Adapted from Serious Eats and Cracking Curries recipes
Son-in-law, Chris, requested a crab curry for this Sunday. It seems to be just past Dungeness season, so there was nothing but very expensive King crab in the stores. I bought some packaged crab meat and stretched it with some cod.
Karl’s Tamarind Seafood Curry Soup
Filed under Fish, Seafood, Side Dishes, Soups
Most Americans know the Indian restaurant staple palak paneer, spinach with cheese. If you make the same dish and add other green vegetables to the spinach, or replace the spinach entirely, the dish becomes a saag (greens). A saag may be made from almost any green vegetable, today, I am using Lacianto kale.
Karl’s Kale Saag Paneer
Filed under Green Vegetables, Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I have done this dish before, but it shows just how differently a dish will turn out when you make just a few changes. The last time I made enough sauce to make the marinade and no more. After the bird was barbequed I sprinkled some fresh Sichuan pepper on the dry surface, producing a bird with crisp skin and strong pepper flavor. This time I made twice as much sauce and basted the bird so that the final dish had a thick, sticky glaze that melded the sauce flavors. Mostly the same ingredients, but very different dining experiences.
Karl’s Barbecued Sichuan Chicken II
Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Chinese, Main Dishes, Poultry, Sauces and Spices
When I was making my curried chicken pasties, I had run out of filling before I ran out of dough. What was I going do do with the extra? I decided to use it to make some fruit hand-pies for dessert.
Karl’s Curried Peach Pasties
Filed under California Fusion, Desserts & Treats, Pies & Tarts, Treats, Vegetarian
I have been seriously into stuffed breads lately. I made bierock last night and they were very popular. Jan asked for something with chicken for tonight.
Karl’s Chicken Curry Pasty
Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry
Bierock are Volga German stuffed breads. The Volga Germans were brought into Russia by Catharine the Great for their “modern” technical skills. However, their cooking was not one of those skills. Many would consider both German and Russian traditional cuisines a wasteland—there is only so much you can do with cabbage, flour, potatoes and a little beef when you do not have access to, or can afford, fancy spices.
Karl’s Bierock
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, German, Main Dishes, Vegetables
Jan is off on her yearly stitching retreat with her friends for four days. While she will tolerate barbecued lamb, she will not eat it any other way. Her absence allows me to make dishes that Jan will not eat.
Karl’s Lamb Stew with Leeks
Filed under California Fusion, Lamb, Main Dishes
With Jan out of town, I made a lamb stew for Sunday night’s dinner. I also made this lamb soup. Son-in-law, Chris, asked why I did not simply throw everything into one pot. In my mind I had an image of the thick, rich lamb stew and a second vegetable soup with lamb bone broth. While it may all end up in the same place, it would not be the same dining experience to mix the two dishes.
Karl’s Lamb Bone Soup with Cabbage and Green Beans
Filed under California Fusion, Lamb, Side Dishes, Soups, Vegetables
I cannot claim this recipe as my own. Miriam brought me some Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia when she came back from Italy. I was under strict instructions never to use this vinegar in a salad dressing. The Acetaria San Giacomo’s website had photos to show off their products and one was of raspberries with vinegar and a light dusting of powdered sugar. This was clearly an acceptable use of “the good stuff.”
Raspberries with
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale
di Reggio Emilia
Filed under Desserts & Treats, Treats, Vegan, Vegetarian
While I am still not convinced that the flavor is as good with gas grilling—over charcoal—it is certainly more convenient. Wanting something a bit different for a weeknight dinner, I settled on chicken satay. Satay, in the end, is just marinated meat grilled on a stick. While originating in Indonesia, it spread over Southeast Asia with each culture adding its own distinctions. Usually it is accompanied by a dipping sauce, some kind of peanut sauce being one of the more common.
Karl’s Chicken Satay with Pineapple Peanut Sauce
Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry, Sauces and Spices
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 