Tagged and Pan-Grilled

Recipe: Pan-Grilled Potatoes with Oregano and Olive oil

Maintaining a food blog is not as easy as it looks. Cooking is one of my favourite things to do. And for a person like me, who gets easily bored with the usual food at home, it comes naturally to experiment and try out different things.

But photographing the results and documenting it needs a lot of time, patience and (most importantly) good, natural light. Even though I cook almost everyday, the only time I get to click good pictures of the food is during the weekends. The other week days, I am unable to photograph because I am at work for all the times of the day that have the best light. And hence most of the cooking and photographing for the blog happens during the weekends.

The rest of the work that goes behind every blog post - reading about food and photography, deciding what to cook for the blog, editing the pictures, writing down the post, reading and re-reading the post goes on slowly in the next 1-2 weeks, whenever I can squeeze it in or sometimes even during the weekend, that is, if I am not too exhausted with all other things that are packed into it.

Inspite of all the hard-work, having a blog on something that interests me does give me an immense sense of satisfaction. It is my creative outlet, my stress-buster and best of all, I get to meet (virtually) so many talented  people with similar interests.


I've already mentioned in my previous post that the wonderfully talented blogger Liz (a.k.a. Dizzy Lizzie) has tagged me.. In fact, she posted it 10 days ago... the tag seemed like an interesting thing to do So here goes.

Rules

1. Blogger is nominated to take part;
2. Blogger publishes her/his seven links on her/his blog- one link for each category;
3. Blogger nominates five more bloggers to take part;
4. Those five bloggers publish their seven links and nominate another five bloggers;

1. My most beautiful post. 
Marvels In the Sky - There are not many things more beautiful than a sunrise or a sunset.

2. My most popular post.
The post about lip-smacking chicken roast has risen to the most popular status - Chicken Roasted with Pepper

3. My most controversial post.
I don't think I write about controversial stuff. What can be so controversial about food? But since I have to post a link, I'll take these about Tandoori Chicken with Olive Oil and  Carrot Cupcakes Though the only "controversy" is that whether something so yummy can actually be healthy as well.


4. My most helpful post. 
Hmm.. I'd like to think that all my posts are helpful :P

But then do I have to point out a post that was helpful for me or helpful for others?

For me, it was this post about the time we lost our beloved cocker spaniel. Every word on that post was written with tears streaming down my face. But it also helped bring in much needed acceptance and healing.

There is this post about making Mango Froyo without an ice-cream maker that encouraged many others to try making ice-creams that way and be surprised with the yummy results


5. A post that's success surprised me.
Another ice-cream post on Ice-cream Cake It's so easy to make and yet it never ceases to get you a lot of praises ;)


6. A post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved.
That should be this post on Pizza. It was the second post on my blog and not many people read my blog then except for a few dear friends who have always encouraged me.


7. The post of which I am the most proud
I'm proud of all my posts. But the ones that have given me the most pride are about Butterscotch and Pecan ice-cream and the Brandied Peach, Bavarian Cream and Chocolate Gateau

Oh yeah, I'm also extremely proud of this post - Colours Of Summer I just love gazing at the pictures in that post. And until then, I never realised that I could take good pictures.

So that's more than one link for some categories - but you understand right...

I'm passing on the Tag to these talented bloggers
1) Anzz Cafe
2) Art of Cooking
3) Anubimb
4) Cook with Kary
5) A Scatterbrain's journey to maturity

And now on to the recipe..




I love french fries. And sometimes, all I'm craving for are just that - whether with a sandwich or just on their own, they never fail to satisfy the deep longing for the crispy-on-the-outside-yet-soft-and crumbly-on-the-inside-fries. But then on the other hand, the media and health-freaks keep scaring us with the horror stories of eating deep-fried foods. And if that wasn't enough, the scales aren't very encouraging either.

So here's my non-deep-fried alternative for french fries - pan grilled potatoes :)

PAN GRILLED POTATOES WITH OREGANO AND OLIVE OIL


Ingredients


Potatoes - 2 medium sized ones - washed, skin removed and cut into strips
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Any other seasoning (purely optional) - I used oregano and chilli flakes
Olive oil - 2 Tbsp


Rub the potatoes with salt. Pour in the water and microwave the cut potatoes in an open pan until they are cooked through but yet does not lose their shape.And all the water should be evaporated. It took me 5-6 minutes on high.

Brush a non-stick pan with olive oil and put it on medium heat. Put the cooked potato pieces in it in a single layer. Keep tossing around till all the sides get a roasted colour. Sprinkle with seasoning and toss for a few more seconds.

Serve hot and enjoy!