Mercimek Corbasi

Mercimek corbasi is a Turkish soup made with red lentils and is fairly thick and spicy. Either mint leaves (as shown below) or lemons work well as a garnish. Traditionally, it's not served with lamb. It was included for this recipe however, and was a worthwhile addition, since it made the soup much heartier.

Prep. Time: 10 mins.
Cooking Time: 1 hr.


Ingredients:

2 Medium Onions
2 Medium Carrots
2 Medium Potatoes
2 Cups Red Lentils
12 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Flour
3 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Dried Mint
2-3 Lemons
1 lb. Cubed Lamb (optional)



Directions:

Chop the onions and finely dice the potatoes and carrots.

Saute the onions and olive oil in a large pot until they become translucent.

Add the carrots, potatoes and red lentils and cook for 3 minutes.

To this mixture, add the broth, cumin, red pepper flakes and black pepper.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 mins.

While the soup is simmering, saute the lamb in a frying pan with olive oil for approximately 10 mins. (optional).

Once the soup is done cooking, add the butter and flour.

Pour the soup into a blender and mix well. Depending on the quantity of soup you've made, this may need to be done in stages.

Pour the mashed soup back into the original pot and place back on high heat for 5 minutes.

Serve garnished with dried mint and lemon (optional).

Yellow Curry with Tempura Scallops

This is a little bit of a twist on the traditional yellow curry, in that it uses baby bok choy and scallops. This one turned out much better than the one posted several weeks back. If you prefer your curry a little thinner, replace the coconut cream with coconut milk.

Prep. Time: 30 mins.
Cooking Time: 50 mins.
Servings: 4-6


Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Fresh chopped Ginger

1 Tbsp Fresh chopped Lemon Grass

4 Cups Vegetable or Chicken Stock
4 Carrots
16 oz. Baby Bok Choy
2 Med. Potatoes (about 24 oz)
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Fish Sauce
15 oz. Coconut Milk
15 Oz. Coconut Cream
5 Tbsp Yellow Curry Paste
2 tsp Tumeric
2 tsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Lime Juice

12 Large Scallops
5 oz Tempura Flour
7 oz water
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp White Pepper


Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a vegetable steamer.

Dice carrots in 1/2" pieces, steam for 5 mins. and set aside.

Cut bok choy into 2" length-wise pieces, steam for 3 mins. and set aside.

Cut potatoes into eighths, then into thick slices, steam for 15 mins. and set aside.

Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a large pot and saute Ginger and Lemon grass for 3-5 mins.

Add curry paste, coconut milk, coconut cream, turmeric and stock and bring to a boil.

Add the potatoes and carrots and cook on low heat for 5 mins.

Add the sugar and lime juice and simmer for about 5 mins.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine the tempura flour, salt, white pepper and cold water together in a bowl and stir until smooth.

Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Dip the scallops in the batter and place in the frying pan.

Cook for 5 mins., turn and cook for 5 more minutes.

Remove scallops from frying pan.

Place approximately 4 pieces of bok choy in each serving bowl, add rice, curry and 2 to 3 scallops.

Alfredo Sauce with Cajun Chicken

This is really a two part recipe, one is the traditional alfredo sauce and the other is the cajun chicken. We've also made this with spicy shrimp before and it's turned out really well. The chicken is blackened, cajun style, and may be added in separately to the alfredo sauce. The pictures below show the sauce served over angel hair pasta, but it goes just as well over fettucine.

Prep. Time: 15 mins.
Cooking Time: 40 mins.


Ingredients:

Sauce
1 cup Butter
3-4 Garlic Cloves
4 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1 Cup Parmesian Cheese
1 1/2 Cups Mozzarella
16 oz. Angel Hair or Fettucine.

Cajun Chicken
1.5 lbs. Chicken Breasts
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Paprika
1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 tsp Cayenne
3/4 tsp White Pepper
3/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano

Directions:

Sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring often.

Add the Parmesan and simmer for 8-10 mins.

Add the Mozzarella and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the sauce becomes smooth.

Serve over pasta.

Chicken (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the Parika, Sea Salt, Cayenne, White Pepper, Black Pepper, Thyme and Oregano together in a large bowl.

Add in the Olive Oil.

Add the chicken breasts in to the bowl and mix them in the spices until they are thoroughly coated.

Heat 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil in a large frying pan for 5 mins. on high heat.

Place the chicken in the frying pan and cook on each side for 1 min.

Put the chicken in a separate baking dish and place in the oven for 15 mins.

Cut into bite size pieces and serve over the sauce and noodles.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is an Indian dish made primarily from spinach and paneer cheese in a curry sauce. This dish has many of the same elements as the Paneer Masala dish that was posted previously. The hardest ingredient to find will be the paneer cheese cubes, but most Indian grocers should carry them.

Prep. Time: 5 mins.
Cooking Time: 1 hr.


Ingredients:

24-32 oz. Spinach
14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 lb. Paneer
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Jalapeno Pepper
2 Onions
1 Tbsp Corriander
2 tsp Cumin
2 x 1" Pieces of Ginger
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Cashews
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Garam Masala
8 Tbsp Cream
1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder


Directions:

Add 1 Tbsp butter to a frying pan and fry the paneer cubes until they become golden brown.

Remove the cubes from the frying pan and cook them in a pot of boiling water for 10-12 minutes with a dash of turmeric.

Dice the jalapeno pepper and fry with the spinach in 2 Tbsp vegetable oil until all the leaves are wilted.

Place the spinach and jalapeno mixture in a blender on mince along with the salt, pepper and cashews and blend.

Fry the onions and garlic in 1 Tbsp vegetable oil for 5-10 mins. with a dash of salt.

Add the ginger, corriander, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, red chili powder and Garam Masala and fry for 2-3 mins.

Add the spinach mixture and diced tomatoes to the onions and garlic and cook for 5-10 mins.

Add the paneer cubes and cook for 2-3 mins.

Add the cream and serve over rice.

White Clam Sauce

Simple and easy to make. When we don't have quite as much time to cook, this is one of our standbys.

Prep. Time: 5 mins.
Cooking Time: 15 mins.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic
1 bunch Italian Parsley
2 x 6 oz Can of Clams
8 oz. Bottle Clam Juice
2 Tbsp Butter
1/4 tsp Red Pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Dash of Salt and Pepper


Directions:

Mince the garlic and saute with the red pepper in the butter and olive oil for 5-10 mins.

Add in the clams, clam juice and Italian parsley and bring to a boil.

Serve over pasta with Parmesan cheese.