Tag: paprika

Balti Chicken

Balti Chicken

Balti Chicken

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
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I’ve wanted to make this recipe ever since I saw it in a movie set in the U.K. and tried some from a local Indian restaurant, Koh-I-Noor and because it has been rainy and nasty outside today (kind of reminds me of Britain) I decided to make it today.

This particular version is “healthier” than those that you would find in an Indian Takeaway joint in the U.K. however it is still full flavoured and filling.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken Breast cut into bite sized pieces
  • 250 ml Passata
  • 150 ml Water
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 1 medium Onion – coarsely grated
  • 1 medium Tomato – diced
  • 1 Red Pepper roughly chopped
  • 1 small to medium Green Chili
  • 4 Garlic cloves – diced
  • 1 tbsp Lime juice
  • 2 tsp Paprika
  • 1/4 tsp Chili powder
  • 1 Cinnamon stick
  • 3 tsp Ground Cardamom 
  • 1 1/2 tsp Cumin
  • 3 tsp ground Ginger
  • 1 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground Coriander
  • 2 tbsp Garam Masala 
  • Rice Pilaf for service

Putting it all together:

  1. Put the chicken in a medium bowl. Mix in the lime juice, paprika, chili powder and a grinding of black pepper , then leave to marinate for at least 15 mins, preferably a bit longer.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan. Tip in the cinnamon stick, cardamom , whole chili and 1 teaspoon ground cumin , and stir-fry briefly just to colour and release their fragrance.  Stir in the onion, garlic and ginger and fry over a medium-high heat for 3-4 mins until the onion starts to turn brown. Add the remaining oil, then drop in the chicken and stir-fry for 2-3 mins or until it no longer looks raw. Mix the turmeric,  remaining cumin, ground coriander and Garam Masala together. Tip into the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for 2 mins . Pour in the Passata and 150 ml water, then drop in the chunks of pepper. When starting to bubble, lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 mins or until the chicken is tender.
  3. Stir in the tomato, simmer for 2-3 mins. Season with a little salt. If you want to thin down the sauce, splash in a little more water. Remove the cinnamon stick and chili.
  4. Serve with rice.

There you have it another “Simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time…..

                          Bon Appetit 

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Hungarian Goulash

Hungarian Goulash

Hungarian Goulash

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Tasty Thursdays around the old homestead have kind of warped into “Pick a country and do one dish from that country”. How we got to the point of Hungarian Goulash is a bit of an inside joke however it works for tonight as I have, and I hate to admit it, never made this classic Hungarian dish before and because I haven’t I Googled it and decided to use this recipe which comes from Taste of Home Magazine with a very slight adaption from yours truly.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 2 1/2 pounds Stew Beef – cut into bite sized pieces
  • 2 cups Beef stock
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 3 tbsp Canola Oil
  • 2 pounds Pappardelle noodles
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Flour
  • 1 10 ounce can Aylmers Original Accent tomatoes
  • 1 large White Onion – peeled, cut in half and sliced
  • 1 medium Yellow Pepper – rough diced
  • 1 medium Red Pepper – rough diced
  • 4 Garlic cloves – chopped
  • 6 tbsp Paprika
  • 3 tbsp Butter
  • Fresh Parsley – chopped for garnish
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Putting it all together:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees.
  2. Toss the stew beef in the 1/4 cup of flour shaking off any excess.
  3. Heat the Canola oil in a medium sized stock pot and brown the stew beef in batches and set aside.
  4. To the stock pot add the butter, onions, garlic and peppers and saute for about 4 minutes. Remove the onion and pepper mix and deg-laze the pot with some of the Beef stock making sure to scrape up the Sucs (the little brown bits on the bottom of the pot).
  5. Add back the onions, peppers and beef mixing well. Add the remaining beef stock and the Aylmer tomatoes stirring well.
  6. Mix in the remaining flour and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes or until the beef is tender.
  7. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions
  8. Add the sour cream to the Goulash and heat through.
  9. Drain the noodles, plate and top with the Goulash.
  10. Garnish with Parsley

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time……..

                           Bon Appetit 

Stuffed Poblanos

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Stuffed Poblanos

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”
Orson Welles

 

I’m not a fan of traditional Stuffed Peppers mainly because the ones I’ve had usually contain too much tomato sauce and therefore I wind up with major indigestion due to the acid content in the dish. That being said I have to admit that I have always wanted to try my hand at making them just to see what the end result would be however, being who I am I of course have to add a little spin to the dish. I will also point out that this is not an original dish but I have added enough changes to make it my own.

Cooks note: I used Poblanos because they have a medium heat level without being to heavy handed but feel free to substitute whatever kind of pepper you wish keeping in mind that whatever pepper you use it should be as round as possible for ease of stuffing.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 4 large Poblano peppers – halved (cut north to south) and seeded
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground Pork
  • 1 10 ounce can of Black Beans
  • 3 tablespoons Canola Oil
  • 1 8 ounce can Niblets corn
  • 3/4 cup Cream Cheese
  • 3 cups shredded Mexican Cheese
  • 2  tablespoons Granulated Garlic
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons of Granulated Onion
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons Chipotle Powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
  • 2 tablespoons dried Parsley
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ground Black Pepper
  • pinch of Salt
  • Fresh Parsley for garnish (cilantro can be a substitute)
  • Sour cream for garnish

Putting it all together:

  1. In a large non reactive bowl combine the pork, dry spices, black beans and corn. Cover and set aside for an hour to allow the flavours to develop.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375°.
  3. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan, add the pork mixture and cook until the pork is just done . Add the cream cheese and continue cooking until the cheese is nice and smooth. Pull from the heat and set aside to cool.
  4. Evenly fill the poblano halves with the pork mixture . Put in the oven until the poblanos have softened, about 30 minutes. Top with the shredded cheese and put back in the oven until melted and bubbling.
  5. Plate and garnish with the parsley and sour cream.

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time……….

                          Bon Appetit

Linguine with Shrimp and Scallops in a Creole Cheddar sauce

Linguine with Shrimp and Scallops in a Creole Cheddar sauce

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Pasta doesn’t make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat. 
Giada De Laurentiis

I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest about a month ago and it turned out really quite good so when my daughter in law told me that it was chef’s choice on what her Birthday dinner would be it didn’t take much to convince me to do this one.

The original recipe calls for Hot Pepper Sauce but since I like my food seasoned and not blow your head off hot I decided to substitute some Creole Seasoning and it worked just fine.

I would also like to tip my hat to Black Diamond Cheese ® as the original recipe came from their site.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 5 Tbsp (75 mL)  Butter, divided
  • 2 cup (500 mL) sliced Cremini mushrooms
  • ½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped Onion
  • ½ tsp (2 mL) dried Thyme leaves, crushed
  • 1 lb(s) (500 g) fresh or frozen large Shrimp, peeled, deveined
  • 1 lb(s) (500 g) fresh or frozen small Scallops
  • 1 cup (250 mL) White Wine
  • 4½ Tbsp (67 mL) all-purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) Paprika
  • 1 ½ cup (375 mL) whole Milk
  • 2 cup (500 mL) Black Diamond Old Cheddar Cheese, shredded
  • 3 Tbsp (15 mL) Creole Seasoning, or to taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb(s) (500 g) hot cooked Linguine
  • Parsley for garnish

Putting it all together:

  1.  Melt 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion and thyme; cook and stir until tender. Add shrimp, scallops and wine to pan. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes or until seafood is cooked. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) broth. Set cooked seafood mixture aside.
  2.  Melt remaining 3 tbsp (45 mL) butter in the same saucepan. Blend in flour and paprika then gradually stir in reserved broth and milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and add Black Diamond Old Cheddar Cheese; stir until melted. Add creole seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
  3. To serve, divide pasta among 4- 6 shallow bowls. Mix the seafood with the cheese sauce. Top the pasta with the seafood/ cheese sauce mixture, add more creole seasoning and garnish with parsley, if desired.

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time………

                            Bon Appetit

All purpose Dry Rub

  • Servings: ”Approx.
  • Difficulty: ”easy”
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All purpose dry rub

They say that “Necessity is the mother of Invention” and so I can only imagine that this was the thought going through the mind of whomever first came up with the idea of using a Dry Rub to flavour their food. Now I know that, historically, salting  and drying different types of foods has been around for centuries and has been very successful in its use but the origin of the dry rub will leave me scratching my head for some time to come.

This particular rub is my go to for beef and pork since I have a slightly different one for chicken and by adding a few other ingredients this one can be used as a Blackening spice, Mexican style spice etc.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 3 Tablespoons Seasoned salt
  • 3 Tablespoons Pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulated Garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulate Onion
  • 2 Tablespoons Paprika
  • 3 Tablespoons Dry Parsley flakes
  • 3 Teaspoons Oregano
  • 1 Teaspoon Cumin 

Putting it all together:

  1. Put all ingredients in a non reactive bowl and mix until well incorporated
  2. Store in a container with a tight fitting lid

You can use this dry rub for grilled meats, oven baked meats, stews or whatever you can dream up.

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time………

                       Bon Appetit

 

Shrimp creole

Shrimp Creole

Growing up as a kid I loved to go fishing with my older brother or my friends and it didn’t hurt that our “fishin” hole was a short hour’s walk from home and we could have a blast catching all the pan fish, and the odd Bass, that we wanted.

The funny thing is when people asked what we did with the fish we caught we usually answered “threw them back” and when they said “why don’t you eat them” I was like “are you serious?” The mere thought  of eating fish was enough to put my appetite on hold for a few days. I mean who could actually enjoy eating something that smelled and tasted so, well, FISHY ?

Well time goes by, tastes change and health concerns come to the for front and now fish and seafood has become one of my favorite dishes to make whether it is Nut Crusted Tilapia or pan fried Catfish or some kind of Shell Fish.

This” simple but tasty” dish combines two of my loves. Shrimp and Southern cooking.

Creole sauce

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped green or red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

dash ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup chicken broth

15 35-40 count peeled and tail off shrimp

Directions:

In a saucepan, with a lid, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, and green peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes or until the vegetables start to wilt. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, and herbs. Continue to saute for 1 minute. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 12 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Stir in the shrimp and cook until shrimp has turned pink. Serve over rice.

I hope you enjoy this dish and thanks for visiting.

Bon apetite

Chicken Dry Rub

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When I first started to cook I was terrified of straying from the recipe I was following for fear of ruining the dish.

Now my wife wishes I would simply stop experimenting and follow the recipe but I can’t help it— I just love to experiment and this dry rub is the result of my experimenting….  At least for now.

It is such a simple versatile all purpose rub for chicken that I think everyone should have some in their pantry because lets face it in this day and age we can’t always be sure what “other” ingredients will find their way into a store bought pre-packaged rub.

–              2 Tablespoons Dehydrated Parsley

–              1 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning

–              1 Tablespoon Seasoned Salt

–              2 Tablespoons Dry Mustard

–              1 Tablespoon Ground Coriander

–              1 ½ Tablespoons Smoked Paprika

–              1 ½ Tablespoons Granulated Onion

–              1 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic

–              1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper

–             1 ½ Tablespoons dry Tarragon – or fresh if you can find it

Now quite obviously you can take this and add your own twists to it according to your own tastes but if you do I would love to see what you did so I can try it.

Bon Appetit