Rickard's Cardigan Beer-braised Ribs

NOTE: This post was scheduled by Daniel Saraga of Haggis and Herring before he suddenly passed away.  We have decided to ensure his scheduled posts continue.  Daniel's wife Meredith posted her eulogy to him.  Please read more about our wonderful Daniel.

When I was at the Rickard's Cardigan launch, Brewmaster Matthews was telling me about beer-braised ribs that his wife had made. Although I wasn't able to get my hands on the recipe, I still wanted to give it a try myself.

My main problem was that I've never made ribs before. Ever. Mostly because I've been a little intimidated by ribs culture. It's very competitive and very secretive. I worked myself up to buying some ribs - so I was committed. Now to find a recipe.

I realized that finding the right recipe for me was going to be a big challenge. Many recipes took hours and hours. Some used slow cookers. I didn't have time for that - this meal was being made on a weekday. I eventually found one - beer braised ribs at Serious Eats. That recipe gave me a method that I could work with, as well as a set of ingredients that I could adapt.

It smelled great when it was in the oven and the ribs tasted great. They were tender, but not fall-off-the-bone soft. The cayenne added a nice kick as well, and the garam masala complemented the spices in the beer.

Rickard's Cardigan Beer-braised Ribs

1 rack pork ribs, membrane removed and split into three separate parts
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp garam masala
2 or 3 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cayenne
5 cloves garlic, crushed with the flat edge of a knife
1 bottle Rickard's Cardigan
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 300-degrees and season ribs with salt and pepper.
2. In a Dutch oven, heat oil on medium-high and sear ribs on both sides once piece at a time and set aside.
3. Add garam masala, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, garlic, beer, and stir.
4. Add back ribs, bring to a boil and cover. Transfer to oven and let cook for 75 minutes - until meat is tender.
5. Transfer meat to a foil-lined pan and preheat broiler. You can add additional salt and pepper if you prefer. Broil on both sides until brown and crisp (1-2 minutes).
6. Skim cooking liquid of fat, strain using a sieve and bring to a boil. Mix the flour and water together and add to liquid. Stir until thickened and pour on top of ribs.

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Chicken Tikka Pie

A Friday in May ended up being a long day. By the afternoon, I was ready to get the heck out of the office and get moving on dinner. My original plan was to make a chicken dish using some leftover white wine, however, my friend Hungry Jenny changed my mind.

Jenny had published a porky tikka pie for her regular Friday Pie Day feature, and I loved the idea. It's just what we needed for dinner. Of course, I wanted chicken (since it's Friday), and I had a couple of ideas for minor changes to make it my own, but really, it's Jenny all the way.

My mini Corningware set isn't nearly as nice as Jenny's proper ceramic English pie plates, but they still held together, and it tasted great. I'm so glad I tried it out, and I'm sure I'll be making it again (if I'm not trying yet another of her pies.

Chicken Tikka Pie

1/2 kilo chicken, bonless, skinless, cubed
2 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
2+2 tbsp olive oil
2 large tomatoes, cubed (around 500g)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (around 150g)
1 medium onion, diced (around 100g)
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp sliced almonds
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
4 medium potatoes (around 750g), peeled, chopped and boiled
2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup milk
(4 small ceramic pie plates)

1. In a large bowl, combine the garam masala, paprika, ginger, garlic and 2 tbsp oil, and whisk together using a form. Add the chicken, mix well and leave for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees
3. In a large pan on medium heat, add the remaining oil. Brown chicken in oil for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms and onion, and stir.
5. Add the ketchup and almonds and let simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Transfer mixture into four individual pie dishes.
6. Add the turmeric and milk to potatoes and mash together. Spoon potato mixture evenly atop each pie dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the potato begins to brown on top.

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Secret Recipe Club: Mango Chicken Curry

It's time again for The Secret Recipe Club (SRC) again, hosted by Suzanne from The Bugs on my Windshield. Because SRC's reveal date is Monday, there won't be a Friday recipe this week.

This month I was assigned Angela's Kitchen. Angela's blog caters to the gluten- and dairy-free crowd. While some people might groan thinking: great, there won't be anything interesting here, I already knew better. My sister-in-law keeps a gluten-free diet and she and my brother blog about their gluten-free experiences in Western Canada. So back to Angela - I immediately knew there was going to be lots to choose from and I was right. What most people don't realize is that there is a ton of cuisine that is both naturally gluten- and dairy-free. So it wasn't about making something with gluten and dairy substitutes, but finding the cuisine that matches the dietary needs of the audience.

In the end, I chose to make her Chicken Mango Curry. Many curries are naturally gluten-free and many Eastern curries use coconut milk instead of cream - voila. No substitutes, just something that works for everyone.

For this particular recipe, I made some slight changes in process and substitutions to match Meredith's dietary needs (she doesn't like green beans) and my cooking style, and there was no need to freeze it for later (the leftovers were eaten the next day for lunch), however, it still keeps the spirit of Angela's original creation.

When we sat down to eat, Meredith said that it reminded her of the curries her mom used to make because of the sweetness of the mango, coconut milk, and raisins. Jeremy couldn't get enough of the zucchini so he shovelled his little bowl down as well. This is definitely a curry we'll be making again.

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Mango Chicken Curry

by Daniel Saraga March-12-2012

Meredith said that this curry reminded her of the curries her mom used to make because of the sweetness of the mango, coconut milk, and raisins. Adapted from Angela's Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 kilo chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp (rounded) garlic, minced
• dash salt
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups zucchini, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 mango (yes, another mango), peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 3/4 cup coconut milk

Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium-high heat and brown chicken for 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan to a bowl.2. Add onions, garlic, ginger and salt to pan and cook for around ten minutes, stirring occasionally.3. Add peppers and zucchini and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, until peppers begin to soften.4. Add back chicken, curry powder, 1 mango, vinegar and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium and allow to simmer, uncovered for 25 minutes.5. Add remaining mango, raisins, and coconut milk. Stir and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and serve with rice.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 15 mins Yield: 3 servings

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Peanut Salad Dressing

I forgot to take a photo of the salad before we ate,
however, we used the dressing as a dip as well.

A short while ago was National Peanut Butter Day.

While my son decided to have a fluffernutter sandwich for dinner (that's marshmallow fluff and peanut butter for the un-initiated), we decided to use the peanut butter elsewhere in our meal.

I prepared a salad with shredded carrot, snow peas, a few other vegetables and some sort of dried/puffed noodles and whipped together a salad dressing loosely based on one I saw at Our Best Bites. The original recipe was Thai, however, we omitted the Siracha sauce, cilantro (we didn't have any) and swapped out the lime for lemon among other changes. I still would like to try the original recipe as I imagine it tastes excellent as well.

There was quite a bit of dressing in the end, and it was pretty thick, so we ended up adding extra water compared to the original recipe, and, after using it for salad on a second day, we used the dressing as a dip for vegetables. It was excellent.

Peanut Salad Dressing


1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp honey

2 tsp garlic puree

1 tbsp ginger puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

1. Place all ingredients except water in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Slowly add water as required to reach the desired consistency.

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Secret Recipe Club: Ginger Chicken

It's time again for The Secret Recipe Club (SRC), and we have a new host: Suzanne from The Bugs on my Windshield. Because SRC's reveal date is Monday, there won't be a Friday recipe this week.

This month, I've been assigned Robin from Penny Pinching Provisions who, like me, would rather make tasty, affordable meals from scratch, than buy prepared processed food. There were lots of tasty-looking recipes to review and an easy-to-scan index of recipes to search through. (Thank you, Robin!).

Since we had a dinner with friends coming up, and I tend to use friends as guinea pigs for recipes, as well as family, I decided to make a double-batch of Robin's Ginger Chicken recipe, and add a little bit of Chinese cooking wine to the recipe as well.

Ginger Chicken

1 tbsp oil
1 kilo chicken, diced
1/4 cup white cooking wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup ginger, chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp coriander

1. In a deep pan, heat oil on medium-high and brown chicken on all sides. Set chicken aside.
2. Quickly de-glaze the pan with the cooking wine. Add broth, onion, ginger, soy sauce, molasses, garlic powder, mustard and coriander. Increase temperature to high, and let mixture boil and reduce (stirring occasionally) until onions and garlic are soft (20 minutes).
3. Add the chicken to the mixture, and reduce to medium, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through.

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Baked Aloo Kofta Curry (Baked Potato Ball Curry)

Back in January I got an email from one of my favourite Indian food bloggers - Niya. She remembered a comment I made nearly a year ago about wanting to make a potato-ball curry that didn't involve deep-frying. Well, Niya came through and created one! As soon as I saw Niya's Baked Aloo Kofta Curry, I knew I had to make it. Immediately. For dinner that very evening. With a few variations, I mostly doubled the recipe, and it tasted amazing. We took the leftovers to our neighbours who devoured it (and sent us some of their ribs as a thank-you).

Thank you so much, Niya!

Baked Aloo Kofta Curry (Baked Potato Ball Curry)

Kofta:
1 lb (500g) potatoes, boiled and mashed
2 tbsp onions, finely chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Curry:
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp (rounded) coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 1 cup water
2 tbsp oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1. For the koftas:
   Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
2. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, thoroughly mix all ingredients for the kofta.
4. Roll mixture into 1-inch balls and space evenly on parchment (should be 20-25 balls).
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned and crispy, then set aside.
6. For the curry:
   Combine chili powder, cayenne, coriander, salt and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl and set aside.
7. In a deep pan, heat oil on medium-high and fry onions until translucent and browning.
8. Reduce heat to medium and add ginger and garlic. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes
9. Add the spice and water mixture, stirring for two minutes.
10. Add tomato paste and remaining water, stir and cover.
11. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes and then remove from heat.
12. Add sour cream and mix gently.
13. Arrange koftas in a flat oven-proof dish with a lid and pour curry on top. Garnish with cilantro.
14. Allow the curry to stand for at least one hour before serving (you can reheat in the oven) to allow the flavours to mingle.

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Skagway Brewing Company Spiced Carrot Soup

I garnished the soup with a little more fresh ground
pepper and some toasted cumin seeds. You might find
the cumin a little strong.

This is one of my favourite recipe stories.

Meredith and I honeymooned in Seattle for a couple days before embarking on an Alaskan cruise. It was beautiful.

Waiting to eat some crab and drink some
Alaskan beer in Ketchikan.

Taken during our air tour in Ketchikan

When we were in port in Skagway, after the bus tour, we walked around town. That's when I saw The Skagway Brewing Company. It was one of two breweries and the only brewpub in Alaska at the time.

Enjoying some down time at the
Skagway Brewing Company.

We had finished touring the town and had some time to kill - and I was hungry. The beer was great and I ordered a spiced carrot soup to tide me over until we got back to the ship.


Well, the soup was amazing. I had to have the recipe. I asked the bartender, who said that the chef would gladly share it, however, he's really busy right now. I told her that I could wait - and I did. We waited for about three hours, sipping through our pints and talking to people in the pub. We had a great time.

When the bartender realized that I wasn't leaving without the recipe, she went into the back, scratched some notes on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I returned the favour by buying a shirt and an oilskin cap to remember the brewpub.

The recipe itself wasn't very detailed. No quantities, just ingredients, when to add what, and how. It was up to me to figure out the rest. I made it once when we got back, but the recipe has languished in my "to-do again" box since then.

Now that the days are starting to chill, it was definitely time to bring that recipe back. I got everything together on a quiet Sunday when we were in the mood for a nice soup with some bread for dinner. It's not exactly what you'd be served in Skagway, but it's pretty darn good.

Skagway Spiced Carrot Soup

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 tsp salt (if chicken stock is low- or no-sodium)
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
500g carrots, grated (1 lb)
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
3 cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
1 medium potato, peeled and grated
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup cream

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a deep pot. Saute onions for 2-3 minutes. Add salt, ginger and garlic and saute an additional 2 minuets. Add carrots and saute an additional 2-3 minutes.
2. Add dried cumin, ginger cloves, nutmeg and pepper, and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes.
3. Add potato and chicken stock, cover and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to medium and let simmer for 10-15, until vegetables are tender.
5. Puree using an immersion blender and add cream.

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Chicken Tajine with Apples

Running out of new ideas for a Friday dinner, I found a recipe for Moroccan chicken on a Foodland Ontario website. The point of the recipe was mostly to pitch the benefits of Ontario-farmed chicken, apples and onions to unsuspecting consumers.

But really, what does this guy know about Moroccan food? (Running a province, yes, Moroccan food: not so much.)

So I ran with the recipe as a base and fixed it from there - eliminating the cornstarch, adding saffron and swapping out the boneless, skinless chicken for recognizable pieces. My friend Simon called it "de-Martha-Stewartifying - making the dish much more my style, and specifically less... umm... this guy.

Chicken Tajine with Apples


2 apples, cored, peeled, thinly sliced and tossed in 2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
dash salt
1 to 1 1/2 kilos chicken legs and/or thighs
1/4 cup oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, minced
2 cups chicken broth
pinch saffron, infused in 1-2 tbsp hot water
2 tbsp cup raisins
1/4 cup blanched almonds
4 dates, pitted and chopped
7 dried apricots, chopped

1. Core, peel and slice apples into thin wedges, toss in lemon juice and set aside.
2. Combine cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper and sprinkle onto chicken.
3. Heat oil on medium in a large pot, brown chicken on both sides. Set chicken aside.
4. Saute onions in the same pot for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Place chicken back in the pan and add broth and saffron. Bring to a boil and let simmer on medium for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
6. Add apples (with lemon juice), dried fruit and nuts, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with cous cous or rice (for gluten-free)

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Curried Hummus (Curry in a Hurry)

When I saw a curried hummus recipe at Bitter Sweet, Bitter Sweet's recipe was a basic hummus mixed with a Madras curry powder. I have my own hummus recipe and I've made a Madras curry before, so it should be quite easy. I knew I had to make my own version. I guess it's called curry in a hurry because it's simple and quick.

The result was great. Meredith loved it and we ate it on pita with some felafel. Tasty.

Curried Hummus (Curry in a Hurry)

Spice mixture:

1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder

Remaining ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tehina
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
water

1. In a small container, combine all ingredients for the spice mixture and shake until thoroughly mixed. Set 1/2 tsp aside for garnish.
2. Reserve 1-2 tbsp chickpeas for garnish.
3. Combine remaining chickpeas, spices, olive oil, tehina and lemon juice all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Add water to reach desired consistency if necessary.
4. Garnish with remaining chickpeas, a splash of olive oil and curry powder.

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Rhubarb Curry Chicken

This curry gets its flavor from the brown sugar caramelized
on the chicken and the super-tasty rhubarb sauce. 

When rhubarb was ready to harvest, a generous colleague handed me a bag with at least a couple pounds of the red stuff. My first thought was "I can only eat so much pie!" Then I realized that there might be an alternative.

After tweeting about my newly found produce, and lamenting that I could only find dessert recipes, the Food Floozie came through. She had just finished making a chicken curry in a rhubarb sauce, and if I could sit tight, the recipe would be posted by the next morning. What luck!
The Floozie's curry was an interesting one. The sauce was made separately the chicken and it used wine. The chicken was pan fried, and the whole concoction goes into the oven to finish off. It looked great.

After a short conversation about the dish, I discovered that I could use orange juice (which I had) instead of wine (which I didn't have) and I made a few other changes to make it my own.

When I took it out of the oven, it was awesome. The brown sugar had caramelized and the sauce was sweet and spicy. Meredith said that it reminded her of the curries her mom made when she was a kid.

Rhubarb Curry Chicken

• 2 tbsp + 3 tbsp oil
• 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp coriander
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp mango powder
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-1/4 cups orange juice
• 1/2 pound rhubarb, ends trimmed, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 kilo chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat and saute onions for 2 minutes, 
3. Add 1/2 tsp salt, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, ginger, curry powder and mango powder and saute for an additional minute.
4. Add orange juice and rhubarb, bring to a boil and cover and let simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat. Stir, re-cover and let cook for an additional 10 minutes. The rhubarb should be reduced to a sauce.
5. In a large skillet, heat remaining oil on medium-high. Place chicken in pan and season with remaining salt and black pepper. Brown chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side.
6. Place chicken into a greased 9x13 baking dish and cover with rhubarb mixture; sprinkle with brown sugar.
7. Place baking dish into  oven and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Inspired by Food Floozie's Curried Rhubarb Chicken.

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Egg Masala

On nights without Meredith I don't always go all-out when preparing dinner. I usually make eggs of some sort.

However, on this particular Thursday night, I decided to finally make an Indian egg dish. The week before I had seen a great one at Sunshine and Smile so I was ready to go.

The recipe called for a tablespoon of cumin seeds, and the result was a bit too cumin-heavy, so in the final recipe, I recommended 1 tsp instead. Overall, it's a nice flavourful egg dish and although it takes a short while to prepare, it's a welcome change to a folded egg with cheese.

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Egg Masala

by Daniel Saraga June 8, 2011

This savory egg dish uses toasted cumin to give a smoky flavour.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil4 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and toweled dry4 garlic cloves, finely chopped1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped1 tsp cumin seeds1 medium tomato, finely chopped1 tsp chili powder1 tsp corriander powder3/4 cups water2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a deep non-stick pan on medium heat. Saute eggs until browned and set aside.2. Add garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and saute for two minutes.3. Add onions and salt and cook until onions are translucent.4. Add tomatoes, corriander and chili and cook for additional 3 minutes.5. Transfer mixture to a blender, add 1 cup water and blend mixture until liquefied and pour the mixture back into the pan.6. Add eggs and bring mixture to a boil.7. Add cilantro, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.8. Add eggs and bring mixture to a boil.Add cilantro, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 4 eggs

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Tandoori Chicken

Another Friday, another chicken.

Still wanting to try more Indian dishes, I found a recipe for Tandoori chicken that looked interesting. This particular recipe used milk instead of yogurt, but in my opinion, could use more masala for the marinate, so I swapped out the dairy for yogurt and adjusted the amount of dry spices up to the amount of sauce.

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Tandoori Chicken

by Daniel Saraga May-20-2011

This Tandoori dish is easy to prepare and easily marinates.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp ground corriander
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp garam masala
• 5 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 kilo chicken legs and/or thighs
• 1/2 cup whole-milk yogurt
• 6 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 tbsp canola oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp ginger, minced

Instructions

1. Combine masala spices (coriander, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garam masala, sweet paprika and salt. Divide mixture into two separate containers.2. Sprinkle the first container of masala on the chicken, covering all sides.3. Place chicken in a large ziplock bag and set aside.4. In a small bowl, whisk together milk, lemon juice, canola oil, garlic and ginger.5. Pour liquid mixture into the ziplock bag, remove air and seal. Shake contents to evenly distribute mixture and refrigerate for one to eight hours.
Baking the chicken:
1. preheat oven to 400-degrees.2. Place chicken on a baking rack with a foil-lined baking pan underneath.3. Sprinkle the remaining masala on the chicken (both sides).
Note: I had some leftover masala.4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is tender and skin is crispy.
Grilling the chicken:
1. Preheat the grill to medium-high.2. Sprinkle the remaining masala on the chicken (both sides).
Note: I had some leftover masala.3. Grill until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees, rotating the chicken every four minutes.

Details

Prep time: 8 hour 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 9 hour Yield: 3-4 servings

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Creamy Indian Cabbage Casserole

When I was home on parental leave, I had lots of time to cook Friday dinners. I had been wanting to try some of Kathy Gori's recipes from the Colors of Indian Cooking (with my own adaptations, of course), but many of them look intimidating or more time consuming than I was willing to commit to (I still had to take care of a baby, after all!).

One particular recipe caught my eye - a cabbage dish. It was the first time I'd seen cabbage in an Indian dish and her original post was specifically about bags of pre-sliced cabbage.

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Creamy Indian Cabbage Casserole

by Daniel Saraga May-13-2011

This creamy cabbage dish is a tasty side dish to any dinner.

Ingredients

• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut
• 1/4 cup chickpea flour
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.2. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, onion, coconut, flour, ginger, chilies, corriander and salt. Stir until evenly distributed.3. Add vegetable oil and water. Stir again and pour into an ungreased 8x12 pan.4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 30-45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 8-10 servings Inspired by the Colors of Indian Cooking A creamy cabbage dish with no dairy.

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Chicken Madras

Between taking photos of past recipes that previously didn't have photos, and trying new things, I've found myself cooking more Indian dishes lately. Many I haven't tried before.

I want to make my way through more standards, like Vindaloo or Tandoori. I guess it's just going to take time. Fortunately, I have more than willing diners to help me eat my way through my creations.

My latest adventure was to tackle a Madras dish. From my research, the recipes vary immensely. The one I found to use as a base looked the most interesting. It was originally meant for a smaller quantity of red meat, not chicken, but I'm flexible.

I also made the mistake of defrosting the wrong package of chicken, so I ended up with chicken breasts, bone-in cut in half. The chicken was fall-off-the-bone soft, however, I really wanted to mix it in with the rice - not possible when you're looking out for small bones.

I'm not sure how authentic it was, but hey, I can always do another variation!

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Chicken Madras

by Daniel Saraga April 27, 2011

This spicy curry goes well with rice or naan.

Ingredients

1 tbsp garam masala1 tsp ground cinnamon1 rounded tbsp curry powder1 tsp ground black pepper1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp cayenne pepper2 tbsp brown sugar4 garlic cloves, crushed1 rounded tbsp grated ginger1/3 cup lemon juice1/2 cup olive oil1 kilo (2 lbs) chicken breasts, thinly sliced1 can diced tomatoes

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the garam masala, cinnamon, curry powder, black pepper, salt, cayenne, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and olive oil.2. Stir in sliced chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.3. In a deep pan, brown the chicken over medium heat until oil separates.4. Add the tomatoes, stir and let simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes.Serve with rice

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 2 hour Yield: 6 servings

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Red Mung Bean Burritos

Jacob is now insisting that he's a vegetarian. Not that he's eaten much meat before, it's just difficult to get him to eat protein in general.

I've been speaking to him about the importance of protein in your diet and he's agreed to go back to eating edamame occasionally. He still need to eat more.

Jacob does like to eat a few desserts made with red bean paste, and he's also eaten pumpkin seeds with curry powder, so I thought I'd try making mung bean burgers.

The recipe didn't work - even after adding chickpea flour and an egg for binding (and additional protein), they didn't stay together as well as I wanted them to. What did manage to look somewhat like a patty didn't meet Jacob's taste standards and he rejected it after one bite.

burgers not really holding it together

I decided to mash the rest and make burritos. A little tandoori spice and some tortillas later, we still had a nice dinner.

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Red Mung Bean Burritos

by Daniel Saraga April 20, 2011

These burritos get extra protein from added eggs and chickpea flour.

Ingredients

1 cup red mung beans1 tbsp canola oil1 medium onion, diced3 garlic cloves, minced1 tsp ginger, minced1 large (about 1-1/2 cups) carrot, finely grated2 tsp curry powder1/2 cup chickpea flour1 egg1 tsp salt2 tbsp canola oil1 cup yoghurt1 tbsp tandoori spice8 medium tortillas

Instructions

1. Soak mung beans in boiling hot water for 2 hours.2. Drain beans, and transfer to a pressure cooker. Re-cover with water and bring cooker to a boil.3. Reduce to low and let cook for 25 minutes.4. While the beans are cooking, heat 1 tbsp oil on medium in a separate pan and fry onions until translucent.5. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for an additional minute.6. Add the curry powder, stir and remove pan from heat.7. Cool the pressure cooker according to instructions and drain any excess liquid using a sieve.8. Let both the beans and onion/carrot mixture cool in the fridge for 20 minutes.9. Mix the beans, onions and carrots, ½ cup flour, egg and 1 tsp salt together in a single dish and let cool in the fridge (covered) for an additional 30 minutes.10. Fry with 2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and serve with tortilla.11. Combine yoghurt and tandoori spice and serve as dip.

Details

Prep time: 4 hour Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins Total time: 5 hour 30 mins Yield: 2 cups

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Sephardic Charoset

The day before the first Seder, I realized that my father wasn't going to be bringing charoset like he usually does. Usually, he picks some up from his synagogue. It comes in little balls and immediately before serving, wine is added and it's mashed up.

In researching Sephardic charoset recipes, I found that there were a few basic requirements: dried fruit, nuts, fragrant spices, one fresh fruit to get it to all stick together. One recipe used bananas instead of apples and I liked that idea, so I looked around the pantry, found the spices and dried fruit on hand and arrived at one of the tastiest charosets I've ever had.

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Sephardic Charoset

by Daniel Saraga April 19, 2011

This charoset is symbolic of the mortar used by the Israelite slaves to build in Egypt.

Ingredients

3/4 cup walnuts3/4 cup almonds1 tsp cinnamon, ground1 tbsp garam masala1/2 tsp ginger, ground1 tsp nutmeg, ground1 tsp cloves30 dates, pitted2 bananas, mashed1/2 cup golden raisins1/4 cup sweet red wine (e.g., Manischewitz, or use rice wine for gluten-free)

Instructions

1. Grind the walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, garam masala, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a food processor.2. Add dates, banana, raisins and honey, and puree and refrigerate until ready to serve.3. Before serving, slowly add wine until desired consistency is reached.Note: Charoset should be a thick paste, like a mortar.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: Total time: 1 hourYield: 2 cups

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Chicken Vindaloo

I know the photo is terrible, just trust me that
tastes great, and if you like lots of sauce for your rice ...

Vindaloo is Portugal's Butter Chicken? Who knew? 

Apparently Priya does. I think the best thing about making Chicken Vindaloo is this new piece of information. Now that I know, it the influence is quite obvious - meat marinated in spices and vinegar instead of oil or yogurt. It's based on the Portuguese dish Carne de Vinha d' Alhos, meat with wine and garlic (thanks, Wikipedia).

In my opinion, this is one of the more difficult recipes, however, by "difficult," I don't mean "technically difficult," like a Moroccan bistilla, where you're working with delicate pastry. More along the lines of one needs to plan ahead to prepare the spices and marinate the meat.

The Vindaloo I made tasted delicious, but the photo turned out terrible. I should've taken a photo of the chicken on a plate with rice, but by the time our guests arrived, we just dove right in, so all I had was a picture of the chicken deep in the sauce (and the sauce was yummy!).

Chicken Vindaloo

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbsp corriander seeds
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 3-6 dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 kilo chicken
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1. Heat a small pan on medium heat and individually toast the cumin, fenugreek, corriander, peppercorns and chilies.
2. Grind spices using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
3. Combine spices with garlic, ginger, salt and vinegar and mix.
4. Cover chicken in spice mixture and let marinate for 1 to 8 hours.
5. Heat oil on medium and fry onions until translucent.
6. Add tomatoes and continue to fry until tomatoes are also soft.
7. Puree tomato-onion mixture and transfer back to pan.
8. Add chicken and let simmer on medium until chicken is cooked and the puree thickens.
9. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Inspired by Priya's Chicken Vindaloo and My Fabulous Recipes for changing things up a bit.

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Channa Korma Curry

Happy New Year's Potluck

Getting ready for a New Year's Day potluck, I was given the task of making a gluten-free and vegetarian meal. I've made my Channa Masala so many times recently, I didn't want to do it again. The problem was, chickpeas had to be the protein.

I then dug through my existing recipes and decided to make a variation of my Chicken Korma. I'd double the sauce and swap out the chicken for the legumes.

Channa Korma Curry

• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 tbsp garlic
• 3 tbsp ginger
• 6 cardamom pods
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes
• 2 cup yoghurt
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cans chickpeas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup raisins

1. Heat oil and fry the onions for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the cardamom, cinnamon, tomato sauce and yogurt and stir.
4. Add the chickpeas and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Reduce to low, add lemon juice and raisins and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

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