the rich smell of bombay curry

right now one of my favorite recipes, a recipe for a beef curry labelled “bombay curry” by the $2 cookbook i found it in, is simmering away on the stove. the smell of spices and tomatoes currently floating through my apartment is easily among my favorites. i believe i’ve ranted about it before, but in case you missed it the first time:

heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a saucepan. cook 2 onions (chopped) until soft. add 2 cloves garlic (crushed), 2 green chiles (chopped), 2 tbsp fresh ginger (grated), 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp ground coriander, and 1 tsp chili powder, and stir until heated. add 2 pounds chuck steak (trimmed and cubed; i use pre-cubed stew meat) and cook, stirring, over high heat, until well coated with the spice mixture. add 1 tsp salt and 1 14.5 oz can whole peeled tomates (i like to crush these, myself). simmer, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the beef is tender. stir in 1 cup coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. garnish with fresh ginger.

huevos rancheros

ingredients:

• 6 6-inch tortillas
• oil (olive or vegetable, etc)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
• 1 4 oz. can green chiles, undrained
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 jar salsa
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese

cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

beef daube with mustard, herbs, and white whine

billed as a “refreshing change” from “heartier and heavier” beef stews, the principle ingredients in this soup are two pounds of beef, onions, tomatoes, and 750 ml of white whine. given that the quality of wine is generally, uh, sacrificable when cooking, lea picked up a bottle of papio, a $4 bottle of chardonnay whose label wielded three playful looking monkeys, and whose back proclaimed it as a perfect drink for “prime mates.” one wouldn’t necessarily expect beef to taste good when fruity, but it does/can.

peach raspberry cobbler

this is a great way to get the oh-so-yummy taste of both peaches and raspberries during the off season, via the marvels of frozen fruit. combine hot cobbler with cold ice cream, and you have one very happy seth. and it’s pretty easy to prepare, too.

glorious, glorious peeps

i saw a link to this prank yesterday, and it got me to thinking about a number of peep-related experiences and web findings. off the top of my head, there’s the peep research site, the official peeps site, a lord of the peeps parody, a salon article about peeps, and, if that’s not enough, another ton of peeps links. that’s a lot of peeps.

as for myself, i just like eatin’ ‘em. especially after they go on sale after easter at four boxes for a buck. that’s good times. i prefer the chick-peeps myself, eschewing any bunny shaped nonsense. i also find the vanilla flavored variants to be tasty, while the strawberry ones fail to tickle my fancy. i understand there are many of you who are not big on peeps — your loss. then again, i suppose i dislike “circus peanuts” candy, so to each their own.

coq au vin

very tasty. chicken, red wine, mushrooms, pearl onions, some bacon. i had made a dish rather similar to this several months back, which was supposed to contain porcini mushrooms, but which i couldn’t find, so this was almost like a repeat. i cubed the chicken, instead of leaving it in whole-breast form, which allowed it to really soak up the flavor. i also made sauteed chard (also from joy of cooking) to go along with the entree, and it was awful. yuck. it tasted like fresh mown grass. ech. i can only assume i botched it in the preparation … either that, or chard is one of those things you can only dread, and to which you never look forward.

kabul

tasty. i had the lamb couscous. i’d certainly return, and bring others with me. many thanks to noah, and noah’s dad, for the recommendation. (daily page)

bombay curry

seed the seranos next time - it was a little too spicy. cooking with steak is awesome.

chickpea curry

i purchased a $2.50 “curry and chilli” cookbook at border’s on friday during their student id sale. the cookbook is colorful, which is always a plus, and this was the first recipe i made out of it. not at all too difficult to prepare, and relatively tasty, if a little dry.

mushroom chicken angel

i doubled the sauce listed for this recipe, as was suggested by some of the reviews. it was a little salty, but nothing terrible; pretty easy, pretty tasty.