Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry

This was my first attempt at Thai cooking, heavily inspired by this AllRecipes entry. I had a similar red curry at a restaurant a few weeks ago, and this did indeed satisfy my craving in my very own kitchen. The dish was very simple to make, but did require a stack of ingredients not normally found in my pantry. I am now set up for jasmine rice, fish sauce, and curry paste.

Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
3 cups water

1 can coconut milk
1-2 tbsp red curry paste (adjust to your desired heat)
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 chicken breast, sliced (add another if you prefer this meaty)
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 red or green bell pepper, julienned
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup pineapple
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup pineapple juice or water

1. Cook the rice by the method of your choice (stovetop, rice cooker, or microwave).
2. Meanwhile, mix coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, and sugar in a wok. Add bamboo shoots and chicken and simmer over medium heat until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the other vegetables. Simmer until onion is cooked to your liking, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add cornstarch slurry while mixing. Bring to boil to thicken. Add pineapple.
5. Serve over rice!

I quite enjoyed this, but it has everything my husband hates: peppers, onions, and coconut. I portioned it into sandwich-sized containers to eat myself when I want a quick lunch. It's a homemade TV dinner. :) This recipe was also very hands-off, and would fit in well to a Once a Month cooking marathon if your house likes thai curry.

Tomato Bruschetta Pasta

All right, first off: I understand that technically, bruschetta refers to the bread, not the topping, but the topping doesn't have a convenient name.

This is a delicious, seasonal, and incredibly quick dinner recipe that I threw together tonight for dinner.

 

Tomato Bruschetta Pasta

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

1 cup pasta (measured raw), cooked as directed on package

1 tomato

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp fresh basil leaves

drizzle olive oil (about 1 tsp)

salt to taste

Parmesan

Directions:

1. Boil water and begin cooking pasta.

2. Meanwhile, combine tomato, garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt in food processor or blender. Puree to a consistency that pleases you.  Let sit while the pasta finishes cooking.

3. Divide pasta into 2 bowls. Split sauce over pasta. Garnish with Parmesan.

Blog Carnival! Make It From Scratch

My cherry jelly is being featured in the "Make It From Scratch" blog carnival, along with some other interesting projects like bread and butter pickles and strawberry rhubarb crisp with apples.

Check it out!

Cherry Jelly

Today I did something I've never done before: I made jelly. I even heat processed it - although if you're not into that, keeping it in the freezer accomplishes the same thing. I just think it's neat to can something.

I made my jelly with Nanking cherries. They grow on a strange little shrubbery. I found them growing in the park where I work (in behind Boffin's, for the locals). There are a variety of edible things growing there - a few Saskatoons, some pincherries, some crabapples, and some lovely looking Nanking cherries. I've never picked them before, but after verifying via google that I did indeed find something I could make into jelly, I snuck back on my coffee break and picked the prescribed 6 cups of fruit.

Nanking Cherry Jelly
6 cups Nanking cherries
1 cup water
1 package powdered pectin, like Certo
4.5 cups sugar

1. Stem and wash Nanking cherries and place in a saucepan with water.

2. Bring to boil and simmer 15-20 minutes, until fruit is soft.

3. Line a strainer with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth. Place this over a bowl or another saucepan. Pour fruit into cheesecloth. Alternately, if you do this more often than I do and have a "jelly bag", or have that cone thingy that my mom uses to make jelly, use that.

4. Mash fruit to press out juice and strain. Measure the juice before you pour it back - you're aiming for 3.5 cups. If you're short, add water. I had to add nearly a cup of water, and my jelly is still delicious.

5. Return juice to saucepan and stir in pectin crystals. Turn heat to high, and stir until it boils. Add sugar, stirring well. Bring to a vigorous boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

6. Meanwhile, sterilize some jars. I'm a naughty home canner and reused a few I had already. This is not recommended by those people concerned with "food safety". New lids with old canning jars are fine, though. I put mine on a pan with some water in it and baked for 15 minutes at 225 degrees. Leave in the oven until time to bottle.

7. Fill jars to within 1/4" of the top. Put on lids and tighten as well as you can. If freezing jam, let cool on counter then move to freezer. If heat processing, fill canner or large pot with water. If you don't have a rack, place a towel in the bottom of the pot for cushioning. Once all the jelly is in jars, cover jars with water and bring to boil. Boil 10 minutes (start timer when rolling boil begins).

I made the three various sized jars shown, plus 2/3 of another jar about the size of the right one. I just put that one straight in the fridge. :) It seems to have set very well, and has a great tart-but-sweet taste. This recipe is meant specifically for Nanking cherries, but the procedure would work well for any kind of cherry or berry with pits or many seeds.

Green Monster Smoothie

There is a trend in the healthy eating world: the Green Monster Smoothie. As you can see, it's an unnatural (or perhaps supernatural) shade of green. The secret ingredient? Spinach!

Now, I know what you're thinking: ew. Spinach smoothie. But there is a secret: raw spinach has nearly no flavour. Add a banana, some PB - and it tastes like dessert!

Green Monster Smoothie
1 cup milk
1 cup raw spinach
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
(optional: 1 tbsp flax seed meal, protein powder)

Blend all in a blender. Drink up!

OAMC: Big Cook Day, May

In a little more than 2 hours, I made:
Sloppy Joes
Lasagna (2 square pans)
Enchilada Bake (2 square pans)
Grilled Fish Marinade (in freezer w/ fish)
Chicken in Enchilada Sauce
Spicy Basil Chicken
Chicken Souvlaki
Crustless Ham and Broccoli Quiche
Stuffing-Egg Bake
A dozen meals! We're set up for lazy days for weeks to come. Unfortunately, I still have to clean up. And eat something for lunch more nutritious than a chocolate chip brownie.

The method I used this time was as follows:
Night before: bake 12 frozen chicken breasts (4 per recipe) for 1 hr at 350*. Transfer to container in fridge overnight.

Ground Beef Recipes:  Brown 3 lb of ground beef. Drain. Return 1 lb to pan, 1 lb to bowl, and 1 lb to another bowl.

Get Sloppy Joes simmering. Then assemble Lasagna and get baking. Assemble Enchilada Bake and freeze without futher cooking. Put Sloppy Joes into a freezer bag to cool. Freeze lasagna after cooling about 30 min.

Fish Recipe: Place a freezer bag into something to hold it open and upright (I use a yogurt container). Add all ingredients for marinade. Freeze.

Chicken Recipes: Divide chicken into 3 containers (or more, but there are 3 recipes). Mix up Souvlaki marinade, pour over chicken cut into large chunks, label and freeze. Mix up and simmer Enchilada Sauce. Shred chicken, pour sauce over, label, and freeze. Chop up 3 cups mushrooms (1 cup for Spicy Basil Chicken, 2 for Stuffing Egg Bake) and saute. Mix up sauce for Spicy Basil Chicken. Pour over chicken cut into chunks. Add mushrooms. Freeze.

Egg Recipes: Assemble Stuffing Egg Bake and freeze. Then, last but not least, do the quiche. I froze my quiche in a 8x8 foil pan .

Questions are of course welcome! I used my shopping list to keep track of what I had and what I needed. It really does help to add it all up. I had to buy my meat this time (I often get it free from my farmer parents), and the ingredients for this batch cost about $100.

Curried Cauliflower Soup with Honey

 

I like pureed soups. I like curried soups. And so I bring you:

Curried Cauliflower Soup with Honey from Serious Eats and Sunday Nite Dinner.

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into large florets (6 cups) 
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 large onion, sliced thick 
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
honey
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread cauliflower florets on a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast until florets are browned, about 20 - 25 minutes.
2) In a medium stockpot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until they are clear or browned. Stir in curry powder and cook until fragrant, 1 - 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, water and cauliflower. Cover and bring to boil and then simmer until cauliflower is soft, about 5 minutes.
3) Puree the soup with a stand or immersion blender until smooth. Return to pot if using a stand blender, reheat if necessary. Add cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowl with a drizzle of honey.
Serves 4

The honey really makes a difference - don't skip the garnish. This is really tasty, not too difficult, and makes me long for an immersion blender. Someday I'll get one. And I will love it.