I wasn't going to post this. I'll admit it. It was a series of mistakes and random ingredients. The wife, however, considers this a recipe box and demanded it be posted. So here we go.
What if you were about to be lazy and make an aglio e olio, having chopped the garlic and all, and then realize you're out of olive oil?
Sigh.
Well, we have corn tortillas and corn oil, right? Let's do... that.
Well, it turns out we also have ingredients for those wonderful black beans. Minus the onions and chicken stock, but we have red and water, right? Perfect.
So we'll dice up a few chicken breasts and then toss them in corn oil with the garlic, add some whole cumin, and then add oregano and paprika as it settles. Maybe some leftover enchilada sauce? Absolutely. Some salt will round that out nicely. That will all simmer while we're waiting on the beans, which do take a bit longer.
In the meantime we'll find some asadero and maybe some queso blanco and cube that to about 1/8th inch. Romaine and yogurt should round that out.
When it's all done, quickly get some corn oil hot and briefly toast the tortillas on each side. And suddenly: dinner.
Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yogurt. Show all posts
Jan 18, 2011
Jan 2, 2011
Indian dinner
Way back when I just started writing this blog and wasn't sure what to do with it I started to draft some sort of essay on Indian cooking. Check the archives; it never made it to publication. Since then I've posted three Indian(ish) recipes, one of which hardly even counts despite having a semi-accurate flavor profile and ingredient list.
Which is all leading up to say: Indian cooking can be tricky. Forget the ingredients; they're really not that unusual for the most part. We all know about cumin and ginger and mustard and cinnamon and even some of the less obvious things spices like turmeric, coriander, and even cardamom aren't anything all that special. In the end dal is just lentils and asafoetida isn't strictly necessary.
And yet it still ends up being somewhat tricky to figure out -- largely because of the process involved. But rest assured, tricky doesn't mean hard. Just... tricky. All the rules about what goes in when and why in French cooking get tossed out the window (note: same is true of most Asian cuisines; it's just that Indian food is also quite different than anything with Sino-Japanese influences). You end up building your spice profile from the beginning rather than the end, use odd thickening tricks, employ dairy in weird ways... etc, etc, etc. But once you get the hang of it it's actually pretty hard to screw it up. At least not too badly. After trying a few (good) recipes (that actually try to explain themselves) and maybe using some of those boxed spice mixes (and analyzing what's in them and what each ingredient adds) improving becomes relatively simple.
Case in point: new year's eve 2010. The wife (am I going to get used to saying that sometime?) calls on the way home and requests Indian. A quick inventory of the kitchen and a run to the store yields:
Looks viable... right?
Of course. We'll start with the rice:
Then move on to bigger, better things. Like building a spice profile and braising a bit. In a skillet combine:
In the meantime cube up your meat of choice. Since mine was beef I felt obligated to conservatively apply salt and pepper. Brown that in the superheated oil then transfer to a stock pot (along with some of the oil, naturally).
Take the heat down in the skillet, add a touch more oil along with the seeds from a half dozen cardamom pods. Bring the heat back up a bit until they become pungent and then quickly add onions chunked rather largely and toss until they're just slightly cooked. Then transfer everything to the stock pot, scraping for all the little bits of goodness left behind from the high heat.
Now you're just stewing. Add:
And that's it. Walk away. When the potatoes are done you have dinner.
Serve in a bowl with layers of rice, stew, and yogurt. Garnish with cilantro if you're so inclined.
See? Simple. The spices toasted at the beginning are the primary flavor modifiers -- and they had to be whole in order to stand up to the high heat without burning. The secondary spices are more mellow, present primarily to round out the flavor. The onions are left nearly raw, imparting a very different flavor than the long sweats and browns you're used to. The jalapenos add just enough heat to notice without being overpowering. The potatoes take on the flavor of the broth, oil, and tomatoes. And it all works wonderfully.
But yes, it does take some getting used to.
Which is all leading up to say: Indian cooking can be tricky. Forget the ingredients; they're really not that unusual for the most part. We all know about cumin and ginger and mustard and cinnamon and even some of the less obvious things spices like turmeric, coriander, and even cardamom aren't anything all that special. In the end dal is just lentils and asafoetida isn't strictly necessary.
And yet it still ends up being somewhat tricky to figure out -- largely because of the process involved. But rest assured, tricky doesn't mean hard. Just... tricky. All the rules about what goes in when and why in French cooking get tossed out the window (note: same is true of most Asian cuisines; it's just that Indian food is also quite different than anything with Sino-Japanese influences). You end up building your spice profile from the beginning rather than the end, use odd thickening tricks, employ dairy in weird ways... etc, etc, etc. But once you get the hang of it it's actually pretty hard to screw it up. At least not too badly. After trying a few (good) recipes (that actually try to explain themselves) and maybe using some of those boxed spice mixes (and analyzing what's in them and what each ingredient adds) improving becomes relatively simple.
Case in point: new year's eve 2010. The wife (am I going to get used to saying that sometime?) calls on the way home and requests Indian. A quick inventory of the kitchen and a run to the store yields:
- Almost 2 lbs of tri tip (thank god for discount meat but note that there's absolutely no reason to use this if you want to be authentic or otherwise cost-conscious; just replace with boneless skinless chicken breasts if you prefer)
- 2 yellow onions
- 3 bell peppers
- 3 jalapenos
- 7 red potatoes
- Chicken broth
- 1 large can diced tomatoes
- 1 can tomato paste
- Olive oil
- Cumin (whole; this is important)
- Coriander (whole; this is important)
- Cardamom pods (always pods; the flavor difference is substantial)
- Ginger (powder is fine but raw grated is always good)
- Cinnamon (ground; sticks are fine)
- Yogurt
- Rice
- Salt/pepper
Looks viable... right?
Of course. We'll start with the rice:
- Make rice
Then move on to bigger, better things. Like building a spice profile and braising a bit. In a skillet combine:
- Olive oil
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
In the meantime cube up your meat of choice. Since mine was beef I felt obligated to conservatively apply salt and pepper. Brown that in the superheated oil then transfer to a stock pot (along with some of the oil, naturally).
Take the heat down in the skillet, add a touch more oil along with the seeds from a half dozen cardamom pods. Bring the heat back up a bit until they become pungent and then quickly add onions chunked rather largely and toss until they're just slightly cooked. Then transfer everything to the stock pot, scraping for all the little bits of goodness left behind from the high heat.
Now you're just stewing. Add:
- Bell peppers, also chunked
- Jalapenos, I like them ring sliced, seeds and all
- Diced tomatoes with juice
- Chicken broth
- Ginger
- Potatoes, large chunks
- Cinnamon to taste -- but don't go overboard
- Tomato paste to thicken
And that's it. Walk away. When the potatoes are done you have dinner.
Serve in a bowl with layers of rice, stew, and yogurt. Garnish with cilantro if you're so inclined.
See? Simple. The spices toasted at the beginning are the primary flavor modifiers -- and they had to be whole in order to stand up to the high heat without burning. The secondary spices are more mellow, present primarily to round out the flavor. The onions are left nearly raw, imparting a very different flavor than the long sweats and browns you're used to. The jalapenos add just enough heat to notice without being overpowering. The potatoes take on the flavor of the broth, oil, and tomatoes. And it all works wonderfully.
But yes, it does take some getting used to.
Jun 8, 2010
Bastardized chicken curry thing
This isn't curry. This is barely Indian. This is not how you make Indian food.
It is, however, simple and quite tasty.
This was stolen and modified from, I believe, Food and Wine, although good luck finding it on their god awful website. It literally took me 80 minutes the first time -- and I knew what I was looking for.
The link to the original recipe is here (and OK, the website has improved).
But like I said, it's been modified through much trial and error.
First, a side point that will become relevant later: garam masala is a finishing spice. It is not one of those things you toss in and let stew for hours or some such.
Basic ingredients:
Slice tomatoes to taste and chop the lettuce.
Slice the onion; heat the oil. Sweat them a bit until just barely translucent.
Toss in the chicken mixture with the onions. And keep tossing. And tossing. Otherwise the yogurt will separate. This should simmer down nicely.
Drop the heat. This is kind of important.
Start with your chosen bread. Either toast the pita or tell whatever the naan package tells you to do.
Add more yogurt and garam masala to taste; both will sour the mixture but in a good way.
Serve the chicken/onion/yogurt thing with the tomatoes and lettuce plus the bread. Really can't go wrong on this one though I really wouldn't call it Indian food. Either stuff the pita or do the more traditional thing and just scoop ingredients from the plate. In fact, this wouldn't go wrong with the Ethiopian method of serving everything on a platter and letting everyone scoop from there.
It is, however, simple and quite tasty.
This was stolen and modified from, I believe, Food and Wine, although good luck finding it on their god awful website. It literally took me 80 minutes the first time -- and I knew what I was looking for.
The link to the original recipe is here (and OK, the website has improved).
But like I said, it's been modified through much trial and error.
First, a side point that will become relevant later: garam masala is a finishing spice. It is not one of those things you toss in and let stew for hours or some such.
Basic ingredients:
- Oil of some sort; standard vegetable seems to work fine
- Yogurt. In this case any plain variety is fine but I still like full fat.
- Red onion; sliced
- Four to six jalapenos. Red if you can get them. Seeded if you're feeling weak; otherwise leave them in as extra capsaicin on the tongue never actually hurts.
- Chicken breasts; probably three or four to serve four or five.
- Turmeric
- Curry powder -- I think hotter is better but moderate as you will
- Garlic, and naturally the more the better; finely chopped
- Naan or pita
- Tomatoes
- Lettuce of some sort
- Garam masala
Slice tomatoes to taste and chop the lettuce.
Slice the onion; heat the oil. Sweat them a bit until just barely translucent.
Toss in the chicken mixture with the onions. And keep tossing. And tossing. Otherwise the yogurt will separate. This should simmer down nicely.
Drop the heat. This is kind of important.
Start with your chosen bread. Either toast the pita or tell whatever the naan package tells you to do.
Add more yogurt and garam masala to taste; both will sour the mixture but in a good way.
Serve the chicken/onion/yogurt thing with the tomatoes and lettuce plus the bread. Really can't go wrong on this one though I really wouldn't call it Indian food. Either stuff the pita or do the more traditional thing and just scoop ingredients from the plate. In fact, this wouldn't go wrong with the Ethiopian method of serving everything on a platter and letting everyone scoop from there.
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