Fridge Curry

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon and I am tired of watching the weather channel for updates on Hurricane Dean...And I am hungry.

I go scrounging in the fridge, and I see the package of sausage I had pulled for breakfast in the morning. It's not going to last. I pull it, two heads of broccoli, some Greek yogurt, one half of an onion left over from earlier in the week and the last of the diced garlic.

Off the produce counter get that paper bag that may or may not have good potatoes in it. (close your eyes, say a little prayer to your kitchen gods .... peek in the bag .. yes! still good!) Get about six good sized Yukon golds out and grab a green apple. Peel all of the above, leave the taters whole, dice the apple into big chunks and cut the broccoli into florets (make sure to cut the stem up also .. lots of yummy goodness there as well).

I fill a pot with water, salted to sea like and put my trusty cast iron skillet on the burner , both of them set to high. Drizzle some olive oil in the skillet and when its hot drop the sausage in. When the sausage is nice and brown add your rough chopped onion and the last of the pre-chopped garlic. (Yes, I buy the big jugs of pre-chopped garlic, it makes life easier.)

Turn the heat down a bit, add some salt and pepper, rummage above the stove in your spice cabinet. Pull down some red curry, yellow curry, a cardamom pod or two and some cumin. When the onions have started to brown and wilt pour in two shots of bourbon to de-glaze and then add the spices. To this add about three-quarters of a cup of water and a can of diced tomatoes to help make the sauce.

By now the water should be close to boiling, add the whole potatoes and let them start. Keep the water boiling for about twelve minutes. When the potatoes are almost done drop the broccoli in for a quick blanch. We hate soggy broccoli.

As you add the potatoes to the water be sure to add the apples to the sauce so they can have a bit of time to tenderize.

OK, the potatoes are done, cut them into chunks, and then its time to plate. Take the sauce off the heat and right before pouring some over your potatoes and broccoli mix in some of that Greek Yogurt. It'll brighten the the sauce with the tartness of the yogurt and give it some body.

I recommend a nice cold Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout for yourself, and a big glass of homemade lemonade for the kids.

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Dave

Pork Curry

Easter dinner was one of my favorites, pork medallions with sage and ham.

I was in charge of dinner this year and we were expecting a big crowd so I ended up slicing up about 3 tenderloins worth of medallions. With the slices I ended up with about 6 inches on each tenderloin that wasn't really big enough to slice. These I ended up cutting into chunks sprinkling with sea salt and stowing in the fridge for a day to two.

The Wednesday after Easter it was time to put those chunks to use. I quickly pan-fried the pork pieces until they were juuuuust done, brown marks on the outside but still pink on the inside. I transferred them to a covered bowl and went on with the rest of the meal.

A quarter cup of bourbon went into the pan to deglaze. Along with that went half an onion, two stalks celery and a pinch of salt to draw out the water. Once that had begun to brown and the liquids began reducing I added two tbsp of chopped garlic and 3 tomatoes cut into quarters from our freezer.

These tomatoes were from our crop last year, I am finally getting close to finishing off all the freezer stock. This year I am really thinking about learning to can them instead just to save freezer room.

Once the tomatoes broke down and released their summery liquids I fished out the skins and stuck an immersion blender in the mix. A few seconds later I had blended up the onions, celery, garlic and tomato into something a bit more like a sauce. It still had quite a few chunks but looked to homogenized.

I dropped a bay leaf in and 2 tablespoons of Yellow Curry powder. I also added half a teaspoon of Garam Masala and a shake or two of white pepper. I mixed all the spices in and then put a two pats of unsalted butter on top and the pork cubes back in to finish cooking and heat back up. Put a lid on the pot (I use my cast Iron 13" skillet for this dish) and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

While the sauce was being prepared I had a pot of vegetables boiling, I had a couple of chopped carrots and probably 2 pounds of red potatoes. The size of the potatoes and carrots were approximately the size of something you'd want on your plate. Cut them the way you feel comfortable. If you want carrots cut on the bias, then by all means cut on the bias.

Once the carrots and potatoes are fork tender drain them and then put them back in the pot over the heat for a few seconds shaking constantly to dry them out a bit.

Unlid the curry and add a cup of frozen green peas into the golden yellow curry. Let that sauce warm the peas through and then you are ready to eat.

Put the vegetables on the plate, pour sauce over and then add a dollop of Greek Style yogurt (or strained yogurt or sour cream).

Variations include added cashews and raisins at the table to the curry. You could also substitute brown rice or couscous instead of the vegetables.


Dave

Thursday night Gratin

Came home tonight to find Pamela greeting me at the door as she ran off to the market for essentials (dog food, milk, kitty litter), so I went searching the cabinets for dinner fixings.

On the counter was a couple of potatoes left over from baked potato/chili night on Monday. Looking in the fridge showed a 1/2 stick butter some milk and an opened bag of Mexican mix shredded cheese.

Turn the oven on ... 425 degrees ... now .. go do it, while you get the rest of the ingredients and tools necessary to do the job.

Washed the taters, and then did a quick and dirty job peeling them. Not really caring if I got it all peeled off, just .. I don't know ....60%? 75%?

I sliced them into thin slices, layering the casserole pan with a few layers, making sure to each layer (salt, black pepper, and Italian Seasoning). On the top layer after the seasoning I added the cheese and then about 3/4 of a cup of milk.

The oven was hot and ready by then, so I covered it in foil and then put it in the oven, let it bake for about an hour, then pulled the foil off and turned the broiler on and allowed the bubbly mixture to get brown on top.

Pull it from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes, then plate and enjoy! We had ours with a Kielbasa that I sliced into rounds and stir fried in the cast Iron skillet until they has nice crunchy bits.

Variations to the theme:

• Add a thin layer of carrots


• Add some caramelized onions


• Add some browned Italian Turkey sausage


• oooohhhhh some peas! for a bit of color...

This was almost as easy and pain free as making Quiche, but not quite.

Cub ate everything we put in front of him (potatoes, cheese... how can you lose?). Thumper on the other hand, ate a few pieces of kielbasa and called it good. *SIGH*