Categories
Epicurus's Herd Food

Black Pepper Chicken Curry & Black Pepper Pulao

Kathleen’s favorites.

Black Pepper Chicken Curry

This makes about 4 servings and I'd highly recommend doubling the recipe. It's so tasty people are going to want seconds. You will want leftovers too!
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4

Equipment

  • 1 dutch oven or large sauce pot

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tsp coriander ground
  • 2 tsp cumin ground
  • tsp black peppercorns ground
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt divided (¼ and ¾)
  • pound chicken thighs, breasts, or combination, cut into 1½" pieces
  • ¼ cup avocado or other flavorless oil
  • 2 medium onions thinly sliced (I prefer finely diced)
  • 1 large garlic clove minced
  • tsp fresh ginger minced
  • 1 tsp Serrano or Thai chili finely chopped*
  • ¾ cup coconut milk divided (¼ cup & ½ cup)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 tsp lemon juice (about a half a lemon)

Instructions
 

  • Combine coriander, cumin, peppercorn, turmeric, and ¼tsp salt. Rub chicken with this spice mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature 20-30 minutes.
  • Heat ¼cup oil in a Dutch oven, add onions and cook until golden. Add garlic, chili, and remaining ¾tsp salt. Cook until fragrant.
  • Add chicken and cook until the chicken is just cooked through. Stir in coconut milk and the water, then cover and cook over low heat, about 20 minutes.
  • Add the remaining ½cup of coconut milk and the lemon juice to the chicken. Simmer.
  • Transfer to a bowl. Serve with black pepper pulao.

Notes

*The heat of chili peppers, especially store bought, is unpredictable. I usually use a whole large Serrano or several Thai (four or five),seeded and finely diced. I like the heat. You can add coconut milk to reduce the heat if needed.
Keyword chicken, curry

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Black Pepper Pualo

Perfect accompaniment to Black Pepper Chicken Curry
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai/Indian

Equipment

  • 4qt stove top casserole

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil or another flavorless oil like avocado
  • 2 medium onions thinly sliced
  • tsp black peppercorns coarsely crushed
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • cups water
  • 2 cups basmati rice rinsed, well drained
  • tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • In a 4-qt casserole, heat oil. Cook the onion over medium-high heat until softened but not browned.
  • Add peppercorns and turmeric, and cook until fragrant.
  • Add the water, rice, and salt. Stir Well. Bring to a boil.
  • Cover tightly. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes.
  • When the rice is cooked, stir in the frozen peas. Cover until the peas have warmed through. Turn the rice into a bowl and garnish with green onions. Serve immediately
Keyword Rice
Categories
Epicurus's Herd Food

Chilaquiles

This traditional Mexican breakfast dish might be Kathleen’s second favorite thing I cook. It is quite the process–takes me several days to make, though there are some shortcuts you can take which I will detail below.

Chilaquiles seems to be different everywhere I go. I suspect this is originally because every abuelita has a slightly different recipe for salsa roja, or in some cases, salsa verde. Also, the dish can be made casserole-style, with whatever meat, cheeses, eggs, etcetera, that you have in the refrigerator that day.

So what follows is my* recipe for salsa roja–which I usually make a few days ahead–and then the construction of the chilaquiles the morning of.

*Confession: I got this recipe from one of the many magazines I used to have around the house–Food & Wine, Sunset, Cooking Light–and I have no idea what chef or cook to attribute it too. Apologies. If it is you, let me know.

chilequiles plated with knife and fork

Salsa Roja

Red sauce that can be used in all sorts of Mexican dishes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6

Equipment

  • 1 Blender or food processor
  • 1 Sauce pan

Ingredients
  

  • 7 dried guajillo or New Mexico chilies (want more kick? use some chipotles; less? Anaheims)
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 28oz can whole tomatoes drained
  • 1 (~1½ cups) medium white onion chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves smashed and peeled
  • 1 jalapeño, with seeds de-stemmed and chopped
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil or other flavorless oil
  • 2 tsp honey

Instructions
 

  • Place chilies in a medium, heat-proof bowl with the boiling water. Cover and let soak for at least 15 minutes. Drain and reserve the soaking liquid. Discard stems and seeds, and place chilies in a blender. Add tomatoes and the next four ingredients to the blender. Add 1 cup of the soaking liquid to the blender. Blend/puree until smooth.
    Ingredients in blender
  • Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add puree (carefully, as it will splatter) and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to medium-low and simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened,* about 15 minutes. Add more soaking liquid if too thick. Stir in the honey and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes

*The last time I made this it came out too thick and I should have thinned it out. If you have the same problem and have already used up your soaking liquid, substitute water or a low sodium broth. You will then need to adjust the flavor to taste with salt, pepper, and maybe chili powder and/or paprika.
You can make this sauce up to three days ahead. If placed in an air tight container and refrigerated, the flavor will hold. Rewarm on the stove top or in a microwave before using. You can also adjust the flavor to taste when rewarming, especially if you want it to be more punchy.
You can also make larger batches and freeze it. I haven’t done this so I can’t vouch for the flavor or consistency when thawed, but based on my experience with homemade marinara, I suspect it would be fine. 
Keyword cheese, chicken, chorizo, eggs, tortilla

So that’s the salsa roja. For the chilaquiles I like to have shredded shredded chicken and chorizo. I’ve added scrambled eggs, too. The recipe here uses the addition of a fried egg for each serving. I like mine “over medium” but you can do “sunny side up” if you prefer.

For the shredded chicken I rub a couple of breasts with a taco starter seasoning and let them sit overnight in the fridge in a Ziploc bag. The next morning before making the salsa, I put them in the crock pot with a cup of chicken broth and cook them on low for six hours. Then, using two forks, shred the breasts, put in an airtight container, add some liquid from the crock pot, and store in the fridge.

The morning of service, I cook sausage and then add the shredded chicken and continue to cook until the chicken is warmed through. If scrambled eggs are your preference, I just scramble four to six eggs in the pan with the sausage, using the rendered fat of the sausage to flavor the eggs and prevent sticking.

chilaquiles

Chilaquiles con Pollo, Chorizo, y Juevos Fritos

Chilaquiles with shredded chicken, chorizo sausage, and fried eggs.
Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Oven-proof baking dish
  • deep fryer or electric fry pan

Ingredients
  

Tortillas

  • Vegetable or Canola oil for frying
  • 12 6" tortillas quartered
  • Tajin seasoning

Chilaquiles assembly

  • 1 cup queso fresco crumbled
  • 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • 1 white onion small diced
  • 1 bunch radishes thinly sliced
  • 4 large eggs fried your way
  • 1 pound chorizo
  • 1 pound chicken cooked & shredded, optional
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped
  • lime wedges
  • avocado sliced or cubed

Instructions
 

Tortillas

  • Quarter the tortillas and fry them in your fryer or skillet. Remove from the oil and place on wire racks or paper towels to cool. Dust fried tortillas with the Tajin seasoning.
    frying tortillas
  • When cooled, toss the tortilla chips in a bowl with one cup of rewarmed salsa roja.

Optional Ingredients

  • Cook the chorizo in a pan on medium heat. When just cooked through.
  • Add the optional shredded chicken and continue to cook until the chicken is heated through.
    chorizo and shredded chicken
  • Remove the chicken and chorizo. Scramble eggs, if wanted, in the pan sausage drippings. Add and toss into the chicken and chorizo mix.

Assemble and broil

  • Preheat the broiler.
  • Transfer half of the chips to a large oven-proof platter, baking dish, or skillet. Scatter half of the cheeses over the chips. Top with any optional ingredients (chorizo, chicken, scrambled eggs). Top with the remaining chips, cheeses, and half a cup more salsa roja.
  • Broil 4-5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, fry the eggs to your liking–over easy, over medium, or 'hard'.
  • Top broiled chilaquiles with onion*, radishes, cilantro, lime wedges, and avocado. Top this with the fried eggs.
  • Serve with remaining salsa roja alongside.

Notes

*I prefer to saute the onion with the chorizo, rather than garnish the top with raw onion.
Keyword cheese, chicken, chorizo, eggs, tortillas
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