I recently discovered Trader Joe’s bottled Thai yellow curry sauce. It’s really good and comforting. It’s definitely not YaYa’s curry. It tastes a bit more like Japanese curry. But it’s damn good.
I made it traditional style with chicken and potatoes (I didn’t have bamboo shoots). Basically, I put 1 and a half chicken breast, cubed and 4 medium red potatoes cut into 1/4s in a pot with the sauce and cooked it until the potatoes were soft. Next time, I might wait until the last 15 mins to put in the chicken so it remains tender.
And while I was prepping it, I had too much chicken (that other half). So I popped the cubed, raw chicken pieces in with 3 TBSP of the sauce in a Tupperware and left it in the fridge.
I just pulled it out, skewered it and threw it in a 350 degree oven for 20 mins. What? Satay anyone? I should’ve left more sauce on when I baked it. But it’s so good too.
Get yourself to a TJs and buy this sauce, Trader Joe’s Thai yellow curry. And pick yourself up some orange chicken too.
TJ’s has filets for around $25 for 2. What a steal! I made two last night and typically we bbq but it was already late and well, coals take time. So, I tried it in a pan. Since I don’t have a cast iron in the tiny house (gasp!), I used the stainless steel. They came out soooo good. Munchkins loved it.
2 4-6oz filet mignons
Salt and pepper to taste
any high heat oil
2 TBSP Ghee
1 whole clove garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Set meat out at room temp 20-30 mins to take the chill off them.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Generously season all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat oven-safe pan over med-high heat for 3 mins. Add oil (I used avocado) and ghee.
Add filets and brown each side well so it has a nice brown crust. try not to move it once you’ve set it in the pan until it’s time to turn. They’ll be sticky until they form the crust and you don’t want to tear it apart. Cook each side for 1-3 minutes until you have that crust.
On the last turn, add the rosemary and garlic. Then tip the pan while filets are cooking and spoon flavored oil over the filets for that last 1-3 mins. Caution: it’s a splattering mess. I was wiping down everything on the stove the entire time. And at the end, the top of my hand got a good moisturizing bath.
Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 5-7 mins depending on how you like your filets.
Remove pan from oven. Set filets on serving plate and let them rest for 10 mins before cutting.
Pure comfort in a bowl. Paired with Mom’s pancit and it’s the holidays in February! I made this on a Sunday and it fed us a couple more times for lunch and dinner. And, I’m already craving it again!
Chicken Adobo
6 full chicken legs, skin removed
1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water (if needed)
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP whole peppercorns
2TBSP canola oil
Heat oil in pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 5 mins or just until fragrant and slightly tender.
Add chicken legs, soy sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns. Legs should be at least halfway submerged under the sauce. You can add a little water if needed or more of the soy sauce and vinegar if you need more than a little bit of sauce.
Bring to boil. Then, reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until chicken is falling off the bone (being sure to flip the legs every 20 mins).
Pull legs out of sauce once tender and shred with a fork. Put chicken back in sauce and serve with rice. (Legs don’t have to be shredded but it allows the sauce to get all up in the chicken.)
Have you watched The Chef Show with Jon Favreau and Roy Choi? They’re adorable- kinda like an old married couple talking about experiences and eating amazing comforting food.
Well, I finally made the spaghetti and meatballs from the “Roy’s Italian Cuisine” episode and it’s soooooooo good. This will be a go to for a very long time.
This is one of those recipes you need to prep for. So, go roast a head of garlic and pick up the ingredients (including ordering some fennel pollen – really, you need this in your spice collection)
Roy Choi’s (Adapted) Spaghetti and Meatballs
Meatballs
1 lb ground meat (70/30 if you can get it)
1 lb ground pork
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 bunch fresh parsley, finely minced
1/2 garlic head, roasted
1/2 white onion, chopped then blended in the blender with 1/4 cup water
1 tsp fennel pollen
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt to taste
2 TBSP olive oil
Sauce
1 large can san marzano whole tomatoes
Shiitake mushrooms (two handfuls)
1 1/2 cup water
A head of garlic, cloves deskinned
1/4 cup of olive oil
Salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 375.
Put 1/4 cup of sauce oil into a small sauce pan. Set on medium low heat and add the garlic cloves from the sauce ingredients. Let that simmer on low until the garlic cloves get soft and golden brown. Takes about 15-20 mins.
Put the water and shiitake mushrooms in a small pot. Let simmer on low for 20 mins.
Mix everything from the meatball ingredient list together except 1 T of the olive oil in a bowl.
Pan fry a bit of the meatball mixture until cooked so you can taste for salt. Adjust seasoning if needed in the meatballs.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or douse the sheet with some oil.
Roll the meatballs into 2”-2.5” diameter balls. And place on sheet.
Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20-22 mins. They should be medium rare.
While meatballs are cooking, add the garlic that’s been simmering in the oil (not the oil) to a medium pot. Add 1 cup of the mushroom broth and the tomatoes. Simmer on low for 40 mins or until slightly reduced.
Blend the sauce in the pot and taste for salt.
Take meatballs out and add some to the sauce for added deliciousness.
Cook a pot of spaghetti. Serve with sauce and meatballs. Top with Parmesan and enjoy!
I’m holding on to the last glimmers of summer with this fresh dinner option. When a meal is loved by all the family members we say, “definitely put this on the menu” for our make-believe family restaurant that we’ll never open. This meal got that stamp of approval.
The perfect last bite with crispy skin
Green Goddess Salmon with Crispy Potatoes
2 lbs salmon cut in 2 pieces
1 cup packed fresh basil
4 anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon, zested and then thinly sliced
3 TBSP plain yogurt
2 TBSP mayonnaise
3 TBSP capers
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, sliced thin
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Blend basil, garlic, anchovies, lemon zest, yogurt, and mayo until thick and uniformly green. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a bowl and set back in the fridge.
Heat a medium pan on medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Salt salmon fillets on both sides. Layer top of salmon with thinly sliced lemons. Add to pan salmon, skin side up, lemon side down. Cook for 5 – 7 mins depending on thickness. Flip to skin side down and cook until salmon begins to flake when pushed on. Remove skin (it should come off easily). Cook the grey side of the salmon. Set aside. Add back in the skin and cook on both sides for an additional 3 mins each. Set salmon skin on paper towel to drain.
While salmon is cooking, heat another pan on medium with olive oil and add potatoes and salt. Potatoes should sizzle gently. Cover. Cook until crispy on the edges and tender inside (approx 15 mins). 1 minute before serving, add capers so they get a little crispy too and season with pepper.
Serve a slice of salmon with skin on top, dressing on the side with potatoes and any other veggies.
I inadvertently signed up for 2 CSAs this season (probs because I knew getting to the farmers market was going to be difficult this year). I love these farms (Fifth Crow Farm and Sweet Farm) and man, do I miss the farmers market. But the CSAs are bring bunches of creativity out of me including this recipe. Seeing tomatillos and strange squash required some exploration. This tomatillo chili is the delicious outcome.
That’s one of the squash quartered. No idea what variety but it tastes and cooks like a zucchini.
Tomatillo Chili
7 tomatillos, shell off and cleaned
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 can of cannelloni beans, rinsed
1 can of corn, drained (or 2 cobs of cooked corn)
2 jalepenos
1 cup squash of choice (can be zucchini or yellow squash), chopped in 2” chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1 TBSP oregano
1 TBSP cumin
1 tsp chili powder
3 cups chicken broth
6 stems of kale, chopped
3 sliced cooked bacon, sliced
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Lime
Broil tomatillos, onion, jalapeños, garlic and squash until just starting to blacken and blister (approx 7 mins). Watch that the garlic doesn’t go too long.
In a large pot, heat olive oil and add spices, beans and corn. Once fragrant, add the broth, kale and broiled squash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 mins.
Blend, tomatillos, onion, jalapeños and garlic. Add to chili.
Cook until kale is softened (approx 20 mins).
Season with generous amount of salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with wedges of lime, crispy bacon toppings and a cook drink of choice.
It’s hard to get my mostly-fresh-fruit-and-veggie-eating littles to consume protein too. They love eggs and red meat and salmon – sometimes chicken, if it’s fried. But that will cover like 6 of the 4000 meals that need to be made … in a day. (Doesn’t it feel like the meal prep and dishes are just one continuous stream throughout the day right now? Pepper in some laundry and then it’s already time to go to bed.)
Anyway, they love this lentil (kinda) soup recipe. I say kinda because there isn’t a bunch of broth. If you like yours more broth, just add a 1/2 more around 20 min mark in the cooking process. And the kids don’t know about the anchovies!
Lentil (kinda) Soup
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup black lentils (or any other that you have), rinsed
1/2 large onion, diced super small so kids don’t notice
2 carrots, diced super small because of picky children
4 anchovies in oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (I’ve started buying the kind in the jar because holy crap this is a lot of cooking we’re doing these days)
Cumin to your liking (I used 1/2 tsp)
Good amount of salt to your liking
Olive oil
Pickled jalapeños for the grown ups as a topper
Kid approved.
Start a medium pot with a good amount of olive oil (2-3 TBSP? Sure). Heat on medium/low. Add onions, carrots, garlic and anchovies. Melt down the anchovies so you don’t see them as whole pieces anymore. They should just add color to the veggies. After they cook for a few mins, add a dash of salt and cumin. cook for another 5 mins being sure to not burn.
Add the rinsed lentils and broth. Bring to boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer with the cover on until the lentils are tender. Salt to taste.
Lots of toppings go great with this from fried eggs to pickled jalapeños to avocados and sour cream to all of the above.
The LO loved this and so did my hubby. My elder daughter was not a fan but it’s not abnormal for her to dislike new foods these days. It was so easy and makes the best leftovers for lunch or dinner.
That garlic chili oil from the other day continues to make everything better.
Meatball Soup
(inspired by Bonappetit recipe)
Meatballs
1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. ground beef
Soup
1 Tbsp. (or more) extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
4 stalks kale and/or chard, removed from veins and sliced
Handful sugar snap peas, thinly sliced on a diagonal
1/2 cup shelled fresh (or frozen) English peas
Lemon wedges
Make meatballs:
Mix yogurt, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a large bowl just to combine. Add beef and mix with your hands (or a wooden spoon) until well blended but take care not to overmix, or meatballs could be dense.
Using your hands, lightly pack meatball mixture into tangerine-size balls (about 1½” in diameter) and place them on a rimmed baking sheet.
Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high. Working in batches and adding more oil if needed, add meatballs to pot, making sure to leave enough space between them so you can move them freely, and cook, turning occasionally to help them keep their shape, until evenly browned on all sides, 5–8 minutes. The trick is to make sure the meatballs don’t fall apart. Let them get sufficiently browned on each side before trying to move them. Once cooked, set aside in a bowl.
Make Soup:
Add shallots, garlic, and cabbage and greens to pot (no need to wipe out). Season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes
Add broth and vinegar to pot and bring liquid to a simmer. Cook until cabbage is just tender. Return meatballs to pot along with any juices that have accumulated and simmer long enough to let flavors meld, 6–8 minutes.
Just before serving, add sugar snap peas and English peas to broth and cook until no longer raw, just a minute or two (you want them to retain a little bit of bite).
We desperately need hugs. Our beloved dog passed away. I made this to help comfort our hearts and it was effective.
Hug Porridge
6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1/4 cup veggie oil
2 tsp dried red chili flakes
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2/3 cup uncooked rice
8 cups water
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bunch of Dino kale, deveined and cut into ribbons
2-4 tsp of salt
1/2 lemon
Fried eggs
In a large pot, add the veggie oil and garlic. Cook on med/low heat until the garlic is golden brown. Remove all but a TBSP of the mixture to a separate bowl.
In the separate bowl with garlic and oil, add the chili flakes. Stir. This is now the coveted chili garlic oil you’ll douse on every including this porridge.
On the pot with garlic oil, add the onion and cook until soft and slightly caramelized. Add water and chicken breasts. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a quick simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 mins. Take out chicken and continue cooking until the porridge becomes slightly thickened, stirring often.
While the porridge continues cooking, shred the chicken.
Once porridge is almost as thick as you’d like it, add in the kale and chicken. Season with salt. Cook for 4 mins.
Squeeze 1/2 lemon and stir.
Top with a fried egg and chili garlic oil (be careful, it’s spicy and a little goes a long way).
Remember those miso turnips that I made the other day? Leftovers found their way into this kimchi fried rice and it was perfect. Also, if you’ve got a pork chop or steak or chicken, grill it right quick and add that on the plate too. This can be a main meal or just a side to your protein. It’s tangy and spicy and the perfect amount of probiotics. I ate mine with a fried egg on top because – chickens in my backyard are laying, laying, laying.
Kimchi Fried Rice
2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
1- 2 carrots, cut Julianne
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin
Precooked veggies of choice, I used miso turnips
2″ knob of ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup kimchi (I love either makin my own or buying from Wise Goat Organics)
Canola oil
3 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP gochujan (we use it on everything. Make this a staple)
1 TBSP sesame oil
1 TBSP kimchi juice
Toppings of choice (fried egg, nori, black sesame seeds, green onion, steak…all of the above)
In a bowl, mix gochujan, soy sauce, sesame oil and kimchi juice. Set aside
Heat a bit of canola oil in a large skillet. Cook onion, carrots, garlic and ginger. Until tender. Add rice and kimchi and pour over gochujan mixture. Fry for 2 mins.
Note: The key is sauce to rice to veggie ratio and everyone has different preferences. I like a slightly sticky rice with lots of veggies. But, you’re the chef. You decide what’s best for you.
Serve as a side or main. Top with whatever you fancy.
