Recipes Collection: December 2013

Friday, December 27, 2013

Asparagus Risotto

ASPARAGUS RISOTTO
Carrabbas Copycat Recipe

Serves 4

3 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 lb fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces, reserving tips
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 2/3 cups uncooked short grain Arborio rice
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine broth and water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while preparing the risotto.

In a large skillet, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add onion, carrot and asparagus stems. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until the onions and carrots are tender. Stir in garlic and white wine and cook 1 minute until the wine boils

Add rice and 1 cup simmering liquid. Cook until the liquid is absorbed into the rice, stirring frequently. Continue to add liquid, 1 cup at a time, cooking until the liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. When 4 cups of liquid has been absorbed, stir in asparagus tips. Test rice for doneness, and continue adding 1/2 cup of liquid at a time until the rice is tender but still firm and creamy. (Process takes 15 to 20 minutes.)

When in Texas

...do as the Texans do!

Add 50-inch wheels to your F-150 to make you feel like youre always at a monster truck rally, even if youre just in the grocery store parking lot. (Editors note: Also, enjoy the ample space that makes parking lots even possible.)

Order two margaritas with your Tex-Mex and dessert. Ya know, because you cant get anything good in D.C.

Catch up with the adorable puppies your mom refers to as your "sisters."

What Im trying to say is, Im at home in Texas, just trying to absorb all of it I can. Ill probably be hit or miss with the blog posts this week (which obviously explains why theres no TwoFaced recipes today), but Ill be back in high gear next week!

So, what other stereotypical Texan things should I do this week? And you cant say "watch 3 episodes back-to-back of GCB" because we did that last night.

Steak au Poivre “Pepper Steak”

This clip was already been posted on the site when we first started, but since there is a good chance many of our newer viewers have not seen it, I decided to re-run it today. It’s probably the dish I’ve gotten the most emails about and also lots of comments on YouTube. It’s very simple, and makes for a fantastic “special occasion” dinner.

We’ve streamlined this steakhouse classic to work for the home chef. If you can find veal stock, or even demi-glace, you can use that instead of the beef stock I used in the clip. Either way, it will produce a delicious, rich pan sauce perfect for a couple tender, medium-rare filet mignons. Also, many Chefs use a combination of black and green peppercorns. So if you can get them, go ahead and add a teaspoon of crushed green peppercorns to the sauce when you add the stock and it will be even more authentic.

Speaking of old clips, if you not happy with your mashed potatoes, check out that clip on the site and watch how to make great mashers every time.

Ingredients:
2 Filet Mignon (Beef Tenderloin, about 8 oz. each)
3/4 cup Veal Stock or Beef Stock/Broth
1/3 Cognac or Brandy
1/3 Heavy Cream
Cracked Black Pepper
Salt
Unsalted Butter

Mutton Potato Fry

Urulai Kizhangu Mutton Varuval

Potato Mutton Fry

Ingredients

Potato Large - 2 nos

Mutton with bones - 1/2 kg

Onion medium chopped - 2 nos

Curry leaves - few

Ginger and Garlic paste - 1 and 1/4 tbsp

Red Chilli powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Water - 1/4 cup

Oil - 3 tbsp

Urulai kizhangu Mutton Varuval

Method

Peel the potato skin, chop into cubes and boil until 3/4th done.

In a pressure pan add mutton pieces, chopped onion, curry leaves, ginger and garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and water.

Pressure cook mutton until tender for 15 mins.

Once pan pressure is released, remove the pan lid, add required salt, par boiled potatoes and oil to the mutton gravy and mix well.

Keep pan on high heat and cook until the gravy dries up.

Fry the mutton pieces on medium heat without breaking the potatoes until the oil separates on the sides of pan.

Serve hot mutton potato fry with steamed rice or with chapati.

Aloo Mutton Fry

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Puffed rice Murmurala upma with celery and capsicum

Puffed rice( muramuralu) 6 cups
Green chili finely chopped 1/2 tbsp
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1-2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1-2 tbsp
Red chili 1
Onion 1 cup divided
Salt to taste
Cilantro/ coriander enough for garnishing optional
Curry leaf optional
Roasted chana dal powder-2tbsp
Celery 1 stalk finely chopped
capsicum-chopped 1/4cup

Method
Soak puffed rice in a vessel with 10 cups of water for about 5 min. Mean while heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and allow them to splatter. Then add cumin seeds & curry leaf and wait till they pop up. Now add 1/2 cup onions, green chili, capsicum &celery and sauté till they are well cooked. Add turmeric powder and sauté till raw flavor goes away. Add lemon juice and salt. Then squeeze out water from puffed rice and add it to the pan and mix well. Cook fow 3 min under medium flame sauting in regular intervals. Add remaining 1/2 cup onions and mix well. You can add 2 tbsp of roasted gram dal powder( putanala podi) which enhances the taste. You can garnish with coriander and serve if you wish. Hope you like my recipe.

Bread Delight

Bread Delight

Ingredients

Milk Half Litre
Bread Slices (with edges ) 4
Butter 3 Tbsp
Sugar 3 Tbsp
Vanilla essence Few drops
Pistachios and almonds 3 tbsp chopped

Method

Heat milk in sauce pan add sugar butter leave it cook till bit condensed,off the flame stir well add vanilla essence. place bread slices .pour milk over them so they can absorb milk . sprinkle pistachios and almonds...leave till nicely chilled .serve.

Homemade Crème Fraiche – Nobodys Ever Made it Just Once

Crème fraiche is French for "fresh cream," which makes it one of the most ironically named foods ever, since its made by leaving cream out in a warm spot until it’s soured and thickened by a growing colony of bacteria. Yeah, fresh.

Regardless, making crème fraiche is very easy and as the title implies, once you taste the magic of homemade sour cream, youll have a hard time not repeating this somewhat esoteric exercise. Sure it takes a couple days, but the effort is minimal for such a marvelous payoff.

As I mention in the video, besides the amazing taste and luxurious texture, maybe the best thing about crème fraiche is its ability to be cooked. Because of its composition and fat content, it doesn’t curdle and separate when you heat it like sour cream.

This makes it an incredibly versatile addition to countless recipes. I cant think of many pan sauces that don’t benefit from a spoon or two. Yesterday on this blog, you saw it stirred into fried rice. Next week, youll see it turn an ordinary pan of braised beef into a world-class Stroganoff. I could go on and on, and for SEO purposes I probably should, but you get the idea.

As long as your jars and utensils are very clean, preferably sterilized, there isn’t a lot that can go wrong. Be sure to get your hands on the best, freshest cream you can find. In the supermarket youll want to look for "pasteurized," not "ultra-pasteurized" heavy whipping cream. Also, be sure to use cultured buttermilk otherwise you’re going to be waiting a full day to see nothing happen.

By the way, Im extremely proud of this video recipe and blog post, but not for the usual reasons. Its because I didn’t make one single Randy Marsh joke! You South Park fans know what Im talking about, and those of you that don’t should really check out this crème fraiche-themed episode. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons cultured buttermilk

Mix together and leave in a warm spot (about 70-75 degrees F.) for 24 hours, or until thick. Refrigerate for 24 hours before using. Should last a week or two.

Chicken Masala Curry Recipe

Chicken Masala recipes are cooked in many different ways.

My chicken masala recipe is easy to make and very tasty. It has lots of healthy ingredients and has a spicy kick from the fresh and dried whole chillies used in this curry recipe.

Ingredients for Jeenas Kitchen Chicken Masala Recipe
2-3 Chicken Breast
1 Red Chili (de-seeded, diced)
3 Medium Onions
1 Red Pepper/Capsicum
1 Green Pepper/Capsicum
3 Garlic Cloves (crushed/minced)
3 Inch Fresh Ginger (grated)
Handful Cherry Tomatoes (blended using blender)
2 Dried Red Chillis
1/4 Cup Water
4 Mushrooms
Fresh Coriander Leaves
Rapeseed Oil
1/4 Cup Water

For the Spices
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Kalonji Seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric
3 Cardamon Pods
1 Tbsp Coriander Powder
Pinch Dried Curry Leaves
Pinch Ginger Powder
Pinch Dried Methi Leaves
1 Tbsp Cumin Powder
1/2 Tbsp Garam Masala

note....if the curry becomes too dry add a little water and a drizzle of oil. If the curry look too watery do not add any more water unless if looks too dry. You do not want your curry to be like a stew.

How to Make a Chicken Masala Curry Recipe

Use a blender to grind together red chilli and one onion into a paste.

Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the paste, keep stiring for a few minutes then add the kalonji and coriander seeds.