Spicy Pumpkin Curry Soup  

Posted by Matt


So I aped this recipe from someone on the webs.
There picture is much better, but mine tasted pretty darn good. I did make a few modifications though.
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves gar­lic, minced
3 roasted tomatoes, diced
1 fresh pie pumpkin, roasted for 1 hour
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup milk
1 tsp. curry pow­der
½ tsp. hot Madras curry pow­der
¼ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. car­damom
¼ tsp. nut­meg
¼ tsp. cayenne pow­der
¼ tsp. pow­dered gin­ger
raisins on top
1 package Naan
In a large stock pot (8 quarts or larger), heat oil over medium-high heat, being care­ful not to let it smoke. Add onion, and cook, stir­ring fre­quently for 2 min­utes. Add gar­lic and con­tinue to cook 2 more min­utes. Add toma­toes and cook for 6 more min­utes, con­tin­u­ing to stir. Add remaining ingredients except raisins, and simmer for 20 minutes while cooking the Naan under the broiler until hot. Top with raisins.
At first I found this dish pretty boring. It tasted fine but was all the exact same texture. However, once I let it cool overnight and ate it for leftovers, it was much better. The flavors were stronger and it overall was thicker and more enjoyable to eat. And the raisins are essential.

Spicy Sweet chicken and vegitables  

Posted by Matt


Hoah, this was good. I need to make it again soon.

1 chicken breasts
red bell pepper
broccoli
onion
1 carrot stick
2 inch ginger root
3 large radishes
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp Thai chili paste
Sweet chili sauce
jasmine rice
salt
pepper.

So Michelle's friend gave her some awesome sweet chili sauce and I was told to use it if I could. I did. The Jazmin rice was solid. I made it using less water and a shorter cooking time then normal so it was a bit more firm. For the veggies, I chopped up the bell pepper, broccoli, onion and radish. I grated the carrot and the ginger and put it all in a pot. I cooked it up in the coconut milk until it was all tender. This part was mostly pretty bland. Next time I might steam the veggies and add condensed coconut milk at the end. The real prize of this dish was the chicken. In a saute pan, I started cooking up the chicken with some Thai chili paste. The paste had enough oil to help the chicken fry. Once it was cooked, I chopped it up, and put it back in the pan but without heat. I then added a couple spoonfuls of the sweet chili sauce. It made the chicken into this awesome candied spicy little treats.
Posted by Picasa

Thai Waldorf Squash Curry  

Posted by Matt


So this was a random mix of some strange flavors, but it worked.

Acorn Squash
1 can stewed tomatoes
red onion
green beans
celery
2 apples apple
1 small bag walnuts
3 sticks celery
coconut milk
curry powder
cinnamon
Cayenne
salt
allspice
black pepper

I took an acorn squash, cleaned, peeled, and chopped it up. Then tossed it into a pot with the chopped onion, stewed tomatoes and green beans, and spices. I simmered this with the top on and added a little water when it started to thicken up, for about 1 hour. I chopped the apple into bits with the celery, and essentially made a Waldorf salad using coconut milk instead of mayo. I turned the heat off the squash pot, and added the apple mixture. I stirred it up and let it sit for a few minutes for the cold stuff to warm up. I didn't want it to cook, just get warm. Coconut milk looses it's flavor when it cooks.

This was surprisingly good. So many flavors and textures.
Posted by Picasa

Chicken Fajitas  

Posted by Matt


At the farmers market I went a bit crazy with the colors. There is a red, green, orange, purple and white bell pepper in there.

2 chicken breasts
1 red onion
red bell pepper
green bell pepper
orange bell pepper
purple bell pepper
white bell pepper
2 Serrano peppers
a bunch of cilantro
El Pato
1 can refried black beans
tortillas
hot sauce
cumin

In a separate pan, I pan fried the chicken with some hot sauce and cumin then chopped it into strips.
The veggies were all cut down to strips and sauteed in a pan with the can of El Pato. The cilantro was added last so as to not kill it with heat. Heat up some beans, slap it all on a tortilla and yeats.

Lentil Curry  

Posted by Matt


Posty Post. I need to unload a bunch of pictures of things I made but haven't posted.

This one doesn't look good, but it tasted great.

2 1/2 cups lentils, (mixed, green, french, whatever)
5 cups water or chicken stock
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 lbs ground beef
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch spinach
madras curry paste
(or alternatively, curry powder, allspice, ginger, Cinnamon, red pepper flakes, ground coriander, caraway, celery seed, and black peppercorns)
Basmati rice

If you wanted, you could add carrots or potatoes or broccoli to the veggies. I tend to make a lot of one pot dishes, or maybe two if you count the side of rice. For this, I browned the beef, and tossed in the onion and garlic until soft. Then tossed in the stewed tomatoes. The lentils were a lot like rice, two cups of liquid for 1 cup of dried lentils. Then all the spices, and simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how creamy you want the lentils to get. Last minuted I added the spinach and it wilted away. The basmati rice was cooked following the directions.
Posted by Picasa