Zesty Cook » curry

One Pot Peach Curry Chicken and Mo

zesty — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:00:09 +0000

Hey! Happy Friday. Crazy day here today so I will not take too long. However, I do have a lot to tell you. First of all, it is a Friday, the last Friday of Movember. So if you have not done so already, which I pretty much no you didn’t you should sponsor me for growing this crazy cat on my lip to raise money for prostate cancer.

In addition to that, I am preparing for a party for little Zesty tomorrow. Ella turns 4 on Tuesday and we are having a family party tomorrow at noon. Menu is set and I will provide a full update and recap on Monday. For the most part, all new recipes for me so it could be a huge flop. If so, we have the cake to fall back on as it is store bought.

Thirdly, I have to talk to you about this one pot chicken dish that Zesty junior and I put together on Tuesday. Took all of 6 minutes to prepare and a couple of hours in the oven. I used a store bought peach chutney and a store bought curry paste…. Too easy. Results were very good. Somethings in life are simple – yet we always try to make them seem more complex.

Ingredients

4 large Chicken Breasts, bone-in
1 Tbsp. Curry paste
2 Tbsp. Peach chutney
1 Tbsp. Mustard
1 Tbsp. Coriander
3/4 Cup water
1 Large Cabbage, sliced
1 Cup cranberries
2 Handfuls Cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large roasting pan, line the bottom with the cabbage and season with salt and pepper
Place chicken on top; add cranberries and tomatoes.
In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix together.
Pour over chicken, cover with lid and roast for about 90-120 minutes.
Enjoy!

Zesty Tip: Make sure you place the cabbage on the bottom of the pan as you want it to cook in the liquids as opposed to getting crispy on top. Feel free to add any other root vegetable to the dish for additional flavor.

As the November Friday tradition, here is a shot of the stash with 5 days to go.

I hope you have a great weekend. Come back on Monday for a full birthday party update.

Take care

zesty

Chicken Curry w/ Spinach Lemon Cous Cous

zesty — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:58:33 +0000

Happy Friday to you! I have about 8 minutes to complete this post and than head to the office so bear with me for the quick and simple low down on how to make tender chicken legs with little to no effort. Slow roasting food, all be it takes some patience, but it is definitely one of my favorite things to do. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of the bbq, the broiler and of course pan searing – but there is something about the slow roasting technique that really gets me cranked up.

The smell fills the room, people around you get happy and the reward at the end of the wait is well…. worth it! Last Sunday I had some chicken legs thawing on the counter without a whole lot of ideas bouncing thru my head as to how I was going to prepare them. A coated potato chip crust, went thru my head and left. A simple dry roast with some herbs came and left and then I realized that I had some curry paste left in the fridge.

Curry and mustard with some dried oregano and lemon zest was screaming my name. I ran to the fridge – well probably just walked quickly and gathered my lemon, the curry paste and mustard. Quickly turned the corner and grabbed the oregano and I was set. Ripped down a roasting pan, grabbed a bowl and open the chicken legs like someone with a fluffy tail was chasing me.

I had this concoction ready to go before I even preheated the oven. Oh so easy… Oh so good. As it was just finishing up, I tossed in some cous cous and threw in a little chopped spinach and lemon to compliment the chicken and let it cook. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Toss it with a fork and garnish with some green onion.

I will be honest here, as I pretty much always am…. I don’t like cous cous but Mrs. Zesty loved it. Needless to say she had the left overs.

Ingredients

8-10 Chicken drumsticks
2 Tbsp. Curry paste
1 Tbsp. Mustard
Splash of soy sauce
1 Tsp. Dried oregano
1/4 Cup water
zest of a lemon
juice of a lemon
Cracked black pepper
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 Onion, peeled and chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Assemble chicken in roasting pan, add carrots and onions
In a bowl mix together remaining ingredients and toss over chicken and vegetables
Cook uncovered for about 90 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken and the chicken to caramelize.
Remove from heat and serve with your favorite side dish.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If you find the sauce too thick just add a little water before tossing it in with the chicken. You want the sauce to pour easily. Be sure to baste the chicken during cooking maybe 2-3 times.

Alright, so last day of work before a holiday weekend and lots to get finished up. I hope you have a great day and you know what next week means. Turkey ideas and leftovers for all…. and maybe a recap of the infamous turkey day at the zesty in-laws. Talk on Monday!

Take care

zesty

NYC Recap and Curry Fig Shrimp

zesty — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:19:58 +0000

Well Well Well…. Did you think I got lost in New York? Not really the case, but we did get stranded on Sunday as the flight was cancelled due to weather conditions in the JFK area. On top of all that, we had to check a bag because we shopped too much and in that bag I had placed my power cord for the laptop… ooops and the laptop died. That is the sob story as to why no post on Monday.

Too make up for the missed day I thought I would do a recap of NYC in pictures and share with you a shrimp recipe that I whipped up last night that made my heart sing. Oh so good and oh so easy to prepare.

NYC Recap

Things We Did

STOMP
The Lion King
Mets Game
Hop N Go Tour – Central Park, downtown loop, world trade centre
Shopped at Century 21 – mind boggling
Hit up Macy’s for 3 Hours
Hung out at Times Square
Ate at the Shake Shack!!
Became Subway gurus

Times Square in the Night

The Food Emporium

A Cool Curved Building... can't remember the name

Trump Towers

Some greenery

Radio City Music Hall

New York Mets Stadium

Good Ol'e Lulu

New York Public Library

YUM... Chipotle

Atop the double Decker bus I spotted this on the lamp post.... Classic

Ever Have this Popcorn?

Times Square

Times Square Street Sign

Empire State Building

Eataly.... so good

Zest in Central Park ...relaxing

Curry Fig Shrimp

Ingredients

16 Large Shrimp
2 Figs , chopped
Lemon zest
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp. Curry Paste
1/4 Cup water
2 Cups spinach
1 Cup of Basmati rice
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbsp. Olive oil

Method

Preheat a sauce pan over high heat and add olive oil.
Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and quickly sear the shrimp, 30 seconds per side. Pull them out of the pan and place on a plate while you make the sauce.
Add garlic, lemon zest, maple syrup, figs and curry paste. Stir quickly and lower the heat to medium. Add water and let reduce for 2 minutes.
Toss shrimp back in the sauce and coat evenly for 1 minute.
Remove shrimp leaving liquid in the pan to saute the spinach. Cook the spinach until wilted about 1-2 minutes.
Serve over rice
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Don’t over cook the shrimp! It is very easy to do, just ensure as soon as they become translucent, you remove them from the heat.

OK, I better get my butt to the office and start the work day. I hope you enjoyed the recap and again sorry for the lack of posting on Monday. I will talk to you all on Friday.

Take care

zesty