cooking

GAP’s Chili Recipe

by on May 1, 2011 @ 10:23 am

in Food and Cooking

Ingredients

2 tb EVOO (or canola oil)
2 tsp cumin
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2-4 jalapenos, seeded and chopped coarsely
6 medium garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
2 lbs. 80/20 ground beef chuck
2 cups red wine (e.g., shiraz, merlot, malbec)
3 tb chili powder (preferably Penzey’s Hot Chili, Chili 3000, or Chili 9000 powder)
1/2 7oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
2 cups finely diced carrots
2 cups beef stock (preferably low-sodium or unsalted)
2 16oz cans of diced, unsalted tomatoes
3 16oz cans of red kidney beans (unseasoned or chili-seasoned)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce (optional, if you want more liquid)
1 6oz can of tomato paste
salt to taste
Fiesta-blend shredded cheese
Sour cream

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Recipe: Slow-Cooked Spicy Citrus Chicken

by on December 30, 2009 @ 1:22 am

in Food and Cooking

Ingredients

  • 1      6-oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1      6-oz can frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1      cup  catsup
  • 4      tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3      teaspoons cayenne pepper (less if you’re a pansy, more if you like)
  • 4      tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
  • 2      2-inch stick cinnamon
  • 16    whole allspice
  • 8      whole cloves
  • 2      15-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
  • 3-5  medium carrots, chopped thinly into disks
  • 3      pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into small to medium-sized pieces
  • Hot, cooked couscous.

Recipe

  1. To make sauce, in a medium-sized bowl combine the juice concentrate, catsup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and tapioca. Pour into 3.5-4 quart slow cooker.
  2. Make a spice bag by placing cinnamon, allspice and cloves in 100% cotton cheese cloth and tying the package closed with clean kitchen string. Beats having to fish the whole spices out of the finished product one by one when it’s time to serve. Put this in the slow cooker as well.
  3. Peel and chop carrots. Open and drain cans of tomatoes. Add to cooker.
  4. Prepare the chicken (thaw, clean, cut, etc.), then place in the cooker. Stir.
  5. Cover. Cook on low-heat setting approximately 9 hours, high heat setting approximately 4.5 hours. I find this dish tastes best when cooked on low for 9 hours. The chicken browns turns brown and absorbs all the flavors. It’s mouth watering.
  6. Discard spice bag. Serve over couscous. Optional substitution: Serve over basmati rice.
Slow-Cooked Spicy Citrus Chicken

(Click to enlarge.)

Recipe: Spiced Basmati Rice with Peanuts

by on September 11, 2008 @ 7:21 pm

in Featured Posts, Food and Cooking, India

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked basmati rice
2 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter) or combination
2 14oz cans tomatoes (I prefer one can diced, the other petite cut/diced)
1/2 medium onion, diced
5 medium cloves garlic, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 cup Planter’s cocktail peanuts
2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masaala (Indian spice blend)
2-3 tsp lemon juice
Some fresh ground black pepper, half dozen to a dozen twists of the pepper mill or so – I don’t really keep count
1-2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional, recommended)
1 carrot, diced (optional, for extra nutrition, doesn’t alter flavor)
1/4 cup moong dal (optional, adds texture and nutrition)
1-2 tsp or more cayenne powder (optional, if you need more heat ;o) )

Substitutions: You can substitute curry powder (another spice blend, not the same thing as Indian curry) for some or all of the garam masaala, maybe for the coriander powder as well (haven’t tried) but you probably shouldn’t use as much curry powder as the recipe calls for of coriander powder. Jasmine rice may substitute for basmati rice; I haven’t tried it. I tried half vegetable oil and half extra virgin olive oil (good for your health) today and it didn’t change the flavor of the final product noticeably.

Notes: 1) If you live in or near a decent sized city, you can probably find a local Indian store that carries all the Indian-specific ingredients. 2) I prefer canned tomatoes because they’re more consistently high quality than the fresh whole tomatoes you can get at a supermarket, tastier and they don’t disintegrate while cooking. 3) I usually seed the whole jalapeno, or half of it. You never know whether you’ve got a strong one or a weak one. If it’s a strong one, keeping the seeds (where most of the heat is) could make the dish too hot for you or your guests, and hard to eat. It’s better to play it safe. You can always add cayenne pepper to taste later if it’s not hot enough for you.

Penzey’s Spices is a nice store with an online website from which you can order a wide variety of common and specialty, high quality spices, baking ingredients, etc.

Recipe

1) Start boiling rice. A rice cooker or pressure cooker is easier and faster than a regular pot.

2) Dry roast the cumin seeds on medium-high heat until light brown and giving off wonderful aroma, then remove from heat and set aside. You can include them whole later (see below), but I don’t like to bite into a whole cumin seed so I use a coffee grinder to grind them to powder. Warning! Don’t use the same coffee grinder for grinding spices that you do for grinding coffee beans, or vice versa.

Optional: Moong dal. Rinse a few times. Soak in hot water for 10-15 minutes until softened enough that you can pinch them in half with your fingernail.

3) While the cumin is roasting and the moong dal soaking, dice the onion, garlic, jalapeno, and carrot (opt). Keep an eye on the cumin though. You don’t want to burn it.

4) Heat a 9-12 inch saucepan/skillet on medium-high. Put in the oil/ghee. Then add the onion, garlic, jalapeno and carrot (opt). Cook until softened and onion is golden brown. Then add in the peanuts and moong dal (opt). Cook for a few minutes more. Stir occasionally throughout. Chop the cilantro sometime while all this is cooking; don’t add yet.

5) Add the tomatoes. Lower heat to medium. Then add remaining ingredients (except rice). Cook until tomatoes are heated through, 5-10 min or so.

6) Add rice and mix well. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 4-6.

Recipe: Spicy Chole (A Chickpea Dish)

by on July 14, 2005 @ 9:40 am

in Featured Posts, Food and Cooking

There are countless versions of this dish. I’ll probably be posting more, but here’s

Spicy Chole

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium or large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 medium tomato, chopped or 1 can (14-oz.) of chopped/diced tomatoes
6 cups cooked chickpeas or 3 (15-oz.) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or 1/2 tablespoon if aamchur powder is used
1 tablespoon cardamom powder or raw mango (aamchur or amchoor) powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon spicy garam masala (includes cinnamon and red pepper among other things)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Cooking Instructions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet.
2) Add onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. After a few minutes add the ground cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Stir frequently.
3) Take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes, then put half into a blender along with the lemon juice and half a can (or 1 cup) of chickpeas. Liquify, adding water if needed, then pour the mixture back into the skillet.
4) Put skillet back on medium-high heat. Add remaining chickpeas, tomatoes, garam masala, turmeric, cardamom (or aamchur powder), paprika, and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes or until chickpeas and tomatoes are heated and softened. Add the cilantro after about 7 minutes. Don’t dry out the sauce; add water if needed.
5) Serve with rice or Indian flat breads (such as naan). Alternatively, you can eat the chole by itself.

Note: Cardamom and aamchur powder are distinctly different in flavor. Aamchur powder is tangy and sour. Cardamom is probably easier to find in the US, though you should be able to find both in your local Indian store. Don’t use both at once in this recipe though. You can essentially get two different versions of this dish, depending on which one you use.

Recipe: Geoffrey's Bean & Salsa Chip Dip

July 14, 2005 @ 8:58 am

Here’s a tasty and easy to make chip dip that my family really likes. It can be made vegetarian or with chicken or ground beef. Geoffrey’s Bean & Salsa Chip Dip Ingredients 1 (16-oz) can refried beans 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce 1 cup salsa (mild, medium, or hot) 1 medium tomato, chopped or 1 [...]

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Recipe: Tamarind Rice w. Peanuts

July 13, 2005 @ 9:19 am

I forgot to mention that my wife is Indian, so a lot of the recipes I’ll be posting will be Indian dishes. I also like Chinese, Thai, Greek and Lebanese, Italian, and Mexican food, so you’ll see some of those as well, plus the occasional American or European dish. The lemon rice recipe I posted [...]

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Recipe: Lime (or Lemon) Rice w. Peanuts

July 13, 2005 @ 8:05 am

I’m the cook of the house. My wife doesn’t like to cook, would actually rather wash dishes. And since I like food, I kinda like to cook (especially when I get tired of preparing store-bought crap), so I do the cooking. There has been some demand for some of my recipes among friends and family [...]

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