Mod Ozzfest 2013 -- Chicken & Kumara (Sweet Potato) Curry

(This recipe accompanies Naked Vine New Year 2013 -- A Taste of Australia.)

• 5-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 Tbsp of canola or vegetable oil
• 1 medium white onion, cut into thin slices
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 lemongrass stem, white part only, thinly sliced (although if you use the stuff in a tube, few will notice)
• 2 tsp ground tumeric
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 medium sweet potato (kumara), cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth or white wine
• 2 Tbsp of Thai fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• A handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Cut the chicken thighs into strips or chunks.

Heat the oil in a wok on a medium-high heat and partially brown the chicken for about 1-2 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add onion to the wok and fry for about 2 minutes or until translucent. Add a little more oil if the wok gets dry. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the lemongrass and fry for another 30 seconds. Add the tumeric, curry powder and chili powder and fry for 1 minute.

Add the sweet potato (kumara) and sugar. Stir well. Add the coconut milk, broth or wine, fish sauce and cilantro. Stir well to combine and bring to a boil.

Once the curry is boiling add the chicken and then turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Serve curry on a bed of jasmine or basmati rice and garnish with more cilantro.

One Slip (Chicken & Chickpea Curry)

I mention “victories and defeats” in the Man Who Cooks intro. I should have probably used a weaker word than “defeat,” since when something starts to go awry, I need to be able to call an audible.

I was planning to do a “cobble together stuff from around the pantry” sort of entry. I’d had a curry jones for a little while, and I thought tonight I’d get my fix.

This is a curry I put together with some staples in my cupboard. Your staples may differ – but it’s my cupboard, dammit! Anyway…the ingredients are nothing fancy.

• 1 lb boneless chicken breast or thigh, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 tsp. olive oil.
• 1/4 c. flour
• 3 c. or so chicken broth
• 1+ tbsp. curry powder
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained – or 2-3 med ones, chopped
• 1/4 c. well-chopped parsley
• garlic, ginger, salt, pepper depending on your seasoning desires
• cooked rice

Things started off innocuously enough. Cut everything up. Toss the chicken in the flour until coated. Heat the oil over medium-low heat. Easy.

Add the onions. I like to cook onions slowly. Cooking them too fast makes them bitter. I like to use lower heat and let the sugars start to caramelize (which is  what happens when onions start to turn golden). Better flavor. So, sauté that onion until it just starts to brown in a few places (usually 7-8 minutes).

Add the curry powder. 1 tbsp. gives you a medium-level curry flavor. I used about 1 2/3 or so. Stir this in with the onions and stir this up for a couple of minutes. If the curry really starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, throw in a splash of white wine that you  have in your glass on the counter to deglaze. All’s well. And then…it happened.

This is the inevitable result of spending time in the kitchen. You’ll have a recipe in your head, and you’re following along…you get a little bit distracted…and suddenly you’re faced with an “Oh, sh*t!” moment.

This was where I was supposed to tell you to add the chicken and cook it until it was just brown all over. Instead, yours truly brainlocked and threw in the chicken broth by mistake…

Suddenly, I’m faced with a pot of curry flavored broth with some onions floating around in it. Quick! Think! What can I do here?

First off, I grabbed the biggest bowl in reach. I poured the liquid off into that. I splashed a little more olive oil in the bottom of the pot, raised the heat to medium and then added the chicken.

Once the chicken was about halfway browned, I added a generous amount of ginger (jarred) and garlic (minced). Probably a tbsp. of the first and 5-6 cloves of the second.

I sautéed this for about 3 minutes, until the chicken was more or less browned, then I added the liquid. Stir well, and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any cooked flour. Bring almost to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and scrape the bottom of the pot.

While you’re in Simmersville, get your rice ready. Different types of rice take   different amounts of time, so you can judge this as well as you can. In our case, we use a rice steamer. Best $15 you can spend. If you don’t have one, go get one. I’ll wait…

…I set ours up, went to the pantry, and [insert spit-take here] I realized to my horror that we were out of rice. White? None. Basmati? Nope. Not even some risotto rice. Thankfully, the SPinC had run the Flying Pig Marathon relay over the weekend (YEAH, SWEETIE!) and in her “gift bag,” she’d been given a little thing of brown rice. It ended up as our rice for the evening. 

Anytime I make rice for something Indian-ish, I always stir in about 1/2 tsp. of cardamom and 1/2 tsp. salt to the water. Gives it a nice flavor. (A container of cardamom will last you just this side of forever.)

After the 45 minutes are done, add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and parsley. Stir it in. Raise the heat slightly and bring it back to a simmer. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Fluff up the rice, put it in bowls. Ladle this yummy stuff over it. Garnish with a few chives. Chow down.

 

 

 

Me and the [Roasted] Bean – Curried Cauliflower & Beans in Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Some of you may know that the Sweet Partner in Crime and I were out for my birthday dinner last night. We did the “tasting menu” at Hugo, which was an absolutely divine experience to kick off my year #40. The next morning, we remained stuffed (8 courses was a challenge -- but what a divine challenge!). We decided it’d be a good idea to have something relatively light the next day.

I saw a recipe in a Food & Wine that looked good, but with my level of energy and motivation that evening, there were a couple of steps too many. I didn't need to make my own croutons or cook down a bunch of spices. I tried to make the recipe as foolproof as possible. What I ended up with was a pretty scrumptious vegetarian meal. Lots of fiber here, my friends…

• 1 good sized head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1/2 a red onion, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 c. plain yogurt (I used Dannon, but the original recipe calls for Greek)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 c. minced fresh cilantro or 1 tbsp. dried
• croutons

Preheat the oven to 425. Put the cauliflower and onion strips together in a bowl. Add about 3 tbsp. olive oil, the curry powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Put into a baking pan, sprayed with nonstick spray.
Put the beans in the same bowl. Add another tsp. of oil. Mix well. Put in a smaller baking pan, also sprayed.
Put both pans in the oven and roast, stirring a couple of times, until the vegetables are tender and slightly browned (about 15 min for the beans, 25 for the cauliflower mixture).

Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper.

When the veggies are roasted tender, put into bowl and stir to combine. Add a handful of croutons and stir again.
Plate up the veggies. Drizzle with the sauce. Chow down.