Mango Chutney (quick)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Andrea

Mango Chutney - an excellent condiment for curry, pork, turkey

If you’re going to be making curry regularly, and you really should be….you should also have a quick recipe for homemade mango chutney. Mango chutney, well, kicks your curry up to the next level. The curry is awesome on it’s own, but the chutney just adds one more tangy/sweet element to your dish. It also goes well with roast pork, turkey or as a condiment on a turkey burger. You many not want to be making this every time you make curry – I’m more than happy to use mango chutney from a jar, but if you’re making dinner for company, it’ll be one more thing for them to ‘ooooh’ over. This recipe is easy and quick.

Mango Chutney

Makes about 1.5 cups

1 large ripe mango, peeled and diced (or 1.5 cups frozen diced)

1/4 cup onion, finely diced

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Prepare mango and dice into small cubes. Place the mango and all ingredients in a microwave safe dish. Stir, uncovered for 4-7 minutes.

Cool, cover and refrigerate. Will keep for one week in fridge.

*Alternatively, it can be cooked on the stovetop, in a medium sauce.an, over med-low heat, for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Slice small dice pattern on both halves of mango

Slice off cubes. You can use frozen cubed as well. (works just as well)

These types of graters are best for grating ginger

Cook in pot on stovetop, or in microwave in microwavable dish

Tastes fabulous on a curry (but also on roast pork, turkey, turkey burgers)

Keeps well in fridge, covered for about a week. Enjoy.

Kick-Ass Chicken Curry

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Andrea

chicken curry with mango chutney

Are you ready to learn how to make a really good curry? I don’t mean curry like your mother used to make from her ‘Good Housekeeping’ magazine….I mean a really good, authentic-tasting Indian curry. First of all, your spices are really important – at the very least, make sure they are FRESH. Don’t be pulling that curry powder out of your cupboard that’s been there since 1993. Go out and get some fresh spices, it’s so worth it. The two spices you need (which are actually spice mixtures) are curry powder and garam masala.

Follow the steps in the recipe, taking your time especially when cooking your onions. Remember a good curry is layered with flavour, and to achieve that, it takes time, and also care and love while you are cooking it. After you make this a few times, you’ll become quite pro at it, and you’ll never make beef stew again. So get your ingredients organized, and give it a whirl. You will love it. And buy a jar of mango chutney and some fresh coriander at the grocery store while you’re at it.

A word about Garam Masala: This is a common Indian spice mixture and is available at you grocery store in the spice department – I believe McCormack’s now distributes it. However, if you have access to a Southeast Asian market, go in and find some whole garam masala. (see picture). Dry roasting some garam masala in a pan and then grinding it in your coffee grinder will kick up your curry to another level of awesomeness. While you are there, buy a decent curry powder like Lalah’s or Bolst’s. Ask the grocer for a mild or hot curry depending what you like. Be warned that the hot curry powder is much hotter than you think it will be.

Whole Garam Masala. (dry roast in pan until fragrant)

grind garam masala in coffee grinder and store in an airtight container.

Chicken Curry

serves 6 as a main course

1/4 cup butter (or ghee – clarified butter)

2 large onions, diced

2 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic minced

1 2 inch knob of fresh ginger, minced

1 tbsp garam masala

2.5 tbsp curry powder

1.5 cups water

1 (14oz) can coconut milk (or 35% cream)

6 chicken breasts, cut up into large chunks, or 10 boneless, skinless thighs

Directions:

In a large skillet, melt butter (or ghee) over medium heat. Add onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until onions are cooked down and quite brown and carmelized. (about 20 minutes). Take your time.

Add ginger and garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle your curry powder and garam masala over your onion mixture. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in your water, stir, and let the entire thing simmer on low, and reduce to a paste-like consistency. (about 15 minutes)

Remove curry paste from pan to a bowl. Add a knob of butter to the pan (or ghee). Salt and pepper your chicken pieces and add to the pan over medium-high heat to brown. Once chicken is browned, add the curry paste back into the pan as well as the coconut milk. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and let chicken cook. (longer if using thighs, so they will tenderize). (approx 20-40 mins) At this point, you can also add in some vegetables to cook. I like to use 1/2 a head of cauliflower cut up and some red pepper. The cauliflower works really well with this dish.

Serve over rice or quinoa. Serve alongside mango chutney and fresh coriander. Enjoy.

cook onions until reduced and browned (about 20 minutes)

add garlic and ginger, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes

add curry powder and garam masala, cook another 2 minutes

add water to mixture, stir and simmer until paste-like consistency is achieved

remove curry paste and place in bowl while browning chicken

brown chicken in same pan (don't clean it), then add curry paste back into pan

add coconut milk. Simmer for additional 20-40 minutes

Serve with rice and mango chutney. Oh my. Yum.

Dumple Soup (Chicken Soup with Dumplings)

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Andrea

Dumple Soup

Although many of us dread this time of year with the cold winds and grey skies, one advantage is that we do tend to make and eat a lot more soups. I like to have several containers of homemade chicken stock in my freezer, so when colds and flu strikes, you can quickly alleviate someone’s suffering. The health benefits of real, homemade chicken stock are many, so save all your chicken cuttings and scraps, place in ziplocs in the freezer until you have a couple of pounds of chicken bones, etc. and then cook off some stock – simmer on the stove for about 6 hours, strain and place into containers and freeze. Believe me, when it’s YOU who has the cold, it’s really great.

I’ve included a basic chicken soup recipe (for my less experienced readers), although many of you will want to use your own tried and true formula. The dumplings, which are so delicious and comforting are a delight whether you’re sick or not. It’s a basic choux pastry dough, but instead of baking it, you are going to plop it into your soup. Once you make it, you’ll understand why this old-fashioned soup never goes out of style.

Chicken Soup

1 medium onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

3/4 tsp poultry seasoning

6 cups chicken broth

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

In large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add onion, celery and carrot, and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or so. Reduce heat if it starts to smoke or veggies are browning too quickly. Add poultry seasoning, stir. Add chicken stock and chicken and cook until vegetable mixture is tender – about 15 minutes. Add lemon juice, taste and adjust seasoning.

Dumplings

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Directions

In medium saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat, and quickly dump in flour and stir vigorously until dough comes away from sides of pot. Transfer to stand mixer bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating fully, until it has a satiny sheen before adding the next egg. (Eggs can be mixed by hand in the pot, but you will get a really sore arm). When all eggs are incorporated, drop by teaspoonful into simmering chicken soup. Work quickly and drop in all your dumplings, then cover pot. Bring soup to a boil and cook dumplings until they are quite expanded. The lid will probably be lifting off the pot. At that point, turn off your soup and let it cool a bit. Enjoy. So good. I like to add some extra salt to my dumplings when serving.

bring water, butter and salt to a boil.

when butter is melted, remove from heat.

dump flour in, stirring until dough pulls away from sides of pot

when dough pulls away from sides of pot, transfer to stand mixture

add eggs, one at a time, mixing well until dough has satiny sheen.

when all the eggs are incorporated, you are ready to make dumplings

using 2 teaspoons, scoop and drop heaping teaspoons of dough into soup

when lid starts to raise off of pot, turn heat off, and let cool for a few minutes

dumplings will look like this after they calm down.

wicked

Asian Lemon Chicken

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Andrea

Asian Lemon Chicken

Here is an easy and fairly quick recipe for lemon chicken — the addition of soya sauce, toasted sesame oil and ground coriander give it some Asian flair. Follow the steps and you will have a decent meal on the table in about 40 minutes. We enjoyed this with some basmati rice and a green salad. Stir fried veggies would be perfect alongside instead of salad.

A critical step is in the preparation of the chicken. Preparing it “cutlet” style (as described below) makes all the difference. Your surface area is doubled, meaning that you’ve got that much more area for flavour in every bite. So try to master that technique – it works well with chicken parmesan and my other lemon chicken recipe – Chicken Piccata.

Asian Lemon Chicken

adapted from Chatelaine magazine

serves 4

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

mixture #1

zest of one lemon

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chili flakes (optional)

1 tsp salt

mixture #2

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

mixture #3

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp water

2 tsp soya sauce

Directions

Mix together each ‘mixture’ as outlined above.

Prepare Chicken Breasts:

Place one chicken breast on cutting board. Using a sharp knife (a fileting knife is ideal) and pressing your hand on top of breast to keep it in place, slice chicken breast in half horizontally, being careful to ensure you don’t cut your hand. Continue with remaining chicken breasts until all are sliced.

Place 2 pieces of chicken on cutting board; cover with plastic wrap and pound gently until evenly flattened. Continue until all pieces are flattened then place them in a medium sized bowl and coat with spice mixture #1. Your flattened chicken pieces can now be referred to as “cutlets”.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with about 2 tsp of vegetable oil. When pan is hot, place 4 of the chicken cutlets in pan and cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and place in a bowl while you cook the remaining 4 pieces. Add browned chicken and any accumulated juices back into the pan and pour in mixture #2. Turn heat to medium and let chicken simmer for 10 minutes.

Move chicken to the sides of the pan, making an opening in the center of the pan juices and pour in mixture #3. Stir until thickened, lowering heat if necessary and sauce is evenly mixed. Serve and enjoy.

slice chicken breast horizontally, using a SHARP knife. (a dull knife is a waste of time)

pound your meat (gently, for gawd’s sakes)

Mixture #1 – spices – coat chicken pieces

brown chicken, 4 pieces at a time. Brown. So it has flavour.

after chicken is browned, add in Mixture #2, continue cooking.

pour in Mixture #3, stirring until thickened.

Glazed Mini Pumpkin Scones

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Andrea

pumpkin mini scones

see how hard I work for you guys?

Oh, ma gah. I had some leftover canned pumpkin and wanted to make some pumpkin pie flavoured scones. I was thinking about the pumpkin spiced latte at Starbucks. I also made them ‘mini’ instead of huge. They turned out tender and delicious and actually too good– I’ll be giving them away to avoid eating any more. (although I’ve eaten another one while writing this post – awesome with a cup of tea).

If you’ve never made biscuits or scones, you will quickly realize how easy they are to make. A gentle hand and not overworking your dough is key.

I would use leftover butternut squash or sweet potatoes in this recipe as well. Feel free to add pecans to your batter…make them your own.

From start to finish (taking the scones out of the oven) – 30 minutes….that’s pretty fast. Wait for them to cool before glazing, then allow glaze to harden.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

makes 18 mini scones

adapted from Baking: From My House to Yours

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

4 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into about 16 pieces

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup cold heavy cream

1 large egg

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2-3 tbsp milk

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchement or a silpat. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, spices, baking powder, salt and sugar. Drop in butter cubes and toss to coat. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized and smaller (various sizes). I squeeze the butter with my fingertips, and as soon as I feel the greasiness of the butter, I drop it back in the flour, and look for another piece to squeeze. Do that until you can’t really pick up any pieces and that should be fine.

In a smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin, cream and egg. Whisk until well blended. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and gently stir with a spatula until it is combined and forms a dough. If it seems quite sticky, add a little more flour. It should be a nice soft dough.

Place dough on a floured counter and split into 3 equal pieces. Form into discs approximately 1 inch thick. Cut each disc into 6 wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, until bottoms are slightly browned and tops seem just firm. Cool.

Mix up glaze and spread onto scones. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Allow glaze to harden. ENJOY.