Category: Recipes by Ingredient + Prep

Recipes by Ingredient

Instant Pot: Chicken Coconut Curry

I finally fell prey to the most talked about kitchen gadget today: the Instant Pot. God knows that I don’t need any more kitchen-anything, but I received a Williams-Sonoma gift certificate for my birthday and there was nothing else I wanted to spend it on other than something I was curious about but did not want to pay for with my own money. Game over.

This recipe is from Melissa Clark’s Dinner in an Instant with some of my adjustments. I didn’t want to buy coconut oil, so I skipped that here. I also didn’t get enough tomato pulp after grating 3 large ones and that resulted in the “burn” display on the pot. I had to add some broth to liquify it so I have substituted chopped tomatoes for you to avoid making the same mistake.

For my first Instant Pot experience, I would give it high marks. I timed my entire process and I was “cooking” for exactly an hour. Now, you still have to use some cooking chops and common sense to repair a dish that burns; no gadget can tell you that because that’s all instinct you learn from years of cooking the basics. You still have to chop your ingredients and sauté aromatics. What the Instant Pot did for me is cook the chicken in the shortest time possible without the scary whistling sound that I grew up with in my parents’ kitchen.

It was quiet and smooth-sailing after I went through the Getting Started tips recommended in the manual. I would have made this dish stove-top any other day, but it would have taken an extra hour to simmer and make sure the chicken pieces were cooked through. The Instant Pot did not sacrifice the depth of flavor, one important thing that I don’t like about regular slow cookers. The stewing broth that came out in the end was just as flavorful as if I braised it in my Dutch oven.

Ingredients:
2 lbs skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
1 can of coconut milk
1 medium-sized can of chopped tomatoes
3 tbsps ghee
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
a small knob of ginger, peeled, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp cardamom, ground
2 tsps coriander, ground
1 tbsp turmeric
red pepper flakes
1 tsp curry powder
a handful of frozen peas, thawed
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
salt, pepper

1. Using the sauté function of your Instant Pot, heat the ghee. Stir in the onions and cook until they are caramelized, about 12 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and cumin seeds for 2 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon and cardamom and cook for another minute. Then add the coriander, turmeric, curry powder, and red pepper flakes. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, and then cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 4 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Select the sauté function again and stir in the coconut milk, just enough for the consistency that you want. You don’t want the sauce to be too thick, nor for it to be too soupy. Add the green peas and the cilantro for color and keep stirring for another 2 minutes until the peas are warm and for the flavors to meld. Serve with rice.

Related post/s:
Join the bandwagon and get your own Instant Pot already!
Buy Melissa Clark’s Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot

Matcha Marble Cake

For some reason, I was craving a matcha-flavored bread after I joined the Women’s March’s first anniversary with friends. I knew I’ve tried it before but it wasn’t as spongy as I wanted it to be, so that night, I tried to buy a small tub of plain yogurt in my Harlem neighborhood and refill my stash of matcha. My trip was not completely unsuccessful; I could not find either product separately, but weirdly enough I was able to buy a matcha-flavored yogurt. That was for my first try, so I couldn’t make the swirl patterns required in this recipe. I also was too lazy to use my stand mixer to whisk the egg whites. I worked extra hard to whisk by hand and stopped short of getting those peaks. The result is not as spongey as intended, so I tried a second time.

For my second try, I bought everything required downtown and I also reluctantly dusted off my KitchenAid mixer to whisk the egg whites properly. The rice flour made such a huge difference in making this cake fluffy, so I would highly recommend you follow this recipe to a T since I’ve already tested it. You won’t regret it.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup corn oil
1 small tub of plain yogurt
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 tbsp matcha powder, mix with 2 tbsps hot water into paste
3 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 320º. Grease a loaf pan and line with baking paper at the bottom.
2. In a large bowl, mix egg yolks, caster sugar, and oil together with a hand whisk. Add yogurt and honey and mix well. Sift in plain flour and rice flour, and mix well.
3. Using your KitchenAid mixer, whisk egg whites until frothy, and gradually add in sugar. Continue to whisk egg whites until peaks form. Fold egg whites gently into the yolk mixture in 3 batches until combined.
4. Divide batter into 2 bowls. Add matcha paste into one portion of the batter and gently fold well with a rubber spatula.
5. Spoon plain and matcha batter alternately into prepared loaf pan. Gently shake the loaf pan a little and use a skewer inserted into the batter to create swirl patterns.
6. Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Leave cake in pan till completely cool before slicing.

Related post/s:
My first try baking with matcha

Farro and White Bean Tomato Soup

It’s been almost two years since I’ve updated this site. I’ve been see-sawing about keeping it up again, mainly because of time commitment. In the past 2 years, I’ve learned how to unplug and take more naps, and I’m just not sure if I want to go back to having multiple personal projects again because taking time for myself and doing almost nothing have been glorious. I’m active on Instagram as @ext212 but lately, I’ve been wanting to write again, even if it’s just finessing a recipe I’ve tested. So let’s just say that maybeee I can ease my way back to writing here again but without being tied to a regular schedule?

To start again, I wanted to test this recipe from Mark Bittman when the weather got cold again this season. I thought it would be a comforting bowl even if there isn’t any meat involved and I was right. I went for the shortcuts though, using canned beans in water instead of dried, and using a can of chopped tomatoes rather than fresh ones to save time. I gather that this version is not as hearty as originally intended, but a couple of bowls for dinner made me pretty warm inside.

Ingredients:
1 cup farro
1 can of white beans, rinsed, drained
1 large can of chopped tomatoes with its juice
chicken stock
1 onion, sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
a handful parsley, roughly chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated
oil, salt, pepper

1. Put oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté garlic until golden. Add the onions until translucent. Add the celery and carrots with some salt and pepper and cook until onions have softened.
2. Add farro, the beans, the tomatoes, and the stock. Mix well.
3. Bring to a boil, then adjust heat to a steady simmer. Cook until farro is tender, at least 15 minutes, adding stock as necessary if mixture becomes too thick. Stir in parsley, mix, then cook another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve with lots of Parmesan.

Spice Turmeric and Lemon BBQ Chicken

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe that requires you to spatchcock your chicken, but I decided to keep it whole and do less work. This increases the cooking time in the oven, so I just made sure the chicken fit snugly in my deep cast iron pan so that I could easily transfer it from the oven to my stovetop to finish. If you are using a regular roasting tray, transfer the chicken to an already-heated frying pan, deep enough to hold it and its juices.

I marinated the chicken a day just to make sure the flavor set in. If you only have a few hours to do so, try this with smaller chicken pieces. I carved the chicken and served it with some greens and leftover roasted butternut squash.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, rinsed, pat dry with paper towel
1 stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
a knob of ginger, chopped
1 tsp turmeric, ground
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 lemon, zest separated
a handful of cilantro, leaves separated from the stems, roughly chopped
olive oil
3 tbsps honey
4 scallions, chopped
1 fresh green chile, chopped

1. Make the marinade. Melt the butter in a small pan. In a blender, pulse together the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cilantro stalks, and lemon zest. Squeeze in the juice from half the lemon. Season with salt and pepper and pour in the butter with a tbsp of oil. Keep blitzing until a bit pasty while adding more oil if it’s a little too thick.
2. Rub this marinade all over the chicken, working it into all the nooks and crannies. If you are marinating in advance, cover the chicken and pop it in the fridge until needed.
3. When you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 375º. Place the chicken in a deep-enough snug-fitting cast iron pan and spoon over any marinade that may have fallen off. Cover the tray tightly with foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through. Check by piercing the thigh with a sharp knife. If the juice that runs out is clear, you’re okay.
4. While the chicken is cooking, toss together in a bowl the scallions, chile, and cilantro leaves with the remaining lemon juice. Set aside.
5. Carefully transfer the chicken from the oven to the stovetop on medium heat. Baste it with any juice from the tray and drizzle it all over with the honey. Cook until the chicken skin is golden. Serve the chicken with the scallion garnish.

Shrimp on Couscous and Summer Vegetables

This is from Jamie Oliver’s Everyday Super Food with a few adjustments. If you’re out of luck and need to use frozen and cooked shrimp, make sure they are completely thawed and dried with paper towels before you mix them in with the marinade. (I’m sorry, by the way.) Leave them soaking longer so that the flavor penetrates.

Ingredients:
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, stripped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 good pinch of saffron
1 lb shrimp, deveined, peeled, tail-on
1 orange
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup peas
half a bunch of asparagus
1 zucchini, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 fresh red chile, seeded, chopped
3 fresh mint leaves, julienned
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp plain yogurt
salt, pepper

1. Using a mortar, pound the rosemary leaves and the garlic into a paste with a pinch of salt. Muddle in 1 tbsp of oil, the paprika, saffron and a swig of boiling water to make a marinade. Cut the orange in half and toss one half with the shrimp and the marinade. Mix well and set aside until almost ready to serve.
2. Put all the vegetables in a serving bowl with the lemon juice and the other half of the orange. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
3. Put the couscous into a bowl and just cover with boiling water, then pop a plate on top and leave to fluff up. Uncover after a 3 minutes and toss with the vegetables.
4. Put a large non-stick frying pan on a high heat. Add the shrimp, marinade, and orange wedges and cook for up to 5 minutes, or until the shrimp are browned, then arrange on top of the couscous and vegetables. Top with yogurt.