Easy Peasy “Butter Chicken”

Feb28

This picture is not exactly as it should look. This was one of those time when, at the end, I forgot to take pictures. This was Evie’s plate so there was less sauce and very little spinach. The adult plates had lots of sauce and spinach pieces, which looked more reminiscent of butter chicken.

This recipe is not quite authentic, but it is a good weeknight meal. And a bonus, one pot easy clean up! You can make it spicier by the addition of more chilies or less spicy if you have children who do not like too much spice. I forgot to buy fresh chilies and was desperate so I used a few pinches of dried chilli flakes until I got the heat that I wanted. I would not really recommend this, but if you are stuck it will do. It turned out great. This recipe is also a good way to sneak spinach into a meal.

Ingredients:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces.

1/4 cup butter

1tbsp ground cumin

2-3 hot chilli peppers, finely chopped (should equal 2-3 tbsp)

1tbsp grated fresh ginger

3/4 cup chopped coriander/cilantro

1 cup whipping cream

14oz can tomato sauce 1/2 tsp salt

5 cups baby spinach (regular is good too, just chop into smaller pieces).

Cook chicken in 2 batches,

cook half of the chicken in 2 tbsp of the butter, sprinkle with half of the cumin and cook until no longer pink, then repeat with remaining pieces and 2 more tbsp of butter and rest of the cumin. If your pan is large enough so the chicken isn’t crowded you can combine this into one step.

Remove chicken to a bowl.

Add cream to the pan and deglaze

Stir to scrape up bits from pan

Add tomato sauce and stir

Add grated ginger, finely chopped peppers and salt

Add chicken and juices back to pan and stir. Bring to boil and then simmer about 10 minutes until chicken is heated through.

Add chopped coriander/cilantro

Add spinach and let cook until spinach wilts down.

Serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

Source: unsure, original recipe from either a 2004-2005 issue Canadian Living or Chatelaine magazine, adapted by me.

Easy Thai Green Curry

Feb21

We found a product that we really liked. This is not an advertisement, just my opinion. I do not have any affiliates and I do not get paid or compensated to say anything here. If something is on my blog it is because I really use it and like it. If I try something and like it I want to share it.

Saha Thai Green Curry

We tried this curry and the meal was awesome. We made two meals out of this little jar. Then we wanted to make it again and went back to the little store where we got the paste and they do not have it anymore. I found the website on the jar and we can order it from there, I think. I did get a lead from the lady in the store where I may be able to find it so I will have to check that out.

We followed the recipe on the jar and made a few adjustments, the addition of boiled potato chunks (great if you have leftover potatoes) and carrot. Equally as good without. I like those added because I have had that at a restaurant and thought it a good idea to add a few veg.

Saute carrot in a pan and cook with a little oil until tender crisp.

Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Then add the amount of curry listed on the jar, I think it was either 1/2 or 1/4 cup. Stir and cook a few minutes longer.

Add a can of coconut milk.

Stir and heat through.

Add in the prepared potatoes and sliced red pepper and heat until those are just warmed through.

Serve with jasmine rice.

This picture looks a little brothy, the picture above this one looks more creamy. The first time we made it we used a different brand coconut milk (the brand that we preferred in this recipe was Aroy-D), that made it creamy and I preferred that one. They were both good and the flavour was still the same.

It was really very good. We made it twice in one week and now we are out of the curry.

If you can find this curry I really recommend that you give it a try. It is an easy weeknight meal.

Here is the website in case anyone would like to check it out and they have recipes (www.sahacuisine.com), they also have some other products I would like to try too.

Turkey Pancakes

Feb16

Tomorrow is Pancake Day, otherwise known as the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. We always have regular pancakes for Pancake Day supper. Well not quite “normal” we hide a clean (wiped with rubbing alcohol, washed well with dish soap and water, then boiled for about 15 minutes) coin into most of the pancakes. When we were kids Mom’s wedding ring was hidden inside one as well. I don’t go that far with it. I know this may all sound a little dangerous, with those small items being choking hazards, but we were looking for the hidden coins well before we put a bite in our mouths. We will do that tomorrow as well and all coins will be accounted for.

I was thinking this may be a good recipe for supper on Pancake Day, but Evie promptly said “No! I hate turkey pancakes”. We made these a few weeks ago and I thought getting her to eat it could go either way. She was not impressed. But she doesn’t like stuffing with her turkey, I think it is the texture for her. These do taste a lot like turkey with stuffing.

This is a great way to use up leftover turkey (or chicken). If we don’t have leftovers I just cook a couple of chicken breasts (bake seasoned with a little salt and pepper) and use those.

In a large bowl whisk together 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup melted butter.

In another bowl stir together 1 cup flour, 1&1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt

mix this together gently to form batter

Gently fold in 1 & 1/2 cups chopped turkey (or chicken).

I added about 2 tbsp chopped parsley (this is optional, if you don’t have any don’t worry, or you can use some chopped green onion if you have that)

and 1/2 cup cranberry sauce (i used regular Ocean Spray canned stuff, whole berry)

I also tossed in a few sprinkles of Mt. Scio savoury, just to make it taste a little more like turkey and stuffing. We use that in all of our turkey dinners in Newfoundland, it just gives it the taste that we like.

Cook the same as you would any pancakes.

Heat pan or griddle that has been lightly greased.

Use about 1/4 cup better for each pancake. Some I made a little too big so the next batch I made a little smaller.

Cook over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes until bubble start to come through the top and bottom is golden brown.

Flip and cook until other side is golden brown. As you can see I overcooked a few, but caught them just in time so they didn’t taste overdone. A few extra seconds and I would have ruined them.

A platter of turkey pancakes.

This is what they look like inside.

We like them topped with a little sour cream and cranberry sauce.

Adapted from: unsure, but from a Christmas cookbook, maybe Taste of Home or Canadian Living.

My Favourite Mushroom Soup

Feb16

On a very cold Canadian winter’s day there is not much better than this tasty, warm rich mushroom soup. This is one of my favourite soups, I really love it. As I have mentioned before, Evie on the other hand despises mushrooms, so we have this for dinner if she is out at a friends. It doesn’t happen often so when it does this soup is a real treat.

Take 1 medium onion chopped and saute in a few TBSPs (probably about 1/8 of a cup) of butter until soft, just a few minutes add

2 small or 1 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

Cook over medium-low heat until tender

Then add

1 lb (454g) of fresh cremini mushrooms, chopped (or a mixture of other dark mushrooms, sometime I use a mixture of cremini and portobello, and shiitake)

Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Once the mushroom mixture is nicely cooked down add 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.

Then add 1 cup beef broth,

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Stir over low heat until heated through.

The next part is optional, but I had fresh nutmeg and wanted to use it

just a tiny pinch, a few times over the microplane with some fresh nutmeg.

A little chopped fresh parsley for garnish

of course, like any soup you need a little baguette.

This is one of my favourite soups, warm, creamy, earthy, loaded with flavour and comfort.

Caramilk Brownies

Feb8

I thought this would be a good recipe to post for Valentine’s Day recipe. I rarely post what I intend to for a particular holiday. I usually make things in a hurry and forget to take pictures, or get busy and do not post. This is my valentine post, early!! This never happens. It is only happening now because I was going to the gym, instead I decided I should make brownies with pieces of Caramilk bar inside. Maybe I will make it to the gym tomorrow and run a little while longer.

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9″X13″ pan.

1 cup of pecans (optional). If you are using the pecans spread them on a cookie sheet and bake until toasted, about 10 minutes. Coarsely chop. I didn’t use pecans this time but they are very good with the pecans.

Coarsely chop 4oz of unsweetened chocolate, combine with 2/3 cup of butter.

Microwave until melted. Keep an eye on it and stir every now and then. Should take about 2 minutes.

(I love taking pictures of chocolate)

Cool chocolate until lukewarm, and then stir in 1 & 1/2 cups sugar, 3 eggs and 1 & 1/4 tsp vanilla.

Gradually stir in 1 cup of all purpose flour.

Break up 2 family size Cadbury Caramilk Bars (I think that is about 200g total). Give or take a square or two (maybe 3), ok I ate a few.

(more pretty chocolate pictures)

Stir the Caramilk pieces and pecans, if using, into the batter. Spread evenly into pan.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Keep checking on it, very important that it doesn’t over bake. I baked for about 22 minutes and I think that was a little too long.

Melt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips with 1/2 cup table cream, stirring. Once all melted and creamy spread over the warm brownies.

Let cool completely. Then cut into squares. Try not to eat too many at once.

Fancy Butter

Feb7

My friend brought me a butter mould from a trip to Norway. Apparently they always make fancy butter for special occasions.

I have been meaning to try it out for awhile and we finally did. We actually had our fancy butter on Christmas Eve. It has been awhile since I’ve uploaded pictures from my camera.

Basically you fold the mould together insert the pin and press room temperature butter into it.

Then you set the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I was a little worried about how to get the butter out. I read up on it a little online and decided I would take it out of the fridge for an hour or so and then wrap it in a hot cloth for a few seconds and slowly open the mould.

Et voila!

Pretty butter. Life is too short not to have pretty butter right?

Snowballs

Feb1

I should call these cookies Newfoundland snowballs.

These are cookies that I grew up eating and Evie loves them now. I haven’t met anyone that didn’t like them. I made a batch recently and shared with a few people. They are really easy, no bake and quick to make with few ingredients.

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The coconut used is fine or medium desiccated unsweetened coconut.

Put the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan and melt stirring to combine.

Into another bowl add the next 3 ingredients and mix to combine.

Add the melted butter mixture to the oat mixture and mix. Let this cool, I usually put it in the fridge for about half an hour until it will hold shape when rolled into balls.

Roll into balls and then roll in coconut. That is it!

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These also freeze well and are good in the freezer for a few months. Sometimes I freeze them and eat straight out of the freezer.

cookswithevie

our adventures cooking … and other fun stuff

Monthly Archives: February 2015