More food art!

My friend forwarded this to me and I thought it was perfect for this blog. I especially like Vietnam's flag! It's been a good year for lychees!

http://www.visualnews.com/2013/08/27/national-flags-created-foods-country-commonly-associated/

Tandoori Chicken Saute with Mushrooms

I have previously heralded the advantages of spice mixes, but this post will center around spice pastes. Cooking with spice pastes is, is possible, even easier than mixes because often, all you need is a protein and the paste itself and you're good to go. This particular recipe is a little bit more involved than mixing two ingredients together, but worth it! More people are probably familiar with Tandoori Chicken, the bright red roast chicken ubiquitous at all Indian buffets. While its true that tandoori is generally a roast, named after the oven its cooked in, I find that the tangy spice blend also works very well in curries.  

A traditional tandoor oven

2 pounds of boneless chicken, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
2 tbsp of Ghee (or butter or oil)
10 oz of baby bella mushrooms, cut in halves. 
1 medium white onion, cut into strips
2 tbsp yogurt
4 tbsp Tandoori paste
Juice from 1/4 of a lime
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Marinate the chicken in a mixture of the tandoori paste, yogurt and lime juice. Minimum 1 hour, but the longer the better. 

2. Prep the mushrooms and onions while you wait

3. Warm up half the ghee up in a pan on medium to low heat. Add the onions. Fry till the onions are translucent and soft. A little browned but not burnt. You should still be able to easily separate the strands. Remove from heat and put aside.

4. Add the rest of the ghee to the pan. You can reuse the same pan as long as there are no burnt bits left over. Once the ghee is hot, add the chicken and mushrooms and stir fry quickly. 


5. After the initial sear, the meat may start to water a little bit. At this point, turn the heat to low, and cover. Cook for about 20 min or until the chicken is just cooked through, but still soft. 


6. Take off the cover, turn the heat to high and reduce the water until the sauce is clinging to the mushrooms and chicken. There should only be about a tablespoon of excess sauce. At this point, add the onions back in. Stir for a few minutes and then remove from heat. Both the meat and the onions can be a little browned at this point.


7. I like to plate the onions first and then pile the chicken and mushrooms around them 

This is best eaten with naan, chapatis or other breads. It works with rice, but there just isn't enough gravy to coat the rice properly.

Enjoy!

Pork Stew

So, I normally do not cook pork. Given the large Muslim population where we grew up in India, pig was rarity and somehow, that aversion spilled over to the Hindu population as well. As kids in the states, we ate pork only in restaurants and even then, mostly as toppings on pizza. However, as I sprouted my wings and left the nest, I ventured into trying out "the other white meat". 

This particular recipe came about during Pork Month at Hmart. For weeks, I would walk by and see people buying pounds and pounds of pork from the butcher, so finally I gave in to indirect peer pressure and got some pork picnic. What exactly is pork picnic you ask? I have no idea! At last, not until I turned to google. Turns out, Pork Butt and Pork Picnic are upper and lower parts of a pork's shoulder, respectively. Picnic has more bone and is sold with skin on where as Butt has a small bone and a smaller fat cap. Granted, I did not buy the entire Picnic, but mine still came with a sufficient large piece of skin. I got home and really had no idea where to begin, so I thought, stew! Can't go wrong with stew, especially when its spicy and this is how it went....

Ingredients

2lbs Pork, preferably with some fat and skin

2 large onions, halved and then quartered

1 pod of garlic, about 10-12 cloves, coarsely chopped

3 dried red chili pepper

2 tablespoon Sesame oil, adjust as necessary

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 quart chicken broth

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Rub the pork down with 1 tbsp of sesame oil and some salt and pepper. I would a half teaspoon of each.

2. Heat a heavy bottom pan or a dutch oven until its very very hot on high heat. 

3. Quickly sear the pork evenly on both sides, 30 seconds should be enough. I like a little thicker sear so I let it got for a little longer on each side. 

4. Removed the pork from the pan and let it sit a room temp. 

5. Put the remaining sesame oil into the pain and add the onion, garlic and red chilies. Stir fry quickly for about 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice, soy sauce and chicken broth and stir to combine. 

6. Place the pork on top of the onions. Cover and turn the heat to simmer. Simmer for about 2 -3 hours or until you can separate the meat with a fork. Taste and add, salt or pepper to adjust.

7. Remove the pork from the pot. Cut off any remaining fat or skin. Slice up the meat and serve on a bed of gravy and onions. 

This recipe turned out a lot better than I could have hoped for. The beauty lies in its simplicity. The few ingredients make it quick to prep and also allows the pork to really shine through. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!