Coconut curry chicken noodle soup

As is usual in our household, we had a utilitarian day followed by some experimentation. We got our bathrooms clean, grocery shopping done, and a bit of family yoga. Next came the fun of making a meal for later in the week when we know we won’t have time. Then, our experiment with something we had no idea if we were going to be walking to Five Guys by nights end. Tonight’s experiment, coconut curry chicken noodle soup. Idea was: lets try to make our own curry paste, mix it with coconut milk and chicken broth, throw some chicken thighs in and top with the usual fresh veggies. I will have to say, we have outdone ourselves tonight. This is one that is going into rotation.

For the curry paste:

  • 4 dried Guargillo peppers, rehydrated in about 2 C. of boiling water
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 3 inch of ginger
  • handful of cilantro stems
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 Tbsp coriander
  • 1 Tbsp Turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp Curry powder

Once the dried peppers have rehydrated throw everything into the food processor with about 3 Tbsp of the rehydrating liquid. Whiz until you have a nice paste.

To make the soup:

  • 4 C. chicken broth
  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 6 boneless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper

Put some oil in a Dutch oven and heat up to shimmering. Add about 1/2-2/3s of the curry paste (trying to be child friendly). Cook over medium flame until it gets some nice color. Add the broth and coconut milk. Cook for about 1/2 hour. Add chicken thighs and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove chicken and either shred or chop. Put back in soup and start making the noodles.

We picked up some fresh Asian noodles at the market today and boiled them for a couple minutes and used scissors to cut to 3 inchesish and place in bowls.
Once the soup is done, ladle the soup over the noodles making sure to get chicken in everyone’s bowl. Serve with:

  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • cilantro sprigs
  • basil
  • lime
  • fried onions
  • bean sprouts (we used soy today)

Enjoy.

Grilled Seafood Friday

Sorry no pictures as we were all too hungry and I just forgot. Tonight was a little grilled scallops, shrimp, calamari with ham and cheese wrapped in grilled in zucchini and finally some chips and sour cream dip.

For the shrimp and calamari, we just marinated them in olive oil, grated garlic, and lime just. Put each of them on some skewers so they were easier to flip. For the scallops we just did a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Again put them on some skewers.

For the zucchini wraps, we thinly sliced a zucchini the long way on a mandolin. We got about 12 strips. Grill with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Take some deli ham and goat gouda and slice the ham into about 1 inch wide strips. Cut the gouda into blocks. Wrap the ham around the gouda. Wrap the ham with zucchini in opposite direction and grip to soften cheese.

For the dip, take 1 C. sour cream and mix with garlic powder, salt, dried basil, and dried oregano. Mix and adjust flavor to your liking. Serve with potato chips.

Arroz con pollo

These are those late in the week dinners where you had an idea on Sunday but can’t remember what you were thinking. So did our best to put what we thought the right ingredients together. I think I will change it next time but here is what we did.

  • 1 1/2 lb boneless chicken thighs
  • Glug of olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 4 C. chicken broth
  • 1 large can tomato puree
  • 2 C long grain rice (we used basmati)
  • cumin
  • coriander
  • sweet paprika
  • salt and pepper
  • cilantro
  • Fresno pepper, diced

Sear the chicken in the olive oil to brown on both sides in a high sided pan. Remove chicken and add onion and garlic. Saute until slightly softened (3ish minutes). Add the peppers and cook about 3 more minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook another 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock and tomato puree, getting all the bits up. Add rice and chicken back in and stir so that it is mostly uniform with rice. Add spices and stir again. Cook over super low heat with lid ajar for about 30-45 minutes or until rice is cooked. Top with cilantro and Fresno peppers.

The next time we make this, I will leave out the puree and substitute some fresh diced tomatoes. It was just a bit heavy with all the tomato puree and think the fresh tomatoes would lighten it up. Also, I think a squeeze of lime could have gone a long way.

Duck breast with fried eggplant and peas

The duck was available and on sale so we bought it. Butchered it last night and are saving the legs in the freezer for something but don’t know what. Maybe some duck dumplings this weekend, we shall see. To start it off we are using my wife’s favorite recipe for the eggplant. Super simple but seems to really be fool proof.

For the eggplant:

  • 2 medium eggplant
  • 3 eggs
  • Panko
  • Salt

To start, we salted the eggplant on both sides and set on some paper towels while I was out getting the kid. When I came back, dredge in eggs then panko and put into some medium heat canola oil in a pan to about 1/4 inch. Cook until golden on both sides and put into preheated 200 degree oven while you cook everything else.

For the duck:

  • 2 trimmed duck breasts
  • salt and pepper

Simply put the duck breasts seasoned with salt and pepper in a cold cast iron pan over low heat for about 10 minutes. Put into same 200 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes or until cooked to medium rare.

For the peas, just steam them in water and season with some salt.

Herbed pork loin with potatoes and green beans

Simple Midwestern meal yet again. There seems to be a theme recently. Hopefully the sun will come out soon and we can get back to grilling and less roasting. Got home from work and immediately got to work. This whole daylight saving time is really screwing with me this year. For the pork loin:

  • 1 1/2 lb pork loin roast
  • Mediterranean herb rub

Simply put a light dusting of some herbs on the pork loin and put it in a roasting pan in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until a temp of about 145-150 internal.

For the potatoes:

  • 1 lb fingerling potatoes
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 4 cloves of garlic

Par boil the potatoes until almost but not fully cooked. Melt butter with garlic over low heat. Once the garlic starts to turn golden add potatoes and baste for about 5-7 minutes until they get a little crisp on the outside.

For the green beans, we used my son’s recipe again. Simply put beans in a pyrex loaf pan with 1/2 inch of water. Add some salt and garlic. Microwave, covered for about 5 minutes.

Experimental Lasagna for later in the week

Did a little experimentation with some lasagna on Sunday afternoon. Made a nice bolognese and did a couple of different cheese on two sides. My wife spied some goat cheese crumbles in the store this morning, so those had to be an experiment but did ricotta on the other side.

For the bolognese:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 4 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 2 C. chicken broth
  • 1 C. milk
  • cumin
  • coriander
  • nutmeg
  • fenugreek powder
  • salt and pepper

Put carrot, celery, onion, and garlic in the food processor and get it down to small bits. Get a Dutch oven screaming hot and rip off about 2 inch chucks of the ground meats into pan to get some color on them on a couple sides. Once the meat is nicely brown remove from pan and set aside. Add vegetable puree to pan and sweat it out for about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and get a nice color on it. Deglaze pan with chicken stock and add in milk. Put meat back in and simmer, uncovered for as long as you can manage, we did about 3 hours. Near the end add the spices to taste.

For the rest of the lasagna:

  • 1 lb dried lasagna noodles cooked to about 1/2-3/4 done
  • 1 28 oz can tomato puree
  • 1 lb ricotta
  • Pecorino Romano
  • 1 lb goat cheese crumbles
  • A lot of basic torn up
  • 1 lb shredded mozzarella

We started to build it up with a layer of tomato puree on the bottom of a pan. Next the noodles, then half we did with ricotta and the other half with the goat cheese crumbles. Then the bolognese, then some mozzarella, then some basil, and lastly the tomato puree. Repeat a second time. Then top with another layer of noodles followed by tomato puree, and mozzarella and pecorino and whatever goat cheese crumbles are left to mark that side.

Bake in a 350 degree oven covered for about an hour. Remove cover and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until nice and golden.

Corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread

A bunch of cooking was had on the cold and damp Sunday. The elusive yellow orb in the sky made an appearance late in the afternoon. We did a little prep for later in the week and since everyone is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, we thought we should at least eat the food the weekend before. Just a little bit of corned beef and cabbage and instead of potatoes, we made soda bread. We short cut and just bought a pre-brined brisket. For the corned beef:

  • 2-3 lb pre-brined brisket
  • 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch bits
  • head of cabbage cored and cut into quarters

Rinse the brisket fully with cold water. Then place in a pot and add enough water to cover by at least an inch. Put on stove to simmer for about 2 1/2-3 hours or until fork tender. When you think its done, add the carrots and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove the meat to rest and add the cabbage. Cook for another 15 minutes. Slice the corned beef thinly and serve with the carrots and cabbage.

For the Irish soda bread:

  • 3 1/2 C. flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 C. buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients together and make a well in the center. Add the buttermilk and quickly blend together. Pour out onto the counter and knead it a few times just to bring it all together. Treat it a bit like biscuit dough so that it doesn’t get tough. Put dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and push so that it is about 2 inches high and brush on melted butter (we used about 1/2 stick). Put in 450 preheat oven for 15 minutes and then turn down to 400 and bake another 30 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock it.

Sole with carrots and black eyed peas

WordPress changed their image edit and I cannot figure out how to simply rotate a picture. Thanks WordPress.

Family swim this Saturday and we got back home and tried to figure out what was for dinner. We knew we were going to have Pacific Dover Sole but what to accompany that was the mystery that we had to solve as a family. My thought was par boil some fingerling potatoes and put them with some brown butter to finish. But there was no vegetable. While we were trying to plan the week, we also had to plan the day. So tonight, we bring you sole with a goofy blend of Mediterranean spices with carrots and onions.

For the easiest piece of the dinner:

  • About 4 fillets of Pacific Dover Sole
  • 1 C. flour
  • Good shake of garlic powder
  • salt and pepper

Mix the dredge together and simply coat it in the dredge. Saute over medium heat in olive oil until golden on both sides. Because you will probably have to work in batches, put in a 200 degree oven once cooked.

For the side:

  • 3 carrots, thinly sliced on the bias
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
  • coriander
  • cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • paprika
  • Fenugreek powder
  • 1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed

Saute the carrot, onions, and garlic over medium low until nice and soft. Add everything else and saute to combine the flavors. It is quick but the flavors are great. I would probably serve this with pork the next time because the flavors are so strong and fight with the subtle flavors of Sole.

Beef Bao with tater tots…

It was one of those days when I thought that the day would allow for a noon dinner prep and life would be good around 6. Well…. one thing led to another and at 3pm I realized I hadn’t even thought about dinner since I bought the ingredients. My super human plan of having an awesome dinner was slowly falling away. Super hero dad to the rescue. Let’s start a milk bread and a low-slow on beef at 3 with dinner served at 6ish. WE DID IT and they were none the wiser.

For the short cut meat (that was on sale):

  • 2ish lbs chuck roast (bone in if your butcher allows)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • garlic powder
  • olive oil

Just throw it all around the meat and throw it in a Dutch oven and forget about it for 2-3 hours (yes, I know you probably don’t have that kind of time).

To make the Buns follow a modified recipe that I have for Bao Char Sui and instead of mixing the baking powder with the ferment, knead it in after an hour of proofing. Roll out into about 1 inch balls and let it proof for as long as your family will let you hold off. This week I threw a bunch of cabbage leaves in the steamer and didn’t go to the extravagant effect of using parchment. Never will I use parchment again, it didn’t stick.

Put a bunch of fresh veg that you like on the table like cucumber, carrot, green onion, and cilantro and make your family work for it.

Also, we made frozen tater tots because… yeah we like tater tots.

I married a Southern girl: Fried chicken, chard, and biscuits

I knew what my wife needed tonight. Her desired for the finer things in life needed to be fulfilled. To that, chicken legs were on sale and she really likes my biscuits. Since my son has late activities tonight, we were able to spend some additional time on dinner. For those that don’t make their own biscuits, pancakes, or waffles, give it a try take the same amount of time, you actually know what is in there and they are delicious. To start, I made the biscuits.

  • 2 C flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter cut into small pieces
  • 1 C milk

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter until the butter is smaller than peas. Put back in fridge and let sit for about 15 minutes to allow butter to rechill. Add milk and using a rubber spatula mix until just mixed. Like 3-5 turns of the spatula. Lay out on lightly floured surface and knead 3 times. Flatten, with hands, to about 1 inch and cut out with a big biscuit cutter. Don’t touch the dough too much, it gets tough. Put the biscuits into a 10 in cast iron and preheat oven to 425 degree oven. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and fluffy.

For the chicken, we started a milk marinade when we got home with:

  • milk to cover chicken
  • salt and pepper
  • garlic powder

Let marinade while the family does its homework or other after school/work activities.

Create a dredge out of:

  • Flour
  • Garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper
  • Old Bay (yes, we live near the Chesapeake)

Heat a big pan with 1/2 inch canola oil over medium heat. Dredge marinaded chicken in mixture and put in plans being sure not to crowd. We did 4 whole legs, cut up, in 2 batches, one thighs, one legs. Once golden brown put in a 200 degree oven while everyone finishes up what they need to do, we did about 40 minutes to make sure everything was cooked.

For the chard:

  • 1 bunch chard, finely sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

Saute garlic quickly and then add chard for another minute or so.

Serve everything family style.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started