Curry, Curry, Curry

Curry.

Just the word makes my taste buds excited!  My stomach starts growling and my mouth starts watering!

Apparently curry is a very broad term... kind of like "stir fry".  You can make it a million different ways.  Chicken or shrimp.  With veggies or without.  With rice or with noodles.  Thai curry or Indian curry.  The combinations go on and on.

There's a Thai place near us that Phil and I love love love.  I always get the pad ped, which is chicken, eggplant, mushrooms, spanish onion, green pepper, and red pepper in a red curry sauce with coconut milk.  Oh my.  So good.  The combination of sweet and spicy and fresh and earthy blows my mind.  I've never tasted American food like that. 

So, when I saw that The Pioneer Woman had a curry recipe I had to try it.  { I love the Pioneer Woman.  I love her recipes.  I love the way she writes.  I love that she randomly writes "amen" in the middle of a blog post }

This recipe is actually a Trinidadian curry.  And it is yummy.

This was different from the curry I've made in the past.  You make a "curry slurry" of curry powder and water and cook that before adding the veggies and meat.  Apparently this is a trick that enhances the flavor of the curry.  And it definitely works.  I added mushrooms and red pepper to mine and used a chipotle chili pepper in adobo instead of the plain jalapeno.

Here's a few shots of my yummy finished product and the recipe.  For step-by-step instructions and pictures, go to The Pioneer Woman's post.  It's amazing... as usual.

• 4 pounds Chicken Pieces (I Used Legs And Thighs), Rinsed, Skin And Fat Removed
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Halved
• 1 whole Tomato, Quartered
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 8 sprigs Cilantro
• 2 Tablespoons (rounded) Curry Powder (I Used A Trini Mix)
• 2 teaspoons Turmeric
• 4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• Jalapeno Pepper, Sliced (optional)
• Potatoes (optional)

Place chicken in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and add mustard.

In a food processor, chop half the onion, tomato, cilantro, garlic, and black pepper (or jalapeno/habanero).

Add mixture to the bowl. Stir the whole mixture together so that the chicken is totally coated in the seasoning ingredients. Allow chicken to marinate for at least two hours.

After chicken has marinated, make the curry slurry: Add curry powder and turmeric to a bowl. Pour in 3/4 cup water and stir until dissolved.

In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-low heat. Pour in the curry slurry and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Curry slurry will deepen in color. If the mixture becomes too dry during cooking, add a little water.

When the curry slurry has become a thick paste, chop the other half of the onion and add it in. Allow the onions to soften, then add in the chicken. Stir to coat the chicken, then cook, half covered, for five minutes. Turn the chicken, then add in 1 to 2 cups of water. Shake the pan and allow the chicken to cook until done, stirring every five minutes. Cook for about 20 to 15 minutes.

At the end, be sure to taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve chicken over rice; spoon sauce over the top.

Amen.     : )

My Favorite Breakfast {at the moment}

I have always been a lover of peanut butter toast.  For breakfast... for dinner... for a snack.  I'll eat it any time.  It's so simple and so yummy.  Especially alongside a big glass of milk.

So, I've been on a nutella kick lately.  Ok, it's more like a craze.  I'm crazy about nutella.

One morning, I reached in the cupboard for the peanut butter, and right next to it was the nutella.  I thought, "Ooooooo. That would be good."  So I added some to my peanut butter toast.  Yum.

Then, a few weeks ago, a revolutionary breakthrough occurred.  I'm laying on the couch reading a book when Phil walks into the room with a sandwich.  The following scene unfolds:


Me:  What'cha got?
Phil:  (with a mischievous grin) Something good.
Me:  Can I have a bite?
Phil:  Maybe.  (walks over to the couch and gives me a bite)
Me: (chewing) It's peanut butter and nutella... with... hmmm... with... cinnamon!!!  Heaven in my mouth!!!
Phil: (grinning) Yeah.  I know.  I just made it up.


I was amazed.  You see, Phil's idea of being creative with food is throwing a can of cream of mushroom soup in with egg noodles.  {Uuugggghhhh.  Gross.  No offense, honey.}  But then he completely amazed me with his culinary  brilliance :) and created what is now my favorite breakfast.

Whole wheat toast.  A layer of peanut butter.  A thin layer of nutella overtop.  And a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Along with a cup of milk {or coffee, depending on how my morning's going}. 

Oh so delicious.  Try this.  You won't regret it.

 

Peach and Strawberry Crumble

I've never made a Giada de Laurentiis recipe that I didn't like.

My husband is a huge fan of her baked tortellini... but that's a post for another day.

I made a new recipe of hers this weekend.  I watched the video on the food network site, and thought it would be perfect because peaches are so yummy (and so cheap) right now.  I bought some last week for 39¢ a pound!

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Giada's Peach and Strawberry Crumble

Filling
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1 pound strawberries, halved
1 1/2 pound peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Topping

2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish. Set aside.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and arrowroot until smooth. Add the strawberries, peaches and brown sugar. Gently toss until the fruit is coated. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pan.

For the topping: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. Pulse until mixed. Add the butter. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Sprinkle the mixture over the filling and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is light golden. Cool the crumble for 5 minutes.
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I tweaked the recipe a little.  Instead of arrowroot flour (who knows what that is anyways, right?) I used cornstarch -- which worked perfectly.  I also added a little bit more brown sugar to my filling because the peaches I used were a little tart.

The almonds added a nice crunch to the typical crumble topping, and I loved the peach and strawberry combination.  I put a big scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside mine.  Delish!!

Here's a link to the recipe and the video.  Enjoy!

A Quick {and tasty} Dinner

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, which is part of the Pioneer Woman's site.

It looked super easy and tasty, so I tried it out last week.


Hot & Sweet Drumsticks

• 1 cup Apricot Preserves
• ½ cups Ketchup
• ¼ cups Soy Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• 2 teaspoons Hot Pepper Sauce
• 3 pounds Drumsticks (about 12)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small saucepan, combine preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted.

Arrange drumsticks in a single layer on a 13 x 9″ baking pan. Pour sauce over drumsticks, turning to coat. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is done, spooning sauce over drumsticks while baking. Serves 6.

It was deliciously sticky/sweet/hot/tangy... and so simple!

The drumsticks I used were gigantic so I ended up multiplying the recipe by 1.5 and increasing the cooking time by 30 minutes.

I made sour cream smashed potatoes and corn to go alongside, but it would be really good served over rice as well.

That's all for now.  Just thought I would share some yummy-ness with you!  Have a wonderful rest of the holiday!!

Tea Time

"Sure, you could travel to an exotic island paradise once a year. Or, you could put that exotic island paradise into a glass and enjoy it any time. This sweet, icy drink infused with hibiscus, exotic herbs and natural tropical flavors may not have all the advantages of a week on a beach. On the other hand, it’s significantly more available. Invigorating hibiscus, subtle citrus, tart rose hips, juicy mango, sweet passion fruit, tangy lemon juice and ice."


Just the description makes my mouth water. Then, the barista hands you this beautiful, hot pink concoction.

starbucks.com

This is starbuck's tazo shaken iced passion tea lemonade. Oh yummy.

The first time I tasted it, I knew I had to figure out how to duplicate it.  First of all, the nearest starbucks is 25 minutes from our house.  And secondly, I can't justify paying  three dollars for twelve ounces of tea as often as I'd like to.  So, I have experimented and come up with something very, very close to starbuck's delicious creation.  I've been making this like crazy the past few weeks, so I thought I would share!

First, you'll need a microwave-safe mug filled with 4-6 oz of water.  I just fill it up about halfway.  Microwave for 30 seconds.

Then comes the tea.  I use one bag.  Place in the mug of hot water.

Let the tea sit 3-5 min.  Remove the tea bag.  And now it's time to sweeten things up a bit.

I use one packet of splenda, or whatever artificial sweetner I have on hand.  I always order mine at starbucks with half the sweetner... so you might want to add a little more splenda here if you like things sweet.  Now, give the tea a good stir to get all the sweetner dissolved.

Get a glass of ice ready.

And pour tea from the mug into the glass, right over all that ice.  Now see how that only filled my glass about 3/4 of the way?  Fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.

Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice -- freshly-squeezed or bottled -- into the tea.  Again, this is something that is completely customizable to your taste.  If you like it more tart, add some more!  If you're wanting something more mellow, add a little less!  Now, give it a good stir.

And there's the finished product.

Check out that color!  And it tastes as good as it looks.  Enjoy!