African Chicken Peanut Stew

I had this recipe in my recipe queue (along with the 100 others I'll never end up making) and decided to finally commit to making it. There are a few versions on the internets, and I chose the easier of the two to start with.

• 2-3 pounds chicken legs, thighs and/or wings
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil (I just use olive oil)
• 1 large yellow or white onion, sliced
• A 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
• 6-8 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
• 2-3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock (I just made broth from Bullion cubes)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup roasted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
• Salt and black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

This recipe is definitely out of my comfort zone, and that's what drew me to it.  I didn't have sweet potatoes (I can't bring myself to like them), and used red instead. The recipe turned out AMAZING. Normally, I hate the word amazing because I feel it's overused. But this stuff truly was. Spectacular. One of the best things I've ever made. it went a little something like this.

Ginger is beautiful..on the inside.

I used white onion in this, but you could use yellow, and it'd work just as good. I dare say even red onion would be the best, and I will use it next time.

I also chopped up a whole bunch of garlic, and let it out to play with some ginger.

Ah. Potatoes.

I use bone in, skinless chicken thighs for this. The recipe calls for browning the chicken first. I'm not sure this is a necessary step, because it's going to get shredded up inside the stew. But I did it anyways, because cooking things and hearing them sizzle pleases me. I did not include a picture of this, because really...it's chicken cooking in a skillet. That's it. But just so you know...that's what I did! I also made chicken broth from bullion cubes during the browning process.

After removing the chicken, I did this thing. I saved half of my garlic/ginger combination for later, because I've learned that adding spices (especially salt) towards the end is more effective in producing flavor.

I'm convinced there are few things more fulfilling than a saute of onions and garlic. Ginger, salt and pepper went in there too.

I sweated them out a bit, then added potatoes for a few minutes to get them all nice and coated. Is this a potatoes idea of...fragrance? Eau De Aromatics? Ignore me.

After that, the stewing process begins. I added in the chicken broth, tomatoes, the chicken thighs (whole), peanut butter, coriander, and some cayenne. The recipe calls for roasted peanuts, but instead I cheated and just used extra crunchy peanut butter.

 Let's just say that the overall look of it at first was...not cute! I took a pic anyways, but I let it all mix together and cook down a few minutes before I took this one and decided to post it instead. Trust me, it was the right thing to do.

Simmer that stuff, and walk away. I go back and stir every 10 min or so, and don't even begin to taste test it until around the 30-45 minute mark. Every time I taste a soup/slow cook type-thing before that point, I mess it up by adding too many things. Soups/sauces/chili/stews take tiiiime. Slow your roll, baby.

After tasting it around the 45 min mark, I added some more black pepper and coriander. Then let it bubble awhile longer, before removing the chicken to shred it.

Here's the chicken, all ready for shredding!

Throw the shredded chicken back into the pot, only after eating some of it beforehand.

I then added: more salt, more cayenne and a dash more coriander. I just let it simmer maybe 10 more minutes to get all the flavors together, then I do this.

So maybe there's a cherry kool-aid ring stain on my island. SO WHAT.

It turned out thicker than I thought, so I added some jasmine rice. Good move, if I can say so myself. (But I forgot the cilantro.)

Overall: It turned out awesome. It has sweetness, so distinct you'd think there was coconut milk in it. The peanuts were not as abundant as I'd hoped, but they do pop a bit under your teeth. The coriander adds brightness to mellow some of that creamy sweet peanut butter, and the black and cayenne pepper give a healthy backbone of heat. The only drawback was that it could have been better with sweet potatoes (did I just SAY that?), or even russets, since red potatoes get creamy if they cook for a significant amount of time. It definitely had awesome ethnic flavor to it, and I think I could make people happy with this dish.

Regardless. Success!

Peasant Mac and Cheese

Back in the day, when everything was so simplistically segregated, there were peasants. Nowadays, I think that's probably most people. Whoever you are, you should totally doctor up your box of Mac and Cheese when you make it. Except if you're rich. Do rich people eat mac and cheese?

Disclaimer:
I use Mac and Cheese from a box in this recipe. The sauce kind, with all those terrible ingredients. That's right.

When I make this, I accept no substitute to cheese sauce. This stuff is some brand from Aldi's. It's identical to Velveeta. If you're the kind of person who prefers the powder kind, this recipe might not work for you. Why? Because powder mac and cheese is wack.

I like to sort of kind of have a guideline to what I'm gonna be putting in there.

Yes, I use mustard in my mac and cheese. To make it extra peasant-ey, yellow mustard only!

It starts to happen. Then I walk away to go harvest some peas off my masters land (ssshh don't tell.) Then I throw 'em in about a minute before I drain it.

Drain it. Then, dump a whole can of tuna into the thing, while simultaneously ignoring the green cast my green oven light projects over my cooking endeavors.

Money shot; liquid gold. Although I usually refer to Reposado as liquid gold. Where am I?

Because the shit ton of black pepper I put on it wasn't enough.

I always find more stuff to put in there. Most times, it's green onion.

The best, final part.

I told you! What's better than mustard boobs?

What stuff do you use to gussy up your Mac and Cheese?!

Favorites: Vol. 2

It makes more sense to do a favorites in volumes, since there's no structure to the posting order. Besides that I am planning to do these monthly, and there will be 5 favorites per volume. So let's get to it!

1. My 10.5 inch T-Fal Stainless Steel Skillet

Every cook needs a decent skillet. I stray away from non-stick cookware, because frankly they don't make sense to me, and the quality of other materials (stainless steel, cast iron, even aluminum) seems better and longer lasting. And here's the deal: use a bit of fat in your cooking (butter, oil), and your food will never stick. When I first went to purchase a skillet, I did a mega ton of research, searching high and low for the perfect one. Since I planned to do more than just sauteing things, it was important for me to get something that could handle a good amount of food. The sides on this one are a bit higher, so it's more "all purpose" than some skillets i looked at. It has a copper bottom, and is oven safe. For a first skillet, and for a hobbyist cook such as myself, it's the perfect thing!

Here it is, with stir fry. Granted a wok is always going to be the best thing for a nice hot stir fry, a saute of veggies, protein and sauce works beautifully here.

Here it is with a chicken skillet dish I did on a whim. Chicken thighs, butter, dry sherry, salt and pepper, parsley, italian seasoning, mushrooms and a bit of lemon juice.

Do you have a skillet? If so, what kind?

http://www.amazon.com/T-fal-C8360564-Stainless-Mult-layer-Dishwasher/dp/B002HWRUES/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top


 2. Coriander

Can you believe I've never cooked with coriander before last week? I made African Chicken Peanut Stew (which I will post here soon, it was amazing), which calls for a healthy amount of coriander. I'm sure most of us who like to eat Indian and Asian food have tasted coriander. At first, I struggled to describe it. It is often compared to cilantro, which I find to be untrue. Coriander is bright but rich, and very herbal. It's scent reminds me of essential oils one may use in Aromatherapy. While it is a distinct scent and flavor, it isn't as distinct or strong as a curry, making it more versatile. I can see myself experimenting with this as a secret spice, whenever I want to brighten up a dish and also add depth to it. The link below describes it as lemon, sage, and caraway, which is the best way I can think to descrtibe it myself.

http://www.food.com/library/coriander-17


3. Lemon Storage Container thingie

What can be said about this thing? If you're a little lemon crazy like me, this is a must have. I got tired of wasting plastic bags on lemons, and found this in a dollar store one day. You might think the lemons dry up in this, but I don't find that they dry out any more than normal, even in a plastic bag. There are a lot of these types of containers out there, for tomatoes, onions, peppers!

 Sometimes limes go in there too. I'm a rebel!

4. Barkeeper's Friend

Speaking of skillets, one of the kind of pain in the ass thing about them is that you must care for them properly. It doesn't require a ton of maintenence, but I learned pretty fast that using soap will only leave a white residue on your skillet. So I recalled when a friend of mine had a can of barkeeper's friend to clean out his kitchen sink, which is porcelain. The sink was pretty well stained, but after a good wipe down with this stuff, it was gleaming whiter than Ryan Seacrest's teeth. I use it primarily for cleaning my skillet, and like it because it is very gentle and not abrasive. All I do is use about a teaspoon of this into the skillet, mix in a little hot water, and wipe it with a paper towel. You should not scrub your skillets with anything abrasive, as it can upset the material. This stuff can be used for pretty much anything, and is great for tough and delicate jobs alike!

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com

5. Asahi!

I like my beer like I like my humor. Dry, dry, dry. As the cold winter drags on here, I like to do a little fantasizing that it's nice, and I am sipping an Asahi on a patio somewhere. Who says I'm not imaginative? Plus, their advertising is awesome.

http://www.asahibeerusa.com/

There's my favorites for the month! Do you have any food/kitchen related items you swear by, are diggin right now, or have just discovered?

Things I won from Sam the Cooking Guy.

A few years ago, I discovered a cooking show on Discovery Health (pre-Oprah) called Just Cook This! The guy was Sam, and his food was focused on simplicity with big flavor, and a nod towards healthy eating. He also cooked in his own kitchen in his own home, with one camera man. It was unconventional, unique, and totally relatable. He coined himself Sam the Cooking Guy, and after the show ended I moved on and didn't hear much about Sam anymore.

Fast forward to 2 months ago, I thought of Just Cook This! and turned to good old Google. Low and behold, I found out he had been doing a Livecast from his home for at least a year!  By the time I caught up with him, the Livecast had ended, but he still makes pre-recorded shows. I ate it up, and became a renewed fan quickly.

In one episode, Sam offered a We Olive giveaway. The contestant had to leave a review and rating on iTunes, and winners would be selected randomly to receive We Olive items. I decided to participate and after a week of anticipation, I was announced the first winner! I did a dance around my living room, and received the items a week later. So here they are, and here's what I did with 'em.

Fancy, right?

These two items are very much a yin and yang dynamic for me, since balsamic can easily overpower, but I am kind of crazy about anything lemon. For my first experiment, I wanted to let these guys shine on otherwise blank slates. So I decided to use the Lemon Olive Oil as a base for a salad dressing, and the Balsamic would go towards Balsamic Roasted Red Potatoes.

I've never made Balsamic potatoes before, so I followed a recipe merely as a guide. First, I quartered (or more) about 6 red potatoes and put them into a baking dish. Next, I made a basic dressing for the potatoes which consisted of olive oil, salt. pepper, green onion, 2 cloves of finely minced garlic, and some italian seasoning.

Into the potatoes, tossed around. (and my Siamese, Frida, trying to get in on that action.)

The recipe said to add more salt and the balsamic at the very end of the cooking process, so into a 400 degree oven they went, as I moved on to my salad.

I was going to do a review on these, but well...it's lettuce. There isn't a lot to say about these, except I think it's a cool way to offer different kinds of lettuce in one package.

There are 4 sections with individual..lettuces in each one! So I did a bunch of chopping and came up with this:

I added some baby spinach, chopped carrots, grape tomato, cucumbers and yes green onions. I sprinkled some walnuts on top, because I like them on my salads.

I've been experimenting lately with making my own salad dressings. The concept of making them is easy, but I've found that perfecting them is quite difficult. I decided that I wanted to use my Lemon Olive Oil as a base.

2 cloves of minced garlic waited patiently for the oil to join it, along with some salt and pepper. Since I'm incapable of leaving things be, I had to add one of my favorite condiments I add to almost anything. (except maybe ice cream.)

I whisk everything together with a fork to emulsify it a bit, and tasted it. You must taste your dressing as you make it, as ratios are key here. I always think of oil based dressings the same way I think of stir fry sauce, in that they should taste quite strong to your palette on their own. This way, when the food absorbs it, it won't come out bland. Thus far, it needed something, so I had to add another staple of mine.

Just a splash. I didn't even use up the little amount that was left in the bottle. You could add almost any vinegar to a dressing if you want to make it zippy. You could add sugar. You could add almost anything to make a tasty vinaigrette. I like to add lots of black pepper, or even cayenne for heat. I chose not to use balsamic since I wanted to taste them on their own, in separate dishes.

(money shot + I may or may not have added grated parmesan to my salad along the way. :-o )

One thing I've found with oil based dressings is to really use a light hand with them. They aren't like bottled vinaigrettes, and just a little bit of oil will really coat your salad well.

Now, onto the Balsamic.

(the We Olive spout is really cool!)

I took my potatoes out, and admittedly really had no idea how much balsamic to use. I measured out a little less than 1/4 cup...then used 1/2 of that. I tossed the potatoes with it and some salt, and then smelled it to try and gauge if it needed more. The bite of the vinegar scent tingled a bit, but I added a splash more, tossed again and popped them back in for 10 more minutes.

I also added more green onions, and few shakes of parsley.

10 minutes later, they were sizzling and soft. I was ready to try it out.

Roasted potatoes are pretty much never bad. These were a fine, basic potato roast, but the balsamic was lacking. Good thing you can always add more instead of taking away, so I even ended up adding a few more splashes to the bowl.

Overall, I found the lemon oil to be lovely. There's a good harmony between the light and freshness of the lemon, and the earthy, fruity flavor of a good quality olive oil. I can see myself using it for many things, such as a chicken and veggie roast (potatoes...carrots....red peppers....chicken thighs!), as a lemon sauce for pasta, a finishing oil on a shrimp saute...!

The balsamic is on the sweet side, so I didn't care for it as much with potatoes. I like my potatoes to be garlicy and salty, spicy and maybe a little lemony. I will have to experiment more with the balsamic to find more uses for it. Any ideas?

Thank you so much to Sam and Max for these lovely little gifts. It made my foodie heart soar, and my palette too.

Check out Sam here! He has tons of recipes that you could make, and I promise you will end up loving at least one of them.

Maria's Cafe: South Minneapolis

Mr. C and I were awake one early Wednesday morning, and decided that our hunger took precedence over our laziness. When I asked for ideas of where we should eat breakfast, I got the fastest, most decisive answer from Mr. C I have ever received; Maria's Cafe. I will admit I was skeptical at first, uneasy being out of my comfort zone. But I offered my welcome to his swift decision in the form of restraint, and off we went.

Maria's is a reticent little cafe in South Minneapolis, in the Phillips Neighborhood, and is of Colombian origin. Not as flat as a greasy spoon, not especially resplendent, but welcome and thoughtful. Many people report it being quite full most the time, but Mr. C and I had our choice of seating in the moderate, carpeted dining room. Maria's is most famous for their corn pancakes (Cachapas Venezolanas, which the optional addition of Cotija cheese), which Mr. C ordered 2 of without hesitation. I opted for the breakfast of 2 fried eggs, american fries, and wild rice toast.!

The service was fine, pretty standard for a cafe. The coffee kept coming, and the server was friendly. Our food came out in appropriate time.

Cachapas Venezolanas

At first, I wasn't sure if these would live up to the hype. And then I took a bite. At first I saw a pancake, so I kinda-sorta expected the sweet and starchy pancake flavor. But take away the traditional pancake sweet, add the natural sweetness of corn, combine with savory butter on top, and you have yourself an almost perfect unity of flavors. The total consummation happens with little bits of yellow corn sprinkled throughout. If you wanted to take it over the edge, you can add syrup. In my summation, this simple pancake is almost the perfect food.

Two Eggs, Wild Rice Toast, and American Fries

I can't think of anything else to say about this, besides that it is an absolute breakfast. Little chewy flecks of wild rice add a very nice texture to the toast, the eggs were perfectly cooked, and the american fries were crispy and hot.

Overall, I was very impressed with Maria's Cafe. They offer simple, yet thoughtful food. I am curious to try the South African burger and the plantain pancakes..!









  

Review: Priano Frozen Stuffed Shells (from Aldi's)

Pros:
Easy
Cheap
Tasty
Low fat/low cal per serving size

Cons:
For it being a frozen item costing $1.99, None.

On a recent food adventure, I decided to re-visit Aldi's. Aldi's is a chain that focuses on being budget friendly. The structure doesn't follow your typical name brand/store brand that you see in many grocery stores. Aldi's purchases products by partnering with different select brands. This helps them build relationships and purchasing power to keep retail prices lower. Also, they sell grocery bags for 10 cents a apiece. If you don't want to buy one, you have to bring your own bags. I personally find this beneficial, since I accumulate a lot of bags from shopping at other places that end up sitting around my house, eventually becoming cat toys. Aldi's also does not employ cart personnel. Carts are chained together, offering a quarter-slot mechanism that releases the end cart when the quarter is inserted. Some people get wound up about having to use a quarter to get a cart, but you get your quarter back when you return it. Pretty clever, and very telling on how fiercely people feel about twenty five cents..!

As a person who has a pretty limited budget for spending overall, one thing I almost never do is buy myself packaged, frozen foods. The only freezer items I buy are the occasional frozen pizza, some frozen veggies (peas!), and some frozen dinners for work. So when I saw these for only $1.99, I snatched them up immediately!

They come 8 to the bag, with a whopping 170 calories and 4.5 grams of fat for 2 shells. I had a friend come over to test them out on an icy cold MN evening.

I decided to keep the preparation simple with these in order to focus on the shells themselves. There are 2 methods of cooking these, either baking or in the microwave. My guest provided a jar of tomato sauce, and a tomato. So we decided to simply place some tomato on top, layer the bottom of the baking dish wiith sauce, and sprinkle a boatload of shredded parmesan cheese on top (also courtesy of my lovely guest, who loves cheese and salt more than me.) The only extra addition was some basil sprinkled on top.

The instructions say to bake for 40-50 min, covered loosely in foil. I had no foil, so I just decided to cook it for 40 min with the dish cover on, then uncover and cook for 10 min. I did all that, and this happened.

RIGHT?!

We each grabbed a few shells and went to town. I was pleasantly surprised at the abundancy of the cheese,and the toothiness to the pasta. The baking process cooked them nicely, and even one shell was satisfying. The jarred pasta sauce added an average tomato sauce flavor to them, as pasta sauces tend to do when not doctored up with something or another. The tomatoes on top were the pleasant surprise. Tangy, soft tomatoes that melt in your mouth along with all the creamy ricotta cheese. Pretty good.

The only thing I would do different next time (because there will be a next time where I buy like 3 bags of these) would be to pair them with a more flavorful sauce.  Traditionally, shells are served with tomato sauce. But I could see a light pesto, or even an olive oil/garlic/mushroom sauce being added to these towards the end of the baking process.

I would also eat them off a plate, with a fork and knife, rather than a bowl with just a fork. Like a civilized person.

The only possible drawback about these vs. making them on your own is that you could make many different variations of cheese stuffing. I think Ricotta + goat cheese, blended with garlic and basil would be awesome. So while the creativity aspect is absent, as with many frozen items, the quality is there regardless.

Buy some!

  

http://www.aldi.us/index_ENU_HTML.htm

February Favorites!

I got this idea (which may or may not have come from a certain guilty pleasure of mine) to start doing a favorites blog. Do you have food or kitchen related items that you swear by? I do! Here are my 5 favorites that I would like to highlight for this month.

1. Amore Tomato Paste

This was introduced to me by a teacher of a cooking class I took a few years ago. I've never been fond of canned tomato paste. I think most recipes that call for it, can do without it. Apparently someone else agreed once upon a time, and invented tomato paste in a tube. Since it's pretty concentrated, I use 1/4 or 1/2 a tube at a time when making spaghetti sauces, right at the end of the cooking process. It adds a little depth and texture, without being pasty and tinny like the canned stuff. The coolest thing is that it's cheap. The 2nd coolest thing about it is that it comes in different varieties, such as pesto paste and sun-dried tomato paste. Go buy some!

http://www.amorebrand.com/products

2. Rice Vinegar

Sure you can get a big plastic tub of white vinegar for like a buck. Which is good if you use it for different things, such as cleaning. I like to use rice vinegar mainly for vinaigrettes, stir fry sauce, and chicken adobo, so a small bottle will last me awhile. It's a little sweeter than regular vinegar, and adds a sweet zip to almost anything. This time I have the Kikkoman brand, but I'm assuming most of them are pretty much the same.

3. Bamboo Spoons

This was another cooking class discovery. I can't imagine why any cook/foodie/whatever who knows about these would use regular wooden spoons. They're cheap, they're lightweight, but sturdy. They clean up with no effort, and will probably last me forever  I've had these for around 2 years, and have put them to good use. These were a gift to me, but they were around $2 apiece! I use them for everything, even for very hot stir frying.

4. Wasabi Peas

Once upon a time, I was sorely close minded about wasabi. Then I discovered sushi, and wasabi wasn't too far behind. This is probably my favorite snack for 3 reasons: they're crunchy, you can control how hot you want them by focusing them to either the tip or the back of your tongue, and because well, I love peas. Horseradish, I'm not sold on yet. Which may come off as an insult to most Minnesotans, but c'mon! Minnesota, the land where ketchup is too spicy, but horseradish is pretty much worshipped. You can't be trusted!

5. Velveeta (or any cheese sauce brand. Aldi's has a good one) Mac and Cheese

I'm not above it. (and you can add so many things to it. Mac and cheese BENDER.)

Do you have favorites?