SuperChef Chennai - Title Winning Recipe

Im very happy to say that I am still basking in the glory of winning the SuperChef Chennai Title under the Appetizer Category. I made Zucchini Jalapeno Cheese Balls with Red Pepper Filling on a bed of Capsicum  salad served with a mint dip. I have been asked for this recipe again and again by many people. so here I go.

Ingredients

Zucchini - 1 cut into small pieces

Jalapeno - 2 small pieces ( pickled)

Parmesan cheese - 1 cup shredded

Cheddar cheese - 1 cup shredded

Fresh herbs - parsley and basil

Powdered pepper - 1 tsp

Red Pepper - 1 cup cut into cubes

Tomato - 1/2 cup

Bread Crumbs - 2 cups

Maida flour - 1 cup

Corn flour - 1 cup

Method

Saute Zucchini using a little oil 

Saute Red pepper cubes and set aside 

Saute the tomato along with some fresh herbs and keep it aside

Make bread crumbs , by blending bread in a blender

Cut Jalapeno into very small pieces.

Make sure you do not overdo Jalapeno as the flavor should not be predominate in the dish

In a wide bowl add the shredded cheeses.

Followed by zucchini and jalapeno

Add some fresh herbs and bind them together

Blend the red pepper and tomato into a smooth paste

Make a smooth batter with Maida and Corn flour

Make small balls with the cheese mixture

Make a dent in the middle and place some of the red pepper and tomato mixture

The idea is that, when the cheese ball is cut into two halves, the center part should be red in color while the outer circle should be white in color

Close the ball and roll it over plain Maida flour

Now dip this in the Maida , corn flour batter

Roll it over the bread crumbs and set it aside

Heat oil in a wide skillet 

When the oil is hot enough drop each of the balls one by one 

Deep fry till its golden brown

Remove on a tissue paper and set aside. 

Serve it on a bed of Capsicum Salad and along with a mint dip

Mint Dip

Blend the following to a smooth paste

1/2 cup Coriander leaves

1/2 cup Mint Leaves

 1 pod of garlic,

 2 tsp of Lemon Juice

1 tsp of Mayonnaise 

Salt to taste

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Saute zucchini and red pepper

Make bread crumbs using french bread

Ensure that the oil is hot enough. Just a few seconds is enough for the Cheese balls to be done

Decorate it with Black Olives in a tooth pick. 

Zucchini Jalapeno Cheese Balls on a bed of Capsicum Salad with a minty dip

Now isn't it a treat for the eyes?

Journey to SuperChef Title - Final Cookout

This is in continuation of my previous post of SuperChef Chennai - Semi Finals. After getting the SuperChef Chennai Finalist Apron, I did celebrate a bit with my sister. But more important was for me to get ready for the Ultimate Cook Off Finals. 

This was the most exciting part that I was waiting for. Cooking in a live kitchen. It was a motivating factor for me from the beginning to be at the kitchen of park, cook from its pantry. I was sure it will be a different and a wonderful experience. 

A huge clock was used to keep a tab on the time allocated for us. 

Work stations

Mixers and Deep friers

Ovens for use

Whippers

Plates in various shapes and sizes. I love white plates. I loved all the plates they had provided but my choice was a long rectangular one. 

A pantry that had all FRESH Herbs, veggies, cheese, spices. For any cook I would say, a well stocked pantry is bliss. So was it for me too. 

We were given a brief introduction about what was there in the pantry and how we should go about making the dish. The rules were, we should make an appetizer using the secret ingredients that will be given to us. We were given three ingredients and were supposed to use at-least two of them in our dish

As we settled in our work stations,Farheen requested each of the finalist to give a brief introduction about us.

Me giving the introductory talk

The vegetarians were given Zucchini, Jalapeno and French Bread while the non vegetarians were given  Chicken, Prawn and Olives

I stared for a good 5 minutes at the ingredients given to me and then decided to make Zucchini Jalapeno cheese balls stuffed with red pepper , served on a bed of capsicum salad served with a minty dip

Mentor chefs were there to help us with our cooking. 

Sauteing veggies, zucchini for the cheese balls and red pepper to be blended

Making bread crumbs from the french bread given to us

A section of the audience who were supporting the contestants. 

Well looks like Farheen , Gunit , Tarla Dalal and Vicky Ratani having a serious discussion.

Tarla Dalal, walked upto my workstation and asked what I was making,she was pretty excited to hear my dish

Frying the cheese balls

Cheese balls in the making

My Wall.. My Support . Tasneem Aunty . Love you so much aunty for all the love and support you give me. She was there encouraging me, telling me that how much time has gone by and more than the most. She was very very confident that I will win the competition.I am so glad , that I lived up to her belief in me.

After I had finished cooking.

Zucchini Jalapeno cheese balls stuffed with red pepper , served on a bed of capsicum salad

Waiting for our names to be called, to present our dish to the panel of judges.

My dish before the judges. There were five judges, Vicky Ratani, Ace Food Photographer Priya, Tarla Dalal, Chef Rajesh and Chef Archana

Words of the judges : Tarla Dalal : Impressive Presentation

Chef Rajesh and Chef Archana : Very Tasty

Vicky Ratani Tasting the cheese balls

Photographer Priya, takes a closer look at the dish

Twelve finalists pose as the judges have a discussion about their final choice for the title winner 

With the judges before the top three dishes were named. 

The names were read in a random order, as the organizers wanted to keep the surprise till the dinner party. 

My name was read at the last. I had to wait for another 8 hours to know which place I got. 

All said I was very very happy at that moment that I was one of the top three. I missed my mom and dad , who were not in Chennai at point of time. 

The same day, before dinner, when the results were announced, I was thrilled to know that I topped the Appetizer Category. My Chitappa, Chithi and sister was there to support me. They were so so happy to see me receive the first place. My mom was an important person who motivated me completely and believed that I will win from the very minute I entered the competition

After the results were announced, I had a chance to talk to Chef  Rajesh, Chef Archana and Chef Santosh. All of them , said that the taste of my dish was very good, and that is the reason my dish was able to beat the non vegetarian dishes. They also said that , they could see the passion I had for cooking from the way I handled the dish and the way I speak about food. 

This was the best gift I could ever get. These compliments mean a lot to me. 

Never to forget , my group of girls Deeps, Arthi. Jenny, Tasneem Akbari, Avanti, Yalini, Preethika and Aunty who were completely online in whatsapp checking the results. Everybody were waiting with baited breath to know who the winner was, they all were super thrilled so much as I was. thanks girls for the support and love you shower me with.

Many thanks to the judges and sponsors for this wonderful event. Thanks MCLC 38 for providing a wonderful platform to unleash our talent.

Journey to SuperChef Title - Semi Finals

Cooking has always been a passion, maybe I take it after my grandmothers or my mom or was it a situation that I had to start cooking, I am not able to single out any one reason that attributes to my passion. I have always longed to achieve something in this field of cooking. Many of my colleagues who have tasted my food  have asked me when am I going to open a resto or why don't you participate in any cooking competition. I knew it was a huge thing for me, and was quite not sure if I had it in me for competitions. But I was wrong, there came along my way SuperChef Chennai Contest. The journey through this competition has been a wonderful and remarkable one.

When SuperChef Chennai contest was announced, two people had called me up and asked me to participate.They also said, that they were reminded about me when the contest was announced. I was so happy that someone is reminded about me when they hear about cooking.  

This competition was conducted by members of Madras Cosmopolitan Ladies Circle 38 and what more it was for a very noble cause .The proceeds from this competition were given to Adyar Cancer Institute. Having lost two people in the family to this dreadful disease, I fairly know the pain behind this dreadful disease and also wanted to contribute to this cause. 

The competition was to be done in three phases. First phase, the organizers invited registrations from general public under three categories, Appetizers, Main course and Desserts. We were given a choice to submit more than one recipe under each category. Listed below are my submissions

Appetizers

Tomato Tartlette with Ricotta Cheese 

Main Course 

Three Cheese Ravioli

Desserts

Strawberry Panacotta

Illaneer Payasam

I was selected under the Appetizer Category.

And we were asked to prepare the recipe that was selected to be presented for the Precooked Semi Finals. 

I baked Tomato Tartlette with Ricotta cheese and took it for the semi finals. 

I had arranged it on a white plate and made a salad with Rocket Leaves, Black Olives and Parmesan cheese 

Used Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar to give it an outline

To be honest, I was not satisfied with my dish, as much as I thought that I not gonna make it to the finals and not gonna wear the SuperChef Finalist Apron. 

Chef Rajesh and Chef Santosh, tasting the dishes

Karpagam and myself shared a table in the semi finals round

Farheen explaining what the judgements were based on and near her you can see the SuperChef Aprons ready to be given to the finalists.

Chef Rajesh, with the list of finalists

But as I waited with a little disappointment in my mind, Chef Rajesh was getting ready to announce the 12 finalists.. And vola... my name was called. I was stumped , surprised, shocked, to hear my name. 

Can you see the surprise in my face. Me in the finals.. Yaay..

I still cant believe that the apron is being given to me 

I join the band of finalists with still an awe struck expression.

The twelve finalists with the judges and Vicky Ratani. 

Announcing Kid's Delight - Back to Hostel Food

Cooking for the kids is always a wonderful job. Be it a holiday or a weekend, you end up cooking up a storm to meet their demands. Each occasion would demand a different dish to be rustled up and you can well plan ahead.

Kid's Delight, started by Srivalli,  is one such event that's only for Kids and Kid approved dishes. It need not only be your own kid, it can be your relative or even your childhood dishes that you remember. Only criteria being it should cater to some harassed mom, to cook for her kid.

I have the pleasure to host Kid's Delight again, this time themed on Back to Hostel Food. Now sending kids to hostel is a painful thing, however there might be a need for it. So when you do send them back, you should be sending them with loads of food that they can still enjoy right.

So "Back to Hostel Food" is just that. Cook anything that can be packed and stored for a while and send them to me.

Guidelines for the event:

Event starts from Feb 16th and ends on Mar 15th.
Link  back to Srivalli's Kid's Delight Announcement Page
Entries should fall under the requirement of being packed and sent.
Has to be Kid approved.