A Trip to Morocco

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, we like food from other countries. One of our new favorites is Moroccan food. I found this recipe on Rachael Ray's site and it was so good. I highly recommend making the yummy couscous to go with it.

Moroccan Spiced Lamb or Chicken

2 pounds boneless leg of lamb or chicken, diced

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

flour for dredging

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 red chili peppers seeded and chopped (I think I just used bell peppers)

2 onions chopped (I just did one)

2 bay leaves

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp orange or lemon zest with juice of said fruit

Sprinkle the meat with the cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper then dredge in the flour. Heat the oil in a pan and when it starts to smoke, add the meat and brown all over. Remove it to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat a bit and add a bit more oil, chili peppers, onions and bay leaves. Cook 6-7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, stock, zest and juice. Once the liquid comes to a boil, add the meat back in. Reduce heat and thicken it a little.

I love it when web sites give you what to serve something with. Sure we could have gone with plain couscous but there was a link to this one right on the other recipe. What's a girl to do?

Pistachio, Garlic and Mint Couscous

1/3 cup shelled pistachios

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups couscous

salt and pepper

1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed

Toast the nuts in a saucepan suitable for rice. Remove to a food processor and finely chop (or just a cutting board and chop well). Add the oil and garlic to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse-chop (or use that handy cutting board and knife again) the mint in a food processor very fine. Stir the mint and nuts into the couscous as you fluff with a fork.

Orange Chicken

I was perusing Pioneer Woman for dinner recipes one day and jumped over to another food website that she recommended. The recipes there were totally amazing. I printed off two recipes, this orange chicken and a brushetta chicken. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it or how I got there, so going back and getting more recipes is difficult. (I'm currently searching for a chile relleno recipe.) If anyone knows or finds out what website I got this off of, let me know.

This orange chicken is as good as or maybe better than Panda Express.

Orange Chicken

Serves 4

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a lb., but you could do more, there's lots of sauce.)

1/4 c. cornstarch

salt and pepper

1 c. orange juice

1 c. water

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

3 strips orange zest--1" wide by 2" tall (or the equivalent in small ones that you're likely to get.)

1/2 c. lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

4 whole dried red chilies, broken in half (I used a few shakes of red pepper flakes.)

2 Tbsp cornstarch, for the slurry

2 Tbsp. water, for the slurry

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat about an inch of vegetable or canola oil to about 375F. Heat the oven to 250F.

In a large zip top bag combine the cornstarch, salt and pepper. Add the chicken chunks and seal the bag. Toss to coat completely. (As an alternate method, I salted and peppered the chicken, and tossed it in a bowl with the cornstarch.)

Add the coated chicken to the hot oil in two or three batches. Cook until lightly golden and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160F. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Hold the chicken in the oven. (You could skip the oven and just warm up the chicken in the sauce right before you serve it, or make the sauce first, then the chicken and put it in warm.)

In a sauce pan, combine the water, orange, lime and lemon juices, vinegar, orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and dry chilies. Stir to combine. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce reduce by 1/3.

In a small bowl, prepare the slurry by combining the cornstarch and water until smooth. Pour the mixture into the sauce and whisk until the sauce thickens. Take the sauce off the heat. Take out the orange zest. Stir in the chicken pieces.

I was thinking that you could also just saute the chicken and skip the frying. Also, don't leave out the orange zest. I'm pretty sure that's the difference between just okay orange chicken and really great orange chicken.

The recipe also has instructions for fried rice, but I haven't tried it yet. Some people in my house refuse to eat any rice that isn't white and covered in soy sauce. Let me know if you want me to post it.

Chicken Pot Pie--A Recipe in Three Incarnations

This is a recipe that our family has enjoyed for years. It's been through a few changes. I offer them all to you here, perhaps one will become your family favorite too.

Recipe #1

I originally got this recipe from Emily's sister-in-law, Joy. Here it is unadulterated.

3 cans Cream of Potato soup

16 oz. frozen vegetables

2 C. cooked, diced chicken

1/2 C. milk

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 frozen pie crusts, thawed

1 egg for topping

Mix soup, veggies, chicken, milk, thyme and pepper in a large bowl. Roll out one pie crust and put in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Put filling into pie crust. Roll out second pie crust and spread over filling. Crimp edges. Cut slits in pie crust. Beat egg and brush on top of pie crust. Bake at 375 for 40 min.

This is a good recipe, but I knew there was no way I was going to buy frozen pie crust and do you know how hard it is to find mixed veggies with no lima beans or green beans? (Aaron doesn't like lima beans and I hate frozen green beans.) So, I decided to change it up a bit. This is my version, call it Chicken Pot Pie ala Missa.

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 bag frozen peas and carrots

1/2 can each corn and green beans

2 potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked

2 C. cooked, diced chicken (I always season this with salt, pepper and garlic powder before I saute it.)

1/2 C. milk

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 recipe Lion House Pie Dough (follows)

Mix together the filling ingredients in a large bowl. (I recommend mixing the soup and milk together first, you can whisk them together and not have soup lumps.) Divide the pie dough into thirds, roll out one third and put it in a pie plate. Put the filling into the pie plate. Roll out the second pie dough and top the pie with it--don't forget to cut slits in the top, then crimp the edges. (The third piece can be saved for later, wrap it up well in plastic wrap and tin foil and freeze it, or you can have pie for dessert too, hooray!) Bake at 375 for 40 min.

Lion House Pie Dough

1/2 C. butter or margarine

2/3 C. shortening

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp powdered milk

3 C. flour

1/2 C. cold water

Mix together the butter and shortening. Add the sugar, baking powder, salt, and powdered milk, mix. Add 1/2 the flour, mix. Add the water, mix. Add the other half of the flour. Mix until the dough comes together. Makes three pie crusts. (I love this recipe because I don't have to cut the butter into the flour, I can make it in my KitchenAid, and I don't have to fuss with everything being cold.)

Now, as you can see, this recipe takes A LOT more time. It's really good, my family has eaten it with gusto for years, however, the time commitment makes it less than ideal. So, recently, I solved one of my problems with this recipe when Hannah wanted Shepherd's Pie for dinner and Maggie wanted Chicken Pot Pie. Thus Chicken Pot Shepherd's Pie was born.

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

16 oz bag frozen peas and carrots

2 C. cooked, diced chicken

1/2 C. milk

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. pepper

6 servings instant mashed potatoes, made according to package directions

1/2-1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the soup, veggies, chicken, milk and spices together. Put in a greased 9x9 pan. Top with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Really, any veggies your family likes would be good in this. The frozen peas and carrots are what we like, but don't be limited by frozen, canned or fresh work well. Those of you who are rotisserie chicken people could make this with a rotisserie chicken. That would save time. There's also the canned chicken option. I would say this recipe feeds around six people. Especially if you take the extra time to make a salad or other side dish to go with it. I usually figure there is veggies in it, and I've already gone through all that work, do we really need something else? Don't forget the thyme either. It's just a little bit, but it really makes this meal.

Tamarind-spice Glazed Roast of Brussels Sprouts,Onions and Chickpeas

I got this recipe from a weekly email I get called Weeknight Kitchen. It's from the NPR show Splendid Table (I believe I've mentioned it before). This turned out better than I thought it would be. Not that I didn't think it would be good, I just didn't expect it to be this good.

3 large garlic cloves

2 tightly-packed tablespoons fresh cilantro

1 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced thin

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in pieces

1/2 to 3/4 pound Brussels sprouts, quartered

1 large red onion, cut into 1/4 in wide wedges

1 cup tightly packed arugula, curly endive or spring mix (I used spring mix)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon cross over spice blend (basically a mix of 2 parts cumin, 4 parts coriander, and 1 part black pepper)
1 1/2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate or 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice with a bit of zest and 1/2 teaspoon sugar (I ended up using 2 tablespoons tamarind nectar, found in a can in the Mexican section of the store)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons oil (it was a bit oily so you could get away with 2-3)

Heat oven to 450 and put cookie sheet on the middle rack. In a food processor (I used our chopper) process the garlic, cilantro and ginger - don't puree them. Turn the mix into a large bowl. Add the other ingredients and toss to blend. Carefully put it all on the hot pan, spreading it all out. Roast for about 40 minutes, turning often and scraping the brown glaze from the pan's bottom, or until the peppers are tender, the greens are brown and chickpeas crisp.

Put into a serving bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate if desired. You can also garnish with more cilantro and plain yogurt. To make it a complete protein, serve with rice.

Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi

This is one of Jason's parents' staples. Macadamia nuts are big here, they even call them mac nuts. This recipe came from Alton Brown.

1 1/4 cups coarsely ground (or well chopped) roasted mac nuts
1/2 cup bread crumbs (it calls for panko but I just used regular ones)
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 mahi mahi fillets, 6-8 ozs each
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons coconut milk

Preheat oven to 425. In a medium bowl, stir together the nuts, panko, flour and butter. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush liberally with oil. Place the fish on the foil and sprinkle each piece with salt and pepper on both sides. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush each fillet with coconut milk (Jason's mom doesn't use the coconut milk, I'm not sure why but the topping sticks fine without it). Divide the nut mixture among the tops of each piece, patting the mixture to spread and adhere to the fish. Return to the oven and bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Greek Pizza

Here is a yummy Greek Pizza from Rachael Ray with a crust recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Pizza Dough
3 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

Combine flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and water. Spread in a large pizza pan and top as desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. You can let it rise for a few minutes before putting it in the oven but it's not necessary. This recipe also makes really good bread sticks. To jazz it up for breadsticks, mixing in herbs or topping with cheese is really good. For the Greek Pizza below, I used one cup whole wheat flour (it was all I had left) and two cups regular white flour.

Spinach Feta Greek Pizza
I recipe wheat pizza dough
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves grated garlic
1 onion chopped
2 bunches spinach
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
1 cup feta cheese crumbles
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
fresh oregano, chopped

Preheat oven to 450. Press dough into pan and put in the oven for a few minutes. In a large skillet, saute the garlic and onion in oil. Add the spinach and wilt. Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Top the lightly cooked dough with hte spinach mixture then top with feta and mozzarella. Put the pizza back in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. When the pizza comes out of the oven, top with tomatoes and oregano.

Stuffed Peppers

This one is a bit time consuming but oh-so-good I couldn't resist adding it. Last time I made it I put together the inside in the afternoon during Anna's nap and then just stuffed and baked at dinner time. It's from the wonderful Costco cookbook.

1/4 cup each white, brown and wild rice - I usually buy those box mixes of white and wild rice with the spices, cook it and mix in 1/2 to a cup of that with the brown rice
6 medium bell peppers, any color but the red ones are good because they are so sweet
1 lb sausage
1 small onion, chopped
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 lb fresh small mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 eggs, beaten
olive oil

Prepare rices and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Wash and clean bell peppers. Slice off the tops (about 1/2 in) and clean insides thoroughly. If they don't stand up on their own, cut a tiny bit off the bottom for a base. Cook sausage in a large frying pan. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Pour off most of the grease but leave some in the pan. Saute onion, garlic, mushrooms and parsley in the pan until soft. Add walnuts and saute 2 minutes. Add back sausage to vegetable mixture and add cheese, rices, spices and eggs. Combine well. Rub the exterior of the peppers with olive oil and stuff with the sausage mixture. Place in a baking pan, cover loosely with foil and bake 1-1 1/2 hours.

If your kids aren't into the peppers, you could probably just mix in diced peppers and bake the innards in a pan. I don't think it would take the full hour but don't know how long it would take so let me know if you do it this way.

Lasagna

Lasagna- the Megan way

1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp Parsley Flakes
1 egg
1/4 c parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozarella

Cook ground beef with onions until browned. Pour in spaghetti sauce and simmer for ten minutes. Cook Lasagna noodles as directed on the box. Mix ricotta cheese and egg and parsley and parmesan cheese together. (You can use cottage cheese but Josh specifically asked for ricotta this time). Butter 9 X 13 pan. Place 1/2 cup of meat mixture in pan. Then layer noodles, egg and ricotta cheese mixture, mozarella cheese and meat mixture. Repeat two more times. For the top, finish with meat mixture and some mozarella cheese. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes, let sit 10 minutes before serving and Enjoy!!!

Beans

I realize these are more wintery recipes and as it is getting to be spring we should be looking forward to the fun springy recipes but oh well.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about how healthy beans are (particularly lima beans). So then I made this bean casserole as a way to eat lima beans without them tasting like the horrible lima beans I remember from my childhood. I thought it turned out pretty good and Anna liked it so much I worried about how her little intestines would handle so many beans.

Fruity Baked Bean Casserole
1/2 pound bacon
3 medium onions chopped
can lima beans, drained
can kidney beans, drained
can baked beans
can cannelloni beans, drained (I think that's what they were, they were big and white and I had an extra can. The recipe calls for two cans of the baked beans)
can pineapple chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
2 T mustard (I used dijon)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 green pepper, chopped

Cook bacon in skillet and place in crock pot. Pour off most of the grease and cook the onions in the bacon grease until soft. Add to crock pot along with all of the beans. In a separate bowl (I used a 2 cup measuring cup) combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir into crock pot. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours.

I served this with cornbread. The pineapple is what interested me in this and I thought it added a nice sweet and tangy element.

This other bean recipe is one that I have been making for a while. I recommend halving the recipe if making it for a small group or you will have leftovers forever (believe me).

Ban Casserole
1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion
1 large can pork and beans
1 can kidney beans
2 cans BBQ beans (I use the Bush's baked beans)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 T vinegar
2 T molasses

Brown hamburger, bacon and onion. Pour off the grease. Drain beans. All all ingredients. Mix well and cook until heated through. Also goes well with cornbread.

Corned beef -- tastes like ham

I know this is a bit delayed, but I wanted to mention the lovely corned beef we had for St. Patrick's Day. I may have had it once before, but I've certainly never made it. It got mixed reviews at our house. I absolutely loved it; Uchenna tried to pretend it didn't exist and only ate colcannon (the mashed potatoes-cabbage side dish).

Here's how you make it:

• Buy the ready-to-boil beef brisket that has already been brined.
• Rinse it, put it in a pot and barely cover it with water.
• Dump in the little spice-peppercorn packet that comes with it (is it called corned beef because of the peppercorns? I never could figure out what corn had to do with anything).
• Boil it for about two hours (just make sure the water doesn't completely boil away), and voila!

It's very greasy-fatty, just so you know. And red. I was a bit surprised that it was fully cooked but red. Actually it looked, smelled, and tasked somewhat like ham, but with a beefy texture. Yummy. Hmm, maybe that ham resemblance is what put Uchenna off.

When only one person eats the corned beef, you have to figure out what to do with the leftovers. I snuck them into a (also lovely) pasta dish and hoped he wouldn't notice. I think he noticed. He ate some, but not much, and went rummaging for snacks an hour later.

But for people who do like corned beef and/or ham, here is the pasta recipe:

• Cook and drain pasta (I used penne. Bowties or egg noodles would probably be just as good).
• Dice the left-over corned beef. Sauté with diced onions and sliced mushrooms (since the beef is fatty all on its own, don't add any extra oil) until the onions are soft, the mushrooms are browned, and the beef is warmed through and somewhat browned (this may take some tasting to make sure the beef really is hot all through--a cook's gotta do what a cook's gotta do).
• Add a little garlic and green beans and cook another minute or two (asparagus might work in place of the green beans, if you're into that sort of thing).
• Sprinkle the sautéed mixture with a tablespoon or so of flour and stir until everything is evenly coated.
• Add enough milk to make it all saucy (two cups or so, depending on how much you're making). Stir and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce cooks down and thickens up a little.
• Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Add green peas.
• Mix until the sauce and pasta are well combined. Turn off the heat (quick, before the peas start to lose their green, and get that awful cooked-peas color!). Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.
• Serve immediately with a crisp salad.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale and Fontina

Every time we have this, I love it. I pick in it while it's on the stove, eat too much at dinner and am all over the left overs. Jason thinks it's nothing special and would prefer it only occasionally. We have it now and then. It's from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.

4 slices of bacon (not pre-cooked)
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 bunch kale ( 1 pound) thick stems trimmed and chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth (It says low sodium but then why add the salt? Last time I used salt and normal sodium broth and it was too salty. I'm thinking next time I'll not add the salt and use regular broth)
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup grated fontina cheese

Cook bacon in a large skillet and set aside. Pour off most of the grease. It says to leave three tablespoons but I can never tell that so I just leave a little bit. Start the water for boiling the pasta. Cook garlic in the grease until golden. Add the kale in batches and cook until wilted (2 minutes). Add broth, cover and simmer 10 minutes (until kale is tender). Meanwhile, cook the pasta. The recipe recommends reserving some of the water to add later if you want but I don't usually do/need that. Toss the cooked pasta with the kale, fontina and bacon.

The Other White Meat

Note: I have opened up posting on this blog to my sisters. Not everything will be from me.

I love a good pork tenderloin. Sometimes they can be hard to find in grocery stores and harder to find without some kind of marinade already on them. I've noticed it's not uncommon to find them to packs of two so here are the two things I make with them.

Pork Tenderloin with Honey Butter
(from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food)
4 T butter
2 T honey
pork tenderloin
salt and pepper
water

Preheat oven to 375. In an oven proof skillet, melt butter and honey over medium heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Turn the heat down if the honey starts to burn. Transfer to the oven. I usually cover it and it takes at least 25 minutes (or more) to cook. In looking back over the recipe on Martha's website, she doesn't say to and seems to think it will cook in 7-10 minutes. I think she's crazy but will try not covering it next time, the honey butter mixture left over is usually pretty thin. Transfer the meat to a plate. Add a bit of water to the pan and simmer over medium heat, scraping the brown bits off of the sides. Add the juices that have ended up on the plate and simmer until it is reduced to half a cup. Slice and drizzle the sauce over the meat.

I like to serve it with something green and mashed potatoes which are also very good with the sauce drizzled over them.

The next port recipe is from a cookbook I have from Costco. It has a picture for every page and specifies Costco products in the recipes. Plus, the food is really good.

Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Lime Pesto and Smokey Bacon Bits
1 T minced garlic
2 T minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 T minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (I never add it but you can if you want it spicier)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 T lime juice
2 T orange juice
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/2 cup grated jalapeno jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped sunflower seed
1/2 cup crumbled bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the first 8 ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree. Slowly add olive oil until mixture thickens.
Cut tenderloin in half lengthwise and lay out flat. Spread half of pesto over tenderloin and sprinkle with half of the cheese, seeds and bacon.
Close the tenderloin and tie with string to hold together. Top with the rest of the pesto, cheese, seeds and bacon. The recipe says to refrigerate it for several hours or overnight but I never have.
Place tenderloin on a rack and bake until firm 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Greek Couscous Salad

I came up with this one day when Anna needed lunch and just used what I had on hand. Later, I added a few more things after thinking about it.

Cooked couscous
Can of chopped tomatoes, drained
Sliced olives - I used black but can use kalamata if you want more of a kick
Crumbled feta
Seasoned chicken (optional)
Sliced fresh basil

Mix it all together in proportions that you like.

Pasta Primavera

We are working on eating less meat these days (India really got us out of the habit) so I try to make a meatless dish about three times a week. Here is one of the ones that I like to just put together (hence the lack of amounts, just kind of use what works for your group). This is also really quick and simple.

Pasta - usually something chunky like rotini or penne, I've been into whole wheat of late
Chopped Broccoli
Chopped Cauliflower
Sliced Carrots
Alfredo Sauce - I usually use a jar sauce but have made a simple Parmesan cheese sauce before

When the pasta is cooking and has about five minutes left, I add the vegetables. When I think about it, I add the broccoli later because it doesn't need as much cook time as the cauliflower and carrots. Then they are already mixed together and I just have to add the sauce. If you decide not to heat up the sauce before mixing it into the pasta, then you will probably need to keep it on the stove for a bit to heat up the sauce.

Indian Food Extravaganza

On New Year's Eve, I coordinated an Indian food feast for my family in town at the time. This included: 10 adults and 16 children including 2 teenagers. Naturally I was intimidated by this many people and planned a lot of food. Also naturally there was no way I could have done this all on my own. I had a lot of helpers and I was almost more like the supervisor. So, along with rice, here is what we made:

Palak Paneer 

1/3 cup ghee (clarified butter- we used oil so Brennan, who is allergic to dairy, could eat it)

1 bulb garlic - I think we used one bulb but had doubled the recipe

1/2 tsp toasted cumin seed

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

fresh ginger - I have no idea how much we used. It says a 3 in piece

1 tsp garam masala - a spice you should be able to find in a regular grocery store

1 tsp salt

1 onion, chopped

1 cup water or as needed

fresh spinach - when I made this for just me, I would use 1 1/2 - 2 bags

1 lb paneer or queso fresco - a non-melting cheese, you can make it if you are feeling really ambitious

Melt ghee in large saucepan and saute the garlic, cumin seed and onion. Add the tomato paste, ginger, garam masala, salt and water. Stir until tomato paste dissolves then simmer for 1 hour, adding water if necessary. 

Stir in spinach, a little at a time, and cook until spinach is wilted. Mix in the paneer just before serving. You can garnish it with cilantro but I always seem to forget that part. 

Lamb Madras Curry

This one is pretty spicy. The recipe calls for a make your own curry paste. I wasn't able to find the ingredients for the paste so I used a powdered blend of madras spices. Some day I want to actually make the paste. For now, to the best of my recollection, this is what I did.

1 1/2 tsp tumeric

2 1/4 lb lamb meat cut into 1/2 inch cubes

few T Madras Spice Blend - we bought it at the Asian food market but it was also at the regular grocery store but more expensive

1/4 cup oil

4 onions diced (or just a bunch)

1 can coconut milk

2 cups water, divided

1 tsp fennel seeds

10 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp sugar

3 T warm water

Sprinkle tumeric over the lamb. Toast the fennel seeds and set aside. In a dutch over, over medium, saute the onions in the oil. Add the meat and spice mix and fry for a minute. Stir in 2/3 of the can of coconut milk and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. 

Stir in the rest of the coconut milk and 1 cup water along with the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and fennel seeds. Cover with the lid ajar and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally and thin if needed.

When the lamb is tender, stir in the garam masala and sugar. Cook 5 minutes longer or until the sauce thickens. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving. 

Butter Chicken

diced onion

swirl of oil

2 T butter

2 tsp lemon juice

1 T ginger garlic paste - I just use chopped ginger and chopped garlic in equal amounts

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup tomato puree

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taset

pinch salt

pinch pepper

oil

1 lb chicken thighs cut into cubes

1 tsp garam masala

pinch cayenne pepper

Heat oil and saute onion. Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and cook 2 minutes while stirring. Stir in half-and-half and yogurt and simmer 10 minutes on low, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Heat oil in large skillet and cook chicken until lightly browned. Reduce heat and season with garam masala and cayenne pepper. Stir cooked chicken into sauce. (Emily, did we add the cornstarch to this one? I didn't think so but wasn't too sure.)

Aloo Matar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

chopped onion

1 T ginger garlic paste

1 bay leaf

4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup frozen peas, defrosted (or the amount that gives you the proportions you like)

1/2 cup tomato puree

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 T cilantro

Cook the potatoes. Heat oil and saute onion (are you sensing a theme?), ginger garlic paste and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes and peas. Add tomato puree, garam masala, paprika, sugar and salt. Continue cooking until it's all mixed through. Add cilantro before serving. 

Roti

flour

salt

swirl oil

water

Stir together flour, salt and oil. Add the amount of water that makes it the consistency of bread dough. Kneed it on a floured surface a few times. Take a small handfull of dough and roll it out onto a floured surface. In a dry pan heated over medium heat, cook until it begins to bubble up (if the heat is too low, it won't bubble up and if it's too hot, it will burn in places). Flip. It should bubble more. If the first side needs more browning, flip again. 

To eat, tear it into pieces and pick up the food with it. This can be messy but really is better. For amounts, Jason and I will eat between 2 and 3 roti per meal depending on how big they are. 

This all probably sounds very intimidating. For a regular dinner, I will often make two meals: a meat and a vegetable. Also to remember, while Indian food has a lot of ingredients, the process isn't usually too bad. I do recommend chopping everything before you start cooking. I have overcooked a number of spices because I was still working on chopping something. 

Spinach Cannelloni

This one came out of one of the local free newspapers so it is in metric. It is a bit time consuming but in spite of that, it's pretty good.

450 g cooked chopped spinach
250 g ricotta cheese
1 egg
60 g grated parmesan
ground nutmeg
16 cannelloni tubes, uncooked
600 ml bechamel sauce (I just used a jar of alfredo sauce, point is, something white)
For Napoli sauce:
1 T olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g can chopped tomatoes
75 mL vegetable stock
basil leaves

Preheat oven to 190 C (I have no idea what this is in F, less than 400, maybe 350 or 375?) Put ricotta in bowl. Mix egg and half of parmesan (although it never says what to do with the other half so I guess you could use it all if you want. Add spinach and nutmeg, mix. Spoon filling into cannelloni (this will take a long time. The first time I did it, I used a spoon to get it in, the second time, just my fingers. I'm not sure which way went faster but the later was definately messier) and place in baking dish.

For Napoli sauce: fry onion in oil. Add celery and garlic. Cook 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and stock. Simmer 15 minutes (you can start filling the tubes while this is simmering but don't loose track of time as it will probably take longer than 15 min to fill all of the tubes). Add basil. Pour bechamel over cannelloni (I'm guessing this is where the other half of the cheese would go but it doesn't say). Spoon napoli sauce on top. Bake 35 minutes or until golden.

Zucchini Grinders

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com which has pretty much gotten me through being away from my cook books. I have made some changes to it (I think for the better) but if you are interested in the original recipe, you can check it out here.

2 zucchinis (or however many you need for the right volume)
touch of oil
green pepper, sliced
onion, sliced
clove of garlic, chopped
jar spaghetti sauce
fresh mozzarella, sliced
ciabatta bread

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the green peppers, onions and garlic. Add the zucchinis and cook until soft. Pour in the sauce and heat until heated through.

Meanwhile, cut open the bread and lay the cheese slices on one side (or two if you like a lot of cheese). Put on a cookie sheet and cook until the cheese melts. (I didn't really notice the temperature and you can use the broiler but watch it carefully.)

Once the cheese is melted, top with the zucchini mixture and serve. The cheese helps hold it together but it is still pretty messy. It would also be good with mushrooms in the mix. We like to have it with potato salad or the like.