Fake Chicken Vindaloo

I don't claim to be a food expert at all, but I know what tastes good to me and what doesn't. For those of you who are experts, good for you and don't chastise this Vindaloo recipe. I did say it was fake. For those of you who have no idea what Vindaloo is...awesome! I know you won't judge me. Regardless of how accurate this recipe is, it's tasty if you are looking for something rich and curryish. This recipes comes from The Food in my Beard and is meant to be eaten in arepas. However, LSH and I decided to eat it over rice. Eat it however you want. This Vindaloo comes together pretty quickly and can be easily adapted. The measurements I will put for this recipe are approximate. I'm pretty sure I ended up adding way more curry powder and some other assorted spices. I also added potatoes. I made this own a while ago and we decided that potatoes would make it even better and they sure did. Play with it and make it your own!

Time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients
2 sliced onions
2 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
3-5 chiles, depending on what heat you want, sliced (I used whatever was frozen in my freezer..I think jalapenos and Thai chiles were involved...)
Ginger (the original post recommends fresh, but I used powdered) - use however much you are comfortable with
5 cloves of minced garlic
4 chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth (or enough to cover the chicken breasts in a pan)
1-2 potatoes diced
Hot cooked rice

Start with a deep skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the onions and soften them. As delicious as caramelized onions are, don't let them get to this point. Add in the curry powder, chiles, ginger, and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until everything is softened and mixed. Throw the whole mixture in a food processor or blender and transform it into a paste. It's ok if there are still some chunks. It's up to personal preference. At this point you can try it and see if it needs more of something.

Sear both sides of the chicken breasts in the skillet. Add in the paste and cook for about 2 minutes still over medium heat. Pour in the chicken broth until the chicken is covered. You might use all of the 2 cups, you might need more, you might need less. Just cover those breasts... Stir it all around until the sauce smoothens out.

Add in the potatoes and simmer the lovely mixture until the chicken is completely cooked through and the taters are soft.


Add this point you can do what you want with the chicken. I took it out, shredded it, and then tossed it back into the sauce and we ate it over rice. Deliciousness...

Original post at http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/2011/01/chicken-vindaloo-arepa.html

Cold Night Coconut Curry Soup

I've been wanted to make this recipe for a while because it just sounded good. Tonight was the perfect night for soup. It is absolutely freezing outside! This soup is warm, slightly thick, and has some heat. It was the best choice for tonight because it was very easy to make and came together quickly. This soup came from a blog I have already referenced once here. This soup came from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and I would definitely give it a try. I made some alterations to the recipe and it got even better. Oh, and there are pictures for this recipe! They aren't very good, because photography is not my thing, but there are pictures!

Time: 30-40 minutes
Ingredients
 2 Tbsp olive oil
 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast (2-3), cut into 1-inch pieces
 salt and pepper
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1-1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder (depend on how much curry flavor you want)
1/2 Tbsp jalapeno curry powder (we used this and it was delicious)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 cups hot rice

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot. Pat the chicken pieces dry and season them with salt and pepper while the oil gets nice and hot. When the oil is shiny, throw in the chicken pieces and let cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring a bit. Add in the bell pepper and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until the veggies are tender. The chicken does not need to fully cook in this step.

Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, cayenne pepper, curry powder, and brown sugar. Stir it up and bring it to a simmer. Let the soup simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the broth has thickened.

Stir in the lime juice. The original recipe called for a bit of cilantro but we don't typically keep that so I sprinkled in a bit of parsley on top. Serve the soup on top of a bit of hot rice and warm up!

 Original soup recipe at http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/01/coconut-curry-soup.html.
Check out this blog for great recipes!

Southwest Chicken and Rice: One-Pot Version

So the bad news is that I'm still waiting for my cord for my camera to come in so I can actually use it. The good news is that we I tried making another recipe and it was a success! This recipe came from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and is one that LSH said he would be interested in when I showed it to him. This blog is definitely worth checking out. I've tried several recipes and they have all been great! This chicken and rice dish was described by LSH as a Mexican stew. It is a very mushy chicken and rice dish but it is pretty good and flavorful and definitely lends itself to variations. It's also got some good nutritional value which is a bonus. This isn't typically my type of dish (I was planning to make Coconut Curry Soup for dinner, but LSH had a change of stomach...some other time this week though) but I actually really like this. As long as you are OK with a mushyish texture and you like typical southwest flavors, you will enjoy it. It's also great because it is a one-pot meal. Everything is cooked in one pot which cuts down on dishes and ups the flavor. A meal that comes together pretty quickly, requires little effort, has nutritional value, and tastes good? Sounds perfect to me!
Edit: Made this again tonight and now I have pictures to go with it!

Serves 4-6
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (2ish lbs)
Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
Vegetable oil
1 yellow onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp cumin (LSH isn't a huge cumin fan so this is cut down for us)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (we like a little heat :D)
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 15 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 cup frozen corn (more or less)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
4 oz cheese (we used monterey and colby jack cheeses)
Salsa
Fresh cilantro (optional: we didn't use it)

Start by patting the chicken dry and seasoning the breasts with a little salt and pepper and cayenne (if desired). In a large pot (choose the right size because you will be cooking this whole dish in it) and coat the bottom with olive oil. When oil is shimmering, put in the chicken breasts. Let them cook about 3-5 minutes on each side to get some color on them. You don't want them to fully cook in this step. When both sides are browned, remove the chicken and set it aside.

Throw the onion into the remaining oil and stir it around with a dash of salt. Cook it on medium heat until tender, stirring to mix in any browned bits from the pan. Stir in the garlic, cumin, chile powder, and cayenne pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30ish seconds.

Next mix in the rice. Once the edges of the rice are starting to look translucent (as much as you can tell through the delicious coating of spices) add in the 4 cups of chicken broth (or 4 cups of water and 4 bouillon cubes if you are like me). Stir in the broth and bring the pot to a simmer.

Once simmering, add in the chicken breasts. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through. It takes about 20-25 minutes. After about 15-20 minutes, add in the bell pepper. You can time this addition by how crispy you want the pepper to stay. Give the mixture a stir everyone in a while. I time it with my stomach growls...

Once everything is cooked, remove the chicken and do what you want with it. The original recipe says to leave it whole and serve the rice on the side. I shredded the chicken and returned it to the pot which was delicious. It's up to you. With the chicken removed, stir in the black beans and the corn. Once they are warmed, stir in the cheese and keep stirring until it gets that gooey, mushy, melty appearance...that's how you know it's ready. At this point you can add your chicken back in and spoon it into a bowl, or you can scoop some rice on a plate next to the chicken as a side. Top it with whatever your heart desires. We went with salsa for that extra layer of flavor. I would definitely recommend that.

This is all there is to this recipe. It may seem involved, but it's not. Chop everything ahead of time and this meal comes together in no time.

Original post from Mels Kitchen Cafe at http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/08/one-pot-southwest-chicken-and-rice.html