Trinidadian Chicken Curry

March 24, 2013 by · 4 Comments

Trinidadian Chicken Curry

This is definitely one of my favorite meals I have ever made.  It is pretty, too.  Turmeric is a beautiful spice.

Ella, in all of her photo styling wisdom, told me that I should take more over-the-top shots of my food.  I kind of like this picture, but I need to figure out how to maneuver my tripod that way because I have a hard time staying still when I am looking straight down.

Jim wanted Indian food and I suggested that I would make it for dinner last night.  I sent Taylor on a Google search for a good Indian dish and she went straight to Pioneer Woman (of course?.)  Taylor loves PW so this wasn’t actually a big surprise.  I was surprised, however, that she found so many Indian inspired dishes on there.

This dish stood out to me because the pictures looked mouth-watering and I had almost everything to make it.  The marinade for this chicken is almost like pico de gallo and I just couldn’t pinpoint how that would taste when cooked with the curry slurry.  The girls happened to both be away at dinner time so we decided to use the HOT curry powder to give it some real heat.

Although Trinidad is nowhere near India, the cuisine is heavily inspired by Indian cooking.  Apparently, under the influence of the British, Indian immigrants came over to the Caribbean as indentured servants in the 1800′s.  Over time, they adapted their family recipes based on the food that they could find in the Caribbean.  That explains why this Trinidadian dish tastes very much like something you would get at your favorite Indian restaurant.

There are many different types of curry powders out there.  It’s a bit confusing really as to which kind you want to use when.  Curry is not a spice by itself, it is a mixture of spices such as red pepper, fenugreek, cumin, turmeric and coriander.  This mixture can vary from region to region (probably depending on availability and individual/regional preferences.)  The curry powder that we buy mass-produced in the US is very different from something you would get in India or Thailand.  Trinidad has its own blends that you can buy.  I bought my curry powder at my local Indian grocery store (great place to buy inexpensive spices.)  This blend was a HOT Madras curry powder.  It was flavorful and pretty spicy, but not overpowering.  With all of that being said, there really isn’t anything wrong with the curry powder we can buy at our grocery stores here in the US, but for a dish like this if you can get your hands on Indian or even Trinidadian curry powder your dish will taste that much more authentic.

Although I wouldn’t call this a weeknight meal it isn’t super-fussy or over-complicated.  I had almost everything in my pantry and I didn’t have a long list of ingredients to buy (which is very often a determining factor for whether I will make something or not.)  Yet, the flavor was unlike anything that has ever come out of my kitchen.  It tasted like it came from an Indian (or Trinidadian) restaurant!

Of course, I also have to point out that this dish is pretty darn healthy for you – especially if you eat it over brown basmati rice like we did.  I pressure cooked some green beans in a little beef broth and that went perfectly with the curry.  Since you remove the skin and fat from the chicken there is very little fat except for the vegetable oil you add at the beginning.  Between the tomatoes and spices you get lots of good vitamins and antioxidants.  One more reason to add this wonderful dish to your menu.  Just watch your portion size:-)

This is the type of food you want to sneak at 10:30 at night (I didn’t mainly because I was asleep by then) because dinner was just that good. Awesome find, Taylor:-)  If you are looking for a dish that you can make at home that is pretty easy to prepare and tastes as authentic as something you could get at a restaurant, you should try this one soon.  Enjoy!

For some other recipes that use curry blends on BWL you can try these recipes, too!

Crockpot Thai Chicken Curry

Thai Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

Thai Inspired Curried Chicken Salad

Source : The Pioneer Woman Cooks (with some very slight adaptations of my own)

Trinidadian Chicken Curry
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 Whole Chicken cut-up – skin removed
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 1 tomato – quartered
  • 1 onion – halved
  • 1 handful cilantro
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Optional – juice of half a lemon, coconut milk, extra cilantro

Instructions
  1. Sprinkle salt on chicken and add mustard. Toss to thoroughly coat the chicken.
  2. In the bowl of your food processor chop the tomatoes, half the onion, garlic and cilantro
  3. Pour the vegetable mixture over the chicken and let marinate for 2 hours
  4. When the chicken has finished marinating make the slurry by combining the curry powder, turmeric and ¾ cups of water.
  5. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour the slurry into the skillet and let cook for about 5-6 minutes. The slurry will turn a dark brown color and thicken. Stir constantly so the mixture does not burn. If you need to add a little more water you can, but you want to end up with a nice brown slurry that is quite thick, but not completely dried out.
  6. Slice the other half of the onion and add to the slurry. Let it cook for several minutes over medium heat.
  7. When your slurry is finished and onions are slightly cooked, add the chicken and turn the pieces to coat in the sauce. Spread out in the skillet so none of the chicken pieces are touching. Cook, slightly covered, turning the chicken every 5 minutes or so, adding more water (alternating with some coconut milk if you like) as necessary. You do not want the sauce to dry out. Your chicken will cook for about 25 minutes and when finished you will have a nice thick sauce. If you feel like your chicken isn’t cooking quickly enough you can turn the heat up a little bit. Just make sure it doesn’t burn and your sauce doesn’t dry out. You of course want the chicken to be completely cooked at the end and times may vary.
  8. I added the lemon at the end and you will want to taste to see if you need to season with additional salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
  9. We served this over brown Basmati rice with pressure cooked green beans.
  10. Enjoy!

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Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine

January 25, 2012 by · 10 Comments

 
I know last week I said that Flank Steak is my favorite cut of beef. However, I have to say that short ribs are right up there….I mean, maybe I was wrong last week. Because truly, it’s hard to compare a steak that is cooked quickly over high heat to a chuck roast or a short rib that you cook low and slow in a gravy made from red wine and veggies. It’s kind of like comparing a chicken wing to Coq Au Vin.

So this, my friends, is one of my other very favorite cuts of beef. Short ribs have a decadence that you just can’t compare to a steak. The meat melts in your mouth and it’s totally rich, too.

The entire bottle of red wine that you use for this dish produces an amazing gravy that is only made better with the addition of some fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary and oregano. I ate just the gravy with some roasted carrots and potatoes at least twice after this meal and I savored every bite.

Seriously, if you have never tried short ribs, you need to. They are so worth the tiny bit of effort that this dish requires.

Ok, now for some details here.

1) This recipe is from Bon Appetit and it truly is hard to mess up. Short ribs, like a chuck roast need to cook for a long period of time to break down the connective tissues.  As long as you do the low and slow thing these will turn out fine.

2) If you want to lighten this dish a bit you may want to consider cooking this the day before you are going to eat it. Put it in the fridge and then the next day, take it out about an hour before you want to eat and scrape the hardened fat off the top. Heat the meat back up and it will taste just as good as the day before. I know you can also skim some of the fat off the top on the day that you cook it, but this is so much easier and effective in my opinion.

3) You could probably replace the wine with beef broth, but the flavor would be different. The red wine produces such a nice rich gravy and it probably has some contribution in tenderizing the meat. I probably wouldn’t skip the wine…and use a decent bottle, right? I know the whole bottle seems like a lot, but it cooks down quite a bit. It’s not too much, trust me.

4) Use fresh herbs if you can. They add some very nice flavor to this dish. If you don’t have all of them it won’t hurt the dish too much to swap out or leave one out, but do try to use fresh herbs.

5) Take a look in your meat department’s marked down meat section for short ribs. I always see them marked down about 50% at my local store and they have always been wonderful. Just throw them in the freezer if the expiration date is near or cook them that day. Apparently short ribs don’t sell? If they look brown or tired you won’t want to get them, but the ones I have found always look just fine.

We served these with some roasted potatoes, carrots and celery. I will post those tomorrow and honestly you can’t get a much more gourmet tasting meal than this. Between the roasted veggies and these wonderful, decadent short ribs you have yourself a wonderful meal fit for any Sunday.

Enjoy!

Source: Bon Appetit

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine
 
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Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2″ pieces
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 medium onions, chopped
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 750-ml bottle dry red wine (preferably Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • 10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
  • 8 sprigs thyme
  • 4 sprigs oregano
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
  • 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
  • 4 cups low-salt beef stock

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven and brown meat on all sides. This might take a few batches. Transfer ribs to a plate and drain the oil reserving about 3 tablespoons.
  3. To the dutch oven add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until veggies are softened and nicely browned. Add the flour and tomato paste and cook stirring constantly for several minutes. Stir in the wine and then add the short ribs with their juices. Bring to a boil and the reduce heat to medium high heat and let the wine reduce to about half. Add the herbs and garlic to the pot. Stir in the stock and then boil. Cover and transfer to the oven.
  4. Cook for about 2-2½ hours until the short ribs are nice and tender. strain sauce into a good-sized bowl and then skim fat from the top and discard. Season with salt and pepper. If you cook the ribs a day ahead you can put them in the fridge once the dutch oven has cooled instead of straining the juice and skimming the fat. The next day take the ribs out about an hour before serving and scrape the fat off the top. It should come off quite easily. Heat the ribs through until heated thoroughly over low to medium heat.

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Chicken Cacciatore

November 21, 2011 by · 6 Comments

This morning I got the girls dressed and out the door by 7:30 to head to the dentist for their checkups.  As anyone with little girls knows, getting them dressed, fed and packed for school is an event.  Doing it by 7:30 when they are used to being out the door at 8:30 is a slight miracle.  If you have girls you can probably relate to the dramatics of getting dressed in the morning.  I could write a whole other post just on that subject.

We made it out the door, coffee mug and backpacks in hand and jumped in the van.  We drove through town, passing by the big kids waiting at their bus stops and runners getting their morning jogs in.  When we got to the dentist at about 7:41 we gave the receptionist our name and she paused.  Usually, this receptionist knows who you are you as are walking in the door, so this wasn’t good.  She asked for our names again and when I told her she looked worried.  “I don’t see them in here for today” she said.  Oh no……

So tomorrow morning we will be performing another slight miracle and we will get back to that dentist office by 7:40 just in time for our appointment…..that was always on Tuesday.  Sigh.

This cacciatore is really delicious and I like to make this in my dutch oven.  I cook it down and let it simmer for a while because the flavor really develops and it starts to taste like something you would get at a good Italian restaurant. However, if you would like to make this on a weeknight, the crockpot would work well for this as well.

In the picture I served this over papardelle pasta which is basically a wide fettuccine noodle.  The second night I served it over some Barilla Plus farfalle and liked it better that way.  When I plate my pasta I like to drizzle a little bit of EVOO and toss.  If I want some spice (which I usually do) I will throw some crushed red pepper flakes in with it too.  Adding this directly to the noodles adds more flavor because every noodle gets coated in the oil.  You can also serve this over white or brown rice for a different twist.

It’s quite healthy, too.  This recipe uses boneless skinless chicken and the rest of the recipe is pretty much tomatoes, peppers and onions.  Throw some red wine, basil, garlic and olive oil in and you have yourself a great, healthy meal! One suggestion for keeping Italian meals light is to skip the bread if you are serving this over pasta or rice. I love bread, too, but seriously people, that is two portions of carbs in one meal. Plus, we all know you won’t just have one piece of bread.  Instead, have a nice salad.  Don’t be afraid to use some of the EVOO even if you you are trying to keep this healthy.  If you totally avoid the oil in this dish, the flavor won’t completely come together and your body does need some fat to help digest all of this healthy food.  So don’t go without, but just watch your portions.

Cacciatore recipes that I have seen typically call for white wine.  I happened to only have a bottle of red so that is what I used.  You can really use either and the taste will be fantastic.

Enjoy!

Chicken Cacciatore
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 28 oz can plum tomatoes (get the best quality you can)
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 2-3 red, yellow or orange peppers, sliced into strips
  • 1 sweet onion sliced
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 large handful of fresh basil – cut in a chiffonade
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Heat dutch oven over medium heat with a little olive oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown in the frying pan on both sides. Remove from pan.
  2. Add onions and peppers to the dutch oven and cook until the onions start to turn translucent. Scrape up bits of the browned chicken as the onions and peppers cook. Add garlic and wine. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until the wine is reduced by about half.
  3. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and italian seasoning along with two tablespoons of additional olive oil and a few dashes of salt and pepper.
  4. Simmer the chicken on the stovetop for about and hour and a half stirring every 20 minutes scraping down the sides of the pot. Crush the tomatoes as you are cooking so you are left with smaller chunks.
  5. During the last half hour add the basil and stir to combine.
  6. When the chicken is done cooking shred with two forks until you get lots of big chunks of chicken. Add a little more salt and pepper to taste. If you want to make this sauce a little bit velvety you could add in 2-3 tablespoons of butter at this point.
  7. Serve over pasta that has been tossed with EVOO and crushed red pepper flakes (if desired.) Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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Herb Crusted Pork Roast

October 8, 2011 by · 4 Comments

We had this pork roast two Sundays ago with the Creamed Spinach from yesterday. It was a good meal. This recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated and although it isn’t extremely difficult, it does require a little time. This is definitely a Sunday pork roast.

I was happy to see that my Harris Teeter had some Niman Ranch pork available. I am not an expert in agriculture or organics, but I do like knowing that their pork is humanely raised and that they use sustainable farming practices. What I can also tell you is that their pork is wonderful and definitely worth the extra money. You brine the pork in this recipe which gives it a lot of its flavor and makes it incredibly tender, but still, you could tell this pork was of a really good quality. I haven’t looked lately, but I imagine that they have Niman Ranch products at Whole Foods. If not, their pork is most likely the same quality as they tend to have similar standards for their meats.

So besides brining (which was extremely simple – don’t be scared,) you will make a fresh breadcrumb crust for this pork. You can see it in the picture and although it fell off a little bit when we sliced it up, this tasted wonderful with the juicy pork. You will also make an herb mixture to rub in the center of the pork and this gives the dish sooo much fresh flavor. It really was wonderful. I was a little bit worried that this might ooze out of the pork, but it really stayed in very nicely and there was plenty to give it a good slathering.

This also made for great leftovers. I don’t always love pork as leftovers, but this was an exception. The crust actually stayed relatively crunchy and the herb mixture just got more flavorful. If you are looking for a new way to roast your pork, I definitely urge you to try this out. I would make it again in a heartbeat – especially if we were entertaining and I wanted to make something special to impress.

Enjoy!

Herb Crusted Pork Roast
 
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This is an impressive dish for a Sunday night dinner!
Author:
Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 3 pound boneless center-cut pork loin roast
  • Kosher Salt
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup fresh bread crumbs (I used a mixture of whole wheat and white bread)
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 medium shallot, minced
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • Ground black pepper
  • ⅓ cup packed fresh parsley or basil leaves, minced (I used a little bit of each)
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced

Instructions
  1. Lightly score fat cap on pork, making ¼-inch crosshatch pattern. Cut pocket in roast about ¾ inch from the edge. Dissolve ½ cup salt and ¼ cup sugar in 2 quarts water in large container; submerge roast, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Rinse roast really well under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.
  2. Meanwhile, put rack in the lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place bread crumbs in a medium bowl and add 2 tablespoons Parmesan, shallot, 1 tablespoon oil, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Using fork, toss mixture until crumbs are evenly coated with oil.
  3. Add parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic, remaining 6 tablespoons Parmesan, 3 tablespoons oil, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper to food processor workbowl and process until smooth, about twelve 1-second pulses. Transfer herb paste to small bowl.
  4. Spread ¼ cup herb paste inside roast and tie. Season roast with pepper.
  5. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add roast, fat side down, and brown on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes, lowering heat if fat begins to smoke. Transfer roast to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
  6. Snip and remove twine from roast and then spread remaining herb paste over roast and top with bread crumb mixture. Transfer baking sheet with roast to oven and cook until thickest part of roast registers 145 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 50 to 75 minutes. Remove roast from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Internal temperature should rise to 150 degrees.
  7. Transfer roast to carving board carefully. Cut roast into ½-inch slices and serve immediately.

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Game Day Chili

September 23, 2011 by · 6 Comments

Are you ready for some football??????

This is a great chili recipe if you like a nice hearty bowl of yummy ground beef, beans and spicy tomato sauce. Oh yes and a bottle of dark beer – oh my! I sometimes feel like when I have chili that there is something lacking – a depth of flavor or just….something. Well this chili has that “something” and I really think it comes from the addition of the beer, Worcestershire and beef broth. Not to mention the addition of the chopped green chilies gives it some more zing. You can throw it in the slow cooker, however I really like chili to cook down a bit to get that nice thick sauce so I prefer cooking this in a big dutch oven on top of the stove. You can also mix up the beans however you like. White cannellini beans are good or black beans add a nice mexican flair.

If I were entering a chili cook-off I would enter this recipe.

You can top the chili however you like, but we added some cheese and green onions sliced up. You could also top with some sour cream or pickled jalapenos. If you serve this for a party you can have a nice little chili bar and let people top their chili however they would like. How fun is that? I made drop biscuits on the side but traditionally people have cornbread with chili which would be a good option as well. We just really like biscuits. If you want a different biscuit recipe you can try these zucchini cheddar biscuits – they would go great with this.

Enjoy, and I hope you get your fill of football and good food this weekend. In this house we are Bills and Redskins fans…both 2-0 teams – wahooo!!! I wish I could say the same for my fantasy team:-(. I am sure I just jinxed both teams – ha ha:-)

Game Day Chili
 
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Don’t look any further than this recipe for Chili for your game day food fix!
Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced (I probably used 5 or 6.)
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained (I used pinto and black beans)
  • 3 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
  • 1 (12-ounce) bottle dark beer (We used Sam Adams Oktoberfest)
  • 1 (14½-ounce) can beef broth
  • 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
  • 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ground red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Instructions
  1. Cook first 3 ingredients in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well.
  2. Combine meat mixture, beans, and next 11 ingredients in Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 hours or until thickened. Garnish, if desired.

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