Indian Quickie

Monday is "laundry day," right?  Well, as good as a big pot of red beans and rice sounds, I had no means to produce that today.  I did do a boatload of laundry, however.  No, for us, it was mommy's super quick Indian night here at the grand Chez Akre.


I am an uber-enthusiastic fan of the Indian "simmer sauces" found at Aldi.  These sauces are how I first introduced the Wunderkind to Indian food, which is one of her favorite cuisines, to this day. These jars of goodness simply call for you adding veggies and meat of choice and it's dinner time.  

I already had a baked chicken breast in the fridge, so I chopped that, chopped some fresh spinach, and half an onion.  For added protein, texture, etc. I also used 1/2 can of garbanzos. All I had to do for our dinner tonight was start a pot of Basmati rice, saute the onion, add my pre-cooked chicken, veggies and sauce and wait.  

I also had one more piece of naan (also available at Aldi) in the fridge.  I smeared on a thin layer of ghee, to add some flavor and popped it in a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes, as my entree simmered. 

In literally minutes, we had Indian curry on our plates and in our mouths.  


 This is an incredibly easy way to introduce yourself or others to the flavors of Indian cooking.  Of course, doing it all from scratch is a wonderful adventure.  However, on a weeknight when nobody wants to spend tons of time in the kitchen, you can't beat this simmer sauce.  We've tried the Jalfrezi, Tikka Masala and the Korma and love them all. Couldn't be any quicker to cook and it's still an interesting and hearty meal without a whole lot of work.  Try it!  You'll like it!

 

Alotta Frittata

For the last couple of weeks, it seems that I can't get my fridge any less packed-to-the-gills. Last night was yet another night of trying to take bits and pieces of leftovers and put them to use once and for all.  I have 2 cooked chicken breasts and half an onion that have been staring back at me.  So, I grabbed the eggs and decided to whip up a big, puffy frittata.

I learned to make these from a cool cookbook called How to Cook without a Book.  I can't remember how long I've had this book, and in truth, I still read it just to make sure I have my measurements correct.  I've decided to make some notes in it and when Vivian is old enough to move out on her own, I'm going to give her my copy.

Last night, I chopped up most of that leftover chicken, used 3 slices of bacon, chopped up that onion, used a little Parmesan and the last little bit of the Colby we got from the Wisconsin cheese box that my brother-in-law sent.  All you do is cook the bacon and as it begins to render, add the onion.  Once these were cooked, I tossed in the chicken.  You spread all this out to cover the bottom of your skillet.  I'd already mixed 8 eggs, the cheeses and salt and pepper together.  You pour that over the bacon/onion/chicken and cook for about a minute or so to get the eggs to just begin to set.  Then, into the oven for about 13 minutes and you get a golden, puffy frittata.  Very little effort and very big payoff in the delicious department.  

I've never been able to get the Vivver to embrace the idea of an omelet.  But, as she ate her dinner and told me how much she liked it, she said "Hmm, this is kind of like an omelet and a pie, isn't it?"  Call it whatever you like, as long as you eat it!

A Green Bean ain't no Plain Jane

Just look at these beauties!

 

I'm one of those people who (firmly) believes that every plate must be rounded out. Balanced, if you will.  By this I mean, there simply must be something green on every plate. If not, I go a little crazy.  Have you ever seen photos in magazines of salmon and lentils? I love salmon.  I love lentils.  But a plate of salmon and lentils without something green? I can't even make this appetizing in my mind with no green.


Because of my green compulsion, green beans make a very regular appearance in our house. The beauty of green beans is that they are good for you, they are pretty neutral, they look pretty and they can play many roles.  Kids love them, adults love them and you can use them in a zillion ways.  But I think many families ignore green beans because (at least in the South) all they know is to boil them and maybe add a little salt.  Wake up!  The green bean is one of the most versatile vegetables I know.  You can do everything with them.  At the risk of sounding like Bubba Blue from "Forrest Gump," you can boil them, steam them, poach them, saute them, roast them, put 'em in a casserole, pickle 'em, make a salad out of them, etc, etc, etc.

Which brings me to tonight.  I was making simple grilled steaks, baked Yukon gold potatoes, salad and green beans.  I just got some "haricots verts" from Costco on Sunday.  <<It's funny that en Francais, "haricots verts" means "green beans."  But in America, "haricots verts" means "fancy little green beans." >> Whatever, I love them no matter what you call them, in any language.  Tonight I wanted my haricots to have a little "je ne sais quois" so here's what I came up with.  Since true French haricots don't need much cooking time (they are slimmer), I decided to gently simmer them in a vegetable bouillon with garlic and onion.   

Just chopped up about half an onion; whatever amount you want of course!

1 1/2 cups of water with two veggie bouillon cubes

Onions and garlic simmering in the bouillon

Yeah, I quit chopping garlic a long time ago; haricots verts from Costco

And, then just simmered for about 15 minutes and they were awesome!

Ridiculously simple, but yowza! I was really pleased with the result.  The flavor and crisp, cleanness of the green bean wasn't lost, but merely enhanced just ever so much by the other flavors.  I'm definitely making our G.B.'s this way more often.

New-fangled Sausage & Peppers

I love how romantic and classic Italian food always sounds. Just the mere mention of it can conjure up images, aromas, even flavors. But, in reality, I find (most) "traditional" Italian fare pretty disappointing. Now, before anyone fires up the Fiat and starts heading over here to beat me senseless with a massive mostaccioli, let me explain. I LOVE Northern Italian food most of all. But, here in the U.S. (at least the part I grew up in) "Italian" is pretty much synonymous with tomato sauce, pasta, onions, peppers and meat.

One dish that always sounds enticing to me is sausage, peppers and onions. 

There's just a couple of problems here.

• I hate sausage. Well, I love the flavor of sausage, but not what sausage is. I'm very particular about meat. Fat, gristle, bones, hard unidentified shit, etc. doesn't belong in meat and certainly not in any food I'm going to consume. 
• Peppers are ok to me in small doses. Qualification: jalapenos and chiles I'm good with because I like some heat. But when it comes to bell peps, I get more picky. I like green ones for fajitas, pizza, sauces, etc. But, it makes me mad when yellow, orange and red bells are marketed as "sweet" peppers. NO THEY AREN'T. They still taste like a regular old bell pepper, but milder in flavor. There ain't nothin' sweet goin' on here. 

• Onions are wonderful. But, combine them with bell peppers and tons of tomato based sauce and my experience with an Upper G.I. at age 17 enters my memory like a herd of elephants. But things have changed. 

Over Thanksgiving, Aunt Kathy introduced me to something similar yet different. Chicken and apple sausages and (actual) sweet peppers.

Since she's in Florida, she has Publix stores at her disposal that make ours here in S.C. look microscopic. In fact, when we returned after the holiday, I searched my Publix to make sure I hadn't overlooked these items before. Nope. So, I talked to one of the employees and told him about these sausages and peppers I'd seen in Publix-land. Well, sometime this month, I noticed them showing up here. I have no doubt that I had absolutely NOTHING to do with that. I'm just glad that they are here. 

I'll quit rambling and let you know more about what I'm talking about... In the bacon/sausage/lunch meat cooler, look for "Alfresco" sweet apple chicken sausage. They are low fat, all natural and gluten free. The best part? Smooth texture, no gristly weirdness and they taste awesome, especially grilled. Next is the peppers. In the produce section, look for bags of small, multi-colored peppers. I don't know what brand name is on them, but you can't miss them. Kathy rubbed them with olive oil and then popped them on the grill. Here's the significant thing: THESE PEPPERS ARE ACTUALLY SWEET. Finally, truth in advertising :-) 

To be honest with you, the old Italian sausage with peppers and onions doesn't even sound remotely appetizing anymore now that I've discovered this delicious (and more interesting) alternative. If you're a traditionalist, I respect that; more power to you! But, branch out and try these too. I think you'll be happy about having another sausage and pepper dish in your repertoire!

Husband + Cooking = Happy Wife

Neil took the reigns on dinner Sunday night and I couldn't have been happier.  A) I wasn't in the mood to cook (it happens occasionally you know) and B) he was making my favorite (pizza!).  God bless him...he took stock of what we had on hand, went to Publix for their bakery-made dough and made a plan.  (If you haven't tried Publix's pizza dough, you better put it on your list.)

Here's what he put together:  Crumbled hot sausage, artichoke hearts, black olives, onions, colby and swiss cheeses.  The result?  Fantastic!  I had no idea of this combination of cheeses until he told me.  I could tell there was a little "Je ne sais quoi" in this pizza, but couldn't put my finger on it.  That was it; a new and different combo of cheese.  I would recommend that you either try his combo or mix it up on your own, with whatever you have available.  Also, we use a pizza stone, which really helps with crisping your crust.  If you don't have one, you may want to give it a shot.

This is Neil's creation: delicious!

The ingredients Neil chose worked well together.  Of course, I think artichokes are like manna from Heaven.  As the pie was cooking, the house smelled divine.  We were so looking forward to dinner. 

In the midst of all this, our little one was complaining of her ear hurting.  This was strange because she never complains and she hasn't been sick at all.  But after about a half a slice of pizza and over 2 hours of our sweet baby crying and tossing and turning and Tylenol not helping, we packed it up and went to the hospital.  Fortunately, it was just a sudden onset ear infection and easily treatable.  And, on the bright side of the pizza; we got to have it (in its entirety) for dinner last night!  

I salute my husband for a successful concoction and many thanks for doing the cooking!  Now, ready to try your hand at lobster thermidor?  (Hint, hint)