Kuku Paka

 

As part of my Eating Around The World journey, I spun the globe and got Kenya. After googling around the web I found references to this dish, which demonstrates the melding of cultures. Quite literally, kuku paka translates to “chicken cat?” Paka must have another meaning that I can’t find, because this coconut chicken curry hardly has reference to felines. From what I’ve read, the etymology of paka in this context is unclear.

I have a love of curries. I don’t have a huge knowledge of African curries, but if this is what African curries are generally like – it was nice and I like it! Not only was it delicious, it was easy to make.

Now.. The next stop for the Around The World challenge looks like it will be Costa Rica!

Kuku Paka
(source)

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
6 small red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tomato, diced
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
2 cups coconut milk
cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions

1. Place the chicken and the ginger, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and lemon juice in a ziplock bag. Set aside.

2. In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Fry the onions until golden. Add the chicken mixture and mix, cooking for 10 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and mix in. Then add the potatoes and mix in, cooking for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric and cook for several more minutes.

4. Add the water and cook for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Garnish with cilantro.

* serves 2
* This recipe is being shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Shepherd’s Pie

 

I love mashed potatoes and I love meat. Shepherd’s Pie is the best mix of both of them. And it even makes a way to get the veggies in. After I made this dish I read about someone using cauliflower mash in place of the potatoes. I’d love to make it like that in the future. Or with sweet potato mash. Or what other kind of mashes could I use in place of the potatoes?

Make your best suggestions!

Shepherd’s Pie
(source)

Ingredients
8 oz ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 lb white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
splash of milk
4 tbsp Brummel&Brown
1/4 cup beef broth
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil for 20 minutes. Once they’re done, drain and mash together with some salt, milk, and 2 tbsp Brummel&Brown.

2. In a skillet melt the remaining Brummel&Brown. Saute the onions and frozen vegetables for 10 minutes.

3. Add the meat and cook until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add the beef broth  and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Place the beef in the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top.

5. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

* serves 2
* shared with Foodie Friends Friday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Freedom Fridays, & Foodie Friday

Beet and Potato Salad

 

This potato salad couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. With Valentine’s Day being tomorrow, this is probably the most festive I’ll be. It’s funny that this was accidentally planned too. I’m not really into Valentine’s Day. I’m not bitter either – I have nothing to be bitter about. I just find it a little silly to celebrate love one day a year in such a commercial way. I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated Valentine’s Day actually. In fact, Matt and I have decided to hit up Walgreen’s this weekend to stock up on chocolate – that’s how we roll.

But anyway, if unlike me, you do celebrate Valentine’s Day, this is a perfect potato salad for the occasion.

I love beets. I’m always shocked at how my hands get so pink. It’s so crazy to me that just cutting it makes so much pink! What a strange veggie!

I made this potato salad for No Croutons Required, this month sponsored by Tinned Tomatoes. The theme is obviously potato salads.

Beet and Potato Salad
(source)

Ingredients
1 large red potato
1 large beet
1 egg
1/4 red onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425. Cut the greens off of the beet and cut most of the root off of the beet. Place the beet in a baking dish and fill the dish with 1/4 inch of water. Cover your baking dish with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Once the beet is roasted, peel the skin off.

2. While the beet is roasting, cut the potato into chunks. Bring a large pot of water to boil and boil for 15 minutes, until tender.

3. While the beet is roasting, also hard boil your egg. To hard boil an egg, place egg in a pot. Fill the pot with water so it just covers the egg. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 12 minutes. Peel the egg and then dice.

4. Once your beets, potatoes, and eggs are cooked, combine in a large bowl. Add the onion and celery as well and toss together.

5. In a small dish combine the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, and yogurt. Whisk together well.

6. Add the dressing to the vegetables. Toss together.

7. Refrigerate until well chilled.

* serves 2
* 268 calories per serving
* Besides No Croutons Required, this is being shared with Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, Wednesday Extravaganza, & Food Of The Month Club – Salad Theme

Fish Pie

This month over at BakeBakeBake the challenge is British. Frankly, my experience with British food is very small. All I can think of is fish and chips. But a baked British dish? Google was required to find something to meet the challenge! Fish pie is a pie made with white fish. It is a traditional British dish. Upon googling I found Jamie Oliver’s Fish Pie recipe, using a combination of fish, shrimp, carrots, celery, lemon, tomato, spinach, and mashed potatoes.

I was skeptical, but clearly I had no reason to be. This dish was time consuming (until it went into the oven) but came out perfectly with a beautiful crispy potato topping.

Fish Pie

Ingredients
2 lbs white potatoes, cut into pieces
1 carrot, shredded
2 sticks celery, shredded
5 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lemon
2 1/4 lbs tilapia, cut into pieces
4 oz shrimp, cleaned and peeled
olive oil
1 handful baby spinach
2 tomatoes, quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 12 minutes. Once the potatoes are tender, mash together with several glugs of olive oil.

2. Place the grated carrot, celery, and cheese together in a baking dish. Zest the lemon into the baking dish. Cut the tilapia into bite size pieces. Mix the tilapia, shrimp, spinach, and tomatoes in with the grated vegetables.

3. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the dish. Bake for 40 minutes.

* serves 6
* shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party, Tasty Tuesdays,  Tempt My Tummy, & Recipe Box 

Corn, Potato, Tomato Curry

I love curries, but I’ve never made a curry with corn in it before. I was kind of skeptical at what this dish was going to turn out like. But I guess I am someone of little faith sometimes, because this dish turned out perfect. For about 525 calories (which includes 1 cup of rice) I got a delicious and healthy meal. And the colors of the dish, the red, yellow, and green, are so pretty. I accidentally put more coconut milk in the curry than what the original recipe called for, but I ended up really liking the more soupy texture of the dish. With the rice, it was great.

It was easy and was a great lunch!

In other news, school started this week. Life has suddenly got a little more hectic.

Corn, Potato, Tomato Curry
(source)

Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 medium tomato, diced
4 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 anaheim pepper, diced
2 cups canned corn kernels
1/2 can coconut milk
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder

Directions

1. Boil water in a large pot. Add the potatoes and cook for 20 minutes. Drain.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the cumin seeds and cook for several minutes. Add the garlic and potatoes. Cook for 3 minutes.

3. Add the tomato, cilantro, and anaheim pepper. Cook for 2 more minutes, then stir in the corn. Add the coconut milk, salt, lemon juice, and curry powder. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 5-8 minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy!

* serves 4
* shared with Weekend Cooking

Honey-Mustard Chicken and Mustard Mashed Potatoes

 

This is the last meal of my 25th year being on the earth. Tomorrow is my 26th birthday. How do I celebrate my birthday? Do I get a cake? Do I spend the day doing lots of fun things? No, no. I get to write a 5,000 word essay. As of this moment, at 10:46 p.m. I have 546 words written. I have to turn in this 5,000 word essay Monday night. I will be doing a lot of writing tomorrow.

But don’t get me wrong. I haven’t entirely been procrastinating. I wrote a 10 page paper today. I started it last night (after trying to type it all day but only getting a few words typed, I went to bed.) I just managed to stack the worst finals schedule ever this semester. I’ll be done by mid-next week. Then I have hearings at work. I’m really looking forward to my break and baking cookies.

The honey I used in this recipe was from my September Foodie Penpal box. We finally finished off the other honey we had in the house, so it was time to make use of the honey from Sara! The combination of the sweet honey and the savory mustard, bacon, chicken, and mushrooms was perfect.

Also, who would have thought of putting mustard in mashed potatoes? It’s delicious. I’m giving you both recipes.

Honey-Mustard Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350. Rub the chicken breasts with salt and garlic powder. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Brown for 4 minutes on each side.

2. Combine the mustard, honey, corn syrup, mayonnaise, and dried onion flakes. Remove half of the sauce and set aside.

3. Place the browned chicken in a baking dish sprayed with Pam. Top with honey-mustard sauce. Place bacon slice on top of each piece of chicken. Toss mushrooms over the chicken and cover the whole dish with cheese.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the bacon is crunchy. Serve with reserved honey-mustard sauce.

* serves 2

Mustard Mashed Potatoes
(source)

Ingredients
3 medium red potatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp margarine
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 20 minutes, until tender.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in with the potatoes and mash until smooth.

* serves 2

* shared with Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff Saturday and Weekend Cooking

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew

 

This will probably be the last slow cooked recipe you see for a month. I’m done with school! This meal was made for last night because I had an evening final. I have one more evening final on the 4th, but I decided to make an easy salad that night (maybe I’ll start sharing my meal plans again, because why not?) Yeah, I think I will.. They will be listed at the top of the blog with the other links once I get it up.

Anyway, because I’ll be home in the evenings for the next month I’ll have time to cook! Wahoo! But next semester is going to be even crazier than this one; I have late classes three days a week. But then.. Then I’ll be done. If I pass.

This was a really easy recipe. It didn’t take any culinary skill besides the skill of dumping. But it tasted good and it lasted more than one meal. Tonight I made biscuits with fresh oregano from my AeroGarden to go with it and it was perfect and full of carbs.

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew
(source)

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
5 red potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
4 (10-oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 (16-oz) bag frozen mixed vegetables

Directions

1. Combine the chicken, potatoes, carrot, soup, bouillon, garlic, salt, and pepper in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 7 hours.

2. Add the frozen mixed vegetables. Reduce slow cooker to low and cook for 1 more hour.

* makes about 8 servings
* Shared with Foodie Friday, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday, & Weekend Potluck

Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potato

 

The reason there haven’t really been any recipe updates is because I wasn’t cooking for awhile. I sprained my ankle very badly about two and a half weeks ago and have been incapable of standing long enough to put dinner on the table. Because of this, I spent many nights laying on the couch directing Matt what to do from my immobile position.

The first meal I made after being able to stand long enough was pork chops and mashed potatoes. I was so happy with these mashed potatoes and it was more than just the fact that I could stand. Seriously, these are the best mashers I’ve ever tasted. I will make them again (and again and again and again.)

Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Potato
(source)

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
3 red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp skim milk
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Place the garlic in a small ovenproof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes. Cool and peel.

2. While the garlic is roasting cook the potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large pot of water until tender, about 30 minutes.

3. Place the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the milk, butter, rosemary, and garlic. Mash until smooth. Mix in the cheese.

4. Transfer to a baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes.

* serves 3
* shared with Wednesday’s Whatsits & Cast Party Wednesday

Slowcooker Barbecued Chicken Five Ways

This past week’s slowcooker meal made my life very easy. It made two dinners and three lunches. I sort of felt like I had pulled chicken coming out of my ears there was so much. But it really made my cooking this week easy. I tried to vary the chicken in my meals so it wasn’t the same chicken sandwich over and over again. I think I succeeded!

Out of this one slowcooked chicken recipe I got:

- Pulled chicken sandwiches
- Taco salad
- A pasta dish
- Hash
- Chili

I’ll break down the dishes like this: First I’ll post the slowcooker recipe for the chicken. Then underneath I’ll break down each dish into it’s own mini-recipe using the slowcooked chicken.

The entire recipe makes 10 servings. Each mini-recipe below serves 2.

Slowcooked Barbecued Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can tomato sauce
3 chipotles in adobo, finely diced
2 tsp of the adobo sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo
1/4 cup orange muscat champagne vinegar (from Trader Joe’s)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Whisk together the tomato sauce, chiptoles, adobo sauce, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, and cayenne.

2. Spray the slowcooker with cooking spray and place the chicken inside.

3. Scatter the onions and garlic evenly over the top of the chicken and pour the sauce over the top.

4. Cook on low for at least 5 hours. I cooked mine for more like 10. Place the chicken in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on. Turn on for a minute, allowing the paddle to shred the chicken. If you don’t have a stand mixer, allow for the chicken to cool enough so that you can touch it and shred it with two forks.

DAY 1: Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients
1/5 of the barbecued chicken
2 hamburger buns
2 pickles

Directions

1. Toast the hamburger buns.

2. Put 1/2 of the chicken onto each bun.

3. Serve with a pickle.

DAY 2: Pulled Chicken Taco Salad

Ingredients
1/5 of the barbecued chicken
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 oz tortilla chips (~30 chips)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tomato, diced
2 tbsp sour cream

Directions

1. Take two bowls. Fill each bowl with the tortilla chips. Top with lettuce and tomatoes. Place the shredded chicken in the center and top with sour cream. Sprinkle the top with cheese.

DAY 3: Barbecued Chicken Pasta

Ingredients
1/5 of the slowcooker chicken
6 oz pasta in a shape of your choice
1/4 onion, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Put the chicken in an oven proof dish and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

2. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain.

3. Mix the onion, cheese, and chicken into the pasta.

DAY 4: Barbecue Chicken Hash

Ingredients
1/5 of the chicken
2 red potatoes, diced
2 slices of bread, toasted

Directions

1. Mix the chicken and potatoes together in a bowl with your hands.

2. Bake the chicken and potatoes together until the potatoes are tender.

3. Serve with toast.

DAY 5: Barbecued Chicken Chili

Ingredients
1/5 of the chicken
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 sweet potato, cubed
1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables
4 cups chicken broth

Directions

1. In a deep pot heat the oil. Cook the onions and garlic until they begin to brown. Add the sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables.

2. Pour in the chicken broth. Mix in the chicken.

3. Heat for about 30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender.

* Shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Slow Cooker Lentil Vegetable Stew

 

The first week of my last year in law school was this week. Just two semesters left and I’ll have to change the name of my blog. It won’t be the Law Student’s Cookbook anymore, but the Unemployed Law School Graduate’s Cookbook. Well, that is until I pass the bar and hopefully get hired somewhere great. Then my blog will be called The Public Defender’s Cookbook. But more likely it will just need a new name that leaves me unaffiliated with a career. When that day comes . . . No. I can’t even think about it. It’s still so far off.

Anyway, school started this week and I have night classes two days every week. Last semester I had a ton of night classes.
Last semester I also got really fat because I ate out so much. On top of gaining pounds, my wallet got pretty slim. I would prefer things to work in reverse, so I’ve decided I really just need to implement ways that make getting home just before 9PM okay. The number one way this is going to work is if in the morning before I leave for work or school I throw everything for the day into a crockpot. That way when I do get home just 2 hours before my bedtime, I don’t feel like I need to run and get fast food to satiate myself. And frankly, anything I can make at home tastes a million times better than something that comes through a drive through.

This week has been a pretty mellow week compared to what the rest of my semester is going to look like. Two of my classes got cancelled the first week of school, so instead of two nights of needing quick dinners (rather, slow cooked dinners,) I only had one.

During the middle of my Prosecutorial&Defense Ethics my stomach started grumbling. I was happy to find this slow cooker stew when I got home.

Slow Cooker Lentil Vegetable Stew

Ingredients
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 potato, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, sliced
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup green beans, broken into pieces
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry lentils

Directions

1. Add everything except for the lentils into a slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low. Add lentils during the last hour of cooking.

* serves 6
* 273 calories per serving
* Shared with Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen & What’s Cooking Wednesday