Hey it's Curry time!

You know when it is curry, the weather is getting colder.... I love curry, beef,turkey(my favorite) or chicken....
So here you are Kelly.... You start out with your meat(cut into cubes: smaller cooks quicker, but size is not important, hahaha.... ) , whatever you use must be seasoned , salt, pepper put in pan to brown, make sure you use olive oil first. Then put into stew pot (big pot with lid), cover with water and simmer with cut vegi's: carrots first cuz it takes longer to cook, when tender then add, onions, celery, potatoes, eggplant, whatever is your favorite. Season by adding grated or minced ginger root, garlic, chili's, curry powder(pre-packaged)or make your own: 2tbs whole cumin seeds, toasted, 2 tbs whole cardamom seeds,toasted, 2 tbs whole coriander seeds, toasted, 1/4 c ground turmeric, 1 tbs dry mustard, 1tsp cayenne, these grind up and add as you like. simmer until everything is tender... I like it with mango chutney but apple will do in a pinch...

Basic Shoyu Sauce, Shoyu Chicken

I recently made some Shoyu chicken, and was told " It was amazing", so I guess I should give you the recipe...

Shoyu:
handful chili peppers
toe size of sliced ginger root
2 cloves garlic
Kikkoman soy sauce
1 pint jar

Shoyu Chicken:
1 frozen chicken breast
1 tsp sugar
2-3 tsp shoyu sauce

In  a pint jar, put a hand full of tiny Chili peppers (really hot ones), one toe size of sliced ginger root, about 2 cloves garlic sliced and then fill the jar with Kikkoman Shoyu, covering everything.  Let this mingle for week or so and then enjoy it...

To make Shoyu chicken:
Oil a frying pan [one you have a lid for] with about 2 tbs oil. Fry one (1) frozen chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides on med-low. Then cover for 20 minutes.
Uncover pan turn chicken over and then add 2-3 tsp shoyu sauce from bottle and 1 tsp sugar (aka teriyaki sauce)
Put cover back on, turn your heat down to low for about 5 mins or until sauce bubbles and turn pan off.  

I have electric stove.  I walk away to watch my Korean Drama's or anime episode, then when it's over I check on chicken... lol.....   You can put more sugar if you like syrupy/sweeter.

Well it's about time I put something up huh?

1. You know when your life is just spinning out of control when you forget everything that you used to do regularly.  I really don't like working 3  PT jobs, but what can I do?  I really need a full time job but  have not been successful getting one.... hmmm   If you know what I feel, cuz you are in the same position then, this is a meal for you.  It gives you courage to face the world.  Not really but it makes me feel better.  All the ingredients are good for you, they keep you from getting sick, especially with the weather doing crazy stuff, hot then cold, rain , ice, snow, wha........  I hear coughing, sniffing all around me, really scary.  I am so prone to getting Pheumonia.  That's why I try to eat everything  that will support keeping me healthy.  So far I have been well....  Curried Meat Stew      
2. 1/2 cup diced onions
3. 1/2 cup celery sliced
4. 1lbs hamburger
5. 2-3 tbs minced garlic
6. 1/2 cup frozen peas
7. 1/2 cup diced potatoes
8. one packet chicken soup( I used ramen packet) 
9. 1 cup water 
10.  In a large pan saute onions,celery then add hamburger to brown, add garlic , potatoes,
11. 1 tbs tumeric, cummin, curry powder, to taste cayenne pepper, and ginger and pinch of cinnamon
12. add soup and water just  until you have enough gravy
13. add heavy cream or milk enough to make nice gravy color about 1/2 cup after it is warm taste and season if necessary serve over rice or mashed potatoes, or pasta, or inside tortillas, or even bread.  Eat it and enjoy!

Banana bread

• 2 cups all purpose flour [you can replace half of it with one cup whole wheat flour if you like it healthier]
• 1/2 cup brown sugar //// 3 tbs honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 & 1/2 cup mashed bananas (4-5 bananas)

[Personally, I like my banana bread more on the cakey side, so I use three bananas, but you can also make it moister by adding more bananas, too.]

Mash the bananas and beat the egg.
Mix them both together with sugar (or honey), salt and cinnamon.

Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda with wet ingredients.

Grease a loaf pan and coat it with flour. [alternative: muffin pan]

Bake at 350F (180C) for 50 minutes.
Test with a chopstick or knife, if it comes out clean, its done.

Chicken long rice

Ingredients:

• 3 small bunches Mung bean threads/ long rice
• 2 Chicken breast
• 1 tbs Garlic
• 2 tbs Ginger
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 large or small onions
• 1/4 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water

Extras/Optional:

• 1/2 to 1 green bell pepper
• 1 bag teen spinach (that's what it read on the label at Wal-Mart, next to baby spinach ha ha).
• 1- 2 tbs vegetable oil/sesame oil
• 1 box sliced or whole mushrooms

First soak Mung bean threads( long rice) in cool tap water and set aside.
Mince garlic and ginger, then cut up partially frozen chicken breast fillets into cubes 1" or so; season with salt and pepper; put aside.
Slice green bell pepper and mushrooms into strips.
Slice/mince onion.
Saute' onions in large pan with some vegetable oil, I happen to like sesame oil, season to taste with salt and pepper when gets translucent add seasoned chicken,  garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper. When it turns white and maybe starts to brown a little, add chicken broth, soy sauce, and some water.
Don't let pan get dry, if necessary add water to the pan to keep wet.

Make a empty spot in center of pan, then put in long rice, let simmer, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to pan.
Add green peppers, mushroom, and spinach. Please note to season each time you add each ingredient.
By the time the spinach wilts, stir to mix everything up so long rice has soaked up sauce in pan, sometimes can have green or white spots in not mixed well, should be translucent brown in color.

Can be served as is or with steamed rice.

Spicy Snacks, the word cloud

So, today I found this fun site, wordle.net where you can make word clouds from any string of text.
The cool part is the text size varies depending on the frequency of the word, making the fact that I eat lots of bread and rice very apparent. Also, the word "add" comes up a lot in recipes. Well, you can also edit the colors, font, and type of arrangement for the words.

And so I present the Spicy Snacks word cloud, about 100 words that frequent my blog.

Green beans and beef

1 lb beef [very thin slices or hamburger]
1/2 cup diced round onion
1/2 diced celery
1-2 cup green beans cut to 2" length [canned is OK]
1-2 tbs garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Jalapeno (optional)

In an oiled skillet place beef, salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally. Add onion and celery. Season again. Add green beans and garlic and cover to simmer until tender.

If you want a thickened gravy: mix a 1:1 mixture of butter and flour, and add stirring constantly. Let bubble until thick.

If you like it spicy add 1 jalapeno diced.

Homemade Apple Pie

Our apple trees, wildly growing all over the farm, untended, have begun to bear fruit in a big way. So we're trying to think of as many things as possible to use them for. Pie comes to mind rather early.

Pie crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 6 Tbs ice cold water

Pie filling:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples

First, the pie crust.
In a bowl, cut the shortening into the flour. [You can use a fork or board scraper for this. If you feel like it, you can get a putty knife from a hardware store too, that works ok.] Once all the shortening is about pea sized, add the water one Tb at a time. At this point, try not to mix it much, and keep it cool, the hotter it gets, and the more you touch it, the tougher it gets.

Split into two portions, and shape them each into a ball shape. Roll out one and place in your pan. Roll out the second, wrap in plastic wrap, and place both the flat one and the one in the pan into either the fridge or freezer while you make the filling to keep them cool.

Now, the filling.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Make sure all your apples are peeled, cored and sliced. Then mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Then mix in the apples, making sure all the apple slices are coated with the mixture. Take out both pie crusts from the fridge/freezer. Next, place all the apples into the pie crust-covered pan. Now place the top crust on top carefully, trying not to tear it.
Crimp the two crusts together, and if the top crust tore, crimp/pinch the pieces together.

Poke some holes in the middle with a fork [or cut some holes with a knife, whichever you like the look of more] so steam can come out. Cover edges with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning, remove 15 min. before finished. Bake until crust is browned and the filling bubbles out of the steam holes. 40-50 min.

"Classic" French Bread

"Classic" French Bread
---(The quotes are because I didn't learn it from someone that was French, and don't have proof that it is at all like real French bread, except that it's crusty like my favorite French bread.)

I used this bread for the pizza snack earlier, it's a very versatile recipe. You could make traditional style pizza with it too. Just spread out/roll out the dough in a circular/square (depending on your pan) shape and put pizza stuff on it, and bake around~ 350 degrees F. (until crust is brown on edges, check after 15 min, then every 5 min.)

• 1 1/3 cups warm water [75-85 degrees F or 24-30 degrees C] (it's the right temp if you can stick your finger in without scalding yourself --if it's too hot, the yeast will die, too cold, the yeast won't wake up)
• 2 tsp. Butter/margarine, softened
• 4 cups Bread flour (all-purpose, if you don't have bread flour, it's not the same, though.)
• 5 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 tsp. Bread machine yeast (if you're not using a bread machine, you can use the instant packets of yeast, but let that sit in water to bloom for a few minutes)

Place the water, butter, flour, sugar and salt into the pan in the order listed. (If you're doing it by hand leave 1/3 cups of the water out.)
[If you're using a bread machine, use your finger to make an indentation in the flour, so that no water seeps in, then put the yeast in there. Carefully put the pan in the machine, plug in the machine, and start the machine. Follow the machine's instructions and take out when it's done. You should be able to eat it anytime after it's done...]

If you're doing it by hand, bloom the yeast as described above with the 1/3 cup of water. Mix the ingredients in the pan until just together. Then mix the yeast in, water and all. Make sure it's well mixed (No obvious lumps). Leave it to rise for 20 min. Then knead the bread well. Leave it to rise again for 20 min. "Punch down" the bread. (Just give it a decent squish in the middle with a fist.) Let it rise for 55 min.
Once the mix/knead, rise, knead, rise, punch, rise process is finished, you can bake it. a 350-400 degree F oven depending on how crusty you want your bread or what kind of shape you're using, until it is brown on the outside. Then check it by inserting a knife or toothpick, to see if it's wet in the middle. If it still isn't baked all the way through, bake it at 300-350 degrees F, and cover it with aluminum foil to keep it from browning too much.

If you have questions about particular baking processes (like what to do for pizza, or buns, etc.), you can always comment, and I'll do my best to help you out.

Keep checking out this webpage, spicysnack.blogspot.com for mostly consistent updates! Delicious/quick/easy/spicy recipes is our forte!

Fried rice, delicious, homemade

My friend at my temp job asked me for a recipe for this, so here you go! :D

• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil (sesame oil preferred if you have it)
• 1/4 sweet onion, diced
• 2 cups rice (cooked or steamed)
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 2 tsp. oyster sauce
• 3 tsp. - 2Tbs. sugar (according to taste)
• 1/4 cup - 1/3 cup frozen vegetables (can use mix or just carrots, peas, etc. by preference)
• 1 - 2 eggs

In a hot wok or pan, put the oil, and saute onion. Then add rice and fry until thoroughly heated, while mixing. Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Once rice is warm, add the mixture, stirring rice as you add. Add frozen vegetables. In a bowl, scramble the egg(s), this will be your last ingredient. As soon as the vegetables are brightly colored and thawed, turn the heat off and add the egg and stir. Serve. You can add cayenne pepper to taste if you like it.

You can add any meat to this dish to make chicken fried rice, pork fried rice, etc (shrimp! crab! looooobstar!). Just dice the meat and add it right after the onions. Doesn't matter if it's cooked (like leftovers) or raw, just make sure it's cooked before you add the rice.

If your rice is dry (taste it before you add the egg), you can add any kind of broth to moisten it. (chicken, beef, vegetable) If you don't have any broth, water is okay, but broth adds flavor. Add enough to moisten, and let it steam with a lid over the pan for no more than 5 minutes. If you're impatient, you can taste it, but the more times you take off the lid, the longer it'll take (and the moisture you lose). You can always add more water/broth, but don't put too much broth, it'll get salty. Also, if you add too much liquid, it'll get mushy, so err on the dry side when adding liquids.

If you have leftover fried rice and it's dry, just add broth/water to it in a warm pan and let it steam. All the warnings from the previous paragraph apply.