Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

  • Home
  • About
    • In the Press, Published Work and Interviews
    • PR and Disclosure Policy
  • Food
    • Recipe Index
      • Indian
        • C.K.P recipes
        • Curry – Meat, Seafood
        • Curry – Vegetarian
        • Sides
        • Chutneys
      • Healthy
        • Soups
        • Salads
      • Quick and Easy
      • Baking
        • Desserts
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Vegetarian
        • Salads
      • Vegan
    • Product Reviews
    • Events
  • Travel
    • UK
    • India
    • Around the World
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Miscellaneous
  • Giveaways
  • Work with me
    • Meet interesting foodie entrepreneurs here

Grilled fruit kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle

October 22, 2015 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

I have been craving some grilled food for a while. But my waistline will not take kindly to anything greasy so I went and bought myself a bunch of juicy peaches, nectarines and bright red strawberries and decided to make myself a huge bowl of fruity grilled goodness.

Grilled Fruit Kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle
Grilled Fruit Kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle

I know the weather is dreary and not really right for starting up a barbeque so it is a relief that I can still get great results with a good griddle pan. Perfect for testing out my new cast aluminium grill pan then?

I really like the colour combination of red and black and because this cast aluminium grill pan is from the ultra-light cookware range by House of Fraser it is so much easier use especially to flip pancakes in! I was also a bit worried that now that I am in a new house and my new kitchen has electric hobs ( I so miss the gas hob! sob sob…) how things would turn out but the grill pan works on electric hobs just as fine as well as solid hot plates, gas, ceramic hobs, halogen and induction – so versatile. The best part is that it has a little groove on the side where your wooden or plastic spatula can rest – very handy.

Cast aluminium grill pan from the House of Fraser
Cast aluminium grill pan from the House of Fraser

Grilled fruit kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle

Perfect for summer, a great way to enjoy fruit, vegetarian and vegan-friendly fruit kebab dish
Print Recipe
Grilled fruit kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle
 
Cuisine: Starter
Author: Manjiri
Ingredients
  • [b]For the grilled fruit[/b]
  • 1 cup of mixed chopped fruits – pineapple, peaches, kiwi, banana
  • sea salt
  • wooden skewers
  • Blueberries for garnish
  • [b]For the tangy drizzle[/b]
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • A generous sprinkle of smoked paprika
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon mint leaves chopped fine
Instructions
  1. As it was the first time I was using the grill pan, it needed to be washed with warm soapy water <g class=”gr_ gr_121 gr-alert gr_spell undefined ContextualSpelling” id=”121″ data-gr-id=”121″>before-hand</g> and left to air dry. Also, the pan works best on the hob that matches the size of the pan.
  2. Chop the fruit into large kebab sized pieces.
  3. Allow the pan to heat for 2 minutes so that it is the right temperature – this may not be required on a gas flame hob.
  4. Carefully place the fruit pieces on the pan and gently press down with a wooden spatula. This ensures that the fruit will not bruise too much but also will ensure that the soft flesh touches the hot ridges to give it the trademark grilled effect.
  5. [cap id=”attachment_3627″ align=”aligncenter” width=”800″][url href=”https://travelsfortaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_2906-Copy.jpg”][img src=”https://travelsfortaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_2906-Copy.jpg” width=”800″ height=”534″ class=” size-full” title=”Making Grilled Fruit Kebabs on a cast aluminium pan”][/url]Making Grilled Fruit Kebabs on a cast aluminium pan[/cap]
  6. Allow for about 2 -3 minutes, about 1.5 minutes each side on high heat but check by flipping over gently. The softer fruit especially the peaches and kiwi will take lesser time <g class=”gr_ gr_111 gr-alert gr_gramm undefined Grammar multiReplace” id=”111″ data-gr-id=”111″>on</g> the pan while the pineapple and banana will take longer.
  7. Sprinkle some sea salt over the fruit.
  8. After the fruit has dry roasted on each side transfer to a plate and set aside.
  9. Remove the pan from the hob and move to a rivet or a cooling down and allow it to come down to room temperature.
  10. In a small pan over low heat, add the honey and some water to dilute give the mixture a little, mix the smoked paprika powder as per taste and immediately take it off the heat. Pour the lime juice in and the add the chopped mint leaves, mix well.
  11. Alternating between pineapple, kiwi, strawberry and peach cubes gently thread the grilled fruit onto the skewers. I like the little wooden skewers which <g class=”gr_ gr_114 gr-alert gr_gramm undefined Grammar multiReplace” id=”114″ data-gr-id=”114″>makes</g> it easier to eat them as well. Add a blueberry at the end of each skewer for visual effect.
  12. Pour the tangy honey drizzle onto the grilled fruit and garnish with some finely chopped fresh mint leaves for a fresh and light taste. Squeeze some more lemon juice on top before serving.
 
3.5.3208
Grilled Fruit Kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle
                                                            Grilled Fruit Kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle
*With thanks to House of Fraser for sending me a Linea Cast Aluminium Grill Pan  28cm  for review.  As usual all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Food, Healthy, Recipe Index Tagged With: cast aluminium grill pan, chilli honey drizzle recipe, fruit recipes, grilled food, Grilled fruit kebabs with a chilli honey drizzle, heathy kebabs, party food, quick and easy starter recipe, reviews on travels fortaste, travels for taste, travels for taste is a food and travel blog based in London, travels for taste reviews, travelsfortaste blog, travelsfortaste food blog, ultra-light cookware range from the House of Fraser

A slice of Costa Rica – Casado

September 10, 2015 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

With summer firmly on it’s way out and Autumn settling in, the chilly nights demand some great comfort food. I wanted to try something different so I choose a popular Costa Rican dish – Casado. Why? Well, it’s the ideal comfort food, easy to put together and tastes amazing! Best part is it’s very easy on the pocket and if you plate it well, it looks like a posh meal – no one would guess what went into making it!

Costa Rican Casado

Costa Rican Casado

Casado literally means a ‘married man’ and it is said that the name probably originates from how the local men expected food to be served when they were eating outside so that it reminded them of familiar tastes of a home cooked meal. An authentic Casado which is served at ‘sodas’ or local cafes is accompanied by what is known as a Lizano sauce. The brand name Lizano is now generic and retails in N. America.  Since this sauce is yet to hit UK shores ( believe me I did a fair bit of looking around in shops that sell Mexican ingredients, Asian, Carribean and most of my local supermarkets) I finally decided to make my own ,which was a great decision – why ? Well scope to experiment and innovate for one, coupled with freedom to incorporate easy to procure, local ingredients – resulting in a deliciously moorish creation! A traditional root vegetables dish from Costa Rico called Picadillo is a popular side dish with rice and tortillas. You can safely say that the gravy sauce is a marriage of sorts between the Lizano sauce and the Picadillo. I have done a fair amount of customisation and the most interesting part of cooking Casado was creating the gravy sauce, combining it with root vegetables and serving it as a wholesome gravy side dish. Let’s get started with the sauce aka gravy as this will take the most time to cook of all the other sides.

Costa Rican Casado

Costa Rican Casado

Recipe is good for 2 with generous helpings.

Root Vegetable Gravy Side

Prep & Cooking Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium juicy tomato – finely chopped
  • 2 small red onions finely chopped
  • 3 medium carrots chopped into tiny cubes
  • 3 small sweet fresh peppers finely chopped
  • A handful of cauliflower florets
  • A handful of very finely chopped sweet potato
  • 1 heaped tbsp of finely grated celeriac
  • A pinch of garlic puree
  • Half a dry red Kashmiri chilli
  • ½ tsp of thick tamarind puree
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp freshly grated black pepper
  •  1/2 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • Salt as per taste
  • A handful of finely chopped coriander

Method:

  1. In a large saucepan, heat oil and add the chopped onions, add the garlic puree and cumin powder and stir well.
  2. When the onion starts to reduce add the bay leaves, the chopped tomato and chopped sweet peppers, stir the the tomato & peppers around vigorously bit to get them to release their juices and reduce the flame to a minimum.
  3. Throw in the finely chopped carrot cubes, sweet potato, grated celeriac, tomato puree and add enough water to cover this mixture.
  4. Cook with lid on till the sweet potato and carrots begin to soften, then it’s time to toss in the cauliflower florets, season with the dry red chilli,tamarind,cracked black pepper, salt and sugar and give it a good stir.
  5. Let this cook on a low flame with lid for about 25 minutes.
  6. Keep opening the lid, stirring and adjusting the water if it becomes to run dry, we need a gravy like consistency.
  7. When it done, add some finely chopped coriander in the tamarind should give it a bit of tangy twist, while the dried Kashmiri chilli gives it colour and mild heat, the sweet pepper and tomato puree work their magic together and the gravy is delicious and wholesome what with so many veggies hidden inside!

Root Vegetable Gravy Sauce

Red Kidney bean side

Prep and Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of red kidney beans
  • 1 medium sized red onion
  • 2 large tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp garlic puree
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  1. In a large saucepan, heat oil and sauté the chopped onions, add the garlic puree and stir well.
  2. After the onion has sautéed, add the tomato puree and stir then add the beans and mix well.

Red onions for Kidney Beans

Red onions for Kidney Beans

  1. Add some water to the mixture and reduce the flame to a minimum, cook with a lid on but check often so that it does not burn or run dry.
  2. 4.Since the canned and ready to eat red kidney beans are preserved in salty water, check the taste before adding in any more salt, chuck in some dry red chilli flakes for flavour and set aside.

Red Kidney Bean side is done

Red Kidney Bean side is done

Boiled white rice

  • Cook 1 cup rice using exactly double the water and a pinch of salt

Fried Plantain

  • Peel and chop the plantain into large chunks and fry in hot oil in a kadhai or wok until they are a light brown. It’s easy for them to char so get them out as soon as the colour turns a golden shade of brown, allow to cool on a plate on a bit of kitchen roll to soak excess oil.

Plaintains peeled

  • Don’t fret if like me you can’t peel the plantain I simply use a knife and remove the thick green skin, even if that means that the plantain pieces are hexagonal or cubes now, well I never was too good at geometry 😉

Frying Plantains in Kadhai

Fish

  • Casado can be served with meat, fish or chicken. Chop one large fillet of fresh salmon and pan fry both sides till done in about 1 tbsp oil.

Salmon Pan Shallow Fry

Cheese Tortilla

  • Heat a large flour tortilla –shop bought on a pan and adds a generous helping of grated parmesan cheese on tortilla. Just as the tortilla heats up and the cheese shows sign of melting fold the tortilla in half and flip over and toast each side till you have a crispy yum cheesy tortilla, slice into neat triangles ready to be served.

Tortilla on pan with grated cheddar

Cabbage Salad

  • Chop a fresh cabbage fine to get one large handful of cabbage, add half a red onion and a small handful of finely chopped cucumber, squeeze half a lime, sprinkle some cracked black pepper, a small amount of fresh finely chopped coriander and toss all these together. Easy-peasy right?

Folded Tortilla

Serve the steaming hot rice with the salmon on the side, topped with some of the root vegetable gravy. Mop up the beans with the cheesy tortilla and munch on the sweet fried plantain with generous bites of the tangy cabbage salad in between mouthfuls of everything else.

Costa Rican Casado

Costa Rican Casado

Filed Under: Featured Food and Drink, Food, Product Reviews, Rest of the World, seafood, Travel Tagged With: cabbage salad, casado, cheese tortilla, costa rican recipe, dishes from around the world, fish, foodblogger, Fried Plantain, recipe development, recipes, recipes from around the world, red kidney beans, travels for taste, travels for taste is a food and travel blog based in London, travels for taste recipe development, travelsfortaste, travelsfortaste blog, travelsfortaste food blog

Food,travel and lifestyle writer. Photographer.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

  • Baking
  • Breads
  • C.K.P recipes
  • Cakes
  • Chutneys
  • Cocktails
  • Curry – Meat, Seafood
  • Curry – Vegetarian
  • Desserts
  • Events
  • Featured Food and Drink
  • Featured Lifestyle
  • Featured Travel Adventures
  • Food
  • Healthy
  • Home
  • India
  • Indian
  • Kitchen
  • Lifestyle
  • London and rest of U.K
  • Meat
  • Miscellaneous
  • Product Reviews
  • Quick and Easy
  • Recipe Index
  • Rest of the World
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Salads
  • seafood
  • Sides
  • Smoothies
  • Soups
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Featured Blogger on Great British Chefs

GBC_blogger-badge_150x300px    

Need a New Power Blender?

13076814_10154185434898293_7387808474266473605_n

Read Travelfortaste’s interview on Gourmandize UK & Ireland

 Sliceoffme interviewed by Gourmandize UK & Ireland

Travelsfortaste is Featured on Expats Blog

England expat blogs

Read Travelsfortaste reviews on Zomato

View my food journey on Zomato!
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Squaremeal.co.uk - Restaurant Reviews

About me

Writer and Photographer. Food,Travel & Lifestyle, Blogger and Digital Marketer. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Easy Spinach and Pea Soup
  • Grenada Chocolate Festival – Festive Giveaway
  • Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook – Cooking with Heroes
  • The Instagram Foodie Bag – Must have for all Food Photographers
  • Restaurant quality meat – Swaledale Online Butchers – a review

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT