Thai Salmon Curry

 My son-in-law made this for me first

from a Christian Science Monitor recipe.

Simply pretty amazing

In a deep skillet, heat

• 2 tsp peanut oil

Add

• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips

and cook one minute.

Stir in

• 1 (14 fl.oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 Tbs freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbs brown sugar (or palm sugar or turbinado)
• 2 Tbs fish sauce
• 2 Tbs red curry paste
• 2 Tbs lime juice

Place skin down in pan and bring to a boil

• 1 lb fresh salmon fillets

then reduce heat and cover. Simmer 5 minutes.

Add to pan

• 3 scallions, sliced into 3-inch pieces

and cook 2 -5 minutes more.

Stir in, just before serving

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 2 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 1 -2 minced Thai bird chiles

Serve with

• Steamed jasmine rice
• Steamed green beans
• 3 - 4 lime wedges

Pumpkin Stuffed with Potato, Pea, & Mushroom Curry and Rice + Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (week of January 4 - 10)

Stuffed Pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut lid as for jack-o'lantern from

• 1 small pie pumpkin

and scoop out seeds. Prick all over inside with fork and rub interior with

• butter
• salt, pepper, mustard powder (to taste)

Add pre-cooked filling (leftovers with a handful of rice and some water - see below) and bake until pumpkin is soft (35 minutes or longer).



Potato, Pea, & Mushroom Curry (with added Red Butter)

We adapted another recipe from Sam Stern's Real Food/ Real Fast for this week's pumpkin filling. We started with a basic curry of potatoes, peas & mushrooms and then mixed in Red Butter Sauce to fill a couple of pumpkins - baked them - YUM!


Heat in a large pan

• 2 Tablespoons peanut oil

Add

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Pinch of salt

Cook gently until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, crushed

Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add

• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 1 green chile, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 2 medium cold cooked potatoes, cubed
• 3 tomatoes, roughly chopped (or an eqivalent amount of canned tomatoes)
• ¾ lb. button mushrooms, washed, stalked and sliced
• Fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, stirring so it doesn't burn.
Add

• 1 cup defrosted peas

plus a little water if they're dry. Cook 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with additional cilantro.

[For pumpkin filling, stir in red butter sauce:

Melt in a large pan

• 6 Tablespoons butter

Add

• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• Pinch of salt

and cook gently for 2 minutes.


Add

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon chlii powder
• 3 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cardamom pods (or 1¼ teaspoons ground
  cardamom)

and cook until onions are soft.

Add

• 2 (15 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

and stir. Bring to a boil. Simmer on reduced heat for 10
minutes.


Add

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt

Reduce heat.

Add

• ½ cup rice

and some water. Fill pumpkin, cover with pumpkin lid and bake.]

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Rinse and pull pulp from seeds. Soak in salted water for an hour, then drain in seive and spread seeds on cookie sheet. Bake at 350° until they start "popping" - about 10- 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Or here's an alternative method, from our local CSA

• To toast pumpkin seeds, wash them in a sieve immediately after removing them from the pumpkin and clean off the pulp as much as possible.
• Then toss the seeds in a tablespoon of oil and put them on a baking sheet.
• Sprinkle on salt, as well as any spices or seasonings you might like, and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes for crispy seeds, or at 250 degrees for an hour for chewy ones.
• Check on them in the middle of baking to stir, if necessary.

Red Butter Chicken + Garam Masala + Homemade Chapattis

Red Butter Chicken

Before making this our own, we learned this first from Sam Stern’s Real Food/Real Fast - a great cookbook by a British teen. The girls like the breezy language of the original and all the photos of Sam and his friends.  I like the emphasis on real cooking with real ingredients.  All of us love the results!  Unbelievably delicious!!

Melt in a large pan

6 Tablespoons butter

Add

1 medium onion, finely diced4 cloves garlic, crushedPinch of salt

and cook gently for 2 minutes.


Add

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 

½ teaspoon chili powder 

3 teaspoons paprika 

2 teaspoons garam masala 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

1 cinnamon stick 

4 cardamom pods (or 1¼ teaspoons ground cardamom)

and cook until onions are soft.

Add

2 (15 oz) cans crushed tomatoes 

2 Tablespoons tomato paste 

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar 

1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

and stir. Bring to a boil. Simmer on reduced heat for 10 minutes.

Add

4 chicken breasts, without skin, diced

and stir to coat.

Add

1 cup heavy cream 

2/3 cup plain yogurt

Reduce heat. Cook at a gentle simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook

2 cups rice

in

4 cups waterPinch of salt

Chop

fresh cilantro

and stir into chicken. Excellent served with warmed naan or warmed whole wheat tortillas or - even better - Homemade Chappatis (see below)


Garam Masala
We found this formula for a garam masala mix years ago in a children's book about India from the library. Now I see garam masala premixed in the grocery store, but this smells so wonderful roasting in the oven, it's worth taking time to make it when you can.

Preheat oven 200°.
Roast in an ungreased 9 x 13” pan on bottom oven rack

3 sticks cinnamon 

½ cup cardamom pods 

¼ cup whole cloves 

¼ cup cumin seeds 

2 Tablespoons coriander seeds 

¼ C black peppercorns

for 30 min. Stir often.

Let cool.

With fingers, break open cardamom pods: remove and keep seeds, discard pods. Crush cinnamon (rolling pin and 2 towels). Combine & mix well. Grind to fine powder (food processor or in short bursts in blender).
Add

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

Store in sealed jar up to 6 months.



Homemade Chapattis
These are easy enough, I don't know why we don't make them more frequently.  The recipe is from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook

Preheat oven to 325°. Mix in a medium-sized bowl

½ cup flour 

½ cup whole wheat flour

Add

½ cup water

and stir until combined. Knead dough on a clean, floured surface for a minute or two, adding more flour to combat stickiness.

Divide dough into 6 equal balls and roll each one into a very thin round – no thicker than 1/8 inch – using plenty of flour on rolling surface and rolling pin.

Oil tray and brush tops of chapattis with

olive oil

Bake for 10 minutes until very, very lightly browned.