Methi Chicken Curry and Green Onion Slaw

My lovely friend Nea tasked me with cooking dinner for her and a couple friends this week for her birthday. I'll admit, I was excited. So excited, that I ate part of my food before remembering to photograph it.

These recipes are ones I'm pretty comfortable with, a proven one crowd pleaser and an accompanying salad. But in a later post, you'll see my very adventurous dessert

If I had one criticism of myself, it would be that both dishes were pretty spicy. But I've been snacking on the leftovers from this green onion slaw, and loving it. I'm also proud to say that I deviated from my usual chicken curry recipe. Here, I'll give you the chicken curry recipe, which was inspired by this one.

Chicken Curry Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
For the marinade
8 oz coconut milk
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
2 teaspoons red curry powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt

When actually cooking
1 cup frozen methi, or fenugreek, leaves. I needed help finding these at the Indian Grocery store.
1 tomato, pureed
7-8 green chillies, diced
1 medium-sized red onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup cashews, crushed
2 teaspoons cumin seeds

Marinate your chicken overnight, or for a few hours. I did it overnight.

Saute you onions until translucent. Add cumin seeds and chillies. Saute until soft but without burning the onions. Add the tomato and cashews. After a minute, add your marinated chicken WITH the marinade. This is very important, as there is a lot of flavor there. Add the methi leaves and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. You can be patient and use a regular pot too, just make sure your chicken is done before serving. Serve with rice, and maybe even this salad...

Vegtable Tahini Soup

I made this soup like three days ago but was terrified that I'd be unable to photograph it. You see, I came very close to destroying my cheap digital camera in The Great Purse Spill of Last Wednesday. Ladies, make sure your water bottle cap is screwed on tight if you put it in your purse.

Oh, and my inspiration for this recipe came from here.

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes, quartered
2-3 handfuls baby carrots
1 large red onion
1/3 cup tahini
6 cloves garlic
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. dried chili flakes
2-3 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
The juice of one lemon
Water, if needed
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Saute your onions in olive oil. Add tomatoes and carrots. Add bay leaves, cumin seeds, chili flakes and turmeric. Pressure cook for one whistle or simmer until all is soft. Add garlic and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and water. Put this mix in a blender with the tahini and mix well.

Healthy and delicious.

Sweet Peeps Casserole

Instead of doing nothing for Easter, as usual, I decided to get a little festive for about an hour today. Honestly, weird conglomerations of sugary substances are not one of my favorite things, but sometimes seasonal candy really hits the spot.

Despite my thoughts on most candy, Peeps will always have a special place in my heart. This may be because they're so cute (little bunnies and birds), or it may be because they are one of the candies my mother would never let me buy (I think she just doesn't like them). Either way, I wanted to do some cooking with Peeps this year. Peepshi (peep sushi) sounded like too much work, and most of my Google search results appeared to be jokes. I was discouraged until it occurred to me to do a variation on a "classic" that I would otherwise never make. A similar recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:
3-4 large sweet potatoes or yams
12-14 Marshmallow Peeps, birds of any color
2 tablespoons syrup (any sweetener will do)
1/2 stick of butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
A pinch of salt
A pinch of cinnamon

Peel your potatoes and boil until soft. Drain and mash with the butter. Add syrup, lemon juice, salt and cinnamon. Stir very well and add this mix to a baking dish.

Decorate with Peeps on top. Eat remaining peeps, savoring the fact that there are very few excuses as good as this one to eat sugary marshmallows. Consider taking photos of the Peeps doing cute things. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Serve when cool.

Mushroom Bourguignon

This going to be one of those posts with bad photos because I got hungry. Oops.

After neglecting this blog for more than a week, I'm just going to go ahead and post another adapted smitten kitchen recipe. This one is awesome, by the way. She says it's for winter. I made it for spring. Really tasty no matter the season.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 pound portobello mushrooms, cut into 1 inch squares
1/3 pound baby bella mushrooms, quartered
1/2 carrot, diced
4 shallots, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken broth, really any kind will do
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen pearl onions
Whole wheat, no yolk egg noodles, for serving



Since this is already shaping up to be a lazy post, I'm just going to let you follow smitten's instructions. They're perfect anyway.

Pineapple Part 2: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

As soon as I made this caramel mixture and poured it into a cake pan, I thought to myself "there is no way anything is coming out of this pan upside down..."

Lo and behold, I was wrong. It came out perfectly from my lightly greased, disposable 9-inch cake pan. My cake may not be as pretty as hers, but this recipe was sort of proof for me that the smitten kitchen doesn't lie. This is my variation, which went over very well on a recent "ladies night in."

Ingredients:
For the topping:
1/3 small-medium pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced thin
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, for health's sake!
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground dry ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brandy
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons brandy for sprinkling over cake

To make my version of this cake, please just follow the original excellent directions, while adding the ginger to the dry ingredients before mixing. Also, use a cheap disposable cake pan and make your caramel in a old pot while almost ruining your spoon and slightly burning your tongue (seriously, be careful when making the caramel).

Pineapple Part 1: Pineapple Fried Rice

Tonight, I cut open a pineapple. This seemingly simple task resulted in dinner + leftovers, a cake for a party and a kitchen that looked like a war zone. This post will deal with the first dish I made, Pineapple Fried Rice.

I suppose it is "Thai style" pineapple fried rice, but there was no way I was going to be skillful enough with my knife to carve a nice little bowl out of my pineapple. Some restaurants and recipes suggest that...

Ingredients:
1.5 cups dry jasmine rice. Cook the rice and let it sit overnight
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 red pepper (like the ones that look like red jalapenos but aren't actually that spicy)
4-6 green chillies, sliced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon dried red chili flakes
A dash of turmeric
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 cups napa cabbage, sliced as thin as you can get it or chopped up
2 chicken thighs (marinated overnight in lemon juice and ginger-garlic paste)
2 eggs, beaten
Ghee or oil for frying
1 teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 a small-medium pineapple, cored and cut into small chunks

OK, cook your marinated chicken. I used a pressure cooker. Let it cool and cut it up into smaller bits. Stir fry all of your spices (onion, garlic and ginger included) in the ghee or oil. Wait until onions are translucent and then add your eggs. Fry at medium heat for about two minutes (without stirring) and add your veggies while stirring a lot. Add your pineapple and rice while continuing to mix. Add the chicken now too. Salt and pepper time. Mix very well and serve it, in a pineapple if you have to.

Wild Rice Tart

So much of what I've been cooking lately has either been a curry or a copy of another blogger's recipe. All week, I've been planning to get back to my roots and make something super Minnesotan. Today, I finally got around to making what I will eventually consider a 'classic.'

I'll admit that this was an experiment, but oh boy, was it successful! Luckily, I had my previous experience with a smitten kitchen tart to guide me, and I had the forethought to be careful with my smoked salmon (the ricotta totally stopped it from taking over).

Ingredients:
3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
1.5 cups mushrooms, cremini, chopped
1 small onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
1 sprig rosemary, needles removed from stalk
1 tablespoon dried dill
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 frozen peas, unfrozen but not overcooked
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
3 oz, smoked salmon, in thin strips if possible
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 eggs
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 store-bought pie crust, pre-baked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Simmer the wild rice in water for about 30 minutes until you've reached a nice texture. Drain. Saute the onions in the butter until almost translucent. Add your mushrooms, rosemary and dill. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and keep cooking until everything is soft.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the hard cheeses, cream and egg. Add rice, peas and sauteed ingredients. Mix well with salt and pepper. Now, coat your pie crust with a thin layer of ricotta and top with the smoked salmon.


Now, add your rice mixture into the pie crust and top with a bit more Parmesan and the bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 more minutes.