Cataplana "Canadian"

When my wife and I visited Portugal we were introduced to a delicious dish called Cataplana.  In Portugal various regions have their own versions of it.  One we enjoyed in the algarve was chicken, chorizo and clams.  Below I've substituted PEI mussels for the clams - hence the "canadian" bit.  If you want to make your own version with different seafood or different meats, feel free.  Just ensure you keep the smoked paprika and portugese style chorizo, as it isnt the same without those ingredients.

The term cataplana refers to the kind of pot it is cooked in.  A Cataplana pot looks kind of like a big fry pan with a lid that can be locked down - you can lock it and flip it over on the stove while cooking.   You can get away with cooking this in an ordinary pot with a lid.

1 tblsp olive oil
8 oz Chourico (portugese Chorizo), cut into chunky dice
3/4 lb diced chicken
2 medium onions, sliced
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 tsp smoked paprika
2 lbs PEI mussels, cleaned and prepared for cooking
pepper
3 tblsp chopped parsley


In a pot with a lid, add olive oil chicken and chorico and cook for 5 or 6 minutes over medium high until the sausage has released some of its oil and the chicken and sausage is beginning to brown.  Reduce heat to medium and add the onions and bay leaf, cooking till soft (5-7 min).  Add garlic and cook a min more.   add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot.  add the tomatoes, potatoes and the paprika.  Cover and let it cook for until the potatoes and chicken are cooked through.  Add the mussels and raise the heat to medium-high.  cover with a lid.  cook for about 7 minutes until the mussels open.  discard any mussels that do not open.  Season with pepper.

Ladle the result into bowls, eat with some really good bread to soak up the sauce.

Mango Pie

Ingredients:
Pastry for crust
4 cups mangoes cubed (frozen will do)
pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tblsp unsalted butter in small chunks
2 tblsp tapioca
brown sugar


Roll out and prepare your pie crust.
Mix the mangoes, cinnamon, lemon juice and tapioca
measure out 1/2 cup white sugar, remove a tablespoon and replace with a tablespoon of brown sugar.  add to mango mix and mix well.
pour mix into pie crust and top with dabs of butter, then put the top crust on, remembering to cut a few vent holes.
bake at 350 for 40min (if your mangoes were still a bit frozen, it may take longer).

Coca-Cola Chicken

My wife and I have come to love Peruvian food in the last few years.  Here is an easy peruvian recipe I found that we tried recently.  It is easy to make and is a very delicious way to use up some leftover coca cola you may have lying around.  Use the sugary stuff, not the diet stuff, as the recipe won't work with the diet.

1 chicken, cut into serving pieces, or an equivalent amount of thighs or drumsticks (about 8)
1 cup coca cola
4 tblsp soy sauce
2 tblsp five spice powder
1 tsp cumin
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper

preheat your oven to 400F, mix everything together and dump on the chicken in an oven safe pan.  cover with foil and bake 15 min.  Remove foil and baste, then cook for another 15 min.  Baste again and cook another 15 min.  You want to get to the point where you get a slightly sticky, crispy skin on the chicken.

Pay attention to the amount of liquid in the pot.  This could go two ways: it dries up and you need to add water, or it stays too wet and you don't get the sticky crispy skin.  If it is too dry, add some water and continue.  If it is too wet, near the end of the cooking, remove from the oven and boil down the liquid until it starts to thicken like a syrup, then baste the chicken again and return it to the oven until you achieve the sticky crispy skin.

Citrusy Green Curry Paste

Today I needed a green curry paste for a recipe (this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/green-curry-pork-tenderloin-51160610) and didn't have all the ingredients, so my wife and I winged it and we came up with something we really liked with this recipe.  The lime juice we used gave it a bit of a citrusy note, which we liked.  Here it is:

Pickled Jalapeno slices, equivlent to about 1 fresh Jalapenos worth
7 or 8 dried chile de arbol, seeds removed
1 fresh poblano chile

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 tblsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

9 cloves minced garlic
1 tblsp cilantro roots and stems
1 tblsp minced fresh ginger

2 tblsp lime juice
1 tsp shrimp paste


Squeeze the pickling juices out of the jalapeno slices and add to a blender.
seed the poblano and chile de arbol and add to the blender.

heat a nonstick fry pan over medium heat for 2 min, add the cumin and caraway and toast until fragrant.  Set aside.  Use same pan to toast peppercorns and coriander seeds.  Add all the toasted spices to a grinder and grind up into a powder.  Add to the blender.

Grate nutmeg into blender and add all remaining ingredients.  Blend up into a sauce.  There is not a huge amount of liquid in this recipe so may take a bit of elbow grease to blend it.

We used 1/4 cup of this in the recipe mentioned above. 

Paneer Curry

This is a south indian paneer curry dish that I really like.  Smelling my leftovers at lunch, some people at work asked for the recipe, so here it is...

When I make it, I like to add some vegetables to it as well, maybe some okra, peas, and/or green peppers.  Serve it over rice.  It takes a while to make, but you get a good amount of it.  You can use a variety of chiles for this recipe, depending on how spicy you want it.  I have used serranos for a really hot version.  I usually use a mix of chiles, some new mexican (mild and hot), and maybe a guajillo, or pasilla, or similar chiles, depending on what I have in the house.  Even chile de arbol will do.  I wouldn't use chipoltles on this one though.
This dish is really good when it has a kick, so its worth having a few hot chiles in it.

1/2 lemon size ball of tamarind
2x798 ml cans crushed tomatoes
2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
10-12 cloves crushed garlic  (I like to use the little jars of crushed garlic for this)
6-8 dried chiles, stemmed and broken in half
1 tblsp sesame oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
20 curry leaves
3 1-2 inch cinnamon sticks
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 can coconut milk
2 packages paneer, diced into cubes

boil some water in a kettle and put the tamarind in a bowl, adding 1 cup of water from the kettle and soak for 30 minutes or longer.  squeeze out the pulp and put the mixture through a strainer and set aside.

meanwhile, put 1/2 cup water, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chiles into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes.  set aside to cool.

Once the tomato mixture is cool enough to handle, put it through a strainer and set aside in a bowl.  transfer the solids into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  push the blended mixture through the strainer into the same bowl.

add sesame oil to a large saucepan over medium heat.  when the oil is warm add the mustard seeds  and cumin seeds - saute until the mustard seeds begin to sputter.  add the curry leaves, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander and ground cumin and saute for 1 minute.  add the tomato mixture and salt and bring to a boil.
stir in the tamarind pulp and the salt.

if you are going to add any vegetables to this dish, add them now and simmer them in the sauce until they are cooked to your liking.  If I am using green peppers with this I usually dont throw them in for very long since I like them to still have a bit of crunch.  Sometimes I will add the coconut milk (next step) before the vegetables.

add the coconut milk

optionally, add a couple tablespoons of ground roasted chickpeas for thickening.  I usually don't bother with this - sometimes I add a little bit of
guar gum instead, but usually its good the way it is.

add the paneer and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

serve with rice!

Lemon-Mustard Pork Chops

Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs pork chops
2 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tblsp dijon mustard
2 tblsp lemon juice

This simple recipe doesn't sound like much but it is very tasty and quick to make.  The mustard and lemon combine to give a nice sunny flavour.

Heat a very large skillet over medium high heat.  While doing this, sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork chops to taste.  When the skillet is hot, add olive oil and then the pork chops.  Sear the chops on both sides to a golden brown.

Add the thyme and chicken broth to the skillet, cover and turn the heat to medium-low, simmering for 10 minutes.

Remove the pork chops to a serving plate.  Turn the heat back up to medium high and add the mustard and lemon juice.  Ensure you scrape up any of the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Stir until the sauce is the consistency of cream.  Pour over the pork chops and serve.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This cake recipe came out of a diet cookbook I have.  It is entirely flour free, and still has the texture of a real cake.  I was quite impressed.

3/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup vanilla whey protein powder
3 tblsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 cup splenda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tblsp powdered egg white
2 tsp guar gum
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 tblsp white vinegar
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine all the dry ingredients and sift into an 8 inch square pan that you have sprayed with some cooking spray.  (I dont have a sifter, so instead i just mixed
the ingredients in a bowl and stirred enthusiastically with a whisk to break up the lumps and combine).  Make 2 holes in the mix and put the vinegar in one and the oil in the other.  Pour the water over top of the whole thing and stir until there are no dry bits left.  Immediately put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

The cake is ok by itself, but also good with a little ice cream, or some melted chocolate on top.