Chicken in Spicy Tomato and Onion Sauce

Remember that amazing peppery chicken curry I posted some time ago? Man, how I loved that dish. Loved it so much that I’ve cooked it at least twice a month ever since we first ate it. I also handed out the recipe to many friends, so it’s safe to say I’m spreading the gospel. India will be proud of me. All kidding aside, I never knew black pepper could have so much flavor in and of itself or I would have started cooking with it like this eons ago.
This time I wanted to try the basics used in that recipe, but give it a slight tomato twist. Not sure what to expect I trodded over to the kitchen, armed with camera and tripod. And what do you know; it turned out really, really good!

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken fillet
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
2 small onions
1 large garlic clove
1/2 a cup water
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp tandoori spices
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp (hot) red chili
2 tbsp honey
salt
oil
Directions:
Start with the onions. Peel them and chop one of the onions in quartered rings. Give the second onion a coarse chop.

Transfer the coarsely chopped onion to a blender or immersion blender bowl and puree it.

Grate one large or two smaller garlic cloves.

In a small bowl you combine the tandoori spices, hot chili powder (or cayenne), ground ginger and curry powder. The chili powder isn’t enough to blow you away, but it will give a really good kick.

Cut one pound skinless and boneless chicken breasts into one inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 or 2 tbsp oil and cook the chicken cubes until they lose their rawness. Remove them from the pan.

Heat 2 more tbsp oil, add 1/4 tsp black and cook the pepper for 30 seconds. I love this smell! Add the quartered onion rings and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the grated garlic and the onion mash. Cook for 5 more minutes, over low heat.

Add the spices and cook for a minute to release the fragrance. Take a whiff; this smells spectacular!

Add a 14oz can diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp honey (this gives a hint of sweetness and a great flavor), 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt and stir. bring to a boil and simmer, with the lid on, for 25 minutes.

After which you add the chicken cubes. Put the lid on and simmer for another 20 minutes. Then check the seasoning.

Garnish with coarsely cracked black pepper, finely minced flat-leaf parsley and serve with Naan bread, Moroccan flat-bread or, as I like to do, stuff it inside pita bread. It also works with rice and steamed broccoli. Or French fries. But then again, French fries are good with almost anything. Just like bacon.

Cheesy Sausage & Veggie Bake

Doesn’t look too shabby for a ‘must clean out my fridge‘ type of dinner, does it?
I’m not big on broccoli. Never have been and never will be. I mainly eat it when it’s stir-fried with some other flavors—like my citrus syrup or something—thrown into the equation or as part of a Quiche or casserole.
I opted for a casserole this time, gives me a chance to mix ingredients. It’s not going to be too long before the lighter dishes make an entrance, so I jump at every last chance of making a casserole.
This made for a pretty good weeknight dinner and, undoubtedly due to the sauce and cheese, was even eaten by my son. Who takes after his mom when it comes to broccoli.

Ingredients:
4 sausages
1 pound broccoli
1 large carrot
1 pound potatoes
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 a lime
1 vegetable bouillon cube
handful grated cheese
salt and pepper

Directions:
Only a handful ingredients. It works though.

Chop the broccoli into florets. Peel the potatoes and carrot and slice them in 1/2 inch thick slices. Parboil them, along with the bouillon cube or simply some salt, for 5 minutes.

Gives you time to turn the sausages into thick slices. These were half pork/ half beef sausages.

After those 5 minutes you add the broccoli florets, bring it back to a boil and give it another 5 minutes.

After this time the potatoes should be perfectly done without falling apart. The carrot slices should be fork tender and the broccoli will be bright green and bite tender.
I’m using the cooking liquid as the basis for my sauce. Take out about 2 cups. Drain the rest and cool the vegetables off with cold, running, water to stop the cooking process.

Heat 2 tbsp butter.

Add the flour and cook for a minute to neutralize the rawness. Because I’m using a minimal amount of butter, the flour will be grainy. Don’t worry.
Pour in the cooking liquid (start with 1 cup and slowly add more as the sauce cooks) and stir like a maniac to get a smooth sauce. Finish the sauce with salt, pepper and the lime (or lemon juice). The lime really makes this sauce.

I use a flat whisk for sauces like this, they’re perfect when it comes to avoiding lumps. If your sauce did end up lumpy, don’t worry. Simply run it through a sieve to remove the lumps.
I finished the sauce with the remaining butter.

Bake the sausage slices until nice and brown on both sides.

They should be fully cooked in no time.

Put the vegetables into an oven dish. Place the sausage on top. Pour the sauce all over and top it off with a handful of grated cheese.

Bake the casserole at 350F° (175C°) for 20 minutes. Until everything is heated through and the cheese has melted.

Perfect easy casserole dinner for busy family nights!

Spicy Scampi

I have this thing for seafood. It’s the perfect appetizer; so tasty, light and pretty. I honestly believe that 50% of how food tastes is determined by how its presented. Lucky for me; there’s absolutely nothing easier and more beautiful to serve than gorgeous pink shrimps.
I decided that one of our Christmas days (we have 2 official days of Christmas here) will be reserved for seafood. It’ll be a nice break from all the meat we’ll have when we have our annual ‘gourmet‘ on the first day of Christmas. Gourmet is a typically Dutch thing and it’s a bit like fondue; I’ll prepare large amounts of marinaded and bit-size pieces of meat, fish, poultry and veggies. Everyone grills the food on top of a large electric pan. Tons of warm french bread with home made butter on the side. It takes for hours of eating and fun, think of it as an interactive meal. It’s really fun.
No matter how much I love to cook, though, I don’t want to spend big part of my holidays in the kitchen so I’ll show you my favorite way to make a shrimp appetizer with as little work as possible. It’s so simple; let the oven do the work for you. You can prep the shrimps before your guests arrive, and right before dinner you simply pop them in the oven.

Ingredients:
1 pound jumbo shrimps
2/3 stick butter (75gr)
1/3 red chili pepper
1 large garlic clove
flat leaf parsley
pepper
salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400F (200C).
I’ve used frozen ones (straight from the freezer). You can also use fresh or thawed shrimps. Whatever you prefer. Just make sure to reduce the cooking time when using fresh or thawed! When using fresh shrimps it also look really pretty when you leave the tail on.
They look so fancy pink!

Finely chop 1/3 to 1/2 a red chili pepper. Take the seeds out; we just want to add a little warmth to the shrimps, not make them flaming hot. Also grate or finely chop a reasonably sized garlic clove.

I always keep a ziploc bag of washed and dried flat leaf pasrley in my fridge, it’s such an easy and earthy herb to work with. Finely chop a small handful until you end up with roughly 2 tbsp chopped parsley. Grab it all and put it in a bowl.

Now add 2/3 stick (75 grams) of melted butter and give everything a good stir.

Just add the butter to the shrimps and combine everything.

Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer them to a baking dish.

Pop them in a preheated oven and bake them on the top oven shelf for about 15 minutes. If you use fresh or thawed shrimps, cooking them for 5 to 7 minutes will do, until they change from boring gray to pretty pink.
Serve with lots of lemon wedges and bread on the side. So easy yet so tasty.

Cod with a Salsa Twist

I’m trying to eat more fish, at least once a week. It’s tasty, easy to cook, healthy and what’s even better; it lends itself to versatility. You can be as creative as you want with toppings, crusts and sauces.
I just wish it wasn’t so darn expensive. At least in the Netherlands it is. So, I tend to play it safe when cooking fish. But there’s one combination that’s simply divine; cod and tomato. You can never go wrong with this!
I grew weary of the skillet baked cod with white sauce, so I loaded it with a tomato salsa type of topping this time and simply put it in the oven so the salsa would heat through as well.
It was fabulous! Summery almost. Very basic, pure flavors.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound cod
1/3 can diced tomatoes (14oz)
3 tomatoes
1 small red onion
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper
handful fresh basil
1 tbsp red (or white) wine vinegar
tiny drop balsamic
sea salt or kosher salt

Directions:
Such simple ingredients. Coarsely chop half the onion and add it to a food processor.

Grate the garlic in there. Don’t add whole cloves because chances are you’ll be biting down on a big chunk of garlic. Not cool.

Pour in the oil and about 1/3 of the diced tomatoes.

Add the red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar), the balsamic (though this is optional) and a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Add fresh basil. It just needs a bit of fresh basil.

Blitz for about 30 seconds.

I finely minced the remaining onion and the tomatoes and added them to the flavored puree.

Lightly oil a baking tray and place the cod (or tilapia) in there.

Season the fish (don’t skimp!) and top it with a generous amount of tomato salsa.

Put it in a preheated oven and bake the fish at 350F˚ (175C˚) for 20 to 25 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the fish, of course.

As soon as it comes out of the oven drizzle a little extra EVOO on top and garnish with finely chopped basil.

Serve with skillet or oven baked potatoes and a nice crispy green salad.

Crispy Shrimp Pasta

4 oz fettuccine pasta
3/4 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning


This crispy shrimp pasta is such a treat. It’s rich, buttery, creamy, and a cinch to whip up. The golden crust on the shrimp is just glorious. I can’t say enough good things about this perfectly indulgent delight!


Boil noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, grab three-fourths of a pound of raw shrimp that’s been peeled, deveined, and tails removed. This is just the right amount for two servings.

Season generously with salt..

And freshly ground pepper. Give this a stir to evenly distribute the seasoning.

Sprinkle on one tablespoon of flour…

And stir to coat.

Add one more tablespoon of flour for good measure.

And stir to evenly coat the shrimp. Perfect.

Melt one tablespoon of butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

When melted and hot, add the shrimp in a single layer and cook one one side for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

Flip the shrimp and cook until golden brown on the other side, another 2-3 minutes.

When done, remove the shrimp to the plate. This golden, crispy crust, inspired by How Sweet Eats’ Crispy Shrimp Pasta with Arugula Pesto Cream Sauce is pure heaven!

Pour in the chicken broth and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking the bottom of the pan to deglaze.

Reduce heat to medium and pour in cream, whisking constantly. Cook sauce over medium heat until bubbly and the cream starts to thicken the mixture, about 5-10 minutes.

You’ll want to add some seasoning at this point. Just some salt and pepper would be nice, but I usually add 1/2 teaspoon of my favorite cajun seasoning. It’s perfect for rich, creamy sauces like this.

Season your sauce as desired, then add the drained pasta and shrimp to the sauce and stir to combine. This combination has such a rich, wonderful flavor. It’s one of our favorites!