Mango Chicken

Julie's blog about mangoes reminded me of a recipe I did recently. Really tasty and ingredients are cheap if mangoes are in season. I like making this with some coconut rice and okra & sweet potato curry.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp (or more) of vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
• 2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 mangos, peeled and diced
  
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (aka sultanas)
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (can substitute all or partially with coconut milk or plain yogurt)
• Salt and pepper
• Cilantro for garnish

Directions

1 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and another tablespoon of oil, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. The spices will absorb some of the oil, so if anything begins to stick too much to the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil to the pan. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for one minute more.

2 Add the vinegar, water, and a 1/2 of the chopped mango to the pan. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the sauce into a blender. Purée the sauce, pulsing until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan.

3 Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan. Return to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Chicken should be just cooked through. Use a knife to cut open the largest piece to check.

4 Add remaining mango pieces to the pan. Stir in the cream (or coconut milk or yogurt). Let cook at a very low temperature for another minute or two, uncovered. Do not let this boil or the cream may curdle. Adjust seasonings. If a little too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If not sweet enough, you can add a dash of sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.

This is borrowed from Simply Recipes.

Indian Inspired Chili

It seems wrong to put two chilis so close, but this one should taste pretty different. At a family gathering a while ago, I tried out this Indian-inspired chili on my Ohio relatives. My family thought it was way too hot, so I tamed it down, blended it with more familiar Cincinnati-style chili ingredients and it was a lot more popular. So this is sweet, but spicy. You can always kick it up a bit by adding more emphasis on the spicy elements.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
  
• 2 medium onions, diced small
  
• 2 inches minced ginger root (or 1 tsp ginger powder)
• 4 cardamom pods (Indian food aisle or spice aisle)
• 2 in cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp chili powder (cayenne if you're braver, paprika if not)
  
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp garam masala (Indian food aisle or spice aisle)
• 1 tsp coriander (Indian food aisle or spice aisle)
• 1 tsp pepper
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 lb ground meat
• 32 oz diced tomato
• 32 oz kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 32 oz tomato puree
• 1/2 c brown sugar

Optional:

• pasta or rice as a base
• shredded cheddar (to top)
• diced sweet onion (to top)

Directions

1. Warm the oil in a large pot. Then sautee the first five non-powder spices. Stir them occasionally until the onions look clear.
2. Stir in all the powdered spices so the onions are nicely coated and cook for another minute or two.
3. Stir in the ground meat and brown it with the spices.
   
4. Once the meat is thoroughly browned, add in the tomatoes, beans and brown sugar. I ditch the bean fluids and keep the tomato fluids.
   
5. Simmer your chili until it is as thick as you like.
6. Especially when you're serving to folks unfamiliar with Indian spices, remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving. They won't kill you, but aren't a fun texture when you bite them unawares.
   

Corn bread and sausage stuffing

This is my family's stuffing recipe. I know Thanksgiving is far away, but I just made it for C.J.'s birthday last week and thought I'd share. It's never too early to start thinking about turkey day, right?

• One batch of cornbread (I have used Jiffy and it's good, but I prefer a non-sweet mix or recipe)
• An equal amount of bread (I like to use whole wheat or something more "rustic" than plain white bread)
• One pound of pork sausage fully cooked, drained, and crumbled (sage preferred)
• Fresh celery and onion, diced
• Sage (if not in the sausage already), poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste (you can play around with the seasonings - I don't have poultry seasoning so I don't add it)
• Chicken stock for liquid

In a large bowl, after the cornbread cools, crumble it into small pieces. Add an equal amount of bread cut up or torn apart to approximately the same size. Then mix in the sausage, vegetables, and seasoning. Then add enough of the chicken stock to the dressing to moisten it. Be careful not to add too much liquid or it will get mushy.

Bake in a covered oven dish at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. If you want the top browned you can take the lid off for the last few minutes of cooking.

Spinach Meatloaf

Get your picky eater to eat his vegetables by hiding them in meat! Another exciting use for instant potatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground meat (I prefer turkey)
• 1/4 cup instant potatoes
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/4 cup parmesean cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 onion chopped fine
• salt and pepper to taste
• flavoring (choose an option, both are tasty!)
• option A: 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce & 1 teaspoon cumin
• option B: 1 teaspoon each of sage, rosemary, thyme
• 5oz frozen spinach, thawed and chopped

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F or 175C. Thaw out your spinach by putting it in a colander and running water over it.
2. Mix first nine (9) ingredients and choose the kind of flavoring you'd prefer. Worcestershire goes better with beef, while herbs go better with ground chicken or turkey. Both flavors are tasty and merit trying.
3. Lay out a piece of aluminum foil, wax paper or other disposable flexible surface. Spread the meat mix over the foil to make a 1/2 inch-thick rectangle that should fit into your baking pan.
4. On top of the meat, make a uniform layer of spinach. Ideally, leave a 1/2 inch border of meat not covered by spinach.
5. Use your flexible surface to lift one side of the meat and gently form a roll. You'll likely have to work slowly and peel the meat off the foil a bit as you go. When you get to the end, press the end meat into the roll so in blends into a solid roll. You can also smoosh together the ends a bit to obscure the spinach there. The spinach should now be nicely hidden, visible only in cross-section.
6. If you're really careful with aluminum foil, you can now enclose your lovely meat roll in the same piece of foil, then place in your baking pan. This helps minimize cleanup. Definitely still use a pan, though, to keep the meat juices from oozing out into your oven.
7. Bake the meatloaf in the middle rack for 45 minutes or so (took me about twice that here, but I have no idea how hot my oven is with the goofy tank). This should serve 4-5 people and freezes easily either before or after baking.

Turkey Burgers -- with Instant Potatoes

Yet another use for instant potatoes: a way to stretch hamburger meat a bit further. My picky eater prefers anything with onions and garlic, so you can adjust those ingredients down to your preference. He often doesn't notice that it's turkey burgers, though, because the flavor is sufficiently good. I usually eyeball quantities, but paid close attention today to give a good estimate of quantities. Fresh herbs are always preferable (this group comes in a pack together called "poultry herbs" back home), but dried works nicely too (just rub the dried leaves a bit before tossing them in to release their flavors).

1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 onion diced fine
3 cloves garlic minced/diced fine
1/2 cup instant potatoes
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp dried rosemary (3 sprigs fresh chopped fine)
1 tbsp dried sage (2 sprigs fresh chopped fine)
1 tbsp dried thyme (1 handful fresh leaves pulled off stalks)
black pepper/salt to taste

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients really well.
2. Separate the meat into burgers. You should be able to get five (5) respectable sized burgers out of this mixture.
3. I usually store individual burgers in resealable bags in the freezer to offer meal flexibility, however in Grenada the freezer is so humid that the bags quickly freeze to the walls and are difficult to remove. So here I put them in leftover containers, with burgers separated by foil or plastic wrap.

Instant Potatoes Transformed

As we get close to break, we're trying to empty our cupboards so the ants don't have a field day in our absence. Number one thing to eliminate: the GIANT tub of instant potatoes. After the second week of having mashed potatoes with every meal, Dan requested that I get a bit more creative. So this is perhaps the first in a series of "what to do with instant potatoes when you can't stand potatoes anymore."

Salmon Croquettes

• 15 oz can salmon
• 1 cup instant potatoes (or breadcrumbs)
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 tablespoons dried parsley (I use cilantro/coriander)
  
• 1 medium size onion finely chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried cumin
  
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons oil for frying
  

Instructions

1. Open your can of salmon, probably out of sight of any picky eaters in your household. You'll need to pick bones out. Most would prefer to drain and rinse the fish. I saw my omega 3 fatty acids floating on top and decided to keep it. Place salmon in a medium bowl.
   
2. Mix all ingredients together. I added milk because the original recipe was pretty dry and the patties fell apart upon cooking. Add just enough milk to make the patties not crumbly. You can make 4-5 cakes from a can of salmon.
   
3. Fry the patties in small amt. of 100% pure virgin olive oil, or a good corn oil, till golden on one side, then flip over & brown on second side. Drain on paper towels.

Atomic Chicken

I got this from a Real Simple magazine a while back.

- 4 chicken breasts
- 1/4 jar of Smuckers Apricot Preserves (I just eye it)
- 1/4 cup of Wishbone deluxe French dressing (I use any of the ones at IGA & again I eye it)
- 1/4 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix (I divide one of the packages up into 4 different baggies and use one.)

Mix all together, pour sauce over thawed chicken breasts and bake @ 350 for 45 min. Serve over rice. This does have a bit of a bang to the taste, but we like it! I hope you do to!