Turmeric image by Steven Jackson, via Flickr CC license
Chickpea Curry
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 approximately 2-inch piece of ginger, grated
2 teaspoons Sweet Curry powder
1 teaspoon Penzeys Curry Now powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 (15 oz ) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (smash one can with a fork)
28 oz can, petite diced tomatoes
1 can full fat coconut milk
2-3 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
Chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add onions, salt; sautè until translucent, about 6 minutes stirring every now and then. Add garlic and sautè for 1 more minute.
Add ginger and all the spices; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add diced tomatoes then chickpeas.
Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in coconut milk and simmer for 5 more minutes.
In a small bowl mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir in the chickpea mixture and cook for 5 more minutes or until thickened.
Take a taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Remove from the heat, sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro.
Serve over basmati or brown rice.
I made this recipe for the first time this evening for our dinner. The balance and depth of flavors was very good. Most of the ingredients are easy to have on had, with the exception of the fresh cilantro (which seems to go bad in just a few days — or is it me?).
This is a quick and easy, delicious (meatless) curry.
There is a wonderful restaurant at the corner of 60th and North Avenue here in Milwaukee. It is called Mekong Cafe. They serve Thai, Laos and Vietnamese food; the lunch buffet is reliably varied and delicious.
One of my favorite things to have there is Tom Kha Gai soup. I’ve searched for a recipe that comes close to the deliciousness that is that soup.
image of Tom Yum Gai by Lorenia via Flickr CC license
This recipe might just be even better than the Mekong version. It actually IS better because when I make it at home I don’t have to drive across town which saves me about stress and expense of about an hour in traffic.
Organic Ginger image by Artizone via Flickr CC license.
Image by Dubravko Soric via Flickr CC license
Image by Daniel R Blume via Flickr CC license
Image by Q family via Flickr CC license
THAI CHICKEN AND COCONUT SOUP (TOM KHA GAI) makes four generous servings
1 stalk lemongrass (I haven’t been able to find this a my grocery store, so I leave this out.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (This is the kind I use.)
6 quarter-inch wide slices fresh ginger (or grate an equivalent amount into the broth)
3 kaffir lime leaves (I used grated lime zest from one of the limes)
4 cups chicken stock (homemade is best, or use a box or bouillon)
1/2 pound (or up to a pound) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, sliced across the grain into 1/8-inch wide strips. You can also use tofu or shrimp. 2 cups shitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps quartered or 1 can 15 oz.straw mushrooms, drained.
1 14-ounce can coconut milk (Don’t use low-fat. Trust me. I tried it.)
Juice of one or two limes (about five tablespoons)
2 tablespoons nam pla (AKA fish sauce, also available in most groceries these days.)
3 green onions, trimmed and sliced into ¼ inch pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Trim lemongrass, cut into three pieces about four inches long. Whack the pieces with the flat side of your knife blade to crush slightly.
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Saute onion and garlic for about two minutes.
Add lemongrass, curry paste, ginger discs, and lime leaf (or peel). Cook, stirring, for three minutes.
Add stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add coconut milk, chopped chicken and quartered mushroom caps (or drained canned straw mushrooms). Cook five minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through.
Add lime juice and nam pla. Taste for balance between nam pla and lime. If one flavor is dominating too much, add a little of the other.
Garnish with green onion and cilantro.
This is the story from the Unfussy Fare website where I found this delicious recipe. I’ll copy it here to save you from clicking through but I’ll also link it to the website for you, too.
This one goes out to everyone who ever brought food when the chips were down. I may have forgotten to write a note, given everything. I’m sure you were busy. It took forethought. You had to find that recipe, get groceries, and cook. Then you had to transport it all, which can be messy. You probably wondered if you’d ever get your Tupperware back. It was good of you.
Years ago, when my mother was dying, people brought food. There were casseroles and brownies, homegrown tomatoes and pots of soup. I was mystified. Did they really think we could eat, at a time like that? Well, yes. They knew we could. Everyone eventually does, inconceivable as it seems. I felt like a traitor, eating while my irrepressible mother was slipping away. But she would’ve rolled her eyes at that sentiment, and reminded me that life is hard enough without my efforts to make it harder.
Years later, my husband and I welcomed a son. Dinner came to our doorstep every night for weeks, courtesy of friends and neighbors. I wept with thankfulness. I wept a lot in those days, but that’s another story. I can still taste those meals, seasoned as they were with naked gratitude. I missed my Mom. I needed help. And help arrived, wrapped in foil and kindness.
Birth and death are demanding. They just swoop right and in and put their feet up, blithely flicking away the orderly unfolding of our days. We are tender and tired as we attend our loved ones at the beginning and the end. We sing and stroke. We wash and feed. The clock ceases to provide useful information. These are the rhythms of lives, not days. In the midst of these marathons of nurture, gifts of food stand in simple relief. Meals arrive like little missives from the world where the clock still applies, like souvenirs of simpler times. It’s hard to remember simpler times when you’re in the thick of life’s seismic upheavals. Food gives strength, and comfort.
A family friend dropped this soup by for me and my stepfather when my mom was sick. We were dazed by the unfolding loss. My memories of that time are foggy, but I recall thinking this soup was the most delicious thing I ever tasted. I wouldn’t have thought it possible to even notice a bowl of soup just then, never mind enjoy it. But I savored every bite. It served to remind me that a world outside of sorrow still existed. Life would be there, with all its flavors and delights, when the time came to gather up the fragments of my broken heart and look forward again.
To this day, the complicated interplay of flavors in Tom Kha Gai puts me in mind of nurture, solace, and motherhood. When I know someone with a new baby, or an illness, or a death in the family, this is the dish I most often bring. I pass it on with thanks, for all the grace and sustenance.
I get a lot of requests for this recipe, which is the true measure of any dish’s popularity, if you ask me. This soup somehow manages to be feisty and harmonious at the same time. It’s interesting enough to impress foodie types, but simple and comforting enough to appeal to less adventurous eaters. (You might need to explain to the aforementioned “less adventurous eaters” that the big stalks of lemongrass and discs of ginger floating around in the soup aren’t meant to be eaten. They’re just adding flavor.) Sometimes I throw in cooked basmati rice at the end. That may be some kind of Thai-food no-no, but I find chicken and rice a soothing combination.
I’ve tried several new recipes this week. I’m somewhat surprised to report that they were all really good.
My daughter and I are both working on musical productions (at two different high schools — she is on the backstage crew for hers and I am the accompanist for mine). We had rehearsals every night this week either after school or evenings, and this weekend we have two concerts plus an extra rehearsal. Next week I have 6 shows (I think!) and two choir rehearsals and she has tech week (also known as Hell week in the theater realm).
SO — I’ve been looking for meals that are quick to fix and either either bake (can be left in the oven for an hour or more) or cook quickly.
Chicken walking through the village image by World Bank Photos via Flickr CC license
Chicken legs and thighs were on sale last week, so these are all chicken recipes.
Annabel Farley image of olives via Flickr CC license
Ingredients
For the Spice Mixture
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¾ teaspoon paprika
¾ teaspoon turmeric
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter, melted
4 cloves garlic, pressed
For the Sheet Pan Chicken
1 lemon
2 large sweet onions, cut into 12 wedges each
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 skin-on chicken quarters (I used 8 chicken bone-in skin-on chicken thighs)
1 cup green olives, pitted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I forgot to add this!)
Brian Siewiorek image of cilantro, via Flickr CC license public domain
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small bowl, prepare the spice rub by combining the salt, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, and black pepper. Stir in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and the pressed garlic.
Cut the lemon in half and set one half aside. Cut the remaining half into thin slices, then arrange the slices in a single layer on a rimmed half sheet pan. Scatter the onion wedges over the lemons, then drizzle 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over the onions. Sprinkle the pan with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon turmeric. (I think you could get by with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric. It is SO expensive!)
Place the chicken quarters on the pan, skin side up. Pat the top of the chicken dry, then brush the prepared spice mixture evenly onto the skin of each quarter. I rubbed the spices all over the chicken with my hands.
Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and roast for 45 minutes, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees and the juices run clear.
Scatter the pan with the olives and cilantro leaves. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half lemon onto the chicken. (I baked the olives on the pan with the chicken. I did remember the lemon juice, but forgot the cilantro.)
We had brown and wild rice with this. I poured the sauce from the pan over my rice and it was delicious.
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Mike Mozart image of green beans, via Flickr CC license
Instructions
In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine chicken, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and oregano; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Marinate for at least 20 minutes to 1 hour, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
Place potatoes and green beans in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Top with chicken in a single layer.
Place into oven and roast until the chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes.*
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
This recipe was quick and easy, baked beautifully and was absolutely delicious.
Turmeric image by Steven Jackson, via Flickr CC license
Little Chicken image by poppy via Flickr CC
Pukka Yellow Curry
The next recipe was not quite so easy (my kitchen was a huge MESS by the time dinner was ready), but I think that might be just first-time-working-out-the-kinks issues. Pukka Yellow Curry is a Jamie Oliver recipe. The result was flavorful and very well spiced. It takes a pretty large pan to fit all the ingredients in.
Ingredients
2 onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 yellow peppers
1 cube chicken bouillon
1-2 fresh red chillies (I used a jalapeno)
½ a bunch of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon runny honey
1 level teaspoon ground tumeric
2 teaspoons curry powder (I used Penzey’s Sweet Curry)
8 chicken drumsticks
olive oil
1 (14.5 oz can) chickpeas
1 teaspoon tomato purée (I left this out.)
320 g basmati rice
1 lemon
OPTIONAL:
fat-free natural yoghurt , to serve
Peel the onions, garlic and ginger and de-seed the peppers. Put 1 onion, 1 pepper, the garlic and ginger into a food processor. Crumble in the stock cube and add the chilli (de-seed it first, if you prefer a milder curry), the cilantro stalks, honey and spices, then blitz to a paste.
Place a very large casserole pan on a medium-high heat and fry the chicken drumsticks (pull the skin off first, if you prefer) with a splash of oil for 10 minutes, or until golden, turning occasionally with tongs. Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving the pan on the heat. Roughly chop the remaining onion and pepper and add to the pan to cook for a few minutes, then tip in the paste and let it cook down for around 5 minutes. Pour in 500ml of boiling water. Drain the chickpeas and add along with the tomato purée and a pinch of salt and pepper, then stir well. Return the chicken to the pan, pop the lid on, reduce the heat and simmer gently for around 45 minutes, or until the sauce darkens and thickens. Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.
With 15 minutes to go, put 1 cup (320g) rice and 2 cups of boiling water into a pan with a pinch of salt and simmer with the lid on for 12 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Serve the curry in the middle of the table with a few dollops of yoghurt (if using) and a scattering of coriander leaves, with lemon wedges for squeezing over and the fluffy rice on the side.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large oven proof skillet and then add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. The chicken doesn’t have to be completely cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside. Add more oil if needed. Saute the onion until softened add the garlic and saute about a minute more. Then add the broth, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the liquid until about 1/3 to 1/2 cup remains. Add the butter and whisk (or use a fork) until it is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the cream. Put the chicken in the sauce and then stick the whole thing in the oven for 5 minutes or so to finish cooking the chicken and heat up the sauce. Serve with hot cooked pasta or noodles. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley or basil.
image via Flickr CC by cookbookman17; Fresh Parsley — A bunch of fresh hand picked parsley. This parsley is bursting with flavor and ready for use.
Heat the olive oil in 3 to 4 quart pan. Saute the onion until it softens and turns translucent. Toss in the garlic and saute for another minute or so, watching carefully so the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the salt, the petite diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and the rest of the herbs and spices. Heat to boiling, then lower the heat to simmer. Add in the artichoke hearts and olives. Cook the cheese tortellini (or any kind of pasta) according to package directions. Simmer the sauce until the pasta or cheese tortellini is ready. Serve topped with parmesan cheese. VERY GOOD!
Artichoke Hearts, marinated and quartered
I revised this recipe from “Herbed Artichoke Cheese Tortellini” that I found on Taste of Home’s recipe web site. I like the fact that it is made with mostly canned ingredients which is great when you live in Wisconsin and winter lasts about 9 months a year. Using the fresh parsley along with the canned artichokes and olives adds enough brightness to the flavor to make the effort of minimal effort of making the sauce well worth it.
Cheese Tortellini; Image by Laurent, via Flickr CC License. Tortellini aux chèvre et capres.
The sauce tastes great on cheese tortellini, but it also tastes great on any kind of pasta.
If you are really in a great hurry, I suppose you could use onion powder and garlic powder (or some sort of pre-chopped garlic in a jar) to speed the process even more. But seriously, this sauce is very quick to make even with chopping an onion and a couple cloves of garlic.
I hope you try this and please let me know how much you like it!
image via Flickr CC by cookbookman17; Fresh Parsley — A bunch of fresh hand picked parsley. This parsley is bursting with flavor and ready for use.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Stephen Rees via Flickr CC license.
One of my favorite Indian dishes is Chicken Tikka Masala. Well, that and Sag Paneer and Samosas and a lot of other Indian foods. But I digress. The other night I planned to make Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner using a crock pot recipe. Usually the problem I have with crock pot recipes is that I never seem to have time to actually put the stuff in the crock pot in the morning before I go to work. So that is kind of a fatal flaw in the whole plan to use a crock pot recipe.
When I got around to making dinner the only option was to make it on the stove top.
I realized I did not have one of the critical ingredients: Garam Masala. I DID have an empty jar of it from Penzeys so I read the list of ingredients on the label then gathered as many of those spices as I could from my spice cupboard (or should I say spice “hoard” — I have a LOT of spices). I looked online for recipes that could be made without Garam Masala and found a couple I thought sounded good. I used those two recipes as a guide, combining them and added a few things of my own. The result was DELICIOUS; maybe the best Indian dish I’ve made at home ever.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by James via Flickr CC license.
Here is what I made:
Order of operations: Marinate the chicken, start the sauce, start the rice, cook the chicken, finish the sauce, combine chicken with sauce (add cilantro and cream if desired), serve with rice (and raita and naan if available).
Marinade:
1/2 to 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
½ t. cardamom
¼ t. cloves
¼ t. nutmeg
½ to 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well. You could use Garam Masala in place of some of the spices or just add 1 or 2 t. to the marinade with all the other spices. Add the chicken pieces. Let the chicken marinate in the yogurt sauce as long as you have time (mine only marinated for about 15 minutes).
Chicken Tikka Masala yogurt and spice marinade; image by JaBB via Flickr CC license.
Either grill the chicken on skewers (which is the better way and makes a more yummy tasting final product) or brown it in small batches in a hot skillet with a little EVOO and butter til nicely browned (which is what I did because it was raining and I didn’t want to run in and out to the grill in the rain).
Grilling the chicken for Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Drew McClellan via Flickr CC license.
Sauce:
1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ t. cayenne pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. paprika
½ t. salt, or to taste
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
Heat the EVOO and butter in a 3 qt. or larger pan. Saute the onion until it softens. Add the spices and salt and cook about 5 minutes more. Drain the petite diced tomatoes; add the tomatoes to the pan with the can of tomato sauce. Continue to simmer the mixture while you are cooking the chicken (either on the stove or on a grill). Just before you are ready to add the chicken to the sauce, use an immersion blender to puree the sauce and make it somewhat smoother. (You can skip this step, but your sauce will be lumpier).
Add the grilled/browned chicken to the sauce. Heat through and/or simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the rice is ready. Then add the final ingredients below:
½ c. half and half (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by July Frost via Flickr CC license.
Rice:
I cook my rice on the stovetop. Heat 3 c. of water or broth (you can add 1/2 t. sweet curry or a few strands of saffron) and 1/2 t. salt or so to boiling. Add 1 1/2 c. of basmati rice (can rinse it first, but I don’t always do that). Stir. Turn the heat down so it will still be simmering, cover tightly and set the timer for 13 or 14 minutes.
Serve the Chicken Tikka Masala over hot basmati rice with warm naan bread (Trader Joe’s has frozen naan that is very good) and cool smooth tangy raita.
Raita; image by Jules via Flickr CC license.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Guy Dickinson via Flickr CC license.
When we visited Turkey a couple of years ago, one of the meals our two teenagers enjoyed most was a big dish of Manti. According to a wonderful Turkish cookbook I have,
Manti are the ravioli of Anatolia. They are admittedly a little fussy to make, as the dough is to be rolled thinly and cut into fine squares, filled with a smidgeon of meat and sealed into neat little parcels. But the effort is well worth it – they taste delicious with the traditional distinctive yogurt, garlic and herbed butter topping.
For our young Turkish niece and nephew, Manti is one of their favorite comfort foods — it is their macaroni and cheese.
After looking through my lovely Turkish cookbook, my daughter asked if we could try making homemade Manti. We go the ingredients and dove into the process. My daughter and I made the dough, rolled it as thinly as we could then cut it into 1 1/2″ squares. We stuffed each square with meat and pinched the corners shut into the special four corner shaped little packets.
Image by thebittenword via Flickr CC license
Image by thebittenword via Flickr CC license
This took FOREVER! After all that the only thing left to do is boil them for a few minutes until they are cooked through (and float in the boiling water) and cook the simple yogurt sauce that goes on top.
Restaurant worker making tiny manti pasta in Istanbul. The best manti originated in Kayseri and is filled with minced lamb. Image by Phil Norton via Flickr CC license
We came to the conclusion that using meat-filled tortellini would make everything so much easier and that it would taste essentially the same. So that is what I’m suggesting you do, too. Our homemade version was delicious, but we do not think the time and effort involved made a huge difference from buying ready made tortellini (except for the shape, which most Americans won’t know about anyway).
So — buy enough meat-filled tortellini for your family and cook it as directed on the package.
Manti; Image by Sean Munson via Flickr CC license
For the Manti taste, you definitely need the sauce. Here’s how to make it:
Melt 1/4 c. butter (or use extra virgin olive oil) in a skillet.
Add 2 or 3 (or more to taste) cloves of minced garlic (cook briefly), then add 2 t. paprika, 1 t. dried red chili flakes (or use 1/2 t. is you like less spice). The recipe says to add some dried mint (2 t.) but we didn’t have it that way in Turkey so I didn’t add that.
To serve:
Top each serving of hot, freshly cooked meat-filled tortellini (our Manti substitute) with a large dollop of plain Greek yogurt and a generous drizzle of the flavored butter (0r olive oil) mixture. Stir to combine as desired and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with grated parmesan cheese.
Serve with a salad and warm, crusty bread. YUM!!
You could use cheese tortellini to make this a vegetarian dish. You could also use (meat-filled or cheese-filled) ravioli instead of tortellini if you want bigger bites. You might need to make more sauce if you use ravioli, though.
Ingredients needed:
Enough meat-filled tortellini for your folks and hot boiling salted water in which to cook it
2 c. plain Greek yogurt (full fat is better than non-fat for this dish)
1/2 c. butter or olive oil
several cloves of garlic
paprika
dried red chili flakes
(optional: dried or fresh mint)
parmesan cheese
Making manti, turkish dumplings, as seen in the February 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Each dumpling is filled with lamb, onion and parsley. They are served with a yogurt sauce and melted butter.
RECIPE REVIEW
Penzeys Recipe: Curried Chicken with Basmati Rice pilaf
In a food processor or blender combine and purée:
1 large onion, cut into eighths
3 cloves of fresh garlic
1 piece of fresh ginger root about 1″, peeled (or use 3/4 t. powdered ginger)
2 jalapeño peppers, quartered and seeded
Image by Jutta M. Jenning via Flickr CC license.
Image by Dubravko Soric via Flickr CC license
Image by Daniel R Blume via Flickr CC license
Image by Q family via Flickr CC license
In a large skillet:
Heat extra virgin olive oil (3 to 4 Tablespoons).
Brown 10 – 12 boneless skinless chicken thighs for about 4 min per side until browned.
Remove the chicken to a platter.
Add a little more oil if needed.
Add 1/2 t. whole cumin seeds and stir til they sizzle (1 min. or so).
Add the purée to the skillet along with
2 T. sweet curry powder
1/4 t. cayenne
1 t. salt
Cook all this for 5 to 10 minutes until it is golden and fragrant.
Add the chicken back to the skillet and stir to cover well with the curry.
Add 1 1/2 to 2 c. water or chicken broth.
Bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 min or so.
While the chicken curry is simmering it is time to make the rice.
Image by Laura Turner via Flickr CC license.
Basmati Rice Pilaf:
2 c. basmati rice
3 1/2 to 4 c. water or broth
1/2 t. sweet curry powder
1 t. salt
Heat water or broth to boiling. Rinse rice. Add rice and curry powder to boiling water. Return to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cover tightly and set the timer for 13 or 14 minutes. Check toward the end to be sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Fluff. Top with any or all of the optional stir ins below.
optional stir ins about 1/4 c. each:
sliced green onion
thawed frozen green peas
chopped fresh cilantro leaves
This recipe might look complicated but it is essentially just a few steps. The onion/garlic/ginger/jalapeño mixture is a breeze, then the chicken simmers in the sauce. While that cooks, then you are taking care of the rice.
My family really enjoys this curry! It is very tasty; nicely spiced but not overpowering. You can serve the chicken with plain rice if you want to simplify it, though.
I am fortunate to live near a Half-Price Books bookstore. I love books, stationery, music, cards, CDS and LPs — you name it — this store seems to have it.
I tend to browse the cookbooks at this store, even though I already have a HUGE collection of cookbooks at home. (I also have a really good Goodwill store nearby, too. Hardback books, including cookbooks, are only $1.79.)
I have a combination of three part-time jobs right now, so cooking dinner has become a somewhat rarer activity than it was previously.
I decided to try this recipe because you can only eat out so many times in a week before you get tired of
food that involves deep-frying
food that involves a drive through
food that begins to all taste the same
food that has no vegetables in it
Ingredients: *I tweaked a few ingredients and amounts so this isn’t exactly like the recipe in the book
1 pound of spaghetti noodles (or Chinese egg noodles if you can find them) 2 T. toasted sesame oil
1 whole roasted deli chicken
1 cucumber peeled, quartered, seeded, sliced and diced 4 scallions, sliced (white and green parts) 1/3 dry-roasted salted peanuts cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic 1 one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeeled (I grated mine) 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari 2 T brown sugar 1 T rice vinegar 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 c hot water (I used the pasta water as it was cooking)
Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water. Drain and toss with sesame oil
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the garnishes and sauce.
Also de-bone the deli roasted whole chicken. Cut the meat off the bones; save the “runnin’ gears”– the bones, skin and carcass — to make some quick chicken stock for future use. Keep the meat warm until the pasta is ready.
Garnishes: 1 cucumber peeled, quartered, seeded, sliced and diced 4 scallions, sliced (white and green parts) 1/3 dry-roasted salted peanuts cilantro, chopped
Mix the ingredients (listed below) in a blender and blend thoroughly. Toss this mixture with the pasta. 1 clove garlic 1 one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeeled (I grated mine) 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari 2 T brown sugar 1 T rice vinegar 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 c hot water (I used the pasta water as it was cooking)
Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain. Put it in a large bowl and toss it with the 2 T of sesame oil.
While the pasta is cooking, combine the ingredients for the sauce in a blender. Blend. Add this mix to the sesame oiled pasta.
Also while the pasta cooks, de-bone the deli roasted whole chicken. Prepare the garnishes.
To serve: Put pasta on a plate. Top with desired amount of chicken plus generous garnishes of cilantro, peanuts, scallions, and cucumber.
Image by Madeleine via Flickr CC license This image is not the actual recipe I’m posting. It looks very similar to this, though.
REVIEW: This recipe was quick to fix. It has very good flavor and was delicious. I happened to have nearly all the sauce ingredients on hand, so it was not a huge amount of items to buy at the grocery store — basically just a deli chicken, a cucumber and maybe some spaghetti, cilantro and scallions if you happen to have none of those things at the moment. I liked the fact that it tasted a little Thai and a little Chinese — but that it wasn’t overly spiced in either direction. You could definitely bump up the crushed red pepper if you need more heat or add Siracha sauce at the table.
This could easily be made vegetarian if you leave out the chicken. You could add tofu.
I think it would be good with grilled shrimp instead of the chicken. If you have them, fresh bean sprouts would give a nice crunch as well. You could use honey instead of brown sugar in the sauce. I grated my ginger into the blender because I didn’t want to chomp down on an unblended chunk of ginger. I would add more garlic next time, too.
It would be nice to add some toasted sesame seeds. I didn’t have time or energy for that, but it would be good.
FULL FORKS for this one! FIVE FORKS! Go fo it! Please let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it.
This Rachael Ray recipe for basic Carbonara is quick and easy.
I’ve made just a couple of tweaks, but it is still pretty much her original recipe (which you can see HERE.)
About 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 pound pancetta or bacon, small dice
5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine (could use stock if you don’t have wine handy)
3 large egg yolks, separated. Get rid of the egg whites in another recipe — you don’t need them for this.
Salt and pepper
1 pound pasta such as linguine, spaghetti or egg tagliatelle. I like the wider pasta for this recipe.
Grated Pecorino Romano and/or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
PREPARATION
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta.
Heat olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta or bacon, brown 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and some black pepper, and stir 2 minutes more. Add wine and reduce heat to low. Whisk up egg yolks and season with salt and pepper.
Add pasta to salted boiling water and cook to al dente.
Add 1 full cup of starchy cooking water to egg yolks in a slow stream to temper them. Reserve an extra half-cup starchy water in case the pasta gets too tight when you toss it. Drain pasta and add to pancetta and garlic, remove from heat and toss with egg yolks and handfuls of grated cheeses, parsley, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
That’s it. If you are the kind of person who always has bacon and parsley on hand, you could make this and be eating it in less than 1/2 hour.
Review:
Be careful when browning the bacon or pancetta. It can easily burn since you are frying such small pieces. Likewise, watch the garlic carefully when you add it. With the already hot bacon grease, the garlic needs much less time than usual to get overly browned.
I didn’t read the recipe carefully enough at first and nearly whisked up the egg whites, too. That would not work out very well, so don’t do that! Also, DO take out the pasta water and keep out at least as much as she recommends. Mine got pretty thick so I added a splash of milk, which may or may not be the Italian way. I have no idea. It worked in a pinch. Have everything ready for the end — the cheese and the parsley. It comes together in a flash. Also — DO use the fresh flat-leave parsley if you can. It really adds a nice fresh flavor.
Follow the steps for tempering the egg yolks carefully. You don’t want the eggs to cook too soon. They melt into the sauce and thicken it with the cheese.
The down side of this recipe is all the grease. You don’t drain the bacon grease and that PLUS the olive oil adds up to quite a bit.
I suppose you could experiment with draining most of the bacon grease (maybe leave 1 T or so) and then add more water or cheese or something at the end.
I think a little lemon flavor and maybe some green onions would be nice in this.
It might also benefit from a dash of crushed red pepper flakes.
I might try some more variations in the future. I will let you know when I do!
Overall:
FOUR out of FIVE FORKS!
Really quick and easy, but a little overboard on the oil/grease in my opinion.
Even my very picky nearly 16-year-old daughter ate it (after picking around all the “green stuff”).
Enjoy! And, as always, please let me know if you try this recipe, how it turns out for you, and how you like it!
image via Flickr CC by cookbookman17; Fresh Parsley — A bunch of fresh hand picked parsley. This parsley is bursting with flavor and ready for use.
The best Falafel sandwich I have ever had was near the British Museum in London. There was a little sandwich shop just around the corner from the main entrance. The falafel was declicious, but the “fixins” were wonderfully fresh, crisp and flavourful. (Spelled it the British way for good measure, there!)
I looked at Google maps in that area around the British Museum and the best possibilities are Salt and Pepper (5 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QE, England) or Bimbimbab Cafe (37 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LP, England). The menu and reviews at Salt and Pepper remind me more of the cafe, but the photo of Bimbimbab’s interior also looks familiar. It was not a Korean restaurant at the time if that is indeed the place we had falafel. It was 2008, so it is not likely I can solve this mystery now (unless someone in London can shed light on my memory!)
I’ve looked for a good recipe to try to recreate this memorable sandwich. The closest so far is a recipe from Rachael Ray.
My daughter and I made Rachael Ray’s Falafel Burgers recipe for dinner tonight.
We tweaked the recipe a bit so I thought I’d share our results and thoughts here.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. We used about 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. black pepper.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil for frying.
Combine these ingredients (above) in a large food processor. You might need to do 1 can of chickpeas and 1/2 the other ingredients at a time, then blend it all together in a bowl. We found the full amount to be too much for my Cuisinart. If the mixture seems too dry to hold together, add a little more olive oil. If it seems too wet — don’t even add the olive oil and/or add more flour.
Divide the chickpea mixture into 8 parts. Form into patties. Dredge lightly in flour.
Heat plenty of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet. You need 1/4 c. or so of oil or sometimes more depending on how large your skillet is.
Fry the falafel patties about 3-4 min. on each side or until lightly browned and heated through. You can use more oil and completely deep fry them, but I think pan frying tastes good and uses so much less oil
To make the sauce combine the following in a small bowl:
1/4 cup tahini paste
2 tablespoons water (or more if needed)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Prepare the “fixins” for serving:
4 sandwich-size whole wheat pita pockets (cut in half, warm in oven or toast lightly)
1-1 1/2 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber; peel, de-seed, quarter, slice and dice
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; a large handful
2 vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced or garden fresh cherry tomatoes (cut into halves or fourths)
(In the street falafel photo below, I see he is offering radishes, jalapeno slices and lemon wedges, and possibly baby spinach, too. It is difficult to see — but I think the idea is toppings galore and whatever you crave!)
To serve:
Fill 1/2 a warmed pita with fixins, sauce and falafel. Have plenty of napkins ready. Sometimes I end up eating it with a fork.
image by Daniel Roy, via Flickr CC; falafel stand in Aleppo, Syria.
REVIEW:
I’ve made this recipe several times. The biggest issue is getting the consistency right so the falafel doesn’t fall apart in the skillet.
The fixings are important. Use fresh and local if possible; organic always tastes better to me, too. Maybe that is just in my head, though.
The original recipe calls for twice as many spices and several quite expensive ones. I have used 1/2 the amounts in the RR recipe and it was good. This is the first time we used the Sweet Curry instead of all the cumin, coriander and turmeric. Feel free, of course, to adjust the spice levels to your taste.
OVERALL: FIVE OUT OF FIVE FORKS!!
Highly recommended.
Please let me know if you try this recipe, how it turned out, and if you enjoyed it.
The Tromp Queen COOKS! 