Going Greek (and Asian)!

Wow!  September already, huh?  It's getting to that time of year, my favorite time of year actually.  The colors, the cooler weather (big plus), and of course, the food!  This final quarter of the year has a couple of biggies, namely Thanksgiving and Christmas, both of which have their own special menus and flavors.  Getting exciting!

Ok, so this past week was another crazy one.  My oldest boy is back in soccer this Fall, and he's also joined up with the local Tiger cub scout pack.  That means we're now going to have to eat out on Tuesday nights until Hubby is in his off-season from work, but that just means I'm going to have to find healthier food options besides the McDonald's drive through, which we resorted to this week on account my bus was late and I missed my connecting bus home.  Anyway, I made it in time to get the boys and get to the pack meeting, I just didn't make it in time to take them somewhere decent to eat.

So the first dish I prepared was a Greek spin on a simple pasta dish.  I took a recipe from a newspaper clipping and changed it around a bit...actually a lot...to suit our tastes.  The dish starts with browned ground beef and onions, drained, and then to that I added chopped zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes, all from our garden.  (The garden's on it's last leg now, the only viable part of it remaining are the green beans.)  Added a can of low-sodium beef broth and 1-1/2 cups of orzo, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 8 minutes until the orzo was tender.  Added in some frozen cut leaf spinach and about 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, cooked for another 2-3 minutes, and done.  Sprinkle about another 1/4 cup of feta on top and serve.  Since I used low-sodium beef broth, I did end up having to add a little bit of salt to get it where I wanted it.  At least you have that kind of control, which is what I love about low-sodium products.

My reheated version was good, just needed to revive it a little with some water because the pasta soaked all the beef broth up.  Also, since I used frozen spinach instead of fresh, the vibrant green color I've come to love is lacking, not to mention the lighting wasn't very good when taking this snapshot.  Oh well, at least the flavors were there.  The boys cleaned their plates, and the youngest wanted seconds, so I guess we're keeping this recipe.  LOL!

Taken from Publix.com

Next up is a recipe I clipped from a Publix sale paper, Brazilian chicken curry.  This picture is from their recipe, but honest to goodness, mine looked almost identical!  I just didn't have my camera handy.  Really!  :)  I did make changes though, since I've started using garlic ginger paste in my cooking in place of actual minced garlic and ginger.  I substituted 4 tsp of the paste for the garlic and ginger called for in the recipe, and instead of making the packaged brown rice, I made my own coconut rice!  I got the idea from a traditional Malaysian dish (my mother is from Malaysia after all) called nasi lemak, which you can read about here.  The coconut milk I used in the curry comes in a much larger can than I needed, which was only 1/2 a cup, so I used the rest of it to make my rice.  I use the 1st-knuckle method, which I will describe, since I'm of the school of thought that prefers rice cooked in a pot as opposed to a rice cooker.  (We received one as a wedding gift almost a decade ago and have yet to use it!  Who knows...maybe I'll get crazy one of these days and try it out.)  I like the addition of sugar because if serving a spicy dish, the slight hint of sweetness helps to balance the flavors.  That being said, I think my final result was more Asian than Brazilian, and if I could get my hands on some lemongrass, that would have given it that much more of an oriental flavor.  I'd use that in place of the cilantro.  Anyway, here's the rice recipe below:

Simple Coconut Rice (serves 4)

- 1-1/2 cups white rice (I use basmati, but jasmine rice will give a good result and is more traditional)

- approx. 1-1/4 cup coconut milk

- 1 tbsp sugar, more or less as desired

- pinch of salt

1.  In a medium saucepan, wash and drain rice 6-7 times with water until it runs clear; drain.

2.  Add coconut milk and enough water so that the level reaches your 1st knuckle when touching the top of the rice with the tip of your finger.  Add salt and sugar, if using.

3.  Cover tightly and bring rice mixture to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring every few minutes to avoid sticking and burning.

4.  Once bubbling, turn heat down to LOW; set lid askew to allow steam to vent, and cook an additional 6-8 minutes until liquid has evaporated.  Test rice for doneness.

5.  Remove from heat and cover tightly again.  Allow to sit 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and serve.

*Optional: Dress up the rice with a little toasted unsweetened coconut sprinkled on top prior to serving.

I will say that while reheating leftover rice is ok, you'll need to add some water to recreate the steam, otherwise it will be dry.  You could also try using it in a spicy stir-fry dish, which might make a nice and unexpected change!  Experiment and have fun with it.

Enjoy, and see you back here next week (I hope)!

Comfort Food is Chicken and Dumplings!

On the back of the 4th of July weekend, my menu plans for the week ahead were admittedly a little bit screwy.  We had leftovers, we had people visiting, and we had dinners in restaurants that may or may not have been planned ahead of time.

That's a sure fire way to mess up your routine, let's just say!

However, this past week we saw a few oldies but goodies and a couple of new recipes.  Here's what I fixed:

• Shrimp Fried Rice
• Cheese Tortellini, Spinach, and Meatball Soup
• Baingan Bharta (a.k.a. Eggplant Curry)
• Classic Chicken and Dumplings

The shrimp fried rice recipe came from Allrecipes.com, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite recipe websites.  I like the fact that you can read a lot of reviews and see how people may have changed things up, before you try it for yourself.

I ended up using an entire bag of bean sprouts in my recipe, which meant I had to increase the soy sauce to get it closer to the flavor I wanted.  I also added a little allspice to it, some cut-up baby corn, and sliced fresh mushrooms.  While I felt it lacked a little something in the flavor department, my kids DEVOURED it!  I found that a little sweet chili sauce helps to liven up the dish nicely, too.  If I make it again (and it looks like I'm gonna have to), I will increase the amount of shrimp, given the proportion of shrimp to the rest of the ingredients, and increase the number of eggs from 2 to 3.  Also, I think I will cook my eggs separately and add them in at the end, rather than coating the rice with the egg mixture, which is not something I'm used to.

Next up was the cheese tortellini soup.  This is something I threw together a while back, and my oldest boy told me it was a "keeper."  Basically, start with 2 packets of Savory Garlic and Herb soup mix.  Dump that in your pot and add about 3 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in a bag of frozen cheese tortellini and about 1 pound of Italian-style frozen meatballs.  Return to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.  Taste the soup and season as necessary with salt and pepper (though we tend to leave salt out as much as possible).  Now add about 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves and stir, just giving it long enough to wilt the spinach.  Ta-da!  Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese and, if you choose, hot garlic bread.  Oh, so good!

The baingan bharta (eggplant curry) turned out to be a flop for my 5-year-old, but I loved it!  I tried to get him to taste a spoonful, at which time he informed me that he didn't actually like eggplant.  (NOW he tells me?!)  This is not entirely true, however, because he eats it up willingly when presented in lasagna form.  Anyway, no problem, just means more for myself.  It was way too spicy for the 2-year-old critic, so I didn't even bother giving it to him.  My photo here doesn't really do it justice...I took it with my cell phone, and the camera is--in technological terms--virtually obsolete.

I started with 1 medium and 2 small eggplants that I bought from the farmers' market, and roasted them in the oven as described in the recipe.  The recipe, although not entirely authentic in method, produces a good flavor and nice spice.  For this attempt, I simply scooped and scraped the soft eggplant out of the skins after they had cooled, but I would recommend actually chopping up the flesh with a knife, on account of the somewhat stringy and fibrous texture that eggplant usually has.  I used a jalapeno picked from our own garden, and it's a good thing I removed the seeds and veins because it still gave the dish a lot of heat.  Serve this over rice or with pita bread.

Last, but definitely not least, is my chicken and dumplings.  I like to use chicken thighs on the bone because dark meat imparts so much flavor to the dish.  But feel free to use breast meat, if that's what you prefer.  Here's my recipe, which I've put together after numerous attempts (mostly FAILED attempts) at making this classic comfort food.

Nabela's Chicken and Dumplings
(Serves 4)

• 3-4 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin intact (if using frozen chicken, no need to thaw)
• 1 chicken stock cube
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 3 Tbsp corn starch
• 8 oz frozen peas and carrots
• 1 can refrigerated biscuits (10 small or 6 jumbo)

1. In a large, heavy pot, add the chicken thighs and enough water to completely cover.  Add chicken stock cube.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from broth.  When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skins and bones.  Shred remaining chicken meat into small pieces.
3. Taste broth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Dissolve cornstarch in milk or cream and add to broth.  Return broth to a boil.  Add peas and carrots and chicken meat.  Reduce heat to medium.
5. Using fingers, pinch off small pieces of biscuit dough and roll into balls.  (For my kids, I make the dumplings about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, since they will plump up after cooking.)  Drop gently into broth.  Cover tightly and reduce heat further to medium-low.  Allow to simmer undisturbed for about 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked through.  Do not stir dumplings!  Serve and enjoy!

It's Friday already, so I'm going to have to go off and plan out what I'm cooking this weekend for next week.  Seems like the weeks are going by faster these days, doesn't it?  Anyway, I hope some of this was useful to you.

Until next week, happy cooking!  :)