Maria's old fashioned chicken noodle

Not a complicated recipe, but just what we wanted!

Got a Joe's cut-up kosher chicken and made a stock from it (removing it after 1 hour to reserve the chicken, and returning bones etc. to pot).

Boiled some veggies in the broth, cooked some classic egg noodle (which you can apparently only buy at safeway, a fact which makes us question whether something is the matter with them).

Combine with some chopped up reserve chicken.

Ta da!  Just what we wanted.  + some crusty bread.

Veg Korma

I dunno;  I only think this is OK.  Maria liked it.  I want to keep looking for other recipes.

Original recipe:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCwJ5SCD1B4

I've typed it out below with a modification that lets me cook the vegetable in the sauce instead of separately (which I think is better for nutrients).

Gravy

3-4 Tbsp oil on high flame
1/2 tsp asafoeteda powsder
1 tsp ginger paste
1/4 C cashew nuts

saute 1 min

Add 500g roughly chopped tomato

1.5 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 c grated coconut.

mix well.  Add 1/4 c water.  mix well.

Bring to simmer, lower to low heat and let cook, covered, for 5 min.

Remove from heat and let cool.  Blend into smooth paste.

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Different pan:  On high.  1-2 Tbsp oil.

2 cinnamon sticks, 2 bay leaves, 3 whole red chilies, 1 spring curry leaves.

Saute 1 min.

Add tomato gravy from earlier. + 1/2 C water.

Stir until boiling (1-2 min).  Lower head and simmer, covered, for 4 min.

Add 1/4 C water + Add 1 C peas.
1 med carrot chopped
1 large diced potato
Chopped french beans.

1/2 C water, mix well on high flame until boil (1-2min).  Simmer on low, covered, for 2 min.

Add 1/4 C whisked yogurt.  Mix well on high flame.  Let cook 6 min, covered, on low heat.

At this point I tried the vegies and cooked them for 4 more minutes with a gap in the lid to reduce the liquid a bit.

1 tsp garam masala at end + more fresh coriander.

Chinese shrimp noodle!

This was really great!  Probably would work out equally well with chicken.

I bought 1.5 lbs shrimp w/ head on because they were on sale.  This was probably 50% too much.

Marinade:
2 tbsp rice wine
2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 Tbsp soy sauce

After shelling the shrimp, marinated them in the above for 30 min covered in the refrigerator.

Prepared 1/2 package of snow peas (trimmed + cut in half).
Got one package tiny asian mushrooms.
4-5 cloves garlic sliced.

Prepped a big pot of boiling water for the noodles.

Heated 2 Tbsp peanut oil until very hot.  Added shrimp + marinade and cooked for about 2 minutes and removed from pan (leaving some of the marinade bits).

Added an additional 1 Tbsp oil, + 5-6 cloves garlic sliced into thin slices + snow peas.  Stir fried about 1.5 min, then added mushrooms and stir fried an additional minute.

Put 10 oz fresh noodle into boiling water at same time as snow peas.  Drained, and added to pan along with the reserved shrimp. 

Immediately swirled sauce over top + a little cornstarch slurry and let it thicken for 30 seconds.

Sauce was:
1/4 C water   (would have used chicken broth if I'd had it)
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

I-bought-too-many-serranos chili paste

Basically just hecka chopped Serrano with garlic and rice vinegar.

Nice flavor!  Mostly I just wanted this on hand when I needed to give something a serious kick.  Nice because it's got such a fresh greenness to it.

https://www.glueandglitter.com/2015/08/24/shredded-serrano-hot-sauce-recipe/

Kadai Vegetables

Original recipe:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiaVSPKX9_w

Very promising, with a few notes for next time. Took ~ 60 min start to finish, but I think could be sped up.

Here's what we did this time:

Masala:  Combine the following in a small sauce pan.  Toast over medium heat for 2 min.
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp coriander
1/2 tsp fennel
1 tsp whole black pepper
4 green cardamom
3-4 whole red dried chilies         [forgot to include these this time]
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp mace (or allspice)            [don't toast this; just add at the end when you grind]

Grind to a course powder in a spice mill.

Pre-cook the vegetables:  Boil to 80% done the following:
1 large potato, 2 medium carrots, a goodly amount of green beans.

I cut the potato and carrot into 0.5 x 0.5 x 1 inch rectangular prisms.  Green beans into 1" lengths.

Boiled potato + carrot for 5 min.  This is probably too long.  Next time 4 min.
Boiled green beans 2 min.  This was about right.

Also chop 1 red bell pepper, prep 1 C frozen green peas.
(We replaced the cauliflower with tofu cubes).

Cook
3-4 Tbsp oil
1/4 tsp aesofatida
1 tsp ginger paste

Saute 1 min.  Then add:

1 C tomato puree
3/4 tsp turmric
2 tsp salt
Add masala
1 tsp Methi (fenugreek powder)

Cook on med-low for 2 min.

Add potato, carrot, beans, red bell pep, 1 C green peas.  Mix well on high flame.  Turn to low and cook for 6 min for flavors to combine.

Add 1/2 C heavy cream at the end.  Cook 1-2 more minutes on low.  Garnish with cilantro.

-----

Next time:  Don't pre-boil vegetables.  Add 1 C water and boil them in the sauce.  Fewer pots + keeps nutrients better.

American Chop Suey (Serious Eats)

This was a very promising recipe, but with some serious problems as written.  It also makes a BOATLOAD.

Here's the original link:  https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/09/american-chop-suey-johnny-marzetti-beefaroni-hamburger-helper-goulash-italian-american-recipe.html

Our notes:
 - Too much cheese (never thought we'd say that).  We'd cut the mozzerella in half.
 - Avoid making the noodles too soggy.  Their pre-soaking instruction leads to soggy noodles.
 - Would be nice to have bigger curly tubes instead of the small macaroni elbows we used from TJs.

  - Might consider halving the recipe itself if you don't want so much at a time.

Next time we're going to try and just cook them in the sauce, or maybe soak them for ~ 10 min in cold water first.

Also add a green vegetable like spinach or broccoli.

Hot chili oil

Ok, so I lost the original recipe  but I think I remember:

12-15 red chili's, thinly sliced  (we used some our neighbors gave us).
2 heads garlic, minced (we used 24 pre-peeled cloves)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce

Heat 1/2 C neutral oil until ~225 F and add minced garlic.  Lightly fry for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.  Be careful!  Don't vigorously fry, they shouldn't turn crispy or burn.

Grind thinly sliced chili and salt in mortar and pestle.  No need to make a paste, just break them up a bit.  Add to oil and simmer for 5-10 more minutes (making sure not to burn the garlic).

Add 3/4C more oil (we started with a smaller amount of oil because it's easier to get a uniform temperature for the garlic frying).  Remove from heat.  Add 1 C szechuan chili flakes, 1/2 tsp sugar  (Note:  szechuan chili flakes are NOT red pepper flakes.  They have no heat to them, just flavor.), and 2 Tbsp soy sauce.

Keeps 2-3 months in a clear jar in the back (cold part) of the refrigerator.

Slow Roasted Salmon from Epicurious

Slow Roasted Salmon recipe from Epcurious

INGREDIENTS

1. • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
   • 4 6-to 8-ounces boneless salmon fillets, skin on (I used one fillet, 1.3 pounds, ~1" thick in center)
   • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (from back yard)
   • Zest of 1 lemon (didn't have a lemon, so I used a small splash of juice)
   • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
   • 4 lemon wedges (for serving)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Place salmon fillets, skin side down, on prepared baking sheet. Mix remaining oil, thyme, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Spread thyme mixture over salmon fillets, dividing equally. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
2. Bake salmon until just opaque in center, 15-18 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.
2. Notes: Mine was undercooked at 18 minutes. I left it in for an additional 10 and it was perfect. I didn't allow specifically for any more cooking time but it took a few minutes to dish things onto the plates and slice 2 pieces of salmon.   Delicious! Even Mark thought so and said I could add this to my usual rotation of dinner options. 

I served it with just one side--egg noodles with sauce made of oil, a few pepper flakes, supergreens and garlic stir-fried, about half a can of diced tomatoes added next, and a generous sprinkling of fresh parm plus S and P stirred in, then added again on the top after the sauce warmed a bit.

Next time I will use the lemon zest and have extra for squeezing on finished dish.  I didn't think the salmon needed more, so may not use to, but we will see. :-)

Carrots with Chermoula

This was pretty good, but needs some tweaking, both to make it shorter to prepare and more delicious.  But very promising!

Chermoula sauce is very bright in flavor (from lots of lemon juice) and very aromatic (from cumin and cinnamon).  Here's some photos of how it came out plus original recipe.

IDEA FOR NEXT TIME:  Check out picture here http://botanicamag.com/recipes/roasted-carrots-hazelnuts-chermoula/

I like the idea of roasting the carrot whole (reduce prep time), and making chermoula in food processor/blender (reduce prep time).  BUT keep this chermoula recipe rather than that website's (which seems worse).