Cajun Chicken Pasta

This recipe has been on several sites but we saw it first on My Kitchen Cafe back in July and have fixed it twice now. You can get her recipe by looking at July 27 2009. We fixed it just like she has it laid out except for one thing we like to add some cauliflower as we like how it seems to adsorb the flavors and adds a vegetable to our dinner.

Indian Chickpea Dish

Day one

leftovers

Here is another chickpea dish. We are new to eating Indian dishes and when kept seeing recipes calling for garam masala we were not really sure what it was but thanks to the Internet you can find out anything. Well we do have a little Indian grocery in Jackson and was able to locate some. By the way it is a combination of spices. We like it and used it as a side dish the first day and the next day we added some chicken to it and again placed it in a pita pocket. This was again from our favorite recipe go to place the Zaar. By Sue

2 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (we used powder as that is all we had)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
½ inch cinnamon stick
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
¼ -1/2 teaspoon cayenne( we added more we like it hot)
2 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
½ 1 teaspoon gram masala
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.

In a large saucepan over med heat, heat cumin seeds, bay leaf and cinnamon until very fragrant, stirring to keep from burning( This really smells the house up!!!)
Add ginger and garlic cooking until you can smell them then add onions. (my mother in law has lost her sense of smell and some of her taste after a bad cold I know this has to be a sad thing because the smell is wonderful.)
Saute onions stirring and adding a few drops of water to prevent sticking, cook till they are translucent.
Add tomatoes,coriander,turmeric,salt and cayenne. Taste and adjust according to what you want more of.
Bring to a boil then add garbanzo beans,cover and reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in gram masala and lemon juice just before serving.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or Indian bread or pitas

Imitation Crab Salad

I know I have been bad and not posting much lately but I have been out of town a lot and we have not had that many great dishes or we have been remaking some of the ones we liked. My wife and I both like the seafood and crab at Subway so we found one near it on Zaar and tweaked it some.
For 2
8 oz imitation crab
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon soy sauce
dash Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
dash of old bay to taste or Greek seasonings
Mix crab with lemon juice add onion,celery,vinegar,soy sauce, Worcestershire stir till mixed
add mayonnaise and salt and pepper and old bay or Greek seasonings to taste. Serve or refrigerate.
This was good still not quite like Subways but since the closest one is about 20 miles away this will have to do.

Red Beans and Rice

This is a staple here in the south and most people have a little variation on the dish. We use a spicy sausage to give it more kick but any will do.
1 yellow onion or ½ of a large one
¼ cup of bell pepper
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 stalk of celery
two links sausage cut into bite size pieces
4cans kidney beans not drained
rinse the cans out and pour the water in pot at least 2 to 3 cans of water.
dash of Cajun spices we use Zatarains
my wife secret ingredient juice from Greek peppers about two tablespoons.

Cook onion,bell pepper,celery till clear then add beans reserving a few to smash up and place in to thicken mixture. Add everything else and let simmer for about 2 hours uncovered. Checking to see if more water needs to be added. Taste every now and then to see if anything needs to be adjusted like more Zatarains but over rice and garnish with green onions.

Add a little potato salad and garden tomatoes

Spicy Chick Peas and Couscous

We have a jam night about once a month and everyone tries to bring something. As our host are now on a low fat and low cholesterol diet we have brought out our low fat cookbooks and found this one to try. It was a hit but again we our taste buds are jaded and felt like it really needed more kick. It is really a colorful dish.

1 can (about 14 oz) vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup julienned carrots
1 can (15 oz) chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup uncooked quick cooking couscous
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or parsley for garnish.
Combine vegetable broth,coriander, cardamom,turmeric, hot pepper sauce salt and cinnamon in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add carrots and reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.(The smell is to die for) Now add chick peas and peas, simmer for 2 minutes uncovered.
Now stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with mint or parsley.
Now what can we bring next time?????

Strawberry Muffin and BLT Salad

A little lazy this week and we just threw together one of the BLT salads we have seen floating around the net and it was ok but not really great we just as soon have the real thing. We did use up some of the strawberries we had in a Jiffy corn muffin mix. Just spoon some sliced strawberries in the muffin and they weren't to bad.

Watermelon bird cage

This isn't something I cooked but it did turn out kinda cute. My nephew and his wife had their wedding shower a couple weeks ago and my wife was asked to do the center piece. This is what she did and it was a big hit. Plus we got to eat the middle of the watermelon.

Strawberry Salad

My wifes mother always had a strawberry salad every thanksgiving and she kinda got a craving for one but she could not remember how it was made. We have since got the recipe but that will be fixed at another time. We did use the frozen strawberries but added in some fresh ones also. Since we had a few fresh strawberries left that needed to be used and not enough to do anything with we thought this would be a good one to make. This one come from a falling and I do mean falling apart old Bell south cook book called Calling All Cook . It has just about everything.
1 10 oz pkg frozen strawberries
1 60z pkg strawberry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple do not drain
1 cup boiling water
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (room temp)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 80z pkg cool whip
1 cup pecan pieces
2 bananas, mashed.
Mix strawberry Jello with boiling water reserving ¼ cup Jello. Pour into 13 x 9 Pyrex dish.
Add frozen strawberries, and fresh strawberries (we had about 3), pineapple, and bananas. Stir until strawberries melt. (We had ours out and thawed.) Put in refrigerator to jell.
Meanwhile soften cream cheese at room temp. Cream with confection sugar 1 cup at a time. Add ¼ reserve Jello and stir. Add cool whip and stir well. Fold in nuts, pour over Jello mixture and garnish with pecans and or fresh strawberries.

Coconut Chicken

I can not remember where I got this recipe but we had some left over yogurt we need to use and was looking for something different to fix. This smelled out of this world when it was cooking but we were a little let down when it came to taste. In fact we added a bit more of most everything in the spice department. Our taste buds want things to zing.

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon turmeric1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional .. but we like)
¼ teaspoon garam masala (this was the first time to use this and it smells divine)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
juice and zest of one lime
1.5to 2 lbs chicken drumsticks (we used some chicken thighs.)
1 onion sliced
1 can (13.5 oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro

In a large bowl combine yogurt, olive oil, garlic. Turmeric, cayenne pepper, garam masala, salt cumin, lime and lime zest. Place chicken in marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Remove chicken from marinade and reserve marinade.
In a large skillet, cook chicken over medium heat until it browns slightly, about 4 minutes each side.
Add onions and cook 2 minutes. Pour coconut milk and marinade over the top, stir. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low heat. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Stir in cilantro just before serving.
Can serve as is but we put over rice.

Side dish of steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Lamb chops

We love lamb and wish we could get it more often, so when we see some chops at Sam's we grab them. We used the same marinade that we used on the chicken Slovakia and grilled them. Melt in your mouth goodness.

Again we had roasted potatoes and grilled some asparagus wrapped in bacon. We also had some mushrooms cooked in butter and then cream cheese placed in top of cap and placed under the broiler to melt the cheese. This was a simple way to do the mushrooms and if you have never made them its so simple to taste so good.

4th dinner crock pot pork

Well better late than never. We cooked something new for us this 4th. It was so hot here the thought of getting out to grill just makes me cringe. I cooked out for the chicken we had a week or so ago and I thought I would melt.105 heat index is not my idea of fun in the sun. One of the local grocery stores had a sale on a pork shoulder or a Boston but so I got one to try. I had come across a recipe for one cooked in the crock pot and wife has been wanting some pulled pork barbecue. I put this in the crock pot Friday night before we went to bed with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and depending on how big your piece of meat is let it cook low and slow over night. Ours was not ready at 10 the next morning so we kicked it up to high and by 1 we were in business. Sine we had potato salad last week we had roasted potatoes with it and baked beans.

Roasted potatoes were cut and sprinkled with the Lipton onion soup mix and baked beans had a little bell pepper,bacon and onion added. Some brown sugar and dash of dry mustard. We did cheat and buy a bottled barbecue sauce but we did doctor on it some.

Balsamic Black Eyed Peas

This is from a friend of mine from work. Mike C loves balsamic vinegar and has turned us on to some good recipes. This is a good one for the summer months and goes great with some fresh home grown tomatoes.

1 Ham steak (we had some frozen pieces of a honey ham left over and used this)
1 can black eyed peas drained

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup celery chopped

1 teaspoon honey or syrup- we used honey as we are on the honey for health kick right now.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil.

Cook ham steak until golden then chop in pieces

Place back in skillet and add honey,black eyed peas and olive oil. Heat for a few minutes

Add balsamic vinegar gently stir

remove from heat and add other ingredients and stir.

Serve cold.

Leftovers put to good use

We had some leftovers on the chicken and pita bread so today we had it as a sandwich with a little yogurt dressing, tomato, feta cheese and green onion.

It is just way to hot around here this month we are hoping for some relief soon.

Heat index has been up to 105-108. It is just way to hot to do much cooking. We are looking for some good pasta salads so if any one has one they like a lot please pass it along.

Garlic Chicken Souvlaki

OK we are on the Greek thing ever since we went to the Greek fest and thought we would try our hand at making our own souvlaki. We used chicken thighs and they did not do well on the skewers, I may have cut the pieces to small. Will try with chicken breast next time and there will be a next time as this was finger licking good. The recipe says you can also use a pork tenderloin.

Oh we also thought at the last minute to throw in some shrimp in the marinade and cook them.

We did not have any wild rice which is what we would have liked to use but only had white rice at the time. Time to make a run into town for some supplies.

2lbs of chicken

10 garlic cloves crushed (sounds like a lot but it is not)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything and blend well

place in plastic bag with chicken and marinate overnight.

soak skewers or use metal

cook on grill until done.

Fried egg

Yes there is a fried egg under this, we had some left over sauce from our previous post and used it on the eggs with a few more shrimp added. We also read about the health benefits of honey and cinnamon and have been adding it now to our coffee and this is some on a banana

2 tablespoons of honey to one teaspoon cinnamon

This is supposed to help with cholesterol and a whole host of other ailments.

Using this has cut out the sugar wife adds to her coffee. Also can use in tea.