Indian Food, Take One

Remember how one of my 2012 food goals is to make more Indian food? Well, I'm already on my way! Last week I slightly adapted this SUPER simple Chicken Tiki Masala recipe from Real Simple for dinner one night, and my contribution to a potluck the next! I feel like it was a bit of a cop-out since it was in the slow cooker, but I was drawn in by the short ingredient list and my love for tiki masala. Now I just need to master naan bread for the perfect combo.

Slow-Cooker Tiki Masala
Adapted from Real Simple

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups rice (I did 1 cup white rice for dinner, but brought brown to the potluck)
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, garam masala, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and season with additional salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-9 hours.

If you have a fancy rice cooker like me, get your rice set up in the morning and set the timer so that it's ready when you get home. If not, make it right when you get home!

In a small bowl, toss the cucumber and cilantro with the lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Just before serving, stir the cream into the chicken tikka masala. Serve over the rice with the cucumber relish.

Steak and Frites Our Way

Born to midwestern parents, I LOVE potatoes. But recently, something has taken their place in my heart. I'm not sure exactly when/how it happened, but I'm a very late comer to the cauliflower lover's group. Luke and I cannot get ENOUGH of these little white florets, most often seasoned with salt and pepper, tossed with olive oil and then an extra herb or spice to make them compliment the meal we're having that evening.

This meal is our twist on steak and frites and was a bit indulgent, but SOOOO good. Enjoy!

Steak and Frites Our Way

1 head of cauliflower, florets removed and cut into about 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pound New York Strip steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick
2 large shallots, thiny sliced
2 tablespoons balsmic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the cauliflower florest on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Season liberally with salt and pepper, add rosemary and drizzle olive oil, then toss until thoroughly coated. Bake 30-40 minutes, turning cauliflower once, until it starts to get browned and a little crispy. Remove from oven and top with Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.

For the steak, preheat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Place one tablepoon butter in the pan and melt. Season steak heavily with salt and pepper, then place in skillet, careful not to move it, and sear about 3 minutes on each side. Then place in oven and let cook about 8 minutes, or until desired doneness is reached.

Remove skillet from the oven and set steak aside on a cutting board to rest. Return the cast iron to the stove top and heat to medium. Add the reserved tablespoon of butter and melt. Then add shallots and saute about 5 minutes, until caramelized. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until reduced, about 3-4 minutes. Serve balsamic shallot mixture over steak and enjoy!


Truffled Side Salad

4 ounces spring mix
1/2 teaspoon truffle oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh grated

Top spring mix with truffle oil, salt and pepper and Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve next to the steak and the delightful truffle hints will get picked up in every bite :)

Queso Compuesto Pork Chops & Lemon Dijon Brussels Sprouts

For New Years, we enjoyed our black eyed peas and collard greens with a Texan twist, courtesy of the Homesick Texan Lisa Fain. I made a half portion of her Queso Compuesto, and even still Luke and I only finished half! As part of a resolution to be a bit more frugal with my cooking, I wanted to put the leftover queso to good use. Why not top some pork chops I had in the freezer with it? Also, I scored an awesome deal on Brussels Sprouts at the store and wanted to make a simple, flavor side dish. Luckily, I had everything on hand that I needed.

While I call for 1/2 lime and 1/2 lemon below, you could easily use one fruit, I just happened to have 1/2 of each reserved in my fridge!

Queso Compuesto Pork Chops

4 pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick
1 tablespoon sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup prepared Queso Compuesto

Place pork chops in a large zip lock back and add adobo sauce and lime juice. Seal the bag and mix about with your hands a bit to coat the chops. Marinade for 20-30 minutes. Heat a large skillet (I used cast iron) on medium heat and warm olive oil. Remove chops from marinade and season with salt and pepper to taste (I went pretty heavy on the pepper). Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until done. Top each chop with 1/4 cup warm Queso Compuesto.

The smokey flavor of the adobo sauce really accents the queso and makes this a delight to eat!

Lemon Dijon Brussels Sprouts

1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the stem from Brussels sprouts and remove any outer leaves that fall off. (I reserve these to make Brussels sprouts chips!) Half the sprouts and place on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing once with tongs, until sprouts start to brown. Remove from the oven and place in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice and Dijon. Add the Dijon mixture to the Brussels sprouts bowl and toss to combine. Enjoy!

Just look at these beauties :)

Butternut Squash Ravioli

How's this for meeting a New Years resolution? I invited a few friends over (Teddy and Cara) for New Years Eve dinner before going out and wanted to make something worthy of serving on the gorgeous china we got as a wedding present. Why not tackle two goals and also make some ravioli?! Since Teddy is a vegetarian, butternut squash ravioli seemed like the best way to go.

I started with my basic pasta dough recipe from my homemade pasta experiment last year, but made 2.5x the original recipe since I was feeding five. I don't know about you, but I hate ordering ravioli out at dinner to only be served 4 raviolis and leave feeling hungry, so I wanted to make sure we had plenty. Luckily I had Luke there to help me since it was quite a lengthy process! Lots of fun though, so no complaining here :)

For the filling and sauce, I used this recipe for Butternut Squash, Sage, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce and topped it off with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and chopped fresh sage. I will say that I had WAY too much filling left and am still trying to brainstorm what to do with the remainder...

Note the lovely china :) Also, thanks Cara for sharing your photo!

This was a delicious combination, though I'll need some practice stuffing ravioli since some didn't get a whole lot of filling. Also, I think next time I'd run the pasta through the pasta maker a few more times to make it a bit thinner. Overall though, delightful!

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the salad I served, but it really complemented the ravioli and I wanted to share:

Pear Salad with Hazelnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

6 ounces baby spinach leaves

4 ounces escarole (or any lettuce you prefer)

1 large or 2 small pears, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

2 ounces shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a medium skillet on medium heat and warm olive oil. Add red onion and saute a few minutes, then turn heat down and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. I let these go about 35 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine spinach, escarole, pears, hazelnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano. Now toss in the caramelized onions, making sure the balsamic/olive oil mixture coats the salad. Add additional olive oil as needed. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss, then serve.

New Food Resolutions: 2012

For 2011, I listed out a few ingredients I either never cooked with or hardly did, and I thought doing a similar exercise would be good for this year. There were some dark horses that snuck their way on my list and now I would never turn back on (I'm looking at YOU cauliflower and Brussels sprouts!). Looking at last year's list, however, I didn't do all that well (we'll blame it on the ever-so-small life event that was our engagement and wedding):

• Eggplant - Yeah, I'm still not a fan.


• Tofu - I experimented with tofu during my Vegan Week and enjoyed it, though it still isn't a favorite and definitely doesn't make an appearance all that often on my table.


• Mussels - Sadly I didn't get to this one. It's going on the 2012 list.


• Tarragon - While I didn't cook much with tarragon, I had it in a few more dishes and discovered I really just don't like it.


• Fennel - See Tarragon :)


• Leafy greens (kale, mustard greens, etc.) - This was by far my greatest 2011 resolution success. Due in large part to the green smoothies Luke and I now drink every morning and to fun and sassy salads, we've incorporated more leafy greens in our diets. This will definitely continue into the New Year.

Here's to hoping the 2012 food resolutions go a bit better!

• Goat - now that this is becoming a bit more "main stream" I might need to take a stab at cooking goat. Let's see how it goes!


• Tamales - After reading a bunch of fun Christmas posts on different variations of tamales and enjoying some at my mother in law's house for Christmas, I'd like to try these this year.


• Homemade ravioli - you've seen my post on homemade pasta. Now I want to take it a step further to make some delicious homemad ravioli. Hoping to accomplish this by February!


• Indian cuisine - I never make it, that's sad. Also, I never eat it except for the Indian offerings at the hot food bar at Whole Foods. This year, that's all changing!


• Make my own tortillas - how have I never done this?! Luke and I go through taco phases, but I have a feeling once I master the tortilla, they'll be a lot more frequent.


• The whole bird: Other than occasionally roasting a whole chicken, I rarely opt for the larger cuts of meat or the whole bird. Not only is it a better value to buy it all, but often you get a great deal more flavor by cooking larger cuts.

I also realized earlier this week that I don't have a basic mac and cheese recipe on the blog (a crime considering how much I love it and make it!) anything else you're hoping will appear in 2012?

Thanks for another great year,

Apron

Second Place Gumbo

This year for the Whole Foods communications team holiday party, we did a gumbo cookoff with three categories - seafood, vegetarian and combo (i.e., anything goes!). The prize for each category? A trip for two to New Orleans!

I enjoy gumbo but had never tackled it myself, but I wasn't about to let me shy away from competition (and a potential free trip)! After doing tons of research and enlisting the help of my old roommate Rachel, a cajun to boot, I started testing. After the fourth try, I found my perfect gumbo. Did I win? Sadly no, but my second place gumbo was delicious and many loved it. Give it a try!

Seafood Gumbo

Stock:
~ 1 pound shrimp shells, unrinsed (I asked my seafood counter to set some aside for me since I didn't care to peel that many shrimp myself!)
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, sliced
handful of black peppercorns
2 bayleafs
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 gallon water
Gumbo:
1 cup diced onion (1/4 inch dice)
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green bell pepper (1/4 inch dice)
2 tablespoons minced garlic (5-6 cloves)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
3 quarts shellfish stock
1 heaping tablespoon Tony Chacheret's (or Cajun seasoning of your choice)
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (I like 30 count)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 pound lump crab meat
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Tabasco
Salt and pepper to taste
parsley, to garnish

For the stock, combine all in a large dutch oven or stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer an hour or more. Strain out solids through a mesh sieve and place broth in a container and refrigerate. This should make about 3 quarts. I prefer to make this at least one day before just to break up the gumbo process.

For the gumbo, prechop the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and set next to your pot. This might be a good time to grab a beer or pour yourself some wine, since you're about to camp out at the skillet and not leave for a good long time.

To make the roux, heat a large cast iron pot or dutch oven on high heat. Add oil and bring to a high temp, almost smoking. Turn heat to medium high (or medium if it's your first time making roux!) and add the flour, 1/3 cup at a time, whisking constantly to combine. Once all the flour is added, get into a good rhythm of constantly whisking the pan, covering the middle and going around the edges to prevent scorching. If black flecks appear, you've scorched it and it's time to start again :( Continue whisking for 25 - 30 minutes to obtain a dark caramel color. If you're cooking at a lower heat, this could take 45 minutes to an hour.

Turn off heat and add the vegetables and stir to combine well. Turn heat back on medium and let vegetables cook in the roux for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly.

Now add the refrigerated broth (don't warm it first!) and whisk well to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Now's the time to add the spices and let it simmer for at least an hour, stirring often and skimming as needed to remove the excess oil.

After an hour, toss the shrimp in paprika then add it to the gumbo and let it cook about 5 minutes until done. Stir in the lump crab and bring it up to temp, about 2 minutes. Add Tabasco to taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve gumbo over steamed white rice and garnish with parsley. Note that if you're making gumbo in advance of eating it, wait to add the seafood until when you reheat it so that it doesn't get tough. You'll thank me later!

Shepherdess Pie

After reading more magazine articles than I care to admit about utilizing Thanksgiving leftovers, I thought I'd break out of the sandwich mold and get a little creative. Don't get me wrong, I had a delicious sandwich yesterday too, but I wanted to branch out with the sides. Cue the truffled mashed potatoes! I used these beauties to glam up a comfort food favorite - Shepherd's Pie. I had some extra veggies sitting around leftover from making a stock, so all I had to grab really was so ground meat.

If you don't have truffle oil to add to your potatoes, you could try a teaspoon of truffle salt as well.

Truffled mashed potatoes

2 pounds russet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
~ 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon truffle oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (optional)

Peel potatoes and cut into 2 inch pieces. Place in a large pot of cold, salted water (that covers the potatoes) and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Drain and replace in warm pot. Add butter and milk and blend until smooth, adding more milk or butter to taste. Stir in truffle oil, salt and pepper and thyme if using.

Shepherdess Pie

1 pound ground lean lamb
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 ounces fresh spinach
Truffled mashed potatoes
1 cup white cheddar (such as Seaside), grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, cook the lamb until browned over medium heat, about 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the fat and set aside in a bowl. Add the oil to the skillet then throw in the onion, carrots and galic and saute about 5 minutes on medium, until soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in rosemary. Add spinach and stir until just beginning to wilt, about 1 minute.

Add lamb mixture to a 2 quart baking dish and top with an even layer of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Snuggle up and enjoy!