curry: a delicious dinner

In January of 2009, I went down to New Orleans with a bunch of friends from Brown, and we stayed in a church and worked on a house that had been damaged by Katrina.  In between days of putting up kitchen cabinets and nights of enjoying the French Quarter, we took turns cooking dinner in the church kitchen.  Maggie and I decided to make curry, so we looked up some recipes and made a playlist to listen to while we cooked (among others, it included Kings of Convenience, the Beatles, Radiohead, Joshua Radin, Of Montreal, the Grateful Dead, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan).  We didn't end up using this recipe, mostly because we couldn't be bothered to find/pay for mangoes, but I made it while visiting my family in England and it's pretty good.  I used only one mango (because one of the two I bought was unripe) and instead used a whole pepper...this was a bad choice.  It was far too peppery and not mangoey enough.  Play around though; I think this recipe has great potential if you figure out how to tweak it to make it just right for you.

Mango 
Chicken 
Curry 

INGREDIENTS

3 Tbsp (or more) of vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 Tbsp yellow curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger

2 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

1 1/4 cup water

2 mangos, peeled and diced

1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup heavy cream (can substitute all or partially with coconut milk)

Salt and pepper

Cilantro for garnish

METHOD

1 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and another tablespoon of oil, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. The spices will absorb some of the oil, so if anything begins to stick too much to the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil to the pan. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for one minute more.

2 Add the vinegar, water, and a 1/2 of the chopped mango to the pan. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the sauce into a blender. Purée the sauce, pulsing until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan.

3 Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan. Return to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Chicken should be just cooked through. Use a knife to cut open the largest piece to check.

4 Add remaining mango pieces to the pan. Stir in the cream. Let cook at a very low temperature for another minute or two, uncovered. Do not let boil! Or the cream may curdle. Adjust seasonings. If a little too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If not sweet enough, you can add a dash of sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.

peanut, peanut butter (and jelly!)

I got this recipe from Awa Goita, a Malian woman who I was lucky enough to meet when she came to Miami.  Awa did a little cooking class in order to raise money for her plane ticket to the states, and when explaining how to make this peanut butter stew, kept saying "Je mis un quantité de ____, et un quantité de ____" (I put in some of ______ and some of ____), meaning the recipe is very loose and you can really put what you want in terms of which and how much of the veggies.  When I made it, I made a half recipe (which would feed about 6 people) and ended up not halving the tomato paste and chicken bouillon, for more flavor.  I also substituted zucchini for eggplant (which I would not reccommend).  I think it would also be good with broccoli or cauliflower, asparagus, and/or brussel sprouts.  The picture below shows it just after I've added in some cabbage and zucchini.

African (Mali) Peanut Butter Sauce & Rice

Ingredients

~6 cups of water ~28 ounces of peanut butter (or less to taste) 6 ounces of tomato paste 1 large onion, grated 1 chicken bouillon cube 1 teaspoon of salt Pepper to taste 6 mashed garlic cloves 1 tablespoon of “epice” if available (see below for recipe), or 1 tbsp of “Herbes de Provence”** Recommended but optional: 1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut into chunks

Vegetables*: ¾ of a whole cabbage, cut in large pieces 2 chopped carrots 1 medium eggplant, chopped in large pieces 2 chopped sweet potatoes 4 cups chopped kale or similar green *Substitute other vegetables as you wish (okra, squash, cauliflower, etc…) 3 scotch bonnet hot peppers (optional)

Directions:  Put water in large pot, add p-nut butter, tomato paste, chicken chunks.  Bring to boil.  Add all ingredients.  Cover and simmer for one hour.  Serve over rice.  Scotch bonnet peppers are very hot/spicy, it is best not to break them open in the sauce, unless you like it hot/spicy. 

**Herbes de Provence is a blend of thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, cloves, lavender, tarragon, sage, marjoram, basil, fennel seed and other spices that can be found in most spice sections.

When it's chilly, eat some chili!

The words of my mamma:

When I worked at Redbook Magazine in the early 80’s we printed these sheets with various recipes from the Redbook Kitchen – but I can’t recall what we used them for – inserts in gift bags at events maybe? Anyway, this recipe has been a favorite since then. Now I tend to make it with ground turkey to replace half the ground beef (just to make it healthier but still keep it flavorful.) I’ve also made it with fake meat (Boca Crumbles) during your vegetarian phase. It freezes great and is always best the day AFTER you make it.

Redbook Magazine Chili

Makes about 8 1-1/2 cup servings.

2 cups of chopped onion

2 Tblsp minced garlic

2 Tblsp veg oil

2 Tblsp chili powder

4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp red pepper (cayenne)

2 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey

1- 35 oz. can of tomatoes (or use one 28 and one 15 ounce can, I know it’s more but it’s fine)

1- 6 oz. can tomato paste

2 tsp salt

fresh black pepper

1lb. can of pinto or kidney beans; rinsed and drained

Method:

• In a large heavy pot, cook onion and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes, until soft.
• Stir in chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Cook another minute.
• Stir in beef (or turkey); break up meat and cook till it looses pink color.
• Stir in tomatoes, paste, salt and pepper.
• Add beans. Stir.
• Simmer chili, uncovered for about one hour until mixture thickens and flavors blend.

Note:  When I made this, I ended up using two 1lb cans of black beans and 2 36oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes, and also a little less than a whole can of tomato paste (because I had used a few tbsb for the risotto before).  It worked fine...flexible recipe.

Eggplant parmesan... the way food should be

Here's a recipe from my friend Scott from Maine (the way life should be)

Slice up the eggplants to about quarter to half-inch thickness. Obviously, thicker will be meatier, thinner will be crispier.

Lay them out on a cloth/paper towel.

Lightly salt them.

Cover them with another cloth/paper towel and press them a little bit. They'll need to sit for 10-15 mins.

(this is all to remove a bit of moisture so the oil/flavor gets in better)

Stir up a little egg wash in a bowl. Whole eggs or just whites are fine. You can add a little lemon juice, but it's not necessary.

In another bowl mix 2 parts bread crumbs to 1 part flour, with some salt and pepper. I like to toss in some oregano/basil here to make the eggplant look pretty.

Saute some garlic in olive oil until lightly brown.

Dip eggplant slices on both sides in egg wash, then in the bread crumb mix, then fry them in the pan until nice and crispy brown.

Now, the sauce is what makes a dish like this. You can buy the jar stuff, but it'll kinda suck. I'd recommend buying a can of *crushed* tomatoes (not diced, peeled, paste, or sauce. very important). In a saucepan/pot, saute some garlic and hot peppers in olive oil, pour in the tomatoes, mix with a good splash of wine (more than you think), add some salt, pepper, basil, and oregano, and let it simmer for a good long while.

In a bake pan, layer your fried eggplant, then mozzarella, then sauce, then parmesan, until its all used up. Cover the top in the bread crumbs and parmesan.

If you want, save some sauce to serve with the side of pasta. Pasta with just olive oil, garlic, and parmesan is good too.

Bake for about a 25-30 minutes. It might take less time depending on the amount.

Good luck. God bless ya