Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry (Updated)

This is one of those cases where being forced to cook through adversity results in good things happening. I decided to make Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry last night because I was going to be making it with limited supplies after a long day at work and it doesn't require too many ingredients or much hands-on time...

As I got out my ingredients and started to prep, I immediately realized that I didn't have a pot nearly big enough to hold everything. (Typically everything goes in a huge pot together then into the oven to slowly cook while I do something else.) I decided my best bet was to cook the chicken separately in the oven while simmering the potatoes and cauliflower on the stove-top. This worked out really nicely, since the potatoes can be temperamental (sometimes they're done cooking in 30 minutes... sometimes they're not done after 2 hours...), making it difficult to avoid over-cooking the chicken. With this new method, I was able to boil the crap out of the potatoes while perfectly baking the chicken.

The only question now is why it took cooking in an under-equipped hotel kitchen to come up with this change... The chicken ends up so much more tender and flavorful cooked this way, resulting in a more flavorful dish overall. Before this meal I was getting a little fed up with my hotel room kitchen but, now that it forced me to improve upon one of my favorite dinners, it's not seeming so bad after all...

Cauliflower, Chicken, Potato, and Pea Curry (Take 2)
   1 tablespoon oil or chicken fat (chicken fat is best…)
   2 medium onions, chopped
   3 tablespoons ground coriander
   2-3 tablespoons ground cumin
   1.5 teaspoons turmeric
   0-3 teaspoons dried red-pepper flakes
   1 teaspoon salt
   6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
   2 medium heads of cauliflower, cored and broken into bite-sized pieces
   6-8 small potatoes (preferably Yukon Gold), cut into 1–inch dice
   1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes (not drained, crushed by hand)
   2 1/2 cups water, divided
   3/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more to serve
   2 cups frozen petite peas
   Plain yogurt (to serve)

Preheat the oven to 350̊ Fahrenheit.

Heat oil or chicken fat in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and starting to color. Meanwhile, combine the spices (coriander through salt) and stir to combine. Rub the chicken breasts with 2 - 3 tablespoons of the spice mixture to coat, then place in a single layer in a baking dish and add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the dish. Place in the oven and bake until the chicken is just cooked through. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, chop into bite-sized pieces.

Add the remaining spice mixture to the pot with the onions and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the everything is coated in the spice mixture and well-combined. Add the tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook at a fairly rapid boil, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 30-60 minutes. When potatoes are cooked and liquid is somewhat reduced, stir in the peas and cilantro and cook, stirring, until the peas are heated through, about 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and stir in the chicken (or, if you're lacking a big enough pot like I was, divide the vegetable mixture between serving bowls then distribute chicken evenly among the bowls).

Serve with yogurt, fresh cilantro, and additional red pepper flakes.

Serves 8.

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup

This is one of my favorite lunches. It manages to be light and fresh in summer while still feeling hearty and warming in winter. This recipe started out at Food & Wine but has gone through quite a bit of modification. I like it pretty spicy, so I tend to add a good bit of cayenne, but adjust that to your own taste. (Whenever I give a range of how much to add for any given spice, it's safe to assume I add the amount at the high end of that range...) We had ridiculous snow here today, and this was the perfect thing to have simmering on my stove as I sat under a blanket watching the snow fall... I used to make this with white-fleshed sweet potatoes, but I've had trouble finding those both in Melbourne and here in Burlington and I've found that the more common orange-fleshed sweet potatoes work out almost as well. If you like this soup, you may want to experiment with the two and see which you prefer.

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup
   2 medium onions, roughly chopped
   1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne
   1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
   1 tablespoon ground cumin
   2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
   5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces
   4 - 5 small zucchini, quartered length-wise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
   1 large sweet potato (~1 pound) cut into 1/4-inch dice
   1 14.5-ounce can petite-cut tomatoes (can substitute diced)
   4 cups chicken stock
   2 cups water
   1/2 cup raw couscous

Place a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened and starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the spices (cayenne through sea salt) and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to high and add the chicken, stirring to combine. Cook until the chicken just starts to turn opaque, then add the zucchini, sweet potato, tomatoes, chicken stock, and water. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 - 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked. Remove the pot from the heat and add the couscous. Stir to combine then allow to sit, covered, for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Chicken with Green Olives

This recipe started out as a Mark Bittman recipe, and is possibly the only recipe he's ever written to be overly complicated (since he is, after all, The Minimalist). There was this whole process of simmering the olives in boiling water, discarding that water, and repeating, which I guess was designed to make things not taste too much like olives or something... but it's called Chicken with Green Olives, and I love strong flavors so I prefer my way of making this dish in terms of flavor, and the increased ease of preparation is a bonus. (I didn't get a great picture of it because I have limited dishes here in my hotel and I wasn't originally planning to post this when I plated my dinner... I'll take a better picture next time I make this and post it here...)

Chicken with Green Olives
   2 large onions, roughly chopped
   4 cloves garlic, minced
   3 - 4 tablespoons minced ginger
   3 bay leaves
   2 tablespoon cumin
   2 teaspoon paprika
   1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
   2 cinnamon sticks (~3 inches each)
   1 teaspoon ground turmeric
   4 cups chicken stock, divided
   2 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs
   2 cups chili-garlic green olives (not stuffed), halved **
   3 teaspoons coarse sea salt, divided
   1 1/2 cups dry couscous
   1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
   juice of 1 lemon

Preheat an oven to 325º F. Place a large oven-safe pan over medium-high heat and add the onions. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until beginning to color and soften. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté another 5 minutes. Add the next 6 ingredients (bay leaves through turmeric) and stir to combine. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add 1 cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Add 2 more cups of stock and bring to a boil. Add the chicken, olives, and 2 teaspoons of sea salt to the pot and stir to combine, then bring to a simmer. Place the pot in the preheated oven and cook for about 1 hour.

While the chicken cooks (towards the end of the hour), prepare the couscous. Combine the remaining 1 cup of chicken stock with about 1/2 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of sea salt and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and immediately add the couscous. Cover and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and stir through 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro.

When the chicken is done cooking, remove the pan from the oven. Remove the chicken pieces from the sauce and roughly chop into approximately bite-sized pieces. Return the chicken to the sauce and stir in the lemon juice and remaining cilantro. Serve over a scoop of cilantro couscous.

Serves 6-8.

**If you can't find chili-garlic olives at your store, you can buy plain large green olives (pimento-stuffed is fine, just remove the pimentos when you halve the olives) and toss them with a generous amount of minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes the day before you want to make this dish, giving them the chance to marinate overnight.

Hummus Plate and Lamb Kofta Kebabs

One of the menu items over at McMenamins that my brother always used to order was the Hummus Plate. It occurred to us that it would be pretty easy to make this exact thing at home for a lot less money, and it soon became one of my favorite easy football-watching meals. Sometimes when I forget how delicious Hummus Plate is on its own I'll also throw together a batch of Lamb Kofta Kebabs to go with the veggies and homemade pitas (pita recipe is at the bottom of the post here), but honestly it's not necessary. Hummus Plate is also one of the few vegetarian-friendly dishes in my arsenal, so it comes in handy when my non-meat-eating friends drop by.

Both the hummus and kebabs below use a mixture I call my "Cumin Spice Mix" which is made by combining 3 tablespoons cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon very coarse sea salt, and 1 - 1.5 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. If using a finer salt, start with less than 1 tablespoon since you can always add more as needed in the recipes below. I also add a bit of this spice mix to some Greek yogurt to serve with the Kofta Kebabs in the pitas and use it pretty regularly for seasoning things like roasted potatoes or grilled summer squash.

Emily's Famous Hummus
   4 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained (liquid from 1 can reserved)
   6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   2 tablespoons olive oil
   2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
   ~6 tablespoons tahini

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, using reserved chickpea liquid to adjust consistency as needed.

Serves 8.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs
   1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
   1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
   1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
   2 tablespoons Cumin Spice Mix (see above)
   1 pound ground lamb
   2 pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and coarsely ground in a food processor

Using your hands, mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Make a small test patty from ~1 tablespoon of the meat mixture. Cook in a skillet and taste for seasoning (mixture as written above may need additional salt depending on your palette). When the seasoning is where you want it, shape the meat mixture onto metal skewers as below.
This takes a bit of practice. (The reason for using one part ground lamb with to the two parts lean leg of lamb is that the lean lamb on its own doesn't have enough fat to hold together well on the skewers, whereas if you use all pre-ground there is so much fat that you don't get to tell yourself you're eating something healthy...)
Preheat a gas grill and cook the skewers over relatively high heat until just done.

Serves 6.

Hummus Plate (with Optional Kofta Kebabs)
   1 batch Homemade Pita Bread
   1 batch Emily's Famous Hummus
   6 Roma tomatoes, diced
   1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
   1 red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced, then tossed with the juice of one lemon
   Crumbled feta cheese
   Kalamata olives
   1 batch Lamb Kofta Kebabs (optional)
   2 cups Greek Yogurt mixed with ~1 tablespoon Cumin Spice Mix (optional)

Combine ingredients in whatever way sounds good to you and enjoy.

Serves 8-10.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce

Pulled pork is fantastic for casual entertaining. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it's simple to make (despite the seemingly long ingredient list) and you can buy the meat for less than $1/pound. Below is a recipe for my version, along with the BBQ sauce I like to serve with it. The sauce is very vinegar-y, which is just how I like it... Because the Baked Beans I made ended up in the picture as well, I'll add that recipe at the end of this post. When making Pulled Pork Sandwiches, by the way, it's key to use the crappiest white bread buns you can find... Anything nicer (whole wheat, onion, sesame seed, etc.) ruins the aesthetic.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce
   Barbecue Sauce:
      1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
      6 tablespoons minced onion
      1 1/3 cups cider vinegar
      1 1/3 cups ketchup
      1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
      1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
      1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Dry Seasoning Rub:
      3 tablespoons coarsely ground pepper
      3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
      3 tablespoons paprika
      2 tablespoons salt
      1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Barbecue Mop:
      1 cup cider vinegar
      1/2 cup water
      1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
      1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
      1 tablespoon salt
      2 teaspoons vegetable oil
      1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

   Pork:
      8 - 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder (aka "picnic" or "butt")
      5 onions, cut lengthwise into eighths

   20 soft hamburger buns, warm

For the Barbecue Sauce:
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced to 2 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Sauce can be prepared 1 week ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For the Dry Seasoning Rub:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.)

For the Barbecue Mop:
Mix all ingredients in bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

For the Pork:
Make small cross-hatchets into the fat of the pork's rear in preparation for a dry rub seasoning. Rub your dry seasoning thoroughly along your pork, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours. Layer the the onions in the bottom of a relatively large roasting pan, sprinkling them with salt and pepper. Place your pork on the bed of onions and brush a bit of the mop mixture all over the top. Seal the pan tightly with foil before placing the pork in a 200°F oven for about 13 hours. Remove from oven. Once cool enough to handle, gently shred the pork by hand. This should be ridiculously easy if you followed the steps outlined above.

Serves ~15.



Easy Baked Beans with Bacon
   5 14-ounce cans small white beans (such as Navy Beans), rinsed and drained
   1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
   1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
   3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
   1 teaspoon salt
   8 ounces bacon, finely chopped
   1 large onion, minced

Preheat an oven to 400°F. In a 9" x 13" baking dish, combine the first 5 ingredients (beans through salt). In a large skillet, cook the bacon until most of the fat is rendered but bacon is not yet crispy. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat, then add the onion and cook until onion is softened and bacon is crispy. Add the bacon and onion mixture to the mixture in the 9" x 13" dish and stir to combine. Tent loosely with foil and bake until the the beans have absorbed most of the liquid, about 75 minutes.

Serves ~12.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding

This is one of my very favorite pork dinners. It's easy to make, rich, satisfying, and delicious. This sat in my pile of recipes I intended to try for probably 5 years before I made it for the first time (when a pile of fennel bulbs at Vic Market in Melbourne was too gorgeous to pass up). I use Fontal cheese (a French version of Fontina, apparently) because it was all I could find in Melbourne when I first made this and then it ended up being the only thing available when I was shopping for ingredients here, but the original recipe from Cooking Light calls for Fontina and I'm sure that would be delicious, too. Since both the bread pudding and pork roast at 350°F, you can start baking the bread pudding and then just throw the pork in the oven for the last 30 minutes or so. I've skipped the brining step before due to lack of time and this was still great, so if you run out of time to brine don't let that stop you from trying this...

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding
   1 cup sugar
   8 cups water
   1/4 cup kosher salt
   2.5 pounds pork tenderloin
   2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
   1 1/2 onions, thinly sliced
   7 garlic cloves, minced (divided)
   4 cups chicken broth
   1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (divided)
   9 ounces French bread or other firm white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
   1/2 cup shredded Fontal or Fontina cheese
   2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan (optional)
   1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds

Combine sugar, water, and salt in a large bowl, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Add pork; cover and brine 2 hours to overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced fennel, onion, and 4 cloves minced garlic. Sauté until golden brown (about 20 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add 1/4 cup broth and cook until liquid evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining broth and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and combine with the bread. Stir in Fontal or Fontina cheese. Spoon mixture into an 9" x 13" baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan (if using). Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until golden brown.
While bread pudding bakes, rinse pork and pat dry. Combine fennel seeds, 3 minced garlic cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub evenly over pork. Roast the pork at 350°F until a thermometer registers 140°F, about 20-30 minutes. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve with bread pudding.

Serves 6.