Curried Chicken with Couscous

It has been some time since I prepared chicken thighs for a dinner, so tonight I decided to make a curried chicken dish with them; it's kind of a stew really, but served over couscous. 

Curried Chicken with Couscous

2 T olive oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 T curry powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp turmeric

1 cup chicken stock

1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes

1 (13.5 ounce) can light coconut milk

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or small soup kettle over medium-high heat; add the chicken thighs and sear on each side. Add the onions and saute until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the spices in a small bowl. 

Add the garlic; saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spice mixture; toast until fragrant, 30 seconds, making sure the chicken is coated well with the spices. Add coconut milk, tomatoes and broth and scrape the bits up from the bottom of the pot. 

Bring to a boil; then reduce heat to low and cook covered until flavors blend and stew is thick, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve over couscous (I added a few shakes of turmeric when preparing my couscous). Garnish with flat leaf parsley and cashew pieces. 

Red Beans & Rice and Plantains

There is this great little restaurant in our neighborhood called Cafe Con Leche that has excellent Cuban/Caribbean food. Our favorite thing to order is the chicken and rice and beans (arroz con pollo), and green plantains (tostones). I wouldn't necessarily give this  meal an A+ for being uber healthy, I mean the plantains are fried, albeit not deep fried or anything. But I use wild rice which is really healthy, and plantains themselves are full of fiber (complex carbs vs. simple starches) , B vitamins, and minerals. Plus, red kidney beans are full of vitamins, minerals and protein. Yes, that does make me feel better. 

Tonight I created that meal. So good. I must note that my husband is particularly good at preparing the plantains, as he did tonight.

Red Beans & Rice

1 T olive oil

1 cup wild rice

2 tsp ground cumin

1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, undrained

1 3/4 cups water

1 cup chopped, cooked chicken (you can use leftovers, or grill up some chicken in olive oil and toss it with a few pinches of kosher salt and ground cumin)

Heat a medium pot over high heat and add the oil and rice, stirring frequently to toast. Add the cumin and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the undrained beans and the water and stir well to combine. Cover and reduce heat to low to simmer. Stir about every 5 minutes until cooked. Fold in the chicken chunks just before serving.  

Plantains

2 unripe (green) plantains, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

Canola oil for frying

Kosher salt to season

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom completely (these are not deep fried). Place about 8-10 pieces of the plantain cut side down into the pan and fry for a few minutes on each side. Using tongs, remove each piece to a cutting board and using an object with a flat surface (I used the back of a metal measuring cup), apply pressure directly down onto each piece to smash it down. Return to the oil for about 30 seconds to crisp, then drain on a paper towel and season with kosher salt immediately. You will need to work in batches so you don't crowd the pan, probably 2-3 batches for 2 large plantains.  

Ginger Stir Fry & Rice with Carrot Ginger Salad

As the blog post title indicates, ginger was the inspiration for tonight's dish. The impetus, however, was actually a craving for that famous carrot ginger dressing served at most Japanese restaurants; after that I built the meal around that flavor combination. I used wild rice, which is so much more healthy than white rice...in fact I simply can not remember the last time I ate, or even cooked, white rice. I flavored the rice with a bit of ginger root. Similarly, I flavored the stir fry with both ginger root and ginger oil, and of course the dressing featured ginger root as well. Good thing I caught on to the idea of peeling and freezing ginger root, it lasts a lot longer and is much easier to grate when frozen. This is particularly helpful because most grocery stores sell a 'hand' of ginger in a Paul Bunyan size that rivals the needs of even a commercial kitchen!

Ginger Stir Fry & Rice

2 T ginger oil (I have olive oil infused with ginger, but regular olive oil would work fine; additionally you could flavor your own oil first by adding ginger root to olive oil and cooking over low heat)

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled

1 cup tri-color peppers, sliced

1 cup broccoli, chopped, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup carrots, sliced into small sticks

1 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into wide, thin strips (I used a vegetable peeler)
1 T teriyaki marinade + 1 T water to dilute (see tips here)


Ginger Rice
1 cup wild rice
1 T olive oil
1/2" piece ginger root, peeled
1 3/4 cups water


Start the rice first, it will take about 30 minutes or so. Heat a medium pot over high heat and add the olive oil and rice, stir to combine and toast the rice for a few minutes being careful not to burn it. Grate in the ginger root right before adding the water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low and simmer until cooked. Using a bit less water than the typical 2:1 ratio for cooking rice will yield a more fluffy (less sticky) rice. 


Meanwhile, heat the ginger oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sautee a few minutes, then add in the ginger and garlic by grating them into the skillet; stir well. Add in the peppers, broccoli and zucchini and stir to combine. Drizzle the teriyaki mixture over the stir fry and toss to combine. Remove from heat and serve with ginger rice and a ginger-carrot salad (recipe follows). You could easily add chicken to this stir fry, or mushrooms, peas/beans ... anything you like really.


Carrot-Ginger Dressing
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
1/2" piece ginger root, peeled
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
3-4 T olive oil


In a food processor, add the carrot and shallot, grate in the ginger root, add the rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Turn the processor on and slowly drizzle in the olive oil just until the dressing comes together. In a large bowl, toss together the dressing with the salad greens of your choice. The dressing is plenty to dress 4 salads.

Hot Jam'wiches

 My husband loves jelly. I mean L.O.V.E.S. So when I noticed the other day that he had opened a new jar of raspberry jam, a nice change from its tiresome and endemic jelly counterparts grape and strawberry, I decided I wanted to use it in a recipe. For some reason grilled cheese sandwiches popped into my head, and I thought what if I added the raspberry jam to a grilled cheese sandwich?! 

The combination of salty and sweet is one of my favorite pairings...this was going to be good. The trick would be to select just the right cheese. As I perused the cheese case in the grocery store, my eyes fell upon Brie. Soft, gooey, delicious, yet mild Brie. Perfect! Let me tell you, these were so delicious. I don't know if I made this up, or if others have thought of a similar combination (I didn't bother to look online or anything), but these will be a repeat in this kitchen for certain.

Hot Jam'wiches

2 bakery sourdough rolls

1/2 lb. Brie cheese

3 T raspberry jam (or any flavor you like!)

Butter (to spread on outside ends)

Cut each roll into thirds so that you will have enough bread for 3 sandwiches (the thicker the roll, the better...this would work with sliced bread too, but the sourdough rolls do add a lot). Butter the outside ends of each piece of bread. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat.

Spread the Brie cheese onto the inside of each sandwich, top with 1 T jam and spread evenly, place top piece of bread on top and grill until golden brown and crispy on each side. 

(the method for making these is basically identical to making a grilled cheese...also I put the jam in a small bowl first and mashed it around so it would be more homogeneous and spread more evenly...you know how jelly can be clumpy).