Rachael Ray

This week I started my apprenticeship with Chef Hemant Mathur, co-founder of Tulsi NYC. For those of you familiar with New York City’s Indian food scene, Chef Hemant’s name needs no introduction. An envoy of the finest Indian fare, Chef Hemant is blessed with hard core culinary training from India and a ‘natural hand in cooking’ – a trait that is very hard to mimic. Since my husband and I have been stalking him for 12 years now, it is of no surprise that I was filled with gratitude when he agreed to train me in his kitchen. I showed up, thinking I knew most of the fundamentals and was here to enhance my skills whilst learn a few bonus dishes. [...]...

Please don’t look at the word cauliflower and turn your nose up. Come on, that’s just not fair. Just because you had a jaded childhood with this member of the Brassica Oleracea family, it doesn’t mean you should give up on it! We eat a lot of cauliflower at our house, perhaps even once a week. It is either sauteed, broiled or flash fried. Thankfully these prepping methods take care of that sulfurous contribution this flower otherwise makes (ironic that this should be called a flower at all). One of my favorite ways to serve cauliflower is a la ‘Manchurian’. Manchuria is in in North East China, but it is suffice to say that more people reference its name in India than [...]...

Evening kick-off with Vikas Khanna, Padma Lakshmi, Varli Singh and Sanjeev Kapoor About 3 weeks ago, I was approached by Anil Bhatia, owner of Heritage India to participate at an Indian food cook-off. The event was to be hosted by the Varli Food Festival, a prestigious food festival and the brain child of Ricky and Varli Singh. The event was kicked off with none other than the gorgeous Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef and industry notables were flown in from all over the world. It was an opportunity not to be missed and there was no way that I would say NO. Yet for some reason, I wished for an ‘out’. I was going to be subject to what contestants [...]...

They all do it. Presidents do it, your boss does it and now even your husband is doing it -or at least mine certainly is. Yes, you got it - Budget cuts! When that budget cut conversation invades the intimacy of my home, it leaves me exposed and scrutinized. Do I really need to explain the necessity behind that stunning scarlet scarf that would pick me up on duller days? Anyway, last week, that quarterly conversation surfaced again and for at least the next 2 weeks, I need to be on my best behavior or do a better job of covering my tracks. One of my biggest challenges is ‘organization’ which ultimately leads to unaccountable money wastage. Figuring out what we [...]...

Thai food is without hesitation my favorite cuisine. An assortment of curries, with their distinct flavors, dry dishes sautéed in fresh chili paste and salad dishes pulling together several extremities from cold to hot, sweet to sour, crunchy to soft. The cuisine is an amalgamation of the best culinary practices of Asia. It draws from the spice treatment and curries of India and Persia and the cooking techniques of sautéing and blanching from China. Despite these influences, the cuisine has its individual and very bold personality. After all, Thailand, home to the lush rainforests of Chang Mai and stunning temples has its own beauty to communicate through the medium of food. And it does. The dishes are flirty - they make [...]...

This year is Queen Elizabeth’s 60th year of reign, rather, her Diamond Jubilee. The country is on an adrenalin kick over this and people’s calendars are filling fast with events. There will be events of every scale, be it national, regional or local; some hush-hush and some very public with performers like Sir Paul McCartney. The streets will be buzzing and people will pull out all of their royal memorabilia to add their own touch to the event, making this momentous occasion their own. Great Britain is one of the few countries left where the royal family plays such an active role in the day to day running of the country. Each time there is a cause for celebration, the country [...]...

It was Sunday night and my husband, Sumit, and I were committed to a gentle evening with a home-cooked meal. Of course we made that commitment on Friday night, it didn’t seem ambitious at the time, but then life happened and the weekend took its serial twists and turns, leaving us flat out exhausted by Sunday night. Since the promise was already out there, it would have felt flaky to turn our backs on it; besides who said it had to be a painstakingly laborious affair? When we are short on time, fish becomes our “go to” ingredient and by the time I am done singing Let There Be Love (or I Will Survive, depending on the mood), it’s done and [...]...