Thai coconut curried chicken and shrimp.

Norway was amazing and after eating delicious seafood for a week, I was longing for a curry.

Here's my recipe for Thai coconut curry with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. This dish is also delicious as a vegetarian dish, simply omit the chicken and shrimp and use diced extra firm tofu.

1 Tbs. peanut oil
salt and pepper
2 cubes each- frozen garlic and ginger
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 chopped onion
1 C. baby carrots, sliced on the diagonal
1 peeled potato, cubed
1/2 C. red bell pepper cut into slices
1/2 C. button mushrooms, cut in half
1 12oz. can light coconut milk
3 Tbs. mild curry paste
1/2 lb. uncooked shrimp
1 C. green beans, cut in half
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large pan with a lid on medium high heat. Season each side of chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onions, garlic and ginger to pan and saute for 1 minute. Add chicken and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add carrots, potato, bell pepper, mushrooms, coconut milk and curry paste. Stir to combine, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes. Add green beans, shrimp and lime juice, cover and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve over rice.

Pear and candied ginger granola muffins

I've been making a lot of granola recently and wanted to make muffins using granola. Here's what I came up with. These muffins are moist and loaded with lots of fresh pear with little bits of delicious candied ginger.

Pear and candied ginger granola muffins

1¾ C. all-purpose flour 

2 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 C. packed light-brown sugar 

1/2 C. plain low-fat yogurt 

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
3/4 C plain granola
2 Tbs. chopped candied ginger

2 D'Anjou pears (2 cups), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice 



Granola crumble topping:

1/2 c. granola 

1/4 c. all-purpose flour 

1/4 c. packed light-brown sugar 

3 Tbs. chilled unsalted butter


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, milk, vanilla, ginger and butter. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and fold until just combined. Gently fold in the granola and pears.

Make Granola Crumble Topping: In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour and packed light-brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into pieces; add to granola mixture, and rub in with fingertips until clumps form.


Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature. 


Grilled pizza with proscuitto

The weather has been amazing here and it's time to fire up the grill. Tonight we're going to make grilled pizza, it's easy and a delicious way to enjoy a perennial family favorite.

You can either use store bought pizza dough or make your own.

Pizza ingredients:
pizza dough
olive oil
1 C. smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
3-4 pieces proscuitto
garlic salt
1 c. baby arugula
balsamic vinegar

Here's a good recipe for homemade pizza dough:

1/2 cup warm water (about 110˚)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl
olive oil for brushing crust (optional)
garlic salt for brushing crust (optional)

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass form. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To make the grilled pizza:

Preheat grill to high and close lid. While the grill heats, press dough gently with your hands slowly pulling the dough out. I like to make a rectangular shape as I find it's easier to flip on the grill.

When the grill is hot, brush it with a paper towel that's been rubbed with olive oil.

Carefully place the dough on the grill and cook for 3 minutes or until pizza has a nice golden color, flip, and brush with olive oil. Add a little tomato sauce, about 1 C. of grated smoked mozzarella cheese and a few slices of proscuitto. Add a sprinkling of garlic salt and let cook for another few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from the grill and slice into pieces. I like to top this pizza with a handful of baby arugula, a little drizzle of olive oil and a dot or two of balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

Lamb Kofta with tzatziki

I saw a good looking recipe in Cooking Light Magazine and tweeked it a little to come up with a delicious kofta that we all devoured tonight.

Here's my recipe for Lamb Kofta (you could also substitute lean ground beef or chicken)

This makes about 8-10 patties.

1/2 onion - grated
2 cubes frozen garlic
2 cubes frozen cilantro
2 Tbs. tzatziki (prepared is fine)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
pinch of kosher salt and pepper
1 lb. ground lamb
1 tsp. Greek seasoning
1 Tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients -except olive oil-in a bowl and mix with your hands until well combined. Form 3" oblong shaped patties. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high heat (a stovetop to oven pan works well- like Le Creuset), and brown on all sides for 3 minutes.

Finish cooking by placing pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

We served the kofta with a dollop of tzatziki, couscou and steamed green beans with a pinch of dried oregano, salt and pepper.

New classes at Christopher Peacock Cabinetry!

Join us for our first class of the 2010 season!

Register at www.timetoeat.info

When: April 7
Time: 11-12:00 p.m.
Where: Christopher Peacock Cabinetry- Greenwich, CT

15 Minute Meals- Express Class III $75
Learn how to make 4 easy and delicious meals in an hour!


Skirt steak fajitas
Japanese udon noodle soup with chicken and mushrooms
Egg noodles with chicken sausage, peas and Parmesan
Greek Shrimp with couscous and tzatziki

Grilled shrimp on the barbie...

It was the first really nice day we've had here since last fall and I was ready for fire up the grill!

I defrosted about 30 large shrimp and marinated them in a bowl with:

The juice from 1 lemon
3 tbs. of olive oil
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
pinch of kosher salt and pepper
2 cubes of frozen garlic

While the shrimp marinated for about 20 minutes, I preheated the grill to hot, cooked some rice on the stove, and roasted a head of cauliflower that I cut into florets with a simple drizzle of olive oil, and a liberal sprinkling of Seasoning Salt.

I cooked the cauliflower on a Silpat lined cookie sheet for about 15 minutes on 425.

I skewered the shrimp on 4 skewers and placed them on the grill when it was good and hot. I closed the lid, and cooked the shrimp for about 2 minutes per side, flipping once.

The mistake most people make when grilling shrimp and most food is that they don't let their grill heat up hot enough.

The shrimp had beautiful grill marks and were ready in 5 minutes.

I threw together a simple salad and we all enjoyed our dinner together.