wild things

So I make this Curry, which i am sure is an afront to india and thailand with their real wonderful tasty delicious curry. My is a recipe my mom gave me and i think either my grandmother or her got it from a newspaper article on easy other country dishes. which may just be how to make this stuff they resembles curry. It is mighty tasty though. so i made curry last night. and Beastie has some new eating rules. we accomodate them sort of. i will seperate the chicken from the rice and sauce. i will put rice on the side with sauce . veggies seperate. and while my daughter won't eat pasta she will eat a good curry. first the recipe then the results.

1 onion
4-5 celery stalks, from the middle preferably.
1 family size can of cream of mushroom soup
a can and a half of water (the can that previously had the soup in it)
curry to taste
1-2 pounds chicken breast
1 tub of sour cream
peas if you want
broccoli if you want
rice.

saute the onion and the celery, once onion is translucent add chicken ( i hope it goes without saying this is all chopped and cut in bite size pieces, except now i said it. hrm)
once chicken is brown then add curry. there are a lot of different curries, i like to combine them and the more you add the spicer it may get depending on the curry.
cook for a couple minutes until chicken is covered in curry. and it smells so good
add soup and water.
bring to a boil.
if you would like the peas or the broccoli in your curry now is the time to add them.
simmer about 10 minutes, add sour cream, start rice and when rice is done eat and enjoy.
now as with any dish you can simmer for as long as you want to get the nummy flavors all good together. just eat when you are ready

so dinner was served, and beastie spent some time making a ruckus and being quiet then making a ruckus then being quiet again. once we were done with dinner we went to get her and we found this (she eats in the other room because otherwise she spends dinner throwing a tantrum):

there was rice everywhere. imagine the bath. ugh, all you friends with children look forward to the mess, because it is hilarious, a beautiful disaster. and also a pain in the ass.
xo

cooking with family

So i cook at my mother's house a lot with my sister (they are my in laws but they are exactly like direct family so i am not going to add in law to their proper nouns(?)) My mothers house is like a dream kitchen come true seriously its the best place to cook ever. 2 ovens, a lovely gas stove. a granite counter and it turns into a bar area where you can have conversation with the people you are feeding while you cook. it is amazing. it is the closest thing to home to me. i feel the safest and calmest when i am in their kitchen. and let me tell you right now that feeling is hard to come by. so last night my sister and i cooked INA GARTEN's Chicken stew with biscuits. INA likes us to make everything from scratch. the chicken stock, the roasted chicken and the biscuits. but to you INA i say i don't have the time, nor do i have your kitchen and i don't live the Hampton's. i will only makes everything from scratch if i can live in the Hampton's.
anyways., so here is the modified for easier less time consuming stew with biscuits. or fancy chicken pot pie.

1 pre baked rotisserie chicken which can be bought at any grocery store with a deli.
1 onion
1 bag of frozen stew vegetables. ( i just discovered these but they have potatoes, pearl onions, celery and carrots.) * the actual recipe only calls for the pearl onions and carrots but i like starch so the addition of potatoes and celery i don't mind one bit*
1 cup of frozen peas
1/4 cup heavy cream ( please don't substitute this, this is part of what makes the stew thick and delicious *i never said this was low fat)
1.5 sticks of butter
3/4 cups of flour
5 cups of chicken stock
2 cubes chicken bullion
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans (12) biscuits from the store.

so first take all the meat from the chicken and put that into a bowl. shred it, cut it whatever fits your personal aesthetic. set that bowl aside.

pre heat your oven to 375

in a small pan heat up the chicken stock and bullion together on med heat.

in a big pan it can be a frying pan with extra high sides or a small wide pot. whatever just know there tends to be a lot of the food/liquid so you need something big.
melt all the butter (again i know its a lot but it is for thickening.) then stir in the chopped up onion ( figured it went without saying that you would chop the onion but if it doesn't chop that shit up) stir it around a bit and cook until the onion is cooked clear. then add your flour and stir that in. what is gonna happen is the butter will mix with the flour and make a roux which is your main thickening agent. * now here is where i stray even farther off INA yellow brick road i add the salt and pepper here with the roux. she adds it at the end. I think when you do it with the roux it integrate the flavor better. plus that is what my grandma taught me and she is the best cook ever. so now you have a thick clump of onions and roux, add your broth and the cream. stir until the roux and melted into the liquid. then add your veggies (the bag of stew stuff and your peas) mix some more. then put all of that into a 9x13 pan and cook for 20 ( i like to make sure the frozen potatoes are actually cooked) after 20 mins. bring the stew out and cut up the potatoes a bit ( they are whole when they are frozen and impossible to cut until after they have had some time in the stew) then place 12 biscuits on top of the stew, pop it back in the oven and cook until the tops of the biscuits are browned and they look like biscuits.

to serve i prefer bowls but whatever, everyone gets a biscuit and some stew. yummy. enjoy.

this should help you weather any storm my dears.

of bad tuna and good risotto

i admit that i would like to have on hand an easy recipe for tuna noodle casserole. something i could just whip up one night when i am too busy/tired for anything. so i have thought of trying various recipes. my first try was a suggestion by my mom in law who suggested making macoroni and cheese and adding tuna. sounds easy enough. blech blech blech blech. the beastie threw it on the floor. i didnt finish it and i am like a human garbage can. ick. so i think i am going to piece a recipe from my memories as a kid (my dad used to make killer tuna casserole) and try that. from there we go to the books. TO THE BOOKS

so beyond that last night iwas gonna try a second tuna casserole but decided i needed comfort food insterad and made a risotto.
a basic risotto recipe
chicken stock 4-6 cups depending
1/2 stick butter
onion or shallot
1 cup of white wine
arborio rice
parmesean cheese

saute your onion or shallot in the butter once clear then add 2 cups of the arborio, stir it and cook a little until it smells nutty, add wine and cook until wine has been absorbed. meanwhile make sure your chicken stock has been heated and is sitting in a pot on low heat. slowly add a ladle full of stock at a time ( turn the burner to low under the rice) stiring while the rice absorbs it. eventually you will use all or most of your stock and your rice will be fluffy like rice. stir in a tablesppon of butter and as much parmesean cheese as you want. and voila a basic risotto.

now once you have a basic recipe you can expand and add what ever you want. last night i made a variation of a lemon risotto by Giadia Di Laurentis. i added the juice of 4 lemons to my broth and also threw in the juice of 3 more lemons in the rice at the same time as the wine. at the end i stirred in marscopone cheese, some chicken, peas and parmesean. so really anything can be added to make the risotto a meal instead of a side. oh i also always add basil. its soo nummy.

thats all. just good old fashioned comfort food. i needed it so i did it.
the beastie threw it all on the floor. i sent her to bed without dinner.