Tag: main course
Bobotie
Bobotie
Bobotie is considered to be the national dish of South Africa. The ground beef/egg custard bake has a lot of complex flavors from the curry spice to the grated apple. Once you eat this, try not to get addicted and eat the entire pan. It happens.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 slices bread
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp dried basil
- 2 lb 90% lean ground beef
- 1 large grated apple
- 1/2 lemon juice and zest
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Egg Custard topping
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- bay leaves
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Egg Custard Mixture
- Mix the eggs, cream, milk, parsley, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
Bobotie
- Soak the slices of bread in milk. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add the butter, onions, and garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, turmeric, cumin coriander, thyme, basil, and oregano. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the ground beef. Cook until the beef is completely browned.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef mixture, the milk soaked bread mixture, lemon juice and zest, grated apple, and the Worcestershire sauce. Mix together.
- Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 9″x13″ baking dish or a round 10″ baking dish, add the beef mixture. Press down tight into the baking dish. Cook for 35 minutes.
- ake out of the oven. The top should be slightly crispy.
- 8. Pour the egg custard mixture over the baked ground beef mixture. Place bay leafs ver the top. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. This is a great time to pack a bowl for a pre-meal high.
- Bobotie is great with yellow rice or served on it’s own!
Spicy Braised Rice Cakes
Spicy Braised Rice Cakes (Gukmul Tteokbokki)
This is the soupy variation of spicy stir fried rice cakes. Gukmul in Korean translates to soupy and tteokbokki translates to stir fried rice cake. Rice cakes in general are a very popular snack in Korean culture. There are 2 types of rice cakes that you can use for this dish. Rice cakes come in a couple of shapes: cylindrical and oval. You can use either. You can find rice cakes in Asian grocery stores; typically fresh, refrigerated, or frozen.It is very common to add ramen and soft boiled eggs to this dish, but not necessary. It is pretty hearty to begin with. But if you want an overload of protein and carbs, I suggest adding them
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb rice cakes
- 8 oz napa cabbage chopped
- 4 sheets fish cakes
- 2 green onion chopped
- 1/4 onion diced
- 2 soft boiled eggs (optional)
- 1 ramen brick (optional)
- 5 cups anchovy stock
Seasoning
- 3 tbsp gochugaru
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tbsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak rice cakes in cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Mix seasoning ingredients together. Set aside.
- In shallow stock pot, add the seasoning mix to the anchovy stock. Boil over medium high heat.
- Add the rice cakes to the stock. Cook for 5 minutes
- Add in the fish cakes, vegetables, and soft boiled eggs. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Add in the ramen brick and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.
- Bowl it up. Take one of the soft boiled eggs, which is now hard, and slice in half.
Chicken Roti
Chicken Roti
Chicken Roti is very popular all over the Caribbean. This version is from Trinidad. This is very similar to the Indian dish, butter chicken; just with Jamaican curry powder instead of Indian and without a ton of butter. This is great comfort food on a cold day.You can use skinless or skin on chicken. Your choice. I prefer to use skin on. I like the flavor the skin add to the dish. I also don’t like to waste any part of an animal. I used bone in chicken thighs and drumsticks. Dark meat definitely works best for braising, but if you want to use white meat, please do. Last, but most importantly, I always will recommend using bone in chicken as opposed to boneless. You are utilizing all of the animal while extracting copious amounts of flavor from the bone. You can use boneless skinless chicken if you want, but it will not be the same. My goal through my food blog is to get Americans to not be afraid to spit out a bone into a spoon and set it off to the side like the rest of the culinary world.For the chickpeas, I prefer to use dried as opposed to canned. To me, canned are too soft and don’t absorb as much of the juices as dried do. A 1lb bag of dried yields the equivalent of 4 cans, while costing less than half the price. So I boil a whole bag when making this and use the other half of the chickpeas for hummus.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 2 1/2 lbs bone in chicken pieces cut bite size
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Jamaican curry powder
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
Chicken Roti
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp allspice
- 3 tbsp Jamaican curry powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups boiled chickpeas or 1 can
- 2 cups cubed potatoes 1/2″ cubes
- 1 habanero
- 3 cup chicken stock
- salt to taste
Instructions
Chicken Marinade
- Either skin or leave the skin on to 2lbs of chicken parts. I used drumsticks and thighs. With a cleaver, cut into bite sized pieces, about 1″. Add all the marinade seasonings to the chicken. Mix well and marinate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Chicken Roti
- In a large sauce pan or dutch oven, heat up the cooking oil over medium high heat. Sauté the onions with garlic, thyme, allspice, cumin, smoked paprika, nutmeg, and curry powder. Cook until translucent; about 4 minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken pieces and the habanero. Cook for 5 minutes
- Add the chicken stock, chickpeas, and potatoes. Simmer on medium heat uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Now is a great time to roll a fatty. I like to set a timer to remind me when to check the food.
- Add salt to taste.
- Bowl it up and let the flatulents begin.
