East African Chicken

Most of my friends and all my family are aware that I do not like anything sweet added to my protein. On my plate, horror of all horrors would be to see pieces of fruit with chicken, pork or beef, so as you can guess, no Hawaiian pizza, no pineapple chicken or sweet and sour pork for me. However, I must say that my brother-in-law's - East African Chicken - is making me reconsider my position. There is a lot of flavour in this dish and a generous amount of heat; and the marriage between the spices and fruits (dates and rasins) is a happy one. As we enjoyed this for dinner yesterday, I was reminded that love of food demands a healthy amount of a spirit of adventure and I am glad to say that I have altered my position after eating this dish.  

So, to the proteinfrutophobes (word not yet in the English dictionary which means fear of protein and fruit in the same dish), I say, try this recipe and if it is still not your thing, then try it one more time after which I say, congratulations for having tried - proteinfrutism may not be for everyone (yes, another word that has yet to make it to the English dictionary....)

My brother in law is not just a fabulous cook, he makes the effort of going back to his blog and updating any changes he has made to his recipe. I have shamelessly copied it word for word from his blog and although it may appear time consuming, the finished product is certainly time well spent. I served it with quinoa cooked with a little salt and nothing else, because chicken with such bold flavours needs no competition from an overly dressed side dish. 

p.s. I have to confess, the only change I made was to use 12 instead of the 16 dates suggested, blame it on the proteinfrutophobia that I could not shake off entirely.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 large chicken thighs skinned
• 1 tbsp salt (or more if desired)
• 4 tsp black pepper ground
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups sliced onion
• 2 tbsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 8-oz can diced tomato
• 16  pitted dates cut in half
• 1/2 cup golden raisins 

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and black pepper

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, cook 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the chicken from pan
4. Add the onions to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently 
5. Add the ginger and next 5 ingredients (ginger through garlic); cook for 1 minute
6. Stir in chicken, broth, and the remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil

7. Cover and bake at 360 degrees for 90 minutes

Spicy Mussels in a Ginger Coconut broth

Have you even cooked a meal where you wanted to ensure that all remnants of your dish needed to make it out of the house by garbage day to avoid having it sit in your compost bin for a week? Have you managed to pull something off in less than half an hour that you concocted for the first time and that tasted delicious? Have you recreated something you ate at a restaurant and liked your version better? Yes, dear friends, it was all of the above that leads me to this post.I bought a bag of mussels on Friday, got busy over the weekend and realized that I had no real plans for our lunch on Monday. Today, Tuesday being garbage day, meant that if the mussels were made mid week, I'd have the shells sitting around for a few days.So looking at the ingredients on hand, I thought I'd try to recreate mussels we'd eaten at a restaurant some years ago. That was in a thick coconut milk broth that was perfect for soaking up the warm bread that came with the dish. Now, I wanted something lighter with an Asian influence, so I  put a few ingredients together and came up with this recipe. I use the entire gamut of coconut ingredients from oil, to milk, cream and desiccated. What I have in addition is a Nestlé brand Maggi Coconut Milk powder because it allows me to create the consistency of the coconut milk I require. Also, I like this is because unlike a can that you have to use all at once, this can be used as needed thereby ensuring you always have some on hand when needed.
There were three star players in this recipe, they are (not in any order of importance)



These are staples in my kitchen and the Tom Yom Paste is really versatile, I've used it as a marinade for chicken but that's a recipe for another time. On our facebook page I said 5 - 7 ingredients, here are three the others of course are the mussels, chili powder, fresh ginger and coriander leaves. Here is the recipe.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 2 - 4

INGREDIENTS:

• one bag of mussels (wt. 700 g)
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk powder added to 2 cups of water
• 2 Tbsp chicken broth added to 2 cups of water
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 inch piece of ginger thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp Tom Yom paste added to 1 cup of water
• 4 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

METHOD:

1. Scrub, wash and debeard the mussels and set aside. Discard any mussels that are cracked or bruised

2. In a large stock pot add the coconut milk, chicken broth and ginger

3. Allow it to come to a boil and add Tom Yom paste and cayenne. Stir well and cook for an additional 2 minutes

4. Add the mussels to the pot, cover and allow it to cook for 7 - 8 minutes

5. Take it off the heat, spoon the broth into bowls, garnish with cilantro and add the mussels. Discard the ginger if you like, I enjoyed chewing it for extra flavour

6. There is no salt in this recipe as both the chicken broth and the Tom yom paste have added salt

7. Left overs today was good too (mussels are sitting in the bottom of the bowl) 

Meat & Potatoes (with a twist)

Talking to my friend N yesterday, I realized (yet again), how busy our lives are when she described her daily routine that involves work, raising a family, fitting in a long commute as well as after school activities for the kids. It emphasised the importance of having easy to prepare meals. So, I looked in my refrigerator, and the ground beef I had thawing for chili suddenly took on a new life. I wanted to make something simple, easy and nutritious that could be eaten either on its own or with rice, pasta, tortilla or even pita. 
This evening, on our facebook page I said "Got 5 ingredients, make a meal", please humour me, because I lumped onions, garlic and ginger and spices as one ingredient.
This is super simple, and adding a legume of your choice would make this a fibre rich dish. If you have time on the weekend, you can cut up onions and sweet potatoes and put them in a container, reduce prep work and finish this in about a half hour.  The ingredients are frozen peas, sweet potatoes, ground beef, onions/ginger/garlic, tomato sauce, cumin powder, chili flakes and salt. See, almost right on the ingredient count.......

Skill Level: Easy
Serves : 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb lean ground beef (can be made with pork, chicken or turkey)
• 1 can tomato sauce (398ml)
• 2 cups of frozen green peas
• 1 large sweet potato diced
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped
• 6 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp allspice powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp salt 
• 2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• 3 cups boiling water (to boil sweet potatoes)

METHOD: 

1. Add oil to a frying pan and saute onions, ginger and garlic until onions are browned. Add frozen peas and stir until soft. 

2. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Remove and set aside

3. In the same pan brown the beef until the meat in no longer pink, drain off any excess fat and add back the onion tomato mixture and stir well. Add cumin, turmeric, allspice, chili flakes and salt

4. Put water to a pot and allow to boil, add the diced sweet potatoes and cook until soft, drain and add to the meat 

5. Check and adjust seasoning as needed. Stir in coriander (if using). If it is too thick, add 1/2 cup of water to thin it out. Serve with pita or rice

Cobb salad

Life sometimes interferes with the best of intentions and I find myself back at the blog after a fairly long interval. My deepest thanks to my blog partner (and her husband) who despite having had a baby last year, managed to keep on posting while raising their son and dealing with his food sensitivities. No excuses, I am back now. 
I spent the last several weeks in Portland, Oregon with my sister and her family. Several years ago my sister took me to a restaurant in downtown Portland where I had a Cobb salad that has since become my most favourite salad. Every time I visit Portland we have a Cobb salad date during the course of my trip and this year was no exception. 
Cobb salad is an American classic, said to date back to the 1930s when Robert Cobb owner of the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, put together leftovers to make the salad that bears his name. I've seen many variations of the Cobb Salad on menus over the years; I used corn in the one I made last night and have used roasted chicken breast when serving friends who do not eat bacon. Get creative and enjoy.
The picture above that is beautifully layered is from the restaurant, my more humble version is shown below.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 4 

INGREDIENTS:

Salad

• 2 cups chopped iceberg lettuce 
• 1 ear of corn (shaved off the cob and sauteed with one tsp of olive oil, until slightly charred)
• 8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled
• 1 avocado chopped
• 4 hard boiled eggs chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped 
•  1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Salad Dressing

•  1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil

METHOD:

1. Put all the ingredients of the dressing in a bowl and set aside
2. Assemble the salad ingredients (layered in a bowl, laid out on a plate or stacked as in the picture)
3. Drizzle dressing as required on the salad.

Curry Crab

Crabs -  the beautiful pair of Crustaceans above are of the Dungeness variety which inhabits the waters of the west coast of North America. It's flesh is tender and sweet. I have to admit, that despite really enjoying crab, I have a bit of a hard time buying live crab and then having to be the assassin. I get the Chinese supermarket to cut and clean it for me. When I buy smaller crabs, I throw them into the freezer and when they are "incapacitated" I cut them. It makes me seem like such a hypocrite - eating the meat but wanting to ignore the gory details. In my defense though, we have grown so used to pretty neat packaged meat and seafood where you can barely recognize the meat from its source. 
The crab shown above came home intact so I could take pictures; after which mum and I cut them up, thankful that their pinchers were bound with heavy elastic. It is no easy task to separate and cut the crab, so I recommend getting the fish monger to do it for you. Mum and I pried open the top shell and then cleaned out the finger like mass and then proceeded to cut into half. We then used a cleaver on the claws. The process of cleaning the crab is long but the end result is worth the effort.


Skill Level: Complicated due to the prep involved

Serves: 6-8

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GRAVY:

• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 2 dried red chilies
• 1/2 cup coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeers)
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRAB

• 2 large onions sliced
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 green chilies 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 3 Tbsps vegetable oil
• 3/4 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp tamarind paste (can be found in Indian/Chinese stores)
• a pinch of sugar (to balance tartness)

• 1/2 cup of water
•  2 Dungeness crabs

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GARNISH

• 2 shallots( sliced )

• 10 curry leaves
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 

METHOD: 

1. First the masala (spice mixture) for the gravy
2. Add oil to the wok, set the heat on medium and put in onion, ginger,fenugreek and chili. Stir for 1-2 minutes and then add all other ingredients except the coconut. Stir continuously to prevent burning
3. When the coriander seeds get crisp (approx. 3 minutes), add the desiccated coconut, stir and just when the coconut starts to brown, turn off the heat and move the wok from the burner and continue stirring.
4. Allow to cool, then put into a coffee grinder and grind into a fine powder 
5. Put into an airtight jar. This keeps for 6 months in a cool dark place
6. Now for the crab part 
7. Cut, clean and wash the crab and squeeze out excess water
8. Heat oil in a wok, fry onions, ginger and chili for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes.
9. Add the crab, water, salt, turmeric and 4 Tbsp of the spice powder (recipe above) 
10. Stir for a few minutes, add tamarind and sugar, cover and allow to cook on medium heat stirring occasionally 
11. Once the colourof the crab turns orange (approximately 8-10 minutes) the crab is done
12. Check seasoning and adjust as needed
13. Now the garnish
14. Heat oil, add the curry leaves, saute the shallots and pour over the crab curry 
15. Serve with sweet buns