Sausage Spinach Buns

We got some awesome smoked sausage from the wicked butcher outlet store last week, but now they're hogging space in the freezer. I wanted something different other than your standard super-crisped on a bun or with sauerkraut or something else and started digging on the internet for "sausage bread". ...Not the best search in the world, lol. Reading them, they all wanted sausage out of its casing and lots of add-ons or pizza style. Considering I was just looking for whether or not you could bake a whole sausage in a piece of bread, it was odd, lol. But it gave me ideas and I came up with something that actually rocks.

Sausage Spinach Buns


makes 8 buns

1 recipe pizza dough (i'm still perfecting mine, so you can chose your fave)
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch half moons
300g frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 medium onion, minced
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 cup grated mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 F and oil a baking sheet.
Have your dough ready to go, or ready for the final rising, divided into 8 equal balls.
Fry the sausage pieces in a frying pan until nice and crispy.
Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
In the leftover fat, or a dash of oil, saute the mushrooms and onion until brown and soft.
Stir in the spinach and sausage.
Mix in the cheese just before you start making the buns.
Roll the dough balls into about 6 inch circles.
Put an 1/8th of the filling in the center and pull the edges around it.
Place on pan seam side down and brush tops with oil.
Bake about 15-10 minutes or until filling is hot and dough is cooked and brown.

Enjoy!

Cheeseburger Crescent Pizza

A night when I would have loved nothing more than to order in pizza rather than cook, but sadly there are absolutely no good pizza joints in town and it wasn't exactly in the budget either. Wasn't going to give up on pizza, but wasn't feeling making dough. Luckily we had some Pillsbury crescent roll dough in the fridge and some leftovers, so I got to do a minimal amount of work and still have some sort of pizza.

Cheeseburger Crescent Pizza


makes 4 pieces, serves 2 as a main or 4 with a side

1 tube Pillsbury crescents
1 1/2 cups fried ground beef crumbs
1 cup grated cheese ( I used a blend of cheddar and mozzarella since there was some leftover cheddar)
1/2 cup cooked mushroom pieces (about 100g raw)
1 med onion, chopped and par-cooked
3 Tbsp tomato paste
pinch each of garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Unroll dough on sheet and press together seams.
Mix spices and tomato paste together and spread over the crust.
Sprinkle with half the cheese.
Top with the burger, mushrooms and onion.
Add rest of cheese.
Bake about 12 minutes or until toppings warm and crust brown and crispy.

A new and interesting way to get rid of crescents when not craving their sickly sweet plain flakiness.

Enjoy!

Beef Fried Rice

More Chinese, but it's one of the simplest things to do to stretch lean supplies. We had leftover roast beef for this one, but fresh beef works and is sometimes better. Any cut too, as long as you marinate the tougher ones and don't over cook them.


Beef Fried Rice


makes 5 servings

1lb beef, cut into small, thin strips
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large carrot, chopped into half moons
2 cups dry rice, cooked as you like, fresh or day old
4 green onions, chopped
1 egg
3 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
1 Tbsp sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet/wok heat 1 tsp of the oil.
Scramble the egg in a small bowl, season with a little salt and pepper, and fry flat in the pan with little stirring.
Remove and cut the egg into 1/2 x 1/8 inch strips.
Heat 2 tsp of oil in the pan and fry the beef pieces about a minute a side. Remove from pan.
Heat another 2 tsp of oil in the pan and fry the carrot and mushrooms for about 4 minutes, then remove.
Put the rest of the plain oil in the pan and add the rice.
Fry until nice and crispy, about 8-10 minutes depending on how damp it is.
Add 1 1/2 Tbsp of the soy sauce and stir to coat the rice evenly.
Mix the spices with the rest of the soy sauce in a small bowl.
Add everything back to the pan and pour the soy sauce mix over it, stirring well to combine with the rice.
Top with the sesame oil and green onions.
Serve hot.

Yummy!

Turkey Pot Pie I

Puff pastry and turkey; what else do you need? Well, veggies help, and these were what we had on hand. And since we didn't have any stock, homemade or canned, kicking around, I used the instant powder. The only thing to remember with that is it can be salty, so only salt at the very end, and it has a bit of sweetness, so it's not always a good addition to savory things.

Turkey Pot Pie I


serves 4

2 1/2 cups cooked turkey
2 small onions, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 small head broccoli, stems sliced, 1/2 inch floret pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups hot water
3 Tbsp chicken stock powder
a splash of cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb thawed puff pastry

Roll the puff pastry into a 10" by 10" square and cut into four pieces.
Cook according to package directions.
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
Fry the onions and mushrooms until onions are soft and mushrooms are starting to brown, about 6 minutes.
Mix in the broccoli and garlic and cook about 2 minutes.
Stir the chicken soup powder into the water and set aside.
Evenly sprinkle the flour over the veggies in the pot and stir to get rid of any white spots.
Gradually stir in the chicken stock mix and cream and cook until it coats the back of a spoon.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into four over-proof ramekins and put a piece of pastry on top of each.
Lower the oven temp to 350 F and put the pies into the oven for about 15 minutes or up to an hour.
Serve after cooling slightly and with pot holders and trivets if vessels are still really hot.

I thought there were going to be 6 pies until I portioned it out, so I cut the puff pastry into sixes, and hence it's a little smaller than I wanted. Probably could have made 6 but I had no idea where the mini-bowls were and since there were no potatoes in the mix, it wasn't hearty enough to be smaller.

Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Thawed chicken, a going sorta soft green pepper and a desire for sweet and sour stuff, our basic recipe for sweet and sour pork got a substitution, lol.

Coming from Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, you wouldn't think it would be good since it could be a la Kraft requiring you to use one of their products in every recipe, but it's from before the onslaught of super processed foods, so it just has their best versions of international recipes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken


serves 4

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 medium carrots
1 green pepper
1 can pineapple bites
2 medium onions
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2  cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken into 1/4 inch cubes.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat.
Add the chicken, season with a bit of salt and pepper and brown on both sides, then remove from pan and keep warm.
Cut the carrots in thin diagonal slices and mince the garlic.
Cut the green pepper into 1/4 inch pieces.
Cut the onions into wedges about the same size as the green peppers.
Open the pineapple and drain the juice into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make 1 cup of liquid.
Add the brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic and carrots to the pan.
Simmer the mix about 6 minutes, until carrots are tender.
Mix the cornstarch and cold water together and add to the sauce, stirring well.
Add the remaining veggies, pineapple pieces and chicken to the pan and coat with sauce, seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.
Heat until everything is warm through.
Serve with your favourite prepared rice.

The green stuff is sauted bok choy since we had it kicking around and I wanted a leafy green too.

Enjoy!

Falafels from Scratch

So, most commercial mixes that you "just add water to" tend to be over-salted or really bland and we were getting tired of that. Solution? Make our own from scratch!

The only hard thing about the recipe is planning ahead, since you need to soak the dried chickpeas for at least 18  hours. Some internet recipes suggest using a can of drained chickpeas, but then you're just getting hummus balls and not legit falafel. This recipe is based off of Tyler Florence's and one from a Jewish cook book since they do it with fava beans.


Homemade Falafels


makes 18 balls

2 cups dried chickpeas
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 handfuls fresh parsley (no dried stuff here, so wouldn't be the same)
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp baking powder
salt (to taste or about 1 tsp)
1 Tbsp water

Sort through the chickpeas and discard stones and discoloured beans.
Rinse and then in a large bowl, cover with at least enough water to have 2 or 3 inches of height above the beans.
Cover and fridge for at least 18 hours, 24 is better, topping up if the water disappears.
Drain and spread out onto clean dish towel to dry.
In a food processor, grind the beans until they start to form a smooth paste, scraping down the sides as necessary. (Takes about 10 minutes with my mom's 30 year old thing)
While the beans are grinding, peel the onion and garlic and give them a quick chop into quarters.
When the beans are paste-like, add the onion and garlic and pulse until there aren't visible large chunks.
Mix the spices and baking powder in a little bowl and then sprinkle evenly over the stuff in the food processor.
Add the water, aiming to wash the spices down around the center.
Give it another pulse to start mixing it all together.
Add the parsley and pulse until it's small and incorporated (not endlessly until the mix is green)
Chill at least 15 mins, max a couple hours. (Wrap it if you don't want your fridge smelling like parsley and garlic).
In a large frying pan, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan over high heat.
Form the dough into walnut sized balls and then press into flat discs about 1 1/2 inchs wide.
When the oil is hot, put 9 in the pan (unless that overcrowds it) and then turn the heat down.
Cook them about 4 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and flip.
Cook another 3 minutes or so, waiting for golden brown again.
Remove from pan carefully and drain on a platter lined with paper towels.
Keep frying in batches until all balls are cooked.

Serve with any of:
-pitas
-flour tortillas
-yogurt
-tahini dressing
-tzatziki
-cucumber chunks
-diced tomatoes
-lettuce shreds
-sour cream
-hot sauce
-your favourite topping

Top: the golden, crunchy falafel balls
Bottom: served up on gas-flamed, store-bought flour tortillas with cucumber pieces in yogurt and a squirt of ranch dressing

That's one of the advantages of a gas stove: when you don't feel like making your own tortillas, instead of just microwaving the store-bought ones, you can toast them over the open flame.

A much yummier, and cheaper, version of the sometimes icky mixes when craving a Middle Eastern food fix.

Enjoy!

Purist Beef Stew and Cinnamon Puff Pretzels

Another lazy day, but there's nothing wrong with that. With winter back again, a beef stew seemed like a good idea to warm the soul. And we're eating through the freezer again, so there was some thawed puff pastry in the fridge. I was thinking of something to do with apples, but mom wants to be in charge of those, since she thinks they're skeazy, so I went with a straight-up cinnamon sugar thing.

Purist Beef Stew


serves 3

2 lb eye of round beef, chunked
2 medium onions, diced
1/2 packet onion soup powder
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sherry
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups water

Put a large pot over medium heat and add the oil.
Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add the onion soup powder, flour and pepper and mix until everything looks wet.
Add the sherry and cook off the alcohol smell, about 1-2 minutes.
Stir in the water gradually until all the lumps are gone.
Turn down to really low and add the beef chunks.
Even though the meat is sticking out of the liquid, DON'T add more water, since the meat will give off its own.
Simmer about 2 hours, until meat is soft, stirring occasionally. If it starts to boil, just turn it off for a while and let it sit on the stove.

Serve immediately or fridge and reheat the next day (it's always better the next day if you can plan it that way)

If you couldn't tell, I nicknamed it "purist" since it only has beef and onions, none of this potato, carrot, pea and what-not stuff you find in canned stew, lol.

Cinnamon Puff Pretzels

makes 24 mini pretzels

1/2 package puff pastry (about 227g), thawed

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425 F

Sprinkle a little of the sugar on a clean work surface and put the puff pastry on it.

Roll it out to a 10 inch by 12 inch rectangle.

Brush the butter over the whole area of dough.

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the dough.

Semi-tightly roll the dough to the middle from both sides, to make a pretzel-shaped log.

Cut into 24 even pieces and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake about 8 minutes and then flip the pastries and bake another 5 minutes, or until brown on both sides. Careful, it can burn quite easily.

Serve warm or cooled. both make a yummy, sweet treat.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Fried Rice

So, first post of the new year. Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

Keeping it simple after all the holiday cooking, I went with a simple fried rice. Well, it was supposed to be simple, but the shrimp were old-school in not being zipper-backed and deveined, so that took longer than I thought. I ran a paring knife along the back, and it worked, but then mom comes home and tells me that you can just open the shell from the leg side of the shrimp, lol. Oh wells, shrimp got prepped and into the rice!

Shrimp Fried Rice


serves 4

1 1/2 cups dry converted rice, cooked following directions
1 lb shrimp, cut into pieces
2 medium carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced into medium pieces
2 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
sesame oil to garnish

In a large wok, heat a tsp of the oil and add the eggs.
Keep the eggs flat and flip after 30-45 seconds. Cook until done and removed from the pan.
Cut the egg into thin strips about an inch long by 1/4 inch wide.
Add 2 tsp of oil to the wok and stir fry the onion and carrots about 2 minutes then add the garlic and shrimp pieces and cook about a minute.
Add a tablespoon of soy sauce, the spices and honey and cook until the shrimp is just ready.
Put into a large bowl and wipe out the pan.
Add the rest of the oil to the pan and add the rice
Cook the prepared rice until it's dry and toasty.
Stir in the remaining soy sauce and coat the rice evenly.
Add the shrimp and veggie mix back to the pan and combine well.
Heat everything back up and then kill the heat and add the egg.
Garnish with the sesame oil, give it a quick stir and serve.

No picture today since everyone was so hungry it was on plates and in bellies before I remembered I needed one. It's a yummy mix with a sweet and spicy taste that's definitely not your take-out or frozen meal dish.

Enjoy!

Mexican Mayhem

Went a little overboard on supper today, using up some ingredients we had lying around. Totally worth it though, since it was awesome. Only downside was all the dishes produced, lol.

The guacamole is the result of evolution from my mom telling me about mayo and lemon and salt and pepper. Sometimes I like to add chili powder (blend not ground chili) to it depending on who gets it. The pico, tortillas and fried beans are reworked internet recipes from past meals, so sorry to whoever I borrowed the basis from, but it's been a while since I looked them up.


Guacamole


makes a cereal bowl full

2 ripe avocados
1/2 lemon
1/4 jalapeño, diced
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of cumin
pinch of coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Cut open the avocados, pit and score into medium chunks.
Scoop into large bowl.
Juice the half lemon and add to avocado.
Add the spices and jalapeño.
Using a fork or potato masher (quite handy actually), mash it all together.
Put into a smaller bowl for serving.

Works as a dip for an appetizer on corn chips or plain rippled chips, or as a topping on any Mexican food.


Pico de Gallo


makes a cereal bowl full

3 ripe medium-sized tomatoes, ones with lots of flavour
1 small white onion, diced
1/2 to 1 whole jalapeño, minced
1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp oil (not in some real versions I've seen)
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Boil some water and pour over the onion. Let sit about 5 minutes. (or use your favourite mild onion)
Wash and remove the stems of the tomatoes.
Seed and chop the tomatoes.
Juice the half lemon.
In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar and lemon.
Drain the onions and add them to the bowl.
Add the tomatoes and jalapeño.
Sprinkle the spices over top and mix thoroughly.
Transfer to smaller bowl for serving.

Can be used to top tacos or as a fresh salsa with corn chips for an appetizer.


Flour Tortillas


makes 6 to 12

2 cups flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
Cut in the shortening using a pastry cutter until you have small, even lumps throughout the dough. (Really, really handy thing to own, but you can do the two knives method if it works for you)
Add enough water to make the dough come together but not be too tacky.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Divide dough into even-sized balls for however many you want. If you go for twelve, they end up about 7 inches in diameter.
Heat a large enough pan over medium-high heat. (If you have thick cast iron, you can go for high heat)
Roll out a ball on a lightly floured surface to just fit in the pan, or desired thickness.
Cook at least one minute a side, or until dough looses its raw look and starts browning and puffing.
Put cooked tortilla in a folded lightly damp kitchen towel until ready to serve.
Repeat for each tortilla.

I haven't perfected the "roll dough into a perfect circle" ability, but fresh tortillas are an awesome addition to any Mexican meal if you have the time to make them.


Fried Beans


fills 6 seven-inch tortillas

1 can black beans
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder blend
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the oil in a medium frying pan.
Chop onion and garlic and lightly fry.
Add the spices and toast a minute.
Drain and slightly rinse the beans.
Add to the frying pan and mash with a potato masher or hand blender.
Add the water to thin it out a bit and then cook until desired consistency, about 5-7 minutes over medium high heat.

Put a spoonful on your tortilla and top with guacamole, pico and any other desired toppings, like sour cream or cheese.

Enjoy!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese I

Yesterday for supper, I was feeling like something uncomplicated and one of the standard "don't think about it" meals is mac'n'cheese. But I didn't know when mom was going to be back from work, so it got some baking time.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese I


serves 4 or 5

400g elbow pasta
250g old cheddar cheese, grated
100g ricotta, extra firm
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp mustard powder
pinch of garlic
2 cups of milk (or more, for a creamier sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large tomato, seeded and cut into slices

In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions and drain.
Preheat oven to 350 F and oil a 9" x 13" baking dish.
In empty pot, melt butter and then sprinkle in flour and spices. Whisk and cook about 1 minute.
Slowly add milk, making sure to whisk out the lumps.
Bring to a boil and add the cheeses.
Stir macaroni back into the sauce and check seasoning.
Pour into baking dish and put tomato slices on top.
Bake at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.

Cheesy, creamy and with a hint of freshness from the tomato on top. Yummy!

Enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Minced Pork

I was in an Asian mood today after planning out what I would do with some of the sale items from last week. It's kinda extravagant, but we had pork tenderloin getting freezer burn, so I thawed it and googled minced pork recipes. Some were sweet only, some were spicy only, so hello another amalgamation to get what I wanted.

Sweet and Spicy Minced Pork


serves 3

1 lb pork tenderloin, chopped into little pieces
1 small onion chopped
1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Add the plain oil to a skillet or wok over high heat.
In a small bowl, mix spices, sugar and cornstarch.
Add water and soy sauce and stir well.
Add the meat and onion to the pan and flash fry, 2-3 minutes.
Add the sauce to pan and let thicken, about 1- 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and drizzle sesame oil over top.
Serve on a bed of your favourite rice.

A nice sweet and spicy dish in a golden sauce. Yum!

BBQ Rubbed Steak and Home Fries

Another simple supper today, after another lazy day. The constant defrost cycle of the freezer makes things get freezer burn faster, so it was the sirloin steak's time to be eaten. It was still fine to eat plain with the normal salt and pepper fried in a butter-oil mix, but mom and I were craving something different.

BBQ Rubbed Steak


makes enough rub for 3lbs of steak

Rub:
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/8 tsp ground cayenne

Rub the steaks and let sit for at least half an hour in the fridge, up to twelve hours.
If you want to let it sit overnight, you should add a couple Tbsp of oil and some water so they don't get too salty.

Fry:
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp butter

Take steaks out of fridge just before you want to cook.
Heat a large enough pan over medium-high and melt the butter into the oil.
Depending on the thickness, cook them 3-5 minutes a side for medium-rare.

Home Fries


serves 3

6-7 medium potatoes, any kind, peeled or scrubbed clean and chopped uniformly
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put chopped potatoes in a microwavable bowl.
Sprinkle with a little salt and stir.
Cover with saran wrap and microwave 6-8 minutes. (gives them a head start on softening).
Heat oil in a extra large frying pan and give the onion a couple minutes head start.
Add the potatoes to the pan, gently stir to coat with oil, especially if the potatoes are really soft.
Let sit and brown on the first side, about 7 minutes.
Flip and brown the second side, about 5 minutes, or to desired doneness.

If the potatoes can't be in a single layer on the pan bottom, stir gently while browning to avoid breaking them.

These are good plain or with sour cream.

A meat and potatoes meal sure to please anyone whose adventurous enough to try.

Enjoy!

Jazzed Tuna Casserole

Felt lazy today, and I got my early Christmas present of Sims 3 for Wii, so really didn't want to put too much effort into my supper. Kept saying for ages that I wanted tuna casserole, but it always turns into mac'n'cheese weekends instead, so I put my lazy butt in gear and did it.

Jazzed Tuna Casserole


makes 4-6 servings depending on the appetite

400g pasta, usually go with elbows
2 cans tuna. drained (if you use raw tuna, you are nuts, cuz this sooo ain't worth it)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
3 1/2 soup cans of milk (more or less depending on how creamy you like it)
2 shots Worcestershire sauce
diced green pepper
chopped mushroom pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pasta according to directions/preference, but in a large pot is a must, for easier stirring.
Drain.
Melt butter in pot and sweat veggies for a couple minutes.
Mix in flour, salt and pepper.
Stir in the mushroom soup.
Gradually add the milk to lessen the amount of lumps.
Add the tuna and pasta back in.
Heat through.
Serve with favourite toppings.

It's fine on its own, but extra shots of Worcestershire sauce and plain chips add to the yumminess if you want it richer. Can be heated in the oven for up to an hour, but I'd add extra milk to the recipe since it could dry out. Greasing whatever baking dish you put it in would also be a good idea, since it can stick fierce.

Enjoy!

Turmeric "Chicken"

So, we haven't had a chest freezer for over a year, not since it just died randomly one day...around the same time the fridge died. Now we just have the freezer over the new fridge, so we have to go through periods of eating through the freezer and just pulling things out to thaw if we need to put other stuff in (...like a bunch of on-sale ice cream, lol). So we had chicken drums in the fridge and I had to come up with a way to cook them.

We also have turmeric and fenugreek kicking around in our spice cupboard, so I went for an Indian themed supper. A brief internet search and I came up with another recipe to tweak.

Turmeric "Chicken"

serves 4 supposedly, lol

2 Tbsp oil
8 chicken drums
1 chopped onion
2 c basmati rice (or jasmine, which is what we had on hand)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or chopped, depending on how you like your seasoning)
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh if you have it)
1 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek
1/4 tsp cayenne powder (or if you have it, powdered chili)
4 c chicken stock
3 Tbsp tomato passata (or 1 Tbsp paste or original recipe called for a chopped tomato finish)
salt! to taste (not in the original and I totally forgot to add it...so my rice wasn't over-salted as it can be, but the dish needed it)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Season chicken with whatever you want (I used a buffalo chicken spice blend) and fry until golden on all sides.
While chicken is cooking, preheat oven to 350 F and lightly warm stock and passata.
Remove chicken from pan and saute the onion until light brown.
Mix all the spices in a small bowl so it evenly distributes when adding to the pan. (Don't want a lump of cayenne now, do you?)
Add the rice, garlic and spices and lightly toast.
Transfer to a large oven dish. (Original recipe said 4 L casserole, I went with a high 9" x 13" dish).
Put the chicken on top of dry rice.
Pour stock/tomato mix over the dish and put in oven for about 40 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the chicken is cooked, but not dry.

Luckily, there was some leftover rice for me to remember to photograph, lol. The nuttiness from the browning of the rice and the browned onion and garlic made it awesome, along with mixing my own curry powder essentially. The chicken had some seasoning from the spice on the underside (I didn't flip it, just set and forget) and it was a good idea to season before browning.

Enjoy!

Matzo Ball Soup

So, been craving this for awhile now, and finally got around to making it since we had a jug of homemade broth in the fridge. Recipes aren't all that common on the internet, but I found a few and compared them. This is the amalgamation of my findings and what I ended up doing.

Matzo Balls 


makes 9 big ones


3 Tbsp good schmaltz (can use oil if you don't have any around, might want to add spices if going for oil though)
2 eggs, beaten
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed semi-fine (food processor is awesome for it)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
3 Tbsp water (or chicken stock if you have enough or skipped schmaltz)

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the schmaltz (or oil).
Sprinkle the cracker crumbs, ginger and salt (and spices) and then stir.
Add the water (or stock) and stir to just mix.
Cover and fridge for 20 minutes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. (Make sure it's quite big, since the balls poof!)
Reduce to a light boil and add the balls. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes or until desired doneness.

To serve, simmer 5 minutes in the broth or soup you're eating with them.

A big serving of soup. To my homemade broth, I added chopped onions, carrots, mushrooms and chicken breasts. It was yummy!

Good eats!