SeaTaf Recipes

Earlier this evening, tafyrn and I decided to make chicken kebabs! Along with this we baked two Anaheim chiles and two tomatoes, and made some rice to go with it all.



Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground chicken
2 medium sized onions
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric powder (or more)
3 teaspoons powdered garlic
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried cilantro)
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation Instructions:

1. Chop onions finely.

2. Add onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and pepper to the ground chicken.

3. Mix in the eggs and salt.

4. Shape into 2-inch-wide sausages (which you can place on pre-wet wooden skewers or metal ones, or just lay them flat on a cookie sheet).

5. Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil to catch the drippings.

6. Cook in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes (until fully cooked).

As for the chiles and tomatoes, you can put them in a baking pan while the chicken is baking, and check on them every five minutes or so, until the tomato and chile skins are browned in places.

This is wonderful when prepared with rice, or even pita bread. ^_^

A tasty and light vegetarian pie, chock full of nutritious carbohydrates.

A must for all on the "anti-Atkins" diet. ^_^



Ingredients:

1 pie crust
1 can of Campbell's "Cream of Broccoli" soup
1 tablespoon of finely diced Anaheim chillis
1 tablespoon of finely diced Jalapeño peppers
2 diced green pepper
1 small potato, cut into small cubes
4 tablespoons of finely diced carrots
4 tablespoons of finely diced onion
4 tablespoons of finely diced zucchini
1 teaspoon of curry
1 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of of garlic
1 1/3 cups of dehydrated potato flakes
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt

The above quantities will make one pie.

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees F.

2. Dice vegetables.

3. Put the water on high heat.

4. Before the water comes to a boil, add the butter and salt.

5. When the water comes to a boil, add 1/2 of a cup of cold water and take the water off the heat.

6. Add the dehydrated potato flakes.

7. Stir the potato flakes, while mixing in the vegetables, spices and soup.

8. Spoon the filling into the pie.

9. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until the top of the filling is starting to become light brown.

10. Enjoy. ^_^

An easy recipe for light and tasty biscuits.

This recipe costs less than $2 to prepare, assuming that the milk is purchased in larger quantities to allow the costs to be amortized across multiple meals.

Tasty Biscuits ready to devour:



Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups of all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of strawberries

The above quantities will make one dozen mini-biscuits, or six really large ones. ^_^

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees F.

2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar) until uniform.

3. Dice the strawberries into small sections that are smaller than five cubic millimetres.

4. Melt the butter.

5. Stir the butter, milk and strawberries together.

6. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only enough to dampen the flour. The batter should not be smooth.

7. Spoon into a muffin tin, filling each two-thirds full.

9. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the muffin comes out cleanly.

10. Enjoy. ^_^

In the summer of 2005, tafyrn and I had the opportunity to try our paws at cooking a few things tempura-style. Among the foods we experimented with were yams, onions, bell peppers, and even apple wedges.^_^


The recipe is as follows:

One yam
one medium onion
one orange bell pepper
one zucchini
one summer squash
one apple, cut into wedges
three cups of vegetable oil

We actually had a bit of extra items left over, which we chopped up and sauteed for use on the following day.^_^


For the batter:
About one cup of water (which must be ice-cold--this is important)*
a pinch of baking soda
3/4 of a cup of flour
one egg


One can make a sauce to dip the tempura pieces in, which also follows; however, we did not bother with it, as it would interfere with the flavors of the batter and the vegetables.

Dipping sauce:

two cups of dashi soup stock**
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
one tbsp sugar


We began by preparing the vegetables, slicing them into cross-sections. Then we measured out the cold water into a bowl, and then added the egg, mixing it with an eggbeater until it was a little frothy. After that we added the flour and baking soda, making sure to mix it just such that the flour was mixed in (be careful not to overbeat).

tafyrn added the oil to the pan, and we let it heat to a temperature of about 375 degrees Fahrenheit (about 190.6 degrees Celsius). If you do not have a means of measuring the oil temperature, try dropping a test piece in; if it hisses and bobs up to the top, the oil is ready.

We cooked in a sort of assembly line, in which I dipped the vegetables into the batter, dropped them into the pan, and he would handle them while they were cooking, and then take them out when they were golden, setting them upon a plate covered with an absorbant paper towel. We made sure to cook no more than six pieces at a time, as this was crucial in keeping the oil temperature constant.

At one point, we decided to unravel the onions and dip the rings into the batter, which resulted in tempura onion rings.^_^

Once the pieces are cooked, it is best to serve them as soon as possible.

An example of the result of our labor:



For a first-time preparation, everything went rather well. The batter was thin and light, and not too greasy, and, in particular, the apple fried thus was quite good. At some point in the future, we might try tempura-frying other things, such as cactus and chayote squash, living true to the idea of California dining. ^_^




*In one recipe I read a while ago, there were even instructions on how to set up the water such that it would remain cold for a while; this involved placing the bowl of cold water into a larger bowl filled with ice, though tafyrn and I both thought it would be a neat idea to place the empty smaller bowl into a larger one filled with water, and then to place that in a freezer for a few hours, which, when the cold water is poured into the small bowl, achieves the same effect—something to try next time.

** Dashi is a a soup stock that uses a dried seaweed called kombu, as well as a type of dried fish called bonito, among other ingredients (and is the tasty base stock of such soups as miso and udon, for example)—you can purchase dashi in dried form in Asian markets, or you can try a paw at it yourself.

An easy recipe for fluffy, light, and tasty muffins.

This recipe costs less than $3 to prepare, assuming that the eggs and milk are purchased in larger quantities to allow the costs to be amortized across multiple meals.

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of strawberries

The above quantities will make one dozen muffins.

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees F.

2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar) until uniform.

3. Dice the strawberries into small sections that are smaller than five cubic millimetres.

4. Melt the butter.

5. Slightly beat the eggs.

6. Stir the butter, milk and strawberries into the eggs.

7. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only enough to dampen the flour. The batter should not be smooth.

8. Spoon into a muffin tin, filling each two-thirds full.

9. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the muffin comes out cleanly.

10. Enjoy. ^_^

Here is another one of seamora's quick, tasty and low-cost meals that can easily be made from fresh vegetables found all year round. ^_^

It is very quick to prepare, and costs less than $4 (less than $2 if the meat is omitted).

Forest Medley, ready to eat:




Ingredients:

0.30 Kilograms of small potatoes (Yukon Gold or similar)
0.10 Kilograms of red onion
0.10 Kilograms of Broccoli
0.10 Kilograms of Cauliflower
0.15 Kilograms of Turkey Kolbassa

The above quantities will feed two people.

Preparation Instructions:

1. Dice two potatoes into small cubes around one cubic centimetre in volume.

2. Fry the potatoes in olive oil on a frying pan on medium-high heat until light brown, and the potatoes are soft.

3. Add salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

4. Chop 1/2 of a medium sized red onion and add to the frying pan

5. Add diced broccoli and cauliflower, and cook until lightly browned and soft, adding two tablespoons of water to steam the vegetables.

6. Cook the Turkey Kolbassa separately, then add to the potatoes and vegetables.

7. Stir together, then serve.

Frybread is a popular food to munch on at pow-wows, and can be eaten by itself, or as an accompaniment to a meal (say, soup). Often, it is served with a bit of honey on top, or as something like a tostada, with a layer of beans, rice, tomatoes and lettuce, although we have been known to put other toppings on it, such as cucumbers.

Typically, at pow-wows, frybread is often somewhat expensive (It cost about $7.00 at a pow-wow in East Los Angeles in 1996) but really tasty; the frybread in this recipe likely costs less than a dollar.

Finished Frybread:



Ingredients:

Frybread-A simple recipe:

2 cups of four
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp shortening, mixed in
1 cup of water

The above quantities, when combined and cooked, will feed a wolf, a cat and a hungry little kitten. ^_^

Preparation Instructions:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2. Mix in the shortening.

3. Add water and mix. Add a little flour if the dough is overly sticky.

4. Let sit for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, shape the dough into balls.

5. Heat the oil in a frying pan. The oil will be ready when it bubbles and sizzles when a tiny test piece of dough is immersed into the oil.

6. Take the balls of dough and flatten them into disks, carefully making a little hole in the centre (the hole actually has a spiritual significance in many First Nations societies where frybread is made; it also makes a nicer surface for spreading the toppings).

7. Fry them on both sides, one or a few at at time, in the oil, until they are golden.

8. Take the cooked frybread pieces and place them on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain off the excess oil.

9. Top with the toppings of your choice and enjoy. ^_^