A Day in the Kitchen

 
Poor little Sydney was up most of last night with a super high fever and a rotten cold settling in.  She was so uncomfortable and was having such a hard time breathing through her stuffy nose.  It was heartbreaking!  I woke up at 1:30am and felt her head and she was burning up.  So needless to say, we called off our plans for today and spent the day at home.

Considering how badly she must have been feeling, Syd was actually in pretty good spirits today, just a lot more mellow than normal.  She quietly played with her toys and art supplies and toddled over for the odd hug or snuggle when she felt she needed it. 

I decided to take advantage of her mellow mood, and the fact that we were at home all day, and try out a few new recipes.  I am always looking for great crock pot recipes that I can put together in the morning to make the end of my day require a little less effort.  A few days ago, the Vancouver Sun, published a recipe for Durban-style chicken curry made in the crock pot, so I decided to give it a try this morning.  This South African curry is amazingly aromatic, my house smelled so good all day and is has the most velvety sauce made with coconut milk!  It took very little effort to put together and with a little rice and some naan bread on the side it made for a delicious dinner tonight!

I picked up some fresh okra at the produce market the other day.  I love okra, but haven't cooked with it a whole lot, and wasn't sure what to do with it, so I went to another favourite recipe site, allrecipes.com and found a great recipe for Afghan Okra, a curried okra dish in a tomato sauce.  It was the perfect compliment to the Durban chicken!

I also whipped up a couple of snacks today, roasted chickpeas and homemade low-fat granola bars.  It was super fun trying out some new recipes and spending the entire day in the kitchen, doesn't happen very often!  Syd sat on the counter watching me for a while and asked to stir things here and there, she always likes to be part of the action when it comes to cooking, feeling rotten or not!

Here are the recipes below if you want to give any of these a try, they all turned out amazing and I will definitely be making them again!

Durban-style chicken curry

3 TBSP vegetable oil
8 chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless breast cut into large pieces)
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TBSP peeled, chopped fresh ginger
2 TBSP hot curry powder
1- 14oz can crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz can coconut milk
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP fresh lime juice
1 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP cilantro or green onions for garnish

Place the oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle and rub the chicken with the paprika and salt and pepper. Brown the thighs on both sides and place in the slow cooker.

Drain off most of the fat from the skillet.  Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the curry powder and cook for one minute more.  Mix in the crushed tomatoes, coconut milk and brown sugar.

Combine lime juice and cornstarch in a small bowl to dissolve the cornstarch.  Stir this into the coconut milk mixture, bring to a simmer and pour over the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours and 10 minutes, or until the chicken is very tender.  Sprinkle with cilantro or green onions before serving.


Afghan Okra

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 pound okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
1 tsp ground tumeric
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the onions, and cook until softened and dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste until no lumps remain. Add the okra, and sprinkle with turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour in the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the okra is very tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper again before serving.  

Roasted Chickpeas (Courtesy of Dinner with Julie, great blog!)

Roasting chickpeas is like roasting anything else: the drier they are going in, the crispier they’ll be coming out. Open a large (19 oz.) can (or two), rinse and drain them well, and spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with canola or olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and any other seasonings you like – cumin and paprika (sweet or smoked) are good, or curry powder, or any spice mix you fancy. Roll them around to coat them more or less, and rast them at 400°F for 20-30 minutes, giving them a poke around once or twice, until golden and sizzling and crispy. They do tend to get paper towely after a couple hours, so serve them right away. Divine.

Low Fat Granola Bars  (Courtesy of Cookin' Canuck)

• 3 1/2 cup oats
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
• 3 large, ripe bananas
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed (or flax meal)
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 9- by 13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper, with about 1 inch of parchment paper overlapping the sides.
3. Spread out the oats and chopped pecans on a baking sheet. Place in the oven until they are lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with the back of a fork. Stir in applesauce until combined.
5. Transfer the oats and pecans to a large bowl and stir in dried cranberries, ground flax seed (flax meal), cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
6. Stir the banana mixture into the oat mixture until well combined and starting to clump together. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and press down evenly.
7. Bake until the bars are golden brown and starting to separate from sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
8. Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Let cool to room temperature, then cut into bars.
9. Serve or store in an airtight container.