July 23, 2007

Summer Express Cooking Event

Good food takes time to cook.I cannot dispute that but conversely, less time should not mean bad food, should it? If we have the time and inclination to spent an hour or more laboring over the stove, with or without help, I am all for it and I even do indulge in it on the weekends. But for every meal to have taken that long,(which can very well happen given our penchant and joy for cooking), is not possible.

I really appreciate my mom and her generation who wake up at 6am and have an elaborate breakfast ready, along with most of the lunch and a part of the dinner planned out before the rest of the household is even awake! On weekends, she would get everything done and even be ready to step out shopping too by 10 am!! So while I appreciate anybody who can do that (share your secrets, please!!), I prefer to sleep in on the weekends and laze it out.



So this event is all about good food and speed.
Maybe contradictory but doesn't have to be. This is an exercise for me too as I have never timed my own cooking and have just played it by the ear(or taste in this case).

Well, since I have a handful of takers willing to make an express meal, lets make an event out of it. I am not big on events as I am a sporadic blogger and very easily miss deadlines in the midst of the week. This being my first chance at hosting as well organising, bear with me if there are glitches..Please do participate and make it a success..

So What Is the Event About?
A meal to be made in anywhere from 10-30 minutes, start to finish (clean up time not included :)). You can use semi- homemade products, such as ready made rotis and tortillas, frozen veggies, or precooked chicken or left over rice.(No, you can use frozen pizza as a meal or order take out chinese.) A part if the meal can be premade if you link back to the recipe for that too.
It can be from any cuisine, eastern or western and can have any level of spice and can be any type of cooking...grilled, baked, fried or steamed. It should be a balanced meal,having a bit of the different food groups:
vegetables/fruits ,grains or carbs, and animal or vegetable protein. You should have one main entry with a photo and post it on your blog. Additional tips and meal ideas would be welcome(a three line description would be enough) as part of your post.

To participate in this event:
1. Email me at malluspice@gmail.com your entry with your name, your blog name, blog url, and your permalink by or before the announced deadline.

2. In your post, please include a link back to the event post to complete the circle.

3. Even if you do not have a blog, I am sure most of you are not short on ideas, so you can email me with a small photo and written recipe directly and they will be posted here.

4. The deadline for the entries is August 10 2007.

The Round Up:
The round-up will be posted on the weekend following the deadline.

Update 7/25/07:
As i am getting more and more queries, the idea itself is getting crystallised in my mind. Most of us know lentils(dals) are easy to cook with prior soaking as is dosa/idli/appam etc easy to make with prior soaking and grinding, so even though those entries are welcome, lets try to go beyond that and make it more challenging.
Lets try for both kind of entries: those which fall into the planning category... so u can give suggestions on how to plan ahead... and those which truly are made without too much planning, for the best thought of plans often fall apart. I am sure all you talented chefs/cooks out there have a lot of ideas, so get going.

Update 8/7/07: The deadline is extended to August 20th as I want more of you to think and come up with instant dishes.:)

51 comments:

sra said...

Hey, can we use leftovers (not just rice or chappatis, but curries or gravies that would form the base) to make a new dish?

Sia said...

this is so cool shaheen:) i will surely see what i can come up with but at the same time i am all excited to learn express recipes:) oh girl!!! u surely gonna make my life easy:) hugs to u:)

Coffee said...

I love you for this Shaheen!!! I am looking forward to participate for sure.... but more than that eyeing the round up. ;)

mallugirl said...

sra, curries and stuff can form a base but u have to link back to that recipe too.

Unknown said...

Iam just waiting to participate, and also see, wat others have got in store :)

Poonam said...

I am so looking forward to participating in this event. Why?? Because I can share tons of my express meal experiments and also steal some from the round ups!

Sharmi said...

thats a nice event to participate. have to start thinking. will be back with my entry.

bee said...

ten minutes? tch! tch! we only need five. i have an entry already, will post it soon.

Sig said...

Great idea Shaheen... I have so many 5 minutes recipes... wait, all those involve my mom cooking for an hour, my part just takes 5 mins... does that count? :*)
But seriously, this is cool... not sure if I'll get to participate, but really looking forward to the round up, I could sure use some after september..

Bong Mom said...

Ok 30 min is good time.
Can Dal etc. be a part, does it have to be a full meal or just a dish ?

Anonymous said...

Yay, 30 min! A lot can be done in that time! I'll use a timer and see...

Priyanka said...

this is so cool... i m always looking for quick and easy recipes... will definitely participate... thanks for hosting

TBC said...

What a great idea!I am just waiting for the round up!

TBC said...

Hi Shaheen,
I just saw your comment.
TBC = The budding cook ;-)
I will try participating too but am not too good with deadlines :-(

Shah cooks said...

i guess except for bee, everybody needs more time.. to think and cook.:)
sig, no, ur mom's cooking, though excellent, doesn't count.. i bet the 5 minutes is u gobbling the food, right?
i want everybody to participate, whatever be the menu, else no round up for u..

sandeepa, dal can be part of the meal..anyway dal can be made in under 10 minutes, right?

SJ said...

Hi Shaheen, what a wonderful idea! I am always on the lookout for tasty but quick meal ideas (I call them weeknight meals) and have a few of my own.
Any way you could extend the deadline ot make this an ongoing event?

J said...

If you permit leftover curries, I have a recipe waiting!! :) One more ques, soaking time for dals is also counted?? Can I send my poha entry?? It has a bit of all food groups in it :))

J said...

Can I send an express dessert that has a bit of all nutrients?

Anonymous said...

that is an interesting one...waiting for the round up....
ki

Poonam said...

Hey thanks for the update today because I was going to post the same question that you have clarified in today's update.

Jayashree said...

Hey...nice idea...iam waiting to see what everyone comes up with.

Bong Mom said...

Should it be a complete meal (like the 30 min meals) ? A complete meal would be a better idea than just a dish. Because some dishes like dr sabzis, do get done in 30 min.
Any more crystalizations (of ideas) ?

Padma said...

Hey I will surely try to participate in this event, but you never know :O
Thanks for visiting my blog Shaheen, I am glad you liked the mutton kofta recipe.

This event will give us a huge collection of express meal...looking fwd

Viji said...

Something interesting. Express recipes. Will try something new if time permits. Viji

Shah cooks said...

A complete meal is definitely what we need, sandeepa...

As for the others who are scared of missing the deadline, if no entries get here in time, i will extend the deadline.. it should take only 10 mins to cook and another 10 to write abt it, right?:)

Seema Bhat said...

Express recipes...Oyeelaaa what a brilliant idea Shaheen. Everyone of us will love this. Waiting to learn all the express recipes.

FH said...

Hi Shaheen,I just came to know about this event.Great idea.I will post this on my side bar.May be it's too late for me to participate but I will try!!:))

Anonymous said...

shaheen delete my scrap...looks like i made a mistake...I am not able to delete it..
regards
nandu

Unknown said...

A fabulous idea, Shaheen! Count me in...

Anonymous said...

hi shaheen,
thanks...I thought it was plagarising....and then relised it wasn't...
regards
nandu

Dhana said...

ooh how fun. Given our busy lives, this will be one round up I am sure to bookmark!

Raaga said...

Hi Shaheen... can I post some dishes that I'd posted earlier? Many of my dishes are quick meals.

Shah cooks said...

nandu, no prob.. how abt an entryfrom u for the cooking event in return?

Dhana, would be good to have u participate as well.

Raaga, previous entries are ok to be linked , but at least one should be an exclusive new entry, not used in other events.

Linda said...

Fantastic idea Shaheen, I just sent you my entry. Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

Fantastic idea Shaheen! I rarely spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen to make one meal (atleast 3 components) but never bothered to log it anywhere...this gives me a chance..i must send you atleast one entry! Good to back into blogging after a long break and the scene is rocking with so many superb events!

TBC said...

Hi Shaheen,
I had sent you my entry for the event a couple of days back. I was just wondering if you did get it.

Raaga said...

here's my link... my net connection keeps going off.

http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2007/08/achari-aloo.html

Kajal said...

Very nice Event I contribute my dish and wait for your nice round up so I learn lots of dish with 30 minutes....:)

SeeC said...

Hi Shaheen.
First time in your blog.
'Summer express cooking event' brought me in here. Lovely idea.
Will try to post one soon (b4 10th Aug)

Sheela said...

nice idea, shaheen. i am all for express meals, and, as you noted with a little planning, most weeknight dinners can happen in under 30 minutes. am quite excited about this... i have to see what i can come up with in the next few days...

Swaruchy said...

Hi Shaheen count me in too....I have a couple of healthy and tasty recipes with me....Saw this contest only today...thanks that u extended the deadline till 20th...I will able to post comfortably :-)
And ya.....I am curious to know and learn contributing recipes from my fellow participants ...Cheers.

zlamushka said...

Hi Shaheen,

thanx for prolonging the deadline. I was very lazy these days, so 'cooked' only salads. But the weather here is getting colder, so it s time to get back to work ;-) Meantime, I found a real great article that might be of your interest, here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?ex=1342497600&en=e76301c448a572af&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Nwe York timese published an article on how to cook super fast meals (we re talking 10 - 15 minutes)...

Anonymous said...

Yahoo

Bhawna said...

HI, Shaheen i posted a recipe for the contest . This is my first time if i didn't do anyth right plz be free & guide me
thanks

renuka said...

hi,iam a baby to blogging & also my first event.I will give more of cooking tips this time.

renuka said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sdf said...

Hello,

Is the event still going on? I saw that the deadline was Aug 10th, but I think you mentioned that you had extended it to Aug 20th?

Can I send a entry still?

Thanks,
ANI

mallugirl said...

Ani, the last date is august 20th. u can send in the entry.

Namratha said...

Glad to know the deadline has been extended...I thought I missed it! :) I was planning on Chitranna too but someone has already done that so lemme think of something else.

Anonymous said...

I saw a recipe for the 16 beans dosa or ada,but now when i go back i don't see it. Could u please tell me where to find it
thanks

Snigdha said...

All Malabari food Lovers are invited for the
Malabar Food festival atMaroli Indian & Malabari Restaurants in Toronto

http://www.maroli.ca