Supper Club: Indian Food Night

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

I love getting together with the group of friends and family that now makes up our little supper club. About once a month or so we choose a country and plan an entire menu around it. This time it was India and here was our menu:

Beverages: My sister and her boyfriend bought an assortment of different sodas and fruit juices from a local market near them. It was so neat to sample all of the different types! We all had our glasses filled with ice and at the beginning of dinner just poured a little from each bottle and sampled it. There were some really neat and interesting juices. Two of them looked like science experiments, my favorite being the Fiery Ginger Beer and my least favorite being the basil seed honey drink. I had a hard time getting past the texture. Of course, that was my friend Tracy’s favorite.


Appetizer: We made crispy curry chick peas, seasoned with curry, garlic and chili powder. Delicious!

Crispy Curry Chick Peas

2 cans of chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt
pepper
chopped cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 425
Put beans on large baking sheet, dry off beans with paper towel.
Drizzle olive oil over beans. Sprinkle over curry powder, chili powder and garlic powder. Using your hands coat all of the beans with seasoning. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (to your liking)
Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes. Using a spatula stir beans in oven once or twice during cooking.
Remove from oven and garnish with chopped cilantro.
Let set for about 10-15 minutes, they get nice and crispy.

Entrees: Curried Shrimp and Butter Chicken both recipes turned out fantastic!! Rachel and Brian also brought some fresh Naan with them and it paired perfectly with both dishes. My friends Tracy and Ethan supplied the Basmati rice. Such a fun treat and the spice level was perfect!

Butter Chicken

Curried Shrimp

Naan

Basmati rice with scallions

Dessert: My baking friend Abby made these AMAZING Coconut cupcakes with lemon curry curd and basil cream. You would think that they would taste too savory but the sweet basil cream was just incredible! After reading the reviews, she cut back the curry by one tablespoon and cut back just a bit on the basil.

Maharani Cupcakes

A-mazing.

What a great night!!

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Posted in Appetizers, Chicken Dishes, Desserts, General Announcements, Seafood Dishes | 2 Comments

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

I am always looking for a side to serve with Mexican food. This dish was recommended by a woman on a cooking forum I frequent. I’m so glad I tried it. This rice dish is perfect for potlucks, it’s cheesy, creamy and is delicious with a little salsa over the top. The recipe below calls for 8 oz Monterey jack cheese, I only had 4 oz left after making chicken taquitos, so I substituted the other 4 oz with sharp cheddar and it tasted great.
You can prepare this rice dish ahead of time for busy nights and make your life just a little easier. 🙂

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
14 oz chicken broth (or stock)
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 scallions chopped thin (green and white parts)
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, scallions and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.
4. Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

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Posted in General Announcements, Side Dishes | 4 Comments

Menu: 8/21-8/27

Posted on August 21, 2011 by

This week is going to be AWESOME! 🙂 I have two events this weekend, one being a baby shower which I am really excited about and then I also have a large luncheon on sunday afternoon (which I am also super excited for). I will be in the kitchen most the week prepping for both and I love that!

Sunday: Birthday party.

Monday: Double Lemon Chicken with tomato basil salsa and butter garlic linguine.

Tuesday:Pesto fish, Crash hot potatoes and roasted asparagus for my brothers birthday. 🙂

Wednesday: Asian grilled pork chops brown rice and roasted carrots.

Thursday: Beef and Chorizo corn casserole

Friday-Saturday: Leftovers! 🙂 I will be slammed busy and will need my energy for cooking and the like (cooking for others that is).

Sunday: French Bread Pizza.

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Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

I’ve seen these taquitos on several blogs lately and that usually means good things! Hubby and I both loved the flavor of the taquitos and they can be prepared ahead of time which is a great time saver for us.
Now that I know the method for making these, I can’t wait to experiment with fillings. The possibilities are endless.
We served these with Mexican sour cream rice (recipe coming up next!), salsa verde, sour cream and then crumbled some Queso Fresco on top. Queso fresco is a Mexican crumbling cheese that is slightly salty, but mild and delicious! These taquitos are such a great dish and would be perfect for parties. I’m thinking I may bring them to the next football party we go to.

Thanks again to Pink Parsley (www.pinkparsley.com) who pointed out this fantastic recipe.

Prep Time: 35 minutes (this includes the time to cook the chicken), if you use leftover or rotisserie chicken this would be significantly less.
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Adapted from Pennies on a Platter, originally from Our Best Bites

•3 oz cream cheese, softened (reduced fat is fine)
•1/3 cup salsa verde
•juice of 1/2 a lime
•1 tsp chile powder
•1/2 tsp ground cumin
•pinch cayenne pepper
•1/2 tsp onion powder
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
•3 Tbs chopped scallions
•2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
•1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
•1/2 cup shredded Pepperjack cheese
•8-12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
•kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
•cooking spray
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese with the salsa, lime juice, cumin, chile powder, cayenne, onion powder, garlic, cilantro, scallions, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Fold in the chicken and cheeses. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Working 3 tortillas at a time, stack them on a microwave-safe plate and cover with plastic wrap. Cook 30 seconds, or until tortillas are soft and pliable.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto the lower third of each tortilla, and roll tightly. Place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Spray the taquitos lightly with cooking spray, sprinkle with salt. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the tortillas are crisp and golden-brown. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole.

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Posted in Chicken Dishes, General Announcements, Quick and Easy Recipes | 2 Comments

Salsa Verde

Posted on August 19, 2011 by

I adore salsa verde. Usually when we get it at a restaurant it is insanely hot. Only because hubby always orders the crazy hot death salsa and they usually use salsa verde as the vehicle to deliver death peppers. 😉 This salsa was very mild. The instructions in the recipe asked that you remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeno. Next time though I won’t do this, but only because I like a little kick.
This salsa was delicious and a perfect topping to Creamy chicken taquitos and Mexican sour cream rice (recipes coming later this week). It would also be delicious with tortilla chips and an icy cold beverage.
Thanks to Pink Parsley for showing me this great recipe!
When I made this I doubled the recipe below because well, frankly, running out of salsa is just not acceptable.

Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes

Salsa Verde
Adapted from Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday

•4-5 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved (about 8 ounces)
•2 large garlic cloves, peeled
•1 jalapeno
•about 1/3 cup loosely packed, roughly chopped cilantro
•1/2 small white onion, chopped
•juice of 1/2 lime
•salt

Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. lay the garlic, tomatillos, and jalapeno in a single layer, laying the tomatillos cut-side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the tomatillos are well-browned. Turn everything over and brown the other side (the tomatillos should be very soft). Remove the tomatillos and garlic and add to a food processor or blender, and cook the jalapeno on all sides before removing to a cutting board.

When the jalapeno is cool enough to handle, peel the shriveled blackened skin, halve, and remove ribs and seeds. Roughly chop and add to the food processor as well.

Add 1/4 cup of water, onions, and cilantro to the food processor, and blend to a coarse puree. Pour into a dish and add more water if necessary, to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency. Add lime juice and salt to taste (usually about 1/2 tsp salt).

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Posted in General Announcements, Quick and Easy Recipes, Side Dishes, The Basics..., Vegetarian Dishes | 3 Comments

Pear Butter

Posted on August 18, 2011 by

No partridge here, just two fabulously bountiful pear trees that for the past two years have been decorating my back yard. Sand pears never really get soft, in fact they are hard as rocks but they have great flavor. Last year I used the pears to knock stuff out of my Oak trees…ha! We definitely did better than that this year.
This pear butter turned out absolutely delicious and it was so easy. The only work was peeling and coring the pears. Even though that took a bit of time, it was kind of nice. It reminded me that fall is around the corner and made me stop and relax, which was lovely.
I have so many pears left on my trees and it’s a good thing because this pear butter will go quickly. I can’t wait to make up another batch. Thanks to Cooking with Christen for the recipe! I actually adapted this recipe from her apple butter recipe but she just came out with an adapted recipe for pear butter which you can find here. I omitted the cloves from the recipe, only because I didn’t have any and to be honest with you I’m not a big fan to begin with. If you like cloves, by all means add them! 🙂

Crockpot Pear Butter
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:
10 ripe pears
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 TBSP vanilla

Method:

FYI: This is really a 2-day process! I started in the afternoon and had it timed so that I could set the crockpot timer for the second time right before bed, so it would be done in the morning.

Peel your pears. Quarter them and remove the core. Place in a crockpot sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Add vanilla, cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

When the 8 hours is up, mash with a fork (this is really easy, they’re so soft so it doesn’t take much at all!). Stir in the sugars and cinnamon. Cover again and cook once more on LOW for 6 hours.

If you want yours to be super smooth, you may use an immersion blender or something like it to puree. But I thought the slightly chunky texture was nice. You may store in the fridge or can it. The Ball website has great information and tutorials on how to can, if you’ve never done this before. You only need to process this in the water for 10 minutes.

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Menu: 8/14-8/20

Posted on August 14, 2011 by

I would consider last weeks menu a total winner. The ultimate Sriracha Burger was awesome and the linguine carbonara with blue cheese and artichokes was phenomenal. Lets hope we can have the same success this week with new recipes. We didn’t get a chance to make the shrimp and grits this week so definitely looking forward to that this week!

As of this morning, blogger is not letting my links go back to the original author. Until they fix this problem I will put the blog link next to the menu item.

Sunday: Dinner with friends- last weeks pizza was cancelled so maybe pizza this week!

Monday: Wiener Schnitzel and Warm German Potato Salad

Tuesday: Creamy baked chicken taquitos and spanish rice.

Wednesday: Chicken fried chicken with white pepper gravy, mashed potatoes and salad.

Thursday: Spice rubbed chicken over spaghetti with salsa verde cream sauce 

Friday: Indian Food Friday! Can’t wait. Having our Supper Club get together and making all sorts of awesome Indian food dishes.

Saturday: Shrimp and Grits

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