Turkey Leg Sandwich

So, there has been a huge gap in blogging my recipes here. Many things have been happening around here. Nonetheless I am back and hopefully I would be adding more recipes here.

Today I made a pulled turkey sandwich and as the name suggests, comes from the turkey leg. And I think the dark meat makes the turkey taste the way it does. Super delicious. The actual recipe I think is a bit different. It is actually from a restaurant called Henry Public in Brooklyn . This was featured in unique eats program .

Turkey Leg Sandwich (Slow cooked turkey leg meat sandwich)

Turkey Leg Sandwich

Turkey leg Sandwich with home made french fried onions

Ingredients

1. 3 Turkey Legs/drumsticks (1 package)
2. 1 large yellow onion sliced into half/quarter circles
3. 2 super large or 4 regular whole garlic cloves
4. 1/2 tsp. thyme
5. 1 tablespoon. parsley
6. 1 cups plain yogurt
7. 2 cups whole milk
8. 1 tsp. black pepper
9. 1 tsp. salt
10. 1 tsp. paprika
11. 6 oz. bag of French Fried Onions
12. pickles to serve
13. Thick sliced Butter Bread or any other thick bread

Start by seasoning the turkey legs with 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper and paprika. Brown the turkey legs on sides and then remove from the pan.  Next, add the onions, whole garlic cloves, thyme and parsley inside of the same pan and cook until onions are ‘sweated’.  Now place the turkey legs back into the pan.  Mix the milk, yogurt, 2 tsp. black pepper and remaining salt.  Pour this mixture over the turkey legs and onions.  Cover and allow to cook in a slow cooker for 3 hours

After the turkey legs have cooked through, remove from the pan and begin to coarsely shred the meat.  Meanwhile reduce the liquid mixture and then add the shredded meat back into the liquid. Allow the meat to thoroughly soak up the liquid.  Toast the slices of butter bread and then top with a generous portion of the shredded turkey. Top the turkey with a handful of French fried onions and remaining slice of toasted bread. Serve with a pickle on the side and fries or chips

PS: This time around, I made my own french fried onions but they didn't come out right. Because I forgot to but French's fried onions. 

Mediterranean rice with Mediterranean Roasted Potatoes

Yesterday we went to a Mediterranean Restaurant called "Green Olive". The food was ddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious. My husband and his colleagues go there quite often but this was the first time I went there. It was great. So my daughter says "can you make this and pack it as a lunch for school, one time? " And that inspires today's lunch. Mediterranean rice and Mediterranean roasted potatoes. The roasted potatoes were on par with the restaurant ones. I am happy :)

Mediterranean Roasted Potatoes

Mediterranean Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3 big potatoes, peeled and cut into  1/2-inch half circles
• Olive oil spray
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1  teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup  chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place the potatoes in a single layer in a 13-x-9-inch baking dish spray the olive oil. Add the garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste and toss well to coat with the oil.

Bake the potatoes for 15 minutes. Add the stock, stirred with lemon juice and  toss and bake for 10 minutes more.stir and bake 10 more minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. If you like, preheat the broiler and broil the potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve hot as a side dish

Mediterranean Rice Pilaf

Mediterranean Rice

Ingredients:

1. 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
2. 1/2 cup chopped onions
3. 2 big or 3 small garlic minced
4. 1 cup rice
5. 1 low sodium chicken bullion
6. 1 teaspoon lemon rind
7. 1/4 cup chopped parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
8. salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil & saute onion & garlic until tender, stir in rice. Add boiling water until pan is 3/4 full. Bring to boil, stirring.
Stir in stock & rapid boil for 10-12 mins or until tender, drain well.Return to pan adding lemon rind, parsley & pepper, toss well to combine. Serve hot

CornMeal idli

I have been really busy lately and haven' been blogging here. But today I made a point that I will make a dish and blog it.

I was searching for Indian breakfast recipes and I found this recipe for cornmeal idli and since I had soon meal I made it. And I loved them and my little one also liked it. I only difference I did was I had blue cornmeal on hand and not the regular yellow corn meal. This blue corn meal is from a trip to Albuquerque

Corn Meal Idli

Ingredients
Cornmeal - 2 cups
Sour Yogurt - 2 cups
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Cilantro - handful (finely chopped)
Curry Leaves - 1 strand (finely chopped)
Water - as needed for batter
Oil- 2 tblsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Channa dal- 1 tsp

Method
1. Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and channa dal.
2. Add the corn meal to this and roast it for few minutes. This step is optional but gives a nice nutty flavour. If you are in a hurry, skip this step.
3. Swith off and add grated carrot, chopped curry leaves, cilantro, yogurt and required salt.
4. Mix well and let this rest for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add water to bring it to the right consistency for making idlis or dosas.
6. Add a pinch of baking soda to the above batter and mix nicely. Steam them in idli plates for 15 minutes.
 

Mexican marinated Carrots and Radishes

There used to be a Mexican restaurant which was my favorite. Their enchiladas were awesome. And of course the condiment bar was always fresh and super delicious. And one of the items there was the Mexican marinated radishes and carrots. And my hubby dear was crazy about them.

So, today for dinner its grilled fish tacos and the recipe will soon follow. But I am going to serve it along with the other fixing and also the marinated carrots and radishes. And the original recipe said to leave it atleast 2 hours before serving. I made it in the afternoon. I tasted it and its spicy and super delicious. I am pretty happy with it

Mexican Marinated Radishes and carrots

Marinated Carrots and Radishes

Ingredients:

1. 1 large carrot cut into 3-4 mm thick circles
2. 6-8 radishes ashed and cut into same thickness slices
3. 2 large or 3 medium garlic pods crushed
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of sugar, salt, oregano
5. 1 cup each of water, white vinegar (The original recipe calls for white wine vinegar)
6. 1 serrano or jalapeno chili sliced thin
7. Quarter of a large red onion cubed
8. 1/4 cup chopped (big chops) cilantro

Heat the water and vinegar along with salt and sugar. Add the garlic, onions, chili and cilantro and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Don't boil it. Pour it over the carrots and radishes. Let cool and set it in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving. Enjoy with your Mexican meal 

Shepherd's pie

So...it was Sunday and I was looking for something different to serve to the family. I had ground lamb and basically that was my searching point. I planned to make cheese burger pie but I had very little cheese so that was out of question. And when I was searching for the recipes I came across Shepherd's pie. mmm yummy deliciousness. The family loved it.

Since I did not have celery I improvised with Zucchini and nobody noticed any difference and they loved it. And I served it with steamed broccoli. And yummy tummy filling dinner was ready. The photo does not do any justice to the deliciousness of the dish

Shepherd's pie(Ground lamb topped with mashed potato and baked)

Shepherd's pie

Shepherd's pie dinner

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb ground lamb
2. 1 medium zucchini cubed into 1 cm pieces
3. 1 large carrot cubed int 1 cm pices
4. 1 cup chopped onions
5. 2 large or 4 medium garlic pods chopped fine
6. 1 tablespoon oil
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of fresh ground pepper, thyme, rosemary
8. 1 heaped tablespoon flour
9. 1 cup chicken broth
10. 1 teaspoon salt divided
11. 3 large or 5 medium russet potatoes boiled.
12. 1/2 cup milk
13. 2 tbsp+ 1 tablespoon butter
14. 1 cup cheddar cheese

Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper , milk and 1 tbsp butter till they become smooth. Set aside

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions for 5 minutes. Add carrot and zucchini and fry for 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add ground meat/lamb and fry for 10 minutes or cooked through. Add the rest of the salt and pepper and the spices. Add the flour and stir well. Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Cut the heat.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray non stick cooking spray in a rectangle pan. Add the meat mixture to it. Top it with the mashed potato and smooth it out. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and dot with butter. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving

Kaleji Shorbadaar

Kaleji or goat liver is not one of my favorite currys'. But the one I made this time was super delicious. I served it with Sambar and white rice but it will be great with any Indian Bread

Kaleji ShorbaDaar(Liver in Tomato gravy)

Julienned liver in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb goat liver cut into thin strips1-2 cms long
2. 1 can tomato sauce
3. 1 medium red onion sliced thin
4. 2 tablespoons oil
5. 2 cloves and 1 inch cinnamon stick
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, red chilli powder, turmeric
7. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
8. 1 tablespoons fresh juice from lemon

Wash the liver well till the water runs clear. Drain it and marinate it with salt, chilli powder, turmeric and lemon juice for 30-60 minutes.

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions till they turn dark brown (alternatively, you an deep fry the onions till crunchy...but I am avoiding too much oil here). Drain and set aside.

In the same pan add the remaining oil and fry the cinnamon and cloves for a minute. Add the marinated liver and ginger garlic paste and fry on high heat for 5-7 minutes. Add the tomato sauce stir well and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the fried onions and mix well and garnish with cilantro and serve with roti or rice

Maharastrian shrimp curry

So after a long gap I am back on the blogspot and today I made a yummy shrimp curry from the central part of India, specifically from Maharastra. Maharastra has a coast line on the west bordered by the Arabian Sea. This is a curry with a coconut and tomato based spicy gravy. I made Maharastrian rice to serve my curry with Maharastrian rice with my own twist on it
The actual curry is from the IndiaWest website

Maharastrian shrimp curry( shrimp in a tomato and coconut gravy)
Ingredients

1 pound shrimp/ prawns peeled

1 large onion chopped

2 medium tomatoes chopped

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon tamarind paste

salt to taste

chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

half cup coconut milk

Combine the shrimp, ginger-garlic paste, red chillie powder, turmeric powder, tamarind paste, salt and allow it to marinate for 20 - 30 minutes. In a shallow bottom non - stick pan, heat oil. Once hot, add two crushed garlic cloves. Wait for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Next, add the onions and saute until the onions becomes transluscent. Add the tomatoes, stir for approximately 5 minutes. At this point add the marinated prawns and stir until they lose the grey color and turn pink. Add 1 cup water and let the curry come to boil. Then, add half cup coconut milk and the chopped coriander leaves. Taste and add salt if necessary. Cook further for a couple of minutes. Serve hot with Maharastrian Rice

Maharastrian Style Rice (Rice cooked with Potato and eggplants)

Maharastrian Potato Eggplant rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups basmati rice washed 
2. 2 medium potatoes peeled and cubed small
3. 3 medium small Indian eggplants washed and cubed
4. 1/2 cup onions chopped
5. 1 serrano chilli chopped
6. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 3/4 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start changing colors. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the chillies, potato and eggplant and fry for 5-7 minutes. Add salt and turmeric and mix well. Add 4 cups water and bring it to boil. Add rice and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is done. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy hot hot