Chicken Tikka Masala with homemade Foccachia bread. (Forgot to buy naan, and don't have my own tandoori oven, so I baked the next best thing.)

Bread dough after first rise:


Chicken marinating in garlic and ginger, with some roasted red bell peppers standing by:


Finished products:

After seeing MRBTX's post showing his Caldo de Res, I knew I'd be making some soon.

Today was the day.
Lots of prepwork involved, peeling, chopping,dicing, blending... but sure was worth it once I tasted it.

I used beef shank and some marrow bones for flavor, along with carrots, chayote squash, onion, garlic, zucchini, cilantro, corn, green beans and potato...

Found out just how sharp my Nakiri is, when I nicked my thumb.

Filled up my 2-gallon Le Creuset stock pot... I'll be eating it for a while... but with the expected snow tonight, this is good soup weather.

Seeing C-Dubs and MRBTX pictures of their Caldo de Res tweaked my interest. Frankly I've never heard of it before let alone having had any, but being a big fan of hearty soups in the cold months I think I'm going to have to look into this dish.

Rouge, that looks amazing!

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
If you like chicken and curry, try this Mulligatawny recipe. I made a batch last week and it's fantastic.

Tried that recipe today. Pretty good. I made a few changes, like doubling the curry amount, adding a bit of cayenne, and swapping in lite unsweetened coconut milk in place of heavy cream.

I'm not a heavy cream fan, and coconut milk is a healthier (and often tastier) way to get that creaminess in a soup or stew, plus it is fitting for an Indian soup.

Tonight for supper I am having hot and spicy Mexican Menudo. I enjoy this kind of food when the weather has cooled off and the nights get chilly. I will add the mandatory cilantro, raw red onions, and lime juice just before serving. White pita bread and/or tortilla chips also. I always take a Zantac tab 30 min. prior to combat any indigestion!!

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
My wife and I tried Hello Fresh and a few others, the deal was we share the task every other night. I am not a cook, and failed miserably, even with instructions. The meals were great!

Try Marley Spoon as well. My wife and I started ordering the Meal Kits since the pandemic started and never went back. We've been ordering 5-6 meals a week and usually gravitate towards MS a little more than HF, 2/3 of the time we do 6 meals with MS and none with HF, and 1/3 of the time 3 from Hello Fresh and 3 from Marley Spoon for the week..........then 1 night a week we either grill a good steak or go out to dinner.......

Tonight we're making the MS scampi style Shrimp and cheese grits & arugula salad

https://marleyspoon.com/accounts/orders#1609453203434

Here's a link for a free week if you want it:
https://marleyspoon.com/v/D32DFF

Chicken noodle soup. I made the stock from a Costco roast chicken carcass a couple of weeks ago and froze it.

Mulligatawny soup (red lentils, coconut milk, chicken, rice, butternut squash, and the usual veggies and spices) with homemade focaccia bread. It feels like a re-run of ya'll's meals. I was planning on Lakhsa noodle soup but the mulligitawny uses more ingredients on hand.

The Caldo de Res is getting a promotion on the to-make list. Anyone make Keshi Yana?

When I was down in Florida, I ate at a restaurant called Parrot Island. I ate a dish that had spinach, long grain wild rice, mushrooms, and shrimp.

So I tried to recreate it tonight. Turned out pretty awesome.

I "secret Santa'd myself" a couple of weeks ago and bought a smoker.

Today I smoked a chuck roast with a Dizzy Dust bbq rub called Crossroads.

I'm not sure why I even bothered getting out a plate... I ate right from the cutting board tonight.

Rack of lamb on the gas grill with garlic butter rice.
I wanted to smoke it but it's tricky keeping temps right when it's cold with charcoal. Still turned out excellent.

Pot Roast

I made soup. I just threw it together. Since it was New Years Day, I made it with mixed greens, hopping John, cubed ham, onion, celery, garlic powder, salt and pepper, Slap Ya Mama, Italian seasoning, water and a little bit of better than bouillon beef and chicken. With pasta.

It was delicious.


ARman

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Finished products:

Bread looks a lot like Iranian Baberi.

I made one of my "canned" stews: 1 can of Hereford roast beef with gravy and a small can each of peas & carrots and whole kernel sweet corn. Will serve over white rice.
DEC_3288 by David Casteel, on Flickr

flashguy

flashguy— I remember you talking about the Hereford RB. Where do you get it? I can see me having a can or two in the cabinet, just for the hey. I would probably add some of those canned whole little potatoes to it. I like those cooked in a skillet with butter until they get a crust on them.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Bread looks a lot like Iranian Baberi.

It's Italian Focaccia, but focaccia is a flatbread that's very similar to a lot of other flatbreads from around the world.

It's pretty simple to make, just a little time-intensive (waiting for the yeast to rise, twice). Takes about 5 hours total, but 99% of that is simply waiting.

1 envelope active dry yeast (1.25 oz)
2 tsp. honey
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt, for topping

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together envelope of active yeast, 2 teaspoons honey, and 2.5 cups lukewarm water. Let sit for 5 minutes. (The yeast should start to foam.)

2. Add 5 cups flour and 1 tablespoon kosher salt, and mix with a spatula until no dry streaks remain.

3. Put 4 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of the the biggest mixing bowl you own. I use like a 20ish quart metal mixing bowl. Transfer dough to this big bowl, and turn the dough to coat it in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise at room temperature for 3 hours. It will double in size (or more).

4. Once the dough has risen the first time for ~3 hours, it's time to deflate it. Using two forks, or your oiled hands, gather up the bottom edge of the dough furthest from you and lift it up and into the center of the bowl. Turn the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat, doing this 4 times total. You should have folded each quarter of the dough into the center, and you should end up with a noticeably deflated ball of dough compared to the large mass you started with before folding.

5. Take out a rimmed baking sheet of roughly 10" x 15" (dimensions don't have to be exact; a slightly larger one will result in thinner bread, while a slightly smaller one will result in thicker bread). Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the center. Transfer the ball of dough into the middle, pouring any remaining oil from your bowl onto the top of the dough. Turn the dough to coat with oil.

6. Let dough rise a second time uncovered on the baking sheet at room temperature for 1.5 hours.

7. After 1.5 hours, preheat oven to 450 degrees. While oven preheats, pour a little oil onto your hands, and use your hands to stretch out the dough to the edges of the baking sheet to fill it.

8. Using your oiled fingers, dimple dough all over, driving your fingers all the way through the dough to the bottom of the pan. Do this all over the surface. You should end up with several dozen dimples in the dough, which will partially spring back.

9. Using a basting brush or similar, spread the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the dough, and sprinkle with coarse, flaky salt (like sea salt flakes or similar). You can also add herbs like rosemary and thyme here if you'd like, but I usually don't.

10. Bake on the middle rack of a 450 degree oven for 25ish minutes, until golden brown all over.



As mentioned, you can vary the thickness of the final bread by using a larger or smaller baking sheet. If you make it thinner using a larger sheet, you can use this recipe as a kind of fluffy pizza dough. Just bake it for 20 minutes, then add your sauce and toppings, then bake for 5-10 more minutes.

If you make it thicker using a smaller baking sheet, you can cut the finished product into squares, slice it into halves, and use it for sandwich bread.

I usually like it in-between using the aforementioned 10x15ish sheet (as shown in the phot), for use as table bread or breadsticks for dipping into soup/stew.


This recipe makes a decently large amount of bread, which is good for family dinners. But if there's just one or two of you, that's fine, since it freezes well. When it's just me, I usually cut the final product in half, eating one half of the bread over the next few days, and freezing the other half in a couple freezer bags. When ready for the second round, simply thaw/reheat the frozen bread on a baking sheet in a 300 degree oven.

I made Nachos then completely forgot to get a pic.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigfest:
flashguy— I remember you talking about the Hereford RB. Where do you get it? I can see me having a can or two in the cabinet, just for the hey. I would probably add some of those canned whole little potatoes to it. I like those cooked in a skillet with butter until they get a crust on them.

I've been told that Kroger sometimes carries it, but I've never found it there. I order it off the web. It's pretty expensive, but worth it. It comes 6 cans to a pack--I ordered 3 packs last time. It makes a pretty nice hot beef sandwich, too.

flashguy

^^^^^ Costco has a Roast Beef, in cans, I think 4 cans to a sleeve.

I think it's pretty darn good quality.