The holidays always bring about the need for great main courses, lavish tables and … Snacks.  Lots of snacks.  While there are hundreds that can be made to please the kiddies and the less adventurous in the house, there will always be a few people hoping to find something just a bit different to nosh on while the family meal is being prepared, or afterward while friends and family reminisce about the year past and tales of childhood.

This year I also had to consider snacks that would ship well so that I could send them off to my lovely wife in Turkey.  One obvious option was Tea Cookies, and we did make a batch or two of those to send her way, but one of my fondest food memories with her was her reaction to the Spicy Salt-Roasted Peanuts we made around Valentine’s day last year.  she could not stop eating these delectable little morsels, though she complained mightily about it.  They were the perfect choice.

The thing is, I hate predictability.  I wanted to add a twist to the nuts she already knew and loved to go along with the ones she remembered.  Since Curry is a very large part of the rub I use on our Thanksgiving and Christmas birds, I thought that it would be an appropriate choice…  I was right.  These are amazing.

Thanks again to David Lebovitz, from which the inspiration for this recipe belongs.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

This dish is most commonly known as Country Captain’s Chicken, but in my house it was always called Captain’s Chicken Curry. Since this is my mother’s recipe, I’ll use her name for it here.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have not managed to get around to sharing some of my all-time favorite chicken recipes. I really don’t know why it has taken me so long to do so.  Maybe it’s that to me these really aren’t anything special in terms of skill or flavor, but rather the things that I grew up begging my mother to make.  At some point these things become something “normal”, and in being such a part of my life, it seems strange that every other person in the world doesn’t already know of this recipe.  This is an oversight I refuse to allow to continue, mostly because it is completely foolish, but also because I have to believe that if I love this dish, someone else will and not sharing it with those who have never tried it would be nothing short of a tragedy.

I don’t remember my mother making this often in my teen years, but as a child it was something that I would ask for whenever a choice was given. My mother, who knew full well that this was the only way she could get her then 7 year old son to eat tomatoes in any sort of solid form, was usually very happy to oblige me.  It didn’t hurt that my father loved it as much as I did either.

So please, enjoy this foray into my childhood.  This dish carries fond memories of chilly autumn evenings, wonderful aromas and the laughter of a family who was quite happy to simply enjoy each other’s company.  I never recall my mom serving this to guests, it was something we enjoyed as a family, so I’m thrilled to have all of you join me as I share this dish with friends for the first time in my memory. I hope you love it as much as I do.

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I whipped this up for myself on the same night I made the beef in plum sauce for my wife. It was a perfect pairing with fried rice, and more than spicy enough to make my mouth sing. All three dishes were wonderful and could be served together without issues.

For a little less fire, skip adding the additional curry powder at the end, or marinade in a sweet curry, it’s up to you. I was feeling the need for a few alarms, so I went with a yellow curry sauce and a mix of red and yellow curry powder.

This is a simple dish, and would work well on the grill if you simply kabob the ingredients then serve with a dish of curry dipping sauce on the side. Not a bad job considering that I took about five minutes to decide what i was going to do with a leftover pork loin. (Hey, they come two in a package, and if we cook them both, we eat them both, so there’s always one left over.)

Any suggestions on what would have made this a better dish? I’m itching to make it again, but I’d like to see if I could boost the flavors in it a bit.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

What’s not to love about food on a stick?  Anything that breaks the stereotype of a fork and knife at dinner time is something I look forward to, and if you’re planning an outdoor party, skewers are the way to go.  Your guests don’t have to bother with place settings or even tables, they can simply wander and mingle.  Which is what makes a great party, after all.

I didn’t make this dish for a party, though I probably will before the summer is over, along with kabobs and anything else i can think of that can comfortably be skewered and cooked over coals.  This was made at the request of my lovely wife, and i was more than happy to oblige her.

I’ve seen a lot of recipes that call for using whole breasts or chicken thighs, but i find that for satay, chicken breast tenderloins fit the bill perfectly.  Prep is simple, as you only have to cut larger tenderloins in two before marinating and it’s almost impossible to end up with a dry piece of chicken.  The flavor of the marinade works magic.  this may just be the prefect satay recipe.

As for sauce, I tend to simply heat my left over marinade thoroughly in a saucepan and use that.  If the idea doesn’t sit well with you, feel free to either make more or to use a thai peanut sauce from your local market.  You won’t hurt my feelings either way.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

It’s been a while since I mentioned the package that was sent to me by CurrySimple. To be honest, I was on such a curry kick for a while that I burned myself out on the concept of trying any of the three remaining pouches in the box.

When we moved in to the new house, the package went missing for a bit. I ran across it the other day in the “pile of things we haven’t unpacked yet” in my bedroom closet and immediately knew I had to give it another shot. The problem was, I still had three choices and I couldn’t figure out which one I wanted to try first. It took me two days to decide on their Gourmet Yellow Curry Sauce and I’m glad that I did.

This dish is decidedly simple and relies on some pretty simple ingredients and can be whipped up by anyone. It came to be simply because these are the things that I had in my fridge, freezer and pantry. The whole affair took about 30 minutes, including cooking the rice and was happily gobbled down by the adults in the house in near record time.

The cauliflower went incredibly well with the curry, as did the pork. The red, green and yellow bell peppers added just the right combination of sweet, tart and in-betweens to make this a tongue-tingling experience, but to be honest, this curry is only the tiniest bit spicy, and in my mind could have used just a hair more of a bite, even the next day.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

Due to my recent round of heath issues, this round of Your Pantry or Mine has gotten off to a slow start. I want to apologize to everyone who’s been waiting, it took me a few days to get back into the swing of things.

This round of Your Pantry or Mine highlights the ingredients in dew’s pantry, which was more challenging because it holds almost the same ingredients I have in mine, with the exception of just those few I would have normally used to finish off a dish.

With this in mind, and the fact that dew appeared to have an eye for healthy fare, (and an allergy to nuts) I decided that the first round of Your Pantry or Mine, No. 2 should be something on the lighter side, using the freshest ingredients from her list.

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Sometimes simple is better. This glaze is great for either pork or chicken, and it makes in a snap! Read more…

Popularity: 1% [?]