Scullery Experiments : Mixed Vegetable Sandwich

Another of my favorite recipe - easy and quick to prepare Mixed Vegetable Sandwich.

Starting with the ingredients:

• 1 finely chopped onion 
• 2 Chilies
• 1 Sliced capsicum
• Finely diced beans
• Finely diced carrots 
• Finely diced 1/2 a slice of potato
• Grated cheese
• Bread
• Amul Garlic and Herbs buttery spread
• Olive oil

Procedure:

- Place the cooking pan on the stove, allow it to heat up - in the mean time you could dice or chop the required vegetables as per your choice.

- Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, followed by sliced onions and the chilies.

- Allow the onions, chilies to fry for about 2-3 minutes - we need not get them to golden brown.

- Next add the diced potatoes - let it fry for 3-4 minutes.

- Then add the sliced capsicum, finely diced beans and carrots.

- Allow the entire mixture to fry finely - make sure you do not lose the crunchiness.

- Garnish it with chili flakes, Italian seasoning and salt as per taste - and your filling is ready.

Filling

Now we start with the grilling process:

      1. Heat the grilling pan and add about 1 table spoon of olive oil.

       2. Now on each slice of bread, spread the butter on both sides. And place butter coated side of the bread on the pan. I used the Amul Garlic and Herbs buttery spread - it added the extra flavors           to the sandwich.

       3. Stuff the slices of bread with the vegetable filling. Add grated cheese on top and cover it with   another slice of buttered bread.

       4. Grill the sandwiches for about 4-5 minutes, and flip it to help the other side to be grilled equally.

The sandwiches go perfect with a bowl full of smoking hot tomato soup garnished with pepper.

Absolutely healthy and can be had as breakfast or a snacking option.

~Bon Appétit!!

P.S All the pictures have been taken by me. :) 

Hotel anatomization : Hyatt,Pune

One of the best upscale, finest and luxurious 5 star hotels in Pune - located across the busy roads of Kalyani Nagar. 

The architecture of the building is contemporary and design of its interiors are based on the key elements of light, air and water. It is bound to leave a lasting impression on your mind.

The first element is the eye catchy fountain right at the entrance which imparts special effects with its vibrant green color. As you proceed towards the majestic reception, the major contributor which made me fall in love with their plush interiors was the shiny black piano placed so aptly out there – wow! Picture-perfect. The interiors are exquisite and premium, decorated with white and red flower vases.

They boost of a beautiful pool overlooking the busy streets of Kalyani Nagar and some abandoned land faraway. There are couple of pool side sun beds setup. There were an enormous number of people sun bathing. 
It is amazing how the staff was facilitating the guests with towels - be it providing fresh ones or removing the used ones. Kudos!
The corner by the pool is breezy and perfect to spend a lazy afternoon with a book to kill your time or do whatever suits you best. 

The lobby is adorned with beautiful wall paintings and wall fixtures.

The rooms have a wood toned decor and have been done beautifully - aptly lighted, comfortable and furnished in a posh manner. It truly reinforces the sense of luxury. The room I had was facing the pool.
It had beautiful desk with a lamp where you could work.

They provision with free breakfast for the guests.

Facilities of the hotel:

• Fully equipped with business center, meeting rooms, ball rooms and is also equipped with hosting social and corporate events.
• Free WIFI for the guests
• Pool
• Elegant spa
• Fitness center
•      Room service 24X7
• Finest dining options - Eighty eight, Baan tao, The fishbowl, The pastry shop

Facilities in the room:

• Flat screen TV
• Kettle
• Bottled water
• Phone
• Safe deposit box
• Tea, coffee, whitener, sugar sachets
• Mini bar – items consumed need to be paid for additionally over your hotel bill
• Toiletries, Bath Robe, Footwear

The hotel is located close to the airport which is at a distance of about 4 kilometer and the railway station at a distance of 10 kms. You can opt for the hotel travel facilities at a cost or book a cab for your to and journey in the city.

The staff is courteous and helpful.

A pleasant stay in all.

Few pictures from the visit:

Cheers to life!!

~Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! :)

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me. :)

Food anatomization : Rolls Mania , Magarpatta - Pune

A great place in Magarpatta for having tasty rolls . 

They have variety of options of roll  in vegetarian and chicken, plus it is light on your pocket too. 

Tried most of the rolls, and they all taste equally good, but my ultimate favorite are EGG ROLL and HOT GARLIC CHICKEN ROLL - tasty, spicy and worthwhile.
After listening to their innumerable advertisements on the radio about their newly introduced paneer and chicken mughlai - I tried the CHICKEN MUGHLAI WITH EGG - it was about good. The chicken chunks seemed little uncooked and were bony. The spices were done right but the chicken chunks were a disappointment.

You have an option of ordering your roll in wheat also, which is a good option for people who want to avoid flour.

The service is quick and prompt.

They have a very small seating arrangement with around 3-4 tables. 

In all good place, to have a quick bite.

Few pictures:

Egg roll

Chicken mughlai with egg

Chicken mughlai with egg

Chicken mughlai with egg

~Bon Appétit!! 


P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me. :D

Outlook : How to add tab or pages to your blogger blogging site?!

After my initial struggle with adding tabs to my blogging site, I thought it would be wise to document it to help others as well in the similar fix.

First and foremost step would be to assign a new label.

Go to Posts -> select the post you want to be configured under a certain genre -> Select 'New label', as shown below. Add the name of your genre.

Now select the option to ‘View’ the page from the post. Once it opens,scroll down to find the ‘Label’ text. Click on the text next to label. Example : Food Review

This would load all the posts with that particular label. You need to capture the web address in the URL header bar.

Keep this address handy, we would need it while configuring the tab or page list in the blog.

Example:

https://xylo742.blogspot.in/search/label/Food%20Review

Go to Layout -> Cross column section(you could choose any section) -> Add a gadget

The below popup will crop up. Click on the + next to the 'Pages' option.

Time to configure the page list now, click on + Add external link. Make sure to deselect the 'Select all' option.
When the below pop up appears, add a page title you would want to appear on the tab on the blog.
For the web address(URL), you need to configure the labels as mentioned above and add that web address here.
Example:
https://xylo742.blogspot.in/search/label/Food%20Review
You can re-arrange the tabs in the order you want them to appear.

Once you have configured the tab list, it would appear as below:

Cheers to life!!

~Believe in yourself always!

Food anatomization : TGIF, Magarpatta - Pune

Last Friday I finally had the opportunity to live up to the famous Friday saying  "Thank Goodness its Friday" in T.G.I.F! :P :P
It is a premium America casual restaurant chain serving variety of dishes from the American cuisine.

As soon as you enter the place, you get a feel of more like that of a formal fine dining place.
But their seating arrangement is pretty much sorted and spread over a huge area.


The section right by the door has a screen where they were screening some matches. There were few musical instruments like the guitar, synthesizer,piper instilled on the wall which is very eye catchy. The section is more like dedicated to the music - the wall opposite the door has a fixture of the piano on it. Wow!

They have an extended indoor seating plus you can also chose to sit right by the bar. There is a section dedicated to accommodate the larger groups. One of the walls around here was filled with funky posters of various Hollywood movies - filmy!! The other wall had a huge flag of America and was sporting the pins, pool balls.

They do boost of a widespread alfresco seating - right under the dark sky with twinkling stars. It was quite relaxing outside.

The place is dimly lighted.

In total the ambiance of the place is a blend of dynamic, musical ,sporty, fancy and reflects the modern New York, Manhattan sort of character.

We were initially seated inside but eventually we moved out as the evening passed by. 

Personally I liked their alfresco seating the most  - since it was breezy and offered a scenic view of Amanora & the busy Hadapsar roads. :) 

It is located in the Seasons Mall.

Coming to the food, for appetizers  we ordered the CHICKEN NACHOS , CHICKEN WINGS  and the SEA FOOD PLATTER.
The chicken nachos were very heavily stuffed with chicken fillings. They were topped with cheese,chicken, jalapenos and some salads.The chicken topping were too tangy in taste. 
It looked yummy, but the tangy taste did not go well with me - yet I would say the dish was good.
The chicken wings were juicy and damn tasty.
The sea food platter was really liked by my friends, well appreciated - myself never too keen on sea food. :)
For main course, I ordered for the VEG PASTA  - one word disaster. Too bland, and for some reason did not look appealing too.

But man, the music at the place was just too awesome, kudos to the DJ here. I was in love with all the songs that were being played - a perfect setting for a Friday night. 
Another plus point is that they are open till midnight, and they don't shoo you away as soon as the clock strikes 12! :P :P
But it was little disappointing to see such less crowd on a Friday night in T.G.I.F.

The service was little slow the day we went there. But the staff is courteous, and they adhere to your request with a smile. 

Not to mention about the numerous options in their menu welcoming you to the world of American food. 

More points for the ambiance and music, and a 3.5 solely for the disappointing veg pasta. :|

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Another review for this place -  came here on the 24th evening here. And as one would expect every restaurant to be, the place was really crowded - everyone was here to party and celebrate. 

We choose to be seated in the alfresco seating. We were a group of 5-6 people and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening with the enthralling music,food and ambiance. :) :)

We ordered for the CHICKEN WINGS 12 pieces - tangy mix of chicken wings, damn tasty.
We kind of repeated some orders from our previous visits, since they have become our favorite now- the SEA FOOD PLATTER was also ordered yet again - absolutely loved it. This is a must dish for all the sea food lovers!
Another sea food dish was the FISH FINGER with French fries -  another favorite among st us.It had a crunch factor on the outside and the soft tender fish in the inside. The mayonnaise was the taste enhancer.
Then came in the CHEESE GARLIC BREAD, serving four - loved every bite of it,filled with goodness of soft melting cheese and garlic yummy. An absolute delight. :) 
Next in line was the sizzling CHICKEN MEXICALL - this was a mouthwatering stunning dish. A mix of beautifully cooked, well marinated pieces of chicken breast, served in a sizzler plate. It came along with rice, onions, peppers as accompaniments. All the accompaniments and the added flavors from the herbs were hugely complimenting the dish  - blockbuster hit. Due to dim lighting I couldn't see much, but it did have loadssss of melted butter in it. 

In all ,I liked the food this time specifically - it was lip smacking. 

I am just in love with the songs the DJ plays here - most of them my favorite numbers. Only annoying thing with the alfresco seating is the music clashes with the music played in WTF/Fly high. :P Both the restaurants playing loud music becomes quite a mixture - yet is fun sometimes.

The service was little slow - blame it on the throng of people. I wouldn't deny they were trying their level best to service well and keep everyone happy and content. :)
The servers are an energetic bunch. There were two birthday celebrations, and they were singing with so much josh, they made the birthday boy or girl stand up on the chair, and sang in full melody - it was an interesting song, different from the usual HPD.

They have started some stripes initiative, where you need to register on a number and then you can avail some offers against your registration. For every 100 bucks you spend you can collect some stripes, and when you have collected enough you can reuse them for ordering some dishes for free. Interesting and unique way to keep people grooved.

For my this visit, I would definitely give it a 4.0 rating. :) :) It was way better than my last visit.

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The COUNTRY FRIED CHICKEN - an absolutely delectable piece of tender, juicy chicken deep fried in a crumbly batter. It was served along with extra delicious mashed potato, few exotic veggies and half a baked corn - added flavors were from the herbs sprinkled atop.
The FISH AND CHIPS as usual never fails to impress - delicious! :)

The staff was courteous and attending.

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Few pictures from the visit:

Chicken nachos

Chicken wings

Sea food platter



Finger chips with fries



Fish and chips

Country fried chicken

~Bon Appétit!! 

P.S All the above photos have been clicked by me. :)