Recipe Review from 4/5/2021

Hidden Falls Park, Port Wing, WI (Fall 2020)

This week won't have the recipes typed out or even a link to said recipe - too much typing!! I will instead be pointing you in the direction of the relevant cook book. Check them out from your local library and if you like what you see - purchase! You will need an instant pot or pressure cooker for two of the recipes. They could be adapted to stove top or slow cooker (Milk Street offers a slow cooker options), cooking times would have to be modified.

Sunday is typically meal prep day and my IP was being put through it's paces again - chicken stock and chicken for chicken salad wraps (1 1/2 hrs), Braised Chicken, (1 hr), Indian Beans (1 1/2 hrs), and basmati rice (20 minutes). Have I mentioned lately how much I love my IP? No? I HEART my IP! Though I do need to figure out how to do LESS cooking on Sundays because I confess, it gets a bit exhausting what with all the cleanup. But summer is around the corner and soon we'll be firing up the grill and smoker. Plus, not having to worry about "what's for dinner" is really nice during the week. It's in the fridge and all I or the Husband have to do is pull out and reheat. Makes a difference when I don't get home until 630p.


The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) leftover pizza (S) leftover gumbo and rice
Sun (L) spicy braised chicken (S) catfish courtboullion
Mon (yoga) leftovers
Tues - leftovers
Wed (yoga) leftovers
Thurs - leftovers
Fri - leftovers

Lunches: (me) Indian Spiced Beans with basmati rice; (The Husband) Chicken Salad wraps

Spicy Braised Chicken with Coconut Milk, Turmeric, and Cashews (Milk Street Fast and Slow)
From Milk Street Fast and Slow: This curry-like chicken braise is our adaptation of a recipe in "Buttermilk Graffiti" by chef Edward Lee, who featured the dish in a chapter on Houston's Nigerian-American community. the combination of coconut milk and cashews gives the sauce a delicious richness. Whole habanero chilies add a backdrop of spiciness bu not searing heat. ...Steamed rice is the perfect accompaniment to soak up all the creamy sauce.

Yes. That. Creamy and spicy. For this Minnesotan (who likes a bit of heat) using the habenaro's whole and removing was perfect. Except...I lost one habenaro in the dish. It might have disintegrated. Not sure. Recipe states 1 hour from start to finish, and they were about spot on. I did have a problem with the sauce triggering the "burn" notice on the IP, so I let everything finish under pressure and natural release. Just to be safe, I sauteed the chicken in the sauce for 10 minutes at the end (which was called for to thicken the sauce). I served over basmati rice that I made for the next dish.

Recommended! I will probably got four meals for two out of this (1 thighs/person with rice).

Indian-Spiced Bean Stew (Milk Street Fast and Slow) vegetarian
From Milk Street Fast and Slow: This is our version of the aromatic kidney bean curry call rajma. We season the dish with two spice blends - garam masala and curry powder - along with a good dose of cumin to add earthy notes, so its flavor is complex and robust. Blooming the spices in the oil brings depth and fullness to the dish You can offer the stew as a part of an Indian meal, but it's hearty enough to be a vegetarian main. If you like, garnish with plain yogurt and serve basmati rice or naan on the side.

This was my lunch for the week. And the weekend. I subbed Minnesota Cranberry beans for the kidney beans as I do not like kidney beans. MN Cranberry beans are similar to cranberry beans (bilotti) and look like a pinto bean. My thought was, these are an Indian version of our bbq baked beans - just made in the slow cooker or instant pot. The hour and a half assembly from start to finish is pretty accurate, and most of that is hands off. I did serve this over basmati rice.

Recipe notes this serves 4-6, I had closer to 8-10 servings with rice. This made a lot.

Catfish Courtboullion (Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebration)
I got to use the shrimp stock from the previous week! So excited about that! This is, at its essence, a fish stew. Onion, red pepper and celery make the base, creole seasoning add some background flavor, Tabasco for a hint of heat, flour and shrimp (or fish) stock make a lightly thickend braise, and the catfish rounds everything out. It is recommended or traditional to serve over rice, but I already had two rice dishes on the docket for the week so I served some sour dough bread along side.

I got about 8 servings out of this recipe. Probably would have been more if I had served with rice.