Lamb Vindaloo (kickass)

This was a great recipe that Sasha and I did last night. It shows up in the top Google searches for "lamb vindaloo" but I took it specifically from here. We did marinate it for 24 hours prior to cooking and though I'm not sure that's necessary, it turned out so well that I wouldn't mess with success when trying this again.

Ingredients

1. Lamb cubed 1" to 1½": 2 Pounds
Select lean sirloin

Marinate
1. Mustard oil: ¼ cup (this was fairly easy to find - I went to Sparrow Market in Kerrytown; Ann Arbor, MI)
Mustard oil is used for its pungency. You may substitute it with Canola oil
2. Red Wine Vinegar: ¼ cup
3. Tamarind pulp: 2 Tablespoons (this was a little harder to find, Sasha eventually found it at Jerusalem Market on Plymouth Rd, the same place we got our lamb)
4. Salt: 1 teaspoon
5. Minced Garlic: ¼ Cup This not a mistake. You need one whole garlic bulb containing about 10 cloves
6. Finely chopped fresh ginger: 1 Inch
7. Serrano (chopped): 2
Remove seeds and white membrane to reduce heat for your taste.
8. Curry Powder Standard Onset Punjabi: 1½ Tablespoon
Use one to 2 Tablespoons depending on your taste
9. Garam Masala Standard Frying Punjabi: ¾ Tablespoon
Use 2 to 3 teaspoons (for both of these we just used the Curry Powder and Garam Masala that I had in my spice cabinet)
10. Hot mustard powder: 1 teaspoon
11. Lal Mirch (Ground Hot Cayenne): 2 teaspoons
12. Degi Mirch (Paprika): 2 teaspoons

Cooking
1. Ghee: ¼ Cup (this is just clarified butter, you can make your own or buy it at the store - just about any "ethnic foods section" will have it; it comes in a little glass jar)
2. Finely chopped onion (Preferably ground): 2 Cups
3. Water: 6 Tablespoons
4. Brown sugar: ½ teaspoon (we didn't even use this)

Method

Marinate

1. Combine all the marinate ingredients in a stainless steel or glass bowl.
2. Stab each piece of lamb cube with a sharp pointed knife once or twice. This helps with marinate to penetrate deeper.
3. Add the lamb to marinate
4. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 12 hours. It is important to cover to prevent the other foods from gathering odors from the marinate.

Cooking

1. Remove Lamb from the marinate. The surface of lamb should have almost no marinate. Save marinate mixture, set aside.
2. Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add marinated lamb. Brown lamb on medium to high heat, about 8 minutes. Remove browned pieces and set aside
3. Add Onions. Fry till onions are almost brown. 5 minutes
3. Add saved marinate mixture. Be careful during this step. Keep your eyes away from the pan. Cooking this mixture will irritate your eyes. Turn the heat on low to medium, and walk away to avoid the initial fumes for first 2 minutes. After that stir and fry to make a nice paste.
4. Add lamb and water. Bring to a near boil when the bubbles start to rise to top. You do not want to cook lamb at high temperature to prevent it from getting tough. Turn down heat.
5. Cover. Simmer on low to medium heat till lamb is tender. About 20 minutes
6. Stir in sugar to cut the sourness.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Now, I know this isn't really authentic Indian food, but it's quite tasty, so who cares? The recipe calls for grilling the chicken but, since it's 16 degrees out, Jon and I just sauteed it in a little olive oil and it worked out just fine.

1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 long skewers

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream (we used regular milk)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat a grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt (This was really the only thing I'd change about the recipe, it's too much salt. I'd use 1 and a half tsp tops). Stir in tomato sauce and cream/milk. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve with rice of your choice (we used saffron rice which was quite good).
   

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
1 medium onion, diced
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 minced cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Pasta of your choice

Toss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 tsp of salt and red pepper flakes. Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a large plate; set aside.

Add the onion to the same skillet, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil if necessary. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, garlic and oregano. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat and cook for about a minute so the flavors meld together. Stir in the parsley and basil. Serve over the pasta of your choice!

Macaroni and Cheese

A lot of sins have occurred in the name of macaroni and cheese. However, my mom makes a pretty great from-scratch mac and cheese. It definitely takes longer than the Kraft stuff, but I think the end result is well worth it.

5 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
Black pepper (to taste)
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups of milk
1 onion
1 1/2 to 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
Approx 1/2 box of penne
1 can drained tuna fish (optional)
approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup of plain bread crumbs
3-4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Start boiling pasta but take off heat and drain before it is completely cooked.

Over medium heat melt 3 Tbsp butter in a sauce pan and then add diced onion. Saute until soft but not overly brown. Add flour and allow to cook for a minute or two. Add pepper to taste. (We made this last night and accidentally put in more Cayenne than I'd intended, but it gave the dish a good bite without being too spicy). Mix in can of soup.

Turn heat up to high and add milk a little at a time to produce a liquid as opposed to more of a thick paste (You may need to add a dash more than 2 cups). Bring to a boil but do not allow top to skin over, keep stirring.

Lower heat and add shredded cheese a handful at a time. Allow cheese to incorporate before adding more.

Put pasta in a greased 9x9 baking dish. Sprinkle drained and dried tuna over noodles if desired. Pour sauce over pasta and make sure all noodles are under the sauce or they'll end up drying out.

In a very small saucepan, melt remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and add breadcrumbs to make a topping. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over pasta and sauce and then sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

**Unless you're cooking for a crowd, you'll likely have leftovers. If so, they should be heated VERY gently or the sauce separates a bit. The best way is to reheat in the oven after bringing leftovers to room temperature. In a pinch, the microwave at a low power will also work.

Spicy Chicken Fajitas w/ Peri-Peri Marinade

These were supposed to be "sweet & spicy" chicken fajitas, but we forgot to add the sweet and the original recipe is incomplete and counter-intuitive. So here is how WE did it. The marinade is actually pretty fantastic.

Peri-Peri Merinade

two or three fresh hot chile peppers (hot red peppers are typical; jalapeno peppers and poblano peppers are also good), chopped
4 Tbsp lemon juice or lime juice (or cider vinegar)
4 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper or red pepper (or one Tbsp dried red pepper flakes)
1 tsp minced garlic (or garlic powder)
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
dried or fresh oregano or parsley (optional)

Combine all ingredients. Grind and mix the ingredients into a smooth paste. (we probably should've used a food processor, but it worked fine enough without). Adjust the ratio or pepper and paprika to taste. Rub marinade onto meat and allow to marinate in a glass bowl for at least thirty minutes; overnight if possible.

While the chicken was marinading, Sasha and I started preparing some of Robert Rodriguez's Homemade Tortillas. The fajitas themselves were kind of tossed together. We cut the chicken into slices and set them grilling in a pan while we set an onion and two bell peppers saute-ing in butter. We added a splash of tequilla to the chicken before combing the vegetables to our meat.

Serve with Spanish Rice and either a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay (or both). Enjoy.