Grateful Dead

Oh...yeah.... coriander!!!!!!!!!!!! Or cilantro, if you like. I use a lot of coriander in Indian cooking. How could I forget??? I guess it's so natural, that I forgot. Anyway, I use fresh coriander. 1 bunch. I wash the bunch, dry it off and then chop up the leaves. I add a large "pinch" and I mean a large pinch of coriander with every step in my cooking. Fry up chicken? Add coriander. Add onions? Add coriander. Onions are softened? Add coriander. Add tomatoes? Add coriander. Tomatoes are softened? Coriander! Add sauce? Add coriander. Check 10 minutes later? More coriander. You can never have enough coriander in Indian cooking. Besides... I love the stuff ;-)

Oh, yeah... drain the palm heart medallions. You can add a bit of the juice to the vinegrette... say 1 - 2 Tblsp.

Ah, yes. I use a combo of various "stuff". 1 tsp of Prepackaged chicken marinade, about 1/4 cup white vinegar, 3/4 tsp Indian Masala spice 1/2 tsp curry powder, and about 1 - 2 tsp of the Tikka Masala sauce. and about 1/4 cup water. Mix up the muck in a measuring cup, and pour over the cut up chicken. It's really not critical. The key is the vinegar, and the curry powder. Anything that will tenderize the chicken. We've had this Tikka Masala chicken for two nights running and one lunch . De-lish! (But I can see getting tired of it.) One more serving left for tomorrow, and then we're on to breaded chicken cutlets. Probably serve that with my tomato and palm heart salad and some green veggie on the side. Probably asparagus. Tomato and palm heart salad. Two cups (or one box) grape tomatoes. One can medallioned palm hearts 1/4 cup red vinegar 1/4 cup light olive oil 1/5 cup "Balistic" (Balsamic) Vinegar. (These quantities are "to taste". You can add more or less as desired.) 1 - 2 tsp dry parseley or 1/5 cup fresh parseley 3/4 tsp "Italian spices" dry 1/2 tsp ground black pepper Cut grape tomatoes in half. Cut palm hearts in half Add palm heart medallions to the tomatoes add the oil, and vinegars, and the spices and pepper blended in a mixing cup. (I whisk the mixture with a fork) Pour this vinegrette over the tomatoes and palm hearts, mix well, and enjoy.

personally I don't like using prepared sauces... then again, I got time on my hands... 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 OR vegetarians use koyadofu as a substitute (koyadofu is the tofu concentrate that you have to soak in water (like a sponge) before you can start to use it. or use regular HARD tofu. don't grill the tofu, and don't grill the koyadofu just stick it in the fry pan with a smigen of grape seed oil to brown it a bit before you add it to the sauce 1 tablespoon butter 1 clove garlic, minced 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoons salt, or to taste 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro In a BIG bowl, pack in the yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Lightly oil the grill. (I use grape seed oil) poke the chicken onto skewers, and dump out the marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side. WARNING: vegetarians-- do not attempt to grill your tofu or koyadofu! Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. garnish with fresh cilantro. mmm mmm good. "What's the point of calling shots, this cue ain't straight in line Cue balls made of styrofoam and no-one's got the time"

what are you supposed to marinate the chicken in?

Today I cooked Indian. A nice Tikka Massala, with chicken. Took two nice, cleaned deboned chicken breasts cut them into pieces about 1" square or so. Marinated them for about 5 hours. Prepare a large saucepan full of Basmati rice. About 2 cups worth. Always get the rice going first. Cut up the chicken in pieces about 1" square or so. Fry em up in a saucepan. Add several small onions (about 4 or 5), quartered. Add about 2 - 3 cups of cherry tomatoes. Finally add prepared Tikka Massala sauce (available from any good grocery). I use "Patak" brand. Cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the onions and tomatoes are soft and integrated into the melange. Slather over the rice, and enjoy! I was taught by the best, my mother, who was a superb cook. Started cooking at about age 15. Today I can literally cook anything. Give me a recipe, or I can just wing it. We never go hungry in my house.

Stuff a cornish hen into a duck and stuff that into a turkey and then bake it. Sounds twisted and gross and the kind of thing that a society in decline (ancient Rome) would come up with. Supposedly there is such a dish. I'll go with a good burrito or maybe a veggie pizza instead, though.

The following is a chili recipe I have been developing for a few years now. I hope to enter it into a chili competition sometime. It is kind of labor intensive and makes a ton (It's good for those fall/winter parties and get-togethers). NOTE: this is a traditional chili recipe, therefore there are no beans and is loaded with beef. MIKE’S BREW CHILI 1 Case of your favorite Ale or Lager 2 ½ lb steak, cut into cubes 2 ½ lb ground beef ½ tbls oregano 4 packets Goya Sazon seasoning 7 tbls chili powder 2 tbls cumin 2 tbls paprika 2 large onions, diced (Vidalia or red) 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, diced 1/4 to 3/4 of a 7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced (this is hot stuff! less is more) 1 jalapeno pepper, minced 1- 4oz. can diced green chilies 15 oz. Can crushed tomatoes 2 tbls Goya sofrito 1 tbls brown sugar 1 tbls balsamic vinigar corn starch salt and pepper to taste Good tunes 1. Drink a beer, put on some tunes, and review directions. 2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown all the beef w/ 2 tbls chili powder and two packets of Sazon. Drain only a small portion of fat (flavor). Add two beers, the rest of the chili powder, oregano, cumin, paprika, Sazon, and get to a boil. Simmer for two hours. You'll want another beer at this point. 3. Heat a skillet with olive oil and sweat onions. During last couple of minutes add garlic and saute. Add onions and garlic to the chili along with the chipotles, jalapeno, green chilies, red and green pepper, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer 2-3 hours. A few more beers at this point will taste good. Turn up that Scarlet>Fire! 4. Add brown sugar and vinegar. Whisk together equal parts corn starch and liquid from chili in a small bowl (enough to thicken, about 2-3 teaspoons). Add to chili. Boil until thickened. YUMM! Of course a beer or two will go wonderfully with the chili. Yo Soy Boricua!

Arroz Con Gondules is my favorite food in the world. I think I could live off of it. It is the national dish of Puerto Rico. We eat it every year at Chrismas time. Although I make it at least once a month. Like many Puerto Rican dishes, it is a combination of Spanish, African, and Caribbean Native American cooking. My recipe is adapted from my Titi Maria. It's really easy to make. I don't make homemade sazon or sofrito like my Titi Maria or Nana. You can purchase these things from most supermarkets (in the Spanish section) or at your local Latino bodega. I normally use Goya brand. For vegetarians, you don't need to add pork sausage (we Puerto Ricans do love our pork! :) ) Just follow the recipe sans pork. --Gandules beans, cleaned, and soaked in water over night OR one can of Goya gandules beans. --1medium yellow or Vadilia onion, chopped --1small green pepper and 1 small poblano pepper, chopped --2 garlic cloves minced --ground pork sausage (1/4 lb to 1 lb is cool. 1 pound will make the dish a stand alone meal. another variation I like is Chorizo sausage. I chop the sausages up) --1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato sauce --2 tbls Sofrito --1 packet sazon --handful of pimento stuffed green olives, chopped --2 cups water --1 cup rice In a large pot, brown up the sausage with a bit of olive oil. Add onions and pepper and saute for about 5 min. Add garlic, and saute for about 3 min more. Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT rice. Stir and bring to a slow boil. Slowly stir in rice, cover and lower heat. cook for 20-30 minutes until rice has absorbed the water. You're ready to eat! Yo Soy Boricua!

I'm going to be eating chicken all week now. I have a chicken defrosting and getting ready to roast this evening. That always turns into about 4 meals plus chicken salad.