Curried shrimp with peas

N had minor surgery on Wednesday (all's well, nothing to worry about), and I don't know what it was in my insane preop mom brain that made me assume I would actually bring him home that afternoon and then sit down and do my usual Wednesday-night-NTMC-recipe-writing ritual.

Because, clearly, I did not. Thus, please accept my apologies for the dead air here today.

Please accept, also, that I'm just going to sort of throw this recipe at you, without much in the way of witty and interesting introductory text.

Oh, and the blurry picture above. I don't know what happened there!

I will say the following: This was a first-time-tried recipe. I was in the library the other day, picking up something I'd placed on reserve, and I decided to browse through the cookbooks. When I saw this recipe in The Best Recipe (by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine), I grabbed the book with one hand, and fished out my library card with the other. I went straight from the library to the grocery store across the street, got the needed ingredients, and headed home. Because Cooks Illustrated is, by far, my favorite cooking magazine. Nothing else even comes close.

The only other thing I'll say is this: I think I may have had a slight allergic reaction to this dish, delicious as it was. Hives, itching...on my thighs. I'm guessing it was the shrimp, though it could just be my head. In any case, as I was reaching for the antihistamine, I thought of Niksmom, and how I should have known better than to even contemplate a recipe she's allergic to! Niksmom, you have some powerful mojo, girl!

And with that, I present the many-ingrediented (yes, I made up that word) but easy to make and utterly delicious...

Curried shrimp with peas (adapted from Cook's Illustrated's The Best Recipe)

For whole spice blend
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
4 cardamom pods
8 peppercorns
1 bay leaf

For rest of recipe
1/4 cup canola oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
4 large garlic cloves (puree in food processor with ginger, below)
about 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled (puree in food processor with garlic, above)
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined (mine were frozen, and so had to be thawed along with peas, below)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
about 3 canned plum tomatoes
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
chopped fresh cilantro leaves (plus some for garnish)
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

Some notes: You can omit as many of the spices as you like, or even other ingredients; this seems like a pretty forgiving recipe. In fact, the original has a bunch of other suggestions for things to add and/or subtract. This is not one of those recipes you need to sweat. At the same time, I do suggest getting everything out and measure and cut and prepare and set aside beforehand, as if you were the host on a cooking show. I almost always just grab ingredients as I go, but in this case, that would likely have spelled disaster, because the actual cooking goes QUICKLY.

1. Heat oil in pot or skillet; I used my dutch oven, and thought it was perfect for this. Let the oil get good and hot, then add the whole spice blend, stirring for less than 30 seconds. (The book's recipe never has you remove these whole spices, but I didn't like the idea of biting into them while eating, and so searched for and removed as many of them as I could find before serving the dish.)

2. Add onion; saute until softened or slightly browned.

3. Stir in garlic, ginger, ground spices (including salt), tomatoes, yogurt. Stir pretty much constantly until spices smell cooked, about two minutes.

4. Stir in cilantro and two cups of water; bring all to a boil. Taste and season with more salt, if needed.

5. Add shrimp and peas. Simmer for three minutes.

6. Serve over rice, because you're going to want something to sop up the spicy liquid. Trust me on this.

Enjoy. Because this is some hive-worthy stuff!

Spicy sausage and black bean stew

Cold and snow have arrived in my little town.  That means time to think about hot soups and stews and hearty breads fresh from the oven (or bread machine).  Here's a super simple one which requires a minimal number of ingredients and is so easy to throw together you can do it when you come in from sledding with the kids! Or, in our case, shoveling out the most snow my town has seen in at least a couple of decades!

The ingredients are simple:

1-2 pounds of ground sausage.  Don't like or don't have sausage? No problem. Substitute ANY meat of your choosing...anything you like will work. (See, I told you it's easy!)

1 large onion, chopped

1 14 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained. (Don't have black beans? Substitute navy beans or cannelloni)

1 large can crushed tomatoes

Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy salt-free blend (What? No Mrs. Dash? *gasp* Fine, substitute cayenne or tabasco sauce to taste)

1 1/2 cup uncooked rice (I use a long-grain/wild rice combo I buy locally. Just about any rice will do except Minute Rice or any other "instant" variety.)

In a large pot, brown the meat.  As I said, if you don't have— or don't like— sausage, feel free to substitute just about any meat you want. Seriously. Stew meat, cut up chicken breast, ground beef...whatever makes you happy.  After all, this is nearly in the realm of comfort food!

Rinse and drain the beans and add them to the pot.  Add the tomatoes and onion.  Season as liberally or conservatively as you wish with seasoning.  I have a heavy hand because everyone in our house likes it spicy.
Simmer for about ten minutes then give it a few good stirs.

Add the rice and stir.  Add enough water to make it a soupy consistency.  Cover. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for about an hour or until the rice is thoroughly cooked.  You will want to stir occasionally so nothing burns on the bottom of the pan.

The beauty of this "stew" is that you can make it as thick or as thin as you want.  Too thick after simmering for so long? No problem; just add a little water or broth to get the desired consistency.  Too thin? Just let it simmer a bit longer.

Serve piping hot in bowls.  I topped ours with some sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese and garnished with fresh cilantro.  Add a salad and some hot bread or cornbread and you've got yourself a nice heart meal guaranteed to warm your insides.

** This stew is naturally gluten free and casein free.  You may also adapt it for slow cookers by tossing in all the ingredients, including rice and water, and cook on low for about 8 hours.  Longer is fine, too if you need to set it going before work, for example.

Omit the meat completely for a delicious vegetarian stew. You may want to add more beans for additional protein.

Roasted pork tenderloin

If I were to wager a guess, I'd have to say I cook pork tenderloin about once a month. In the summer, I toss it on the grill; but when the weather doesn't permit, I'm not afraid to roast it. In some ways, I consider this cut of meat fairly idiot-proof. And though (as a born and bred California girl) I prefer my meat on the grill, this is just as tasty and tender—if not more so—when oven roasted.

As a bit of an aside, I'm not a huge fan of marinades—some cuts of meat (flank steak is one example) simply beg for a marinade to add flavor and tenderness, but I find when cooked properly, pork tenderloin is more than capable of standing on its own.

I don't have a "recipe" to share here, as much as a technique. And as far as cooking techniques go, this one is fairly simple.

First, I buy my pork tenderloin wherever I can find it. At the butcher, at the grocery store; and honestly, since most of the time it's a pre-packaged cut (I think one brand I see often here is Hormel) it doesn't matter. I do, however, prefer the cut that gives you two thin tenderloins, rather than one thicker one. There's no way to know what's in the package until you open it, so it's a bit of trial and error.

Anyway, here's what it looks like out of the package:

Once it's in the pan, I rub the meat with some good olive oil and a flavorful roast seasoning. I really like Snyders Prime Rib seasoning, but I can't find it here so I make my mom buy it from her butcher and ship it to me. Yes, it's that good.

I add some rosemary—fresh if I have it, dried if I don't—and since I had some fresh pearl onions on hand tonight, I tossed those in the pan too.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and roast (turning once or twice) for about 45 minutes, or until the internal temp reads 160 degrees. I add a little water or white wine about 15 minutes before taking the meat out of the oven—just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. The liquid creates a nice au jus that you can pour over the meat, or use as a base for gravy.

After the meat comes out of the oven, let it rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

I served mine tonight with an orange and feta cheese salad, stuffing, peas and applesauce. Four adults, an 8 year old, and there wasn't a slice leftover. Come to think of it, there wasn't ANYTHING leftover.

Jewish penicillin (aka Chicken soup with matzo balls)

"I don't know why," my friend's son, Joey, said to me the other night, when he arrived at my house for a sleepover with N, wiggling with delight when he smelled the soup cooking on the stove, "but I love Jewish food!"

Chicken soup with matzo balls goes so far beyond Jewish food, though. It's comfort food, too. And if you'll allow me to depart from my usual steadfast belief in peer-reviewed studies for just a moment, it's downright medicinal. (And I'm not the only one who says so.) I'll never forget my junior year in college in snowbound Schenectady, New York, sitting in a classroom trying to study for finals despite a fever and sinus pressure I thought would make my head explode, and smelling...I swear, I smelled it like there was a pot right in front of me...my mother's chicken soup with matzo balls. (Yes, even though it was pure hallucination, I knew there were matzo balls in it. There are always matzo balls in it.) Afterwards? I felt better. Seriously.

Joey's mom, my friend A, prone to bronchitis and other wintertime infections, will undoubtedly back me up on the curative powers of my soup; I've made her more than one batch in my time for just that purpose.

But wait. There's more.

Both my kids graduated from baby foods to soft foods via matzo balls scooped out of the soup. Em has more than once requested chicken soup with matzo balls as her special birthday dinner...despite her birthday being in late August. When we head up to Big Bear with "the gang" for our annual four-family trip next weekend (eight adults; ten kids under the age of 13; more fun than you can shake a sled at), I will be expected to bring my enormous 15-quart pot with me, and soup will be one of my culinary contributions. (I'll have to add extra turnips and parsnips, or A and I will fight over them.)

But, really, I doubt I needed to sing this soup's praises for quite this long. I'm guessing--especially if you've ever had a bowl of the "real thing"--that I had you at "matzo balls."

Chicken soup with matzo balls: A recipe in two parts

Part 1: Chicken soup

None of these amounts are set in stone; this is very much a go-your-own-way kind of recipe. But I'll give you the approximate amounts I use.

• chicken (for a big batch in my 15-quart pot, I use either two whole chickens, or one whole chicken plus as many additional parts as I can find, depending on what's on sale)
• carrots (I'll come clean and admit I've gotten lazy over the years, and so I usually just throw in a couple of handfuls of those already-peeled baby carrots, rather than peeling and chopping my own; if you go the peel-and-chop way, I'd use about a pound of carrots)
  
• onions (one large or two medium)
• turnips (one if you're not a turnip fan; more if you are)
• parsnips (see turnips)
• celery (the leafiest bunch of celery you can find; that's where the flavor is, soup-wise)
• dill (one bunch)
• parsley (one bunch)
• kosher salt (to taste)

1. Clean the chicken: Keep neck, pupik, any other hard stuff; get rid of liver, fat, kidneys and membranes. Run water through until clean.

2. My mother's method of making this soup--and she's the one who taught me--is to run cold water into the pot, bring it to a boil, then add the chicken. I, on the other hand, find that too much water makes it impossible to get a really chicken-y soup. So instead, I put in as much chicken as I have, then add water to about an inch above. (This level will rise as you add the various veggies; make sure you don't start the soup with water anywhere near the top of your pot. Mine is generally between the half and two-thirds point. It's why you need a really big pot if you want to make a lot of soup. My pot? Makes a LOT of soup.) I then bring the water to a boil with the chicken already in the pot, and skim the foam that arises. (No, I don't want to know what that foam is or where it comes from.)

3. Again, my mother and I differ here. She has you next wash the dill and parsley and tie them together before throwing them into the pot; makes it easier to remove them later on. I find that no matter what I tie them with, they always fall apart, and then I'm fishing around for a string in the soup. I just wash them and throw them in, and my soup is full of green bits, and sometimes my kids complain, but most of the time they ignore it. So my instruction would be just to wash the dill and parsley, and toss 'em in the pot.

4. Peel and chop carrots (if you need to); peel and chop turnips and parsnips. Use leaves from celery, plus some of the stalks as well, cut into pieces. Take skin off of onion, but leave whole. Add to soup.

5. Boil over very low heat (you barely want it to bubble) for several hours. Taste as you go, adding whatever is needed, usually salt.* Once it's done, and if the whole chicken-fat thing bugs you, you can let it cool overnight and then skim the fat off in the morning before adding the matzo balls. But me? Not a chance.

*OK. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the soup never gets chicken-y enough. The world will not end if you add a couple of bouillon cubes or whatever to boost it along. Not that I have ever done that. No way, no how. Except for, um, pretty much every time when I first started making my own soup; about a third of the time now that I have the proportions down a little better. If I don't have five or six hours to simmer it, though? I almost always need to add a little somethingsomething.

Part 2: Matzo balls

Get ready, folks: Your cholesterol is about to go up 30 or 40 points just by READING this recipe. Don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and also? My mother's recipe is for half this amount, and if you have a smallish pot or make just one chicken's worth of soup, you might want to halve it, too. But I don't think I've ever made that few matzo balls; the natives would revolt if I tried. So I'm giving it to you the way I make it most of the time. Sometimes, I'll up this by 50% again!

• 8 eggs
• 10 tablespoons oil (I use canola)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or just eyeball it, which is what I do)
• 1 cup warm water
  
• 2-3 cups matzo meal (very approximate; see instructions)

1. Beat eggs and oil together well.

2. Add water; mix again.

3. Add salt; stir.

4. Stir in matzo meal. How much? It's really an eye thing. What you want is to form a batter that is no longer watery, but isn't too thick.

(See this? This is too soupy. It needs more matzo meal.)







Now, this? Is perfect. It's not a leaden lump at the bottom of the bowl; it'll flow, slowly, like lava, if you tilt the bowl. But it still has a little 'shape' to it.

5. Place batter in refrigerator for several hours. It needs to chill well in order for the batter to firm up properly.

6. About half an hour to an hour before you want to serve the soup, it's time to make the matzo balls. You do this the old-fashioned way...by rolling them with your hands. To keep the sticky batter from sticking to your hands, you'll want to wet them (your hands, not the balls) frequently with cold water. Drop each matzo ball into the soup as you make it; if there's room, they will sink into the soup, then rise to the top as they cook. Oftentimes, though, there's not enough room for all of them to do this (at least not in my crowded-with-veggies-and-chicken pot!) and you'll need to occasionally stir the soup around so that the matzo balls roll over and get a chance to absorb the soup on all sides.

And that is it! (Are you happy now, Green? Me, too.)

Oven pork chops

I'm not one to make New Year resolutions too often. But if I were, no doubt one of them would have something to do with seeking more variety in what we eat, and trying new things.

It's one of the reasons I like this blog, (Never) Too Many Cooks, so much. I aim to try at least one new recipe per week. And because I post once a week, I aim to try an additional something new at home too.

This week, however, coming off the holidays and all manner of colds and viruses running through the house, I resorted to an old familiar for dinner.

These oven pork chops are a tried and true recipe that comes from a family friend. It is naturally free of gluten and casein. And ridiculously simple.

Oven Pork Chops

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix together
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup maple syrup

Brown pork chops in skillet.

Place in baking dish and pour the mixture over the pork chops.

Bake for 45 minutes, covered.

Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes uncovered.



Usually I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, but the few potatoes in my cupboard had started to go soft. So we went with our standard (gluten-free) pasta and a side of peas.

For those of you who don't eat pork, I can't see why this wouldn't work just as well with chicken.

My mom's meat sauce

I'm not Italian. I just play one in my marriage.

And I've often thought that the recipe for my mom's meat sauce would make my Italian mother-in-law's hair stand on end. There's something about the ingredients for this sauce that lacks authenticity, but the end result is really really really good. Even my mother-in-law thinks so (though I've never actually told her how it is made). I've served this sauce, in fact, to countless members of my husband's family and never once has anyone labeled me a fraud.

Curious?

Here's what you need:

2 pounds of chopped meat (you can use all beef or all pork, or a combination of beef, pork and veal)
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 large can of tomato juice (see? not an authentic ingredient)
1 large can of tomato puree
1 large packet of spaghetti sauce seasoning mix (again, not authentic)
3 heaping tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
1 generous teaspoon each of dried basil, and dried oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil, then add the chopped meat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, stirring often.

Pour in the tomato juice and the tomato puree, mix well. Add the seasonings: basil, oregano, bay leaf, salt, pepper, seasoning packet and then stir in the parmesan cheese.

Bring to a low boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. The beauty of this sauce is that it almost doesn't matter how long you let it simmer. If 30 minutes turns into an hour, no problem. If you only have 20 minutes to get dinner on the table, no problem.

Spoon over hot pasta, sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and you're done.

I admit to enjoying this sauce so much that I will very often eat it out of a mug with a spoon. So, again, in the most inauthentic way, I guess the pasta could be considered optional. ;-)

Maple sage pork roast

It's no mystery that I love my slow cooker...a lot.  The way things have been going around my house lately —what with snowmageddon before Christmas, all of us being in varying stages of some respiratory illness or another, and the challenges of keeping up with my child who doesn't stop until he passes out in bed at night—you better believe my slow cooker is my new BFF.  Sorry, Red, I still love you but you don't give me the warm fuzzies the way my slow cooker can.

What? Oh, am I freaking you all out a bit with my appliance love? Sorry.

Since I was all set to do my pulled pork recipe last week but didn't, I needed a plan to use my yummy pork shoulder roast.  As the temperatures dropped over the last few days, I found something too irresistible to pass up.  How could you not love something which includes a succulent roast, winter squash and maple syrup?

The original recipe comes from one of those publications one nearly always sees in line at the grocery store.  This one's a Betty Crocker mini-magazine of slow cooker meals dating all the way back to 2006.  Yes, I saved the magazine all these years because I'm apparently too stupid to realize that Al Gore gave me this nifty tool called the internet.  You, my friends, can find the original recipe here.

With all the aforementioned hindrances to leisurely and organized cooking in my household of late, I didn't have all the ingredients on hand.  I knew I couldn't use corn starch because of a food sensitivity and I don't use bouillon granules or cubes (I can't handle the msg and nitrates that are usually in those things so I avoid 'em like the plague).  So I did what any self-respecting cook would do— I made it up as I went along.

I have to say, it turned out really delicious.  Even my finicky eater who's just learning to chew meat has been enjoying the leftovers!  Now that I think of it, that's not a rousing endorsement as he'll eat pretty much everything. Hmmm...

My husband enjoyed this so much he's asked me to make it again with a slight change which I'll share at the end of this post.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

2- to 3-lb boneless pork shoulder roast

4 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground sage (I didn't have leaves on hand)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups baby-cut carrots
2 small onions, cut into wedges
3 tablespoons xanthan gum
1/2 cup water

If the pork roast comes in netting or string, remove that and put the roast in the bottom of the cooker.
In a small bowl, mix the syrup, beef broth, garlic and sage.  Pour the mixture over the pork.
Arrange the carrots, onions, and squash around the pork roast. 

 
Do not put the vegetables on top of the roast or they won't cook thoroughly. (This is a great tip if you are making, say, beef stew and don't want your vegetables to be mushy.)
 
Cover; cook on HIGH heat  setting for 4 hours. (NB: original recipe says 8-9 hours on LOW)
 
Remove the pork and vegetables from the cooker and cover them to keep them warm.  Now would be a great time to slice the roast and put it on a platter or in a casserole with the vegetables arranged oh-so-artfully around it like I did.  (Wow, I typed that with a straight face; lightning is about to strike me.) 
 

Pour the juices from the cooker into either a sauce pan or a large microwavable measuring cup.
 
Mix the xanthan gum and water until smooth. Add it to the juices in the cup or pan, Heat and stir until it thickens into a nice glaze.  Spoon the maple glaze over the pork and veggies.
 
If you plan your menu ahead of time, you definitely should consider adding these yummy side dishes to the meal.  Homemade biscuits (they're easy, I swear!), superb applesauce and maybe even some roasted brussels sprouts.  And, voila, dinner is served!
 
 

**********

While I think this dish is absolutely yummy, both my husband and I tend to like a bit more depth and complexity; we like to play "What's in this?" sometimes. (Yeah, we're a little quirky that way; what can I say?)  We discussed several recipe modifications but the one which intrigues us the most —which I will make tomorrow— is to substitute garam masala for the sage for a flavorful Indian-style dish. I may add some chopped dates and serve it with naan bread. 
 
What are some of the ways you get adventurous when you cook?