Tomato Curry Chicken March 25, 2009

Tonight’s dinner, mady by Ross, was deeee-licious.  SO good!  And according to him, pretty easy too!  I found this recipe in the allrecipes.com Favorites cookbook, but you can follow the link at the bottom to get the recipe on the website.  Ross prepared it just as it states in the recipe, but it is always fun to read the reviews and get different ideas.  I don’t think I’d touch this one, though.  It is just right as is.

I love curry when it is mixed with the right flavors, and this combination of curry, tomato soup, beer and other herbs and tasty stuff was just perfect.  A little bit of sweetness took the sting off of the sometimes harsh taste of curry.  I loved it and we scraped the dish clean.  We NEVER do that.  Now I don’t know what I will take for lunch tomorrow; I always take leftovers!

We had this along with some orzo.  It was a perfect combination.  If you don’t do the orzo thing, be sure to make rice or something else that you can pour the extra sauce over.  It is too tasty to waste!

Enjoy!

Tomato Curry Chicken

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Pork March 14, 2009

I’ve been slightly obsessed with pineapple this week.  This meal was super easy, super tasty, and had pineapple in it!  It was a big winner for me!  This one came from Rachael Ray’s 365:  No Repeats cookbook.  While it was cooking, it smelled just like a dish from an Asian restaurant.  It was a really thin sauce, and I wanted it to be a little bit thicker, so I added a tablespoon of cornstarch at the end while it was simmering.  I liked it like that, but you could certainly do it either way.  Or, just 2 teaspoons or so would probably be fine.  Give this one a try!  It is healthy, too which is always an added bonus!

 

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Pork

3 tablespoons EVOO

4 inch and a half thick boneless center cut pork chops

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 large red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, chopped **

1 8 ounce can pineapple chunks in juice

1/2 cup chicken stock or broth

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

**Please, oh please don’t forget to wash your hands after seeding the jalapeno.  I really thought I washed them, but I apparently hadn’t and touched my face.  I could have sworn someone was holding a match up to my face.  It burnt so badly for the longest time!

Preheat oven to 375.  Heat a large skillet over medium high to high heat with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO.  Season the chops with salt and pepper.  Place the chops in the skillet and sear for about 2 minutes on each side to caramelize.  Transfer the chops to a rimmed cookie sheet and place in the oven to finish off, 8-10 minutes (mine needed closer to 15), until the meat is firm to the touch, but not too tough.  Remove from the oven and let the chops rest, covered with a piece of aluminum foil, for a few minutes.

While the chops are in the oven, return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining tablespoon of EVOO.  Add the onions, garlic, bell peppers, jalapenos, salt, and pepper and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the veggies start to wilt.  Add the chunked pineapple and its juice and the chicken stock.  Continue to cook the sauce for 3 to 4 minutes (this is where I added the cornstarch).  Add the parsley and stir to combine (didn’t realize I forgot this part until just now!), then pour the sweet and spicy pineapple sauce over the pork chops.

We served this over a bed of rice with some broccoli on the side.

Sausage and Pepper Frittata March 12, 2009

For the first time in a long time, I decided to actually plan meals for the week!  Tonight’s meal came from the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.  We had some Italian sausage, so were searching for a recipe to use it for.  We already had a few pasta meals planned for the week, so we needed to find an Italian Sausage recipe that wasn’t so Italian.  Tricky!  I found this and thought it looked like it was worth a try.

 

Well, it was delicious.  It took even less than 30 minutes to prepare, and was very, very tasty.  Clean up was minimal too, and that definitely makes it a prize winner for me!  It calls for goat cheese, but I had feta so I used that.  The combination of the spicy sausage, the sweet peppers and the salty feta made it really delicious.  I’ll make it again for sure!  This is a great meal for breakfast, brunch or dinner.  It would just be a hard one to take somewhere since it is prepared in a skillet.

 

Sausage and Pepper Frittata

1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings discarded

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

8 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

salt

1/2-1 cup goat cheese crumbles

 

In a medium nonstick, ovenproof skillet, cook the sausage and crushed red pepper, breaking up the meat, until browned, 7-10 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl.

In the same skillet, add the bell pepper and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the cooked sausage and the butter; reserve the bowl.

Preheat the broiler.  In the same bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt and pour into the skillet.  Cook, scrambling the mixture, until almost set; top with the goat cheese.  Broil, leaving the oven door slightly open, until set in the center, about 5 minutes.

Minced Onion March 8, 2009

Growing up, I hated onions.  I even remember my Mom making French Onion Soup and straining all of the onions out of mine.  I guess I liked the flavor, but not the onions themselves.  Maybe it was a texture thing, I’m not sure.  Either way, I got over it and now I absolutely love onions.  I also dearly love dried minced onion, which isn’t really the same as fresh onion at all, but still has a great flavor.

 

If you asked my Mom what foods I made the best, she would most likely give you two answers.  One would be scrambled eggs and the other would be tuna.  Random, I know.  Though the two of those sound completely different, I am quite convinced that it is the secret ingredient in both of those that make them her favorite.  Every time I visit home, I am spoiled by lots of delicious meals by my mother…  but only if I make her scrambled eggs and tuna in return.

 

When making scrambled eggs, I just put the eggs in a bowl, toss in a splash of milk, a little bit of salt and pepper and somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of dried minced onion, depending on how many eggs I’m making.  Scramble it all up and toss it in a skillet with some melted butter and you have yourself a delicious breakfast treat with a slight twist.  If you’re extra lucky, you can toss it on a bagel from the Bagel Shoppe in Sanford with a slice of bacon and some melted cheddar cheese, just like we did this morning.  Then you’ve really got a treat.  (It’s even better with some ketchup tossed on, but that is a whole separate post).

 

The tuna also has a few teaspoons of minced onion in it, but has an extra secret ingredient as well… about 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill weed.  Mix it up with the tuna and mayo/miracle whip of your choice, salt and pepper, and once again you’ve got a twist on an old favorite.  It might sound weird, but I swear it is delicious.

 

Try it and tell me what you think!  Anybody else have secret ingredients for scrambled eggs or tuna?