Curry Chicken, Danny Style

Hmmmm, Curry Chicken has always been my bane.  I could never get it just right.  Tonight, I would confidently say that I've taken a step in the right direction.

That's rice on the left, and the curry chicken on the right

Starring: Chicken breast, yellow potatoes, water-based veggies (celery, cauliflower, carrots, green peppers, onions.

Guest Appearances: Ginger, Sesame Oil, Curry Powder, Salt, Basil Leaves (2 per breast), Water

Missing in Action:  Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Garnish (like Cilantro or Green Onions)

Lessons Learned/Keys:

• key is the quality of the curry you use
• when boiling potatoes, the water level in the pot should not exceed the level of the potatoes
• when boiling potatoes, keep the heat on high until the water's boiling with the potatoes.  Afterwards, bring it down to medium heat
• Onions should be pan-fried, or caramelized before adding to the mix
• Basil leaves should go in at the same time as the chicken
• It's possible to overcook the veggies (especially the green peppers), so watch over them

New Years 1 - Xmas 0

For once, there was a clear winner on dinner between Xmas & New Years.  The winning dinner:

5 entres + rice

Includes asian beef salad, red wine steak w/ sauteed mushrooms, veggie salad, thick-cut oven-baked potato "chips", and cooked broccoli & cauliflower.

Now, that's just in terms of food.  I think for experience, Xmas was still more fun (as it was spent w/ more peeps).  But food-wise, chalk one up for New Years for once!

For once, there was a clear winner on dinner between Xmas & New Years.  The winning dinner:

Asian Beef Salad, Danny Style

Despite the name, this dish works best as a side dish to rice.  Tried to give it more colour this time by adding tomatoes into the mix.  Ideally, I'd be throwing in halved cherry tomatoes, but we all have to work with what we got, right?

Asian Beef Salad, takes a while to make, but definitely worth it

Starring: Beef (either Eye of Round or Top Sirloin), Cilantro, Thai Basil, Bean Sprouts, White Mushrooms, Tomatoes

Guest Appearances: Freshly squeezed lime juice, Roasted Sesames, Sesame Oil, Oyster Sauce, Ginger, Green Onions, Salt & Pepper

Steps:

1. Rub salt & pepper onto chunks of beef


2. Place beef into oven for 10-15 mins (depending how you like your beef) @450 F


3. Squeeze out a bunch of lime juice


4. Chop green onion & ginger


5. Slice beef and marinate in lime juice, ginger & green onion


6. Roast Sesame seeds


7. Wash & coarsely chop cilantro & thai basil


8. Wash bean sprouts, wash & dice white mushrooms, tomatoes


9. Lightly toss ingredients in a bowl


10. Serve

Mistakes/Lessons:

• This takes a good few hours (~4 hrs?  I'm slow, though, so I'm sure an average person can finish in less) if working on your own
• To speed things up, the work can be split.  Someone can take steps 1-5, the other takes 6-8

Steamed Tilapia, Danny Style

It's not my best work, but it provided sustenance for Thursday evening (and Friday afternoon).

Covered in a green blanket of cilantro

Starring: Whole Tilapia, Cilantro

Guest Appearances: Green Onion, Ginger, Soy Sauce

Mistakes/Lessons:

• never use frozen fish for steaming.  Always use fresh, especially if you plan on cooking it the night of
• whichever type of fish you use, pay the extra $0.20/lb to have the fish cleaned at the supermarket.  They might not get all the scales for you, but you don't have to do the bulk of it (mostly scaled, fins clipped, guts removed).  And if that night isn't garbage night...say hi to the raccoons for me!
• don't put the cilantro until the last possible second.  The dish is tastiest when the cilantro/green onions/ginger/etc. practically raw, because the flavour doesn't get steamed and watered out

Fried rice, Danny style

Was thinking, "Instead of constantly adding a bunch of recipes to the fridge (I'm running out of magnets), why don't I just put'em here!"  Let's see how long I can keep this up, :P

So here's my first frankenstein, Danny's fried rice.

Not your run-of-the-mill shrimp fried rice!

Starring:

• leftover breakfast sausage (yum!)
• shrimp
• scallops
• white mushrooms
• straw/enoki mushrooms
• green peppers
• tomatos
• scrambled eggs
• rice (duh)

Guest Appearances:

• green onions
• garlic
• sesame oil
• rosemary
• salt 'n peppa
• veggie oil (to soften up the eggs)

Steps:

• take ingredients
• send them to me (I'll take care of the rest, ;)