Braised Chicken with Tomatillos

This recipe is delicious and so easy to pull together.  Perfect for late summer when you have run out of tomatillo recipes but still have a mountain of tomatillos.  You can make extra sauce and freeze for later. 

To serve 6

Italian Beef Ragu

This beef ragu sauce was the hit of the neighbours dinner- pasta bar.  Served with rigatoni pasta and topped with roasted young carrots, it was a dish worth making again and again! 

To serve 6 - 8

Hainanese Chicken Rice - and a variation :-)

I enjoyed my first taste of Hainanese chicken in Vancouver about ten years ago.  I don't remember the name of the restaurant but I do remember the great taste of this chicken dish.  It was really nice to enjoy it at home.

This dish is easy to prepare.  You can easily multitask - while your chicken is cooking, it helps to prepare the ingredients for your dipping sauce and rice. Both of these are usually assembled after the chicken is done because they require the chicken broth, but you can get started washing and soaking the rice, chopping the garlic and ginger. In this recipe, all of the poaching broth is reserved -- some is used in the rice, a small amount is used in the chili sauce, and the remainder is saved to be heated and served as a simple soup to accompany the chicken.  This broth is delicious...

To serve six.

Korean Bulgogi Bolognese - a marriage of Korean and Italian.

I am always on the lookout for great cooking websites.  The New York Times cooking section is one of the top ones.  What I especially love are the comments from cooks who have tried and "tweaked" the recipes.  I also tend to ignore those who have lots to say about a recipe they never tried.

The Korean Bulgogi Bolognese intrigued me.  It is a mashup of my two favourite cuisine.  This is a great dish! Oh, and I forgot to buy egg noodles so I just had to make them from scratch bringing the dish to another level- delicious!

Served with homemade spinach and red pepper egg noodles.

To serve four.

General Tso's Chicken- a take out favourite made at home

I've had my share of General Tso chicken over the years- it's a staple on all the takeout menus.  This home version is easy and fairly quick to make and oh so much better than the takeout versions.  They are coated with corn starch for lighter batter and pan fried (then air fried) instead of deep fried.  Your family and friends will love it!

General Tso's Chicken served with stir fried sweet peppers and steamed broccoli.

To serve four.

Thai Vegetarian Curry

Sometimes you just want vegetables.  This is a healthy, delicious Thai curry.  Great comfort food and easy to make.  Serve over basmati rice or noodles.


INGREDIENTS
 1              13 1/2-ounce can coconut milk (do not shake can)
½  cup      vegetable stock
4  tsp         soy sauce or tamari soy sauce
4  tsp         brown sugar
6  tbsp      Thai green curry paste
½  cup      diced (1/2 inch) onion
⅔  cup      diced (1/2 inch) red bell pepper
⅔  cup      diced (1/2 inch) zucchini or other summer squash
⅔  cup      diced (1/2 inch) peeled sweet potato
⅔  cup      sliced bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained
1  cup       green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
⅔  cup     diced (1/2 inch) Asian eggplant
1  lime
8  large    basil leaves, cut into thin chiffonade

Directions

Open the can of coconut milk without shaking it. Spoon 6 tablespoons of the coconut cream from the top of the can into a medium saucepan. Pour remaining contents of can into a medium bowl, and mix well. In a medium bowl, combine vegetable stock, soy sauce, and palm or brown sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Place saucepan of coconut cream over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble. Add curry paste and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until very fragrant, about 3 minutes; adjust heat as needed to prevent burning. Add onion, red pepper, zucchini, sweet potato, bamboo shoots, green beans, and eggplant. Stir until vegetables are hot, 2-3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the soy sauce mixture and a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice to taste; you may use the juice of an entire lime. Stir and mix well. Add up to 1/4 cup water if the curry seems too thick.

To serve, place the curry in a warm serving bowl and garnish with the basil chiffonade. If desired, serve over jasmine rice.

Beer braised bratwurst and sauerkraut

Bratwurst, a german sausage perfect for a backyard BBQ, served with a delicious topping of sauerkraut.  I simmered by sausage and sauerkraut in hard apple cider.  Oh, and my sauerkraut was homemade, after three weeks of fermentation, it still had some crunch.  In the winter, I serve my bratwurst on a bed of sauerkraut, with mashed potatoes.  A great opportunity to use homemade beer mustard.

And, in the summer, grill these beautiful sausages.

To serve four

Hungarian Beef Goulash

This classic east European dish features melt in your mouth beef,  slowly simmered in a rich broth.  I added potatoes for more body and served it on a bed of egg noodles.  Wonderful!

To serve four...

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 1.13 kg stewing beef lean, cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 tsp salt or to taste

• 1 tsp pepper or to taste

• 2 large onions roughly chopped
• 2 medium  potatoes, cubed

• 5 cloves garlic minced

• 3 tbsp sweet paprika

• 1 tsp caraway seeds ground

• 1 tsp oregano dried

• 3 bay leaves

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• 122.5 ml tomato sauce

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 946.35 ml beef broth no salt added

• 2 tbsp parsley chopped, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over high heat then add the olive oil.
When the oil is hot add the stewing beef. Season with salt and pepper and sear the beef until it starts to brown. The beef will release liquid so continue searing on high heat, and the liquid will evaporate.
Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions soften and become translucent. Turn the heat down to medium-high.
Add the paprika, caraway seeds, oregano, bay leaves and brown sugar to the skillet. Stir everything together and cook for 30 seconds. 
Add the tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, beef broth and stir. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low for about 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender, stirring occasionally. The liquid will reduce down a lot as the beef cooks, so feel free to add more water as needed.
Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve over noodles.

Irish Beef and Guinness Pie

Who doesn't love a home-made pot pie.  A quintessential winter comfort food.  Add a little Irish stout and you have a PIE!  The meat is marinaded in beer, then slowly simmered on the stove top for a couple of hours along with mushrooms, carrots and potatoes.  If you could only smell the aromas in my kitchen.  This recipe will make one large pie for four or four individual pies.

Devil's curry

This recipe is based on the recipe from Leite's Culinaria website.  Devil’s curry is a classic Malaysian curry, made with a complex curry paste - lemongrass, dried chiles (that how you will control the heat) fresh ginger, turmeric.  It is loaded with satisfying chicken and potatoes. Don't let the name scare you- this is delicious.

To  turn down this devil's heat use mild, dried guajillo and ancho peppers and pass around a homemade hot sauce for others to "heat it up" to their taste.  It is delicious and hearty!

To serve four.

Country Captain Chicken

I ran into this dish listening to an interview of two guys running a restaurant in South Carolina.  It turns out that it dates back to the 1700's when ships arriving from the Far East, India, came to the Southern US ports to trade.  The captains brought the recipe with them.  So, I present to you an American version of curry.

To serve four

Indian Pork Vindaloo

A staple on most Indian restaurant menus, pork vindaloo was originally Portuguese “pork marinated in vinegar and garlic.”  For me, it’s a tasty, spicy, vinegar based curry, unlike typical Indian curries. The beauty of making it yourself is that you control the heat!

I have made this with chicken as well.

To serve four.

Malaysian Chicken Laksa - an Asian favourite

This is one of my all time favourite Asian soups.  Meat and noodles in a curry broth garnished with boiled egg, bean sprouts, coriander and chilis... love in a bowl.

I based my recipe on Donna Hay's Laksa recipe.

To serve four.

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp        grapeseed oil
400ml       coconut milk
1 l              chicken stock
500 ml      water
1 tbsp        fish sauce
2               kaffir kime leaves
1 lb           potatoes, cut into chunks or whole small potatoes
720 gr       chicken thighs
200 gr       flat rice noodles, cooked

garnish:
coriander leaves, thai basil leaves, green onion, bean sprouts and sliced red chilli
soft boiled egg

LAKSA PASTE

3               cloves garlic
3cm         piece fresh ginger, peeled
2               French shallots, peeled
3               long red chilies
1  stalk      lemongrass, white part only
4               coriander roots
3cm          piece turmeric root
1 tbsp       fish sauce
65 gr         grated palm sugar
1tsp           ground coriander
1 tsp          ground cumin

Directions:

To make the laksa paste, chop the garlic, ginger, eschalots, chillies, lemongrass and coriander roots. Finely grate the turmeric.Place in a small food processor. Add the fish sauce, palm sugar, ground coriander and cumin and process until the mixture forms a paste.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the laksa paste and cook, stirring, for six to eight minutes or until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk, stock and water and bring to the boil. Add the fish sauce, lime leaves, small potatoes and chicken and cook for 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Carefully remove the chicken and shred using 2 forks. Divide the noodles between bowls and top with the laksa and shredded chicken. Top with the coriander, basil, onion and chilli to serve. Serves four to six.

WANNA PLAY?
You can always add cauliflower florets, small chunks of carrot, sweet potato.

Jamaican Goat Curry- A National Dish

I have been craving goat for many years and finally got around to making this delicious curry.  Goat may raise a few Canadian eyebrows, but once you try it, well, it's delicious.  Just remember, low and very slow, is the way to go!

This recipe serves four to six.

Moroccan Spicy Chicken Tagine with apricots, rosemary and ginger

I love Moroccan cuisine- fresh ingredients, warm spices and I get to use that beautiful conical cooking vessel- a tagine.  Wonderful!  This dish is great served with couscous or rice.

Cooking the tagine before putting on the lid.

This recipe serves four.

Fabulous Turkey in Mole Sauce

This amazing, excellent dish was the centrepiece of a recent Mexican menu created for friends.  Mole is not a difficult recipe but it is time consuming to make.  Create over a few days or dedicate one whole day to complete this worthwhile culinary project.  Thank you Epicurious.com for providing the recipe.

Let me save you a few steps:  I found a superb Mexican market in Ottawa- Bienvenidos Latin Market on St. Laurent Blvd.  They stock all the specialty ingredients you will need for your mole dish AND they will happily answer your food questions.

Caribbean Goat Curry

Many, many years ago I remember having goat curry at a tiny West Indian restaurant in Ottawa.  It was delicious- lots of flavourful, tender meat.  This first taste of goat stayed with me and I was really happy to include goat on my Caribbean dinner menu.

This recipe is adapted from one found on the NYTimes Cooking website.  If you can't find goat (try a West Indian or African grocer) you could use lamb.

To make 5-6 portions

Jeon- Korean pancakes- this one is vegetarian

My first taste of a traditional Korean pancake was in a little Korean restaurant in Kelowna BC.  The Korean owners prepared their traditional dishes and were always ready with samples.  Delicious. Their jeon were made with shrimp and vegetables.

Jeon is easy to make.  You can include whatever vegetables you have on hand.  It is worthwhile making the dipping sauce, spicy or not, to serve alongside.  Can be served as an appie, a side dish or a main.

Thank you to Bren at brendid.com for the inspiration for this dish.

Korean jeon served with a spicy dipping sauce and homemade kimchi.  

Enjoy!

This recipe serves four.

Korean BBQ Chicken

My ode to the PyeongChang Olympics- Korean BBQ Chicken!  Actually, I will confess that I actually baked it in the oven.  I promise to make this dish again in the summer when I can roll out the BBQ.

The main ingredient in the Barbecue sauce is gochujang.  A korean chili sauce that is sweet, spicy and thick.  Finding it was a bit of a mission.  T&T is the best place for finding any Asian ingredient you could ever wish for.  T&T on the eve of Chinese New Year is a crazy, amazing, "happening" place.  Despite the crowds, finding ingredients with names I can't pronounce was easy- the staff know their stuff and will gladly lead you to the right shelf.

Be sure to wander over to the produce section: Asian vegetables and fruits to discover.  Brought home lotus root (you will not find this at Farm Boy) to add to the Korean soup I am also making.  A lesser known ingredient for my guests to sample.

This recipe makes about four portions.

Chinese Pineapple Chicken

Looking for a quick, tasty and healthy dinner?  This is it.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can use most vegetables- carrots, squash, onions, celery, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes...

This recipes serves four.