Cooking class

[InChristGirl]

Hey all!

I'm bent on enhancing my culinary repertoire over the next few months and wondered if anyone had any special or favorite recipes to share?
I would like to cook most kinds of food but I'm especially interested in ethnic food and anything super yummy

If I use any of these recipes I'll be sure to let you know how it worked out and who liked it.


So far, I know I want to try my hand at making some breads and soups over the winter and I love indian food.

[newkris]

here's a recipie for something that my grandma made all the time when i was growing up.  however, she liked the ones she could buy up north (U.P. Mich) and would make my grandpa drive an extra two hours to get them !!  they are called pasties (rhymes with like last-ies).  it's a meat and potatoe pocket sort of thing that the miners up north would take for lunch.  they are PHENOM!!  i guess they are actually Cornish in origin, but were very common in the mining areas of the midwest.  you'll see by some of the directions that this is written in my grandma's voice.  this is her recipie spoken to me years ago.

Cornish Pasties

3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c lard or solid vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/2 to 3/4 c of COLD water

1 lb beef or pork cut in small pieces - cooked
potatoes, diced (not sure how many to use - grandma said to "cut what you need to fit the meat" and i knew what she meant . . .)
onion (same as above)
rutabaga (not sure if you can get these where you are - they are a spicey sort of root vegetable.  don't need much of this to "fit the meat")
salt and pepper to taste

mix flour, salt and lard with pastry blender or finger tips.  add enough water to make dough easy to handle.  divide dough into 4 parts.  roll out each part into a circle about 9 inches across.

mix together beef, potatoes, onion and rutabaga.  divide into four parts and put in center of crust.  sprinkle with salt and pepper.  fold crust over until edges meet. roll up edges to make a good seal.

bake at 375 for 1 hour.  after baking, poke with fork to let steam escape.

[InChristGirl]

Thanks Kris! I'll be sure to try them.

[InChristGirl]

I think Our first meal will be.....Feijoada, rice, farofa, and salad. We'll see how that turns out

[newkris]

ok, your turn to share those recipies! 

[zizi90]

YaY! Feijoada!

Although, I was hoping we would try the salmon with a mustard glaze...but Sj thought that sounded gross...it might be, but I like to try weird things.

I will have to post the recipe I have for a tomato garlic stir fry...that is SO good!

[InChristGirl]

Well, maybe we can try it sometime The stir-fry sounds super though.

[InChristGirl]

Zizi's mom ended up making the Feijoada (which we unfortunately have no pictures of)

...but, zizi and I made Pau de Queijo...which is bread of cheese...and it's really yummy. It's made with tapioca flour, Parmesan cheese, and stuff...mmm, we didn't get a picture of the ones we made, but here is what they usually look like....



that was a yummy meal. we squeezed lime on everything...mmmm.....

[zizi90]

but wait Sj, before this we made an Indian meal. Oh yeah!  As follows:

Chicken Curry over rice (homemade chicken curry...mmmm)
Fresh vegtables
Nan (Indian Bread) from the Indian restaurant right around the corner.

A few pics:

[InChristGirl]

Then a couple week's later....we made an apple pie! It was good. We were in a hurry, so that' all we made that day.



Yes, this really is our apple pie, this is not a stock photo, it was just taken by a fancy camera...and a good photographer.

[SippinTea]

*wipes the drool off her chin*

Wow! Excellent job, gals! On the food _and_ the photography.

[MelodyB]

Oh yeah....I need to go look in the fridge.

[Melody]

Please oh Please share recipes!  I have never had any of those things!

[zizi90]

Please oh Please share recipes!  I have never had any of those things!

which one are you interested in? I will have to dig the Pau de Queijo recipe out of my recipe book...get back to you on that one, and the "Feijoada" my mom made, but you can find a recipe for it almost anywhere... it's a traditional Brazilian rice and beans dish. It's really good.  Here is a classic recipe for it, but we don't add all that meat, just turkey kielbasa. . SJ has the recipe for the chicken curry as well... Sarah, can you post it?


Feijoada:

INGREDIENTS

    * 1lb Black Bean (Dried - Not From A Tin)
    * 1lb Salted Pork (Ribs) (we skip this)
    * 1lb Salted Bacon (we skip this)
    * 8 tablespoons Olive Oil
    * 2 Onions (Peeled And Finely Chopped)
    * 6 Cloves Garlic (Finely Chopped)
    * 2 Large Smoked Sausages (Cut Into Big Chunks)
    * 1lb Smoked Pork (Ribs, Cut Into Chunks) (we skip this)
    * 1lb Smoked Bacon (Cut Into Chunks)(and we skip this!)
    * 1 tablespoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
    * 5 Bay Leaves

   
Method

   1. Soak the beans in cold water overnight, making sure they are completely covered. Also soak the salted ribs and bacon in cold water overnight.
   2. Drain the beans and put them into a large saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then simmer for 30 minutes until tender.
   3. Rinse the soaked salted ribs and bacon well, add to the beans and cook for 30 minutes over a medium heat. Heat a very large saucepan and pour in the olive oil so it covers the bottom. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add the sausages, smoked ribs and bacon, pepper and bay leaves. Pour in the cooked beans and meat and top up with water. Simmer for about 1 hour, until the meat falls off the bone.
   4. Serve the Feijoada with boiled white rice, slices of orange, and very finely sliced spring greens fried in olive oil with finely chopped onion and garlic.

P.S. Squeeze lime all over it! We served it with a salad that had a citrus dressing!

[InChristGirl]

Yes I can post the curry recipe but not till atleast tomorrow......I'm sooooo sleepy.

[InChristGirl]

Chicken Korma Curry

2 tbs cooking oil
4 boneless chicken breast- cut into alittle larger than bit-size pieces
1 large onion peeled and chopped
2 tbs good quality prepared curry powder
1/3 pint chicken stock
1 tbs tomato puree
2 tbs caster sugar (I use slightly less)
1 oz ground almonds (optional.....but highly recommended)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken and onion. Add the curry powder and cook for a few seconds, stirring.
Blend in stock, tomato puree, sugar and cream, Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just before serving stir in the ground almonds.




It came out wonderfully!!!!!!

K Zizi, now you have to tell about the Italian chicken.

Are any of the guys going to comment on all this food?........could you do better? 

[Tsalagi]

Tsalagi's Wicked GUMBO

1 large chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1/2 "clump" chopped celery (make sure you chop some of the "greens" too)
3 cups chopped okra (NOT optional; "gumbo" is "okra"! Really!!)
1 bunch of green onions, chop fine and set aside.
1 jar of stewed diced tomatoes *optional*

3 whole bay leaves; crumble 1
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. sage
1/4 tsp. rosemary

gumbo file
(Tony Chachere's too, if you want it hotter.)

1 large can chicken broth
1 bottle shrimp stock or clam juice
4-5 cups water
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3/4 lb. crabmeat
1/2 lb. andouille or Polish sausage, cut up
2 lbs. shrimp, deveined and shelled

Saute onion, celery and bell pepper in 2 Tbsp. oil in a large pot. Add broth, tomatoes, water, seasonings, garlic, okra, stirring well. Cook 2.5 hrs. Add sausage and cook 15 minutes. Add seafood and cook some more. Turn off heat. Pour in as much file as you like. Add green onions. Mix it up. Serve over fluffy white rice. Aiii-eeee!

Note about spices: if you're using dried / powdered herbs, you might consider putting them in during the last 30 mins. of cooktime

[InChristGirl]

 

How well does that ship?

[zizi90]

K Zizi, now you have to tell about the Italian chicken.

I will a bit later tonight when i have a little more time.

[zizi90]

K, so the other night, this is what we made:

Chicken Con Diti (I think it means Chicken with Olives)

and Spinach Bread (In our new convection oven....oh yeah) we did one white and one whole wheat...the white was better

The results:
prepping the chicken for the oven (unfortunately didn't get pics of the bread until after it came out of the oven)


both items out of the oven




the bread...notice the iPod in the backgroud...ya gotta have your cooking music!






The chicken is lightly pan fried, and then baked with marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and mushrooms that have been sautéed with butter and onions. something about this combination causes the dish to form it's own gravy. Mmmm....

the spinach bread is an old family recipe, really simple, filled with spinach, onions, sliced pepperoni, black olives, and a muenster and mozzarella cheese. rolled up in a simple pizza dough, brushed with egg, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and then baked. a lot of people add raisins to this, but we didn't.

recipes in  more detail available upon request.

[MelodyB]

that bread looks awesome! I want some!

[InChristGirl]

  Mmmmmmmmm.........I love that stuff!

[Tsalagi]

Very Nice picture!

[alohilani]

I'm going to have to try the spinach bread.. I could live off of bread and cheese, so it's right up my alley. lol!

[zizi90]

Very Nice picture!

Thank you!

I'm going to have to try the spinach bread.. I could live off of bread and cheese, so it's right up my alley. lol!

the spinach bread is SO good...you could probably get into the Pau de Queijo as well...another cheese bread, but a little harder to make.