Crave-at Moment

It’s a rarity living in Mumbai and not rubbing shoulders with the celebrity kinds. Not in a derogatory way, but for those who are born and brought up in the maximum city are pretty much used to it and understand that the glam brigade are human too and respect the space they deserve.

You go to malls, gym, movies, and restaurants or even to the beach and you get a glimpse of their charming and glamorous selves but are quite oblivious to the public eye. People get starry eyed and crave to be in their shoes for one day. Fame is a definite ego booster and it’s a wonder that they get to lead normal lives.

I had my brush with fame one fine Thursday of August. An exciting call got my hopes soaring to unimaginable heights and I patiently waited for the 11th day of August to wake up to, for an interaction with a person I have come to admire in the food and food literary world – Mr. Matt Preston. A thorough gentleman onscreen and, after my rendezvous with him at a press meet held by Star World in India (Mumbai) at the I.T.C. Hotel felt all the more respect for him.

Masterchef Australia has been on my to-watch list whenever the seasons show up (currently on Season 3). This time I had barely got over the second season, missing most of it due to a tedious work life and cutting weekends to watch it on YouTube; I was hell bent on being punctual and parking myself in front of the telly during Season 3. I refused to be the party pooper and like other fanatics who craved it so much that they could not help going online and watching it live when the show was on in Australia; I ensured I made the best of it by watching it as it was aired.

I could not miss the opportunity to meet Matt in person. He is a star of a different kind and I left all my inhibitions behind of being one of those people who get all starry eyed on seeing their favorite. It was a one in a million chance to meet him face to face and to top it all, we were promised a cook off Masterchef style. Who could say no to that?

I met with a couple of other bloggers who were chosen to share the spotlight and pooled up with Rushina of A Pefect Bite (who incidentally had a prior opportunity to meet with him when she was visiting Australia on one of her Masala Trails Tours). Apart from that had some of my blogger friends Pranav, Aneesh, Vinda, Arpana & Harini who added to the cacophony of the event. We landed up there on time, made ourselves comfortable gleefully opening up our press handouts, when Aneesh got this bright idea of donning the personalized Masterchef toques. So we did, an enthusiastic bunch, craving Matt’s attention as we sat through the wonderful cook up session he had with Kunal Vijaykar (Having his own Foodie show on TV) our host.

I also mustered up the will to bring along something, mentally embracing my crazy dream to one day cook in front of the Masterchef Judge team. I knew he liked finishing sauces other than Kaffir Limes and this would be one thing I could bottle and hand over with much ease. So racking my brains and wondering how I could satisfy his craving I zeroed down on a Peach Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. A recipe I had once tried before when I had gorged on a discovery at a Red Lobster Restaurant (In U.S.A.) called Peach Bourbon BBQ Shrimp & Bacon Wrapped Scallops. The sauce was a perfect grilling accompaniment. I went ballistic searching for a way to make it and initially mixed up peach puree with bottled barbecue sauce and a dash of bourbon which pretty much satisfied my cravings then.

Back here in India there was no sign of any bottled barbecue sauce and peaches were also available only in season. I discovered a novel recipe of whisking up a good barbecue sauce and thought I could mess around a bit with my favorite flavors and come up with a decent relative to the Peach Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. This here is a recipe I have come to experiment and develop over time and usually have a bottle lying around during season.

This robust and plump sauce is perfectly flavored to suit most meats. The balance of sweet and hint of sourness, with the buttery fruit flavors mingling well with the muskiness of Kentucky style bourbon is hard to resist. Try this on with a variety of grilling meats such as chicken and lamb or brush some over your favorite veggies or tofu and grill away.

Peach Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1kg Fresh Large Peaches
• 1 no Fresh Red Chili (minced)
• 1 cup White Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tablsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tablsp Prepared Yellow Mustard Paste (strong)
• ½ cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• ¼ cup Kentucky Bourbon
• 2 tablsp Peach Schnapps®
• 2 pinches of Sea Salt

In a pot of boiling water, blanch the peaches (with the skin on) for about a minute. Cool, peel and coarsely chop them up after deseeding them.

Mix up the Vinegar, Bourbon, Mustard, Schnapps and sugar in a large bowl. Stir till the sugar has melted.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the oil on a medium low flame. Toss in the onion and red chillies. Stir fry till translucent and soft, about 6 minutes. Add the chopped peaches and the vinegar-bourbon mix. Simmer on a low flame till the peaches soften. This should take about 20 minutes. Remove, cool and puree in blender till you get a rich smooth sauce. Strain and bottle in clean, sterilized glass jars; these can be stored up to a month in the refrigerator

I am sure Mr. Matt Preston would have atleast had a whiff and a slight finger taste of it considering he has a busy schedule back in India, though he did tweet back to me saying he was waiting for an opportunity to throw it on his next BBQ; I am but honored to have made something which reached a Masterchef’s table.

Note: in my utter hurry and excitement I actually forgot to take a picture of the sauce. Nevertheless, shall be whisking up one soon and be putting it up.

Picture Courtesy: [Matt & Me] – Harini Prakash

Picture Courtesy: [Matts Dishes & Group Photo] – Vinda Dravid