Cooking recipes: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Punjabi style chicken potato curry

Yesterday I was browsing for chicken recipes and I found this yummy chicken recipe. This is really awesome and I made it with little variation that is I just added methi leaves to the curry. Methi leaves a good for health and aloo methi combination rocks. Punjab is one of the northern state in India. This curry style originated from that place so the name.

Ingredients
Chicken 1/2KG(i added chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks)
Methi leaves- 1/2cup washed and chopped
Aloo/potato 1 big chopped to medium size cubes-
Onions chopped-1cup
tomato chopped-1/2cup
coconut powder-2tbsp
curd/yogurt-2tbsp
Ginger minced-1tbsp
garlic minced-1tbsp
garam masala-1/4tbsp
coriander powder-1tbsp
cumin powder-1tbsp
cumin seeds-1tbsp
oil-4tbs
red chili powder-1tbsp
green chili-1( jalapeno) sliced
Salt to taste
turmeric powder pinch
cilantro for garnishing

Method:
Remove extra fat from chicken and cut it to medium size pieces. Remove skin from drum sticks and make deep cuts. Wash them and allow water to drain completely. Now take a wide mouth skillet and heat oil in it. Add cumin seeds and when they start splattering add onions and green chili. when the onion turn tender add ginger, garlic, salt and turmeric and saute till raw flavor goes off. Then add Potatoes and mix well. cook by closing the vessel for 2min and keep sauteing in between. Then add coriander powder, cumin powder, curd, coconut powder and 1/2cup water and mix well. Let this cook under medium flame for 2min by closing the vessel. Now add chicken mix well and add more water if required and cook till chicken is completely cooked under medium flame. It takes about 15min to completely cook the chicken. When the chicken is done add methi leaves,and garam masala. Mix well and cook it under medium flame. Check for taste add salt if required, and also you can add water if you want more gravy like if you wish. After the curry is cooked garnish with cilantro and serve it. Goes well with bagara/ plain rice/chapati.

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Italian Marinated Skirt Steak

Its almost grill season which really makes me happy! It means dining al fresco and the change of pace to faster cooking. I am by no means a grill expert but I can manage a few things. This steak was made under the broiler but you can cook this meat however you see fit. Its this very simple marinade that is packed with flavor that Im excited to share with you today.

I served this with sauteed spinach and Israeli couscous. I bought a great couscous mix from TJs and added some sauteed peppers and onion to bump up the flavor.

Italian Marinated Skirt Steak

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs. Skirt Steak
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 shallot
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

Mix garlic, vinegar, shallot, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley in a bowl. Pour over steak, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Turning over once. (I like to use my Tupperware marinator and just flip the container over and you dont have to worry about spilling.)

Let excess marinade drip off of the meat and discard marindade. Place meat directly under the broiler and cook for approximately. 4-5 minutes per side for medium rare. Or cook on and indoor grill pan or of course, grill it outside. Let meat rest and cut on a diagonal against the grain.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Short and Sweet

There isnt enough time today to do a recap of yesterday and night, so Ive just posted my favorite picture from the festivities. This short, sweet, and spicy cocktail was from Chef Sammy D. at the restaurant First in the Venetian. Sammy was very cool, and in addition to serving up a bunch of delicious appetizers, he mixed up a batch of "spicy Vegas sunrises" - a blood orange and jalapeno vodka cocktail that I thoroughly enjoyed. Stay tuned for a proper recap soon.

Sunflower Seeds Granola Bars

granola bars, sunflower seeds, appricot, honey ,

Anyone love granola bar as much as I do because I love granola bar. They are a quick anytime snack; cruchy, chewy, nutty ect..and this is a very easy and quick granola bar that you can make at home. Makes you feel full longer, a great snack for kids after school or for moms on the go. This is my first attempt on making these, and my friends and co-work loves them. I hope they are not lying J here is how!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup liquid honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1½-cup rice crisp cereal

2 cups large-flake rolled oats, or any oats that you have in your pantry would do just as good and crunchy yummy bars

1-cup unsalted sunflower seeds

½-cup raisin ½-cup dried apricot (sliced) or any dried as desired,

1-cup almond sliced

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring corn syrup, honey and oil to boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat, simmer for a 3-5 min. Remove from the heat, and let it cool for a minute.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine oats, sunflower seeds, cereal, raisins, apricot and almonds. Pour the syrup over and stir to coat evenly. Pack into a nonstick cake pan and pressing down firmly to the pan using parchment paper to avoid sticking as shown in the picture above.

Preheat the oven 350 Fahrenheit. Bake in centre for about 20-25 minute. Let it cool down completely before remove from the cake pan, cut into bars or any shapes and sizes if like and just store in a ziplock bag or cookie jar for a perfect anytime snack. Enjoy,~~ Happy Cooking~~

The Strata of Monte Cristo

I had all these ingredients that needed using up so I came up with this brilliant idea... googled it and as usual discovered that half the world has been there ahead of me. Oh well. A good idea is a good idea. All the great flavour of the traditional Monte Cristo sandwich, easier to deal with as a savory bread pudding, or strata. Not really any quicker to make, I suspect, but much less fiddly especially if you are serving more than one or two people.

Actually, a Monte Cristo sandwich is often served with raspberry jam. I didnt have any, or I would have tried it. I suspect it would be a good idea to heat it first. You can use any reasonable sandwich bread, white or whole wheat. I used a sourdough rye, actually. Hm... next up, how about a Reuben strata?

6 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time

4 large eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
10 to 12 slices slightly stale sandwich bread
2 tablespoons butter
200 grams (1/2 pound) sliced ham
250 grams (generoud 1/2 pound) sliced or grated cheese
- gruyere, gouda, cheddar or havarti

Whisk the eggs in a medium mixing bowl with the milk, salt, pepper and mustard. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Use the butter to butter the bread on one side of each slice. Cover the bottom of an 8" x 11" baking dish with a single layer of the bread, butter side down. You can trim the crusts or leave them on, as you like. This should use half the bread.

Ladle about 1/3 of the egg and milk mixture evenly over the bread in the pan. Cover it with an even layer of the ham, and about half of the sliced or grated cheese. Top with another layer of the buttered bread; butter side up this time. Ladle the remainder of the egg and milk mixture evenly over the bread. Cover the top evenly with the remainder of the cheese.

Let the strata rest for about 10 minutes before it goes into the oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for another 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Noodles Cutlet

Noodles cutlet is a simple, delicious and healthy snack/appetizer prepared by using noddles, veggies, chaat powder, jeera, lemon juice.

I got this recipe from my mom; she saw this in one of the food TV show. I tried them over the weekend and they came out so wonderful...Loved them!!!!

These are crispy outside and soft inside. Noodle cutlet are a good change to normal potato cutlets and they taste so delightful.

Ingredients:

Noodles - 1 packet (I used Instant Maggie Noodles)

Potato - 1 no

Onion - 1 no small

Mixed veggies – ½ cup

Chaat Masala – 2 tsps

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Jeera – ½ tsp

Green chilies chopped – 4 no

Coriander leaves chopped

Salt as required

Oil for shallow frying

Preparation

Cook the noodles in boiling water without the tastemaker.
After they get boiled, drain the water from noodles and keep them aside.
Microwave potato for 4-5 mins, peel off the skin.
Microwave mixed veggies (carrot, peas, and beans) for 1 min.
In a mixing bowl take boiled noodles, potato, mixed veggies.
Add chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, jeera, chaat powder, salt, lemon juice and mix well.

Take a small portion of mixture and flatten it like a small patti.
In a cooking wide pan add little oil, after oil gets heated place these cutlets on the pan.
Cook on low flame till the both sides turn golden brown
Serve hot with tomato ketup.

Sending this to Bookmark Recipes - Every tuesday hosted by Priya, Fast Food event - Noodles hosted by Shama, CBB Series - Chinese Cuisine hosted by Radhika

MALAI KOFTA

MALAI KOFTA

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE KOFTAS

Boiled potatoes (mashed)-3 medium sized
Paneer (cottage cheese)-100 grams
Besan-4-5 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder-1/4 teaspoon
Oil for deep frying

FOR THE GRAVY

Tomatoes chopped-4 medium sized
Ginger grated-1/2 inch
Asafoetida (hing)-a pinch
Cumin seeds (jeera)-1/4 teaspoon
Coriander (dhania) powder-1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
Kasoori methi-1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder-1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder-1/4 teaspoon
Oil-2 tablespoons
Water-2 cups

METHOD

Mix the mashed boiled potatoes, paneer & besan together.
Use your hand to mash them very well.
Add salt & red chilli powder & mix well.
Make small balls out of the mixture.
Heat oil in a pan & deep fry these balls till they turn golden brown.
If you have a problem in deep frying, you can coat these balls with maida (gram flour) & then deep fry.
Once you take them out, keep them aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan.
Add asafoetida & cumin seeds & as they crackle add ginger to it.
As the ginger turns brown, add chopped tomatoes.
Add turmeric powder & coriander powder & mix well till the mixture starts leaving oil.
Turn off the flame & allow the mixture to cool down.
As the mixture cools down, grind the mixture.
After grinding, add the mixture back to the pan & turn on the flame.
Add salt, red chilli powder & kasoori methi & cook till it leaves oil.
As the mixture leaves oil, add water to it.
Bring it to a good boil & lower the flame.
Cook it till a slightly thick & properly cooked gravy is formed.
Add the kofta balls to it, & cook it for another 2 minutes & turn off the flame.
Malai kofta is ready to serve.

Arepas 2 0

I cant say how impressed I am with all the responses we got after the arepas video was posted yesterday! While it seems I got close, it was clear from the comments that I needed to make a few crucial changes. So, i made another small batch.

I used more water, so the dough was softer and didnt crack when I formed the arepas. I also didnt fry them, but cooked them on a dry (well, very super-lightly oiled) griddle. From the comments it was obvious this was a key, and after one taste I could tell why. It had a better crust and texture. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge!

Arepas Update 2.1

I just discovered these are killer grilled on leftover charcoal! Smoky, chewy, crispy goodness.

Kitchen Diary Day 4

Day 4

Malibu Creek State Park

A year ago, we went to Malibu Creek State Park to camp. Its located just north of Los Angeles, and its one of our favorite places in Southern California. This past weekend, we returned to Malibu Creek for a day of hiking and to photograph the parks stunning landscape, flora and fauna. We got great shots of mule deer via digiscoping, which is when you mount a camera to a spotting scope. This is especially useful to hunters who dont own a high power telephoto lens, but do own a spotting scope. If the animal doesnt present an opportunity to shoot, might as well do some shooting with your camera to show all your friends and family back home what you saw, and to prepare for the next season.

Most of the deers shots here were taken from at least 400 yards away. So if you havent already seen our pictures on Food for Hunters Facebook page, here a few of our favorite photos from our day in the woods. But really, we encourage you all to follow us on Facebook. We will be able to offer you more interactive content. We post almost everyday to our page there.

A group of does.

A beautiful doe we spotted coming from the treeline.

She got quite close. Then some bikers came by and scared her off. If you must bike in the wilderness, try to be less obtrusive.

Spike! We were surprised to see some young bucks starting their antlers early.

Wonder what they were looking at ... probably some hot does across the ways.

While hiking earlier in the day, we came by a big ol rattlesnake! We think its a southern pacific rattler.

It slithered across the trail and into the grass on the other side.

The trees there are beautiful. Many just stood by themselves, probably for hundreds of years-- since the Chumash lived in this valley.

There were also a lot of turkey vulture.

Tree tunnel!

Ricks handsome smile. I think hes having fun.

We hiked to a place called the Rock Pool. Some splunkers came climbing by...

Remember "Romey" the Roaming Fox? Well, he made friends with a crawdad.

It was a beautiful little spot. We were bummed that we didnt bring our bathing suits.

California poppy, growing in the wild. So pretty...

Heres me sitting by the creek. I know Im having fun!

If you come to Southern California, Malibu Creek State Park is definitely a must visit to get away from all the nasty city lights and sounds.

The Sahara mustard plant is a common sight in California parks. They originate from North Africa and the middle east. Theyre invasive, but we still think theyre pretty.

The scottish thistle. If allowed to grow bigger, they grow into artichoke like bulbs. They actually taste like artichokes too, except tinier.

Game trail!

Before we left, I sneaked up on some deer just before sunset. I got pretty close and took this picture with my zoom lens.

Here is one last photo of the valley before dark.

Thick clouds from the sea came rolling in ...

As it got darker, the sound of frogs surrounded us. Funny, because we didnt see a single frog all day. Where did they come from? It kind of reminded me of my visit to Vietnam many years ago. The sound of frogs littered the night, so much that it was hard to fall asleep.

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Kabuli pulao platter

Kabuli pulao platter

Ingredients

Sela Rice 750 gm soaked for 2 hours
Mutton ½ kg
Ginger garlic 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Water 2 cups
Black cardamom 2 grind coarsely
Black pepper 10 grinds coarsely
Cinnamon 1 inch piece grind coarsely
White cumin 1 tsp grind coarsely
Oil ¼ cup + ¼ cup
Sugar 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Salt 1 ½ tsp
Raisins 4 tbsp
Carrot 1 thinly sliced
Brown onion ½ cup

Method

Boil mutton with ginger garlic paste, salt, water till mutton tender and water dries. Heat ¼ cup oil add ½ cup brown onion with boiled mutton, fry till light golden, keep aside.

Method for rice

Heat ¼ cup oil add 2 tbsp sugar and caramelize till light golden, add in 4 cups water with 1 ½ tsp salt, add soaked rice, cook on high flame till boiling and half water dries, add to it coarsely grinded whole spices, mix well, leave it on dum. In another frying pan heat 2 tbsp oil add raisins, fry and remove then add to it 1 tbsp sugar, slightly caramelize, add carrots julienne to it, fry to coat and remove.

To assemble

Remove rice in a platter, top with boiled mutton, surrounded by fried carrots and raisons.

Lemon Sweet Pepper Marinaded Chicken

I can highly recommend trying one of the Bart Smokehouse Barbeque Rubs, there are five marinade rubs which reflect the diverse flavours of barbecue traditions from around the world:

• Smokey Chipotle Marinade Rub: a classic Tex/Mex chipotle chilli gives a smokey flavour

• Mediterranean Marinade Rub: traditional Mediterranean herbs basil, oregano, parsley and rosemary – blended with tomato and a fresh lemon finish

• Lemon & Sweet Pepper Marinade Rub: inspired by Australia, red and green peppers give this rub a great colour and the lemon oil provides an intense taste

• New York Steak Marinade Rub: A classic deli blend of mustard, garlic and pepper

• Tandoori Marinade Rub: tamarind as a main ingredient adds depth of flavour which blends with chilli to create a traditional indian flavour

Plus, as marinades can be messy to apply, the rubs come with a special “marinade bag” to make the whole process cleaner, easier, quicker. No sticky fingers, no washing hands every five minutes. Just delicious authentic flavour.

Simply place the meat or fish in the bag with your chosen Bart® marinade, hold the bag closed and shake gently to spread the ingredients around. For depth of flavour, leave in the fridge for an hour or more before grilling. And, just in case it’s raining, the bag can also be used in the oven for slow cooking, retaining the moisture. As I dont do barbeques, I chose the alternative slow cooking.

I loved the fact that all you need to do is rub the spice mix on your meat, although I brushed my chicken with olive oil first, the pop it the roasting bag which is provided in the box and leave it to marinade. You can then either remove the meat from the bag and barbeque or cook as you would normally roast your meat or you can do what I did, and roast it in the bag.

It was so simple, the roasting tin didnt need soaking and scrubbing and I used my Oxo Good Grips Gravy Separator to separate the fat from the juices then turned them into delicious gravy. The chicken was cooked with the Lemon and Sweet Pepper Rub and had a lovely light lemony flavour. The roasting bag made sure the meat was kept moist and it was very tender. The left over meat was also really good with salad the next day.

See another review and recipe with Lemon and Sweet Pepper Marinade at Lavender and Lovage

I also tried the Smoky Chipotle Rub on some lamb steaks.

I cooked this in the roasting bag after marinading for about two hours, the meat was very tender and although the rub is quite spicy it didnt overwhelm the flavour of the lamb.

The full range is available at Ocado from the end of June and a selection of the rubs will be instore at all Waitrose branches from 2nd June. They will also be available through independents, and delicatessens around the country. Or buy online at www.bart-ingredients.co.uk

from July. The rubs are priced at £1.49, there are alos sauces at £2.99 and spice mills at £3.99.

I was provided with the Barbeque Rubs, I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.