Tomato Beef Chowyuk

 This was a lot like the one at the Shanghai that mom/gram loves so so much! 

Cut up vegetables: 

• 1 medium onion. 
• 1 green pepper. 
• 1 tsp (ish) fresh ginger. 
• couple cloves of garlic. 
• 2 or 3 stalks celery
• handful of grape tomatoes cut in half. 

Make sauce: 

• 1 can beef broth. 
• 2 TBS soy sauce. 
• 1 TBS corn starch. 

Make the marinade. Marinade for 15 ish minutes. 

• 3 TBS soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 TBS cornstarch
• 1 lb beef (round, sirloin, of flank) cut thin. 

Heat oil in a pan. 

Cook beef in marinade and aromatics (onions, ginger, garlic, celery).

Add in green peppers and cook for like a minute. 

Throw in a handful of grape tomatoes cut in half. Cook for a minute. 

Add sauce. Bring to boil until it thickens. Serve on rice. 

Jon's Curry

Not in the book :)

Cook some rice

Stir fry whatever veggies you want
Stir fry whatever meat you want

1 package red Taste of Thai curry paste
2 packets Taste of Thai peanut sauce mix
1 can coconut milk
garlic
onions

Mix milk, paste and peanut sauce.  You may not want to put the entire packet of red curry paste in the mix or your butt hole will not be happy with you in the morning (Jon made me write it).  Mix and bring to a boil.  Turn to low and add veggies and meat.  Coat thoroughly.  Serve over rice.

I would just like to point out the oddity of Jon calling me across country to type a recipe.

Freezer Beef and Bean Burritos

I made these a while back and they have been so great to have in the freezer for days that I have no lunch foods. Mel does a great job using both cilantro and lime so that even though they are freezer burritos they still taste fresh and great.

I would probably add some more hot sauce (either while making it or just pour on while eating) to make them more exciting.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/08/freezer-beef-and-bean-burritos.html

INGREDIENTS

Rice:
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 cup long grain white rice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Filling:
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 12 ounces extra lean ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 (10-inch) flour tortillas, white or wheat
• 5 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
• 5 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 1 cup)
• 6 tablespoons sour cream, light or regular

DIRECTIONS

1. For the rice, bring the broth, rice, garlic, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 16-18 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat, keeping it covered, and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. When ready to use, add the cilantro and fluff with a fork.
2. For the filling, combine the broth and half of the beans in a small bowl and mash with a fork until the beans are coarsely mashed with the broth (reserve the whole beans for later). In a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil until hot and rippling. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano and chili powder and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes, breaking the meat into small pieces while cooking. Drain any excess grease if needed.
3. Stir the mashed bean mixture into the meat mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the rest of the whole beans, lime juice and salt. Remove from heat. If serving immediately, follow the instructions in the next paragraph. If freezing for later, let the beef and bean mixture and the rice cool to warm room temperature before proceeding.
4. Wrap the tortillas in between damp paper towels and microwave until the tortillas are soft, about 1 minute. Arrange the tortillas on the counter and divide the rice, beef and bean filling and cheese evenly among the tortillas. Dollop each tortilla with a tablespoon (more or less) of sour cream. Fold the sides of the tortilla toward each other over the filling while lifting the bottom edge over, rolling into a burrito shape. Serve immediately (if desired).
5. For freezer burritos, wrap each burrito in plastic wrap. Place burritos in a gallon-sized freezer ziploc bag. To reheat, unwrap the burrito from the plastic wrap and place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Poke the burrito with the tines of a fork all over and continue microwaving in 30-second increments until heated through.

Thai Green Curry Meatballs

These were fun and good. None of the grocery stores I went to on Monday had Green Curry Paste so I went to Amazon knowing that I was going to make these on Thursday so I needed prime shipping. The only one with prime shipping was a pack of 6 green curry pastes. So now I have alot of green curry paste :) but that's ok with me! If anyone wants some let me know!

I enjoyed this. It smelled awesome. However I got bored/overwhelmed with the flavors quickly. So I would recommend having something with it. Steamed veggies would probably work the best. I did make the coconut rice found here. I used ground turkey instead of beef because I felt like it would take the flavors better and beef has such a distinctive taste. Other than that, fun, good meal.

Also the meatball to sauce ratio was lots of meat to less sauce. So if you are like me or mom or Anna aka not Danielle and don't feed alot of people you could probably half the meat and keep the sauce as it is and be fine to. Hooray for saving money!

I used Thai Kitchen Green curry paste and it did not pack alot of heat. I'm still trying to decide what spice I will use to warm it up but not clash with the fresh Thai-y flavor.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/09/thai-green-curry-meatballs.html

INGREDIENTS

Meatballs:
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 green onions, white and green parts finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (plus more if needed; can substitute canola or vegetable oil)
Sauce:
• 2 cans (13.5-ounce each) unsweetened coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2-3 limes)
• Hot cooked rice for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oats and milk. Let the mixture stand and soak for 5-10 minutes. Add ground beef or turkey, ginger, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, cilantro, salt, garlic and green onions. Mix to combine and distribute all the ingredients through the meat.
2. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs, a bit smaller than golf ball size. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet. When the oil is hot, place one layer of meatballs in the pan leaving a little room in between each meatball (it's ok if you can't fit them all in; they'll cook in batches). Brown the meatballs on all sides, about 2-3 minutes total. They don't need to be cooked through - just golden and browned. Remove the meatballs to a plate and do the same with the remaining uncooked meatballs (adding more oil to the pan if necessary - let it get hot before adding the meatballs to brown).
3. Once the last batch of meatballs has been removed to a plate, drain any excess grease from the pan (but leave the goldeny browned cooked bits). Return the skillet to medium heat and stir in the coconut milk and green curry paste, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan and stirring into the sauce.
4. Place the meatballs in the skillet with the sauce. Go ahead and pile them all in, trying for a single layer. Simmer the meatballs and sauce for 8-10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through, flipping the meatballs once or twice.
5. Stir in the lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over hot, cooked rice.

NOTES

Green curry paste can vary wildly in spice/heat level so if you want to ensure the meatballs and sauce aren't too spicy, look for a mild green curry paste (or buy one you already like the taste of). The Thai Kitchen brand is the one that Janssen used - her blog is where I got the recipe and she said her young kids gobbled it up. I used the Maesri brand (I have to order any kind of green curry paste online since I can't find it in the stores here; keep in mind I live in a very, very small town) and it was knock-your-socks off hot (but still tasty if you can handle a little heat). Also, a quick note on the sauce - it's fairly thin which we enjoyed because it soaked into the rice; however, if you want it a bit thicker, stir together a tablespoon or so of cornstarch into cold water (about half as much water as cornstarch) and stir it into the simmering sauce until it thickens a bit.

Grilled Lime Coconut Chicken with Coconut Rice

This was so good. Mmm. I thought Sam was going to die eating it. But that could have just been that he was more hungry than normal, I don't know. I did this in my broiler for about 10 minutes on each side.

Sorry, I'm posting another coconut recipe Danielle. Obviously the rice tasted coconutty but honestly I couldn't taste it in the chicken because the curry and other delicious flavors were there too.

Anna, try this. Like yesterday.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2013/06/grilled-lime-coconut-chicken-with-coconut-rice-top-pinterest-find.html

• Chicken and Marinade/Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, light or regular
• pinch cayenne pepper (One could argue that the amount of cayenne I put in was more than a pinch...)
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Fresh limes, cut into wedges
Coconut Rice:
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1 cup canned coconut milk, light or regular
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the oil, lime zest, lime juice, cumin, coriander, soy sauce, salt, sugar, curry powder, coconut milk, and cayenne pepper. Place the chicken in a large ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the chicken. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
2. For the coconut rice, bring the rice, coconut milk, water and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-16 minutes until the liquid is mostly evaporated. remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork and serving.
3. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill (see note above if not grilling) to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken for 6-7 minutes per side (actual time will depend on the thickness of the chicken). While the chicken is cooking, pour the marinade into a small or medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Place the grilled chicken on a serving platter or plate. Drizzle with sauce (reserve the remaining sauce to serve separately) and sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top. Serve with lime wedges and additional sauce.

Notes

You can really use any type of oil here (extra virgin olive oil, vegetable, grapeseed, etc.). If you don't want to use the marinade for the sauce (it boils for 10 minutes to cook thoroughly), you can always make a second batch of the marinade and cook it for 5-10 minutes. Also, curry powder really varies depending on brand. My two top favorite brands are the sweet curry powder from Penzey's Spices and the curry powder from Spice Islands (the yellow powder not the red). If the chicken breasts are really thick, I like to cut them in half (like a hamburger bun) to form two thinner chicken cutlets before marinating. This helps the flavor permeate the chicken and also helps the chicken go further. Finally, if you don't have a grill/don't feel like grilling, you could absolutely broil these in the oven or cook them in a hot skillet.

Spicy beans and rice

This is how I do beans and rice when I am in a hurry and want something filling and have no meat thawed.  It serves 4-6 people.

Rice: 

-2 cups of rice

-4 cups water

-4 chicken bullion cubes

Cook like you normally cook rice

Beans: 

-Rinse two can of beans (I normally do black beans, but last time I did this I only had one can of black so I did a can of kidney beans as well and that was good)

-Heat some oil in a large skillet

-Once the oil is hot, add dehydrated onion (1/2-1 tbsp), garlic (heaping spoonful), cumin (1 tsp), Mexican chili powder (1/2-1 tbsp) (I eyeball spice amounts when I do this and I do it hot.  I will put approximates in parentheses) and cook for about 30 seconds to infuse the flavors

-Add the beans

-Add 1 can of rotel (which makes it even hotter, so Danielle, if you make this do barely any spicy stuff)

Cook over medium heat until heat through.  While it is cooking, you need to stir it often and (most importantly!) smash some of the beans with your spoon.  This thickens it up making it like a paste

-When it is cooked through and paste-like try it.  It will need salt and probably need some pepper too. 

Serve over your rice. 

Bean Curry

This has been slightly confusing/ fascinating to me for a while. So we tried it. At first we were both like hm that's ok, and then it grew on both us. Interesting flavors. I think I should have used a bigger tomato. I added extra Cayenne but I think it still needed more. Black eyed peas were an ingredient I never thought I would use.

No meat, but super filling because it's beans and rice. And literally like 15 minutes. Awesome.

Again from Mel's: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/03/bean-curry.html

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (see pictures of grating ginger here)
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• pinch cayenne, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 1 cup vegetable stock or chicken broth
• 1 can black-eyed peas, lightly drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; saute 5 minutes or until translucent and slightly browned. Stir in garlic and grated ginger root; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add tomato; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in turmeric, cayenne, salt, paprika, and garam masala; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add half and half, stock, and black-eyed peas.
2. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro. Serve immediately with rice, chapati, or naan.

Mindy Mexican Rice

Mindy Mexican Rice

In a blender-food processor

1 8 oz tomato sauce
1 tsp chicken bullion
1/4 of an onion
1 clove garlic
1-11/2 tsp salt
Puree-liquify-no chunks
fill with water to make 4 cups(with food processor do the above stuff and then add the tomato sauce and water)

In a pan
Oil to cover the bottom of pan
2 cups of rice

Brown the rice

Pour tomato mixture and bring to a boil
Cove and cook on low 20-30 min 
Fluff and eat

Emilee Corpus likes uses the El Pato hot tomato sauce if you want more kick. 

One Pot Southwest Chicken and Rice

Ok this was good. And easy. And fast. And most of the ingredients were ones that even I who have been gone for a long time had laying around. Super filling. And it is all in one pot. Woo!

I would probably season the chicken more though, it was a bit bland on it's own. Or I would use shredded chicken instead of chicken breasts so the flavor could soak in more. Mine were small but still didn't soak of the flavor. You could also add more of the spices or possibly cayenne or red pepper flakes to bump up the heat, although the salsa at the end helped that.

INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10-ounce) package frozen corn
4 ounces cheese (used a combination of Monterey Jack and sharp cheddar)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
Salsa and sour cream for serving

DIRECTIONS:
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large pot, heat the canola oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the chicken and cook until golden, about 3 minutes on each side. The chicken will cook more in a subsequent step. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

To the pot, add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Add the rice and cook until the edges are just slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the broth and bring the mixture to a simmer.

Return the chicken to the pot. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook at a simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter or plate. Stir the black beans and corn into the pot. Add the cheese and cilantro. Season the rice mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the rice with the chicken, adding salsa and sour cream, if desired.

I got this recipe from Mel's
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/08/one-pot-southwest-chicken-and-rice.html

Rice Pilaf

I needed something to go with chicken the other day, and I am really bad about planning side dishes.  So I was flipping through my zip list recipe box looking for something that I had the ingredients to or could feel good about leaving ingredients out and I tried this.  It was really tasty.  Plan double the cooking time though, I don't know what it is about rice with stuff in it (like Mexican rice or whenever I make Rice-a-Roni) but it always takes way longer than I think it should/what the recipe says.  


From Mel's: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/04/simple-rice-pilaf.html

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups basmati or long-grain rice (I used normal, medium grain rice)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, minced (about 1/2 cup) (I used green onions because that is what I had and it was awesome!)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
4 ounces spaghetti or vermicelli, broken into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
3 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
Ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Place the rice in a medium bowl and add enough water to cover by 2 inches; using your hands, gently swish grains to release excess starch. Carefully pour off the water, leaving rice in bowl. Repeat four to five times, until water runs almost clear. Using a colander or fine mesh strainer, drain water from rice and set aside. (I did none of this because I was lazy and because I didn't use basmati rice)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add the garlic, cumin and coriander and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the rinsed and drained rice and the broken, uncooked noodles. Cook, stirring, for another 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Stir in the water and salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 16-18 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, take off the lid and place a kitchen towel folded in half over saucepan (I didn't do this towel thing either); replace the lid. Let the rice stand 10 minutes; fluff with a fork and serve.

Mexican Rice

I have wanted a Mexican rice recipe for a really long time, but I have only had Spanish rices and I don't like them very much (too much tomato) so I smashed together a couple of Mexican rice repines that I found on allrecipes.com and came up with this:

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice (although if you want to be healthy go for it)
vegetable oil
1 tomato diced
1 green pepper diced (I put it in the food processor)
1/2 onion diced
1/2 jalapeño seeded diced
garlic
4 oz can green chills
1/3-1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 tsp salt, cumin, pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 cup chicken broth
Monterey jack cheese

Get everything but the rice, oil, chicken broth and cheese chopped and mixed together.  You could probably throw all the things that need to be diced in the food processor at the same time, but I wasn't that smart last night, so I did it all separately.  Regardless, mix all of those veggies and spices and set them aside.

Then, sauté your rice in the oil from anywhere from 3-7 minutes until fragrant.  Then add the broth and the veggie mix, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let sit until rice it cooked.  I think I let it sit for about 35 minutes.

Once the rice is done, melt some cheese on top and serve hot.

Danielle, this is spicy, so Eric and Hailey won't like it.  Definitely leave out the chili powder and probably the jalapeño.  It will still have good flavor that way, it just won't be spicy