North African Chicken Couscous

From 177milk Street

I modified some of the ingredients and scaled it back to a large single serving or for 2 serving dish.

• Curry powder mix in place of ground tumeric
• White onion instead of red onion
• Dried Japanese chili pods instead of Jalapenos
• Sambal instead of Harissa

This technic allows you to steam the couscous  while the meal is cooking.

Didn’t get any pictures of the process here’s the result

Very tasty meal.

 

Beef stew

It was time to put away all the spices and herbs and return to a simple beef stew.  Usually a fall seasonal  dish but any break in the high temps and the availability of beef and beef broth made this an easy choice.

Beef, carrot, onion, celery and potato,  common ingredients. Lucky to have some beef broth which I had made previously and froze.

After cutting the beef, brown in some oil, remove from pan

 

now in the same pan saute the veggies.

 

Add the broth, and simmer. …. add the beef back into the pan, but you knew that !🤣

I scrubbed and diced some white potato, and microwaved them slightly, then added to the stew.

Some reserved broth was mixed with rice powder and added to thicken stew. Simmer till the potatoes are done to your preference. Salt and pepper to balance. Nothing fancy here, beef flavor. Perhaps some bread to mop up gravy.

 

Traditional Warm German Potato Salad

Traditional Warm German Potato Salad

From…. https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=163339

Via:…… https://recipereminiscing.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/traditional-warm-german-potato-salad-tradisjonell-tysk-varm-potetsalat/

One of the starts of a day, potato salad for breakfast?  Well now that I am at the age of expansion (not by size 😌) of blogging and cooking skills, more time to plan the start of the day since this day does not require to work for the clock, so to speak. Sit in the yard outside in the cool morning. Breezing through the WordPress reader with the trusty cup of coffee and Diane also came to sit outside for some time and enjoy the late summer morning air. A  reliance  on social media and connectivity for inspiration, catching up on the news both local and global,  Hmmm… this recipe look like something that would give me some first day nourishment. With the ingredients on hand, it was an easy, savory dish !

1. Scrubbing potatoes…
2. Prep ingredients…..
3. Start the cooking……
4. Sweat the onions and celery….

 

scrubbing potatoes

ingredients ready

cooking…

sweating onions and celery

 

starting the dressing

dicing potatoes

cooking the dressing

finishing the dressing

NOTE: I added a bit more sugar to the dressing, the apple cider vinegar used was of the home-made variety so it was a bit more pungent.

 

Finish by mixing in the dressing…. serve warm.

 

 

NOTE: if mobile device is below 20 % battery, then photostream won’t sync, once on charger though it works.

 

Potatoe skins

An  appetizer, pub, bar, resturant or on your own table.  Several potatoes, scrubbed, and cut . Under the broiler till browned and finished to your liking then add some toppings. Cheese being most popular. 

Curry chicken

Adapted from Chatelaine.com

The original recipe calls for chicken thighs , I have some small chicken breast pieces available.

As I have accumulated some canned coconut milk, I found a recipe that used ingredients that I had on hand.

Sauté onions in skillet with oil and a good amount of curry powder.

Add the chicken and stir to coat. Salt as necessary.

Add coconut milk, potatoes, carrots. Cover and simmer a while. Uncover and finish cooking till the sauce reduces to your liking, add the peas and seasonings.

Warm through.

Serve over rice.

A good technic for cooking ,utilizing coconut milk , a tasty dish.

potato casserole

A recipe from the middle of July, before the hot weather. Similar to a mac and cheese comfort meal.

Prep : peel and slice potato, turnip, onion, garlic. Melt butter.

Assembly: layer potato, turnip, onion and garlic. With a strainer, sift  flour for a dusting , season with salt and pepper. Drizzle melted butter. Repeat as necessary.

Cheese addition is grated mozzarella, also some frozen spinach remnants from the freezer.

Now slowly pour milk (or any combo of milk, heavy cream, 1/2 & 1/2) to just about fill the casserole, leaving room  for the liquid to bubble up when  cooking.

Bake (or microwave) till bubbly.

Can be just the top layer. Bread crumbs or croutons are also a good addition for the top, if microwaving, broil to brown top.

served up..

Again, potato is the main ingredient, what ever else you have can be added. Bacon , sausage ? Tomato ? Leafy greens? Brassicias ?  Legumes? ground beef, pork or lamb ?

marinated tangy chicken thighs with pearl onions and roasted potatoes

defrosted 3 chicken thighs ,  since there was some  plain yogurt in the fridge, placed some in a small bowl and added curry powder, hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper  along with so peeled pearl onions and chopped garlic. Now placed in  a quart baggie and left to marinate several hours.

Nothing fancy for the potatoes, sliced, and a bit of melted butter with herbs , in this case fennel with a bit of salt and pepper are mixed to coat potatoes , placed in a shallow pan and placed under a medium broiler or spaced far enough from the flames to prevent burning before completed cooking.

After the marination of the thighs, place the contents in a shallow  enough pan to space out the chicken and the onions and broil, again sufficiently spaced from the broiler to cook without burning, about 7-10 minutes per side.

no photos of the process, just the finish.

love those onions !

The morning grille

potatoes on the grille this morning…

Five minutes in the microwave  along with….

 

I decided to add grated carrot, not shown

Triple blend of Rwanda , Honduras, and Robusta, in the press

meanwhile back on the grille….

Coffee is ready while the grille cooks away. It’s nice having a large cooking area not limited to a frypan…

First sip… Aaahhhhhhh…     Close inspection reveals that my mug wasn’t washed from the day before…… Just rinsed…

Not the most elegant looking plate , but nourishing. Have some red beans in the fridge and considered addIng them.

Another sip of coffee…extremely smooth… Life is good …spring is on the way…

    

shopping

Crowded at this time of day. Probably should go at a later time. New meat item is lamb ribs.

Ever see a large truck with the air horns mounted behind the cab facing perpendicular (to the sides)! awesome, LOUD

 

turkey cabbage soup

In my humble opinion, one of the best gifts a chef could receive after  being served Thanksgiving dinner  would be the carcass of that turkey,  sounds weird , but a turkey frame, hands down makes the best turkey  stock/soup. In fact by now, the broth/and soup from the Thanksgiving bird is gone and the frame from Christmas turkey simmered today in vegetable broth till the remaining meat fell from the bones into the broth.

A bit of change up from my usual  soup, A cabbage that I was going to use for slaw but never got around to using was shredded. I added it to stock and  the meat that was picked from the bones, about 1/2 of the cabbage. A quick  WP search for a similar recipe* suggested I add potatoes. They were now diced, nuked in the microwave , added. A quick chop of celery, diced small, was thrown in. The entire pot heated through, seasoned (dried red pepper flakes and dill weed) and served.

 

 *https://cookinginsens.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/lamb-and-cabbage-soup/

You could of course add grated cheese and green onion garnish, but I consumed a bowl while writing this entry….  !

What ! no onions or garlic ?