Lock It Down Red Curry

Matt's arm, holding his massive Boy Dish of Curry.

This is the first in, hopefully, a line of recipes that make someone want to "lock it down". As in, Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson (who, I confess, was the basis for this curry until I completely went off the road with it) would swoon a bit. Gordon Ramsay would say "Well done, my darling". Bourdain would tell me I didn't suck and, well, what else could any one else desire?

Seriously. I've finally gotten down the spicy level down to a T and think it's all swimmingly delicious.

CAST OF CHARACTERSplease ignore the two handles of whiskey in the background. and the ashtray.
and yes, there are missing items.
this picture is just too funny to NOT post.

- (i had white, but have also used yellow and come on, play with it!) onion, chopped up
- as many cloves of garlic as your little heart desires, diced
- basil
- chicken breast, sliced into long thin bits
- mushrooms, sliced
- sweet potatoes, chopped (i peeled mine, do as you like)
- potatoes, chopped (i mostly peeled them, again, do as you like)
- garbanzo beans, one can, drained
- coconut milk, one can
- fish sauce
- toasted sesame oil
- red curry paste (mine was made from a powder blend i purchased at the spice house, then made with the fish sauce and a little water) - a few tbs, as desired for spiciness.
- pepper
- Trinidad-style lemon-garlic marinade seasoning (also from the spice house - it's a blend of lemon peel, garlic, cloves, ginger, and kosher salt according to the website. i am addicted to this and love love love it in just about everything, ever. god i love the spice house.)
- wide rice noodles
- about a cup of chicken broth
- the green bits of scallions, chopped roughly, for the top.

(note: you can also use mangoes, if desired, or replace the beans with butternut squash. rice instead of noodles or change out the broth, any of the veg, etc etc. who says it has to be chicken? i've made it with shrimp when i found some on sale frozen shrimps. do what you will.)

Throw the onion, garlic, and basil in a pan and stir with some oil and a bit of butter until softened a bit. Add chicken, season with pepper and the trinidad seasoning. Add a little sesame oil. Cook until tender and delicious, even if not totally cooked through. Add the curry paste and stir. I then add the broth, the coconut milk, and a few dashes of fish sauce. Stir, throw in veg, the beans, let cook.

Try not to eat the screen, but really, I understand if you forget and reach out to steal a bite.

When nearly done, cook your noodles as per the directions on the packet.

Clearly, taste and season as you desire. More garlic? Less pepper? More salt? Whichever! Fresh ginger, sliced or grated, is also an amazing addition - put it in the start, with the onion and garlic.

You can mix the noodles and the curry together at the start or pour the curry over, then mix them for leftovers. There is no wrong way. Sprinkle the dish with the scallions, if you are using it. Then watch your roommates profess their undying love and make demands.

Ali, sprinkiling her food with scallion bits.

It's hard to demand with your mouth full, though. So you can pretend to ignore it.

The whole thing, after prep, takes about half hour or so, it's terribly fast. And depending on how much you are hanging out, drinking, doing by yourself...the prep could take no time at all!

ENJOY. And let me know if this nets you any action.

NOM NOM NOM

It's getting chilly!

I don't know about where you are, but here the fake summer (which did, truth be told, give us some crazy hot days) has turned into crisp chill and it's easy to see that fall is zooming in. It's typical Chicago in that it does what it wants, when it wants, and for all we know there are some more heated days coming.

At any rate, I'm excited for the chillier days - though not the winter, blargh. I'm also excited for when I am less broke although as far as that goes, I have no idea. So tonight (and, yes, last night as well) I made some crazy cheap dinner. Tuna Mac. But not just the standard Mac-n-Cheese plus can of tuna equals NOM kind. OH NO.

- box of mac-n-cheese (last night I had whole wheat! tonight was standard)
- the milk/butter or oil/soymilk or whatever-you-like things to make said mac-n-cheese
- can of tuna (in oil or water, either way is fine)
- some onion, chopped up
- a few cloves of garlic, diced up
- sliced mushrooms
- seasonings of your choice (basil, lemon pepper, a sprinkle of bridgeport seasoning)

While your mac-n-cheese is, you know, mac-n-cheesing it - cook the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in some butter or oil. Season. If you like, you can do what I did tonight and add in a little milk. Add with the tuna to the mac-n-cheese when it's finished. Devour!

I also added some salsa verde just for some light heat but that's me.

Honestly, it's so delicious. You can add whatever veg you like or even none at all, but I figure the more veg the better. All together, given my ability to sniff out values, this is like a two dollar dinner. Delicious!!

Bread Pudding? Or Baked Crack? Take your pick.

I am seriously addicted to bread pudding these days, it's insane. I've done a fair few different versions of it lately - including a croissant one from Nigella that started the madness. Now I am mostly just trying to perfect a basic one, but have been playing around with my own recipe plenty.

I did a bread pudding lately with some chocolate (and, had I not used unsweetened, maybe I would be willing to suggest it but no. though, you know, my friends still loved it). Luckily the flaws in it were only my thoughts and the fruit topping I made for it was sweet and delicious.

It's such a simple and homey dish, super comfy, and absolutely delicious. I have eaten some it straight from the dish, fridge door still open, hoping no one catches me. I have witnessed people eat half a baking dish in one sitting. I have eaten it before it is even cooked, just bits of soaked bread, before finally submitting to the logic of cooking it.

I am so in love with bread pudding.

DELICIOUS CRACK BREAD PUDDING

- bread, torn up, ideally a bit stale but really this is negotiable. I have used french bread and rolls and things. I intend to try it soon with challah, among other things. Maybe cinnamon raisin?
- eggs (two or three, I'm of the more-is-better school of thought, but base this off the cream)
- heavy cream (one of the small cardboard containers, which is around a cup?)
- I often also throw in some milk, which is usually skim but that's just because that is what I have and anyway - all cream is awesome. Or whole milk. Don't constrain yourselves on my account.
- vanilla, a few tsps or to taste.
- sugar, not quite a cup - try a half cup and see
- knob of butter - not half a stick.

I have also added a little honey or some brown sugar. Cinnamon was an amazing addition.

What you do is you chuck the cream and butter together and stir until mixed over a low heat. Turn off burner and whisk the eggs in, one at a time, fast and well so as to not end up with cooked egg. You may want to let the cream-butter cool a bit first to do this. Or you may be on a crunch and just need to whip the hell out of this.

Add sugar, vanilla, and milk if you realize you need more. Any other flavors or any less flavors is fine, as far as additives go (you happen to not like vanilla or be, like my poor friend, allergic? move along - get a different flavor). Whisk whisk whisk. Taste it, die of delight. Try to not drink straight from the pot.

Seriously. Do try.

Now, your torn up bread ought to be hanging about in a baking dish. Pour this custard-y mix over it and move them around so that each bit gets some. Let this sit for a bit until soaked and then eat a piece. A small one. Go ahead, you want to.

Put this in an oven at 350 and then cook for around thirty-five minutes. Check on it, you may want the top more or less browned. Let the dish chill out for a bit so as to a) let it really set (it gets a little bubbly straight from the oven) and b) not scald your mouth, you impatient thing.

ENJOY. Cold or warm, by itself or with a topping, however you like.



AMAZING FRUIT TOPPING

- fruit, fresh and sliced (I used pears and strawberries, respectively)
- butter (a little more than a tablespoon but you'll see)
- sugar, mostly to taste.

In a pot or even pan, on the stove, cook the fruit with the butter and then add sugar.This doesn't take terribly long and you'll know how soft you want your topping. I think I cooked mine for about fifteen minutes. It's insane.

To the pear, I added some mint.

To the strawberries, I ate it on everything ever.

Seriously, I am delighted with this. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Throw an egg on it!

Do you, my sweet friends, know what this is?

Yes. A delicious spinach pasta from the Asian Market (tm) that I go to (Thai Nam) up in the North Korean Area Of Chicago. And there is some chicken in it. Onion, garlic, perhaps - probably it's been a while - even some mushrooms. And that glorious thing on top? Is a fried egg. One where the yolk is still a bit runny.

AND I PUT THAT SHIT ON TOP.

The problem was, the flavor was not exactly awesome and I couldn't figure out where my misstep was. So I fried an egg and threw i on and lo and behold, a glorious mouth of food happened. What followed was my roommate and I putting eggs on everything to see how it went for a while.

We have no regrets.

Alive! And really hungry, actually.

OH MAN.

Okay, so, it has been an age since I've been here but I've managed to be insanely busy and largely computerless (and, for a time, gasless...oh god, those were dark times).

But I'm back! I am making a concrete plan to stay on top of things. Since I, you know, haven't. I haven't even had time to cook lately - with the exception of this caramel croissant pudding, a Nigella recipe that I altered ridiculously and was inhaled by my friends before it even could be photographed, and even that was about three weeks ago.

I'm actually exhausted even as I write this, but I assure you. I will return and shortly and with food.

June Daring Cooks - Delicious Pot stickers!

I've made pot stickers before, but was really excited to see that the Daring Cooks challenge was -drumroll- pot stickers! This month's challenge was hosted by Jen from use real butter had pretty flexible requirements - really, the main thing was to make your own dough to form the wrappers. In all the time that I've made potstickers, I've never done this - I would buy wrappers at the grocery store and just have at. It's the same way I make ravioli, generally, as well.

I'm sort of all about the filling.
This time, however, I settled myself into the idea and prepared to curse and then be delighted. I gathered up a soda bottle (switched, quickly, for a whiskey one) to use as a rolling pin and hopped to.


Given Recipe: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (113g) warm water
- flour for work surface

Make the dough: In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

And then: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side.


-
Now. I had a pretty good time with the dough. I rolled it out in very small batches and then made a turkey filling.

- ground turkey
- brown sugar (a few spoons)
- diced onion
- diced garlic (a few cloves)
- sesame oil
- honey (a drizzle or two, really)
- soy sauce
- grated ginger
- cayenne pepper
- sweet basil seeds


I cooked the garlic, onion, ginger, and basil seeds in a little butter, then added the ground turkey. A little salt, a little pepper, a drizzle of honey and the sesame oil and soy sauce (to taste). Cook through, add cayenne (if using) and taste. I love sesame oil, so I generally add more and have found that I usually end up with a little more sweetness than spice. It's delicious!

I spooned the filling into my wrappers, closed them up, and - despite a deep deep love of steaming these babies - tossed them in with a little butter and pan fried them.


My dipping sauce is honey, sesame oil, and soy sauce - given circumstances, I would add sweet rice wine to mix in, but I was out. At any rate. It was delicious. I'm planning on trying it again soon with a different type of filling (one that will have actual measurements, etc, sorry guys!) but I was pretty pleased with myself.

Easy, easy, easy quesadillas. Belatedly Posted.

Yes, it was Cinco de Mayo and yes, that was sort of why I did it, but honestly? I love quesadillas. It's practically the only thing I order at any Mexican resturant, it's why I sometimes go to Qdoba, it's just delicious. Crisp tortilla, melty cheese, delicious fillings...oh, man, I want one right now just thinking about it. To be sure, part of the reason I order it so much is the ease of dealing with my allergies and the fact that so many different things can go in it. I recently had one that had shrimp, mushrooms, and green peppers. MELT.

So, bored and thrilled with how beautiful the day was and appreciative of the fact that a busy few days was about to kick off, I wandered off and gathered up some ingredients and then, somewhere around ten at night, got to cooking. No sooner did a tasty 'dilla come of the pan was it eaten, happily, with the guacomole I made (with help, sort of, as I got one of my roommates to smash up the avocado and mix in the tomato and onion, so I will give some props) and some sour cream. No photos! I will later post photos of hanging out and eating cake or something - so you can get the idea of fun, happy, delicious times.

The fun part of picking flour tortillas is a) there are less options, so I have to obsess over the ingredients less and b) the store sometimes has locally made ones so I can hunt for them! I'm so partial to Chicago produced things.

Clearly, you can do whatever you want to a quesadilla. I recommend getting the actual delicious quesadilla cheese, but I was pressed for time and ended up just getting the packet of cheese at Jewel that said "Mexican Cheese! Four-cheese-style!" (as opposed to the various other kinds. at least I tried.). More on cheese I like to get at the tienda later though. Another post later, not later on here. Sorry! Hopes dashed!

My cleverly prepared counter contained...

- tomato, chopped
- onion, diced
- garlic, minced
- orange bell pepper, sliced and then chopped
- chicken, cut into smallish pieces
- mushrooms, chopped
- butter, knob of
- oil
- dill, salt, pepper

- flour tortillas
- avocado, turned guacamole by being mashed with some more chopped tomato and some diced onion. then one or two dashes of salt.
- sour cream
- the aforementioned cheese

Now. Ordinarily, I would cook up the meat and veg and everything and then set about making the food. However. I have picky roommates. One is a vegetarian (which is cool) and one doesn't eat mushrooms (or courgettes, actually) and so since I like all these things (and so does the third roommate), I just opted to cook everything seperately and put them in their own dishes. So in the end, it was sort of a quesadilla bar.

At any rate, some garlic and onion and chicken go in with some oil and a bit of butter, seasoned happily and when pretty much still deliciously tender put in dish. Salt, pepper, dill. I then cooked up the yellow peppers with a little onion and garlic and pepper, salt. Follow with mushrooms! More butter, more pepper and salt, the last bit of the onion and garlic. (I just divided what I would want in the whole thing, so as to not have overpowering things. not that there is "too much" garlic)

Now, in a now-clean pan, I drop a tortilla and sprinkle cheese. Then I sprinkle some more cheese! Add whichever fillings that particular person wants, put in more cheese. This is a quesadilla, people! Cheese is key! And after topping it with another tortilla (my flour tortillas are smallish) and pressing for a second to help it stick, carefully flip it over. Continue waiting and flipping until satisfied with melty-state and crispy-state.

Serve with sour cream and guac, rejoice in deliciousness. Accept praise and presents, as surely one must follow the other?

I really, really, really love quesadillas.