I read my post on the mushroom salad and wondered why I of all people should have food that ‘tastes as if it is from the morgue’ for lunch.
So I decided to take things in my own hands and work towards a great lunch this morning. So what if Banu had bunked the previous day? That the kitchen was dirty? That she could bunk today too? And that I am not a morning person. But I was a man on a mission. And was also inspired by Lazy Pineapple’s suggestion on pesto for pasta. And that’s how I ended up making ‘Pollo’ (‘chicken’ in Italian restaurant menus) Pesto Pate.
I took out mixer grinder and some left over chicken breasts from the previous day’s chicken rezala. Rezala is a very light gravy so the chicken pieces were as close to plain boiled chicken as one could get. The plan was to make a pesto sauce and add it to the chicken and make sandwiches out of it.
I took out the remaining basil leaves from the fridge, a bird’s eye chilly, olive oil. Looked at chicken and the other ingredients. That’s when inspiration struck. Epiphany. One of those rare moments in the history of mankind which are recorded for posterity. The stuff folklores are made off. And remember, I am not a morning person. My senses aren’t fully awake till noon. That I had not had coffee yet!!!!
I looked at the boiled chicken, basil, bird’s eye chilly, olive oil and suddenly the word ‘pate’ screamed out to me. Followed by the word ‘pesto’. Just about the only two French and Italian words that I know. Pate? Well I had never made pate before. I had no idea how meat was ground. Yet a mysterious force, much greater than us, took control of me.
It was an out of body experience as I saw myself put the four pieces of chicken in the mixer after taking out the bones, add in 8 – 10 basil leaves, one bird’s eye chilly, two teaspoons of olive oil and about 50 g of Australian cheddar which was in the fridge.
I put this together in the mixer and switched it on. I opened the lid after less than 10 seconds. The pate was ready. Miraculously easy. Gave it one more whip in the mixer for the road.
I slopped some of the pate into a bun that I had bought from Candies and took a bite. Pure heaven. The chicken had blended in beautifully and had a nice pate like consistency with a little help from the olive oil. The basil gave it a pleasant cooling touch which was such a welcome relief in summer. And the bird’s eye chilly gave it a very very mischievous tropical Oriental bite. I didn’t add crushed garlic into the pate as garlic, or raw onions, has no place in the corporate world in my opnion. I was setting out for work after this.
I took two more buns for my lunch. Tasted fantastic. Kept some pate in the fridge for Kainaz to have at nights. She did cartwheels and said that it was inspired and apparently one of the best things that I have ever made. She begun to make plans of me selling it to premium food stores and went off to sleep dreaming of a Lamborghini which could drop her from from office to the close by mall where she takes an auto and goes for lunch everyday.
Did I mention that I am not a morning person?
Update: As an anonymous commenter pointed out, pesto needs pine nuts. But then bird’s eye chillies don’t feature eaither. So make your choice and move on
Update 2: 25/5/2010: made it last night again with half a fistful of pine nuts, more olive oil (5 tablespoons), and about 75 g of a rather cremy French Faux Feta… turned out to be really creamy and well with Melba Toast
