Gumbo

Bhindi or Okra as you might know this vegetable as reminds of my sister. It's her favorite veggie. But since I have been to this country, okra reminds me of Gumbo. 

Gumbo is a scrumptious southern stew made with chicken, sausage and shrimp.

I first made it based on Emeril's recipe and since then I do my own thing and do what I like.  

Jeri

Or as my Indian friends would call it jalebi! Well bottom line it's a dessert which I realized is basically crispy fried dough dipped in sugar syrup instead of sprinkling of powdered sugar.  If you really LOVE IT then it's worth it otherwise it's time consuming and not something I would make frequently. 

I did coz I wanted to. Will I again? Ohh I would have to like you. A LOT. More than a LOT actually. 

Ingredients: 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup plain yogurt + pinch of turmeric (to make it yellow) + pinch of cardamom powder (optional.. Skip it). Equal parts sugar + water for the syrup

To make: Add all the batter ingredients and leave it outside (preferably overnight to ferment). I put it in the oven -turned off obviously... Perfect place. 

Now comes the fried dough part. First make sugar syrup by heating water and sugar together until sugar melts. Keep this warm. 

Heat veggie oil and while it's doing that add jeri batter into ketchup dispenser. To test if the oil is ready, add a drop of batter and if it floats, oil is ready! Then fry jalebis in all squiggly shapes you desire until golden brown. 

Take it out on paper towel and soak in hot syrup for a few seconds immediately. Ready to eat!

My verdict: I transported it and it was still crip and tasty. Just half cup of flour and yogurt make a LOT!!

Tamales with Black Bean and Avocado Salsa

I made this a while back but have been lazy to write it all down! I have wanted to make Tamales for a long time. The first time I tried them was in a small Mexican restaurant. It is definitely time consuming but so worth it. However breaking it down and cooking it on different days is always a good idea. 

I researched what is accompanied with it and came up with black bean salad, avocado and tomato salsa. I combined it all into one and came up with a black bean and avocado salsa (laziness or sometimes accident thy name is invention).

So here's what I did:

For the filling:

Ground meat (I did turkey but hey take your pick)

Onion, garlic, taco seasoning (make your own -totally worth it... Recipe? Google it folks!) and mushrooms well coz I had some in the fridge

To make it: sauté onion, add garlic and cook until fragrant, add meat + taco seasoning and if it is too dry a little water. Cook until the water is dried. Add mushroom and cook until all the liquid dries up. Add salt to taste. It's simple but totally worth it. You can even eat it as a taco. 

For the masa dough and tamales: Here is a blog that has recipe with pictures - 

 http://www.hispanickitchen.com/m/blogpost?id=3365338:BlogPost:70594

What I did differently? I skipped the sauce she mentions and added equal parts water + masa and added the taco seasoning + cumin+ cayenne. 

For the Salsa:

Ingredients: 1 can black bean (rinsed and drained), tomatoes, avocado, tiny bit garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and pomegranate seeds (coz I needed something sweet and I had some :D)

How to make: mix all together in a bowl. Really! As simple as that!

Paella

Oh yeah!! I went there. This was basically inspired by my laziness and my desire to not make Jambalaya. I wanted a one pan rice dish and I have not yet attempted Paella... so I thought why not? I happened to have all the ingredients in my fridge (believe it or not) so I gave it a shot. Boy am I glad I did!

Ingredients: chicken, raw shrimp (deveined but leave the shell on), chorizo (yup I really had some), onion, tomatoes (I used some fresh and some canned), garlic, green pepper, oregano, paprika, bay leaf, saffron, salt, some scallions, chicken stock or water and rice. 

Here's what I did:

Marinate the chicken: cut up into little pieces, add lil paprika and oregano oregano and little oil and let sit. (Maybe 15 mins if you are in a hurry but an hour if you are not)

In a big cast iron pan (paella pan if you have it but ofcourse I don't), add tiny bit of oil and brown the chorizos. Take out, add some more oil, add chicken and sauté for a little while (don't cook this can be skipped). Take out and reserve. 

In the same pan, add tad bit more oil if necessary, add onion, peppers and garlic and sauté until the garlic smells mellow. Add tomatoes and bay leaf and rice and toast for a little while. Add stock or water (note to self: add water according to rice you measure and DONT add any extra), saffron threads (crumbled in your hands. The more you add the yellower the rice would be but this is an expensive spice. Use your discretion but maybe no more than 1 tsp) and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add sausage and chicken and cover and cook until rice is almost done. Then put shrimp under rice and cook until done (raw shrimp takes approx. 8 mins to be done).. You can let the rice stick at the bottom a little and get crunchy. 

And because it's me and you cannot use up cilantro fast enough, top with some cilantro! Tada! Very yummy!!

Kimchi Jigae

Aaah... I cannot say enough how a warm bowl of this deliciously spicy stew can warm you up even in the coldest of weathers. Clue in big blizzard, old jar of kimchi I made long time ago and ding ding... We have a winner!!!

Basic recipe is very simple which you can Google (I can't be doing all the work here :)). This is what I did:

Ingredients: bacon, half onion, kimchi, gojujhang, eggs (regular recipes I found calls for tofu but I wasn't gonna drive in the blizzard) and water.

Here's what you do:

- Sauté bacon until it starts rendering fat, add onion and sauté until tender (can be done with tuna but I didn't want any)

- Add kimchi and some juice + gojujhang for taste (this makes it salty and spicy so if you want less spicy add soy sauce)

- Add enough water to cover everything and simmer for about 20 mins

- Meanwhile, beat about 3 eggs in a microwave safe dish. Microwave for abt 2 minutes. Add ten seconds as necessary. Don't overcook. Slightly under cooked is better. Cut into big chunks. 

- Add to the stew in the end and simmer for about a minute. 

Serve hot and eat! YUM!