recipes

~ Bon Steele ~ 10 Comments

This is probably a no-brainer to my most of my FL:
1/3 of heart attacks caused by junk food!
You don’t say! :eye roll:

Isn’t it *sad* that this is “breaking news”?

How about something tasty and semi-good for you instead?

Khalia

1 1/2 lb Beef chuck boneless —cubed
large-ish splat of olive oil
beef stock; usually takes about 1.5 cans
3 flat yellow onions — chopped fine
2 teaspoons Tamarind concentrate
1/2 (one of the small cans) of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika — use the hot paprika
1/4 teaspoons ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 1/2 teaspoons Black pepper freshly ground
1 bulb of garlic, roasted and minced*
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves chopped
1/4 cup walnut pieces; finely chopped
1 tablespoon honey

Heat the oil over med-high heat in a large cast iron skillet.
Add the beef, onions, and garlic and cook while stirring for 12-15 minutes. Combine the hot beef stock, with the tomato paste & the tamarind concentrate in a bowl and allow to stand until all of the tamarind concentrate is dissolved. Takes about 8-10 minutes.
Add this mixture to the beef as well as all of the other ingredients, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Be sure to stir occasionally. Add stock as needed if the liquid reduces too much. Add the honey and walnuts and simmer for 15 more minutes.

*
garlic bulb
Cut the end off. Drizzle with oil. Wrap a stem or two of rosemary against the top of the garlic. Wrap whole mess in foil. Place in a shallow roasting pan or on a cookie sheet. Put in 350 oven for an hour.

Once it is done roasting, you can squeeze the garlic out of its papery wrapper with little to no fuss. Plus, its *tastier*.

Pumpkin-Chicken Soup

~ Bon Steele ~ 6 Comments

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER….

This soup is SPICY. It is meant to be. Think of it as a head-cold/flu bane, mmmkay?

It is also peasant food, i.e., meant to be served over a carb. I suggest a nice white rice. Use something aromatic and mild like Jasmine.

It makes a metric fuck-ton. For gods sakes, use a *very* large pot or be prepared to have orangey-soup splatters everywhere.

* 2 med onions (for this soup, use yellow or white as red onion makes the soup an ugly color), chopped
* 2 red and/or green peppers, chopped
* 4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced (This is a guess. I usually do +/- two heaping tablespoons of the pre-minced from a jar.)
* 2 tbsp. oil (something heavy enough to saute in that won’t burn/smoke)
* 1-2 lbs chicken boobs, cut into slightly bigger than bite sized pieces
* 5 cups chicken broth/stock
* 1 cup dry(ish) white wine (generally I use whatever I have leftover in the fridge. I’ve used a riesling and gotten away with it.)
* 1/2 tsp. dry crushed red hot peppers
* 1 large can tomatoes, coarsely chopped (open can, stick in kitchen shears. *snip snip snip* VOILA! coarsely chopped ‘maters)
* 2 cans pumpkin (please for the love of all that is holy – PLAIN pumpkin. NOT the already pie spiced version)
* pinch of red curry powder (go to an Indian market for this; worth it)
* pinch of cinnamon (dry)
* pinch of nutmeg (dry)
* 2 bay leaves (dry)
* 1/3 cup peanut butter (smooth or creamy; personally I prefer creamy–so that is what is usually in my pantry)
* salt
* pepper
* hot cooked rice

Directions

In large pot, saute the peppers, onions and garlic until onions begin to brown.
Toss in the chicken and saute until no longer pink.
De-glaze pot with the wine…add broth and stir.
Add everything else except the peanut butter and give it another stir.
Let that simmer over med-low for about an hour.
Add peanut butter and give it another stir.
Another hour of simmer, on low now.
Make the rice.
Once rice* is done, turn off heat under soup. Put rice in bowl. Ladle soup over rice.
Om nom nom nom.


* – do not use instant rice. Instant rice is the fru-eets of the devil.

jagwire…the Chicken Curry

~ Bon Steele ~ 4 Comments

Keep in mind that I have never been one of those cooks who measures…oh, anything. So, I’m guessing on some of the “1 tbsp” or “2 cups” stuff. Also? I am living in the US of A. We use lbs’s. Not sure exactly what the difference (other than some consonants) is but, ::shrugs:: eh. I figure that my holding my hands out to the screen and saying “this much” wouldn’t get you very far.

And lastly, things like chicken type can be switched out. I use boneless, skinless chickie boobs but you could just as easily use thighs.

Quicky Khorma*-*

You will need a large pan or wok. This makes quite a bit and its all cooked in one pan.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts – cubed into bite sized pieces
1 large onion, (I prefer a sweet vidalia) coarsely chopped
1/2 garlic bulb, de-skinned, and mashed into submission using a garlic press (or if you have supreme Ginsu-ninja skillz, diced into itty-bitty pieces) *
1 tbsp of cinammon
1 tbsp of mace
sea salt crystals
1 red bell pepper -julienned
1 orange/yellow bell pepper – julienned
1 and 1/2 cups of baby carrots, rinsed clean
2 -3 smallish zuchinies, rinsed and diced (bite sized rings)
2 small summer squash, rinsed and diced (bite sized rings)
1 can** of tomato/green chili mixture (we call it Rotel but YMMV)
2 cups of chicken stock
1 & 1/2 boxes of curry paste ~~
1 -2 cans of coconut milk (shake vigorously before use)

Saute the garlic and onion in about a ::sploosh::*** of oil over medium heat. When the onion turns clearish, its done. Ramp up the heat to medium high and add the chicken pieces. Brown. Once the chicken bleeds clear juice when stabbed, its done. Throw in the can – juice and all! – of the Rotel to de-glaze the pan. Stir everything around to get all the yummy goodness. Add the cinammon, mace, salt, peppers, carrots, zukes and squash. Then dump the stock over all and give it a quick stir. Add the curry paste blocks – I’d break them into chunks – and stir again. Lid that bad boy, turn the heat back down to medium-low and let the veggies cook. (about 15 minutes or so — basically, once you can pierce a carrot with a fork, continue on). *~*
Open up the pot – breathe deep the fantasticurry smell — and give the contents another quick stir. Add the coconut milk – both if you want a really creamy khorma – and stir once more.
Lid again, turn the heat down to low. Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot, over rice, in wide bowls.

 

* – Yes, an entire half of a garlic bulb. No, I’m not kidding. Personally, I use an ENTIRE garlic bulb but I am something of a freak like that.

** – tin? 😉

*** – probably about a tbsp or so

~~ – Again, YMMV but I occasionally use two whole boxes. Or just one and add in a 1/2 – 1 tbsp of OMG-it-burns! curry powder

 

*~* this is where I make the rice to go under the curry. I use jasmine but any semi-sticky will do.

 

*-* This recipe is in NO way anything other than really tasty curry-crack. It’s probably about a bazillion calories and fat grams due to the coconut milk. It doesn’t bother my hedonistic little heart all that much. Of course, I only break this out once in a while. I invented it for my daughter who is allergic to milk but LOVES her creamy curries.

 

Also, I sometimes use a bag of mixed frozen veggies (zukes, squash, carrots, etc.) instead of fresh because its faster. If you go that route, you just dump the whole bag in at the same time.