Tikka masala

I started with a recipe from Epicurious but as usual didn't have the ingredients. So I made something that could have easily turned out to be cream of tomato soup.

It plated beautifully.

Step one:

Prep chicken. 

I used a 2 1/2 pound family pack of chicken breasts, beat with the bottom of a Le Creuset saucepan.

I poked holes in them with a fork and marinated them in a sauce of approximately:

- 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt

-  1 tablespoon oil

- garlic powder, about 1 tablespoon

- juice of one lemon

In a saucepan I sautéed:

- one tablespoon dehydrated garlic

- one tablespoon butter

- two tablespoons paprika 

- two teaspoons cumin

- one teaspoon cardamom

- one-half teaspoon nutmeg

- one pinch hot Indian paprika

- one tablespoon diced candied ginger

- black pepper 

I added:

- about one cup water

- about one cup half and half

- about one-half cup tomato sauce

I let that boil and reduced to a simmer while I cooked and diced the chicken.

Then I added three colors of peppers, cauliflower and peas to the sauce.

When that warmed I added it to the skillet:

It was very mild. I could have doubled the spices I think. But delightful on this cold day.

My first attempt at lentils/dal

I noticed a five pound bag of jasmine rice on clearance at Target last week. After my discounts, I would end up paying $1 per pound for this delightful rice. Could not resist. 

Then on another visit, I passed the dried beans. They were on cartwheel and chickpeas were on clearance. So I bought black beans, four bags of chick peas and a bag of lentils.

My friends from India had fed me dal and this was one of my only experiences with lentils. I decided to be brave. I decided to be adventurous. 

Tonight I made lentils.

And my fancy rice.

I served with a mini Lebanese pita because I didn't have naan.

Delightful. But I have a mountain of rice, lentils and my dal veggie mix left.

I started one cup rice in the steamer.

I boiled four cups water as instructed by the bag of lentils. Tossed one cup lentils into water, turned heat down, covered them and forgot them for 15-20 minutes. 

In my huge Le Creuset skillet, I dumped:

- one can garbanzo beans

- about 1 cup butternut squash

- one steam-in-bag Market pantry frozen cauliflower (four servings), chopped

- peas, about three servings

I periodically added water to keep everything wet and make a sauce. To give the sauce some texture I added:

- 4 ounces coconut water/lemonade

- 1/2 cup skim milk

(The milk added nothing. Leave it out and make this dish vegan!)

Once that got cooking I started adding my spices. I just tossed stuff in the pan, so measurements are VERY approximate:

- one tablespoon fresh chives, diced

- one tablespoon crystallized ginger, diced very fine

- two teaspoons ground ginger 

- almost one tablespoon garlic powder 

- one tablespoon plus curry powder

- about 1/8 teaspoon hot Indian chili powder

- two teaspoons cumin

- two teaspoons paprika

- two teaspoons cardamom 

Once that got saucy and delicious I plopped about 2/3 of my cooked lentils into it (the rest wouldn't fit) and voilà!

Somali style chicken and eggs

I came across suqaar with eggs and loolah on a somali cooking blog this morning and couldn't let it go.

Except suqaar= beef cubes.

So I used chicken.

And I didn't have the right spices.

But not following directions is a specialty of mine.

I started by chopping three chicken breasts and browning them. Then I added a couple tablespoons oil with parsley, garlic powder, cumin and paprika. 

Next I separated peeled plum tomatoes from a can with my fingers. Four. Poured in some extra juice. When that cooked, I added the eggs.

My Vegan Vindaloo

Previously, I made a lamb vindaloo adaptation that the family loved. I tried to reproduce it (at least the sauce) but this one came out spicier. I think it's because I marinated vegetables instead of meat and they must have really sucked in the juice. 

For the sauce:

(Pictured above... I figured why whisk when I could put it all in a jar, admire the layers and shake it.)

- 25 ml extra virgin cold pressed olive oil 

- 35 ml canola, vegetable or other oil of choice

- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

- 75 ml water

- 1 tsp garlic powder 

- 1 pinch pink Himalayan salt

- 2 teaspoons Indian chili powder

- 1 teaspoon cumin

- about 1 teaspoon cinnamon 

- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

- 1 teaspoon paprika

For the vegetables:

- 3 small local red potatoes, diced

- 1 small local tomato, diced

- 3/4 head fresh cauliflower, chopped

- 10 Brussel sprouts

- 15 ounces canned sweet peas, drained

- about 1/8 cup (handful) jumbo cashews, unsalted

- about 1/8 cup (handful) dry roasted peanuts 

Marinate, heat thoroughly in hot skillet (adding water as necessary to 'reconstitute' sauce, serve with rice.

Maraq (Somali style chicken stew)

I wanted something African last night and around here, the options are rather limited. We do have an Ethiopian restaurant in Allentown and my request to visit it for dinner baffled my husband.

We were too hungry after a long day. It was farther than he really wanted to go. I don't really like Ethiopian food.

He's right. I'm not fond of Ethiopian food. I don't dislike it, but it doesn't interest me like other cuisines. I realized this while dining on Ethiopian in Djibouti and grappling with what to do since my right hand was broken leaving me no choice but to eat with my left.

In Yemen, they gave me a plastic spoon. I have never been so happy to see a plastic spoon.

Today, I am hoping to avoid yesterday's drama (and there was plenty. The ten-year-old stomped off to her room and refused to come down. I was screaming. Husband was trying to make dinner and used my secret stash of spicy vegetarian "buffalo wings" that I got on clearance at Target.).

I researched Somali stews on the internet and found something for chicken... Because A. I don't have a goat and B. Chicken thighs work well in the crock pot.

I decided on Maraq. My variation of course. Because I never have the required ingredients. Yet, that never stops me. 

This is what I threw into the crockpot at 8 a.m. I started it on high but may adjust it later. I also hope to stop at the store and buy green pepper. Because the recipe asked for that and I think it will be needed.

In the crockpot:

- 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock, on the bottom of the crock, plus an additional 1/2 cup on top of the chicken before putting the lid on. I freeze my chicken stock in 1/2 cup discs (Noosa yogurt containers) and drop them into the crock pot like that.

- garlic. I didn't have fresh cloves so I sprinkled in hearty amounts of garlic powder and added a touch of garlic pepper. I also sprinkled garlic pepper on the chicken before adding the lid to the crock pot.

- cumin. Recipe called for two tablespoons. I apparently only have one. Just found cumin. Bought some at Indian grocer. Perhaps more than a tablespoon added. For a total of about 2.5 tablespoons.

- tomato purée. The recipe called for some high amount of tomato paste and 2 fresh tomatoes. I thought I had tomato paste. I don't. I had a 28 ounce can of tomato purée. Which since the original recipe was stove top and mine is crock pot, I hope the additional liquid will burn off. When I opened the can, I was shocked to see *how much* 28 ounces of tomato purée is. A lot. I did not add tomatoes. My family is not overly find of them, so I may or may not add them later in the day.

- spices: pepper, paprika, lots of parsley and a pinch of chili powder. Recipe asked for cilantro. Don't have any. May add coriander. Yes, need to do that. Nope. Don't have that. Thought I did. 

- squash. Recipe called for butternut but I had this hacking huge yellow squash from the farmer's market.

- baby carrots. About a pound. Husband chopped them. I wouldn't have. The squash depleted my desire to chop.

- I stirred all this and plopped a frozen pile of about 2 pounds chicken thighs (skinless) on top. I seasoned with garlic pepper (as mentioned above) and placed a disc of chicken stock on top (also as mentioned earlier).

- After talking to my husband, we have decided to add a can of chick peas (in part because I had this incredible tomato based chick pea stew at Camp Mosey Wood this summer and this looks similar). So chick peas. Two 15.5 ounce cans. Drained.

Verdict: this was incredibly delightful

Kedjenou

I can get adventurous in my cuisine. I recently added a character who is French of Ivory Coast origins to my fictional universe and thought to give Ivory Coast cuisine a try.

Kedjenou is a chicken vegetable stew.

I found many recipes, all similar, like this one: http://africanbites.com/?p=1560

But of course, following a recipe is not my way so this is what I did based on what I had in hand:

In my crockpot, on high

- two cloves garlic thinly sliced

- a dollop of extra virgin olive oil

- generous amounts of paprika (2 tablespoons?)

- about 2 teaspoons ginger 

- 3 small tomatoes diced

- about 1/2 cup sliced jalapeños

- about 3/4 cup black olives

Stir that nicely so it blends and gets aromatic.

To that base I added my vegetables

- about 8 ounces carrots

- one crown broccoli chopped into bite size florets

Stir to coat.

Plop 2 frozen chicken thighs on top of that. 

Sprinkle with more paprika and ginger. I covered and plan to cook on high for seven hours. I don't intend to stir or disturb it so the chicken juices infuse into the vegetables and make a stew.

It looks and smells good. Hubby says he added about six hours of water...

Individual plates with rice:

The verdict:

I think it's nicely seasoned and just spicy enough. The child isn't complaining that it's too spicy. Very yummy and comforting for a winter night.

Brussel sprout taco

I've been on a taco salad kick the last few days because my mother in law brought taco fixings and I find this far more fun than hard shells. Iceberg lettuce, extra hot salsa, cheese, Goddess dressing (I don't have ranch, blue cheese or even sour cream), taco meat and the best part-- my home canned sweet and spicy corn salsa.

Tonight after work, I had the munchies and thought I'd have these leftover Brussel sprouts in a wrap with salsa and cheese. It hit the spot, though my husband thinks I'm nuts.

Couscous

Tonight we recycled more leftovers (my mother in law sent us carrots and ham). I am rather pleased with this one. 

We made a big pile of couscous.

I boiled 3 cups water with about two tablespoons of raj el hanout. When the water boiled, I added 2 cups couscous and put the lid on for five minutes.

My husband diced the leftover carrots and ham. I also had him add the leftover sugar snap peas. I heated that up on the stove and added about two tablespoons parsley.

When we took the lid off the couscous, my husband fluffed it and we put some on each plate. (We have some leftover).

I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on each pile, added the carrot/ham mix (and I know this is not halal), sprinkled with more raj el hanout, and served.

I keep harissa in the freezer, a few spoonfuls in fold-over sandwich bags all rolled up inside a freezer bag. I took one out and thawed it out in warm water like when you get sauces in processed frozen dishes.

This hit the spot.

Vegetarian Mexican night

I made burrito-y things with a vegetarian filling. Homemade guacamole, a mix of farm fresh corn, garden grown green pepper, black beans, sour cream and salsa. 

My guac today was a small batch as I only bought one avocado (what was I thinking???). 

- one avocado

- one small tomato from my garden chopped

- splash lemon juice

- sprinkle of garlic powder

- hearty shake of chili powder

- slight shake of cumin

Stir, chill.

The filling:

- one green pepper diced

- three cobs corn, corn removed

- 1/2 teaspoon four color peppercorn medley

Cook in saucepan for about 10 minutes on low, with just a pinch of cooking fat.

Add one can black beans. (Mine are reduced sodium and well-rinsed. Normally I make my own from scratch and freeze them but haven't got around to it lately.)

 Shake of chili powder. Increase heat to medium, stir and heat until good and warm.

My famous egg rolls

Homemade egg rolls are fun and easy to make!

We use prepared egg roll wrappers that come 12 in a pack. 

It's standard practice in this house for me to use Wegmans broccoli slaw as the bulk of the filling. It has a nutritional boost over some of the other vegetables available. I get out a big bowl, pour the slaw in, and add a can of crab meat.

Today I also added kale since we have a lot of it left.

We don't use an egg wash to seal them, we use simply water.

For seasonings, I sprinkled in some low sodium soy sauce, a lot of ginger, some garlic powder, a few drops of walnut oil, and a few generous splashes of sesame oil.

I taught daughter how to roll them and fried them over medium temps in a fifty-fifty blend of coconut oil and canola. 

I've blogged about these before... These are some of the various egg rolls (both homemade and prepared) that I have blogged about:  http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/search?q=Egg+rolls&m=1

 

Eating in DC

It's come to my attention that I experience DC via food. (Yes, I'm in DC tonight. Came down last night after working a five hour cashier shift at Target for a job interview today ~ second interview ~ as a communications director at an NGO here.)

We left Target a little before 5 pm, armed with flatbreads from the café and Starbucks, specifically a venti iced caramel macchiato with extra espresso and a tropical creme frappucino. We drove about 3.5 hours into DC and dined on Cava hummus and harissa at my friend's apartment.

This morning we ventured to Paul, where my husband enjoyed a gourmandise and I had a croissant. My interview was very nearby and afterwords we had lunch at Nando's Peri Peri on 18th. This particular office is close to all my favorites! Even Godiva is nearby.

For dinner tonight we went to Ercilia's for some El Salvador style street food. Papua and plantains! Those cheesy stuffed flatbreads all gooey and hot... And the plantains... Cheap, comforting and fills the belly.

Friday night decadence

Last night after a successful round of holiday shopping while the child was in dance, we put her to bed and I prepared this "flight" of Bulgarian feta, Klein Farm cheddar and mozzarella, baguette from Wegmans and goodies.

The goodies included hummus, extra virgin olive oil from Beirut with zaatar spices, black olives, almonds, roasted red pepper dip from Forks Mediterranean Deli, dried mango, and Harissa.

We opened a bottle of côte de Rhônes French red wine and celebrated our Friday evening.

Early dinners

Since I've worked all weekend, and closing shift, we've had hot meals earlier in the day to get "real food" into me before I head to Target café.

Yesterday we had an early lunch of leftovers, including eggplant, green beans and vegetarian piggies in the blanket. For dinner, at 4 before I headed off, my husband made spaghetti and meatballs.

We froze some meatballs for later use.

Today, at noon, we're enjoying vegetarian and gluten free channa dal from a package to which I added loads of spinach and hearty brown rice. The beverage was Very Vanilla Silk.

Speaking of Target, I finished my work on time last night for the first time in ages. The dishwasher has been broken for about a month and washing piles of dirty cast iron pizza pans has been fun to say the least.

But last night I got done on time and could buy some household items. Sadly Target had no more canning lids.

But I did pick up the following:
- ocean spray 64 ounce bottle of cran-raspberry juice, on sale for $2.39
- Market Pantry pasta sauce, one traditional and one garden vegetable. $1.32 each. I have no intention of eating them. I don't use jarred sauce. They are for my father-in-law who read in Consumer Reports that the Target brand is the best spaghetti sauce. After he told me this four times, I'm buying him some.
- archer farms organic hibiscus tea, $2.99
- Tazo decaf chai tea bags, $2.99
- archer farms sea salt caramel hot chocolate mix, $4.49 (splurge but the child has to have something yummy for the occasional crisp fall morning)
- sugar, $2.69
- Silk vanilla almond milk, $3.19
- Silk very vanilla soy milk, $2.99
- Breyers waffle cone burst ice cream, 2 cartons on clearance for $3.07 each

Total: $30.51
Minus team member discount: -3.06
RedCard: -1.37
Tax: 12 cents
New total: $26.20

Mediterranean Feast

It's close to 100 degrees. I did a lot of work today, and it's my husband's busy time of year at work. So I opted for zaatar bread and feta for dinner from Forks Mediterranean Deli.

Now, the busier they are in that slice of heaven, the more I buy. Today I went in for their cold pressed extra virgin olive oil from Beirut, feta and their homemade zaatar bread. I didn't see their homemade zaatar bread so I got their bakery zaatar.

I got a pound of fresh Greek feta ($5.94). They also have Bulgarian and French feta.

Zaatar bread was $3.75 a pack for 2 approximately 12-inch breads. I got two. They freeze well.

The olive oil was $5.99 for 16 ounces.

Then I started adding on:
- hummus, about a pound, $4.31
- madjool dates, more than a half-pound $3.90
- 6 pieces of baklava, $3.36
- less than a half pound of roasted red pepper dip (mouhammara), $2.41
- pitted camaratta olives, 1/4 pound, $1.44
- dried strawberries, about a 1/2 pound, $3.57

Channa Dal

I love Indian food. Up until recently, my daughter has always loved Indian food. I noticed these Channa Dal packs at Target on clearance for $2.78. And they have three servings. Now as much as I love home cooking, I still work closing shift and sometimes I run out of ideas and let my husband cook dinner.

Like last night. I cooked a nice lunch, he worked all day and we had leftover cooked brown rice so I thought it would be a great night to try the Channa Dal.

I'm having my serving for lunch today with a hearty dose of sweet peas.

Now I don't know anything about Channa kernel or urad kernel but this is quite tasty and has some zing to it. I'm enjoying mine with mango smoothie.

The manufacturer of this mix is Jyoti.

Dukem DC

We went for Ethiopian food last night. First time. My daughter couldn't quite get that there would be no utensils. And after this platter she said she better save room for dinner. I said, "Darling, this IS dinner."

Chicken curry in the crock pot

From crockpot 365:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-indian-curry-recipe.html?m=1

I didn't have all the ingredients, so I used:
- 1 can organic coconut milk
- a splash half and half
- 2 TBS curry
- 1 TBS cumin
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 splash Franks Red Hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic

- chicken
- red potatoes chopped into chunks
- 1 can sweet peas
- 1/2 bag frozen California blend

Cheater veggie stir fry noodles

Ingredients:
-Simply Asia sesame noodles
- 1/2 bag frozen stirfry veggies
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks and juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- dehydrated peas
- unsalted cashews

Boil water. Add the Simply Asia noodles.

In a skillet, combine 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil and the canola oil. Add the vegetables and the pineapple (I always cook my frozen veggies halfway in the microwave).

Cook until veggies are hot. Add the sesame seeds from the Simply Asia kit. Sauté on high about two minutes. Reduce heat and add the Simply Asia sauce.

When noodles are done, mix them into the vegetable skillet.

Put on plate and top with a small handful of cashews and dehydrated peas.

I like Brussel sprouts

For dinner tonight I maxed out our family's sodium content but we certainly got our colors...

I haven't tried Brussel sprouts in a few years and since Target had the Green Giant variety in butter sauce on sale so I thought it might be a good time to try a formerly disliked taste.

I liked them! Ate 2/3 of the box.

Except for the butter sauce, this dinner was vegan.

I made Gardein vegetarian beef tips by sautéeing them in canola oil, a pinch of minced garlic and a hearty shaking of ras el hanout. Served in zaatar bread for a Middle Eastern style sandwich.

Sides were sweet potato fries and Brussel sprouts. And home-brewed sweetened ice tea.

Thai-inspired cheater stir fry

I started out this evening's dinner with Archer Farms Thai-inspired rice and broccoli seasoned vegetable blend.

I augmented it with extra stir fry vegetables and a can of water chestnuts.

In a skillet, I put two teaspoons of butter, a teaspoon of canola oil, a few sprinkles of sesame oil. I meant to add one teaspoon garlic powder, about two tablespoons lemon juice and a sprinkle of ginger.

I added the water chestnuts and extra vegetables and stir fried on high. Then I added the packaged veggies and mixed it all up.

Very pleased with the result.