Garlic-Ginger Chicken Meatballs With Cilantro and Mint

I normally tend towards asian flavours such as Thai or Vietnamese for ground chicken but I really was looking for something new.  I found this recipe on Bon Appetit that looked good and I have to say using the marinade as a sauce / flavouring for the meatballs turned out great!   You can swap out the ground chicken/pork with other ground meats.  

Garlic-Ginger Chicken Meatballs 

Ingredients

Marinade

•  8 cloves garlic, pressed / minced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced/grated 
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 1 tablespoon mint, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon amchur (dried green mango) *
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (or to taste)   
• salt to taste

Curry / Sauce

• chicken stock - about 1 cup
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 2 tablespoons mint, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, pressed / minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced/grated
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons or a bit more butter or fat

Meat 

• 1/2 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 pound ground pork  

               or any ground meat mix equaling 1 pound 

 

* or tamarind or extra lemon juice and a bit of sugar/honey 

Directions

Make meatballs

1. mix the marinade with the meat until it is well blended.  Make meatballs.  I tend to do this right into the pan by using two spoons to press the meat together and plop into the pan.
2. in a hot pan, using a little oil, cook meatballs in batches.  Once cooked, set aside. 

Make sauce/curry

1.  in a hot pan, heat fat until hot. 
2. Add onions, cook until browned
3. add garlic, ginger and cook for about 1 min
4. add coriander and give it a stir
5. add chicken stock and bring to simmer
6. add all the meatballs and any liquids from the cooking to the sauce
7. add herbs (cilantro/min)
8. taste for salt

Serve with rice, if you eat rice.  

Grain Free Brownies

Brownies are generally difficult.  When made with coco powder, they tend to taste a bit chalky or not chocolate like.  On top of that, making a grain free brownie, I'll be honest I wasn't expecting success.  But, now with extra time and online books - we have a winner!  The book that I used for  the base of this is called The Paleo Dessert Bible by Anna Conrad.  The brownie was very moist and tasted chocolate-y.   We stored it on the counter and it was still moist and delicious on day 3, which is as long as it lasted.

Brownie with salt and chocolate chips

• 8 tbs butter
• 3 ounces chocolate chips + more for toping
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt + more for toping
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. line a 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper
3. in a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and butter (or in the microwave, high at 1-3 min).  Add brown sugar and mix. 
4. in a large bowl, mix almond flour, baking powder, salt.  Add lightly beaten eggs, vanilla, slowly add in the chocolate chip mixture and stir until incorporated.
5. pour mixture into baking pan.  top with extra chocolate chips and salt
6. bake for 22-27 min, once a toothpick comes out clean.  
7. pull from oven and let cool for a min of 10 - 15 min (the original said 2 hrs but that was never going to happen in our house)

Beef and Broccoli

I was looking for a beef and broccoli with a nice sauce. Most tend to be either over salty or kind of gummy due to too much soy sauce and starch.  I found a nice sauce base start here and then worked it to what I needed/wanted.

Beef and Broccoli

• ginger, grated - about 2 tablespoons
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed/minced
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• brown sugar - about 2 tablespoons
• ground beef - 1 pound
• broccoli, chopped - about 1 - 1 1/2 cups
• sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon, toasted
• 1 - 2 tablespoons oil/butter
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/2 cup green onion, sliced finely
• 1/4 cup thai basil (optional), chiffonade

1. In a pot, mix ginger, garlic, soy sauce, hot water and sugar.  put it on a back burner on med heat, simmering. 
2. In a large sauce pan, toast the sesame seeds.  Once toasted, place to the side.
3. In the same sauce pan that the sesame seeds were toasted, place the cooking oil/butter to heat.  Once hot, add diced onion to season the oil/butter.  Once the onion is browned, take a slotted spoon and leaving the oil in the pan, place the cooked onion into the sauce. 
4. After all the onion has been moved to the sauce pan.  Add the ground beef to the sauce pan and brown.  
5. Add the broccoli to the sauce pan, cook.
6. While broccoli is cooking, puree the sauce.  Once the broccoli is cooked through, add the pureed sauce.  Mix well.  Add the green onion and thai basil.  

Serve - on rice, noodles or right out of the bowl.  Can add cashews or peanuts as garnish as well for a crunch. 

Tapas : Chicken Albondigas (meatballs)

We had a tapas night the other day and was looking for chicken meatball recipes for those who don't eat beef or pork. I also needed something that didn't have tomatoes or peppers due to allergies of one of the guests. Needless to say it was a bit of a challenge and I couldn't find anything that met my needs exactly. However, I did find a great chicken recipe in a Lonely Planet cookbook called "Spain from the Source" (isbn: 9781760340766) that I used the the sauce for the base of the meatballs and it worked wonderfully!  I would suggest that you check out the book as I did remove all the flour from the recipe, I tend to avoid flour whenever possible.  I don't think I needed it but I did have to change a bit of how the sauce is thickened by blending in the onions because of skipping the flour.

So a bit about the original recipe, Gallina en Pepitoria (Chicken with almonds, saffron & onions)is based on Arabic cooking. Spain had a strong moorish influence and this dish was a favorite of Isabella II in the 19th century. She would visit Casa Ciriaco, a Madrid taberna to eat this dish. Gallina is the name for a older hen versus pollo which is a young chicken. So, to bring out the flavors of the meatball to be similar to a Gallina have a larger portion (or all) of ground leg meat over ground breast meat. My ratio was 70% leg with the rest breast meat but test out what works for you. If you use all leg meat, simmer for a longer period in the sauce, I just didn't have a lot of time which is why I had the breast meat in to bring a bit of "softness" without loosing the flavor.

Gallina En Pepitoria (tapas style)

• 1 - 1/2 pounds ground chicken
• 8 - 8 1/2 fl oz white wine (dry & a bit sweet)
• 8 - 8 1/2 fl oz water (make sure to use same amount as wine)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 oz ground almonds
• saffron, pinch
• 1 onion, sliced
• salt

1. In a large bowl, take the ground chicken, minced garlic, 1/4 cup parsley.  Mix and make meatballs, bite sized (about 2 teaspoons or a tablespoon of meat)
2. In a saucepan, put the wine, water, chicken stock, bayleaf, sliced garlic,  1/4 cup parsley, ground almonds, saffron - bring to boil and let simmer on a back burner. 
3. In a fry pan, take a bit of butter or olive oil and fry up the onion so it is lightly browned.  Add to sauce pan. 
4. Using same fry pan, add butter/oil as needed and start browning up and cooking the meatballs.
5. set meatballs to the side until all done. 
6. Take the sauce, pul out the bayleaf.  Blend to a nice uniform sauce.  It should be a nice saucy consistency.  Taste for salt and add to taste. 
7. Put meatballs and sauce together.  garnish with the rest of the parsley.  

Asian Chicken Meatballs

I found this meatball recipe one day on flipboard but I didn't follow the recipe.  The I thought I had found it again but it wasn't right.  So, here it is with the updates I made which make the meatballs.  I'm still working on the sauce/gravy so I'll put it as a start but it needs more depth.

Original recipe: http://littlespicejar.com/25-minute-asian-chicken-meatballs/

My version

Asian Chicken Meatballs

Meatballs

• ground chicken 1 1/2 - 2 pounds, dark and white meat or just dark meat
• 6 scallions, finely sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 - 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon Chinese five spice powder
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons thai basil, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon grass, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pat butter (about 1 tablespoon)

Sauce

• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup tamari or coconut aminos
• 1/4 cup hosin sauce (gluten free: https://san-j.com/products/hoisin)
• 1 scallion, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped thai basil
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. chop all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix with ground chicken
2. heat a pan with a pat of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil
3. once hot, make meatballs with either two spoons or your hands and place in pan to cook in batches
4. after all the meatballs are cooked, make the sauce just by mixing everything together in the pan you cooked the meatballs
5. Add the meatballs to the sauce

You can put this on rice if you make sauce.   If you don't, you can eat the meatballs plain or on lettuce leaves. 

Cashew & Lemon energy ball

Lately I've been playing with various recipes for energy  balls/bars/cookies.  It's nice to have a good snack for that 3pm munchie need when I'm sitting at my desk at work.

So, this energy ball/bar has a nice flavor profile that is different from most of those I've seen out there.  The lemon is what makes it work.  This is based on a recipe from a book called: Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger, MD.

Cashew and Lemon energy ball

• 4 cups raw cashews
• 1/4 cup pitted dates, soft
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (more or less to your taste)
• 1/4 cup coconut (flakes or shredded) not sweetened
• sea salt - pinch

In a food processor, blend all the ingredients until nuts and dates are finely ground.  If mixture isn't holding a ball shape (or bar shape), mix in a bit more coconut oil.  It maybe a bit sticky.  Place into the fridge and they will hold their shape nicely. 

Best Pizza Crust - EVER!

We have tried a lot of pizza crusts that are grain free. Ok, we never tried the cauliflower pizza crust because hubby can taste cauliflower even when it's like miniscule. :)

Anyway - if you are craving a nice thin crust pizza, this is the one to go with. I don't have a microwave so I just heated up the cheese and almond flour in a pan and mixed by hand. not letting it get too hot. so, it was soft not melted.

here is the link

Pork Belly Hotpot

Hotpot! Yummy, yummy, hotpot. This is my favorite go-to dish for those busy days. I love that you can toss it in a crock pot in the morning and when you come home you can finish off and have a yummy meal. While it is time consuming, it is not work. The time is all passive, mostly just cooking the pork as a slow braise. And, I see a lot of crock pot meals coming up in my life soon!  I'm taking a coding bootcamp - wish me luck!

I first found this recipe in The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Thanks to Ron for providing the book to my honey!  It has been amazing. Admittedly I still cannot follow a recipe for the life of me... but Hugh makes it hard to muck up a meal.  Let's put it this way, I always come out with a great result  - no matter my random swap of ingredients.

Originally from Mongolia, Mongol horsemen brought the concept through out Asia and each ethnicity adapted the hotpot to their own version. Hotpot is also known as: Sukiyaki (Japan), Shabu-shabu (Japan and Taiwan), Thai suki (Thailand), etc. Basically a stew with protein and vegetables which is spooned over noodles or rice. You can make it your own by swapping out the pork for beef or chicken or tofu (but then you don't need to braise it). This might be hard to make vegan or vegetarian but I'm sure that Google will help you with a vegetarian hotpot as I'm not sure how many additional spices you would need to create the Umami that the pork belly provides.

Pork Belly Hotpot

Braising

• 1.5 kg pork belly with rind on
• 1.5 litre water or stock (pork or chicken)
• 5 spring onions, rough cut
• 100 ml soy sauce or tamari
• 75 ml Chinese rice wine
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 star anise
• 10 cm piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced into rounds
• pinch of dried chilli flakes

Finishing

• 7 spring onions, sliced
• 1 bunch bok choy, sliced (optional)
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced (optional)
• 8 oz cabbage, thinly sliced (optional)
• cooked rice or noodles

Directions

1. Bring pot of water to boil. The water should be enough to cover the pork. 
2. Remove bones from the pork belly and cut into rectangular chunks, about 2.5 x 5 cm
3. Add pork belly to hot water pot and bring back to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface. Then drain through a colander.
4. In a pot, bring the 1.5 litre of water/stock to boil.
5. Add all the braising ingredients and pork.
6. Reduce heat, cover tightly and simmer very slowly for about 2 hours, turning the meat occasionally. Until the pork is very tender. * This step can be done in the crockpot
7. Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain the braising liquid.
8. Reduce the braising liquid. it should be lightly syrupy.
9. If using optional finishing ingredients, stir fry quickly and add to reduced braising liquid. Add spring onions.
10. In individual bowls, place rice or noodles as the base then top with hotpot. Serve.

Notes:

• Tamari is an wheat free alternative for soy sauce.
• Optional vegetables, can be almost anything. Just make sure to only select one or two options and slice thinly so as not to over power the dish. You really want the pork to be the main event.
• Crockpot directions: follow above directions on stove until step 5. Once stock has come to boil, put all the ingredients into the crock pot and place on low. Make sure to cut the pork so that the braising time in the crock pot does not disintegrate the pork. So, the longer you plan for it to be in the crockpot, the larger the size of the pork pieces.

Sorrel. So lemony and nice.

We received sorrel in our CSA the past two weeks.   When googling it, I found a lot of really interesting recipes (and some cute boots - but those are not edible and the spelling was off). *grin*

Sorrel is a common herb in french cooking.  It looks a bit like a cross between, rocket and spinach.  It tastes a bit lemony and tart.  There were salad recipes which seemed interesting but I think the sorrel should be younger as everything listed it as a spring herb.  So, that was a no-go.

Then I found it!   Salmon in sorrel cream sauce.  So, we had sorrel, cream... but no fish.  Honey to the rescue, he went and picked up some great salmon from Dirk's  for my little project.  They also do a great smoked salmon.  So, if you are already there, you should pick some up and cook it up for a lovely Sunday brunch omelet.     Here is the recipe I started from and then moved on from there.  We had some potatoes already cooked up from when I made cottage pie the other day.  So, the side was potatoes with sorrel and chives.

Salmon with sorrel in cream sauce

• Salmon 
• 1/4 cup (or more) cream
• 1/2 cup milk (because I was saving some cream for coffee tomorrow)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - shredded
• 1/2 cup sorrel, chiffon and chopped (because I don't like long pieces of leaves)
• 1/8 cup onion (because I didn't have shallots - although I'm sure that would be good too)
• butter (or a fat for cooking)

Start the cream sauce first: 

1. In a reactive free pot,  put in fat and once hot add onions to brown
2. toss in sorrel and cook down
3. add milk and cream, stir and simmer

Start Salmon: cook until done

while salmon is cooking, keep stirring the cream sauce.  Once the salmon looks almost ready, add in the cheese.  Stir until incorporated.   Serve salmon with cream sauce.  

Crockpot beef with tomatillo

The weather is getting colder and tomatillo's are in season.  I was looking for a dish that I could use up the beef stew meat I had put out to thaw and just stick in a crock pot to sort out later for dinner.   Google being my friend, I found a lot of dishes that seemed to fit my needs but didn't quite fit what I felt like eating.   I wanted something with a warm, Mexican and almost taco-esque feel to it.   So, I took a few different recipes and came up with this shredded beef with tomatillo recipe.  Also, I do not like the taste of onions after it has been in the crock pot all day.. so I do not put them during the cooking.  You are welcome to do so if the taste doesn't bother you. :)

Shredded Beef with Tomatillo

• 1 to 1.5 pounds Stew meat 
• 1 quart tomatillo puree (you can make this by blending tomatillo's in a blender)
• 4 tomatillo's - quartered
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder (give or take to taste)
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (these were an accident, the plan was to put in coriander powder - but it was morning.  *grin*)
• chili powder, to taste

Toss all the above into a crock pot in the morning and set on low. 

When you come home, separate the beef from the liquid.

• 1 sliced onion 
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

In a pan, heat some oil/butter toss in the onion and brown. Add the liquid and simmer to desired thickness.  While sauce is thickening,  shred the beef.  I do this by hand, but you can use two forks.  Once the sauce is at the desired thickness, toss in the beef.  Stir.  Taste for salt.   Add cilantro.  

Serve.

Dried Cranberry Custard

I love custard and have lately been playing with various flavors.  Lemon, honey, ginger.  Yum! Vanilla, honey - tasty but boring.  Dried cranberry. Yummy!

The main thing with this one is there is some planning - since you want to soak the cranberries in the custard mix.  I let it sit in the fridge for about 2 days and it worked out brilliantly.  I think this would make a good holiday desert.

I know, it kind of looks like grapes!  Or olives. :)

Dried Cranberry Custard

Ingredients:
- 8 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (give or take) dried cranberries

Special equipment:
- roasting pan or deep baking pan where you can put your cups/ramekins.
- ramekins (6 or so) or oven safe cups/glasses

Directions:
 In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk, cream and vanilla.  Blend well.  Add cranberries, place them in a container in the fridge for about a day or two.

I don't worry about adding sugar as the cranberries tend to be sweet.  But, if you feel the need for sugar - you can add some with the cranberries.

A few days later.  preheat oven to 350 F.  Bring a nice size pot of water to boil.
Stir up the custard mixture.

Once the oven comes to temp, place the roasting pan in the oven.  Fill your ramekins/cups about 1/3 way up - making sure to have cranberries in all the containers.  Place the ramekins in the roasting pan.  Then slowly put the water in the roasting pan, making sure not to get water in the custards.  Pour the water to about 1/2 way up the sides of the ramekins.

Cook in the oven for about 1 hour.  Check at about the 45 min mark, to see if the custards have set.  Once it's set, pull it out of the oven and set to the side.  You can serve it warm, at room temp or straight out of the fridge. 

Chicken in tomatillo sauce

Yes, another crock pot / slow cooker recipe.  This is one of those random - throw things together and luck out it was good.  I know each time I use different spices, but somehow the BF states it tastes exactly like the last time.   I'm just going to say it must be the tomatillos.

If you google tomatillo and chicken, it appears to be a pretty common combination.  Perhaps I read on of these posts and then got the idea... or had chili on the brain. But, this has become one of my go-to recipes for chicken because it's quick (to set up) and easy.

I like to use whole chickens - mostly because that is what we have in our freezer (yea CSA!) and because I like white meat and the BF like dark meat.  And, this way we can have both - and I can hide the dark in the white meat when I eat my share.  Yes, exactly like when I hide the kale in something so the BF is able to eat it.  (is that a boo CSA?)

So, the night before - I cut up the chicken and store it in the fridge.  Legs are left on the bone, breasts and back meat is deboned and cut into large pieces.  Say half each breast bone as you don't want to loose the white meat while cooking.  The left over bone and associated parts (liver, heart, gizzard, etc) is placed in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer for stock making day(s).

Chicken in Tomatillo Sauce

• 1 whole chicken cut into parts (or pre-cut chicken)
• 2 cups tomatillo (or a can)
• 2 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder (or whatever you use for making chili)
• salt to taste
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves (or more) of garlic

 Take the tomatillo, onions, cumin, chipotle and place into crockpot/slow cooker.  Give it a good stir.  Place a handful of onions.  Layer chicken legs and then breast pieces.  So that most of the heat is focused on the legs which are bone on so that the sauce is nice and rich.   Toss in the rest of the onions and the garlic. Cover and cook on low.  About 8 hrs (or longer).  I do not know if shorter is possible as I tend to work long hours.  I'm thinking you are good at about the 5 hr mark.  But, you will have to test the chicken.

When I get home, I pull out the chicken.  Put the sauce in a pan to cook down.  Shred the chicken and toss it into the thickened sauce.  YUM!

If you have fresh cilantro or some diced avocados, they make a lovely addition.  In the early fall, I've made a nice salsa fresca as the tomatoes are so good that time of year.  Guacamole would be good as well.  It has a nice southwestern feel.

Yemeni Style pot roast

I'm not really sure of the authenticity of this Yemeni spice blend - but I'll take my book's word that this is a Yemeni Spice blend.  In looking up origin, it seems from the flavors that this is a Mughlai-style Indian than a Middle Eastern style blend.   Either way, real or made up, it's a tasty dish and a new flavor for pot roast.

The original recipe was a bit peppery - so I've cut down the amount of pepper.  You are more than welcome to add more  - if you wish for that pepper pop.   And be warned, the next day - if you have this as left overs - the pepper flavor comes out more intensely. 

This site had some great pictures of Yemeni food and even though I just ate, my mouth watered looking at the pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I didn't take any.  It looks like a pot roast - just tastes different.   We shredded ours so that we could use up more of the sauce.  But, if you eat bread - I think this would taste great as a sandwich with a bit of cheddar cheese and some onions.

Yemeni Spice Blend

• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground caraway 
• 1 teaspoon (a good pinch) saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric (be careful of this spice as it dyes everything yellow)

Pot Roast

• a nice size pot roast, mine was about 2.5 pounds
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 cup beef stock (or chicken or water)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small green chili (optional)

Rub the spice blend on your meat and cook.

If you are using a crock pot/slow cooker - you can just put everything in the pot in the morning.  Set it to low and when you get home - just shred / cut and eat.  If you are motivated, you can even brown your meat before placing it in the crock pot.

If you do this on the stove, please follow your normal cooking process for pot roast.  I sometimes will do mine up in the oven at 275F for 3 hours or so, depending on size. But, now that I've discovered the crock pot - well, the oven seems like a waste of fuel.  And, I don't have to mind the crock pot!

Chicken stir-fry with cashews

We have some awesome CSA's.  Tomato Mountain, which provides us huge amounts of vegetables.  And, Meadow Haven Farm that provides us with all our meat.  Now, just to find a beer CSA. :)

I have something almost as good - a honey who buys me great beers.  This go, he bought home a lovely Belgian Farmhouse Ale called 'Vielle Provision Saison DuPont'.  It went surprisingly well with the ginger, honey, Asian flavors.

Now, our veg CSA is on a Asian vegetable kick - so we have been getting lots of Asian vegetables.  So, in the last two weeks we have gotten - Vitamin Green, Bok Choi, Tokyo Bekana, Yukina Savoy.  And, to top all that off - Kale!  Two kinds, no less. Red Russian (which I used for this dish) and Lacinato.

So, we had a lot of greens in this dish. But, you can use whatever you have on hand.  Don't you love stir-fry's?  As long as you have some ginger, honey, garlic and soysauce/tamari - you are good to go.

I also like to use lemon grass - it gives a nice citrus flavor without the added acidity of lemon or lime.  But, if you don't have lemon grass - you can use either or to brighten up the dish.

Chicken Stir-fry with cashews

1 pound chicken (breasts or mixed) cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound vegetables (various greens)
1 handful green onions or chives, chopped
1 handful garlic scapes, chopped (if you have them)
2 tablespoons ginger powder (or 1 inch fresh, minced)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
1 piece lemon grass (or a teaspoon of citrus)
a handful of raw cashew nuts
coconut oil - or a fat to cook


In a bowl, mix ginger, garlic, tamari, water, honey.  If you are using dried lemon grass, add to the bowl with hot water instead of regular water.  Once the water has cooled, toss in the chives and garlic and scapes.  Add the chicken - and allow to marinate while you are cutting up the vegetables.

Strain out the chicken - placing the sauce in a sauce pan to thicken.

Heat a pan with coconut oil.    In the hot pan, add the chicken a bit at a time - and give it a quick fry.  Ideally, you want it to brown up.  But, some-times that doesn't happen for me.  Just make sure not to over cook it.  Once cooked - place in a bowl to the side.  Add the vegetables into the pan you cooked the chicken in, stir it up until it has wilted.  Add back the chicken and mix.  At this point, your sauce should have thickened nicely.  Add sauce to the chicken and veg.

In a separate pan (or in the oven ) brown the cashews.  I do this in a dry pan until the cashews are nicely brown but not burnt.  Put the chicken dish in a bowl, toss in the cashews. serve.

GF country fried steak

I had some round steak that was thawed and I needed a quick meal.  Normally, with round steak, I do a braise as it is a bit of a tough cut.    But, late nights at work - do not make for braising recipe.  So, google to the rescue.

I found this recipe from Pioneer woman.  I've done a few recipes from her site and they have turned out well.  So, this recipe has some unusual ingredients - but you can sub with what you have.

The unusual ingredients:

• garbanzo bean and fava bean flour  - I used Bob's Red Mill
• water chestnut flour - I bought from the Indian store in Chicago's Devon neighboorhood

Country Fried Steak

• 1.5 pound round steak, tenderized
• 1/4 cup  garbanzo/fava flour
• 1/4 cup water chestnut flour
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup fat - I used olive oil (not extra virgin) but would suggest you do your research due to conserns about overheating oil

Trim and tenderize your steaks. I added a bit of salt and pepper at the tenderizing (read pound the heck out) stage.

In a small bowl, mix your flours, salt and pepper.  Set up a plate, flour it.  Place a steak on the plate, flour the other side.  Flip and make sure it's well coated.  I usually do a bit of flour at a time so as not to waste the mixutre.  As long as it doesn't have meat juices on it, you can use the flour at another point. Perhaps for more steaks? :)

heat oil to temp (I went up to about 350 - due to the Olive oil).  When hot, place steaks in to cook.  Do not crowd.  Have a plate to the side - and if you want a paper napkin to place the steaks after they cook.  Cook up.  About 5 min to each side.

Serve while hot.

Note: cut into pieces - you can put it on the top of a salad and it is very yummy cold and crunchy.

Happy Mother's Day

 I had to share this link with everyone.  It is Gabriele Galimberti's, an Italian photographer, web page.  The project is called 'Delicatessen with love'.  I haven't found that it opened great in any particular browser (if you wish to look a the text).  But the images of happy grandma's with plates full of food --- just screams out love and caring.  All the things we celebrate on mother's day.

  

Kofta, Albondigas, K''ttublle…a meatball with any other name is still just as yummy!

I am completely fascinated by meatballs.  When I was a kid, I didn't realize that there were other ethnic cultures with meatballs.  Oddly, I thought only Indian's and Italian's had meatballs, a "I" thing.  Unlike the rest of America,  who apparently only knew of Italian style meatballs - at least among my non-Indian friends. 

Meatballs have a fascinating history for all that no-one can definitively state where they originated.  A few cultural/food historians believe that it originated in Persia, since so many variations of the name for meatballs derives from the Persian word koofteh which means 'pounded meat'. 

But, one of the first recorded recipes is from a Roman written in 25 AD - which rated the best meatballs to be made of peacock, then pheasant, rabbit, chicken and then pork (Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa).   I guess beef was not big in 25 AD? 

And trust the Spanish Inquisition to come up with a creative way to use meatballs to identify who needs to be arrested because they aren't Christian.  Just think, you are invited over for dinner and your host is putting out these lovely little meatballs called albondigas.  So, to identify those Jews who were secretly trying to pass for Christian converts - a host would put pork in their albondigas and after the guests were seated, let the guests know that the meatballs were non-kosher.  If any guest refused to eat it or spit it out, they were immediately arrested. 

I just always thought they were a quick and easy meal.  Never really thinking about how they came about - or all the history of it.  (there is more out there!)

You can make so many variations. Whatever you have a taste for, there is a meatball (or you can create one).

Speaking of creating, we have a lot of pickles from my canning project last fall.  And, I was in the mood for Greek.  And, lucky us, we have cucumber lemon pickles, yogurt and dill.

It turned out so good, so I will share both the cucumber lemon pickle and the meatballs.
 

Greek style meatballs with yogurt dill sauce

1 pound ground beef
3-5 slices of pickled cucumbers in lemon, diced
1/2 lemon slice from pickle, diced
1 tablespoon oregano (or to taste)
1 tablespoon parsley (or to taste)
1/4 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon dill
salt
pepper


Meatballs:
take the ground beef, 1/2 the diced pickle.  Add all the onion,oregano, parsley and garlic. salt and pepper to taste. mix well and form into balls (loosely).  You can add a egg if you wish for binding, but I never find I need it.  Put into a skillet to cook.

Yogurt sauce:
take yogurt, rest of pickle and lemon, dill.  A bit of salt and pepper. mix and set aside until meatballs are done.

Serve with yogurt sauce as a side.

Now the Pickles themselves take a bit of planning, it takes about a minimum of 1 week to cure and get the flavors into the cucumbers.  They are a lovely tart, sweet, lemony flavor.

Cucumber Pickles with lemon

2 pounds small cucumbers
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 1/3 cup white vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
3 slices fresh lemon
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
3 pint jars

1. cut the ends of the cucumbers and discard.  Cut cucumber into thick slices.  Place into non-reactive container, sprinkle with salt and let stand for 3 hours. Drain.  Rinse twice and drain thoroughly.

2. combine vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, peppercorns and allspice in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

3. add cucumbers to boiling liquid (from step 2). return to a boil, stirring constantly.  remove from heat.

4. remove hot jars from canner.  Place 1 slice lemon, 1 garlic clove and a bay leaf in each pint jar. 

5. remove cucumbers from liquid with a slotted spoon and pack into jars.  Pour hot liquid over the cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of rim (headspace).  Process for 10 min. 

Store in your pantry for future use. In things such as Greek style yogurt and meatballs. Or with your burgers.

Chicken in Catalan Ratatouille

So, as you may or may not know... chicken is my least favorite meat. I don't know why - since it seems to be everyone favorite meat. The default when you do not know what to cook. But for me, chicken takes the most effort. I think because it doesn't have a strong flavor.  could be? maybe?  Or perhaps, I'm just ornery and do not want to like what everyone else apparently loves.  Probably, the later.  *grin*

Well, I made this chicken dish and took some into work to give to a friend who LOVES chicken.  I took enough for her to share with her hubby... but she said it was so good she ate it all. I think that is the best part about cooking - the joy that people have in eating what I make.

So, a bit about this recipe. I have a cookbook I bought at Costco, after we came from Spain the first time around. We had loved the food and I saw this cookbook. For $10, how could I go wrong? And, it's a great buy. So far everything I've made from it has been wonderful - and for the most part I follow the recipe. sort-of.

The book is called: The Food of Spain

Now how can one go wrong with that? And, it has little stories about the food. Which I always find fun and interesting. This dish, is from Catalan. Hence, the alternate name for it Chicken in Catalan Ratatouille. Apparently, the Catalans say it is from Samfaina/Valencian. 

Both Catalan and Valencian food is considered Mediterranean cuisine. The food is based on a mixture of vegetables and meats - like paella - which are slow cooked to bring out the flavors. With Spain having both the European and the Moorish influences, the food is rich, warm and tasty - which is especially great as winter is coming to the Midwest. 

That being said - if you want the original recipe - go buy the book. ;)  They did have zucchini in this recipe that I didn't have at the time - but I would probably add it in for the next go.  Or another green vegetable.  As colors go, this one is very pretty - especially when you do the yellow bell peppers. Which always seem so bright and happy to me. 

Chicken in Samfaina sauce

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces*
1/4 cup butter 
2 large onions, chopped
1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
3 cloves garlic (I think there might have been more), crushed / minced
2 large bell peppers, cut into cubes (different colors is nice)
14 oz chopped tomatoes (puree of tomatoes works too)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped oregano and parsley
1/2 cup white wine

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Officially, you are suppose to brown the pieces - but I'm always too lazy.

Heat butter in a nice sized, deep frying pan/skillet. Add onions, cook for about 10 min until softened. Add garlic, eggplant and bell peppers. Cook for another 10 min or so.

Add wine and deglaze the pan (pulling up the brown bits). Add tomatoes, bay leaf, herbs. Add chicken. Bring to a boil - and then turn down to a simmer over low heat. Cook covered for about 45 min. Or until chicken is cooked and eggplant has softened / disappeared (depending on how small you chopped up the eggplant. I did really small so that the BF wouldn't find it. )

*note: I cut up the chicken legs into 2 parts at the joint, leaving them on the bone. The breast pieces, I cut up into four large cubes. While they will not cook exactly the same time, the breast pieces will cook a bit faster than the legs - the amount of liquid in the dish will keep everything nice and moist.

Crepe's again - gluten free, grain free and yummy!

I love crepes!  And, creating new versions of gluten free crepes has been heaps of fun.

The cashew butter version is really good but it means that I had to have cashew butter available when ever I wanted a crepe.

So, I have been playing with various nut flours, bean flours and the like to get the mouth feel of a good crepe and one that would hold up to fillings.  After all, what good is a crepe that can't hold up to a good preserve or in this case strawberries and whip cream?

Crepes

1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk or water

mix eggs and liquid until well mixed.  Sift flours into the liquid and mix well and let it sit for about 5 to 10 min.  This will allow the coconut flour to absorb some of the liquids.  It should look like real crepe mix - sort of like cream pouring from a cup.  Add eggs if it is too thick.  Or more chestnut flour if too thin.

Heat a non-stick pan (about the only time I use a non-stick pan) with butter on medium heat.*  Once the butter has melted and is coating the pan.  Pour about a 1/2 a cup into the pan (I use a soup ladle) - tip the pan around to coat the pan with the batter.  cook until you see the edges browning up and pulling away from the pan.  Flip over (you maybe able to do this with just 1 spatula but I usually use two).  brown the other side just for a bit. 

place into a plate. fill with whatever you want.

some options:

• jams and preverves
• fresh fruit
• cheese - like goat or brie or something else soft and melty
• creamed spinach (this one is really good!)
• sauteed mushrooms with cheese

*Note: You don't want to cook on high heat in a non-stick pan because the coating can leach a chemical known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) when exposed to high heat. And, PFOA has been linked to cancer and birth defects.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/10/3443656/your-cookware-may-not-be-as-safe.html#storylink=cpy

Rib steaks and rainbow chard

I have been bad about taking pictures.... so, you'll have to just accept that it looked pretty and tasted good.  :)

Rib steaks, what the heck is that...and where do I find a recipe to tell me how to cook it.  I honestly thought it was a tougher cut of meat.. boy was I wrong.  Rib steak is prime rib - but in steak form.  So, when cooking it is tender and juicy.. but without the cooking time of the prime rib (since that is one big piece of meat).

Well, I guess I didn't have to go and marinate it or anything... but I did.  So, here is the recipe adapted from Emeril's Rib Steak Sicilian Style.

Sicilian Rib Steak with Rainbow Chard

Steaks:
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh basil (chopped finely)
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped finely)
Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
2 rib steaks
salt to taste

Mix everything except for the Parmesan in a bowl and coat the steaks.  Let sit while you heat up the grill or grill pan.   Cook the steaks and when resting the meat, sprinkle the Parmesan.  So that there is a nice melted layer on the top.

Rainbow chard:
1 large batch of chard (roughly chopped)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Heat pan and melt butter.  Add olive oil.  Add garlic and let sweat a little bit (1 min).  Toss in the chard.  Cook until wilted.   (5 to 10 min depending on how much you like the flavor of Chard.  The shorter the time - the more chard flavor you will taste.  Over time, the garlic takes over. )  Add salt to taste. 

Serve.

I was going to add pine nuts but ran out of time. I'm sure it would have given a nice crunch. Next time.