First ever homemade pasta sauce!

Zero thought went into this recipe, which was made on a whim, but it will be my new replacement for HFCS loaded cans and $5.00 jars...

1 28 oz. Can Rega Chopped Tomatoes (They sell these at the Dekalb Farmer's Market. Ingredients: Tomatoes, tomato juice, salt). I actually used half a can because that's what I had, but since it's so good, whole can next time

1/2 cup of V8 to make it a bit more saucy. I use the spicy kind

2-3 cloves garlic. Increase if you're a garlic lover.

10-20 leaves of fresh basil chopped into itty bitty pieces. I picked small leaves off the plant.

Cayenne pepper to taste.

Garlic salt to taste.

Saute tomatoes, juice, garlic and basil on low/medium low for an hour or so. When it's warm stir in the garlic salt to taste. Add a tsp or so of cayenne, more if you want a kick.

Olive oil is a good addition, but not necessary if you want to keep the calories down. I cooked some EVOO into the vegetables and chicken I ate it with, but left it out of the sauce itself...

A Taste of the Himalayas at Home...

I tried this in a Nepali restaurant in Dublin called Monty's of Kathmandu. It was pretty much to-die-for, and I have fantasized about eating it again (if you know me you know this isn't a joke) for eight months...

Recipe from the internet: http://www.food.com/recipe/gorkhali-chicken-chili-86986

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon hot chili pepper, minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup tomato, chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups red bell peppers, cut into 1-in pieces
• 1 cup scallion, cut into 1-in length
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 5 whole dried red chilies
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (to garnish)

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon szechwan pepper (timur)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chili paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1/8 teaspoon asafetida powder
• salt and pepper

Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 1 3/4 hrs

1. 1 In a small bowl, combine all marinating ingredients into a smooth paste.
2. 2 In a large bowl, pour the marinade over chicken pieces.
3. 3 Mix well, cover, and let marinate for at least four hours.
4. 4 Grill marinated chicken on a charcoal grill, occasionally turning until cooked through, about ten minutes.
5. 5 Cut grilled chicken into 1-in strips.
6. 6 In a blender, process garlic, ginger, fresh chili, cumin, chopped onions and tomatoes, honey, salt and pepper into a smooth paste.
7. 7 In a sauce pan heat two tablespoons of cooking oil.
8. 8 Fry dry whole red chilies till dark.
9. 9 Add the spice mixture and sauté on medium heat till the oil starts to separate from the spices, about 5-8 minutes.
10. 10 Add grilled chicken pieces, red bell pepper, and scallions.
11. 11 Stir thoroughly to coat with spices.
12. 12 Cook until vegetables are tender.
13. 13 Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
14. 14 Garnish with chopped cilantro.
15. 15 Serve with rice, or roti (flat bread).

My take on this recipe:

I have no idea what asafetida powder is, other than it's a funny word. I decided I could live without it this time.

Obviously, I didn't use onions. I never have, and don't plan to start. Onions are yucky. My substitution: a little bit more garlic, and onion powder to taste.

I think it had too much honey. I will use half next time. There are too many other excellent flavors I hate to overpower like that.

Finally, to serve... I have done it on both toasted corn tortillas and a toasted oat bran pita. I serve with a little bit of lentils and a lot of Greek yogurt because it's spicy as heck and the first time I ate some it was a little too much burn.

Aji de Gallina of Awesomeness

Here is the recipe I use, so I won't lose it AGAIN:

http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/aji-de-gallina-recipe

Ají de Gallina

4 to 6 servings

(Peruvian spicy chicken in a creamy yellow pepper sauce)

This hearty chicken dish gets its enticingly yellow hue from the spicy ají amarillo chile pepper, one of the must-have ingredients of Peruvian cuisine. The heat of the peppers is softened by a liberal dose of evaporated milk or cream.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast, boneless, skinless -- 2 pounds
• Water or stock -- 3 cups
• Salt and pepper -- to season
• Oil -- 3 tablespoons
• Onion, finely chopped -- 1
• Ají amarillo chile peppers, finely chopped (see variations) -- 2 or 3
• Garlic, minced -- 1 or 2 cloves
• Fresh bread crumbs (see notes) -- 1 cup
• Evaporated milk or cream -- 1 cup
• Walnuts, ground -- 1/2 cup
• Parmesan, grated -- 1/2 cup
• Salt and pepper -- to taste

Method

1. Put the chicken, water or stock, salt and pepper to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the chicken, reserving the broth. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken with your fingers. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium flame. Add the onion and ají peppers and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, 3 or 4 minutes.
3. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot, along with the breadcrumbs and evaporated milk or cream and enough of the reserved stock enough to give it a nice saucy consistency. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the walnuts, Parmesan cheese. Simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes, adding more of the remaining broth as needed to make a nice sauce. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
5. Serve hot over rice or boiled potatoes (or both!). For a typical garnish, top portions with sliced hard-boiled eggs and pitted black olives.

Variations

• Add a chunk of onion, a stalk of celery, a small carrot and a bay leaf to the simmering chicken for a more flavorful stock.
• Fresh ají peppers can be hard to find. Latin markets often carry them frozen or canned. You can also buy ají pepper paste, dried whole or ground powder. Adjust the amount you use to your taste. If you can't find ají in any form, substitute fresh jalapeño peppers and add 2 teaspoons of turmeric for color.
• A cup of pisco brandy is sometimes stirred into the simmering sauce for adults-only flavor.

Notes

• To Make Fresh Breadcrumbs: Trim the crust from 4 or 5 slices of fresh bread, then put into a food processor and pulse to make crumbs.

Here are my variations:

I use onion powder (to taste) instead of actual onions.

I use jalapenos because I don't have aji amarillo. They do sell the seasoning on Amazon I think. If you want to be more authentic and not just use what you've got.

I make my own stock with vegan cubes from the Farmer's Market.

I buy pre-cooked rotisserie chickens from Kroger because they are insanely cheap and just use shredded and chopped pieces of the chicken.

Buy these seasonings if you like yummy stew.

Lately I have a basic crock pot recipe for North African stews. It consists of the following:

Chunked zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant or other squash
Tomato base (canned tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sometimes juice or sauce in a pinch)
Minced Garlic
Lentils
Cilantro

Diced bell peppers of the sweet, multicolored variety, if I have them.

I have purchased (and received as gifts) the following seasonings for my collection, which make this stew positively delightful:

Nirmala's Kitchen Moroccan Tagine Seasoning
Nirmala's Kitchen Ethiopian Berbere Seasoning
Nirmala's Kitchen Tunisian Harissa Blend
Zamouri's Chicken Tagine Seasoning
Zamouri's Berbere

(The Nirmala's seasonings are superb, but Zamouri has more variety and tends to qualify for Super Saver Shipping on Amazon.)

Add salt to taste (sometimes a lot, as these seasonings can be sweeter than desired). Serve with some couscous/whole wheat couscous.

I've also been adding shredded and chopped rotisserie chicken, but it's not really necessary if you're a vegetarian/vegan.

Today I made the most ridiculous black bean patties just fooling around...

I hate canned beans. They taste like a can, and it kind of feels like cheating. However, sometimes I have difficulties making the dried ones (i.e. I burn them).

At Veronica's suggestion, I was attempting to make black beans in the crock pot for the first time to see if they would come out right, so I just threw a serving size in with some water, a little bit of broth and cumin and left it on high for a few hours while I did other things, checking occasionally to make sure it was not burning.

When I was done, I wanted black bean burgers, so I mashed up the beans and liquid and added an egg and chipotle chili powder. It was a bit too runny, so I put in a couple of tablespoons of bread crumbs, then decided to add the little bit of cheddar that was left in the bag.

I sprayed the frying pan and dumped it into the pan like a pancake but thicker, then cooked it as I would cook a pancake.

Served this with a little bit of taco sauce and sour cream. Wow.

I will never get a cold again without making this soup...

Chicken Soup... Our whole lives people have touted this as the miracle cure to the common cold... Well, I am convinced this one is. It cures congestion, anyway... And why? Because it's awesomely spicy, of course!

To make the broth, I boiled a 1 pound package of chicken and removed the chicken from the water, then poured about 4 cups of water in a saucepan. You can also use packaged broth, but I've found this works better for this particular soup because I like to start without the salt.

Ingredients

4 cups broth or boiled chicken water
1/3-1/2 head of cabbage, chopped into small pieces
1-2 tbsp soy or Bragg sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sriracha sauce (hot pepper paste)
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp dried or minced ginger
1/2 chicken breast, shredded
Optional : 1/4 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, ground

Directions

Boil the broth and cabbage together for 10-15 minutes.
Reduce heat and slowly stir in the seasonings one by one, tasting to decide if you like that quantity.
Keep in mind that each ingredient will make it a bit spicier so don't add too much of any one.
Add chicken, simmer for a few more minutes and serve.

Enjoy your clear sinuses!

Makes 2-3 servings, depending on how much you want...