pickled chilies

Lunch Quickie – Smoked Salmon, Spicy Potato Salad And Sunny Side Up Eggs

When contemplating what to prepare for a combined breakfast/lunch today, I found that I had some leftover cooked potatoes, leftover “cebollas en escabeche” (escabeche de cebollas) and a packet of smoked salmon.
Within less than 10 minutes, this gorgeous dish was ready on the table.
Bella and I were happy and content, and cleanup was a snap. Easy peasy 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for Cebollas En Escabeche on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for more Salmon on ChefsOpinion
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Lunch Quickie – Smoked Salmon, Spicy Potato Salad And Sunny Side Up Eggs

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Preparation :
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: melt 1 tblsp rendered duckfat in a hot pan

: add 10 oz cooked potatoes, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, saute until lightly browned

: transfer potatoes to a bowl, toss with 1 tblsp sliced chives, 1 tblsp EVOO, 1 tblsp rice vinegar, salt and pepper to taste

: add 4 oz cebollas en escabeche, mix, check/adjust seasoning

: arrange 10 oz smoked salmon on a serving platter, top with the potatoes, garnish with some pickled chilies (optional)

: top the potatoes with sunny side up eggs (I used three eggs, because I usually don’t give eggs to Bella. If you share this dish with another person, add another egg so the dish will serve 2 people

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Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

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Today, I like to share a dish with you that I have prepared in its basic version hundreds of times over the years. It is a “a la minute” dish, so it requires no prolonged cooking and can be prepared on short notice (a la minute) and in just a few minutes of prepping and cooking.
The ingredients for the sauce are always the same – clarified butter, curry powder, turmeric powder, cumin, garlic paste, grated ginger, kosher salt, chicken, beef or vegetable stock, and heavy cream.
On the other hand, besides the sauce, anything goes. You can replace the potatoes, chick peas and shrimp with anything your heart desires and your belly craves – any poultry, any seafood, beef, veggies-only to make the dish vegetarian, even potatoes and tomatoes only (one of my favorites), and so forth…..
The sauce is what makes this dish so delicious and unique and I usually make more than the dish actually needs, so I can use the leftover sauce to flavor some rice or pasta, usually for a simple breakfast or a tasty midnight snack 🙂
The ratio of the ingredients for the sauce is also flexible and depends on the main ingredient you use.
While the basic sauce for two portions requires 1/2 cup stock, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 pinch of cumin, 1 tblsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp garlic paste, 1/4 tsp grated ginger and kosher salt to taste, I like to use more curry powder for beef and chicken dishes, more cumin for lamb, more liquid for starchy dishes, less liquid for vegetable variations, etc.
As usual, please let the recipe I give you here serve as a guideline, which you can/should adjust according to your own preferences 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for my opinion on “Authentic Recipes” on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for “Easy Does It Curry Sauce ” on ChefsOpinion
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Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

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Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

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Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

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Preparation :
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: blanch, peel and slice 1 lb of small potatoes, pat dry, fry in 2 cup 375F peanut oil until lightly browned

: remove from oil with a slotted spoon, reserve

: season 1 1/2 lbs 21/32 shrimp with 1 tblsp lime juice, 1 tblsp corn starch and kosher salt to taste

: fry in 375F peanut oil for 1 minute, remove with a slotted spoon, reserve

: season the chickpeas with a pinch of curry powder, a pinch of cumin and kosher salt to taste

: saute in the remaining 275F peanut oil for one minute, remove with a slotted spoon, reserve

: slice 1 ea large jalapeno into thin slices, dust lightly with corn starch, saute in 275F peanut oil for one minute, remove with a slotted spoon, reserve, discard the peanut oil

: add 1 ea tblsp clarified butter to the pan, saute all spices and aromatics until fragrant (see the ingredients on this page)

: add the stock and heavy cream (see the ingredients on this page), simmer 2 minutes, remove from heat, check/adjust the seasoning, add all the previously sauteed ingredients except the jalapenos, mix well,

: place the curry on a deep serving bowl, top with the fried jalapenos, basil leaves, sliced chives and pickled chilies (optional); serves 4

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

: Curried Shrimp With Potatoes & Garbanzos

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Another Day, Another Wonderful Salad (Plus A Great Grilled Chicken Breast)

Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

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In my ongoing (and admittedly, so far not very successful) quest for a more healthful lifestyle, I do eat a lot more vegetables and salads.
Unfortunately, most of the time when I choose a healthy dish for one meal, I offset the good effect with a not so healthy dish for the following meal. But, I keep trying………
Today’s lunch was a rather salubrious choice, grilled lean meat, accompanied by a delicious vegetable salad with olive oil dressing and, for a bit of extra zing, a few pickled chilies and a herb-laden chimichurri.
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here to know everything about Chimichurri
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Click here for more Chimichurri on ChefsOpinion
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Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

Red Beet/Broccoli Salad

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Preparation :
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: cut 8 oz of cooked red beets, 6 oz of blanched broccoli, 1 small onion and 2 yellow mild chillis according to the pic

: dress with 2 tblsp olive oil, 2 tblsp white balsmic vinegar and kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste

: Red Beet/Broccoli Salad

: season 2 ea chicken breasts and some scallions with kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste, cook on a lightly oiled grill until cooked through

: Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

: Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

: Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

: Grilled Chicken Breast With Red Beet/Broccoli Salad And Chimichurri

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Midnight Snack – Good Stuff ! Not Crappy Bags of “Nachos & Salsa”

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Life is Good – mostly because life is what you make of it 🙂
Take the snack I prepped for myself an hour ago for example. Rather than opening an over-prized bag of crappy nachos (Totopos), a can of over-prized, VERY crappy cheese dip and a tub of sometimes surprisingly decent salsa Mexicana, why not grill up a good quality naan and cover it with a few slices of great quality coppa ham, pecorino cheese and a few marinated chilies and pronto ! – great food for about the same price and effort. Life (and a midnight snack) is what you make of it 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Midnight Snack - Coppa & Pecorino Sandwich

Midnight Snack – Coppa & Pecorino Naan-Sandwich

Midnight Snack – Coppa & Pecorino-Sandwich

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Preparation :
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: grill home made or store-bought naan until heated through

: cover with coppa ham

: sprinkle with black pepper

: add thinly sliced tomatoes and a few drops of EVO, sprinkle with kosher salt

: add thinly sliced pecorino and pickled chilies

: Midnight Snack – Coppa & Pecorino Naan-Sandwich

: Midnight Snack – Coppa & Pecorino Naan-Sandwich

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Easy Does It # 23 – Pickled Cauliflower And Pickled Broccolini

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Pickled vegetables are so easy to prepare, they stay fresh in the fridge for day’s and they come in handy any time of the day as a snack, or just as an refreshing side dish.
While you can pickle just about anything with great results, cauliflower and broccolini are my favorites, closely followed by mushrooms and cabbage.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Link to more “Easy Does It”
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Link to “Pickled Cabbage Rolls”
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Link to “Chinese Pickled Cucumbers”
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Link to “Pickled Chicken” (Pollo En Escabeche)

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Pickled Cauliflower

Pickled Broccolini

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Preparation :
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: blanched broccolini, garlic paste, pickled chilies, sliced onions, shredded carrots

: add kosher salt, cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, mix well, marinade at least 24 hours in fridge, serve at room temperature

: Pickled Broccolini

: Pickled Broccolini

: Pickled Broccolini

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: raw beauty…………

: cut into florettes

: blanche in salted water, shock in ice water, drain

: add sliced scallions, diced onions, fresh cracked black pepper, kosher salt, olive oil, garlic pasteapple cider vinegar, mix, marinade at least 24 hours

: Pickled Cauliflower

: Pickled Cauliflower

: Pickled Cauliflower

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Adana Kebab (Kıyma Kebabı) (Turkish Lamb Skewer)

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In the early seventies I was lucky enough to be visiting Turkey many times ( Istanbul, Kusadasi and Izmir among other places). At that time, Turkey still had an oriental mystique to it which was incredibly fascinating and exiting to a young man like me. The sights, smells and noises were so much different from what I was used to – even after all these years, they still linger vividly in my memory
My girlfriend and I almost got stoned by an angry mob one day at the market in Izmir. (They actually threw stones and small rocks at us). We just came from the Caribbean and my girlfriend Edith was wearing the popular outfit of the day – high heels, hot pants and a thin t-shirt without a bra – not a good idea at the time in a mostly Muslim country. Only the quick help and intervention of our taxi driver who came running to rescue us (carefree idiots) prevented great harm or worse.
But beside that particular episode, I only have great memories of Turkey in the seventies. One of the highlights of our stay’s were always the great meals we had in local restaurants. We tried anything we could, from five-star restaurants in five-star hotels in Istanbul to small dives along the beaches and funky eateries in the sea port’s more seedy areas. The food was always great, fresh, spice-laden and exotic (to me at that time, most anything seemed exotic)
I remember Adana Kebab to be widely served and today I finally got around to do my own version which turned out pretty spectacular 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Afiyet Olsun !
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Turkish Adana Kebab

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Preparation :
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: season ground lamb with sumac, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, grd coriander seeds, oregano, chili flakes, chopped onions, garlic paste, kosher salt, mix well, form into 8 oz balls, thread around skewers, grill until medium

: serve with flatbread, olives, pickled chilies, sun dried tomatoes, yogurt, hummus, onions, tomatoes, avocado, drizzle all with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper and chopped cilantro