Red Curry Chicken

We love red curry and my Red Curry Soup is a favorite in our home so when I saw a recipe for red curry chicken wings on Peggy’s My Fiancé! Loves it, So it MUST Be Good, I knew that I had to make it, especially as I had all the necessary ingredients in the house.  Peggy used chicken wings but I decided to use a whole cut up fryer because, well that’s what I had in my freezer.  The marinade was simple to mix together and I did it early one morning planning to bake and serve the chicken that night but Eammon got tied up at work and then the next night he had dinner plans so my pieces of chicken ended up marinating for 2 1/2 days!  I don’t know if marinating the chicken that long added to the flavor or not but the chicken came out flavorful and perfect so nice to know that when I make this again (and I will) I can prepare it well in advance of when I’ll need to use it so I’m thinking, perfect for a party!  Eammon especially enjoyed this preparation and I’m going to give it a try on some wings one of these days, I know that too will be a big hit.

Red Curry Chicken with Long Beans with Walnuts and Aloo Gobi.

Red Curry Chicken (adapted from here)

1 can coconut milk (I used lite)
3 TBS fish sauce 
2 TBS dark brown sugar
2 TBS red curry paste
1 TBS peanut oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 whole fryer chicken, cut in pieces, skin left on

In a medium bowl combine coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, red curry paste & oil.  Mix until sugar is dissolved and curry paste is mixed through.  Stir in the cilantro.  In a very large zipper bag add the cut up chicken pieces and the marinade.  Seal the bag and massage to coat all the chicken pieces well.  Place the bag in a large bowl in the refrigerator and marinate for 6 hours to three days turning once or twice to redistribute the marinade.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Remove chicken from the marinade, shaking off any excess.  Place chicken skin side up on baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes until juices run clear and skin is crispy. 

Enjoy!!

Mint Lassi

Thursday night I attended a Indian cooking class and though everything made and served was delicious (and those recipes will be coming) one real standout for the evening was the mint lassi which was served at the beginning of the class.  In the past I’ve only made and tried mango lassi which is sweet and creamy like drinking a fruit smoothie so nothing oh-too adventurous, unless you consider the addition of cardamom adventurous.  So last night when I was handed a glass of mint lassi I honestly was a bit hesitant as I didn’t quite know what to expect.  Then I thought about it, mint ~ love it and drink mint tea all.the.time, yogurt ~ eat it almost everyday, cardamom ~ nothing new there and some sugar ~ well I do have a sweet tooth.  So I knew that I liked all the individual ingredients and honestly I’ll try almost anything once, so I gave it a try and am I glad that I did because mint lassi rocks!!  I enjoyed the drink so much Thursday night that first thing the next morning I went out to the weed patch garden and picked fresh mint so that I could enjoy my new found treat again.  We weren’t given a recipe or amounts but were told that the drink can be made as minty, sweet or creamy as one desires.  But I’m thinking that no matter how it’s made, this mint lassi is refreshing and light and a perfect drink for a hot summer afternoon.

Mint Lassi

2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup plain yogurt (I used fat-free)
2 cups ice cubes
seeds from 4 green cardamom pods, pods discarded
4 TBS. Whey Low Gold (brown sugar, agave or sweetener of your choice)

mint leaves for garnish

Put everything but the garnish mint leaves in a bender and process to a slushy consistency.  Pour in glasses and garnish with fresh mint leaves.  Serves 4.

Enjoy

Aloo Gobi

Cauliflower was on a great sale recently so I picked up two heads thinking that I’d use one for cauli-rice under a curry and the other I’d do my usual and we’d just enjoy the florets roasted with a bit of garlic, salt & pepper.  But I’ve been craving Indian spice flavors so I thought why not change things up and do something a bit different.  After a quick check in the pantry and knowing that I had potatoes and onions I decided on Aloo Gobi (aloo = potato & gobi = cauliflower).  I was too lazy to actually go and look up a recipe so I prepared this based on partial memory of making it previously and the flavors that I thought should be there.  So this recipe is probably not very authentic but very delicious none the less.  

Aloo Gobi

1 head cauliflower
4 medium potatoes, peeled (I used Russet)
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh minced ginger
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 TBS ground cumin
1 1/2 TBS ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 450F.  Cut the cauliflower into florets and the potatoes into bite-size pieces.  In a large bowl toss the cauliflower and potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the oil then place in single layer on a large foil lined baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.  While the cauliflower & potatoes are baking heat 1 TBS of oil and the butter in a large frying pan.  Add the onions and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the the cumin, turmeric and salt and stirring continuously, cook one minute.  Add the water to the frying pan and stir to combine with the onion-spice mixture.  Remove the baked cauliflower & potatoes from the oven and add them to the skillet.  Toss with the onion-spice mixture until well coated.

Enjoy!

Math Book No Bake Cookies

Maisie found a no bake cookie recipe in her math book and begged to make the cookies saying that it would help her learn math.  Yeah I fell for her line and we made cookies.  They’re super simple and actually tasty, a bit like candy.  So she learned some math and we got some tasty cookies, not a bad deal.

Math Book No Bake Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. cocoa
3 TBS. milk
3 TBS. butter
2 packets plain instant oatmeal (or 1 cup quick cooking oats)
1 TBS peanut butter (we used smooth)

In a medium microwave safe bowl add the sugar, cocoa, milk and butter. Microwave on high one minute then stir to mix all the ingredients. Heat again on high for one minute allowing the ingredients to "boil" together. Remove from microwave and stir to mix then add the oats and peanut butter and stir to mix completely. Using a small Tablespoon scoop or Tablespoons, drop by Tablespoon full onto waxed paper. Refrigerate to set.  About 18 cookies.

Enjoy!

Laksa

There are dozens of different varieties of laksa and I’ve enjoyed many of them but recently I just had a flavor profile in my mind and no recipe so I got creative and the outcome, totally delicious!  Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you off, this is really simple to make and what’s nice is that when you serve it, everyone can pick out their favorite toppings to add to the bowl. It would be fun to serve at a party, instead of a taco bar or chili bar, it could be a laksa bar.   We really enjoyed the contrast between the spicy hot laksa and the crisp cold veggies.

 Laksa

Soup:
2 TBS shrimp paste (belacan)
15  large shallots, peeled and quartered
2 large red peppers, stem & seeds removed, quartered 
10 small Thai green chili peppers, stems removed
2 heads of garlic, cloves peeled
24 oz. coconut cream
28 oz. coconut milk
6 cups cheaters chicken soup
1 scotch bonnet pepper, stem & seeds removed but left whole
8 oz. yellow soybean sauce
8 oz. tamarind paste
2 TBS. fish sauce
2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled with tail left on, cleaned & deveined
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
dried rice noodle vermicelli (mie hoen)

Toppings: (below are what we used but any fresh veggie works)
garlic chives, tops left long and stems chopped
mung bean sprouts
cucumber, peeled and seeds removed, julienned
mushrooms, sliced
orange and yellow sweet peppers, julienned
scallions, sliced
cilantro

(Some of the less common ingredients so if you go shopping you’ll know what to look for.)

Crumble the shrimp paste onto a foil lined pan and roast in the oven @ 350F for 8-10 minutes until it is dry and crumbly.  Add the roasted shrimp paste, shallots, red peppers, Thai chili peppers and garlic to a food processor and process to a fine paste then set aside. 

In a large pot melt the coconut cream being careful not to allow it to burn but do allow it to toast ever so slightly.  Once the coconut cream is melted and you can smell toasted coconut add the mixture from the food processor and stirring constantly cook for two minutes.  Add the coconut milk, chicken stock and scotch bonnet pepper and simmer on low, stirring often for 30 minutes.  

Meanwhile in a food processor add the soybean sauce, tamarind paste and fish sauce and process until smooth.  After the coconut mixture has simmered for 30 minutes add the soybean, tamarind mixture and stir to combine.  Simmer for five minutes and taste.  The soup should be gravy consistency thick, a little “gritty” in texture from the ground up vegetables and shrimp paste, spicy hot, a little sour, a bit sweet and slightly salty.  Add the shrimp to the simmering soup, stir, cover and immediately turn off the heat allowing the shrimp to poach.  After ten minutes remove the pot lid and check to see that the shrimp are cooked through.  Remove and discard the scotch bonnet pepper.  Add the chopped cilantro and stir to mix.

To make the noodles bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the noodles, cover and remove from the heat.  After 3-4 minutes stir the noodles to separate them then drain and rinse and set aside covered.

To serve, put some noodles into a large bowl and ladle in some of the soup.  Top with your favorite nice chilled fresh veggies.

Enjoy!

Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Today Maisie and I decided to bake a special treat for a chocolate and caramel loving friend.  After a bit of thought we settled on making mini brownie bites stuffed with a Rolo candy and topped with a caramel cream cheese frosting.  A perfect two bite treat, surprisingly not over-the-top sweet, adorable and YUM!!

The brownie bites were very easy to make and Maisie and I had fun cooking together.

But I think that Maisie’s favorite part was licking the spoon, she really got into her work.

Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 box fudge brownie mix plus necessary eggs, oil & water per package instructions (or your favorite homemade recipe)
• 24 Rolo candies plus extras for the cook's snack
• 4 TBS. butter, softened at room temperature
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 2 TBS. caramel sauce
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Remove all the wrappers and refrigerate the Rolo candies.  Pre-heat oven to 325F.  Prepare brownies according to package directions.  Grease a 24 cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray and fill each cup 3/4 full with batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and immediately press a Rolo, smaller side down, into the center of each brownie bite until the top of the Rolo is even with the top of the brownie bite.  Cool for a couple of minutes then carefully remove the brownie bites from the pan to a cooking rack.  Allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, whip the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Add the caramel sauce and blend.  Add the confectioners sugar and whip until creamy and smooth.  Using a pastry or plastic bag with a piping tip, pipe the frosting onto the top of each brownie bite.  Chill in the refrigerator to set the frosting a bit before serving.

Enjoy!!

Blog Parties I may be attending:  Cast Party Wednesday, Delectable Tuesday, Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays, Fat Camp Friday, Food on Fridays, Food Trip Friday, Foodie Friday, Fresh Food Friday, Friday Favorites, Friday Food, Friday Potluck, Full Plate Thursday, Homemaker Monday, Jam Hands, Let’s do Brunch, Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays, Mangia Monday’s, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Menu Mondays, Mingle Monday, Mommy’s Kitchen, Mouth Watering Monday, Savory Sunday, Seasonal Sunday, Simply Delish, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday’s, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, This Chick Cooks, This Week’s Cravings, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesday Time Out, Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits, Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try, What’s Cooking Wednesday, What’s on the Menu Wednesday, Your Recipe My Kitchen

Rhubarb Crisp

From the time I was a little girl I have always loved rhubarb yet I never make it because I’m the only one in the house who will eat adores it.  The other reason I never make dishes with rhubarb is because anything with rhubarb requires the use of a LOT of sugar and I’ve been trying to really cut sugar from my diet.  About a year ago I found some sugar substitutes that I’ve been using in my baking and they are fabulous as I can’t tell that I’m using something other than sugar.  So recently when I saw an interesting and easy recipe for rhubarb crisp on Keeping Up With the Times I realized that it would be a great opportunity for me to make the sugar substitutions and indulge.  What I love most about this recipe is that it is rhubarb, no strawberries, no apples, no fancy spices, just rhubarb and a simple crisp topping. 
I have to say that I absolutely adored this recipe and there was only one thing wrong with it and that was how delicious it was and how much of it I wanted to eat!   Overall it’s not that unhealthy and since I can make it with no added sugar, I’ll be making this whenever I can get my hands on nice fresh rhubarb. 

Rhubarb Crisp (adapted from here)

5 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
Syrup
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Whey Low granules or sugar
2 TBS warm water
Crumb
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup Whey Low Gold or brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the rhubarb in a 6-8 cup casserole dish.  Combine the lemon juice, Whey Low granules (sugar) and water and stir to dissolve.  (If using real sugar you can heat the water and sugar together in the microwave to help melt the sugar then add the lemon juice.)  Pour the syrup over the cut rhubarb and stir to combine and coat evenly.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, Whey Low Gold (brown sugar) and rolled oats.  Add the melted butter and using your fingers, mix to combine into a crumbly mix.  Sprinkle over the rhubarb.

Bake 40 minutes until the rhubarb is bubbly around the edges and the crisp has started to brown.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Enjoy!!

Blacksmith Pizza

Many, many years ago before Maisie and even before Eammon, I remember visiting right around Christmas time (because it was wicked cold up in Massachusetts) with my Blacksmith friend George Martell and his family.  George made a wonderful dinner of grilled pizzas and I fell head-over-heels in love with them and dubbed them Blacksmith pizzas in his honor.  Grilled pizzas in this country are said to have started at Al Forno restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island and while I have enjoyed them there many, many times, I honestly like my own better as I tailor them to whatever flavor profile strikes my fancy.  I have been making these pizzas ever since George introduced me to them and they really are quite easy to make.  Because a lot of the preparation can be done in advance and because they are individual portions that can be customized, they are perfect for when we entertain or have guests, both those who love and are willing to try anything as well as those that are fussy with their food.

Maisie adores Blacksmith pizza and this day she was eating one with tomato sauce and because it’s what I had on hand, Fiesta blend cheese. (That’s why it looks so orange)

One pound of pizza dough (homemade or store bought) portioned and rolled into eight balls.  Place a few tablespoons of olive oil in a 9x13-inch baking dish,.  Make sure to roll each ball of dough around in the oil to coat it completely.  Cover the dish with plastic wrap and then a dish towel and place in a warm area allowing the dough to rise.

Once the dough has risen, working one dough ball at a time, gently separate a dough ball and roll it in the excess oil in the bottom of the dish to coat and then with your hands, gently spread and flatten the pizza dough into an 8-inch free form circle or what ever shape it turns into.  I make sure that there is a good amount of oil on my dough so I just stack my flattened dough one on top of another on a plate.

Have your grill blazing hot and quickly place your flattened dough on the grill.  Cover and cook for 30-45 seconds, just until the dough starts to bubble and the raw sheen of the dough disappears.  You will only be cooking one side of the dough at this time so remove the dough to a plate with the cooked side up.

Dough fresh from the grill with the one cooked side up.  At this point you can either continue making your pizzas or cool the half cooked dough and place in a zipper bag in the refrigerator for later use.  The partially cooked dough will stay for up to a week.

If you’ve refrigerated the partially cooked dough, bring it to room temperature before continuing.  To finish the pizzas, place the partially cooked dough raw side down and to the cooked side add your favorite toppings.  The pizza will only be on the grill for a minute or less to finish the cooking process so the pizza can’t be loaded down with toppings and all meats need to be cooked completely before putting them on the pizza along with any veggies that you may want cooked.  I often cook pepperoni and roast or sauté veggies such as peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes and mushrooms to use as toppings.  If you’re making these pizzas for a party you can have all your cooked and raw toppings as well as cheese set out as a pizza buffet and have each person customize their pizza.

Once you’ve added your favorite toppings, gently but quickly transfer your pizzas to an extremely hot grill.  I find using my favorite tongs and a spatula works the best for this process. 

Close the lid on the grill and cook for 30-60 seconds just until the once raw bottom is cooked and crispy and the cheese has melted. 

What’s great about these pizzas is that you can really use whatever you have on hand which was what happened this time as I didn’t plan so I hadn’t picked up a lot of our usual toppings.  This tray contains pizzas for Maisie and I.  Mine are in the top row and have a light coating of Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, very thinly sliced prosciutto and a light sprinkle of Fiesta blend cheese.  Maisie likes basic pizza so I reduced the juice from a can of fire roasted tomatoes (I used the tomatoes on Eammon's pizza) until it was thickened enough to spread on the dough and then Maisie topped her pizzas with a good amount of the Fiesta blend cheese. 

This tray was Eammon’s with all his pizzas being topped with Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, some very thinly sliced prosciutto and a light sprinkle of Fiesta blend cheese.  The top row pizzas also have the drained diced fire roasted tomatoes, thinly slice red, orange & yellow sweet peppers and diced Vidalia onion.  Because I was leaving the veggies raw I made sure to cut them very thin.

Maisie gives Blacksmith pizza a big thumbs up…as do Eammon and I.  Give them a try, they’re easy and pretty darn awesome.

Here’s some food p@rn of the grilled pizzas that I’ve blogged about in the past.Maisie’s favorite, tomato sauce and cheese.

My all time favorite pizza...Ever!  Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, figs picked fresh off my neighbor's tree (with their permission of course) and goat cheese.

One of my longtime go-to pizzas, pesto, caramelized onions, goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes.

Eammon likes more ingredients and this is one of his favorites, tomato sauce, olive tapenade, caramelized onions, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes and cheese.

The always delicious Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, prosciutto, caramelized onion and cheese

And just because I love her and think she’s stinkin’ adorable, Maisie eating her Blacksmith pizza way back in August 2009.

No real recipe, just some pizza dough, olive oil and your favorite sauces and toppings.  For planning serving sizes, Maisie and I will eat one pizza with a side or salad or maybe two pizzas by themselves.  Eammon can easily finish four pizzas as a meal. 

Enjoy!!

Blog Parties I may be attending:  Cast Party Wednesday, Delectable Tuesday, Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays, Fat Camp Friday, Food on Fridays, Food Trip Friday, Foodie Friday, Fresh Food Friday, Friday Favorites, Friday Food, Friday Potluck, Full Plate Thursday, Homemaker Monday, Jam Hands, Let’s do Brunch, Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays, Mangia Monday’s, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Menu Mondays, Mingle Monday, Mommy’s Kitchen, Mouth Watering Monday, Savory Sunday, Seasonal Sunday, Simply Delish, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday’s, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, This Chick Cooks, This Week’s Cravings, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesday Time Out, Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits, Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try, What’s Cooking Wednesday, What’s on the Menu Wednesday, Your Recipe My Kitchen

Long Beans with Walnuts

Doesn’t that just look delicious?  Well let me tell you, it tasted even more wonderful than it looked. 

Recently Maisie and I picked the first long beans if the season from our garden.  As luck would have it, I had just tucked away a recipe for Skillet Green Beans with Spiced Walnuts and I knew that the recipe was going to be the inspiration for our beans.  This recipe had wonderful flavor and the heat from the cayenne wasn’t in-your-face but sort of a tingle on the finish.  I really enjoyed this preparation and found that I liked it hot from the pan, at room temperature but even better, loved it cold the next day on top of a salad of greens.  I hope that you’ll give it a try.

Long Beans with Walnuts (Adapted from here)

2 TBS. bacon fat, butter or oil (I used bacon fat because I had just fried up some hickory smoked bacon for another recipe and was too lazy to wash the pan.  After tasting the beans I would definitely use bacon fat each and every time I make this dish, total yum!)
1 oz. piloncillo, grated or shaved (or brown sugar)
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne, more or less to taste
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 lb. long beans or string beans, cut in 2-inch lengths
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large skillet over medium-low, heat the bacon fat, piloncillo and ginger until the sugar is melted and the ginger starts to become fragrant.  Add the cayenne and walnuts.  Stir to coat the nuts well with the sugar & fat mixture.  Add the beans and toss to coat stirring for about 1 minute.  Cover and reduce temperature to low.  Allow the beans to cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove lid, stir to coat everything and taste for degree of doneness.  The long beans are done when they are cooked but still have a bit of bite, season as needed with salt & pepper. 

Enjoy!!

Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies…say what?

I recently saw this recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars and I knew that Maisie would love making them so that’s how we spent a bit of time this afternoon.  The original recipe was really quite simple, make homemade chocolate chip cookie dough add Oreo cookies, top with a boxed brownie mix, bake and then try to distract yourself with activities or get out of the house long enough for the bars to cool.  I decided to simplify the recipe even further by using refrigerated Toll House cookie dough in lieu of making homemade and with that little change, making these outrageously decadent brownies was super simple and Maisie was able to do everything herself.

Maisie with all the ingredients.

Spreading the Toll House cookie dough into a parchment paper lined pan.

Laying in the Double Stuff Oreo cookies.

Happy little girl as there were a few extra cookies so she enjoyed a double-Double Stuff Oreo.

Mixing up the brownie batter.

Pouring the brownie batter on top of the Toll House cookie dough and Double Stuff Oreo cookies.

Spreading the batter and making sure that it was perfect.

Finally cooled, the entire tray cut in half.

Close up baby!!

Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies  (adapted from here)

1 big batch roll refrigerated Toll House Cookie dough
1 pkg Double Stuff Oreo cookies
1 brownie mix for a 9x13-inch pan (eggs, oil and water as directed on the box)
Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray and then line with parchment paper.  Spread the cookie dough evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Add a layer of Oreo cookies. Mix together the brownie mix according to the directions on the box.  Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreo layers. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Find some way to entertain yourself as you wait for the brownies to cool.  Cut into squares, grab a big old glass of milk and indulge.

Enjoy!!

Mango Gazpacho

Though I’ve tried many variations throughout the years, I have found that I don’t particularly care for traditional vegetable Gazpacho.  Then again I don’t care for V8 Juice, tomato juice or even bloody Mary’s so I can see why traditional Gazpacho just isn’t my thing.  What I have found though is that when fruit added, like in my Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, I go absolutely Gaga for it and can’t get enough.  Recently I was perusing some cooking blogs and saw this recipe for Mango Gazpacho and I knew that I had to make it... and immediately as it’s been hot as Hades here in Georgia and I’ve been craving some fruity healthy goodness.  In addition, mangos are in season, on sale and I absolute adore them.  As luck would have it, I saw that mangos were on a super-duper sale this week so I stocked up and I’m glad that I did because I’m going to be making a couple of batches of this Gazpacho as I can’t stop eating it.

This Mango Gazpacho is delicious and the sweetness of the mango contrasts nicely with the acidity of the tomatoes and heat of the jalapeno and added hot sauce while the olive oil adds a velvety mouth feel.  This is a great soup for our hot Georgia summer days and I hope that you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think.

 

Mango Gazpacho (adapted from here)

2 large ripe mangos (about 4 cups), peeled and roughly chopped
6 large very ripe plum tomatoes (about 4 cups), roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 medium shallots
1 cup roughly chopped peeled & seeded cucumber, plus additional diced for garnish
1/2 cup roughly chopped celery
1 jalapeno, seeded & deveined
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup vegetable stock or more to reach desired consistency
1/4 cup olive oil, plus additional for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Favorite hot sauce, for garnish
fresh basil for garnish

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients except the oil, salt, pepper and the garnishes, process until smooth. Then slowly add the olive oil so it blends into the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.  You can store the soup in the refrigerator up to 2 days, if the soup is too thick after being stored, add additional vegetable stock to thin it out.

When ready to serve, pour the soup into chilled bowls and garnish each one with some diced cucumber, a few drops of hot sauce, olive oil and some fresh basil. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

If you love mangos, check out my other mango inspired recipes, Mango Thai Chicken and Mango Lassi.

Watermelon Frosty

I saw this recipe for a watermelon frosty on Happy Healthy Life and my mouth and tummy immediately said YES!!  I had watermelon in the house, a few frozen bananas in the freezer and I though I didn’t have any fresh lemons I always keep some frozen lemon juice on hand so I was all set as far as ingredients.  I immediately got some watermelon in the freezer and a few hours later I was relaxing and enjoying a wonderfully refreshing drink.  I love that this drink has no dairy but it’s still creamy and smooth because of the banana.  I’ve made this drink a few times already and have frozen watermelon chunks waiting in the freezer as I plan on making this drink all summer long.  I make the drink sans alcohol but you could always replace some of the water with your favorite alcohol for a more “adult” beverage.

Watermelon Frosty (Adapted from here)

2 cups frozen watermelon chunks*
1/2 cup water (or part alcohol of your choosing)
1 packet Stevia (or sweetener of your choice)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 frozen banana**

Place everything in a blender and whiz away!

Enjoy!!

* Remove the rind from the watermelon and then cube the flesh into 1/2-inch cubes.  On a parchment or foil lined baking sheet lay the cubes of watermelon out so that they are not touching one another and place in the freezer.  Once the watermelon chunks are completely frozen remove them from the baking sheet and place them in a freezer bag and store in the freezer. 

**Once bananas are fully ripe and the skins are heavily spotted or fully brown, peel the bananas and place each one into a snack-sized zip bag.  Squeeze out as much air as possible when closing and then freeze.  Though frozen bananas don’t look great they are wonderful in smoothies and banana bread.

Home Style Chicken Curry and The Secret Recipe Club

I read about a secret recipe club over on Amanda's blog and it immediately intrigued me.  How it works is, each month you are assigned a different participating food blogger and without telling them, you make one of their recipes of your choosing.  Then on a specified date everyone who is participating that month posts their recreation or version of the recipe they made.  I thought, what a great way to find some new food bloggers and try out some different recipes while also forcing encouraging me to post more to my own cooking blog, so I signed up.  So, I’m hoping that this will be my kick in the tush motivation to post more often to my cooking blog.

This is my first month participating and I was assigned Rachel’s Tangerine Kitchen and was beyond excited because Rachel is blogging from India and her blog is overflowing with wonderful international recipes.  I must have spent hours scrolling through all of her recipes and drooling over all the possible things I could make.  I narrowed my selection down to about seventeen dishes…can you tell that I liked Rachel’s blog a lot!!  In the end what really helped me choose was when she wrote about being brought up on the dishes typical of Kerala cuisine and how those were her comfort foods.  I knew right off the bat that we would love Kerala cuisine as the spices that are used in most of the dishes fall right into the flavor profile that Eammon and I love.  In the end I chose her home style chicken curry and when putting together my shopping list I found it quite interesting that the only thing I had to purchase besides the chicken, were the fresh curry leaves and coconut oil as all the required spices are just staples in my pantry.  If that wasn’t telling that we’d love this dish, I don’t know what was. 

Okay I’ll admit that curry isn’t very photogenic being multiple shades of brown but the taste, well that’s a different story as it was wonderfully delicious.  I’ve never cooked with curry leaves and as soon as I started cooking them with the shallots they filled the house with an interesting yet wonderful aroma. 

I found that I adore munching on the slightly crisp curry leaves once they’ve been sautéed with the shallots or onions and it’s good that I liked the curry leaves and that they weigh close to nothing because they are pricy at $30 per pound.

I thought that the curry would be very spicy hot with the chili powder and all the chilies but it just had a mild kick to it.  The recipe made a large amount and we enjoyed it over a few days and Eammon enjoyed it most served over Basmati rice with a mango lassi on the side.

Rachel’s recipe was simple to follow and I made just a few changes (marked in parenthesis).

Home Style Chicken Curry  (adapted from here)

2 TBS coconut oil
6 shallots, peeled and sliced
Curry leaves (I used 12)
1 c. grated coconut
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 TBS.chili powder
2 TBS. coriander powder
(I added 2 tsp. garam masala)
(I added 1 tsp. fennel seeds)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 TBS coconut oil
4 onions, chopped
5 green chilies, stems removed and slit (I used small green Thai chilies)
1 tsp. garlic paste (I used 1.5 tsp. finely minced garlic)
1 tsp. ginger paste-1t  (I used 1.5 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger)
3 tomatoes, chopped
(I added 2 med. potatoes, diced)
2.5 lbs chicken (I used boneless, skinless breasts)
Salt to taste
For tempering
Coconut oil-1T
Shallots-3 peeled, sliced
Curry Leaves

Heat 2 TBS oil in a very large pan. Add the 6 sliced shallots and the curry leaves. When the shallots turn soft and a golden brown, add in the coconut scrapes. Fry until the coconut turns golden brown. Add in the spices and sauté for a few minutes. Take off the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, blend the mixture with a little water into a thick paste.

Into the now empty pan add 2 TBS coconut oil, add in sliced onions and the slit green chilies. Sauté until soft and add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes.  Cover and cook until the tomatoes are very soft and start breaking down.  Add in the ground paste and add a few cups of water.  Add the potatoes and cook until they are soft, adding water if necessary.  Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked adding water to make the sauce your desired consistency.  Add salt to taste.
In a small sauté pan, heat oil for tempering. Add in the sliced shallots and the curry leaves. Sauté until the shallots are golden brown. Pour this into the chicken curry.

Enjoy!!

Coffee Crusted Steak

I saw this recipe for coffee crusted steak on Kevin & Amanda’s site and thought, what an interesting idea, so I decided to give it a try.  I strayed a bit from their recipe in the cut of steak, kind of coffee, fat used and cooking method…but the idea of using coffee on a hunk of beef came straight from their site.

Coffee Crusted Steak served with Potato Salad with Bacon 

I had two beautifully well marbled New York strip steaks which I made sure were nice and dry.  I then sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and then I went and looked at my stash of coffee.  I debated between the Guatemala Organic, the Rwandan blend, my favorite decaf or….
Fresh Market’s dessert coffee, Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa. 

Now Kevin & Amanda used a hazelnut coffee and I liked the idea of using a flavored coffee but I almost totally wimped out.  Instead I threw caution to the wind and heavily coated the steaks with my chocolate coffee.  I then misted the steaks with some olive oil and placed them on a roaring hot grill.  Three minutes on the first side, flipped them and then one minute on the second.  I let them rest tented for about 10 minutes and they were a perfect medium rare.

Am I glad that I tried coffee crusted steaks and even more that I used a chocolate flavored coffee?  Heck YES!!  The coffee added a whole new dimension to the flavor of the steak and the little hint of chocolate was just an added depth of flavor which was wonderful.  When I served the steak Eammon asked what they were coated with but I wouldn’t tell him until he tried it.  He had no clue even after tasting that it was coffee but he and I really both really enjoyed this preparation.

Coffee Crusted Steak  (adapted from here)

2 – 10 oz. well marbled New York strip steaks
sea salt to taste
fresh cracked pepper to taste
flavored ground coffee of your choice
olive oil

Season steaks with salt & pepper and then cover with ground coffee.  Lightly mist with olive oil.  Place on a very hot grill and cover.  Cook for three minutes covered then flip steak and cook uncovered for an additional minute or until done to your liking.  Remove to a plate and tent loosely with foil and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!

Potato Salad with Bacon

I am forever perusing cooking blogs and I don’t even want to venture a guess as to how many recipes I have emailed to myself in hopes of making one day as I’m sure that it’s probably more than I could make in two lifetimes.  Recently though I have been working on better organizing my recipes and as I organize I’ve been watching for those recipes which I could make immediately because of having all the ingredients in the house.  This potato salad was one of those recipes and though I didn’t have the exact ingredients in the original recipe I had perfect-close-enough substitutions and honestly after making the recipe I would leave my substitutions in place as this was a perfect recipe for us.  When I saw this recipe for potato salad. something about it just worked for me so it ended up in my email box.  

Funny thing about this recipe is the night that I first served this potato salad Eammon immediately exclaimed that this was “the best potato salad ever.”  So why is that so funny?  Because Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker got this recipe from her friend’s grandmother and on that original recipe card it was titled “Best Ever Potato Salad”.  So below is my slightly adapted rendition of their Best Ever Potato Salad.

Potato Salad with Bacon (adapted from here)

4 c peeled & cubed potatoes (I used russet because that’s what I had in the house)
10 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBS Dijon mustard
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped
1/2 medium red and/or orange pepper, chopped

Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender then drain the potatoes and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a fry pan over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but 2 TBS of the bacon drippings.

Remove the fry pan from the heat and add the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar and salt to the reserved bacon drippings and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl combine the eggs, celery, onion and pepper. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and stir to evenly mix. Add the potatoes and bacon and gently stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!