Monday, March 15, 2010

Suggestions for Red Meat Free Dinner & Garlic Corriander Chicken Recipe

My friend Barbara asked for some red meat/pork free dinner suggestions and these were mine. My favorite is the Garlic/Corriander Chicken. That recipe also works great with mixed chicken parts and even if you remove the skin it turns out delicious.
----------------

Make 'meat' pasta sauce with ground veggie meat and spagghetti sauce (from a jar or homemade). Serve with whole wheat pasta.

French crepes (pancakes) with pie cherries or sweetened fruit of some sort plus greek yogurt.

Greek Salad with chicken.

Easy: Turkey burgers and frozen fries.

Corriander/garlic skinless/boneless chicken breasts with Rosemary potatoes and broccoli.

1) Put 1/4 cup ground corriander, 1/4 cup garlic powder, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/8 tsp cayenne (optional), 1/4 tsp cumin, ~1/2 tsp salt, fresh black pepper into a gallon ziplock bag.

2) Add 4 washed skinless/boneless chicken breasts to the spices, zip closed and shake until well coated.

3) Spray chicken breasts with pam and bake at 350 until done.

4) Cut 8 small red potatoes in 1/2.

5) Mince 5 cloves of garlic.

6) Mince 1/4 cup fresh rosemary (add thyme too if you like)

7) Heat a combination of olive oil and veggie oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

8) Add garlic and potatoes to the skillet. Cook and stir until 1/2 cooked. Add rosemary (and thyme). (If you have the twigs from the rosemary, add these too, and then remove them before serving.)

9) When the potatoes are fully cooked, add salt and pepper to taste.

10) Steam some broccoli.

Monday, October 19, 2009

great barbecue and a nice menu at exit 92 hwy 85

I stopped for lunch at Daddy Joe's on my way home to Atlanta and it as quite good.
The special was a chopped barbecue sandwich with barbecue coleslaw and a delicious bowl of potato soup. The soup was had lovely potato chunks in a potato cream base with a sprinkle of cheese. Delicious, peppery and hot, the balance was terrific. The barbecue was tender and the coleslaw a perfect contrast in texture. The BBQ sauce was lightly sweet spicy vinegar concoction which worked well with the smoked pork. The ice tea was perfectly brewed. I tried the blackberry cobbler which actually contained whole blackberries. It was a tad too sweet for me and the cobbler crust was overworked, but the ice cream set it off nicely. Overall an excellent find when traveling through South Carolina near the North Carolina border. Directions: Heading South on 85, take exit 92 and turn left. Daddy Joe's is on the left about a half mile from the exit.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

6am Slow Cooker Rosh Hashana Brisket

By Laura Ferguson 9/19/2009

This year I had to work on the day before Rosh Hashana. At 8pm the night before, I bought my ingredients, so I started this in the slow cooker the next morning. This is a great recipe, because once it is going you can (almost) forget about it until dinner time. The cumin adds a wonderful aroma that will envelope your guests as they enter. This recipe makes 4 servings.

2lbs beef brisket (trim excess fat)
2T of Olive Oil
1 large sliced sweet onion
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups (leftover) red wine (a merlot will work well)

Spice mixture
1T Cumin
1T Cinnamon
1T Garlic
1T Paprika
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
2tsp kosher salt (to taste)
1tsp cracked pepper (to taste)
1tsp red pepper flakes

Tzimmes mixture
1 parsnip, cubed
1 turnip, cubed
10 baby carrots or 1 cup carrot rounds
10 dried prunes
1/2 cup dried apples
2 rings of pineapple (optional)

Sauce
1 qt vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 cup honey
2T brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Spray a large flat bottom sauce pan with pam, add the olive oil, and heat up the pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and saute them gently until translucent. Remove half the onions or push them to the side. Turn up the heat to high. Add the brisket and brown on both sides. Remove the brisket and the onions to the slow cooker, add the wine to the pan to deglaze it. Then pour the wine into the slow cooker. Sprinkle the brisket on both sides with the spice mixture (you can do this in the slow cooker the spices will mix in anyway). Add the fruit and vegetables in around the brisket. Add the vegetable stock, honey, sugar and vinegar. Give the fruit a little stir to cover it with the wine mixture. Cover and cook for 8 hours. Check the flavor after about 6 hours and adjust it if needed. Serve the fruit as a side dish for the brisket.