PotLuck - not just fun but so much to learn!

When a group of individuals come together, they have to have something in common to make it work. And I am so fortunate to have found friends who like us: think - talk - plan - implement and enjoy everything about food. Every time we meet, we are not just focused on gorging on the food in front of us, but also discuss all about what we'd like to gorge on the next time and then the next time and then more next times. There's only so many cuisines one can try in a lifetime...with this group and the enthusiasm for food - no cuisine will miss it's chance to be tried, tasted and of-course appreciated:).

Before we started our official Potlucks this year, we used to meet over good food often. Kudos to Hazra for coming up with the monthly Potluck idea. Not that we needed reason to meet and eat...this made sure we met every month (even during the harsh snowing winters in New England) and also shared the cooking responsibility. Must say I am enjoying it thoroughly, more so because we have a food theme every month and it gives us all opportunity to try unexplored food territories. It is enlightening to discover that the international cuisines that might seem so much out of reach when we order them at the restaurants, are indeed so much easier to prepare from scratch - with the ability to add a personalized touch that caters to your taste. Oh yes, needless to mention - the rule of thumb for our potluck is all food is home made:). I used to be so conservative when it came to trying out new recipes...always stuck to my same old Indian home made food...the Potluck sure has given me so much confidence to explore the international cuisines.

In the past, I noticed with regular Potlucks, it is very important to have some variations with food, else it gets boring and more of a burden - having to repeat the same recipe's again and again. You get tagged with being good at making one thing and every potluck you are expected to bring the same - agreed sometimes it is safe to go with the tried and tested, but then does not do much for the creative cook and need to learn insticts in someone who loves to explore more with eating and cooking. We welcomed year 2011 with our first Potluck hosted by Hazra and Andre in January - the theme was Indian Eclectic Mix- some great spicy food in the relaxing surroundings of one of the most cozy places in town (yes I'm talking about the Beausoleil abode). Menu included fish cutlets, Egg/Potato chops, Veg Pulao, Chicken Makhani, Veggie Mushrooms and the Devine English Triffle for dessert:). The second one, very well planned by our ultimate hosts Suchi and Abhi with the Asian Fusion theme - food here was to die for...tom-yum Soup, steamed chicken shrimp dumplings- Malasian chicken curry with white rice- Sesame Chicken Satay with peanut sauce - Pad Ke Mao followed by the very awesome Carrot cake....can go back in time to eat these again:). For this month, Dubeyz are the host with Middle Eastern theme and details are documented on another post that follows.

Well curious, what does the 2.5 yr old Aadyah do amongst the foodie grown ups during our Potlucks - well she dresses up to pose for cameras and sometimes laughs at our jokes without understanding a bit:))

There's nothing that beats the combination of GOOD FOOD & GREAT COMPANY....Cheers!!

March Potluck: Welcoming Spring - The Middle Eastern Way!

For the March Potluck, we picked Middle Eastern for the theme and the moment it was shared, our great cooks were all over the Internet looking for what they could bring. We all are very emotional and involved foodies and never fail to bring more food than needed for the number of people. Our mindset is lets not miss our only chance to try the theme and just make everything that sounds yummy - eat like there's no tomorrow:). It was my turn to host the Potluck - of course... Ajay handles the 'Make the home presentable' part and I handle the yelling part to get that done:)....I am good at yelling, if I don't, the entire effort and time goes into cleaning the small 200 sq ft office room - we never have time to get to the bigger and more accessed parts of the house. Aadyah joins in to lend her helping hand - BIG helper, sometimes I get more help than I need...but she's so much fun. After confirming every one's availability, I shot the email asking everyone to pour in their Middle Eastern ideas.
Our very first response came in from Andre (if I could say so, biggest admirer of good food in the group) - Lamb Kebabs and Gyro..ummmm...sounds yum....Though it clearly was an suggestion, Hazra dint miss her chance to have some fun in telling Andre, a response means the one who responded makes the items he listed....that statement sure made Andre nervous and not respond to our emails again - that was bad Haz!...we do love your ideas Andre - keep sending them:). Here's what followed for the final Menu:

• Suchi & Abhi - Kabsa (rice and chicken dish from the Arab) - Thanks to Suchi's dad who shared this great recipe and of course our chief chef Abhi who takes up all the hard work with Suchi bossing around and making trouble all the time...wait till the BIG protest from Suchi starts, for me calling Abhi the chief chef and her the trouble maker - but the group will support me on this:)
• Haz and Andre - Tabouli Salad and Baklava (Haz is our dessert queen - best desserts made from scratch - yum was the Baklava and of course the host gets to relish all leftovers. I was nice enough to share some of the Leftover baklava with Andre, knowing he loves all Haz desserts and even after he got me killed multiple times in the game of Mafia:)
• Ronita, Aj and Aadyah - After lot of confusion on what to make and thorough research on youtube, it was Falafel with chicken stuffing, Roasted Red Pepper hummus, Baba Ghanoush and the undisclosed attempt on making Pita from scratch (turned out fine but practice would make it better)
• Sonali, Shiv, Som and Sunny: Lamb Rack, Arabian Shrimp. Ok I thought no one could be more confused than me when it comes to choosing the dish, but No - there was Sonali to beat me there....Hours spent on Internet - no outcome, then more hours spent in the grocery...I could visualize Sonali and the lambs looking at each other for hours with so much love and bit of nervousness - like two people trying to fall in love but undecided if lamb would make a better partner than the shrimps....and then few calls to the Potluck team to get mixed opinions and finally ending up in dual partnership-with both lamb and shrimp...Shiv decided to display his creative skills with trying a new drink which he named 'Classic Mombo Jombo' - Oh My God that's completely made up...
• Tushar - our forced bachelor friend:) - missed his wife Nilu badly, for he realised we ladies are good at making decisions and would have helped him get the much needed confidence with trying his hands on something Middle Eastern...He played safe in the absence of Nilu and decided to rely on famous Boston based Mike's pastry for the yummy Welcome Spring cake - so apt for the month of march...

That was our big Menu list...ask me about the quantity...we all believe there should never be scarcity of good food (Amen!)...if its 11 of us, each one of us will cook for at least 15...and with all the items..there was only food all around my kitchen....when everyone started gathering, I and Sonali started to fry the Falafel for they taste better if served hot - my attempts at Pita would have been a disaster if not for Hazra's just in time help that saved them...the evening started with Falafel Pita wraps, Tabouli salad and assorted drinks including Classic Mombo Jombo:)...

What followed was the game "Mafia" that took serious efforts on Aj's part to explain the rules, with Suchi's constant trouble making act, trying to sabotage Aj's attempts...they simply love to fight about everything and pull each other down...some strict disciplinary ground rules finally helped with starting the game. Only to find that the players need to go back to Kindergarten and get their basic listening skills refreshed. Having played the game before, I was just so SMART at it - my game plan & analysis skills were at it best, but... being the competitive player that Andre is, he saw me as a big threat and made sure I was killed no matter I was a Villager or a Mafia....Haz kept wondering through out who are the Mafias and kept killing the poor villagers....Aj, Som and Abhi were the consistent Mafia's and Suchi took over from Aj soon as the coordinator...I told you - girls are so much better at managing anything and everything.....Sunny was busy with the computer and kept targeting Daddy Shiv every time he had the Mafia powers...Andre could not control his Mafia instincts and decided to act as a Mafia informer while being a villager - (trust me all he was trying was to get me killed by ganging with the Mafia's)...that's when we realized, it is not good to keep Andre away from food for long...he was taking multiple breaks to eat Baklava's (which he was asked to stay strictly away from till the Potluck day, else there wouldn't have been any left) and too much sugar made Andre super hyper:)...in any case, we all were tired of killing the Villagers/Mafias, and distracted with the delicious Kabsa, Lamb Racks, Shrimps and Baklava's waiting for us....

Time again to attack on the food......we went crazy and out of control...you could only see little food left - the amount that looked excess when we started was disappearing fast...Baklava and Mike's pastry for Desserts were just perfect to add that sweet tinge to our Middle Eastern food festival.....the evening continued with some Charade game, interesting trivia, fun facts - read out by Aj and Shiv from their IPhone and lot of small interesting catch up talks that went on till past mid night...this included discussion on ideas for next Potlucks...Brazilian, West Indies, Malasian..etc etc are all on our minds...

It was such a warm welcome to the much awaited spring after long months of snow this season....to our surprise, the week that followed had three snow days - luckily mild though...Spring is almost here:)) - if not, lets bribe Mother Nature with another intermediate Potluck - good enough reason for us to eat and celebrate:))...so looking forward to our next one....

No blog's complete without a few poses from our little princess - Don't miss the colorful spring outfit:)

I repeat: There's nothing that beats the combination of GOOD FOOD & GREAT COMPANY....we proved it again:)) Cheers!!