nic at night

One of the things I was really looking forward to after leaving my teaching job was cooking more, using the cookbooks I've acquired over the past ten years. Since coming back from Windsor in August, I've cooked quite a bit. Not every day, but we've tried a lot of new recipes, including two of the three curries I made and froze this week. Recipes [with my changes in brackets] here for your enjoyment.

Potato Curry, from The Vegetarian Epicure (the original book)

6 medium-size russet potatoes [I used 12 red ones]
3 tbs Ghee [I used safflower oil]
1 tsp each salt, cumin seeds, turmeric, ground coriander
1/2 tsp each mustard seeds, cayenne pepper [I doubled all of the spices because I find the original recipe too mild]
2 cups water
1 cup yogurt
2/3 cup cooked peas [I used frozen cut green beans, because the peas were totally freezer burned]

Heat the oil and add the spices, letting them simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cube the potatoes and stir them in until they're coated with spices and oil, for 5-10 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, lower heat, and simmer for about 1/2 hour, until potatoes are tender. Add yogurt and peas, heat for 5 more minutes and serve.


Curry of Eggplant and Potatoes, from The Vegetarian Epicure (the original book)

2 medium eggplants [I used about 6 baby ones]
3 large russet potatoes [I used 6 red ones]
2 bell peppers [I used 1 red and 1 green]
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp each of ground ginger, turmeric, mustard seeds, cumin seeds [I doubled these, except for the ginger, which I ran out of after 1 tsp]
1 1/2 tsp salt [I doubled this, too, which was a total mistake--given that the eggplant slices were soaked in salted water overnight, I should have left out the salt entirely until the end]
1/2 tsp each of cayenne pepper, ground cinnamon, ground coriander [I doubled all these as well]
2 cloves garlic, minced [doubled again]
2 1/2 cups water [added 2 more cups at the end, to dilute the over-saltiness]
4 to 5 firm red tomatoes

Wash eggplants, slice them, salt them well [and soak in water overnight]. Press out the excess water and slice into cubes. Cube the potatoes and bell peppers. Melt butter in large skillet, add all spices and minced garlic. Saute for several minutes, then add eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. Toss until coated with spices, then add water, cover pan and let simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Remove cover and cook over medium heat for 15 more minutes. Slice tomatoes into small wedges, and add. Serve when tomatoes are heated through.


Red Lentil Coconut Curry, from Simply In Season

1 large onion, minced
1 tbsp garlic minced [I used about 6 cloves]
1 tbsp ginger root, peeled and minced [I used about 3 inches of root, peeled and grated]
2 tsp curry powder [I used 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp mustard seeds for this, since I don't actually have 'curry powder']
1/2 tsp each ground turmeric, ground cumin, black pepper [I doubled these]
1/4 tsp each ground red pepper and ground cinnamon [I doubled these, too]
2-3 bay leaves
1 can coconut milk [I use the reduced fat kind]
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce [I used tamari]
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups red lentils [I used green, because I discovered I was out of red after I'd already started cooking, but red would probably be better, as they're lighter colored when cooked and come apart more easily]
5 cups water
1 head cauliflower, cut into little florets
1 large sweet potato, cubed [I used 3 small ones]
1/4 head cabbage, cut into chunks [I left this out, as I didn't have any]
1-2 cups peas [I used frozen]

Saute onion in either coconut butter (taken off the top of the can if the can is frozen [not really possible with the reduced fat kind]) or oil until translucent. Add the minced garlic and all the spices, cooking for three minutes over lowered heat, stirring to avoid browning. Add coconut milk, tomato sauce, and soy sauce, and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring often. In a separate pan, cook the lentils in water for 15 minutes, then add both lentils and liquid to the main pot. Add cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and cabbage and cook over medium heat until tender. Add peas at the very end, and serve when peas are warmed.

The first curry we ate half of for dinner the other night, and the other half is in the freezer. The other two I cooked tonight, and we taste-tested and then put all of both into the freezer. We might have them for our anti-Thanksgiving Harvest Feast, but more likely we'll just eat them at some point later in the winter when we're in need of something warm and spicy. There is some disagreement in our house about the best level of spiciness of curry, so I might recommend trying it the mild way first, unless you, like me, find curry recipes found outside of true Indian cookbooks to be too mild as a general rule.

For our actual dinner tonight, I cooked a recipe that I found online. With, of course, some variations.

Chicken and Bok Choy, from Cooks.com

8 oz chicken, in small slices [I used a package of breasts, free-range et cetera, of course]
3/4 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tbsp corn starch
1 slice ginger root [I used 3 inches of slices]
4 slices garlic [I used 6 cloves of slices]
1 lb bok choy
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt [I left this out entirely, given all the soy sauce in the recipe]
1 tbsp oyster (or soy) sauce [I used soy, as I didn't have any oyster]
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 c water [I left this out, too, and just used the liquid from the bok choy]

Heat oil in a pan, add chopped bok choy, water and salt, and stir fry until greens are limp [I include most of the stems as well, because I like them]. Take off heat and set aside.

In another pan [or the same pan, if you set aside the greens and liquid in a bowl], heat oil and saute chicken slices with the garlic, ginger, and 1st set of soy sauce and cornstarch. Mix the remaining soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar together, and add them and the greens with liquid back into the pan when the chicken is cooked. Let it cook for a few more minutes, and then serve.

This was really yummy with all the extra slices of garlic and ginger, I can't imagine what it would taste like without them. Bok choy and soy sauce, I suppose.

More reports of what I've been cooking and eating when I have another chunk of time to type them in. In the meantime, eat well and prosper.