Weeknight Indian

I was busy in the kitchen today, boy. I am eating dairy and gluten again, for now, and I'm finished with a cleanse I was doing for 5 days (ok... it was supposed to be 10... I'll admit it. I gave up). These factors, combined with a day off during the week, equals Cooking Binge.

It started with the Onion Bhaji. I bought chickpea flour on a whim months ago, maybe even closer to a year ago. It's been languishing in my cupboard ever since. Time to use some of it methinks? A woman at work suggested making onion bhaji. Good call Sandra, once again. Of course the next step, if you are me, is to spend an hour researching the best onion bhaji recipe. This is why I love food blogs. Tested recipes with reviews. Most recipes call for adding water to make a batter for your fried onion dumplings. The winner of my Google search, "Ridiculously Good Onion Bhaji" from Kitchen Experiments, uses liquid smushed out of the onions themselves. Welcome to Flavour City. Genius.

Ok, so I'm going to make some onion bhaji. What else to make for dinner? I hadn't gotten around to making Bombay Slow Cooker Potatoes the other week. Done. With some modifications (recipe below). These were fantastic. Soft, highly flavoured potatoes. Yum. I have some leftovers that are going to be unreal as a samosa filling this weekend, I just know it.

What else to make to round out dinner? Something without such a strong curry presence again... that my boys will eat... butter chicken. Of course. The whitest Indian dish ever invented. I bought a jarred sauce for this and jazzed it up with chopped red pepper and chopped kale. I'd put kale in everything if I could.

Also, since it was my day off and all, there was wine. Oh yes. A sweet-ish Reisling was great. This one to be exact. 

I think my dog was South Asian in another life. She's getting up there in years, so she's pretty lazy lately. Tonight she jumped up with two furry paws on the kitchen table to try to steal some curry potatoes. It was a fairly slow jump, albeit, but she hasn't done that in forever. Now that I think about it though, maybe that's because we freaked out the day we found her with all four paws on the kitchen table eating out of the butter dish.

You think that was a lot of cooking today? Haha, young apprentice. I also made Challah bread and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. Bread is just ok (as "just ok" as fresh homemade bread can be, mind), but the cake is out of this world delicious. I love love love loooove rhubarb. Looking forward to some of this for breakfast. Hey, I'm done my cleanse. Go big or go home, right?

SLOW COOKER CURRIED POTATOES

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

Adapted from Kayotic Kitchen

Spice Mix:

• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Potatoes:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil or canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large or 5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes, squeezed of seeds and juice, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Saute onions until softened and beginning to colour. Add spice mix, cook 2 minutes, stirring often. Add potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, salt. Stir to combine. Pour everything into slow cooker and cook on low 4-6 hours.

Quinoa and Chicken Chili

I think this may be my favorite chili I've ever made. Not least because there is basically no prep; minimal chopping, just mix everything in the slow cooker and you come home to a hot, healthy, deliciously filling meal. Fantastic.

I hate it when chili is too watery. Watery chili is up there with slow drivers, one-upping moms, and workplace butt-kissers in my book of Things That Annoy Me. This chili came out the perfect consistency. Plus it makes lots for leftover lunches, which is even more of a bonus lately when I can't just throw together a sandwich (for lack of gluten-free bread, which I hope to rectify when I do grocery shopping tomorrow).

Speaking of gluten-free. I am so stoked for Easter brunch on Sunday. It's going to be a dairy and gluten fest. Then I'll go back to being good. I cannot pass on Easter brunch with dishes like egg and sausage pie, cheesy bread pudding, that I've been eating every Easter for my ENTIRE LIFE. Clearly.

You know what else would be good with this chili, assuming you are good with gluten and dairy? Biscuits. Always a good idea with chili. Oh, I happen to have posted a recipe for Best Drop Biscuits a while back. You're welcome.

QUINOA AND CHICKEN CHILI

Serves 8

Adapted from Everyday Reading

Use less salt if you are not using no-salt added canned goods.

• 1 540-mL can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 540-mL can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 796-mL can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• optional toppings: chopped cilantro, diced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream

Mix all ingredients up before chicken together in the crock of the slow cooker. Nestle chicken in the middle, ensuring chicken is submerged in liquid. Cook on low 6 to 9 hours. Shred chicken into chili prior to serving. Serve with desired toppings.

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

This post could have been called Sloooooow Cooked Apple Butter. It bubbles away for over 24 hours in the slow cooker making the house smell amazing.

This was my first time making apple butter and it turned out absolutely delicious. Like apple pie in a jar. Without the fattening pastry. Unless of course you make spread it on buttery toast, which I highly recommend. Or bake it into crescent rolls. Or stuff it into puff pastry to make apple turnovers. Okay.... there's lots of sinful ways to un-healthify apple butter.

You're going to end up with tons of the stuff. I made 9 jars. You'll definitely want to gift some. How to use the remaining jars? Let me count the ways:

• On toast, pancakes, waffles, crepes, etc.
• Apple Pie Smoothie
• Apple Turnovers
• Apple Pie Crescent Rolls (pictured above - spread apple butter on Pilsbury Crescent Rolls before rolling up. Bake as directed on package.)
• Condiment with pork or potato latkes
• Stir into oatmeal
• Swap apple butter for pumpkin puree as a pie filling? I'll let y'all know if I try this out of course
• Use in place of applesauce in baked goods
• Eat it out of the jar with a spoon standing in front of the fridge while deciding what to eat for lunch. Not that I've done that. Much.

One Year Ago: Thai Feast

Two Years Ago: Leek, Chicken and Feta Stuffed Pitas + Slow Cooker Pulled Beef +  Roasted Root Vegetable Puree

Three Years Ago: Chicken Pot Pie + Crown Loaf + The Best Lasagna

Four Years Ago: Spicy Cheese Dip + Spanakopita + Spaghetti with Spaghetti Squash + Egg Nog Panna Cotta

 SLOW COOKED APPLE BUTTER

Adapted from Eating Richly

Makes 8 or 9 pint jars

You may want to set the slow cooker on a wooden board or something that will absorb heat in case it gets too hot- apparently they've been known to warp counter tops and it's going to be on for a long time.

• 8 lbs apples, washed (I used Gala apples)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Core and roughly chop apples (do not peel) and add to slow cooker as you go until full. You will not fit in all the apples at first. Set the remaining apples aside. Mix together sugar and spices in a bowl. Add to apples and stir to combine. Turn slow cooker to low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir once in a while if you are walking by.

Apples will have really cooked down at this point. Chop remaining apples and add to slow cooker.  Stir and cook on low for another 10 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Puree (an immersion blender is the easiest as you can put it right in the crock pot) and return apple butter to crock. Continue to cook on low with the lid off until apple butter reaches the desired consistency. It will thicken slightly when cool. Taste and add more sugar or spices to taste (I didn't need to add anything else to mine). Keep apple butter refrigerated or can it using the waterbath method following the instructions at the bottom of the recipe HERE.

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup with Epic Bacon Sandwich

In spite of my recent slow cooker fails, I decided to give it another go today. Tyler was seriously considering banning me from the appliance. Much as I banned him from the power drill years ago- I'm the only one who gets to use sweet power tools in our house. I think I am redeemed with this recipe. In fact, we may have both redeemed ourselves today. I made a kick-ass soup, he fixed the microwave by flicking the breaker back on (baby steps people, baby steps).

One Year Ago: Chocolate Pudding 

Two Years Ago: French Chocolate Cake, Roasted Flour Shortbread

Three Years Ago: Potato Prosciutto Camembert Pizza and Farfalle with Tomato Mushroom Sauce, Chorizo Leek Squash Bread Pudding

Four Years Ago: Lemon Aioli, Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, Best Drop Biscuits

SWEET POTATO AND LEEK SOUP

Serves 6

Adapted from My Invisible Crown

• 5 small or 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 large leek, cleaned well and green end removed, chopped roughly
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup half and half

Mix all ingredients except half and half. Turn slow cooker to low for 4 to 6 hours. Puree using an immersion blender right in the crock pot or transfer (carefully!) to a blender. Mix in half and half. Serve with a little freshly ground pepper on top.

EPIC BACON SANDWICH

A friend introduced me to this sandwich on the weekend. If you can find cheese bagels it's extra epic, but still pretty good with regular bagels too. 

• bagel, halved and toasted
• herb and garlic cream cheese
• 3 slices cooked bacon

Spread cream cheese on both sides of bagel. Top with bacon and sandwich together. Easy peasy.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs

Dang, it got cold out quick, didn't it? I've used the slow cooker 3 times in the last week. Two of which were fails. One night last week I was going to try a whole chicken with root vegetables in the slow cooker. The darn thing didn't turn on and raw chicken sat on the counter. All. Day. That went in the garbage (after a Facebook poll. I wanted to be sure before I threw it away. The poor chicken gave it's life for nothing!).

The next day I threw some marinated chicken thighs I'd stashed in the freezer into the Crockpot as I rushed out the door. The key to the slow cooker is it traps all the moisture to braise and stew all day. This does not happen if you leave the lid off a crack. What happens then is all the moisture evaporates and you have to chip marinade-turned-charcoal off the bottom of the pot. Super fun. 

Of course, being me, I didn't order pizza for dinner. I made spinach gnocchi. From scratch. Because I am a crazy person.

Finally, last night, Crockpot success! I'll admit, this is not a typical Four Seasons Kitchen meal with jarred sauce and frozen meatballs. Hey, I'm not above a little help from Mr Ragu once in a while. I figured this would be super quick and easy for Tyler to make while I was at work. Turned out amazing, healthy, and dead easy.

SLOW COOKER SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH MEATBALLS 

Serves 4

Adapted from Paleo Pot via Pinterest

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 jar tomato sauce, thinned with a bit of water if your brand is really thick
• 1/2 box frozen meatballs (I used PC Blue Menu Chicken Meatballs. Yum)
• handful fresh basil, finely chopped
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Cut your squash in half across the diameter (i.e. not lengthwise). Scoop out seeds and pulp. Save the seeds to roast as you would pumpkin seeds if you wish.

Pour sauce into slow cooker. Place squash in slow cooker cut side down. Spread meatballs around squash in the sauce. Cook on low about 6 hours.

To serve, remove squash from slow cooker using tongs. Hold with tongs and scrape squash out of skin with a fork. Mix basil into sauce, ladle sauce and meatballs over squash. Serve with Parmesan.

This Week's Menu

Every time I see a commercial for dishwasher soap where the woman takes dishes out of the dishwasher, holds them up, and gives a satisfactory nod before putting the glass away, I think, "How ridiculous, nobody does that." I totally did that today. I started using a different dishwasher soap and I kept looking at my glasses and utensils and thinking how sparkly they looked. Who is this person!? If I start talking about buying a minivan just shoot me.

Monday: Hoisin Glazed Salmon with Indian-Spiced Lentil Mango Salad I already posted this recipe I was so stoked about it.

Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Tyler made these while I worked late Tuesday. Easy recipe, but I wasn't a fun of soggy tortillas.

Wednesday: Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Alfredo Sauce  (photo above) I have made this dish twice now. It is fantastic and easy. We had Tyler's cousin over for dinner on Wednesday. He lives by himself and seems to survive on beer. I invite him over once in a while to get some vegetables into him. Oh, and we do enjoy his company too. This recipe is now in regular rotation in our house. You can roast peppers under your oven broiler or on the barbeque. I swap milk for cream in the recipe.

Thursday: Grilled Cheese with Roasted Tomato Soup I loosely followed this soup recipe. Usually I use a recipe from America's Test Kitchen for Creamy Creamless Tomoato Soup. Both recipes are good.

Friday:  Pasta with Slow Cooker Eggplant Tomato Sauce. Very easy to throw everything into the slow cooker, I did this in the 10 minutes I had before leaving for work today. Used white wine instead of red as this is what I had. Very good. The eggplant add chunky texture but picks up all the flavours of the sauce. If you use no-salt-added tomatoes add a teaspoon of kosher salt to the ingredients in the slow cooker.

Bolognese Sauce

I have been meaning to post this recipe for Bolognese Sauce for a long time. It's been sitting in my drafts for two years, in fact. Oops.

Ground beef mixed with tomato sauce this is not. There are no hard bits of ground beef here. I don't know how to describe it except to say that the meat is soft, but "soft meat" sounds wrong somehow. Just make it and you'll know what I mean. This recipe makes a lot of sauce. It freezes really well, and since it takes all day to make (are you still reading after I said that? Good- it's made in the slow cooker) it's nice that you have lots to show for it. I always have some in the freezer for a quick meal, and as soon as I run out I make some more.

The sauce is great on pasta, of course, but I love it best on spaghetti squash. It is lighter and actually more flavourful, I find and the squash adds another dimension of flavour. I've made it before and then mostly forgot about this weird and wonderful vegetable until a girls weekend in October. One friend brought meatballs with tomato sauce and another made spaghetti squash in place of pasta. Even those who were sceptical went back for seconds and we didn't even need to make the back-up pasta. 

One Year Ago: Chocolate Lollipops

The Scoop on Chia

Schnitzel, Spatzle, and Sweet and Sour Cabbage

Two Years Ago: A Tale of Two Banana Breads

 Open-Faced Steak Sandwiches

 

Three Years Ago: Home Made Gifts 

 Man-Sized Salad

Baked Fish and Chips 

Olive Bread

Birthday Menu

Chai Tea Mini Cupcakes (with a must see baking fail)

SPAGHETTI SQUASH RECIPE

SLOW COOKER BOLOGNESE

from Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1/2 celery rib, chopped fine
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 1/2 lbs ground pork
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 cups dry white wine
• 2 28-oz cans whole tomatoes, pureed in a blender until smooth
• 1 tsp minced fresh thyme

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot and cook until softened but not browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste, cook about 30 seconds. Add meat, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and cook, breaking up meat, until crumbled into tiny pieces and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the milk, bring to a vigorous simmer, and cook until milk evaporates and only clear fat remains, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes, thyme and bring to a boil. Transfer mixture to a slow cooker. Cover, set the temperature to high, and bring to a boil.

Remove the lid and simmer until the sauce is very thick, 7 to 8 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes: Sauce can be refrigerated up to 4 days, frozen up to 2 months.


Recipe can be made partially ahead of time by completing all steps prior to putting sauce in the slow cooker- refrigerate sauce in pot overnight, then bring to a boil again before transferring to slow cooker.


Place slow cooker on a counter or on the stove away from cabinetry as a lot of steam will rise from the sauce as it cooks.


If you will be out of the house for longer than 7 or 8 hours, set the lid halfway off the slow cooker rather than removing it entirely, then simmer for 10 to 11 hours.

Slow Cooker Pulled Beef

Grilled Cheese with Pulled Beef

I have made this beef twice and both times didn't take a photo for the blog. I wish I had a nice, juicy, mouthwatering photo of a hunk of beef to show you, but alas, you'll have to use your imagination. It is a thing of beauty. And easy. I'm not even going to give you a real recipe for the beef.

Here's what you do for amazing falling-apart beef: Get a good sized bottom round roast. We get ours marinated already from the store, but if yours isn't seasoned then coat with your favorite rub. Cut it in half. Place in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add about 3/4 cup of water. Set to low and go about your day. It is done when it shreds easily, 6-8 hours. If you have to leave it longer, don't cut the meat in half. I'm sure it's possible to overcook it, but it would take a really long time. Remove from the slow cooker, shred the meat (discard the liquid in the pot), add barbecue sauce.

So, what do you do with all that beef? A better question would be what don't you do with all that beef? This is what we used it for. It could also be frozen in small portions.

Pizza with Pulled Beef, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Feta
Grilled Cheese with Pulled Beef
Beef Wraps with Giardinera
Pulled Beef Mac n' Cheese
Pasta With Pulled Beef, Roasted Peppers and Goat Cheese
Pulled Beef Ravioli (I didn't make this, but it would be easy to make with wonton wrappers)
Pulled Beef Sandwiches - on Kaiser buns with more BBQ sauce. And just in case you thought I was getting too fancy with the ravioli; I like to put potato chips on my sandwiches (I'm in love with these ones)

Slower Cooker Awesomeness

I saw a post last week on The Kitchn about using your slow cooker during the summer so as to not heat up the house by turning on the oven, and this made a lot of sense. I hardly ever use my slow cooker, but I'm going to try to use it more now that I have re-discovered it's awesomeness. When I walked in the door last night my house smelled delicious, plus dinner was cooked already except for putting some potatoes in the microwave! I couldn't speak throughout dinner except to say "oh my God this is so good".

The recipe accompanying the post was for pork carnitas which I was going to make but they didn't have pork shoulder, or any other suitable pork product, at the grocery store this week. They had beef brisket though. The butcher said they rarely have it, so if you can find brisket at your store pick some up. I wish I had bought two. It's that good. I had brisket sandwich once at a restaurant and it was really fatty, but this wasn't fatty at all- there wasn't even any fat on the top of the leftovers when we took them out of the fridge the next day.

To serve, I shredded the falling-apart-tender meat and we ate it on top of some mashed potatoes with the delicious sauce left in the slow cooker spooned over top. Heaven! I have had leftovers on a kaiser bun for lunch the last two days, and it's delicious this way too. The recipe is dead simple- I was able to throw it together in 10-15 minutes before leaving for work. Don't worry too much about the measurements, I eyeballed everything as I threw it in, it will turn out great. Plus, the cooking time is very forgiving- if you get caught up at work and it cooks for 10 hours, that's ok. The only change I would make, and I've included this below, is to add some chopped fresh parsley when serving.

PS We had peas and corn with it too, in case you were worried about the lack of vegetables in the photo.

SLOW COOKER BRISKET WITH ONIONS AND TOMATOES

Adapted from Epicurious

• beef brisket- I think mine was 2 to 3 lbs, but you can go bigger and don't have to change anything
• salt and pepper
• 2 small onions, sliced 
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 bottle beer- I used Moosehead Light because that's what Tyler had, but any beer will do
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
•  1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Trim any visible fat from the outside of the beef. Season with salt and pepper. Brown on all sides in a skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, put all other ingredients except parsley in the bottom of the slow cooker and stir to combine. Place beef in slow cooker, cover with lid, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir in parsley before serving.