Category: Main Dishes

Kumy’s Daal

Leave a comment

Of course Kumy is a wonderful cook, if he ever cooks. He has been known to add red pepper flakes, extra black pepper and garlic to just about anything, which guarantees that it will be delicious.

But this is a very traditional Pakistani dish – true everyday food. Daal means lentils and there are dryer versions and soupier versions. This one is soupier and should be served with rice.  If you really want to jazz it up, you can also use a good mango chutney as a condiment.

1 1/2 cans of diced tomatoes
6 whole dry red peppers (the long skinny kind)
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan, and add dry red peppers, salt and tomatoes. Cook 10-15 minutes on low heat.

2 cups daal, rinsed and drained
1 tsp turmeric
10 cups of water

Add to pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

2 Tbsp oil
6 dry red peppers
3 smashed garlic cloves
2 tsp whole cumin seeds

Heat oil in a small frying pan. Add peppers, garlic and cumin seeds and saute quickly, about 1 or 2 minutes. (This is called a “Bagaar”.)

Pour the oil and spices over the daal and stir to blend it. Check seasonings and serve.

Vanna’s Steak and Onions

Leave a comment

My friend Vanna is my dream cook – everything she makes comes out perfect and delicious whether it’s Pho or fried chicken or a dessert. She comes from a family of wonderful cooks and we look forward to the block party every year, just to see what Vanna’s bringing! I wrote this recipe down very quickly and with cryptic instructions, but it was delicious.

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs. of steak
2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 chopped onions

Mix sauces, salt, pepper and garlic and marinade steak in it for at least 10 minutes. Heat butter and oil in a big skillet. Add steak and brown for several minutes, turning over half way. Add chopped onions and cook until brown. Add any leftover marinade and cook for a minute or two. If the sauces get too dry, just add a little water.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Leave a comment

I am a huge fan of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but this recipe really benefits from the flavor and fat from the skin – so I just use regular chicken thighs.

1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce (check label for gluten)
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 Tbsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional – there’s a lot of soy sauce in there!)
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 chicken thighs (with skin and bone in)

Mix everything and marinate the chicken thighs in it for at least 20 minutes. It helps if you loosen the skin a bit to let the glaze soak into the meat. Place chicken and glaze on a baking pan, and bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Take a spoon and baste the chicken halfway through with any remaining marinade.

Serve with white rice and Asian Cabbage Slaw.

Corned Beef Hash

Leave a comment

April, 2009

1 large, corned beef brisket, thoroughly cooked and cut into bite size pieces
1 bag frozen hashed brown potatoes (or real potatoes – see note below.)
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
generous splash or Worcestershire sauce
1 squirt of yellow mustard (maybe 1/2 – 1 tsp?)
3 Tbsp olive oil

Saute onions, pepper and garlic in a little oil, until onions are soft and translucent. Heat olive oil in your largest frying pan. Add veggies and everything else to a large bowl and blend gently.

Scoop the mix into the hot oil in the frying pan. Gently even out the potatoes with a spoon. (You may not be able to get everything in – so if you have to – just do a second batch.)

Let hash cook five minutes without stirring. Then turn and saute another five minutes. If in doubt – cook longer. I just turn it in sections, so don’t worry if it starts to break apart.

Give a final sprinkle of salt and pepper and serve. Yum.

If you want to use real potatoes, you can. Just use 4-5 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2″ thick slices, and boiled in salted water until they are almost all the way cooked through. Drain them well, dice them up and add them to the mix.

Louisa’s Puerto Rican Chicken & Rice Stew

Leave a comment

My friend Louisa introduced us to this amazing stew at their Winter Solstice Party, and it was love at first bite.

Louisa and her husband Bill have a wonderful tradition:  they host a Winter Solstice Party that’s a potluck dinner, with food that represents the sun: round, hot, yellow or somehow sun-related.  (One year our friend Josh brought home-made sushi, which worked since it was food from the land of the rising sun!)  It’s always fun to think of a dish that reminds us of the sun and to see what everyone else brings.

They ask everyone to come around sunset and to bring a candle for a candle exchange.  Their house is only lit with candles and the light of the fire in the fireplace, and it’s cozy and warm. It’s a really wonderful tradition and a chance to catch up with friends and to reflect that even on the longest night, the sun will rise again.

Anyway, I asked Louisa for her recipe, which she was kind enough to share.  It makes a lot and is one of our family’s favorites.

2 tsp garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp each cumin, salt, black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast sections, cut into bite size pieces
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
4 oz. turkey ham or bacon, or real ham or bacon, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups rice, washed (I use basmati)
6 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup green olives, halved
1 Tbsp capers

Mix garlic and spices, and rub into chicken. Heat half the olive oil in a big dutch oven, and brown chicken (about 10 minutes.) Remove from pan.

Add more olive oil, and saute onion and green pepper for 5 minutes. Add ham and tomatoes and cook 5 more minutes. Add chicken back in and simmer 20 minutes.

Add rice and stir, then add stock and stir to combine. Bring stock just to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 17 minutes. Add cheese, peas, olives and capers, and cook 5 more minutes.

It’s meant to be soupy, so you’ll need to serve it in bowls. So good. Thanks, Louisa!

Paprika Chicken, Sausage & Rice

Leave a comment

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 slices turkey or real bacon, chopped up
2 cups onion, diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 pkg kielbasa sausage, halved and sliced into 1/2″ slices
1/8 tsp saffron
Black pepper
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless cut into bite sizes  (Can use half thighs, too.)
1 Tbsp hot paprika
salt to taste
2 cups uncooked rice
5 cups chicken broth

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add bacon, and saute until cooked. Then add onions, pepper and sausage, and cook several minutes until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan, and place in a large, oven-proof casserole. Add black pepper and saffron and stir gently.

Sprinkle chicken with paprika and a little salt. Add to pan, and cook, until chicken pieces are browned. Add to casserole.

Add rice and chicken stock to casserole and stir gently to combine everything. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until the rice is done. My notes don’t say if you needed to cover the casserole, but the ratio of broth to rice is pretty high, so you probably don’t need to.

Makes a nice, large batch.

Spinach on Toast with Fried Egg

Leave a comment

Ever have one of those weary days when you get home and just need a really quick, really easy supper?  

I thought of this on my drive home last night and 10 minutes after I walked in the front door, Kumy and I were sitting down to eat. Kumy told me that when he was a child, spinach on toast was one of his favorite meals but they had it with hard-boiled egg slices. This may become a regular meal – it was so good!

4 slices good bread, toasted
butter
garlic powder

olive oil
garlic powder
two really big handfuls of fresh spinach
black pepper
parmesan cheese

eggs
salt & pepper

Toast the bread, lightly butter it and sprinkle very lightly with garlic powder.

While bread is toasting, heat olive oil in a large frying pan, sprinkle in a little garlic powder and add spinach. Cook until spinach is just wilted. Add a few grinds of black pepper and a handful of parmesan cheese. Set aside.

In another frying pan, heat olive oil, and make sunny side up eggs. (Yolks should be runny.) Season with a little salt and pepper.

Put toasts on a plate, top with spinach and fried egg. Delish!

Thai Baked Fish (in Nam Prik Sauce)

Leave a comment

Just made this tonight from Matt Danzer and Ann Redding’s recipe in the Wall Street Journal. Wow. So easy, and unbelievably good. Served with Gai Lan, a really delicious veggie. I varied a bit from the original recipe, but the Swai looked good at the Asian Market.

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 whole lime, zested then juiced
1 more lime quartered
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce (find this in the Asian section – adds an unmistakable flavor.)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 green chillies – very small and thin ones, sliced thinly
3 lbs. swai fillets (recipe calls for 2 lbs. cod or seabass in the WSJ)
6 Tbsp Cilantro leaves
Cooked white rice

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix garlic, brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, olive oil, half of the zest, and the chillies, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Put fish fillets skin down (if they have skin) in a shallow baking dish. Spoon the sauce over it. Cover with foil, or flip another pan over it. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the fish is just cooked.

Serve over rice with the pan sauce. Garnish with cilantro, fresh lime and zest.

Samir & Taylor’s Spinach & Artichoke Mac ‘n Cheese with Pesto Chicken and Bacon

Leave a comment

Samir and Taylor made this last night and it was incredibly delicious – truly a new high in Mac ‘n Cheese. They made the whole thing in a cast iron skillet, which I love, too. Thanks, you guys!

2 Tbsp Butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of milk
two big handfuls of spinach leaves
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups pasta (they used shells)
2 cups of mozzarella
1 cup of cheddar
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 package of turkey bacon or real bacon (optional)
1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup pesto

Marinate chicken chunks with pesto,and put in an ovenproof dish, covered with aluminum foil. In a baking pan, lay bacon slices. Bake both at 375 for an hour or so. Stir chicken half way through and recover with foil. Remove crispy bacon from oven, drain and break it up. Remove chicken and save liquid from baking pan.

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet. Saute garlic until it’s lightly browned. Reduce heat and add spinach and artichoke hearts. Saute until spinach is wilted.

Add milk, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, add pasta and cook for 10 minutes,(al dente) stirring occasionally to make sure the pasta is thoroughly covered.

Once the noodles are cooked, add cheddar cheese. Stir in and then slowly add the mozzarella stirring gently. Add a little liquid from chicken if the sauce gets too thick. (You want a creamier sauce.) Add bacon. Check seasonings.

Top with Parmesan and bake at 450 for 10 minutes or so, then broil it for a few minutes until the top is lovely browned and crispy. Add the chicken chunks and broil for one more minute.

Note: Could leave out the chicken and bacon for a vegetarian version. Just add the pesto with the milk.

Dobar Chicken with Port Wine and Gorgonzola

Leave a comment

This recipe is Slovenian I think. I originally thought it was from one of our family Christmas Eve dinners, but I can’t remember ever having Slovenia as the country. Wherever I found it, this chicken was delicious and very, very purple!

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, and cut into strips
olive oil
salt & pepper
Penne pasta

Slather chicken with olive oil and salt and pepper generously. Cook on a George Foreman grill. You could also just pan fry them. Meanwhile, cook a box of Penne pasta in salted water.

1 tsp butter
1 1/4 cups port wine
3/4 cup half and half
6 oz Gorgonzola cheese
1/8 tsp each Salt and Pepper
1/2 tsp parsley

Melt butter in a sauce pan and add wine. Cook on medium heat until it’s reduced by half. Add half and half, cheese, salt and pepper. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes or so.

In serving bowl, place cooked pasta, then strips of chicken and top with wine sauce, and garnish with parsley. You can also garnish it with grapes, halved and soaked in port wine.