Thai Chicken Coconut Curry

I suffered an impulse buy a while back and purchased this spice bottle. Generally I don't buy the premixed spices because there is a lot of sodium!

However, the bottle wasn't super expensive and the ingredients would be a pain to gather separately. The ingredient list also did NOT include, "natural spices" or "natural flavor" - whatever that might mean. It also contains 88 mg of sodium per 1/4 tsp.

The ingredient list: salt, garlic, soy bean, coriander, chili, onion, lemon grass, celery seed, carrot, chives, turmeric, citric acid, black pepper, mustard powder, cumin, fenugreek, chickpea, ginger, cardamon.

Note: This is not spicy at all and we added some red pepper flakes.

Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
Adapted from The Gourmet Collection Thai Style Green Curry bottle
serves 3

Ingredients
1 large onion, diced
2 tbsp Thai green curry spice blend
1 pound chicken (2 large chicken breasts)
1 large cubed potato
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup sliced carrots

Stove Top Directions:

• Saute onion and carrots in oil with Thai spice. 
• Add diced chicken and saute until brown. 
• Stir in potato and coconut milk. 
• Bring to a boil and simmer until cooked. Stir occasionally.
• Serve with rice

Slow Cooker Directions:
Add all ingredients into the slow cooker. Do not dice or cut up the chicken breast. Stir so everything is coated.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 6. The chicken will have a pulled instead of chunky.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes are one thing that someday I'll be able to cook without fear! I haven't been able to time the correctly to be ready with the rest of the food. This means I start the potatoes very early so they will be done before I cook the rest of the meal. These are

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes (1/2 to 1 per person)
a healthy drizzle Olive Oil
2 tsp herbs (Oregano, Italian Seasoning, parsley)
Cracked black pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400F.

Wash and scrub potatoes. Cut potatoes into a large dice.

In a large bowl combine olive oil, herbs, and seasoning. Stir in potatoes until all of it is coated. If you need to add more olive oil.

Put in a 9x13 baking dish. Add a splash of chicken broth and bake until fork tender. Depending on the size of the potato that could be between 30-60 minutes.

Homemade French Fries

"These taste like real french fries!!" The kids were pretty impressed that I was able to turn potatoes into french fries at home.

Super easy and a relatively healthy side dish. The silpat mat helps make the fries extra crispy.

Often these are served with Mr. Tom's Chicken and Oven Roasted Broccoli.

French Fries

1 potato = 1 to 2 people

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Peel raw potatoes. Slice them up. Thinner will cook faster.

Put sliced potatoes on silpat/foil/parchment lined cookie sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and your choice of seasonings. I do a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat all the potato pieces. If it was for adults I would add some cayanne or oregano.

Bake 25-45 minutes. The difference will be how thick the potatoes were cut and how crispy you want the fries. Fries are done when you pierce with a fork and the potato is tender.

Enjoy!

Hasselbeck Potatoes

Birthday Dinner!! Fancy sliced baked potatoes! I kept seeing this potato style on Pinterest and have been looking for a good excuse to try it! Apparently these are called Hasselback Potatoes (or Accordion Potatoes) and are the Swedish version of a baked potato!

I combined a recipe from several blogs and from Sunny Anderson on Food Network. I omitted the Parmesan cheese but feel free to sprinkle some on!

I did one baked potato per person. I would double the sauce recipe (listed below) because I wanted a bit more flavor. I would take the rest of the sauce and pour it on after baking or pour more on before cooking. I baked mine at 350 for a little over an hour but they don't get as crispy.

Other options include swapping out the butter for more olive oil to make it a bit healthier!


Birthday Menu: Beef Tenderloin, Swedish baked potatoes, roasted onions and mushrooms, and a Gluten Freeblueberry cobbler!

Potatoes!

Used a chopstick to help with the cuts. I also cut at an angle.

Pretty cut potatoes :)

Greased and seasoned!

Slightly crispy and all cooked!

Fried left over potatoes in bacon grease for breakfast

Hasselback Potatoes  

6 potatoes, medium size

3-5 garlic cloves, thin sliced or 1 ½ tsp garlic powder (2 tsp)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp olive oil

¼ paprika

¼ onion powder

¼ Salt and pepper

1 tsp oregano

Heat oven to 425F. 

Slice each potato crosswise at 1/8-inch intervals, cutting to within 1/4 inch of the bottom. Be careful not to slice all the way through. Use the back of a spoon to ensure you don’t cut all the way through. 

Combine olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, smoked paprika and onion powder and mozzarella cheese in a small bowl. 

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet. 

Carefully insert pinches of this mixture in between the slits of the potatoes. 

Rub the outsides of the potatoes with residual oil. 

Bake for about 40-45 minutes. The inside should be cooked through and the outside of the potato should be a bit crispy

Beef Tenderloin

Birthday Dinner!!!
  
I had some guests come over for dinner and I got to make some special food! I had a great deal on some beef tenderloin so that became the main dish. I followed the recipe given on the Wegman's website. 

I rinsed it in the sink with water and then I rubbed it with some of the Wegman's basting oil. This is oil already infused with herbs. I also sprinkled it with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I seared it in my new stainless steel frying pan (yay!!!) and then cooked it in the oven at 350F for ...far too long. 

I cooked it for about 55 minutes and then tented it under some foil for about another 20 minutes. This created a medium, barely medium rare. I personally like mine on the medium rare side. The pictures make it look a lot more pink than it really was.

I used the leftovers in quesadillas and Caesar salad!

Birthday Menu: Beef Tenderloin, Swedish baked potatoes, roasted onions and mushrooms, and a Gluten Free blueberry cobbler!

 

In a Caesar Salad!

Beef Tenderloin

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Rinse roast, rub with basting oil, salt and cracked pepper seasoning.
2. Heat frying pan. Drizzle with some more basting oil. When pan is hot sear on stove for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F.
3. Roast tenderloin about 15-20 min per lb, until desired doneness. Check internal temp by inserting thermometer halfway into thickest part of meat.
4. Transfer roast tenderloin to clean platter; let rest 10-20 min. Serve!

Shepard's Pie

N. and I made Shepard's Pie this weekend! Layers of ground turkey, creamed corn, and mashed potatoes then baked in the oven.

First, start the mashed potatoes. This will take the longest to cook. We had 1 large potato and one med size potato. 1 large one would have been enough for us. Dice potatoes to about the same size. I didn't peel them. Add them to a pot of water. Then put on the stove and bring water to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, aka when you stab with a fork it slips right off. And anyways, you are mashing them, you want them softer rather than harder.

 

Mash the potatoes with a fork or masher until there are no more lumps. As my mom says, "If you leave lumps in the mashed potatoes, everyone knows they are real potatoes." While mashing I added in some salt, butter, garlic powder, and sour cream until it was the consistency I wanted. If you don't want to use sour cream you can also use milk.

While the potatoes were cooking we diced up some onion. We heated up some oil (with a dash of garlic powder) and added the onions when the pan was hot. Then we added in the ground turkey and cooked it until there was no pink left.

Lastly, creamed corn. Open can. :)

Assemble the ingredients, meat in the dish, then creamed corn, and then put the dollop the mashed potatoes on top. Add some pats of butter to the top and cracked black pepper.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 25 minutes. Take foil off and broil for about 5 minutes or until mashed potato topping starts to get golden.

Next time? Maybe add some tomato paste/ketchup or Worcestershire sauce to the meat while its cooking. I tried not to mess with it like I normally do with recipes.

Shepard's Pie
Makes approx 4 hearty servings

Mashed Potatoes
1 to 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt (to taste)
1/2 stick of butter (but do it tbsp by tbsp until its the flavor you want)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup sour cream or milk (could probably use a little more if you want softer texture)

 Place potatoes in water in a pot. Bring water to a boil. Cook until fork tender, approx 20 - 30 minutes. Drain potatoes. Add butter, garlic powder, and milk/sour cream. Mash until desired consistency, adding in additional butter or sour cream as needed.

The rest of it...
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, or chicken)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup onion, diced
Salt & Pepper
1 can creamed corn
Additional butter for topping casserole.

Heat oil in pan, add garlic powder, add onion. When softened add ground turkey, add salt and pepper. Cook until no pink is left.
Assemble in baking dish, meat and then corn, and then mashed potatoes. Leave pats of butter and some cracked black pepper to the top.

Cover in foil, cook 25 minutes. Cook additonal 15 minutes until everything is heated throguh (corn will bubble up the sides) and if you want a golden crunchy potato top, heat for about 5 minutes under the broiler.

Enjoy!!