Erin's Easy Eats

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

June 24th, 2008 by Erin

Although the preferred form of sweet potatoes in this house is with cinnamon, butter, and lots of brown sugar, this will do the trick sometimes too.  This makes a lot of food, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to do less and not be wasteful with half a pepper and half an onion… I always put things in the fridge and forget they exist until they are inedible.  I bought a new brand of curry powder this last trip to the grocery store, and I’m not sure I like it.  Any recommendations?  I can’t find curry paste over here in the boondocks…

I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve been wanting to try but summer vacation has made me lazy and I don’t want to do anything other than cross stitch and watch TV.  I know this is a bad combination, but it is satisfying, and will continue to be for a while still, I’m thinking.  I need to find a new TV series to entertain me… what I really should do is spring the extra few dollars for upgraded cable so I can watch Food TV all of the time.

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into half moons
• 1 rounded tablespoon curry paste or 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock or broth
• 1/2 c. light cream
• 1/4 c. prepared mango chutney
• 10 oz. frozen peas
• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Heat up a large nonstick pan over medium high heat.  Add a little oil, and add sweet potatoes with salt, pepper, and curry.  Cook for about 4 minutes.  Move to side of the pan.  Add chicken to other side, browning for about 3 minutes.  Add onions, bell peppers, and toss everything to combine.  Add flour and cook for about one minute.  Add broth, cream, and chutney, and let cook for about 10 minutes, utnil chicken and potatoes are cooked through and sauce is thick.  Add peas and cilantro and simmer for one minute.  Serve over rice.

Posted in chicken, dinner, potatoes, recipes || No Comments

Oven “Fries”

June 23rd, 2008 by Erin

In an attempt to be more healthy around here (let the nightly bicycling begin anew), I hope to post some recipes that are halfway good for you.   Here’s a good alternative to real french fries that actually does work pretty well to replicate the taste and texture.  We had these with turkey burgers (seasoned with some “gourmet burger” seasoning and some Worcestershire sauce.)

• 2 pounds potatoes (I used yukon golds)
• 2 egg whites, beaten until just frothy
• Lawry’s Seasoning Salt (or you can make up your own blend with paprika, cumin, garlic/onion powders)

Wash and peel potatoes.  Cut potatoes into 1/2″ strips.  (Cut lengthwise into 1/2″ slices, then stack slices and cut into 1/2″ strips.)  Place into bowl with egg whites and spin ‘em around.  Place on a liberally sprayed cookie sheet (even if you’re using that non-stick foil SPRAY IT I promse you will regret it…) and sprinkle with seasonings.  Spread over baking sheet and spray tops of the potatoes lightly with cooking spray.  Bake at 425 for 45 minutes (up to 60, dpeending on your potatoes) stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp.

Posted in potatoes, recipes || No Comments

Tandoori Chicken and Phyllo Samosas

May 11th, 2008 by Erin

Both of these recipes came from this month’s Cooking Light. They are both absolutely wonderful. They are by no means “quick and easy” (the samosas took about 45 minutes, plus baking time, and the chicken takes about 15 minutes of prep followed by a day of marinating…) but the result is well worth it. Although I used bone-in thighs this time, I’ll probably use skinless, boneless thighs next time to get more marinade on the meat. This is served with a mint raita, which accompanies both parts of the meal well with a cool creaminess. I sent the husband outside to grill the chicken while I assembled and baked the samosas. I had never worked with phyllo dough before, and after a slight rough start (sorry, top three sheets) I found great success.

Tandoori Chicken (this is the full recipe, I halved with great success for four bone-in thighs)

• 2 tsp oil
• 4 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 ground coriander
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground red pepper (I used about half that)
• 2 c. chopped onion (no need to get it too fine)
• 1/2 c. chopped ginger (a lot, trust me)
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 16 boneless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)

Heat oil in small nonstick skillet. Add paprika, cumin, coriander, garam masala, tumeric, and red pepper. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Place onion, ginger, jalepeno and garlic in food processor, blend until smooth. Add spices, yogurt, lemon juice, and about a teaspoon of salt. process until smooth. Transfer mixture to large ziplock bag, add chicken, squish around to coat. Marinate overnight, turning occasionally. Grill 7 minutes on each side until done (again, ours took longer ’cause of the bone-in business.)

Samosas

• 2 1/2 c. peeled, chopped baking potato
• 1 c. peeled chopped carrot
• 2 c. chopped onion
• 2 1/2 Tbs peeled, chopped ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1 Tbs ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 c. frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 16 sheets phyllo dough

Cook potato and carrot in boiling water until tender, about 12 minutes, drain. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add about 1 Tbs oil. Add onion to pan, cook until just softened. Add ginger, garlic, red peper, cook 2 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Add potato mixture, peas, cilantro and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Process half of mixture in food processor until coarsely chopped - it should retain it’s texture. Repeat with remaining half.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two cookie sheets with cooking spray (or non-stick foil or your trusty Sil-pat.) Place a sheet of phyllo dough on large chopping board. Fold in half lengthwise. Spoon about three tablespoons into top right corner. Fold end over end like a paper football. Instead of tucking the end under, spray lightly with cooking spray, press end to “body” of samosa, and place seam side down on cookie sheet. Repeat 16 times. (You’ll be talented by the end!) Place both cookie sheets in, and cook 13 minutes, rotate the sheets, bake another 12.

Mint Raita

• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. chopped mint
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients, stir around. Lick the bowl when you’re done with dinner.

Posted in dinner, potatoes, recipes || No Comments

Moosewood’s Sunday Salmon

April 17th, 2008 by Erin

I love lox. I could eat it every day for breakfast with onions, and toast, and a little bit of creme fraiche. It is just that good. Forget breakfast - I would gladly eat it any time. This recipe always makes me think of Kenny, a co-worker of mine who has the same taste in salmon as well as the last name of the actual recipe, which is “Stein Sisters’ Sunday Salmon.” Kenny (Stein, not Salmon) is retiring this year, and perhaps I’ll manage to sneak him out a wedge of this stuff if it doesn’t disappear before tomorrow morning.

This recipe pulls double duty as a good brunch dish (with fresh fruit and bagels) or as dinner (with a greens salad with a tangy dressing.)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes (fist sized) sliced into thin half moons
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1/4 lb. lox, cut into pieces
• 2 Tbs fresh minced dill (or about 3/4 Tbs dried)
• 1/2 lb fresh salmon steak (or go for those vacuum packed ones. Don’t get the cheap canned stuff, as I did this time, and have to spend 15 minutes picking tiny bones and scales out. Ew.)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 c. milk (the original recipe calls for 1 1/4 c. but I found that it NEVER set so I reduced it a bunch)
• sweet (not hot) paprika

Boil potato slices for about 7 minutes, or until just tender. Line the bottom of a oiled (or sprayed) casserole dish. Meanwhile, sauté onions in butter until just translucent. Add lox and dill and saute for a few minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

If you’re using fresh salmon, boil an inch of water in the bottom of a saucepan. Place salmon in a steamer rack or metal colander, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover, and steam 5-6 minutes. Flake into lox mixture. If you’re using vacuum packed (or, heaven forbid, canned) salmon, dump it out and break it up a bit. No need to steam. Add to lox mixture.

Distribute cubes of cream cheese evenly around the casserole dish (seriously, the cream cheese is the best part, so make sure everyone gets an equal chance to consume its delicious goodness), and then top with lox-onion-salmon mixture. Mix eggs with milk, and pour over entire thing. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until set.

Posted in breakfast, dinner, fish, potatoes, recipes || 2 Comments

Potato Crusted Salmon with Cream Sauce

April 10th, 2008 by Erin

Another one of those fancy meals! I used to make this for St. Patrick’s day. I didn’t this year because we went to my parents’ house (where I ate chicken fingers and everyone else ate corned beef, ew.) I serve this fish with either “frizzy salad” (all those fancy leaves) or mixed veggies, for the uncultured. I imagine if you like carrots, this would be great with steamed carrots.  (I hate carrots, even though you see them on the plate below, they were quickly moved elsewhere.)

Fish:

• 2 large potatoes, peeled
• 4 4oz. salmon fillets or steaks (I personally think fillets work better, but with skin/scales removed)
• 4 tsp. country Dijon mustard
• 1 egg

Grate potatoes on large holes of grater. Mix grated potatoes with egg. Pat fish dry, and lightly season with salt and pepper. Rub one side of each fillet (use 1 tsp on each) with Dijon mustard. Cover the mustard with enough potatoes to coat entirely. Wrap in plastic wrap to firm and press excess water/space out. Preheat oven to 425. In an ovenproof nonstick pan, heat 2 Tbs olive oil. Place fish potato side down. When they have started to get golden, flip CAREFULLY (get the best flipper in your house - that’s the husband, not me) to flip it over. Pop into oven for 5-10 minutes, until fish is opaque in center.

Serve with Chive Cream Sauce…

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 5 scallions, sliced as thin as you can, white part only
• 1 Tbs chopped garlic
• 3 Tbs white vinegar
• 3 Tbs water
• 1/2 c.chardonnay (or whatever white you have around)
• 1/2 c. evaporated skim milk
• 1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbs water
• 6 chives, chopped

Heat olive oil, and add scallions, sauté two minutes. Add garlic until fragrant. Add water and vinegar, let cook to almost dry. Add wine and reduce by half. Add evaporated milk and cornstarch mixture, remove from heat as soon as it boils and stir in chives, add salt and pepper to taste.

Posted in dinner, fish, potatoes, recipes || No Comments

Coq au Vin with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

April 8th, 2008 by Erin

I’ve planned quite a series of spectacular meals for the next few days… And there is a reason, I promise. But mostly, its an excuse to make great food and show off my culinary skills to my ever appreciative husband. Tonight, we tackle the French classic, and a light chocolate mousse with fruit as dessert. I started this the night before, just putting things in a bag and letting them marinate.

• 2 cups red wine
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (8-ounce) chicken breast halves, skinned
• 4-6 (4-ounce) chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
• 3 bacon slices, chopped (I used turkey, as always)
• 1/2 cup pitted dried plums, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Combine first 9 ingredients (through the chicken) in a large bowl (I used a plastic bag) and marinate for at least 4 up to 24 hours. Remove chicken from marinade, reserving marinade, and pat chicken dry. Dredge chicken in flour, set aside.

Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan; set bacon aside. If you’ve used turkey bacon, like I have, you’ll need to add some olive oil (or whatever oil) to the pan to make the chicken brown (because turkey bacon really doesn’t have anything in the way of “drippings.”)  Add half of chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Remove onion and carrot from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving marinade. Add onion and carrot to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in marinade, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken, bacon, dried plums, and bay leaves; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour and for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Discard bay leaves. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

• 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 c. cream/milk (whatever kind you have from any other adventures you may be planning)
• 4 oz. cream cheese (half a block)
• 1/4 stick butter
• 1 head garlic, roasted

To roast your garlic, cut off the top to expose all of the heads. Put it in a tiny casserole dish with some olive oil, cut side up (so you can see the cloves), a little salt, a little pepper, and bake covered with foil at 375 for 45 minutes or so. Now, to the mashers. Boil your cut up potatoes for 20 minutes, drain, and return to pot over low heat. Mash ‘em up a bit with your potato masher. Add everything else (squeeze the garlic out into a bowl first so you can pick out any errant skins) and keep mashing, add salt and pepper to taste.  If they don’t look quite mushy enough, add some more milk.  (I went a little too far but they ended up tasting great.)

Posted in chicken, dinner, potatoes, recipes || 2 Comments

Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage, Bell Pepper, and Fennel

March 30th, 2008 by Erin

I always love looking though my Cooking Light magazine until I realize that every recipe has about 9,253 ingredients to make up for the fact that it is “light cooking.” Well, most of them, at least. This one did not, and it had sausage, which I love. I was a little apprehensive at first - mostly because I’d never had gnocchi until about an hour ago, and wasn’t sure how this dish would work, texturally. It ended up being wonderful, and super simple. The combination of flavors (sweet and savory) and textures (crunchy fennel, slightly gummy gnocchi, and crisp sausage) went very well together. I think we actually improved upon the original recipe by substituting what was both on hand and available at the grocery store. (The original recipe calls for basil, pine nut and chicken sausage, as well as Asiago cheese. I’ve listed what we used below.)

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. package vacuum packed gnocchi (I looked everywhere and eventually found it with the fancy Italian food in the yellow cans and jars - not sure what brand that is)
• 6 oz. smoked chicken and apple sausage (the recipe says to remove the casings, which I found impossible) sliced thinly
• 1 c. thinly sliced fennel
• 1 c. thinly sliced onion
• 1 c. thinly sliced red bell pepper
• pepper
• 1/4 c. shaved Parmesan

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add sliced sausage and cook until lightly browned (or not so lightly, as you can probably see in the picture,) remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan (without washing) add another teaspoon or so of olive oil, and add peppers, fennel, and onions. Reduce heat to medium and cook until veggies are tender, about 13 minutes. While the veggies are hanging out, cook gnocchi according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 c. of cooking liquid and add to pan when veggies are done. Add back sausage, add pepper and cheese, stir until cheese is melted.

Posted in dinner, fast, potatoes, recipes, sausage || No Comments