Sunday, March 28, 2010

How to Get the Most Out of a Chicken: Food Tip of the Day - Sunday, March 28th, 2010

The price of food can be such nowadays that it is very important that we get the most value we can out of that which we buy. Buying a raw chicken affords us excellent opportunities to do just that, not just because chicken is so versatile, but because the different parts of the bird can be used for different meals at different times.

The site linked to below looks at how to cook chicken to get the most out of it, how to cut it and a selection of recipe ideas for preparing with the various different parts of the cooked chicken.

How to Get the Most Out of a Chciken

Sharing

I've been eating lots of good food lately and I haven't been sharing. I know that's not very nice of me, but I'm sorry. Some of it just seems so simple, like scrambled eggs with Tabasco sauce wrapped in a tortilla and topped with guacamole. Just a little breakfast burrito makes me happy. Some days it's been some of my old favorites that I've told you about before, like fennel mushroom salad or Thai hot and sour soup. And some days it's been recipes without real recipes, like cajun spice sprinkled over shrimp, fried and tossed on a pillow of cheesy grits.
Plus, I was eating a gallon of homemade strawberry ice cream for weeks. That's what happens when I don't share.

But I'm going to stop that right now and share a very nice shrimp curry recipe with you, because my friend Huzefa shared it with me. It's a good recipe for lots of reasons. It's fast. It tastes good, like you spent a lot of time on it, but as I just mentioned, it's fast! And it can't go wrong. There are recipes you make once and they're great, but not so great the second or third time. Maybe you did something wrong, but you can't track down what that might be. So you have to let it go, and just remember it as a great meal you once had. But this recipe isn't like that. I've made it several times and it has never failed me. The spices, tomato paste and coconut milk are in perfect proportion (although it's quite spicy, and some may want to tone it down) so the flavor doesn't focus on any one element. I think the sauce is good enough that if you don't like shrimp, you could substitute fish or make it vegetarian with potatoes or cauliflower.
But I'll quit talking now and just show you a picture. And the recipe of course.


Indian Shrimp Curry (from Madhur Jaffrey)
4 servings

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 fresh, hot green chile, finely chopped (or 1/2 a chile if you prefer less spice)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
7 ounces coconut milk, well stirred (1/2 a can)
***Shrimp Ingredients***
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 dried curry leaves (I use bay leaves)
1 1/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined


To make the sauce: Put the tomato paste in a bowl. Add the salt, sugar, cumin, cayenne, cilantro, green chile, lemon juice, dried curry leaves (bay leaves) and 1 Tbsp water. Mix well, slowly adding coconut milk until completely blended. Set aside.

To complete: Put the oil in a wok or frying pan over med-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the mustard seeds. When mustard seeds begin to pop -- a few seconds -- add the garlic. Stir and fry till garlic turns medium brown, add shrimp. Stir until shrimp are opaque most of the way through. Add the sauce, turn heat to medium and heat till the sauce begins to simmer. Add the garam masala. Turn off heat and cover for ten minutes to allow flavors to develop before serving.

Pasta Salad

For some reason I am in the mood to blog and cook this weekend, haha! :) I made this last night for supper with some Boca "chicken" fingers.


It is definitely my own creation, haha! Here is what I put in it.

1/2 box of elbow noodles
A couple spoon-fulls of Veganaise Mayo.
1 spoonful of whole grain mustard. 
Dill to taste
1 tsp. Onion Power
1/2 tsp. Garlic Power
Sun dried tomatoes.
Cheddar Cheese (I wanted to make it all vegan, but I only had real cheese, oh well!)

I am eating some right now as I type this, really yummy! :) David's mom liked it too when they came over last night! 

New Recipe and Gadgets!

Friday night I used my new mixer for the first time! It doubles as a hand mixer too.







So the recipe I tried was Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies. Here is the recipe!

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2 cups chopped cranberries
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Blend butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Stir into butter mixture. Stir in the oats. Fold in nuts and cranberries. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, spaced at least 2 inches apart. These cookies spread.
  3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are crisp and the centers appear dry. Cool on wire racks and enjoy. 

 Instead of using cranberries, I used mixed dried fruit, raisins, and almonds. I also had to bake them longer than 8-10 minutes, they were still doughy inside at that amount. Here is how they turned out!


Most of them are gone now, as you can see! :) I took them to our Bible Study group/meal that we had yesterday after church. Every seemed to like them a lot!



Devotional Thought

Isaiah 40: 27-31

Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“ My way is hidden from the LORD,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.


I also read this, this morning and wanted to share it.

"Woman should fill the position which God originally designed for her, as her husband's equal. The world needs mother who are mothers not merely in name, but in every sense of the word. We may safely say that the distinctive duties of woman are more sacred, more holy, than those of man. Let woman realize the sacredness of her work, and in the strength and fear of God take up her life mission. Let her educate her children for usefulness in this world, and for a home in the better world." Fundamentals of Christian Education pg. 141