommending the place umpteen times. And more thanks to Priya for recommending the salad.

“Inspired”, I say because I’m not sure of their recipe. Had been with a few friends, we loved the salad so we ended up discussing what went into its preparation. From the combined knowledge of our taste buds, here’s our best guess…

Ingredients - Roasted corn, diced onions, diced tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), black/green olives, bread crumbs, basil and olive oil

Place the diced onions, tomatoes and olives in a bowl and allow them to cool in the refrigerator. i.e. if you prefer a slightly cold salad.

Roast the corn in a flat pan. You will notice black spots on either side once it is done. Cut up two bread slices into small squares and fry them. If you are health conscious, just toast them with very minimal butter and get them to be firm and crisp. Ready the corn and bread towards the end, they just look better when served right out of the pan!

You can use mint or coriander instead of basil. That should be good too. Chop it finely and mix with a little bit of olive oil.

To the cold onions, tomatoes and olives, add the corn and bread. Drizzle lightly with the olive oil and basil mix. Add salt and pepper only if and as much as you please and give it a generous toss…

It makes for an excellent light dinner if you are by yourself and a great accompaniment with a sumptuous meal!