Korean Mussel Soup

Korean Mussel & Tofu Soup
Servings: 6

1 pkg. Tofu (fried)
2 lbs mussels
8oz noodles - udon/soba/etc
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs ginger, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4c gochujang
4 cups Beef stock + 2 cups water
2 Tbs Ground red pepper
1 bunch/bag/pound greens
3 scallions, sliced

Preparation Method:
Cube the tofu.
Clean the mussels.
Cook and drain the noodles
In a soup pot, saute the garlic, shallot, and ginger in oil. Add gochujang and saute for a minute. Add the beef stock and mix everything. Boil for 5-10 minutes.
Throw in the mussels. Once cooked, remove and reserve the meat.
Add tofu and greens and red pepper, cook until greens wilt.
Add noodles, scallion, and mussel meat. Mix and serve.

Tofu is best with Pork Sauce

I like how many Chinese restaurants list this under "vegetarian".

Ma Po Tofu

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 Tbs "Szechuan chili sauce"
1/2 lbs ground pork (or beef etc)
5 Tbs "Chili Bean Sauce"
1 Tbs soy sauce
1.5 Tbs Cayenne
1 block tofu, cubed (silken is traditional, firm is easier to deal with)
1/2 cup water
Slurry
1 Tbs ground Sichuan peppercorns
3 scallions, small batons

Drain and cube the tofu.
Heat oil on high in a large pan/wok. Add garlic, ginger, and chile sauce. Once that's chokingly fragrant, add the pork and chili bean paste. Cook and break up the pork until it's almost done.
Add in the cayenne and soy sauce. After a minute, add in the tofu and the water, and gently mix everything up. Bring to a boil, and simmer 4-5 minutes.
Stir in the slurry (to desired goopyness), peppercorns, and scallions.
Eat with rice.

Picadillo Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie, and it's not awful!

Picadillo Shepherd's Pie
Serves 6ish

Picadillo:
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp oregano
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 tiny can tomato paste
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 bottle pimento-stuffed olives
1/4 raisins (optional)
1 can corn, drained
1 handful chopped cilantro

Pie:
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 lbs regular potatoes
4 Tbs butter, divided

Make Picadillo:
In a large skillet saute the onion, garlic, peppers, and spices. Add the ground beef and brown it. Add everything else and season with salt and pepper.
Simmer 15 minutes, and pour into a 9x13inch baking dish.

Top: Preheat Oven to 400 F
Cut all the potatoes into 1 inch pieces, and boil them. Mash with 3 tablespoons of the butter and seasoning.

Spread the potatoes over the meat evenly, and top with bits of the remaining butter (or drizzle with olive oil). Bake 35-40 minutes at 400, until top is browned.

Keema, Aloo, Mutter

Indian ground lamb-with-stuff. It's mostly spices!

Keema (with Potato and Peas)
Serves 3-4

1 tbs oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
1/4 tsp Tumeric
1 lbs ground lamb
2 small potatoes, diced
1 small can tomato sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1.5 cups frozen peas, defrosted
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
Cilantro, to garnish

Saute the onion. Add the garlic and ginger. After a minute, add the spiced and the lamb.
Break up the lamb while browning it. Once lamb is browned, add the tomatoes, lime juice, sugar, potato, and chile. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until potatoes are done.
Add the peas and mix to heat them up. Add the eggs, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve over rice.

Pasta and more Sprouts

Pasta with Chicken and Brussels Sprouts
Serves 4

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 (smaller) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 small red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.25 lbs fresh Brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese
1 pound pasta shells, penne, etc


In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon each of the oil and the butter over moderate heat. Season the chicken and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. Cut into small pieces.

In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderately low heat. Add garlic, lemon zest, and chile flakes. Toast everything, and then add the red onion and cook until starting to soften. Stir in the Brussels sprouts and broth.
Bring to a simmer and cook,covered, until the Brussels sprouts are just done, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, lemon juice, parsley, and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season, and remove from the heat.
Mix pasta and sauce, eat.

Banana Curry

I guess more Caribbean

Chicken with Banana Curry Sauce
Serves 4

2 large bananas, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons butter
Zest and juice of 1 lime
salt and black pepper
1/2 cup water, more if needed
4 bone-in chicken breasts (about 2 1/4 pounds in all), skinless
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley or coriander
1 Scallion, chopped

RECIPE METHOD

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a food processor or blender, puree the
bananas, curry powder, coriander, dry mustard, butter, lime zest, lime
juice, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup of the water.

Make a few deep cuts in each chicken breast and put the breasts in a
roasting pan. Pour the curry sauce over the chicken, making sure the
sauce gets into the cuts. Roast in the bottom third of the oven until the
chicken is just done, about 20 minutes.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and remove the chicken breasts from
the pan. There should be plenty of thick sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Set the pan over moderate heat and whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup water.
Continue to whisk until the sauce is heated through, adding more water if
you want a thinner sauce. Serve the chicken breasts with the sauce over
them. Sprinkle with parsley if you like and put on rice.

For thighs, cook 10min at 450, then 40min at 375

Red-Cooked Beef

Sort of sichuan beef stew noodle soup.

Red-Cooked Beef over Noodles
4-6 servings

peanut or veg oil
4 Tbsp each minced ginger and garlic
1 large roughly chopped yellow onion
8 thinly sliced green onions
1 tbs Sichuan peppercorns, toasted then crushed
4 star anise
2 tbs Chinese hot chili paste
1.5 pounds of stew beef, cut into 1/2 to 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 can beef broth
~1.5 cups water
1 bunch/pound greens. Mustard, choy, water spinach, etc
Cornstarch Slurry
1.5 pounds of fresh Chinese egg noodles or 1 pound thin dried egg noodles
Handful cilantro, chopped


Heat oil in cooking vessel on high and add ginger, garlic, and onions. Stir-fry for a minute and then add two-thirds of the green onions (set the rest aside for serving). After 10 seconds add the peppercorns and star anise, and after 10 more seconds stir in the pepper/chili paste. Stir-fry briskly for about 30 seconds and add the beef, frying till every piece is seared. Sprinkle sugar and soy over all and stir-fry two more minutes.

Add broth (or bouillon cube and water), along with water, stir well, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover, and simmer until the meat is falling-apart tender, about 2 hours.

Cook noodles in boiling water, blanch the greens. Bring the sauce to a boil and stir in the slurry, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is as thick as you'd like. Mix everything together, add in the cilantro.
Top with ground sichuan pepper and serve.

Pasta with Tuna and Olives

Fairly untraditional(?) Sicilian style pasta with Tuna.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Tuna and Olives

Yield: 4 to 6 serving

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
olive oil
1 diced red onion
4 cloves thinly sliced garlic
1.5 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 mini can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups reserved pasta cooking water
salt and pepper
1 jar calamata olives, pitted and chopped (about 1-1.5 cups)
2 (7-ounce) cans olive oil packed tuna
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta for 5 minutes before starting the sauce. While the pasta cooks, set a 14-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
Once the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic to the pan cook the onions, stirring occasionally until soft and slightly caramelized, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and tomato paste to the pan.
Drain the pasta from the pot and add it to the pan as well as the 1 1/2 cups of reserved pasta cooking water. Season the pasta and add the olives, tuna and parsley to the pan. Continue to cook the pasta, tossing, until most of the water has evaporated, a few minutes.
Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Or be lazy:
Mix 28oz "tomato sauce" with 2 cans tuna and 1 jar olives and chiles. Mix with pasta, add parsley and cheese.

Somewhat Indian Somewhat Jambalaya

Eh, it's kind of hard to classify.

Coriander-Crusted Sausage Meatballs in Fennel Rice

Serves 4

1 1-pound package raw chicken sausage with fennel
About 1/4 cup ground coriander, to coat sausage
2 medium onions, chopped
2 huge fennel heads, chopped, fronds reserved
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cayenne
2 cups jasmin rice
4 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Canola or grapeseed oil for cooking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Remove sausage from casings and roll into 12-18 balls (2-3 balls per link). Roll sausage balls in coriander to coat.
Place an oven-proof casserole or soup pot over high heat, add oil to coat and sear sausage meatballs until dark golden brown and delicious, about 6-8 minutes. Remove sausage meatballs to a plate.
In the same casserole, add the onions, fennel, celery, and spices. Season and weat until softened and reduced in volume, about 15-20 minutes.
Add rice and stir to combine. Add back the sausage meatballs and pour in chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and bake in oven for 35-45 minutes, until rice is cooked through.
Let rest 15 minutes covered, garnish with lots of fennel fronds and serve family style.