Entries tagged as ‘basmati’
J’s been a fan of Cuban food since childhood, and has been jonesing for some since a new, but uninviting, Cuban restaurant opened near us, and took it on to prepare some properly at home tonight. We’ve been using saffron regularly since we bought some a couple of years ago to try and make yellow rice ourselves, but only recently did we figure out that the secret ingredient we were lacking was turmeric (yes, that r is supposed to be there, look it up). So J ground up both with some salt and black pepper in the mortar and pestle to create a base for both the chicken and the rice and then simmered the chicken with some onion, garlic, olive oil, Sriracha chili sauce and tomato sauce, and then combined them into one dish and baked for a while in the oven. Very nice, very soothing, and not entirely unlike Miss Neddy’s Congee!
I made some green and yellow split peas with some garlic in them to go with, which are always hearty and filling, as well as a light salad of tomatoes with green onions and fresh oregano from the garden, with a really simple vinaigrette dressing of just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
Categories: I Cooked · J Cooked
Tagged: salad, green onions, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, tomato sauce, olive oil, chicken, onion, vinaigrette, rice, Sriracha, black pepper, basmati, saffron, turmeric, split peas
My father and my step-mother visited recently, and while she was here, I was able to wrangle her mother’s brisket recipe out of her, much to my great pleasure, having enjoyed when she made it on several occasions. So, since J considers Easter a valid reason to make a nice big dinner, I thought it would be a good excuse to try the recipe. G&T joined us as well and so did L. For appetizer/nibbly bits, G&T brought cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto and blue corn tortilla chips and hummus, as well as some red wine and dessert.
The recipe calls for 4 lbs of beef brisket, sliced onions, black pepper, Heinz chili sauce and bay leaves, and it takes over 4 hours to cook altogether, so I started it early in the afternoon. It takes lots of steps, but it’s worth the effort- it practically melts in your mouth! As well, I made a big tossed garden salad (G helped!), with tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and mixed baby greens, with my homemade vinaigrette dressing, and some brown jasmine rice, cooked in mushroom stock and then tossed with the mushrooms that made the stock, after they were sautéed in olive oil with some garlic and fresh thyme from the garden.
At the same time that I started the brisket, I also baked a butternut squash, which lately has become one of my favorite squashes, much less foods, to my great surprise. Of course, the way I make it, it’s pretty much irresistible:
Mini tutorial: Butternut Squash
- Peel and de-seed it and cut it up into small pieces
- Layer it in a Pyrex dish with a bunch of sliced pats of butter (almost a stick) and cover liberally with five-spice powder, salt and black pepper.
- Bake covered at 350°F for 45 mins or until it falls apart when poked with a fork
- Let it cool some, and blend it in a Cuisinart / food processor with a little milk or butter until it reaches the desired consistency
- Keep warm for an hour or two before serving… the longer you can let it stand before serving, the more the flavor develops. Reheat before serving if you can’t keep it warm the whole time.
YUM! For dessert, a big creamy peach Boston cream pie/cake concoction. Not the traditional Easter Ham by any means, but who’s complaining? Not like there were any leftovers!
Categories: I Cooked · You Cook It
Tagged: baby greens, basmati, bay leaves, beef, black pepper, blue corn, brisket, brown rice, butter, butternut, cake, cucumber, five spice powder, garlic, green onions, Heinz chili sauce, hummus, melon, milk, mushrooms, olive oil, onions, peaches, prosciutto, red wine, salad, squash, thyme, tomatoes, tortilla chips, vinaigrette
I marinated the chops in a sauce made of lemon, fresh rosemary and garlic, with a little Dijon mustard, black pepper and olive oil, and grilled them on the George Foreman grill. I know we have been eating a lot of rosemary lately, but there’s a ton of it in the garden, and it tastes so good with so many different things!
I prepared the micro-greens, endive and green onion salad that we like so much with my homemade vinaigrette and included the grated carrot again. For side dishes, I warmed up some basmati rice and lentils I had made and frozen previously, as well as a “Southwestern” mix of veggies, that includes corn, black beans, red and green bell peppers and onions. For dessert, we had the last of the pie. Simple and quick to prepare but tasty.
Categories: I Cooked
Tagged: basmati, black beans, black pepper, carrots, corn, dijon mustard, endives, garlic, green onions, green pepper, lemon, lentils, micro-greens, olive oil, onions, pie, pork, red pepper, rice, rosemary, salad, vinaigrette
