Curry Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Please excuse any typos or any sentences that might not make sense. The season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy is moments away so I’m rushing to get this out to you because it’s scrumptious!

The inspiration for this recipe came from a dish I had at an Indian restaurant. I don’t think it was called curry chicken but I honestly don’t have a clue what the menu said.  But I do think this recipe is very similar to what I had.  The good news is, since we don’t know the name of the real dish, we can’t really compare it. =)

Ingredients:

8 pieces boneless skinless chicken thighs

¼ cup all purpose flour

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt/pepper

3 tbs oil or enough to cover the bottom of your pan

1 medium yellow onion

¼ cup diced carrots

3 small cloves garlic

2 tbs tomato paste

1/4 cup of wine or chicken stock

3 heaping tbs red curry paste

14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 snack size box raisins

½ cup heavy  whipping cream

Rice

Jasmine rice

½ cup frozen peas

2 bay leaves

Cooking Instructions:

Heat oil in pan on medium heat

Season chicken thighs with garlic, onion powder and salt.  Toss chicken thighs into a Ziploc baggie with flour to coat.  Shake off excess flour and lay chicken in pan.  Be sure to not crowd the chicken or it will steam instead of brown.  Brown the chicken on both sides.  Remove chicken from pan. 

Turn heat down to medium low.  Add onions, garlic and carrots to oil.  Add salt and pepper.  Cook 3-4 min until tender.  Stir tomato paste into onion mixture.  If you’re working with a gas stove, pull pan off head to add the wine. Deglaze the pan by scraping the brown bits from the chicken off the bottom.  Let the wine mixture simmer for about 2 minutes to thicken and deglaze.

Stir the tomatoes and raisins into the wine mixture.  Add chicken back in along with any juices. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes on medium low until chicken is cooked thru and tender.  When about ready to serve, stir in heavy cream.  This is not necessary but does enhance the sauce.

I follow the cooking instructions for the rice but while the water is boiling I like to flavor it with a couple bay leaves and half of an onion.  Before adding the rice pull the onion and bay leaf out.  When the rice has about  4 min left to cook, add frozen peas.

Dish chicken and sauce over rice and enjoy

I made this last night.  Then I got a phone call from my husband letting me know they would be working late.  So here's the picture of what the curry chicken looked like after I packed up every little bit of it and took it to base for the boys to eat.  Hope they enjoyed!!

Na'an Pizza.....Almost Gourmet

Friday nights mean Pizza in our house. It's the end of a long week for everyone. No one (meaning me) feels like cooking something huge and no one feels like waiting long.  Let eat with our fingers.  Sometimes we order from our favorite local pizza slinger, but most of the time I whip up some of this pizza.  If you wanna know a secret, between you and me, I'm not good with any kind of dough.  It just doesn't like me, nor does it ever cooperate.  So I used to use a premade pizza crust but always felt it had an aftertaste.  There are some I like more than others though.  BUT.... one day, while sorting through pita in the Publix bakery, I discovered Na'an.  I had had it at in restaurants before but hadn't seen it in the grocery store.  My life was transformed. It doesn't have that premade, prepackaged taste that pita bread or pizza crusts can have.  So, when using Na'an for pizza, the sky is absolutely the limit.  Here is my favorite pizza to make:

Na'an bread

Fresh Spinach

Fresh Mozzarella

Prosciutto

Pizza Sauce

Garlic

Crushed red pepper flakes

Olive Oil

Building and baking instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Brush Na'an with olive oil to coat.  Spread the crust with your favorite jarred pizza sauce.  Crush one small garlic clove to split between two pizzas and spread that on the sauce. Start building with the cheese.  My suggestion is to use the fresh mozzarella NOT packed in water as this will release the water while baking and you'll have pools of liquid on the pizza. I load the pizza's up pretty good with cheese.  Fresh cheese is much more mild and less salty than the bagged/preshredded kind.

Next, start tearing pieces of prosciutto to layer on top of the cheese.  Use more than you think you'd need because it does shrink down in the oven

 Once you have those goodies layered on, it's time for the spinach.  This too, you have to pile on because it will for sure wilt down in the oven.

Once you have everything on your pizza, bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  Because there is fresh spinach and mozzarella, you may need to dab some liquid from the top.  Also, if you want to add basil, do it once its out of the oven.  It will turn brown if baked.

Sprinkle the pizza with a pinch of red pepper flakes and enjoy with a glass of Merlot.

I have also made this pizza using tomato slices, asparagus, caramelized onions, goat cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  I don't use sauce when I make it this way.  But again, the sky is the limit!!!  

Use Na'an bread to make your own pizza.  Let me know what you did and how you liked it

Indian Naan Bread

Spinach and Mushroom Fondue

Happy Wednesday Everyone!! I'm a little bit tired today.  I was up until midnight creating this next dish.

One of my foodie food lover friends, not to mention rediculously popular food blogger, Aggie, from Aggies Kitchen informed me of The Everyday Chef Challenge presented by Pacific Natural Foods. 

In this challenge, you must create and enter a recipe using a pantry staple ingredient from Pacific Foods, which was broth as well as a surprise ingredient~ mushrooms. **disclaimer**I don't even like mushrooms.

The winner of this challenge gets a mini bootcamp from the Culinary Institute of American and a trip to Napa Valley.  Well, not being a person to turn down a challenge AND definitely being a person that has always wanted visit Napa Valley, I accepted the challenge.

So there I was, wandering up and down the isles of the local grocery store at 10pm feeling inspired. Before I had gone I quickly glanced at the recipes that had already been entered. Man, this is some stiff competition. My thoughts immediately went to risotto, pasta or soup.  Those, however, had already been tackled. I needed to think of something different, but something everyone loves.  What does everyone love?  To eat with their hands...and melted cheese. Ahhh FONDUE IT IS!!!!

Before I go further, I wanted to remind everyone to click here to VOTE FOR ME.  Shameless I know!!

Ingredients:

Fondue

16 oz. mild cheddar shredded
8 oz. Gouda shredded
2tbs cornstarch
2tbs butter
1tbs olive oil
1 small shallot
3 cloves minced garlic
4 oz. presliced/washed baby bella, shitake and oyster mushrooms
5 oz. frozen spinach thawed and drained well
¾ cup white wine
¼ cup reserved Pacific Natural Food chicken stock

Dipping food

Broccoli florets
Cauliflower florets
Baby carrots
Asparagus spears
French green beans
Granny smith apples
Pumpernickel bread
Salami
32 oz. box of Pacific Natural Food Chicken stock

Cooking instructions:

Dipping foods

Bring one box of Pacific Natural Chicken Stock to a boil over medium high heat. Par boil the broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus and green beans for 3 min. Strain from broth and immerse immediately into an ice bath to stop cooking. Reserve ¼ cup chicken broth for fondue. Drain vegetables and serve at room temperature. Prepare the rest of the dipping foods . Chop the bread, apples and slice the salami. Arrange on a large platter. Once you start the fondue , the process goes rather quickly.

Fondue

Shred both cheeses and gently mix cornstarch into the cheese. Refrigerate until needed.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil. Add shallots and minced garlic. Meanwhile, roughly chop mushrooms and add to pan. Cook mushrooms down for five minutes. When liquid has evaporated and you notice brown bits on the bottom of the pan, add wine and reserved chicken broth. Deglaze the pan of all the yummy goodness in the pan.
Once the pan is deglazed begin adding shredded cheese a handful at a time to ensure slow, even melting. After the cheese has melted, add the well drained spinach. Stir to heat through.
Pour cheese mixture into a fondue pot or a crock pot. Serve with variety of fruits, vegetables, breads and meat.

Grilled Caesar Salad

This falls under the IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED THIS YET...DO IT TONIGHT!!!. ..category. Oh, oops..I haven't created one of those categories yet.  Great, super easy side dish.  I've never seen my husband attack lettuce before.

You would not believe the nutty flavor you get when grilling romaine. 

Instructions:

Cut a head of romaine lengthwise leaving the stems intact.  Drizzle both sides with EVOO.  Place romaine cut side down on grill pan over medium heat.  It only takes a couple minutes to get desired grill marks and wilt the lettuce slightly but leave a bit of crunch.  Flip the lettuce and repeat on the second side. 

Top with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, croutons and your favorite Caesar salad dressing. 

Quick Croutons:

Cut one to two day old bakery bread into bite sized cubes. Spread evenly on cookie sheet.  Coat with olive oil spray, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt.  Toss to coat.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until brown and toasty

Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Fall must be right around the corner. You know how I know? Well it’s certainly not the 90 degree weather here in Florida. Thanks to Starbucks for rolling out the Pumpkin Spice Latte and to William Sonoma for releasing the Pumpkin Butter. Last but not least, thank you to my northern friends for sharing their cool breeze through the open window stories with me. I’m trying, in vein I believe, to channel a bit of fall here at the beach with this recipe. It’s rich and indulgent no doubt . I have also provided two different sauces that are equally as decadent but if you’re not about floating your pasta in melted butter, I’ve also added an alternative cream sauce. These recipes are all adapted from about a handful of other recipes as my dishes usually are. Martha Stewart has a wonderful ravioli recipe and Epicurious has the cream-sage sauce.

Ingredients

Ravioli

• ½ medium onion (finely chopped)

• 1tbs butter

• 1tbs Olive Oil

• 1 can pureed pumpkin

• 1 Cup Ricotta Cheese

• 1 egg

• ¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

• ½ tsp salt more to taste

• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar

• Wonton wrappers + egg for glue



Brown Butter Sage Sauce



• 4 tbs butter

• 2 tbs fresh chopped sage

• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar



Cream Sage Sauce- Epicurious.com



• 1/2 tablespoons butter

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

• 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots

• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 1 1/2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage leaves

• 3/4 cup dry white wine

• 2/3 cup whipping cream



Instructions

Melt butter and olive oil in small skillet, add onion. Take the time to caramelize these onions for sweetness and texture in the ravioli filling. You can add a pinch of sugar to help the carmalization along. This can take 15-20 min. When the chopped onions have become brown, sweet and tender, remove them from the pan and let slightly cool.Meanwhile, in large bowl, mix the rest of the ravioli ingredients including the onions. Before adding the egg, give the mixture a taste to check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare your wonton wrappers by laying them out on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. You can use two wrappers per ravioli by stacking one on top of the other or you can fold one sheet over into a triangle as I have done. Add about ½ tsp-1tsp ravioli filling to each wrapper. Do not overfill. Dip a small pastry brush or your finger into beat egg and paint onto two sides of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch together to ensure a tight seal. If you prefer a square ravioli, you’ll have to brush egg on every side of the bottom sheet of wrapper.

While boiling water for the ravioli, begin the brown butter sage sauce. In a large sauté pan, melt 4 tbs. butter. Add fresh sage. Cook until butter browns. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tbs balsamic vinegar.

When water has come to a boil, carefully drop in ravioli. These will only need to boil for about 1-2 min or until they float. Add cooked ravioli into the butter sauce and flip the ravioli to coat. Plate and enjoy!!!



Alternate sauce- Cream sage sauce

I do prefer this sauce, as I do with anything with heavy cream and wine. I happened to not have any cream on hand this night so I went with the other one.

Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add pecans and stir until slightly darker and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pecans to small bowl. Add shallots and sage to same skillet. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cream. Increase heat and boil until sauce is reduced to generous 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes.

Add ravioli to sauce; toss. Season with salt and pepper.

So I know Black Eyed Peas aren't so G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. And thank you to Fergie (we're on a first name basis) for helping me always remember how to spell glamorous.  So back to this dish. I really wanted to come out here and WOW you all with my first posted recipe. It's ok though, I'm not ashamed.  Let me explain. So I had this great plan to make pumpkin ravioli today. Sounds good right?  Well, husband went out of town so whats the point of making such a yummy dinner if I don't have anyone over five feet tall to share it with.  Also, my grocery store doesn't have Hazelnuts for the sauce.  They only carry it for the holidays.  Stay tuned for the ravioli.  Anyway, I picked up these par cooked black eyed peas at the store the other day.  Thought they be a delish, quick and healthy dinner.  Pair that with the brown rice and I believe we have ourselves a perfect protein.  Not to mention a righteously tasty dish.  Oh, and it's spicy too.  :)  Anyway, I figure everyone could use simple, tasty and healthy in their collection right?

Ingredients

2 cans rinsed and drained black eyed peas

2 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup celery

1/4 cup red pepper finely chopped

1 medium shallot finely chopped (is there any other way?)

1 seeded jalapeno pepper diced *optional*

1/4 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

steamed brown or white rice cooked according to package

Instructions

This really is such a simple meal.  You're basically throwing everything in one skillet and warming through. In a 10 in skillet, sweat the celery, shallot and pepper for three to five minutes. Salt the veggies as they sweat.  Add the diced jalapeno, rinsed and drained peas and the chicken broth.  Let cook til warmed through.  Serve over hot rice.   BOOM BOOM POW..done!

Welcome to One Spicy Dish

Welcome to my Blog.  I have many friends in the blogging industry chit chatting about those things they love. Eating...that's what I love.  No, really..I LOVE it! I know you've all read and thoroughly studied my profile.  So we don't need to dig any deeper there.  Then again, they did only give me 1200 characters to talk about myself.  Ask anyone that knows me. Thats not enough words for me to describe a piece of paper, let alone myself.  I have a feeling, though, that in time, we'll become good friends.