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.

Lemon-Lime Chicken

Tried this recipe on the weekend and my wife and I both loved it.  Thought it deserved a post!

3 pounds cut-up chicken, light or dark meat or any combination
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used a rose, and that worked too)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp tobasco sauce
1/4 tsp dried thyme

put chicken into a bag with all other ingredients.  marinade all day or overnight.  flip over the bag once in a while if you think of it.

preheat oven to 400 F
pour marinade into a bowl
arrange the chicken in a roasting pan
roast for 45 minutes, basting a few times with the reserved marinade.  chicken is done when it is well browned and the juices run clear.

Moqueca de Peixe

This is a Brazilian fish recipe that was made for my wife's wedding shower.  I got to eat some of the leftovers, and I asked for the recipe.  It was very good.

8 pieces of tilapia
juice of 1 lemon
1 large red onion, cut into round slices
1 large red pepper, cut into round slices
1 large green pepper, cut into round slices
1 large ripe tomato, cut into round slices
2 tblsp fresh cilantro, chopped
200 ml of coconut milk
1 tblsp olive oil
2 tblsp shrimp broth (or vegetable broth)

wash the fish and sprinkle with lemon juice, leave to marinade for about an hour.
add the fish and vegetables to a large pan
sprinkle cilantro
pour coconut milk, olive oil and broth over the fish
cook partially covered, carefully stirring occasionally (do not break the fish pieces), over low heat for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve.

This tastes really good with the coconut milk served over a bed of rice.

French Fries

Update #1: Added some more details on potato types and cooking times.

I recently purchased 'the fat duck cookbook', which has an outstanding method for making french fries. Unfortunately, the method requires some expensive equipment that most people (myself included) don't have in their homes, so what follows is my attempt to match the spirit of the recipe without actually doing all of the steps.

I have tried this recipe 3 times now and the fries were the best I have ever had.

Following this recipe you will get fries with a nice dark crunchy exterior and a soft interior with good flavour. I didn't need any ketchup when I ate them. :-)

You need:
potatoes (I tried white potato and red potatoes, both seemed to work, red maybe slightly better)
canola oil, or some other neutral oil, to which I added 1 tblsp of bacon fat
a decent thermometer to measure your oil temperature
lots of paper towels
a clean tea towel

peel your potatoes and cut them into nice chunky french fry shapes. you want them fairly chunky.

fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. put your potatoes in the pot. do not overfill, you want about a single layers worth of potatoes, if you have too many potatoes, you need to use a bigger pot. make sure you have lots of water too. turn the heat down to medium or slightly below medium on the stove, you want to still boil the potatoes but not too hard. Boil them as long as you dare - the longer the better - you want the fries as close to falling apart as possible when you take them out. This will take a while, so you have to be patient and be sure you put enough water in the pot!

I boiled mine for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

once the potatoes are ready to be removed, use a slotted spoon and carefully remove them from the water and place them on a clean tea towel and pat off as much water as you can. let the potatoes cool and air dry a bit. You want a lot of moisture from the cooking to be sucked into the tea towel.

meanwhile, put enough oil to cover the fries in your electric fry pan and heat the oil to 250 F. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil (the dial on my electric fry pan was off by about 75 F !).

put the fries into the hot oil and cook for 10 minutes - they should have a very light colored crust. when you take them out pat them dry and cool. You could store them at this point for future use. Allow them to cool completely before the next application. I've tried this recipe 3 times now and the best one was when I cooled the fries completely, and actually froze them and got them out the next day (allowing them to defrost in the refrigerator).

raise the heat of the oil to 350 F now. put the fries in and cook for 8-10 min until golden brown. (the longer you boiled them in step one, the better the final result will be). remove from the oil and place onto some paper towels, pat off as much oil as you can, then season with some sea salt and table salt and serve.

butternut squash and shrimp chowder

1 large butternut squash
2 tblsp butter
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tblsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 tblsp shrimp paste
1 tsp curry powder (I used medium)
1 tblsp old bay seasoning
1 tblsp chopped parsley (optional)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
1 1/3 pounds of shrimp, shelled, cooked, tails removed
1 roasted red pepper, diced


First turn on the broiler and roast the red pepper, turning as the skin
blackens. While you are doing this, get the squash ready. cut the
squash in half lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds. put the squash
in a deep pan with about 1/4 cup of water, cover with tin foil.
when the pepper is done roasting, remove it from the oven to cool. set
the oven to 350 and put the squash in for 45 minutes. remove to cool.
you can do these steps the day before and put the squash and pepper in
the fridge to cool.

in a heavy soup pot, melt the butter and add the garlic, onion, celery
and basil and saute until the onions are translucent. i dont like to
let this go really long, since i kind of like still having a bit of bite
to the celery, so i dont let it cook to the point that it could get too
soft.

in another bowl, combine the cream and milk with the shrimp paste, curry
powder, parsley (if using), old bay seasoning, pepper, salt and shrimp.
mix well and add to the ingredients in the pot.

remove the skin from the red pepper and dice it up and add to the pot.
dice up the butternut squash too. i usually keep about half of it as a
dice and then mash the other half with a fork - that way when it
combines with the soup it gets nice and thick. add the squash and
pepper to the soup. heat it up and you are done.

it just barely has to boil, or not even. in the recipe they say to only
bring it to 180F (82 C) which isnt quite boiling.

for the shrimp paste, you can buy that at any decent asian grocery
store.

if you cant find old bay seasoning, i have seen it at lapointes and at
T&T supermarket.
or you can go online and find out how to make it yourself by combining
all the ingredients together (i think buying it is cheaper iirc).

for the shrimp, i use about a package of 51/60 count shrimp, and then to
make up the extra 1/3 pound, i use a bigger shrimp, like a 31/40 count
or something. the bigger ones are nice.

for the milk, i usually only have 1% in the fridge, so i use 1 cup milk
and 1 cup cream instead of the mix listed. i also find with a large
squash the soup gets too thick with the amount of liquids listed so i
tend to eyeball an extra amount of milk to get it to the right
consistency. getting this right will depend on how big the butternut
squash you are using is. note when you reheat the leftovers of this the
squash chunks tend to break down and make the soup really thick - still
tastes good though.

note, this is a low carb recipe!