Sunday, December 20, 2009
Curry Heals the Soul
Basic ingredients you will need:
2 tsp curry
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper and ground red pepper
ginger
dried crushed bay leaf OR fresh if you have it
canned tomatoes, pound or so of fresh chicken breast, onion, garlic chicken broth, 2 small/medium sweet potatoes, frozen peas and a can of chickpeas
In a small bowl mix all of the above spices, including a healthy dash of salt and pepper and a light dash of ground red pepper. Also finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl, and if you have fresh ginger chop a bit of that as well - maybe a teaspoon or a little better - or use about a 1/2 tsp of ground ginger.
Cut the chicken breast into small chunks and place into your favorite soup pot that has heated up with some olive oil in the bottom. Start to brown the chicken. Chop half of a large onion vertically, so it is in long strips, and add to the chicken. Once the onion starts to become tender stir in the bowl of spices. Add in about 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 small can of diced tomatoes (with juice), the 2 sweet potatoes peeled and cubed, and also the chickpeas (drained). Let it all simmer for a good hour - with the pot either uncovered or only slightly covered. This will help the liquid reduce some and become thicker. Stir occasionally and enjoy the lovely aromas. Just before serving add appx 1 cup of frozen peas and heat them through. If you used a fresh bay leaf - discard - and serve over your favorite rice. I favor jasmine.
Yum!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Homemade Applesauce
Besides apple pie, apple dumplings, apple coffee cake and apple butter, I made some really fantastic applesauce.
Pull out your bathroom scale, unless of course you have a "kitchen scale"...really though if you do, you need to "wing it" a bit more. Place a large bowl onto the scale and fill it with apples until you reach about 8-9 pounds.
After you peeled them, cored them, and left them in large chunks (maybe only quarter your apples if they are small - eighths if they are big), place the apples in a large pot with:
-The peel of one lemon (cut about 8 wide strips down the lemon - leaving some of the white on the fruit - a vegetable peeler works good)
-The juice of 2 lemons
-A healthy bit of cinnamon
-1/2 cup dark brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 cup water
-1 teaspoon of salt
Cover the pot and bring mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. You'll know it's ready if the apples are starting to break up. You'll actually want to carefully sample a bit to make sure your sugar is right. Depending on the apples you might want a bit more. Remove from heat and remove the lemon peels. Mash to desired consistency with a potato masher.
This will make about 3 quarts of applesauce. I made two batches, ate a bunch, and ended up with 4 quarts in the freezer. If you have it stored in an actual deep freeze it is supposed to keep up to a year!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Butternut Squash Ravioli
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Drunken Noodles!
Besides playing with some peanut sauce now and then I never attempted to actually cook Thai food. It seemed like it would be complicated. Boy was I wrong!
I found a relatively easy looking recipe for Drunken Noodles yesterday, and altered it to make it make sense to me. Delish!
Cook 6-8 oz flat rice noodles according to package directions. It should involve some form of soaking. I couldn't find the wide noodles, and used the skinny kind. The box told me to boil some water - add the noodles - shut the heat off and let them soak for 3 minutes - rinse - set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 4 T. soy sauce, 2T. oyster sauce, and 2 tsp. brown sugar. Set aside for later.
Heat 1 T. canola oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. This is the part you could add your favorite meat or some tofu and cook, then set aside until the end. I made mine just with veggies and had some chicken with peanut sauce on the side.
Add 4-5 minced garlic cloves and saute for about 15 seconds. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (take it easy - you can always add more!), 1 small head of broccoli chopped into small florets, 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, and a handful of pea pods. (This is the part where you make it yours with favorite veggies. Carrots, celery, mushrooms, peppers, etc. - whatever is tasty!) Stir fry the veggies about a minute.
Next you add in that sauce from above, the noodles, a couple good handfuls of bean sprouts, a very good handful of Thai Basil coarsely chopped, and reserved meat or tofu from above if you choose to have it, and stir fry all together for another 1-2 minutes, until veggies are tender crisp.
Thai Basil was new to me, and I was certain I was not going to be able to find it. Low and behold it was there. It is definitely different from traditional basil, although the recipe said you could use traditional basil if you couldn't find the Thai. I'm not convinced of this, but I know where I can find Thai Basil now!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ragu Begone!
Some time last year I stopped buying spaghetti sauce. Some time Saturday night, between bar stops, my best batch of sauce yet was created. There is still a notch out of my left index finger to prove it.
Super Chunky Pasta Sauce
Heat a splash of olive oil in a deep skillet. Add 5-6 large cloves of garlic as finely chopped as you can manage (without adding fingers to the skillet), 1/2 onion chopped, 1/2 green pepper chopped, 1/2 red pepper chopped, a handful of fresh mushrooms thick sliced (baby bellas!), 1/4 cup fresh oregano finely chopped, 1/4 cup fresh parsely finely chopped and 1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped. If you don't have the fresh versions of the herbs use a few good teaspoons of dried. Salt and pepper it all to taste.
Once you've got your saute on and everything smells great and is tender, dump in a couple of cans (15 oz size) of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes (don't drain) and a small can of tomato paste (the teeny tiny can). You "could" run the tomatoes through a food processor to smooth them out if you wanted, but seriously...why? Let it all simmer together on low heat while you get the rest of the meal together!
Great on gnocchi, ravioli, any pasta, and for my gluten-free friends - just add to some nicely cooked chicken! Actually if I was eating it straight with chicken maybe a splash or two of red pepper flakes would be nice to wake it up a bit?
Monday, July 27, 2009
One Fish. Two Fish. Pink Fish. Bacon Fish.
Recently I could not resist a massive salmon fillet from Westborn Market in Berkley, MI. I can't usually resist their chicken Italian sausages either, but did this time somehow. Perhaps because I had a 3 pound salmon fillet in my cart.
The preparation is extremely simple. I cut the fillet into 3 manageable pieces because I was going to grill it. Rub both sides with olive oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and fresh black pepper. In a small bowl, coarsley cut up fresh dill - LOTS of fresh dill, and slice some lemons - probably about 2 lemons.
Place the fillet skin side up for a few minutes to get a little color on it - then flip so the skin is down. The skin will grill up really crispy for those that eat it. I don't, but it did look tasty! After the flip, top with lots of dill and lay down some lemon slices. The fish won't take long to cook - depending on the heat of your grill maybe about 10 minutes. Run a spatula under the fish occasionally to make sure it isn't sticking, but you shouldn't have any trouble! Serve with extra lemon wedges. Super fresh and tasty fish!
Next up - bacon fish! This is as simple as the first. I'm not a big fan of bacon, but this was tasty. Season your favorite fillets of fish - small-ish sized - with salt and pepper. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on them. Add some red pepper flakes and cumin for some kick if you like! Wrap the fillets with one or two pieces of bacon and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!
My apologies for the lack of photographic evidence of food goodness, however, sometimes its just too damn good to take the time to grab the camera.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Mini Pizzas, Margaritas, and Mud Pie Cake
Mud Pie Cake was a first for us, but we loved it for so many reasons. It is difficult sometimes to bake for just a few people, and this cake was just the right size. It also uses ingredients you are certain to have on hand. The final result is so light and wonderful you will find yourself wanting to eat the entire cake!
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar ,1 T unsweetened cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a dash of salt. Add in 1/4 cup milk (fat free is okay!), 1 T. canola oil, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. (I would have also liked to add some pecans at this point, but this was Ty's cake!)
At this point you are thinking to yourself that you screwed up the recipe because there is not very much batter. It's cool. You're doing fine! Spread this batter as best you can in a greased 9" pie plate.
In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, and 2/3 cup boiling water. This is the mud part. It looks like dirty water! Slowly pour this over the batter.
You're still certain you've screwed something up, or this can't possibly work. Trust me, I felt the same way! Just put it in the oven, set your timer for 20 minutes, and walk away. It will be perfect! Eat it while it is still warm - best with berries and ice cream.
Once you cut into it all that liquid you had poured on top of the batter has baked into the middle and thickened up into "mud". It's quite fantastic!
Now for the margaritas. If your margaritas involve a bucket of slush from the grocery store, you're doing it ALL wrong. They are so easy to make and so very good.
The key here is 1/2 cup. 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup lime juice (Rose's), 1/2 cup triple sec, 1/2 cup Jose, and 1/4 cup sugar diluted in 1/4 cup water (which should make 1/2 cup sugar water). Add ice to fill the blender and voila!