Adventures in Thyme

Our adventures in food

Tagine Tikka Masala

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Chicken Tikka Masala by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Chicken Tikka Masala

 

I’m still obsessing over the lovely tagine my husband gave me for our anniversary.   Converting recipes over to cook has infused new life (and flavors) into our meal rotations.   This dish worked very well for a meal that could cook slowly on a back burner while I worked on other endeavors.  My inspiration for this recipe comes from Rachael Ray’s latest magazine, so please consider this a tagine makeover of her simple and inspired recipe.  (The original dish is a 30 minute meal, but I made mine in the early afternoon to bubble happily away on the stovetop until we were ready to eat later.)

Ingredients:

pat of butter
1 Tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil (but extra virgin olive oil will work too)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and shredded on a microplane grader (chopping finely works too)
1 small shallot finely chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed
1 – 2 lbs of boneless chicken thighs, cubed  (depending on how many people you are feeding!)
1 – 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes (depending on how many people you are feeding!)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 10 oz bag of frozen peas, thawed

optional: jalapenos, finely chopped
optional: shelled edamame, cooked (I used a 12 oz bag)
optional: rice (this recipe has potatoes in it, but if you want rice too – go for it!)
optional garnish: slivered almonds, cilantro

In your tagine (or pot), heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat; add cloves, ginger, jalapenos, and shallot and stir until shallots are translucent (about 5 mins).  Add garam masala & paprika stirring quickly to incorporate the spices throughout the oil mixture.  Add the cubed chicken and mix well; then add tomatoes and cream.  Once the dish begins to bubble, cover and turn down to medium low.  About 30 mins before you intend on eating add the cubed potatoes, then add the peas about 10 mins prior to serving.  Although not pictured, I love edamame, so my bowl included about 1/4 cup of precooked edamame.

Serve over rice, or with a slice of naan, and garnish as pictured.  Enjoy!

Lamb Tagine with Cherries and Mint

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Lamb, Cherry Tajine by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Lamb, Cherry Tagine

We recently celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, and what better way to say “I still do” than the gift of a cooking pot.  Certainly it fits in with the old saying that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.  So here’s to many more years of good loving, and good eating!

A tagine references not only the earthenware pot the meal is cooked in, but the meal itself.  Our recipe can also be cooked in a dutch oven or a crockpot, so just use whatever you have on hand.

You will need:

Fresh ginger – 1/2 inch up to 1 inch finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
pat of butter
2 cinnamon sticks
~1/4 cup of honey
~1/2 cup dried cherries
~1/2 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
~1/2 cup pitted dates cut into 1/2 inch pieces
~3 lbs lamb (or beef, or chicken, etc) cubed evenly; if you are using chicken pieces like thighs, just leave as is.
several sprigs fresh mint chopped coarsely
slivered almonds are optional

With a  mortar and pestle, carefully grind the ginger and garlic into a paste. Once it has reached the right consistency heat the oil and butter in a fry pan (if you’re using a crockpot) or heat directly in your tagine pot.  When the oil is hot, add the paste and incorporate into the oil, then add the cinnamon sticks.  After a few minutes the cinnamon aroma will get stronger and the paste will begin to change color, add the meat and sear the outside.

Now add the honey and the dried cherries.  Mix gently and then place your dates around the outside ring of the meat, then add enough hot water to fill the bottom of the pot but not to cover the meat.  Once the pot begins to boil, turn the heat down, cover and cook approximately one and half hours or until done.

Garnish with whole dates, slivered almonds, chopped mint and pitted, halved fresh cherries.

Serve with couscous or wild rice.  Enjoy!

 

Pizza – Assemble!

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Pizza Buffet by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Pizza Buffet

Another summer is winding down.  New school year’s are starting, gardens are in full harvest mode, and everyone seems to be squeezing out all the “staycation” exuberance they have left.  So this week, we’re highlighting the ease and playfulness of a pizza buffet.

We are lucky enough to live in time where gluten free, dairy free, and organic products are almost as easy to find as “regular” products of similar ilk.  So offering a pizza buffet to family friends is easy as assembling together all the ingredients that float your unique culinary boat (ie: tolerated, suitable, tasty, adventurous).

For our buffet we purchased pre-made gluten free pizza dough from the freezer section of our grocery store, and toppings such as:  Sheep Ricotta, Dairy Free Mozzarella, Buffalo Mozzarella, Prosciutto, Pancetta, Smoked Salmon, Pepperoni, Ham, Bell Peppers, and fresh herbs and tomatoes from our garden.  We also had berries, honey, and jam to pair with the ricotta for a pizza dessert.  You can cook your pizzas on a bbq or in the oven, however it works best for your buffet plans too!

Although we could have opted for a store bought pizza sauce, we chose to make our own, here’s the recipe we used for a quick sauce:

2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons honey
2-3 Tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
1 tsp salt
pepper as desired

Stir together over medium heat until just boiling then turn down and simmer until ready to use.

So use your pizza dough as a blank canvas on which you can paint your very own masterpiece of yumminess, and best of all – everyone gets to make their own leaving you just a few more dulcet moments to enjoy the pleasures of summer.

 

 

 

Trifle

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Banana, strawberry, blueberry trifle by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Banana, strawberry, blueberry trifle

During my years in England I ate Trifle like there was no tomorrow, because eventually “tomorrow” was going to come along and I’d be returning to America.  I loved the silky custard and the cake, soft and juicy from the fruit.  It was whole milk there, with lots of cream and no care of calories.  Well, 30 years later, it’s time to worry about those things, as well as dairy intolerances.  So my little Trifle described below should really be used more like a roadmap than a recipe.  Use the type of custard that you like, or instant vanilla pudding, perhaps heavy whipped cream instead of imitation cream topping.  The fruit also should be what appeals to you, and with so much available in the market right now, it’s perfect season to sit a’spell and indulge in a little Trifle.

Basically, a Trifle needs a variety of fresh fruit, whipped cream, cake, custard and alcohol (which is optional, Sherry is “traditional”).  Our Trifle above uses Bird’s Custard (a powdered product from England, you can find it at most Raley’s or World Markets).  Because dairy free is important at my house, we used Almond milk to make the custard and a dairy free topping.  Jellies can also be used in lieu of, or in addition to fruit, but we used 5 bananas, 3 cups of sliced strawberries, 3 cups of fresh blueberries.  We used pound cake, but you could also use angel food cake, or yellow cake, etc.

The custard needs to be cooled prior to making this dish, but once you’ve got all your ingredients prepped (fruit sliced, cake cubed or thinly sliced for layering) you’re ready to go.

In our photo we layered as follows: cake-fruit-custard, cake-fruit-custard, whipped topping; but you can layer as your tastebuds direct.  Maybe you want to soak your cake in Sherry before you layer, maybe you’d prefer a layer of whipped cream in the middle of the layers – do what sounds good.  Enjoy!

 

Lamb Calzone

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calzone

Ta-da!  Our first “hand-pie” here at Adventures in Thyme.  This tasty treat can be partially made in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble and bake.  The frenchbread crust is ideal for the juicy filling.  It’s delicious so let’s get cookin’!

For the filling:
1lb ground lamb
1 diced medium onion
3 cloves finely minced garlic
1 cup sheep’s feta (but if you can only find goat, go for it!)
2 beaten eggs
~5-8oz of cut spinach (we just buy the little box of frozen spinach)
~1 tsp of salt
~1 tsp each of fresh minced rosemary and thyme
~1 Tablespoon of butter

On medium heat, heat the butter in a skillet and add the diced onion.  Fry until they begin to get translucent (about 8 mins).   While you’re waiting on the onions you have time to defrost the spinach (if you have not done so already). Quick and easy method is to place the frozen spinach into a fine strainer and either place in a bowl of warm water or hold under a faucet of warm water. Once the spinach is “loose” squeeze out the water. Take this as an opportunity to work out your frustrations – squeeze!!!  Set aside when done.

Once the onions are translucent add the lamb and cook until almost done (there’s still a little pink in the meat), add the garlic & salt and continue cooking.  Now we’re ready to add the spinach, our goal here is not to cook the spinach, that will happen when we bake the calzone, we’re only trying to incorporate the spinach evenly into the hot lamb mixture.  After mixing the spinach into the lamb, the meat should be done, so remove from the heat and carefully drain off as much of the grease as you can then stir in the herbs.  Allow this mixture to cool, then add the cheese and eggs.  IMPORTANT: If you add the eggs in while the mixture is hot, you will have scrambled eggs, but what we’re doing is adding the eggs as a binder, so we don’t want it to cook just yet.  Mix well.  At this point you can move on to assembly or place into the fridge for later in the week.  Our sauce recipe, below, can also be made in advance and stored until needed.

For the crust:
1 11oz container of French bread dough.  They come in a tube, the kind that pops.  You know which ones…
Rolling pin, smooth surface, ~ a cup of flour
Parchment paper

Prepare a smooth surface with a little flour so that our dough won’t stick, then remove the dough from the tube and cut in half.  Roll each half into a ball with your hands.  Carefully roll out each dough ball into a circle (think pizza) about 1/8″ thick, maybe a little thinner.  Transfer each rolled piece of dough onto parchment paper slightly larger than the dough.

Assembly:
1 beaten egg
Baking pan

Begin heating your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place one of the pieces of parchment paper onto your baking pan.  Place 1/2 of the meat filling onto one half of the dough (you will fold the other half over to make the top.)  IMPORTANT: Do not add meat to the edges, you will need space to seal, roll and crimp (look at the image above for reference).  Once the meat is on the dough brush your beaten egg mixture along the outside curve of your dough, about 1/2 inches worth.  Now carefully fold your dough over matching the edges, now, brush more of your beaten egg along the top edge of the dough, brush from the edge of the meet out to the edge of the dough.  Roll the edge over the egg to seal the edges and crimp with the back of a fork.  Do the same with the 2nd piece of dough/parchment.  You might need to cut the parchment at this time so both calzones can fit onto your baking sheet.

Once you have two complete calzones, take the remaining egg wash and brush the surface of each calzone, this will help them brown up so enticingly.  Now cut 3 slits along the top of each to allow steam to release during the cooking process.  Place into the oven for about 45 minutes or until the dough is a lovely golden brown.

While the calzone is cooking it’s time to start our sauce.

Sauce:
2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, I like the one from Wine Country Kitchens
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Into a saucepan add all the ingredients above and cook over medium heat.  Stir occasionally, turn down to a simmer once it begins to boil.  The longer your sauce cooks the thicker it will get so cook it to your preference.

To serve, cut the calzone in half, place on a plate and top with the sauce.  This serves four if you have side dishes to go with it.  We’d recommend a nice salad, some fresh vegetables and maybe a dinner roll or some garlic bread.

Enjoy!