Burmese Chicken Curry

This chicken curry was featured in a section of the NY Times called “A Kitchen Resolution Worth Making: Follow The Recipe Exactly.” After a long day of tending to kids (and their zillion requests for snacks), that can sound appealing. It’s from Burma Superstar in Oakland, CA and is worth the time – you can taste the “time.” And my kids ate it! Step 1: Trim 2.5 lobs chicken thighs of excess fat and cut into bite-size pieces; transfer to a bowl and mix in 1 tbsp paprika, ½ tsp turmeric and 2 tsp Kosher salt. Step 2: In a large pot, heat 1/3 cup canola oil over medium-high. Stir in 2 finely chopped onions, lower the heat to medium-low and cook until translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add four crushed garlic cloves and continue to cook about 5 minutes more. Stir often so it doesn’t burn. Step 3: Add the chicken and stir to release the spices into the onion. Pour in one can of coconut milk and bring to a near boil. Let the coconut milk simmer briskly for about 4 minutes to thicken. Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1.5 tbsp fish sauce. Stir in 1 cup water and bring to a near boil. Step 4: Lower to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp curry powder. Serve with rice or noodles, cilantro and lime and an easily wilting green.

Savory Loaf with Cheese, Olives and Herbs

Over the course of the pandemic, we baked, baked and baked some more. I got tired of sugar so was excited to find a savory loaf bread - especially given how much thyme we had growing on our roof. Thank you Melissa Clark. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch loaf pan (or line it with parchment). In a large bowl, whisk together 2½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda. In a smaller bowl, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil and 1 cup dairy product like buttermilk or plain yogurt. Whisk in 2 eggs. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry. Now, switch to a rubber spatula and fold in ¾ cup olives and 1¾ cups grated cheese. Finally, add a tablespoon or so fresh thyme or other herbs.

Ottolenghi's Turkey Zucchini Meatballs

Annecy has turned into a snoozer this summer. She emerges from her bedroom around 10 am, but then it’s non-stop for 12 hours. Meanwhile, I’m up at the crack of dawn – sometimes because worry and stress jolt me out of bed, but sometimes because I’m just craving some peaceful alone time. This schedule means I have free time in the morning, but I am in full-on parenting mode right before dinner. Enter Ottlenghi’s turkey zucchini meatballs…

To make, throw all the yogurt sauce ingredients into a bowl. Sometimes I use just yogurt instead of sour cream, substitute fresh herbs for the sumac, etc. It is forgiving. Then through all the ingredients for the meatballs into a bowl. Refrigerate and go about your day. Whenever you are ready, preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using vegetable oil, sear the meatballs on medium-high on both sides until brown – about 5 minutes a side. Transfer them to the baking sheet and bake for another 6-8 minutes. Serve with the yogurt. I like to serve with pita bread, rice or something else to mop up the sauce. You can do all of this in about 20 minutes.

For the meatballs:

1 pound ground turkey, dark meat

2 cups grated zucchini (2 small to medium zucchinis)

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 large egg

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish

2 T chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

1 t ground cumin

For the yogurt sauce:

1/2 cup sour cream

2/3 cup greek yogurt

Zest of 1 small lemon

1 T fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 T sumac

One-Pot Turmeric Coconut Rice With Greens

I'm attempting -probably not for the last time - to get this blog going again. I struggle to remember the recipes I like or where I found them and this blog serves as such a good food diary. So here goes it.

It's spring which translates into picnics under the cherry blossoms and lots of overpriced ice cream from the Central Park carts. It's my favorite time of year, but it's a lot of work to get from work to the park with a meal, utensils, cold wine, napkins, frisbees, soccer balls, etc. On the nights we stay home, I want a one pot meal.

This One-Pot Turmeric Coconut Rice with Greens was easy and came together with things I had on hand. I skipped the sesame seeds and actually just served the greens on the side. It was a break from the routine without extra work.

Ingredients: 2cups basmati rice, ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, 1 scallion, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, 1 medium bunch kale, spinach or Swiss chard.

Directions: In a medium pot, toast the coconut and sesame seeds over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. Wipe out the pot. In the same pot, melt the coconut oil over medium-low. Add the scallion whites, turmeric and cook, stirring, until aromatic and lightly

toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the rice, coconut milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Fill the empty can of coconut milk with water and add it to the pot. Give the mixture a good stir to separate any lumps and bring to a boil over medium-high. Once boiling, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. As rice cooks, remove and discard the tough stems of the leafy greens, if needed, and cut or tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. When the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, arrange the greens on top of the rice in an even layer and season well with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook until the rice is tender, 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, 5 minutes. Gently stir the greens into the rice using a spatula or fork, season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls. Sprinkle the coconut mixture on top and serve with a lime wedge for squeezing over.

 

Loaf Breads for Summer and Fall

I wanted to recreate a chile I made for a camping trip recently, but I had no clue where I had found the recipe. I wasted a ton of time on fruitless google searches, only to have to make something up. If only I had blogged about it…

I had never intended this blog to be anything else but a reminder to me about what I cooked and what I liked. So here I go again, despite grainy photos and little time to write these days. 

Ottolenghi’s Blueberry, Almond and Lemon Cake is the best thing you can do with summer blueberries. I skip the icing because it is just not necessary. When blueberry season is over, move on to canned pumpkin. There are a zillion recipes out there, but I love Smitten Kitchen’s recipe because it uses the entire can of pumpkin. Who wants leftover canned pumpkin? Ick. 

There. Now I will not waste time trying to figure out what to do with my loaf pan.  

Miso Butter Chicken

Once a week I bring lunch for Annecy and five other kids. The other four days I don’t have to do anything.  This was literally life changing after a few years of cutting up fruit to fit in tiny (always gets lost) tupperware and hunting down on-sale string cheese. I just make a normal meal, pack it up and send it along to be heated up and shared by all.

I used to be creative, but then I realized these kids are three so it’s not exactly an audience I need to impress. Lately I have been making the same dish over and over and over…and over again. And they love it. And I love it too.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017699-miso-chicken

You basically just slather chicken with miso, butter, honey and rice wine vinegar and bake it. I use boneless thighs, but I’m sure other pollo parts would work. Sometimes I cut back on the butter if I'm not planning on eating it immediately with big piles of rice and a side of veggies. 

For summer camp, I have to pack lunch every day. Blah!

Short Ribs with Soy Sauce, Honey, Cinnamon, Star Anise and Ginger

I am on an endless quest to simplify dinner and an even more endless quest to try to eat dinner as a family (occasionally). These two things come together when Ryan and I feel like eating scrambled eggs with a glass of milk and peeled apples at 6 pm. So like, never.

Anything that I can cook in a slow cooker, however, at least gets me closer – especially when the first line is “combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.” Last week I went for Mark Bittman’s Short Ribs with Chinese Flavors that has you do just that.

 “http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017176-short-ribs-with-chinese-flavors

Don’t skimp on the star anise. It’s worth it. I also took his advice and cooled the sauce, dumped the few inches of solid fat from the top, and reheated. Voila…healthy short ribs! ;)