And as I lie in bed, trying to battle the obnoxious fever, feeding on
healthy lauki ki subzi, I miss home and the comforts that come attached
with the word home, and reminisce -- the foothills of the Himalayas sitting in
all their glory, basking in the sun. The trees stretching in the crisp morning
air, waking the birds and the animals. Gun Hill, Barlowganj, Jharipani, Landour
-- ah! In this hot state of fever how I crave the touch of the cool mountain
breeze of Mussoorie.
 |
| The Himalayan mountains sitting in all their glory |
 |
| Mussoorie trees stretching in the crisp morning air |
And how I miss that delicious sandwich I had had
for breakfast at Rokeby, in Landour, on my last trip there. The fresh lettuce,
the juicy, sweet onions and the melange of all things gorgeous! No wonder
this last Sunday I replicated the same and treated myself to simple joys that
were a combined wonder of wonders. But before anyone blames me of plagiarism,
let me make two clarifications:
a) This is an original recipe solely inspired by
what I tasted, and
b) I ordered a dish for dinner at Rokeby the night
before this breakfast and that mustard chicken tasted EXACTLY
like what I had created and put on this blog a few months ago. (Read "Cut the Mustard")
Well, I call this one, The Rokeby Melt. Recipe
below:
Ingredients:
Hot Dog Buns - 2
Eggless Mayonnaise - Enough to spread dollops of
the same on the buns
Cheese Slice - 2
Mushrooms - 200 gms, thinly sliced
Red Onions - 2 medium ones, thinly sliced
Olive Oil - 6 tbsps
Garlic - 1 clove, thinly sliced
Lettuce - 2 medium leaves
Pepper - To taste
Salt - To Taste
Sugar - 1 tsp
Balsamic Vinegar - 2 drops
Method:
• Take a wok and heat 4 tbsps of olive oil on medium
heat. Add the sliced onions to this wok and cook till they turn a deep brown.
Add a dash of salt to the onions, and in order to hasten the caramelizing
process, also add a teaspoon of sugar. Ensure that you keep stirring the onions
every now and then to prevent burning. Further, add some more oil in case you
feel the onions are drying out. Once the onions are deep brown in color and
taste sweetly divine, they are caramelized and ready to be used for the
sandwich. (NOTE: Caramelized onions keep for over 2 weeks if stored in an
air-tight container in the refrigerator, so you could easily caramelize onions
earlier and use as necessary).
•
Now take another wok and heat the other 2 table
spoons of olive oil. Add the thinly sliced garlic to the heated oil and cook
for about a minute before adding mushrooms to the same.
•
Allow the mushrooms to cook for a while before
adding a dash of balsamic vinegar to the wok, in order to enhance the flavor of
the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms have sweat and turned golden brown, remove
from heat.
•
Meanwhile, halve the hot dog buns horizontally and
toast mildly.
•
Now smear mayonnaise (I prefer the eggless variety
as I strongly dislike the eggy after-taste).
•
Tear some lettuce and prepare a comfortable bed on
the lower half of the bun for the remaining sandwich to rest on.
•
Now gently spoon out and spread on the lettuce bed
a layer of the caramelized onions and then a layer of mushrooms. Sprinkle some
pepper and salt to taste.
•
Add cheese slices on the upper half of the bun and
gently rest it as the crowning glory.
• Nuke it in the micro for about 30 seconds to ensure
the cheese is nicely melting and binding all of the sandwich together.
•
Voila! It is ready to eat!!!! Serve with Mustard & Tomato Ketchup.
So you see, peeps, I may vacation by the sea and live in the plains, but I am a pure mountain girl, and when I miss my pretty Himalayas, the big time breakfast person (read Anka) will do anything to savor the taste of the hills...
Now, GO DIG IN with a mug of freshly churned cold coffee!!!! :D
