Curry Delight!!

This recipe was inspired by a fusion of Indian style and Thai style spice blends and curries.  I must say, it turned out great!

Finished pot of Curry!

The stuff in the zip locked bag on the right are chili peppers

Here is the formula:

1-1.5 lbs of chicken breasts, sliced
1/2 teaspoon of Madras curry and 2-3 tablespoons of Madras curry
1/2 teaspoon of garam marsala
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
4-5 whole cloves, broken into bits
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, diced
3 pegs garlic, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons  of mango chutney
4 tablespoons of Satay peanut sauce
2 hot chili peppers, crushed, if you want it spicy!
1 inch of ginger, thinly sliced and quartered
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 -1 cup of water.

Method:

Thinly slice the chicken breasts and rinse them in a solution of vinegar and water. Then, add the 1/2 teaspoon of Madras curry, 1/2 teaspoon of garam marsala, 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder, the broken cloves, black pepper and salt. Mix  together.  Then, add the chopped onions and garlic. Set aside for 10-15 minutes. Add the cooking oil to a large skillet.  When the oil is hot, add the curry and stir in until fragrant.  Be mindful not to burn the curry, or the food will taste like burned curry.  Then, lowering the flame to medium, chop the tomatoes and add them to the skillet.  Leave for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken, combined with the onion and garlic.  Add the potatoes. Cover with 1/2 -1 cup of water. Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium flame.  Then, add the mango chutney along with the Satay peanut sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Foodhedonist’s Jerk Shrimp Pasta

Hi! Foodhedonist's 10 Popular Jamaican Recipes is available for purchase on Amazon.com! It will feature this amazing Jerk Shrimp Pasta recipe, along with other popular & delectable delights! 

*Licks fingers*

Remember the Jerk Chicken Pasta? Well, jerked shrimp is just as delicious and makes for good “nyammings,” which is Jamaican patois for “eating.” It is also very simple, ideal for dinner after a long day at work.

Cooking time: Approx. 20 minutes.

Tasty Kale Salad with Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Potato

Nom Nom Nom! So, I had a bunch of kale in my refrigerator and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with it. In the past I’ve had kale steamed with 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and some black pepper. While this is good, I wanted something a little more interesting. So, I tried the recipe below with a few twists of my own!  This salad is a must try: it tantalizes the senses with a wonderful combination of the sweet and savoury. This salad is also low in calories, high in nutrient content, and therefore relatively guilt-free. If it tastes great and is easy on the waist line, I’m all in!

INGREDIENTS

·         1-2 tablespoons butter

·         I medium onion, diced

·         1 red pepper, chopped

·         I sweet potato, cubed

·         4 cups kale

·         4 cloves of  garlic, minced

·         1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

·         ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

·         salt and pepper to taste

Shredded kale leaves

Chopped red peppers

INSTRUCTIONS

1.     Boil the sweet potatoes until soft. Then remove and set aside. In the meantime, melt one - two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Then, add the onions and garlic; saute for several minutes until onions are clear.

2.     Add the kale, peppers and balsamic vinegar. Saute until the kale is darker green (before the leaves wilt!). Turn off the heat and serve with Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Jerked Turkey!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope it was a good one. 

I know this one is late, but save it to your scrap books for next year. This is an amazing way to prepare a non-traditional Thanksgiving turkey. It's definitely a lot tastier! Thanks to Ms. Eartha Brown for this finger-licking recipe.

Jerked Turkey Recipe

• 1/2 liter (2 cups) of Soy sauce
•  1 hand full of allspice grains or  4 tablespoons of freshly ground allspice
• 1 bunch of scallions or green onions
• 1 head of garlic
• 12 Scotch Bonnet or Habanero peppers. De-seed them, preferably using gloves.
• 2 oz of vinegar - cane or white vinegar
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme
• 4 tablespoons each: Easy Spice Meat Seasoning and Easy Spice Chicken Seasoning, OR:
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 oz dark rum (optional) 
• One stick of butter
• One 12lb turkey

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Wash the turkey and rub it with lime halves. Reserve some sauce for basting and dipping. Marinate for as little as 20 minutes or as much as 24 hours.

Heat the oven to 475 degrees. Transfer turkey to a roasting pan. Brush turkey all over with butter, reserving some for basting. Pour 2 cups water into roasting pan and roast turkey, brushing once with more with the butter, for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350˚ and continue roasting, brushing occasionally with butter. Do this until the meat thermometer reads 150˚ - approximately after 2 hours of baking. Remove turkey from oven and baste completely with reserved sauce. Return the turkey to the oven and continue to cook until internal temperature reaches 165° - approximately 25 minutes more.

DIY Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is a popular ingredient in many dishes, particularly in Caribbean and Asian cuisine.

This is a step by step guide in making your own coconut milk, as opposed to going to the store to purchase the canned or the powdered variety, which contains many additives.

Ingredients

• 1 dried coconut
• 6-8 cups of water

Method:

First, crack the dried coconut and remove the "meat" from the hard outer shell. This task is made easier by using a dinner knife to pry the inner husk away from the dry outer shell. On cracking the coconut itself, to be quite frank, the easiest way to do this is to crack the shell on a sturdy piece of concrete. Don't crack it too hard at first, because you'll want to collect the coconut water inside the shell for a refreshing drink, instead of paying $4.00 or so for the same thing at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

After this, use the front of the grater to grate the coconut. Use the side of the greater that is the least rough. Take care not to grate your knuckles!

Then, add the flakes to the blender. Add approximately four cups of water. If your blender is small, you may have to divide this into two batches.

Blend on high for about 8-10 minutes. Pour the mixture from the blender through a fine-meshed strainer into a separate container. Squeeze the mixture to extract the milk. Put the squeezed grated coconut into a separate container. Do not discard yet. After the first round of squeezing and extraction, put the squeezed coconut flakes back into the blender. Add 2 - 4 cups of water to this. Blend on high again for 6-8 minutes. Repeat the process. This yields about 6 cups of coconut milk. This can be frozen to preserve the integrity and taste of the milk. 

This is how my mom makes her own coconut milk. Before the age of blenders, my grandmother would have to use the rough side of the blender, squeeze the mixture with her hands through a  strainer, using warm water.  This process would be repeated at least once more. 

Note: A very smart friend of mine suggested that a juicer could also work. I do not own a juicer, so I made my own coconut milk using the method described above. For those of you who own a juicer, try that and see if it works. I'm sure it would save a load of time :) .