Foodie Patoodie!: garlic

Showing posts with label garlic. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Reflections In the Kitchen Window: New Favorite Aroma

As I'm cooking tonight's dinner, a roasted cauliflower curry ginger soup, I found a new favorite smell: chicken stock, freshly grated ginger, fresh lemon zest, curry, cumin, cilantro, leeks, and garlic simmering in a pot. All of these things together have made everything smell so beautiful and I wish that I could capture it in a bottle somehow. Mmmmmm, recipe to come. I just needed to share this new awesome olfactoryness with you all.

Fresh leeks and ginger.....that'll pick you up out of ANY dreary winter day!

Monday, July 11, 2011

What's For Dinner? - Chicken Puffs

A friend who shall remain nameless (I've always wanted to have a reason to say that!) contacted me earlier today asking me what I would suggest to cook for a hot date she has Wednesday night. She really likes him and would like to make a good impression, he eats meat, she does not. The first thought that came into my head: CHICKEN PUFFS WITH *PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS. I know it sounds like a lot of meat going on, but both are easy enough to leave out. The chicken puffs are so cozy and comforting stacked on top of one another (innuendo intended) and pair very nicely with a glass of white wine (bow chicka bow-wow). Asparagus is a known aphrodisiac because of its powerful punch of Vitamin E which can really kick your hormones into gear. The first cookbook I found in a search, and it undoubtedly has some sexy asparagus recipes while "Intercourses" I actually own, and have cooked from many times:

~Ingredients~

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into pieces (leave this out if making a vegetarian version)
3 Tbsp. chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 of an 8oz package of softened cream cheese (or the whole thing...hey, I've done it, and it's delicious)
6 Tbsp. butter
3 (10 oz) cans of refrigerated Pillsbury crescent roll dough (DO NOT use the store brand to try and save money. There is a huge difference in quality. Not in taste, but in the actual separation of the unbaked dough.)
Add 1/8 cups of your favorite veggies until desired amount to make up for the lack of chicken if you're making a vegetarian version
pepper
celery salt
1 egg, beaten (this is key in order to make them very pretty)

~Instructions~

1. In a medium saucepan slowly stir the chicken chunks with the onion and garlic over medium heat. Cook until onions are tender and chicken is lightly browned. Simply saute the onions, garlic and added vegetables until the onions are tender if making the vegetarian version.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the chicken (or vegetable) mixture, cream cheese, desired amount of pepper, desired amount of celery salt, and butter until creamy.

3. Preheat oven to 325.

4. Unroll crescent rolls and place approximately 1 Tbsp. of the mixture onto each and fold.

5. Arrange the balls onto a large baking sheet.

6. Brush the tops of the rolls generously with the egg washing using a basting brush.

7. Sprinkle with pepper.

8. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

*will be posted as a separate blog entry

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Foodie Baby: Hummus on Whole Wheat

Yesterday for lunch I decided to make Piper a very basic hummus to see if chickpeas were her thing. The recipe is below, but I had to capture the priceless sequence of faces as she discovered this new and healthy food.

At first she was inquisitive:

What's For Dinner? - African Chicken Stew

SPICY, HEAVY GOODNESS!! A really pleasant combination of peanuts, chicken, vegetables, and spice. Initially you taste the sweetness of the peanut butter, then the red pepper kicks in after a few seconds and really adds some zip! I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and the key to this one is keeping everything in one pan from start to finish (my dad and mom taught me that little trick). Deglazing the pan after browning the chicken and keeping all the yummys in the dish makes it that much better.

~Ingredients~

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1.75 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 large potato, diced
1 turnip, diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 cup of water (keep adding if it thickens too much)
1 cup peanut butter
1 (15 oz) can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

~Instructions~

1. In a large metal (not Teflon or non-stick) skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown quickly. Letting your infant think that she is orchestrating the whole ordeal is wise. No hurt feelings.

(That's some perfectly browned chicken!)

2. Chop up any other vegetables you wish to add. I picked a turnip! Yum! And it makes such a pretty picture!

3. Remove chicken from the skillet. The bottom of the metal skillet should have brown crusty stuff that looks like it is stuck to the bottom of it. These are the yummys. Do not remove them. Just go ahead and add a little more olive oil and add your garlic, onion, potato, and in my case, the turnip. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the cumin, coriander, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt.

5. Cut the browned chicken into bite-sized pieces.

6. Mix in the water, but make sure you have a good scraping tool. Either a metal spatula or a pointed wooden spoon of some sort so that scraping the browned chicken off of the bottom of the pan is easier.

(It should be a warm brown color like this when the scrapings are in the mix)

7. Add the browned chicken pieces. Place the lid on the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

8. Add the peanut butter and garbanzo beans and mix thoroughly.

9. Let your infant experiment with radishes that you have prepared for a garnish. I was really prepared for her to spit them out and throw them across the room expressing that her mouth was on fire, but...

Radishes were a spicy success!!!

10. Garnish your African Chicken Stew, serve with either rice or bread, and beverage of choice! After eating it with red wine, I would advise an ice cold beer instead. But that's just my opinion.

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Thursday, June 2, 2011

What's For Dinner? - Margarita Grilled Shrimp

Right out of the gate, I will tell you my experience making this dish and you can do with it what you will. For me, this was one of those foodie experiments that turned out to be a lot of fun to make (as the pictures indicate), and totally wasn't worth all of the work. At the end of the dish, I can say it truly was delicious, but I didn't taste a lick of the "margarita," just a lot of good grilled shrimp flavor. Hmmmm....

~Ingredients~

1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. tequila (and maybe a splash or two more)
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
Desired amount of cooked rice

~Instructions~

Combine the garlic....