Indian Dry Chicken Curry. Heavy on spices, not heat (though the chilli level can be altered to suit individual tastes). Continue reading
Category Archives: Main dishes
Chicken Enchiladas
This is a dish that a friend brought over after I had my first child. It is sooo good, and, though it will be in the Mexican category, it is, again, more of a general comfort food. Continue reading
Sweet Citrus Grilled Fish
Seasoning amounts are approximate – adjust to taste. Fillets can be used instead of steaks, but be sure to skin them first.
Serve with Mango Plantain Chutney. Continue reading
Italian Meatballs
These meatballs are excellent plain or in Good Gravy Tomato Sauce. Continue reading
Imam Bayildi
A classic eggplant dish so good, the imam fainted. Continue reading
Dad's Salted Steak with (or without) Garlic
My dad taught me this one. Awesome for a quick dinner with boiled, mashed, or any other kind of potatoes and a salad (especially a nice garlicky Ceasar). Living in beef country, we buy steaks on sale (good cuts are sometimes marked down as cheap as or cheaper than ground beef), and wrap, bag, and freeze until we're ready to eat them. (Freezing also tenderizes them a bit, so even cheaper cuts are really gooood.) Slicing the steak and putting in the garlic is optional, but why would you omit it? It's sooooo goooood. You can also add pepper right before you do the salt, but we find it detracts from the garlic and beef and salt flavors. Continue reading
Good Gravy Tomato Sauce
A meaty sauce for an Italian feast. Serve with spaghetti on a giant platter. Adapted from 4 or 5 different recipes around the web. Continue reading
Couscous Algerois
This recipe comes from a cookbook that my grandmother and a cooperative group of Americans and pieds noirs (French families living in Algeria) put together in Algiers in the 1960's. I'll include here the cookbook's "definition" of couscous:
Couscous is the national dish of Algeria. It is served almost daily in most homes, yet the sauces are never quite the same. The women put all their expertise into varying the ingredients in their sauces and yet keeping to traditional form. The rolling out of the semolina (couscous) has become an art in itself.
The basic process for the preparation of couscous is the steaming of the grain over a stew or broth. This is generally made with meat, usually lamb or chicken, and a variety of vegetables. The broth is often colored red with tomato puree or yellow with saffron. A separate sauce is prepared with some of the broth and highly spiced with cayenne or chili pepper and a concentrate of red pimento called harissa and served beside the couscous.
The actual process of cooking the couscous is very simple, but calls for a subtle handling of the grain. The aim is to make it swell and become extremely light, each grain soft, delicate, velvety and separate from its neighbor. Bad handling of the grain will result in a lumpy and rather stodgy couscous. The grain must never cook in the sauce or broth, but only in the steam. It must not even touch the broth throughout the steaming. The couscousiere, the pot traditionally used, is in two parts, made from glazed earthenware or copper, and, more recently, aluminum. The bottom part is a large round pan in which the stew is cooked. The top consists of a sieve with widish holes – this holds the couscous. Continue reading
Hobbes's Indian curry (the basic method)
This is my personal method for making an Indian curry, certainly not the only way, but it's simple, can be done in a typical American kitchen, and is pretty authentic as far as it goes. Continue reading
Applesauce Meatloaf
An interesting variation. Strain the applesauce through a strainer or cheesecloth or you will have too much liquid in it. Tastes rather German, and goes wonderfully with any kind of potatoes. Continue reading