Kialkarkea:

I like spam...just not often.

I doubt you like it in your inbox. Anyways, back to the topic at hand...

Butter Chicken

Requires:
Butter
Chicken
Black pepper
Garam Masala (recipe for blending your own below. Don't pay a 10x markup for pre-blended, that's just silly)
onion
mushrooms
whipping cream
tomato paste
bay leaves

Murder the onions and slice the mushrooms. Melt a couple Tablespoons butter in a large pan, add some garam masala to flavour it, then fry the onions and mushrooms over high heat. Add a little more garam masala about halfway through. Set that stuff aside.

In the same pan, brown the chicken, again with a tablespoon or so of butter and some garam masala. Turn the heat down to low, add the veggies back in and fold together with tomato paste. Add some bay leaves (I also add bay leaves to the rice that I'm preparing, because bay leaf rice is amazingly delicious). Pour cream over this whole assembly until it turns a light orangy colour. Add more black pepper, more garam masala, and a little more salt if the gods have deemed it necessary. Let simmer at least 20 minutes, though it's nigh impossible to overcook at this point.

Serve with jasmine rice and Lazy Naan (which I shall post at a later time).

Actual hands on time: 30 minutes (45 if you're slow at murdering vegetables).

=====
Garam Masala

This is really just a blend of surprisingly common (to me) spices.

• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (though you can get away with less if you dislike heat)
  

Here's my take on naan, recipe adapted from S&S :)

Coconut Spice Naan

2 - 2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup full fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup full fat milk (warm 100F)
1/2 tsp cooking oil of your choice
1 Tblsp coconut/palm sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
Chopped green onions/chives to taste
Ghee for brushing (clarified melted butter)

**Can replace baking soda/powder part with 1/2 tsp dry active rapid yeast, if you want it yeast based. Just activate the yeast in the milk before adding it to the mix**

Spice Topping

1/4 cup coconut/palm sugar
1-2 Tblsp camelina seed (Expensive :/ I got mine as a little spice pack from a little store in Solvang a year or so ago)
1 tsp indian long pepper/pippali (crushed)
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed coriander seed

What to do:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda into a large bowl, stir in the sugar and salt and mix well. Poke a well/crater in the centre in the mix and pour in the yogurt, oil and half the milk. Add onions. Mix everything together until it forms a ball. Add milk little by little until the dough is soft and smooth, but not too soft. (Should be able to hold up to poking/dimples). Continue to knead the dough for about 7 min. until almost bubbly/burpy. Cover and keep in a warm spot to rise and ferment undisturbed for 2 hours. Should be slightly tacky to the touch afterwards.

Heat your pan/heavy skillet until really hot over medium high/high heat.

Split the dough into 6 large balls or 12 smaller balls and roll out to desired thickness and shape (may take some more flour dusting). Sprinkle the spice mix evenly over the tops of each naan, pressing them in securely with the back of a spoon. Brush the unspiced sides with a little water and slap wet side down onto the hot, dry pan. At this point, the naan will be bubbling and puffing up with steam. (If they don't seem to be bubbling up, try placing the lid on the pan for a few seconds) Watch them carefully for browning/charring and flip to cook/toast the spiced side for a few seconds. (Be quick!!) And flip again. When you get into the swing of things, you'll have the two/three flips down pat without burning the spices. Brush with ghee and serve immediately.

Variation: Can also be stuffed with paneer. Or served with a side of melted Kasseri (soft kind).

Happy holidays! Recipe coming up in a bit I just wanted to have a food rave: Biscoff/Speculoos Butter. I bought the last jar of it on a whim from my local korean mart thinking- spreadable cookies? Really? And now all I can say is oh. my. god. It's soo good! I want to try it with nutella now <.<; and jelly.. and I hear there's a crunchy version. Want. ~grabby hands~

Anyone cooking/baking for the holidays?

Easiest recipe ever! Only uses one skillet and everything is pretty cheap. Great, on-a-budget, filling meal.

My Easy Tortellini Skillet

What you need:

-1lb ground beef or italian sausage or a package of chorizo (or whatever else kind of meat you want to use depending on what you
feel like. All 3 versions listed have turned out delicious.)
-2 26oz cans of Hunts Spaghetti Sauce (any flavour)
-1 lb bag of frozen tortellini (I usually do cheese ones)
-1 small package of shredded cheese (I usually get the italian blend)

What to do:

Brown the meat and drain any excess grease. Add in the cans of spaghetti sauce and heat on medium until it starts to simmer. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn on the bottom. Add in the frozen tortellini, making sure it is completely covered in sauce. Reduce to medium low heat and cover, letting it simmer for about 15 mins, until the tortellini is cooked. Again, you'll want to stir this occasionally. Once the pasta is cooked, turn off, spoon into bowls, and top with cheese.

Please note: You need a pretty big skillet for all of the sauce to be able to fit in it. You may only need about 1 1/2 cans of sauce.

New recipe as promised:

Biscoff Toffee Blondies
Ingredients:
1-2 Jars Lotus Brand Biscoff Spread Smooth or Chunky or Trader Joes Cookie Butter
½ cup Guittard White Chocolate Chips
½ cup Guittard Butterscotch Chips
½ cup or more to taste, bagged Skor Toffee Bits or smashed Trader Joes English Toffee
½ cup Walnut Bits (optional)
½ cup Brown sugar, light or dark
1-2 Eggs
¼ cup Sweet Cream Unsalted Butter
½ tsp Vanilla extract
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Baking powder w/ baking soda
1 cup Flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Melt butter in a microwave safe container for about 30 sec. and add the butterscotch and white chocolate chips. Stir, zapping in the microwave again if needed until it’s smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Beat eggs and sugar together in a separate bowl until pale yellow. Add vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Stir. Add butterscotch –white chocolate mix. Stir to combine. Sift in flour and baking powder in small amounts, mixing until there aren’t any lumps. Spoon in ½- ¾ jar of Biscoff. Stir again until well combined. Fold in toffee and nuts.
Spread mixture evenly into a well-buttered pan, or a pan lined with buttered foil. Bake for 25-30 min depending on how gooey or firm you wish them to be. Let cool completely. To frost, gently lift the sheet of bars by the foil from the pan, rolling back the foil from the edges. Use remaining Biscoff* to generously frost the sheet of bars and sprinkle top liberally with toffee bits. Cut into equal portions and serve.
* Any additional jars of Biscoff can be hoarded saved for later culinary usage.

GealbhanBheag:

nomishness

ohmygodthesearedeliciousbutnowIhaveasugarhighWHATHAVEYOUDONE!?

Silliness aside, I put forth the recipe that has kept my housemate fed for the last... uh... since the dawn of time.

Tortilla
Shredded cheese
Mushrooms
Onion
Avocado
Sour cream
Tapatio hot sauce
cooking oil

Saute mushrooms and onion in a couple Tbsp oil, season with salt + pepper to taste. Set aside.
In the same pan, add a little more oil, throw down the tortilla.
Garnish with a nice, thick layer of cheese and spatter with Tapatio hot sauce.
Set heat to medium (on my stove, 6/10)
Go do something else for a few minutes.
When the cheese is all nice and melty, spoon on the sauteed mushrooms and onions, lay down slices of avocado, and slather on some sour cream.
If you're feeling fancy, garnish with any other spices you deem relevant. I personally favor a dash of garam masala, but that might be because I just have a jar of it sitting next to the stove.
Turn off the heat and let it 'rest' for a minute or two, then slide off onto a plate.
Use food on face.

In honour of Losar, the Tibetan New Year:

Momo Dumplings!



Ingredients/Necessities

1 package round dumpling/shiu mai wrappers or your own dough (below)
6 medium maui/sweet onions (diced)
1/2 lb potatoes
1/2 lb taro roots
4 1/2 cup Grana Padano cheese (grated) * (Supposed to be yak cheese, but the Padano works well as a substitute)
2 cup brown crimini mushrooms (sliced)
2 cup shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
1 fresh bunch of cilantro (chopped)
2-3 inch stalk/segment young fresh lemongrass (the bulb end/heart, outer-layer peeled and chopped)
2 Tblsp garlic (minced)
3 Tblsp oil
1 Tblsp fresh ginger (minced)
1 tsp light brown sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tiny drop sesame oil

What to do:

Peel, boil and mash the taro* and potatoes finely (*boil then peel taro first, and boil well it's a bit toxic if you don't) preferrably through a foodmill or ricer, set aside to cool. Heat the oil in a large pan/wok and cook onions for 5 min. until clear. Add chopped mushrooms, cover and cook for another 5 min. until tender. Add garlic, ginger and lemongrass and cook until fragant, being careful not to burn. Remove the veggie mixture from heat, gently stir in soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Let cool. When the veggie mix has cooled, mix in the cilantro, cheese and remaining spices and gently fold into the mashed taro-potatoes until well combined.

To make the dumplings, place about a 1/2-1 Tblsp (or more depending on how big your wrappers are and how much filing you like) of the filling in the centre of each round of dumpling wrappers and gather the edges up, crimping around until it looks like a small parcel, or you can make the crescent moon variation and fold the wrappers in half like a taco, crimping the edges shut.

Spacing the dumplings nicely apart, steam them in a cooking parchment lined steamer tray/basket for about 5-7 minutes or until done and the wrappers are glossy and slightly transparent.

Sauce: Can be enjoyed with ponzu or tamari sauce, the meat momo goes very well with Patak's spicy lime relish which you can find in the Asian store/ international section of Albertsons and Stater Bros.

-Variation-
For traditional meat dumplings, substitute the taro-potato-cheese mix with ground pork, chicken, beef, yak, lamb or abalone and mix the cooled, sauteed veggies with the fresh ground meat before folding into dumplings.

You can also make puffs by omitting the dough wrapper and sealing in the veggie or meat mixture in the centre of a small ball of the mashed taro-potatoes and rolling this in some cornstarch then deep frying until the outside is a crisp golden lattice.

Dough

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup water (more as needed)
Flour to dust
Pinch kosher salt
1 tsp oil

Mix all dry ingredients, slowly adding water to form the dough with your hand. Knead for 10 min until pliable and smooth. Let rest for 5 min. Divide dough equally into small balls, rolling out thinly into disks. You can also just roll it out and use a round cookie cutter if you like.

A helpful video I found on how to fold:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORc7_eTlD6Q

Now I want dim sum :(

One of my favourite recipes - easy to make and so tasty. Lime and Chilli plus Jamaican Jerk = Win. Also very healthy.

Serves Two:

• 2 turkey breast fillets
  
• 10ml/2tsp jerk seasoning
  
• 45ml/3tbsp olive oil
  
• 225g sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  
• 1 deseeded red pepper, diced
  
• 1 red onion, sliced
  
• 50g brown rice
  
• 1 (400g) can black-eyed peas, drained
  
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
  
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
  
• Pinch of sugar
  
• 2 little gem lettuces, shredded
  
• Salt and black pepper
  

1 Place the turkey in a shallow bowl with the jerk seasoning and 1 tbsp oil and leave to marinate for at least 10 mins.
2 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. In a roasting tin, mix the potatoes, pepper and onion with 1 tbsp oil, add the turkey and bake for 25 mins or until cooked through.
3 Meanwhile, cook the rice in boiling salted water for 20-25 mins. Stir in the beans.
4 Mix the lime, chilli, sugar, salt and pepper.
5 Slice the meat. Mix the vegetables into the rice with half the lettuce. Divide the remaining lettuce between two plates and heap the rice mixture on top. Top with the turkey and spoon over the dressing.

Since the weather here is warmish, here's another awesome spring/summer recipe:

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces
  
• olive oil
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 2 thick slices of bacon
  
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped
  
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• Juice from 1 orange
  
• 200g fresh spinach
  

I continue to be obsessed with my crockpot. The following is tasty delicious. I have made it a couple of times in the last month. I have found that the little bit of sausage does big things for the flavor and texture, while other chicken chilis tend to be a bit thin and without the rich heartiness that you want. So this is kind of a compromise recipe, not ultra-healthful, but definitely a few steps better than a regular groundbeef/pork/veal/sausage/whatever chili.

Chicken Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
~1/4 lb spicy italian sausage (1-2 links)
1 can crushed tomatoes (the big size can)
1 can diced tomatoes (regular size can)
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 bag frozen corn
1/2 bag dried black beans
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cube of chicken boullion
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne*
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder*

Eq:
Crockpot
Can opener
Tongs

*Adjust up in small increments for more spicy. Recipe is mild.
Instructions:
Let the tap run as hot as it goes and soak the beans in a bowl full of water. The water will turn inky, this is normal. Change it a couple of times over the course of about 30-40 minutes. You can do other things while you are doing this. Ignore everything else the bag is telling you about soaking the beans overnight, just do this.

Other things to do:
Open the cans and add them to the crock pot. Also add the corn and the onion, and all the spices. Stir. Put the chicken in. Remove sausage from the casings or if you have loose sausage meat, just add it. You can break up the sausage meat a little but don't worry about this too much, it will be easier to do that later once it is cooked.

There are still beans soaking in a bowl in my sink:
Rinse the beans until the water runs clear, then add them. Stir again.

Cook:
All day on low, or 6 hours on high. More is okay.

Half an hour before you are ready to eat:
Use tongs to break up the chicken and sausage into small bits. Do a thorough job of this. Cook some rice, or not.

Eat:
Over the rice you just cooked. Or skip the rice and serve with sourdough bread.

Ground turkey also makes for awesome chilli/stews too!.. esp green chile stew.. -sagenod-

Talan:

I continue to be obsessed with my crockpot.

While I put nowhere near as much thought into cooking as you fine folks in this thread (I'm more of a "whatever's edible and within arm's reach" sort of girl), I feel compelled to chime in and say yes I completely agree with this sentiment.

I make this chili. It changes every time, but here's the most basic recipe.

2lb ground beef
2 packages of bratwursts (5 each)
2 16oz cans of dark red kidney beans
4 16 oz cans of tomato chunks
4 16 oz cans of tomato paste
24 oz cheap beer
a pint of really cheap whiskey
4 jalapenos
~8 habaneros
1 bottle of Melinda's XXXXtra hot habanero hot sauce. (make sure it has 4 x's, it's a lot better than 3)

I also throw in venison when I can, but that's optional because it's not as easy to get.

Anyway, it's really simple. Cut up the peppers. Brown the meat. Brown the brats. Then dice the brats and keep cooking them. Drain the beans and the meat grease. Pour everything (including pepper seeds.) in a huge pot. Cook it on medium heat for about 2 hours, then turn it down low. Really low. Like, 1 1/2-2. And let it sit there for 10-12 hours. Then put it in the fridge over night. Next day, put it back on really low heat for another 4 hours. And it's done.

Bump! Who's got summer recipes to share? :)

Here's a cross-post from my blog.

Biscoff Guava Cheesecake Cookies

Dough:
3 oz Good quality Organic Cream Cheese, room temp. (ie. Straus Family Creamery)
1/2 Unsalted sweet creme butter, room temp.
2 C Biscoff Cookie crumbs
1 C All-purpose flour
1/2 C Unsalted Macadamia nuts, loosely ground OR 1/2 C Good quality mini white chocolate chips (or combo of both)
1 C Sugar
Pinch Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 C Cuban guava paste
2 Tblsp Water
1 tsp Organic vanilla extract
What to do for the cookies:

1. In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and sugar on about med. speed until pale and fluffy for about 5 min. Turn off mixer and scrape down sides with spatula.
   
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder into a second bowl.
   
3. Turn mixer on to low speed and add in flour mixture until just combined.
   
4. Turn off mixer, repeat scrape down and fold in the nuts/white chocolate and 1 C of the Biscoff crumbs until well combined.
   
5. Using a teaspoon, scoop up the dough and shape them into 1 in balls that sit a bit taller than wide.
   
6. Roll each ball in the remaining 1 C of Biscoff crumbs and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 in apart.
   
7. Bake for 12-14 min at 350 F, or until lightly browned.
   
8. When done baking, immediately use the rounded end of a wooden spoon or similar instrument to make a dimple in the middle of each warm cookie. Immediately fill the hole you made with 1/4 tsp guava jelly each. (Can be quickly piped or spooned.)
   
9. Cool on pan for 3 min then transfer cookies to cooling rack and leave at room temp. so the guava paste can set, about 30 min.
   

What to do for the filling:


1. In a small sauce pan over low heat, stir and warm the guava paste with the water until it reaches a slightly looser, jelly like consistency.
   
2. Remove from heat and immediately spoon or transfer to piping bag and fill the indentations in the warm cookies.
   

"Chicken-Stuff"

Something easy and simple for you lazy poor folk like me!

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
3 cans of canned chicken

Mix together in a skillet with one can of water. Heat until boiling. Serve over rice.

Harkux:

"Chicken-Stuff"

Something easy and simple for you lazy poor folk like me!

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
3 cans of canned chicken

Mix together in a skillet with one can of water. Heat until boiling. Serve over rice.

You speak my language. Except for the canned chicken. That stuff is nasty.

Phoebus:

You speak my language. Except for the canned chicken. That stuff is nasty.

Any leftovers from a rotisserie or some other form of cooked poultry works in it's place! I just use canned because it's cheap. Usually cook it in a little olive oil and Italian seasoning before I throw it in, but that's the very basic I make when I'm feeling absolutely useless on any given day.

For those who don't like canned chicken much but are intimidated by fancy culinatin', it's possible to cook raw cubed chicken in the microwave if you're planning on adding it to something else. It's been a few years since I've prepped it (this was my preferred method of preparing meat for a chicken and butter noodles meal) but I recall heating it a minute at a time, turning the chicken cubes as needed and making sure the insides were no longer pink before adding them to the saucepan. This can produce some kind of dry chicken and requires not being freaked out by handling raw poultry, so your mileage may vary!

DIY Frosted Flakes

Ingredients:
6 3/4 C Corn flakes or other unsweetened cereal (Crushed a bit if you like)
3/4 C Malted milk powder (Like Milo, King Arthur, Ovaltine)
4 Tblsp Sugar
6.5 oz Sweet creme unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt

What to do:
1. In one bowl, mix malted milk, sugar and salt
2. In another bowl, add dry cereal and melted butter and toss until well coated.
3. Add malted milk-sugar mix to buttered cereal and toss again until well coated.
4. Lay out cereal evenly onto baking sheets lined with baker's parchment and bake in oven @ 275 F for about 35 min.
5. Let cool completely, enjoy with milk of choice.

Summer foods!


It's been a really good year for growing basil in NY, a combination of the ridiculous heat and all the rain I think. Either way, if you've got it in your garden it's probably enormous like mine. Pesto is easy, but with so few components, how it turns out really depends on the quality of ingredients you use, so use proper salt, olive oil, and parm (not that dehydrated powder from the spaghetti aisle).


*Pesto*

Ingredients:

~2+ cups packed fresh basil (not packed like brown sugar, but satisfactorily smooshed down)
3-6 cloves of garlic, depending on how large the cloves are. You really can't overdo it by accident.
1/4 cup pine nuts, aka pignoli nuts. They have these in the baking aisle at my grocery. They also have them at the Italian market where they cost twice as much.
1/2 tsp good salt
~1/4+ cup olive oil
~1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated

Eq:

Salad spinner
Food processor
Knife, Spoon, Scraper


Instructions:

1. Cut the top thirds off of your basil plants, strip the leaves, toss the stems. Wash the leaves and spin them dry, or else bang them out in a strainer and then blot with paper towel.

2. Roughly chop the garlic. Alternate layers of basil and garlic in the food processor. Pulse until it starts to combine, stopping to manually stir things around if needs be. You are going for an even consistency of very finely minced everything, not liquified basil at the bottom and a heap of chopped leaves on top.

3. Add the pine nuts in portions, pulse.

4. Add the olive oil 1 tbsp at a time, pulse. Again, you're not going for a liquid consistency.

5. Stir in the salt, mixing well.

6. Add more olive oil to your preference. I usually go with less, but some people like it very oily if they are tossing it with pasta.

7. Stir in the cheese. Taste. Resist the urge to keep eating it out of the food processor. Make adjustments any adjustments to taste.

8. Toss with a whole pound of pasta (something squiggly like rotini is best), or bake on a pizza with fresh tomato (you don't need sauce), use in another recipe, or freeze. There's a popular trick to freeze it in an ice cube tray and then transfer the cubes to a ziplock. This works well.


----

This is not really a recipe, but someone told me about it once, and before that I didn't know, so I'll tell you. Here is the best summer sandwich - simple, tasty, and travels really well.

*Sandwich*

Ingredients:

Fresh baguette
Fresh tomato
Brie

Eq:

Bread knife
Butter knife

Instructions:

1. Cut baguette into 3" pieces, cut them open like a hero roll. Paring the baguette down first is easier.

2. If you're packing them up for later just cut a slice of cold brie and put it on the bread, otherwise you want the cheese at room temp, and smear.

3. Add thinly sliced tomato.

4. That's it. They're really good. You can make them in the morning and have them for lunch at the beach of where ever you go. No need to keep them in the cooler.


----

And one dessert because why not. This also has very few ingredients and requires no baking, but it takes a while to prepare. I really like using Disaronno as it gets all the fruity flavor that is desired without messing around with candied orange peel or whatever else.

*Cannoli Cream*

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh ricotta
1 tbsp Disaronno
~3 tbsp powdered sugar
A bar of good, dark chocolate (high cocoa content)

Eq:

Strainer, Bowl
Cheesecloth (or paper towels)
Spoon

1. Wrap the ricotta in the cheesecloth and put it in the strainer over the bowl to drain overnight. Give it a squeeze and worry it a little before you go to bed and in the morning. If you're using a paper towel, change it at these points. You want the cheese to be dry.

2. Stir in the liqueur.

3. Stir in the powdered sugar. It's surprising how little you need.

4. Serve in custard cups with dark chocolate shavings. Also you can just make cannoli if you have the shells. They are too much trouble to make, so buy them. Fold in chocolate shaving, but don't mix too well. If you don't have a pastry bag, put the cream in a sandwich bag and cut the corner off, voila.