Chicken curry

Growing up my mom made this once a year when my uncle visited for Christmas. As a kid it was the best treat and was reserved for only that one time a year. When I got to college I asked my mom for the recipe and was shocked and horrified at how incredible easy it was. Why did we only eat this once a year?? Maybe it was to off set the creamed spinach souffle we were also forced to chock down when my uncle visited.

Well, this has become nearly a staple in our household as it is so easy to make a large batch of, great as leftovers and is so delicious.

Chicken curry (serves 5 adults with minimal leftovers)

Ingredients:

ghee or oil of your choice
1 onion, sliced
1 head cauliflower, chopped (optional, but dang good)
2 pounds cubed chicken or other meat
yellow curry powder (in bulk spice section of your grocery store)
1 can coconut milk
around 2 cups chicken broth
water

Toppings:

banana slices
shredded coconut
chutney
green onion
salty cashews or peanuts

Heat ghee in a large pot. Saute onions until soft, throw in cauliflower to saute a couple minutes. Remove onions and cauliflower from pot (unless it's a really huge pot and there is room) and add chicken. Pour in a couple tablespoons of yellow curry powder. The more curry, the spicier. Stir to coat the chicken with curry and cook until nearly done. Add onions and cauliflower back in, tossing to spread the curry flavor around. Pour in a can of coconut milk and about 2 cups of chickn stock. Rinse out the coconut milk can with water and add that as well. Cover and simmer until the cauliflower is done to your liking.

Serve in a bowl and top with bananas, chutney, green onions, coconut and cashews or peanuts.

Here's the recipe my mom sent me in college:

Basically you brown some onions in butter, add chicken and sprinkle with curry powder. Cover with chicken stock and simmer until done.

And we only had it once a year!!! A recipe that takes 2 lines and is so delicious! I'm incredulous.

Give it a try and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Back on the wagon

After a few days off and a few days of cheats here and there I am back on the wagon except for milk in my coffee and sugar in my bacon (does bacon free sugar exist? I like my Cheryl the Pig Lady bacon, sugar and all)...and the occasional adult beverage.

Breakfast today was a quick 2 egg scramble and chicken apple sausage. Not glamorous or fancy, but it got the job done as a post WOD meal and breakfast.

Lunch was a leftover pork chop along with some baby carrots. I was feeling quite primal as I gripped the chop and tore at the meat with my teeth.

Dinner:

Roasted chicken with parsnips, carrots and beets

Usually I follow a simple recipe for roasting chicken, just salting and roasting the bird. I wanted more flavor tonight so I found a recipe for herb rubbed chicken.

Herb roasted chicken:

1 whole chicken, patted dry inside and out
1 lemon
1/2 an onion
2-3 cloves garlic
fresh rosemary, sage and thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil
ghee

Chop the lemon and onion into chunks. Mince the garlic. Salt the inside of the bird and stuff with the lemon, onion and garlic. Chop all the herbs, add some salt and pepper then enough olive oil and melted ghee to make a slightly liquidy paste. Rub this all over the bird. Roast for about 1+ hours or until the juices run clear when pricked at 4oo degrees.


After I got the bird in the oven I peeled the parsnips and carrots and threw them in the bottom of the roasting pan where they caramelized in the juices of the bird. The beets I had were tiny and too much trouble to peel so I boiled them until fork tender then easily slipped the skin off with my hands. I threw them in the bottom of the pan along with the carrots and parsnips to roast a bit and get some of the chicken juice flavor. The carrots and beets made for a colorful tye-dyed looking dish.

Feb. 5

It seems I had created a habit of recording my meals everyday because I miss updating the blog. So, how have I fared after 31 days of cleaning eating? It hasn't been pretty, but most things have been reasonably delicious.

First big post-clean eating go-crazy consumption was caramel macchiato cheesecake. It was freaking delicious, although I had to take a break about half way through because my body was in a little shock.

Sushi. A massive plate of sashimi with some rice and some rolls filled with a little bit of everything. So good.

Most over the top meal was a bacon cheese burger with a brioche bun, homemade ketchup and two sliced pickles. Again, freaking delicious. This amazing burger with a glass of pinot noir was the essentially like getting drunk on food because I woke up with a food hangover-gross feeling stomach, little slow to get moving.

Then the Super Bowl. Pizza, goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto (totally recommend, are good without cheese, are good wrapped in bacon and then baked), two kinds of cake, a reasonable beer. All in all, it was mostly bad, but a little good-there were some veggies and salmon in there.

So, where do I go from here? Back on the clean eating wagon. With the progress towards my goal half way complete there is no reason to stop. The last 5 days sure haven't helped me move towards that goal, but I am also not just quitting because eating crap food is that good. I have found my clean eating habits are ingrained in my lifestyle and when I stray my whole routine is a little out of whack. It makes it easier to go out to restaurants when not limited but I think it is realistic to eat clean 90% of the time and still be able to go out and enjoy all the delicious things there are to eat, clean or not.