Make Sorin Happy Curry

So, when I bake, I use recipes.  Baking is chemistry.  You need to follow the directions and not ad lib too much or things get funky really quickly.  When I cook however, I tend to cook by smell, not recipe.  Is it smelling like what I want to eat.  This works for me, but not for my engineer boyfriend Sorin.  He wants to know that when I roast a chicken, it is always going to taste like my roasted chicken.

It rarely does.  It always tastes good, but some days I want lemon rosemary chicken, and others I want sage rubbed chicken, and others I was sea salt and cracked pepper chicken.  It is different every time.

Then I started cooking Indian food, curry to be exact.  There were all these spices to buy and try!  I  loved it!   What does it do when slightly more tumeric is added?  More cardamon pods?  Less Cumin?  There was a wide world of spice to be played with and I wanted to play with them all.  Sorin ate well, but he was becoming exasperated with inconsistent curry flavors.  This came to a head one night when I made what was possibly the best curry to date.  He took one bite, his eyes grew wide, and turned to me and said “This is good.  Write down the recipe.  I want this again.”  Being an artist, I felt constricted by the appeal and figured I could replicate it well enough if I wanted to.  And I said so.  He became very insistent on eating this EXACT curry again, even if I tried other curries, he wanted to be able to request this one.  Back and forth, artist vs engineer.  Until I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down the ingredients and their order.  He then insisted that I name the recipe so I would know what it was.  Feeling slightly like an aggravated  and put upon imp, I did.  And so the title was born “Make Sorin Happy Curry.”

Despite the domestic squabbling, it really is a good curry.    And here it is.

2 shallots sliced

one pepper, color of your choice, sliced

one small bag baby carrots

approx 2 cups pea pods

approx 2 cups sliced mushrooms, crimini are Sorin’s favorites, but white would work fine as well

one container grape tomatoes

3 chicken breasts cleaned of fat and sliced about 1 1/2 inches thick

one can coconut milk

approx 3/4 tsp cracked pepper

pinch sea salt

tandori spice to coat the chicken

1 tsp curry

dash chili powder (or more if you want some heat, Sorin is not big on hot curry, so I make it extra mild)

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp corriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp paprika

tsp cornstarch in cold water (optional)

In a large skillet with high sides, sautee the shallots, pepper and carrots in about 2 tbsp olive oil.  While they are softening, coat the chicken in the tandori spice, which is available at any Indian food store, and sometimes in Whole Foods.  The brand I prefer is “Spice Appeal” which I buy at the Indian Food Store in Cambridge.  Set the chicken aside and in a small mixing bowl mix your spices, cracked pepper and salt.  Open your coconut milk and pour half into the spices and mix well.  Then pour the other half of the coconut milk in and mix thoroughly (I divide the coconut milk to more easily incorporate the spices into the milk).

By this time the shallots, pepper and carrots should be soft.  At this point turn down the heat to medium and add the chicken, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and pea pods.  Cook for about 5 minutes, turning over the chicken at least once in this time.  After which add the spiced coconut mixture, mix well, then cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium low and walk away.  Allow this to simmer for at least a half hour, longer is better, but some of us can’t cook all day long. 

Once complete, take a look at the consitency of the curry milk – is it thin?  If it is and you would like it to be thicker, this is when you would mix the 1 tsp of corn starch into cold water and add it to the curry OFF of the heat.  Mix well and you should see the curry thicken slightly.  This is all preference, it does not alter the taste of the dish at all.

Serve over jasmine rice.

Substitutions – there is no substitution for the coconut milk that is dairy free.  You can use heavy cream, but since I am allergic, I have never tried it.  You can use firm or extra firm tofu instead of chicken, that is also very tasty, but still coat it in the tandori spice.

(Photos are coming soon.  I want to do process photos and there just was not time when I made this tonight, so I am going to make more tomorrow and we’ll have a little photo shoot with the veggies.  )

Oatmeal Crusted Vanilla Spiced French Toast

This was a happy experiment that I concocted one cold morning.  And it has become a fast favorite of mine.    I had wanted a heartier and more filling french toast and in staring at my cupboard in the hopes of inspiration, I saw the Quaker Man from my oat meal tub winking at me.   Hummm…  I like oatmeal, I like french toast, I like oatmeal bread french toast…. ok!  how can I make a match?!  I decided to try the method my mom taught me for crusting chicken – wet, dry, wet.  And voila – it worked perfectly.

I discovered a very important lesson in my first post, do not try to take photos and arrange food when you and your volunteer photographer boyfriend are hungry.  Doesn’t work.  So here is the photo that Sorin took for me – will make sure not to be ravenous when cooking for the blog in the future! 

First, when making french toast, it really is important to have stale bread, or bread that is as stale as it can be.  The drier the bread the more of the egg mixture it can soak up and then yummier the end product.  So, when I make french toast, the first thing I do is cut the bread, and then make the coffee, gather my ingredients, etc.  I let the bread sit and get stale.  I also prefer to use a thicker, heartier bread.  Challah, oatmeal bread, multi grain bread – these are all good.  The airier the bread the bigger the chance that you might get a soggy mess before anything makes it to the griddle.

What you will need for this

1/4 c almond milk for every egg used

eggs

between 1/2 and 1 tsp cinnamon for every 3 eggs, depending on your taste preference

1/2 tsp ginger for every 3 eggs used

1/2 tsp nutmeg for every 3 eggs used

1 tsp vanilla for every 3 eggs used

approx 2 cups of oats, I prefer Quaker Oats Quick Cook Oats, but you can use whatever you prefer other than instant oats – that does not work at all.

Heat your griddle or pan on medium heat.  I used a non-stick non-dairy spray for “greasing” the pan, which is important.

In a  shallow bowl mix your eggs and almond milk.  I use a ratio in the recipe because amounts vary according to how much bread you are making, how thirsty the bread is, etc.  I usually work in batches of 3 eggs mixture at a time.  I almost never use more than a 4 egg mixture as then it gets to be too much liquid to deal with.  But however you will discover your preference for working.  Once you have mixed your eggs and almond milk until smooth and custard like, add spices and vanilla.  mix well.  the spices will cling to the sides of the bowl, scrape them down.

In a large plate next to your egg mixture, pour the 2 cups of oats.  This needs to be in a flat plate, spread the oats out  so they are basically even.

Dip your bread in the egg mixture, making sure to coat every side, then place it into the oats, coat both sides, then quick dip it back into the egg mixture to secure the oats and keep them from burning on the griddle.  Place on your griddle and let it cook until it is golden brown, flip only once and cook the other side until golden as well.

Alternatives for almond milk – you can also use soy milk for this, either plain or vanilla.  I prefer the slight sweet almond taste that almond milk gives it. Rice milk does not work well, it is too thin.  Coconut milk, on the other hand, is too thick and the mixture does not soak into the bread enough.

Living Dairy Free

Living and Eating Dairy free for most of my life has been a challenge, especially if I am not in charge of the menu.  But I always believed it should be a tasty challenge.  Why loose out on taste simply because my depth of field in the food arena has been narrowed?  America is a Dairy-Full country, but that does not mean your kitchen has to be.

This blog is dedicated to recipes, tips, tricks and most importantly – Taste!

Living dairy free is easy – if you just know how.