Category Archives: main courses

Roast Paprika Chicken wif Sweet Onion

easy, main courses, winter

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into serving pieces
* 1 sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

Preparation

Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in upper third.

Mix oil with spices, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl, then add chicken and onion, tossing to coat. Arrange chicken, skin side up, and onion in a 3-quart shallow baking dish.

Bake until chicken is just cooked through and skin is golden, about 30 minutes. Skim any fat from pan juices in dish.

Fish Amok

fish, main courses

Ingredients:

  • 1 pot of Amok powder
  • 500 gm fish
  • 600 gm coconut milk
  • 25g sugar
  • 2g sat
  • 1 egg
  • 30g fish/soy sauce
  • 20g garlic
  • 40g red garlic

Preparation:
In a bowl, stir the Amok Powder, sugar, salt, fish sauce, egg, and garlics, mixing thoroughly. Then add coconut milk and mix.

Put fish meat in mixture and let sit for 15 mins. Steam in a pot for 30 mins. Serve hot with rice.

Serves 4-6

Sausages With French Green Lentils

main courses

Sausage with lentils: A feast from France’s heartland

The Au P’tit Bistro is a smoke-filled, bare-bones cafe in the French village of Saint-Martin-Valmeroux, said David McAninch in Saveur. Here, in the mountainous Auvergne region, the food seems almost like “a pure, distilled culinary embodiment of Frenchness.” Dishes are prepared simply, the way they always have been, and every meal expresses the notion that it’s “downright righteous to eat and drink richly every day.”

Sausages with French green lentils is a classic regional specialty, usually prepared with saucisse d’Auvergne, a type of fresh pork sausage that’s hard to find in the United States. Sweet Italian sausages are a fine substitute. Simmering them in wine deepens their flavor and helps keep them moist.
Continue reading Sausages With French Green Lentils →

Short Ribs Braciole

main courses, taste unknown, winter

A ‘stick-to-your-ribs’ dish, Italian-style

Chef Andrew Carmellini confesses that, even after he became a professional chef, he never knew what braciole referred to. Then one day, while he was working at New York’s Café Boulud, a cook made it for a “family” meal, using his grandmother’s recipe—rolled-up flank steak with provolone cheese, prosciutto, and hard-boiled eggs, braised in tomato sauce.

Later, while traveling in Italy, Carmellini searched for braciole dishes and found only one—a version made with horse meat that was displayed in a butcher’s window in Puglia. In his new cookbook, Urban Italian (Bloomsbury), the chef-proprietor of New York’s A Voce admits that his version may be less than authentic. “But this dish is great in the depths of winter: real stick-to-your-ribs stuff, if you’ll excuse the pun.”
Continue reading Short Ribs Braciole →

Ma-Po Tofu

main courses, winter

Recipe: Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Ingredients:

  • 1 block silken tofu (19 oz box)
  • 1/4 lb ground pork
  • 3 tablespoons Sichuan spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 3 tablespoons chili oil
  • 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground to powder)
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fermented black beans (rinsed and pounded)
  • 2 stalks of leeks or scallions (chopped into 1 or 2-inch length)
  • 2 gloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the tofu into small pieces, drain the water from the tofu and set aside. Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil and chili oil. Add the chopped garlic, ground pork, spicy bean paste and stir-fry until the pork is half-done. Then add in chili powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the tofu and water; stir gently to blend the tofu (don’t break them) well with the sauce. Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions. Gently stir and blend well. Dish out and serve hot.

Cook’s notes:

  1. To tone down the numbing spiciness of this dish, use less roasted sichuan peppercorn powder, chili powder, and chili oil. Adjust them to fit your palate.

From: http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2007/09/recipe-ma-po-tofu.html

Caldillo – Chile Verde Con Carne

main courses, soup, winter

yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 stalks celery cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons meat seasoning (1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon ground celery seed, 1/2 teaspoon salt)
  • 1/2 cup prepared basic green chile
  • 1 pound beef stew meat or 1 pound pork butt
  • Water to cover
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Add stew meat to a large casserole and cover with water. Bring to a boil and remove any film or residue from the surface. Turn down to a simmer and cook for ten minutes.

Add onion, tomato, celery, meat seasoning, and basic green chile and continue cooking over low heat, just above a simmer. When meat begins to become fork tender (about 1 hour) add carrots and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

Just before serving, add potatoes, adjust seasoning, and serve when potatoes are cooked through.

Winter Squash and Chicken Stew with Indian Spices

main courses, soup, vegetables

yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 6 chicken thighs, skin removed
  • 1 1/3 cups chopped onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 4 cups 1-inch pieces peeled butternut or acorn squash
  • 2 cups 1-inch pieces peeled russet potatoes
  • 1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
  • 1 14 1/2- to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes with liquid
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to Dutch oven; sauté until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in same pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, cumin, and cinnamon; stir 1 minute. Return chicken to pot. Add squash, potatoes, broth and tomatoes. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and liquid is slightly reduced, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Paella

main courses

From Victor Vargas-Vincent at GDS

Serves 25 people

Ingredients

  • 12 half chicken breasts
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 large green pepper, sliced
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp of Spanish paprika
  • 6 cups of Risotto rice
  • 1 can of sweet peas
  • 1 pb can of crushed tomatoes
  • 12 cups of stock
  • 1 tsp of saffron
  • 5 lb raw shrimp, shelled and cleaned (reserve the shells)
  • salt
  • lemon, sliced

Preparation

Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the shells of the shrimp.  Let it simmer for about 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary to make 6 cups of stock.

Cut the chicken breasts into one-inch cubes and fry them in the paella pan with olive oil until golden. Add onion and green pepper.  When onion is transparent, add the shrimp, crushed tomatoes, peas, paprika, saffron and salt. Mix everything and immediately add the stock (use a metal colander to strain shrimp shells from stock).

Bring to boil for one minute and add the rice. Without stirring, shake from time to time. When rice is boiling, reduce the flame to low medium and cook until stock is gone (about 20 minutes).

Put the lemon on top, turn the gas off and cover with kitchen paper for about 10 minutes before serving.

Apple & Fennel Roasted Pork Tenderloin

easy, fall, main courses, tastes scrumptious

Roasted apples, fennel and red onion are the perfect foil to roasted pork tenderloin. Make it a meal: Stir sauteed broccoli rabe into quick-cooking barley to serve alongside.

Makes 4 servings

ACTIVE TIME: 45 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

2 large sweet-tart apples, such as Fuji or Braeburn, sliced
1 large bulb fennel, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced, plus 1 tablespoon chopped fronds for garnish
1 large red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegar

Continue reading Apple & Fennel Roasted Pork Tenderloin →

Mu Shu Pork with Mandarin Pancakes

main courses, taste unknown

Goes with Mandarin Pancakes recipe.

  • 3 green onions
  • 1 Tbl grated ginger
  • 1 Tbl soy sauce
  • 2 Tbl water
  • pinch sugar
  • 3 Tbl oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 lb lean pork, in matchstick shreds
  • 1/4 cup shredded bamboo shoots
  • 1/4 cup dried lily buds
  • 1/4 cup dried cloud ear mushrooms, soaked in warm water and drained
  • 8 warm Mandarin Pancakes or flour tortillas
  • 1/4 cup bottled hoisin sauce

Continue reading Mu Shu Pork with Mandarin Pancakes →