Pico de gallo

I think I'm addicted. Way too yummy and way too easy.

I don't have a recipe I'm using, so I'll just share some basic ideas.

4 roma tomatoes with the seeds out
cilantro - I used quite a bit because I love it
3 cloves garlic
2 jalapenos with the seeds removed
garlic salt - start with 1 tsp
squeeze in lemon juice and lime juice
I dumped in some frozen chopped onion because I hate cutting up onion

Then I just put it in my chopper. 5 minutes tops. And it is sooooo good!

Curried lentil soup

I got this from my sweet sister-in-law, Brooke. She gave it to us in a beautiful decorative jar with some other Christmas treats. This could be made ahead and kept around until you are ready for it. And it doesn't take up freezer space. And did I mention it is delicious?!

I'm trying to figure out a way to make individual serving sizes. LOL! Wish me luck!

curried lentil soup
16 oz lentils
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs dried onion (i didn't have any and used about 1 Tbs onion powder)
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup dried apple pieces, cut into pieces
1 Tbs parsley

combine in sauce pan with 7 cups H2O. boil on high. cover and simmer on low 20-30 min.

Hummus

Because you can't post a Naan recipe without a Hummus recipe, right? I got this one from MckMama. It is cut and paste from her post word for word, so go check out her blog for more details.


Hummus

1 16 oz can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)

the liquid from said can of chickpeas

4 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime if you want to get crazy)

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste: unless you're really crafty, you'll probably just want to buy rather than make this)

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dump all of the ingredients into your blender. Or set them in nicely, whichever you'd rather. Blend into a nice paste. Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, as a spread on a sandwich (I especially love it with tomatoes and cucumbers on toast with fresh basil) or cover and refrigerate.

I use hummus for our MSC almost exclusively as a dip for fresh veggies. They love it and will eat insane amounts of fresh carrots simply for the love of the hummus.

Naan

This Indian bread is divine with hummus. I should probably put that recipe up too, eh? ;o)

I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com so I linked the name to it. Go to the link to see hints and tips for making it.

Naan

Prep Time: 30 Min
Cook Time: 7 Min
Ready In: 3 Hrs

Original Recipe Yield 14 servings

Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions
1.In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2.Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3.During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4.At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 211 Total Fat: 4.5g Cholesterol: 24mg

Salsa Recipe

What you need:

couple tbsp olive oil

1-28 oz can of Diced Tomatoes

1-28 oz can of Rotel tomatoes with chiles

1 onion chopped

4-5 cloves of garlic minced

4 jalapenos with seeds minced

fresh cilantro (handful chopped)

blender

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in stock pot.  Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, and tomatoes.  Cook down for about 5-8 minutes.  Add cilantro.  Put into blender and blend down until it is the consistency you want.  This allowed me to freeze about 5 containers of salsa. 

Caution: This is spicy!!

Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken)

I'm only posting it for Avi. I only dream of having these kinds of recipes. :o)

********
So, unfortunately, because there are 1,000 spices we use in Indian cooking, I would have a tendency to just mix everything together…and everything would taste the same. So, my cheat sheet recipe book is called Complete Indian Cooking.” (On Amazon, there are used versions of the book for $6!)

This book totally gets my Indian approval if you are looking for an Indian cookbook. It has vegetarian dishes, lamb dishes, desserts, appetizers...and very large, colorful pictures of the food. Okay, moving on…:o)

Ingredients for Chicken Makhani
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 2 inch pieces)
Vegetable oil

Marinade
3 large red chilies, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves (I use garlic paste)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds crushed
1 teaspoon garam masala
0.5 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is always best)
.75 cup plain yogurt
(Note--I've been able to find all of these spices at regular grocery stores, by the way. :-D)

Sauce
3 lbs ripe tomatoes, quartered
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt

Marinade - Place the ingredients in a food processor (I use a blender) briefly to produce a paste. Transfer the marinade into a nonmetallic bowl with the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. (I never do that because I don’t have time, by the way, but you can.)

Sauce - While the chicken is marinading, place the tomatoes into a large saucepan and cook them gently with no added water for about 20 minutes, until they are tender. Rub them through a fine strainer into a clean saucepan. Simmer the tomato pulp on medium heat for about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally until it is thick and reduced. Stir in the butter, stir often, and let it cook for a further 30 minutes. Stir in the cream and heat it through. Taste and adjust the amount of salt if necessary. Put aside.

Heat oil in a large pan, pour chicken into pan and cook on high heat. Add the tomato sauce to the pan and cook until chicken is cooked through. Serve with a swirl of cream and cilantro sprig to garnish. You can serve it with rice or naan.

Notes about this recipe--just as the book states perfectly, I tend to spice the food that I cook a lot more than what they recommend and I never use measuring spoons. I add in chilli powder, some red peppers, more cilantro and garam masala…so, have fun with it! :-D Also, I usually double the recipe... (Click here if you want to see a picture of the finished product and my messy kitchen.)

Cooking, Korean Style

Yes I'm cheating - I copied this from my blog, by request! :)

Every once in a while I get the kick to cook Korean food. I used to do so frequently, before I got married and while I hosted international students. After marrying Minsu, that all changed because honestly Minsu is such a much better Korean cook than I am that I mostly gave it up (he encourages me to cook it more, but I just don't feel I can compare to his outstanding food). Now that he's in med school, he doesn't have time for it either, so occasionally I hope for the best and give it a try!

This is Kimchi Chigae (Stew). It is SUPER easy to make (like most Korean food) but the trick is in the seasoning. Ingredients are kimchi, water, tuna (in oil), onion, and Korean spices (basically a little beef bullion, a dash of sesame oil, and a dash of soy sauce. You can add a half tsp of gochujang (red pepper paste) to make it even better. Finally, at the end, you add slices of tofu and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

In my opinion, when done right, it is absolutely delicious! It has a spicy, sour taste. However, it's not nearly as spicy as raw kimchi - the secret is to cook it to get rid of some of the spiciness. YUM. Of course, it is served with a side of rice.



Next, I made kim-bap (literally: seaweed-rice). It's like Korean sushi, but it's all cooked - no raw stuff! :o) In my opinion, it is much more flavorful than Japanese sushi. It is one of the more challenging recipes because of the time spent slicing, cooking, and rolling.

I started off with slicing and cooking everything in long strips - turkey sausage, crab sticks, egg, and spinach - and I used store-bought pickled daikon (like a radish but not hot). I added a little sesame oil and salt to the rice and mixed it well (as opposed to Japanese style sushi, which adds a sugar / vinegar mix to the rice). In the background is the kim, or dried seaweed for the wrapper. They sell a special kim for kim-bap, but I didn't have it so I used regular kim. The disadvantage is that it splits easily, so I had to be really careful when rolling it.




To get started, I thinly spread rice onto the kim sheet, then put a single strip (more or less - you want to keep a balanced flavor) of each ingredient. I placed everything on top of saran wrap for rolling purposes since I don't have a sushi mat. I dip my finger in water and dab it along the margin to make a "glue" and then put it on the plate seam-side down.




You have to eat it all the same day, you know! I hope you're hungry, Minsu!




This is what it looks like sliced (Minsu got to do the honors)... not a great picture, but you get the idea. :o)
Note: You can make GREAT "Americanized" sushi substituting well-drained tuna mixed with mayo, salt & pepper, then layering strips of cream cheese and avocado and rolling up! YUM, YUM....

Crepes

2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup flour
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp sugar

Combine eggs, milk, flour, oil, and sugar; beat until mixed well. Heat a lightly greased 6 in skillet. Spoon in 2 tbsp of the batter; lift and tilt skillet to spread batter. Return to heat until lightly brown. Some people only cook one side. I like both done. It is up to you!

Makes 18 crepes

NOTES: This is a really versatile recipe that we just love. Whenever we went to people’s houses for dinner in France, this was frequently the dessert. It is great with ice cream, puddings, fruits, peanut butter, or fudge. BON APPETIT!