Bangladesh

Bangladeshi Chicken Biryani & Brussel Sprouts with Naan and Channa Masala 

After a couple weeks off to tend to my husband and his reconstructed knee, we officially reinstated our Foreign Food Fest Friday.  Last night we chose Bangladesh for country number 53.  I decided to make a Bangladeshi Chicken Biryani and  Brussel Sprouts.  Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you away.  It is well worth the trip to the store to buy some extra spices.  I've never had too much luck making recipes from the subcontinent taste authentic.  But these two dishes brought back memories of when my husband and I were rafting down the Ganges River.


Chicken Biryani

1 lb chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek style)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 saffron threads crushed
1/2 inch piece ginger chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pepper
3-4 T ghee (clarified butter) or butter
1/2 onion sliced
pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup cilantro
2 cups Basmati rice rinsed

Place chicken in a glass dish.  Mix turmeric, cardamom, coriander, salt, garlic, cayenne pepper, and saffron in a small bowl.  Stir yogurt into chicken, then add mixed spices.  Mix well.  Cover chicken and marinate overnight.
Cook 2 cups of Basmati rice according to package directions.  In a large frying pan, heat ghee or butter over medium heat.  Add cumin seeds and cook about 2 minutes or until they give off a slight fragrance.  Add chicken and yogurt mix to pan.  Cook until chicken just begins to brown.  Add onion slices, crushed red pepper, and ginger. Add more butter if needed.  Add cooked rice to chicken mixture.  Incorporate rice into mixture so that it absorbs all the sauce and is an even light yellow color.  Add frozen veggies.  Continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed and bits of rice and chicken are browned.        


Bangladeshi Style Brussel Sprouts

15- 20 Brussel Sprouts cleaned and halved
1 cup  baby spinach chopped
1/2 onion sliced
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp mustard seed
1/8 tsp fenugreek seed
1/4 inch ginger chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1/2 lime
olive oil or butter
pepper

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add fennel, cumin, mustard, and fenugreek seeds.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  Add onions and cook until they start to soften.  Turn heat up to medium high and add brussel sprouts, adding more oil if necessary.  Don't crowd the pan.  If necessary, cook in two batches.  Saute brussel sprouts until they start to brown.  Add ginger, salt, pepper, and chopped spinach.  Turn off heat and let spinach wilt.  Add the lime juice and stir.

Serve Biryani and Brussel sprouts with Dal and Naan bread.  I cheated, and bought Tandoor Chef brand frozen Naan and Channa Masala.     It turned out great, except my son's first reaction was, "Wow that's a little spicy."

Kathy

  

Balsamic Black Bean Salad

Balsamic Black Bean Salad

I love beans.  I never did as a kid, but I guess my palate finally matured.  Now as a mom, I'm always trying to find new ways to infuse fiber into my family's diet. These tasty black beans do the trick.

Fun Fact:  Beans originated in the ancient America's some 8,000 years ago.

Balsamic Black Bean Salad


2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
1 tomato diced
1/2 cup green pepper diced
1/2 cup red pepper diced (can use orange and yellow too)
1/4 cup red onion diced
2 cloves garlic
2 scallions finely chopped
1/4 good balsamic vinegar
1-1 1/2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
1/4 cup cilantro chopped

Put beans, peppers, onions, and garlic in a large mixing bowl.  In a smaller bowl whisk together vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until sugar is dissolved.  In a slow stream whisk in olive oil.  Depending on the strength of the vinegar you may need to adjust the amounts of oil and sugar slightly.  Once oil and vinegar are thoroughly mixed (in suspension), pour over beans.  Stir in cilantro and parsley.  The salad can be eaten right away, but it is more flavorful if you let it sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.    

Kathy

Chicken Enchiladas

We still had a lot of our home made salsa left over, so I decided the best thing to do was to make chicken enchiladas.  They aren't a 5 minute meal but they are so worth the effort!
 Alyssa made the guacamole while I made the enchilada filling.  Then she helped me roll the tortillas.  Her first few turned out a little bit short, but soon she was learning to make them long and skinny.  We also made up some quick Spanish rice (from a box) and refried beans.





Chicken Enchiladas

1 lb chicken diced into small cubes
2 cans enchilada sauce
1/2 pablano pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 can black beans drained
about 1-2 cups baby spinach rinsed and chopped
14 tortillas (depending on how full you fill each one)
shredded cheese (I use the Mexican style)
sour cream (I always use plain yogurt instead--the Greek style is especially yummy)
salsa

Fry the chicken in the pan until it starts to brown.  Add the drained beans, pepper, and garlic.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add about 1/2 of 1 can of enchilada sauce.  Cook down until sauce is thick, about another 5 minutes.  Add the spinach and cook until just wilted.  Add the about a cup of the shredded cheese.  Stir until melted.
Spread a couple tablespoons of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a rectangular baking pan.  Take a scoop of filling and lay it in a line on the tortilla.  Fold in the sides and then roll it tightly so it is long skinny roll.  Place in pan seam side down.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas, placing them tightly together.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tops and spread out to cover them.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese. I use about 1 1/2 cups of cheese, use more or less as you like.


Guacamole


2 ripe avocados diced
1 tomato diced
1/4 cup red onion diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
salt
pepper
jalapeno diced (optional)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped

Mash avocados until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.

Kathy  

Fajitas!

My son has been asking me to get out my new food processor.  He's only 6 but he loves to help me in the kitchen especially when it involves a cool appliance.  He loves our juicer too.  So when I decided yesterday to make fajitas, I figured it would be a great time to make some homemade salsa.  He put the processor together for me and locked everything into the right place, while I was still reading the directions.  I had to quarter the tomatoes quickly to keep up with his enthusiasm.  He tossed all the ingredients in, locked the top, and pushed the ON button.  Everything happened so fast....we almost had tomato soup.  I pushed stop and realized we should have used the "Pulse" feature instead of turning it on full.  Oh well I know that now.  Luckily I had a couple more tomatoes that I could throw in to give it a little more chunkiness.  He was happy with the results and then disappeared to go play a video game with his sisters.

Chicken Fajitas with salsa, guacamole, peppers and yogurt

Chicken Fajitas:


1 lb chicken breasts
1/2 cup cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1 lime


1/2 onion- thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper- thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper- thinly sliced
salt, pepper, and olive oil
Flour tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream (I use plain Greek yogurt instead).


Put cilantro, garlic, broth, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, lime juice and olive oil into small bowl of a food processor.  Whirl until smooth.  Rinse chicken, pat dry, and place in a bowl.  Pour cilantro sauce over chicken and let marinate for at least a half hour.   Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Saute peppers and onions in olive oil until soft and browned, about 12 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.  Remove from pan.  Place room temperature chicken in pan.  Cook until a nice golden brown crust forms and chicken is cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes depending on thickness of breasts.  Remove from pan and let rest.  Slice across grain into thin slices.  Warm tortillas wrapped in foil in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.  


Salsa:  

This made a huge amount of salsa.  You might want to cut the recipe in half.

  

Our soupy salsa, still yummy though :)

6 large tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 jalapeno seeded

1 tsp salt

Juice of one lime

1 cup cilantro

pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
Put all ingredients in a food processor and PULSE until chopped but still a chunky texture.


Kathy

     

Burgers with a Kick!

After my husband's knee surgery, he went through a spell where no food sounded good.  It was strange because he has always been the most adventurous eater. (This is also the reason for my lack of posts recently.) Then he began craving tomato basil soup.  Finally, almost 4 weeks later he has moved onto a craving for hamburgers.  So as I was walking through the grocery store trying to figure out how to make a better burger, an idea came to me.  I created Spicy Gruyere Gourmet Burgers. They were a hit with everyone except my son.  He opted for raw sliced button mushrooms and only nibbled at his burger.

Spicy Gruyere Gourmet Burgers

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/4 cup steak seasoning rub
Hamburger buns
Fresh herb salad
Tomatoes
Onion
Pickles
Preheat grill.  Put the beef in a bowl.  Mix the cheese, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the beef with your hands. Form into patties.  Pour steak seasoning into a shallow bowl.  Roll the edge of the burger in the seasoning.  Place on hot grill.  Cook until medium rare or to your liking. I cooked them about 5 minutes on my panini grill which was just a touch too long for me. Add tomatoes, onion, a handful of herb salad and enjoy!

Kathy  

Sri Lankan Curry and Dal

Sri Lankan style Beef Curry and Dal

I got lost in the cookbook section of the library the other day.  There were so many books calling out to me, wanting to be read.  Books with brilliant colors of exotic lands, beautiful people, and their edible works of art.  I wished I could bring them all home, but I thought I better leave some books on the shelf for the next wandering soul.
Mangoes and Curry Leaves, Culinary Travels Through the Great Sub-Continent by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, jumped out at me.  A couple of years ago my husband and I traveled in India and ever since, I have been fascinated with the region.  The book took me back to the gates of the Taj Mahal and I could hardly wait to start cooking.  For our 51st Foreign Food Fest, we chose to travel south from Agra to experience the rich coco-nutty flavors of  Sri Lankan Beef Curry and Dal.

Sri Lankan Beef Curry adapted from Mangoes and Curry Leaves


11/2 pounds beef stew meat sliced across grain into bite size chunks
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 onion chopped
1 green chile
3 cloves garlic chopped
3 cups water
4 chopped prunes--here the original recipe calls for Tamarind pulp
11/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp Demerra sugar
1 T coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 cinnamon stick-about 1/2 inch
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
Cilantro chopped

Brown beef in olive oil.  Add onions, salt, and chile.  Cook until onions begin to soften about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add water to cover meat and add chopped prunes.  (I didn't have any tamarind pulp, I chose prunes as a substitute for their sweetness and fibrous texture.  I'm sure it didn't give quite the same flavor but for us it had to do.)  Bring to a boil, cover and turn heat down.  Simmer for 1-2 hours or until beef is tender.  While beef is simmering, mix coriander, cumin, and cardamom seeds with cinnamon stick and gently heat in a dry frying pan.  Heat until seeds release their fragrance, only a minute or  two.  At this point I was supposed to grind the seeds into a powder, but the mortar and pestle grinder that I had ordered 2 months ago still had not arrived so I tried smashing them with the back of a spoon.  (That did not work too well, mostly the seeds jumped out of the bowl I had them in.  I just put them into the curry mostly whole).  Add the coconut milk and spices to the beef.  Let simmer uncovered for about another 30 minutes or until the liquid thickens slightly.  Stir in sugar and add more salt if needed.  Add chopped cilantro and serve over hot basmati rice.

Sri Lankan Dal adapted from Mangoes and Curry Leaves


1 cup red lentils
4 cups water
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot finely chopped
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander
2 red chiles
11/2 cups coconut milk
red pepper flakes- optional
2 tsp salt
cilantro for garnish

Rinse and drain lentils.  Put in pot with water and 1 tsp of salt.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer about 20 minutes.  Add more water if necessary.  In a separate frying pan, saute shallots in a little olive oil.  Add  garlic, curry powder, coriander, and chiles. I only added 2 chiles here because my son has a low tolerance for spicy foods, but next time I would add 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper to give it a little kick.  Cook only for a minute or two until fragrant.  Pour in coconut milk. I love the flavor of coconut milk, so I pour it with a heavy hand.  Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.  Add the coconut milk mixture to the lentils and continue to cook on low until the lentils have lost their shape and have the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Add up to 1 tsp of salt if needed.  Garnish with chopped cilantro.  Serve with rice or naan. *Ryan was rather skeptical of the Dal, but once he could eat it on naan he was ok with it. (He loves bread from any culture!)

Check out Naomi Duguid's website at http://www.immersethrough.com/ and her blog  at http://naomiduguid.blogspot.com/

Kathy

Hometown Russian Adventure

My friend Lily inspired a dinner from Russia this week.  I decided to make Borscht.  She told me I had to go to a nearby Russian grocery store for a special dark bread that is a delicious accompaniment to the hearty soup.  I took the kids with me.  At first they didn't want to come in.  "Can't we stay in the car?" They asked.  I told them they might find some interesting items in there.  Alyssa decided it might be fun and eagerly headed for the door.  Jessica and Ryan dragged their feet, but they came in.  Once inside they perked right up.  I heard, "ooh look at this.  Can we try this mom?"  I told them they could each pick out 1 item to try.  I found the dark bread called Borodynsky and put it in our basket.  The kids immediately found the freezer section displaying different types of filled dumplings.  We picked a package of chicken filled perogies.  We looked through every aisle examining different packages to see the beautiful Russian script and guessing at the contents inside.  We ended our Russian grocery trip in the chocolate area where we grabbed a big bar of dark chocolate for our dessert.

Jessica learning how to chop Borscht veggies 

Borscht

1 celery stick diced
1 carrot diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 large head green cabbage shredded
2 medium sized beets diced
64 oz beef or vegetable broth
About 4 cups water
1/4 red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
olive oil
Parsley chopped
plain yogurt or sour cream

Finished Borscht with dollop of yogurt

Heat olive oil in a pot.  Add celery and carrots and cook for a couple minutes.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.  Pour in beef broth, cabbage, beets, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and let simmer until cabbage is very tender 1-2 hours.  Add water as necessary to keep cabbage fully covered.  Add chopped parsley.  Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top and a piece of toasted Borodynsky bread (if you are lucky enough to have a Russian grocery store nearby).






Mushroom, Wheat Berry, and Brussel Sprout Salad


1 cup wheat berries

Brussel Sprouts, Wheat Berries and Mushrooms

 

2 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 shallots chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
10 Brussel sprouts halved
4 oz wild mushrooms chopped
1 tsp sherry
1/4 cup water
 salt and pepper

Prepare wheat berries in salted water according to package directions.  If water is evaporated and they are still tough add more water and continue cooking until they begin to be tender.  Saute shallots in olive oil add wild mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms and Brussel sprouts until they start to brown.  If needed add a little more olive oil.  Add sherry to the 1/4 cup of water and pour into mushroom mixture.  Add cooked wheat berries, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Simmer until liquid is almost all absorbed and serve.

Borodynsky bread, Chicken Perogies, Wheat Berry Salad and Borscht-- a Russian delight! 

Kathy