Curried Turkey Dinner

This recipe makes a nice, light meal for those end-of-summer-but-still-hot summer days. It’s also a good one to have on hand after Thanksgiving, when you are burdened with a superfluity of turkey leftovers! It has curry, one of those rare spices that has a name that has actually been converted into a verb. (Think about it, do we say “Cinnamoned Bread” or “Adoboed Chicken”?!). Curry is rather strong– I used to live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, nicknamed Little India. Every morning, right around 7am, the pungent odor of curry would rise from the restaurants below up to my 7th floor flat. :-p I guess living there was better than living next to a bunch of San Jose motorcycle accident attorneys in their condos… but it took me a looooong time before I could make myself cook with (and endure) curry. So adjust the curry to your liking. I will say that curry IS good for you, so maybe that will help you persist!

Curried Turkey Dinner
Serves 4-6

2-3 pounds of fresh broccoli florets, washed and cut into chunks and cooked until tender (you can use frozen broccoli if you want)
3 cups cooked, diced turkey
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup low-calorie mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (to your taste)
1 1/2 cup seasoned croutons

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine and mix the mayo, soup, lemon juice, and curry powder. Let sit for a moment.

Place your cooked broccoli into a medium-sized casserole dish. Add the turkey on top.

Pour your mayo/soup mix on top of the broccoli/turkey, making sure that you cover the broccoli (so it doesn’t get crispy or burn in the oven). Sprinkle the croutons over the top of everything.

Place the casserole in the oven, and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve immediately, with Basmati rice and a fresh-green salad with carrots. Yum!

Luscious Flax Seed Bread for the Bread Machine

Here’s a recipe for flax bread that I concocted. I LOVE flax seed, and it is so good for you, too. It’s up to you if you want to just make the dough and bake the bread in your oven (which I prefer), or leave the dough in your bread machine to bake inside that. I never bake my bread inside the bread machine because I don’t like the shape of the loaves– they are too difficult to slice as they are too tall. And I also love the smell of freshly-baking bread that only an oven can do. But the choice is yours; this recipe works well either way.

Bread Machine Flax Bread

Place all ingredients in the order listed. All ingredients should be room temperature, unless noted. Makes a 2-lb loaf.

1 1/2 cups HOT water (not boiling, just hot from the tap)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons flax seed (whole seeds or ground seeds, your option)
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups white or unbleached white flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons quick-acting yeast granules

When it comes time to add the yeast, make a little “well” in the mound of flour, with your finger. This is to ensure that the yeast is mixed dry with the flour before it sinks into the liquids at the bottom of the bowl.

Set for “dough setting” on your bread machine if you are going to shape the loaf yourself and bake it in your oven. Once the machine has made the dough, take it out and gently knead the dough into a long, firmed-up loaf. Place the dough on a lightly-greased cookie sheet and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rest for about an hour while the dough rises a little. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Then place the cookie sheet/loaf in the oven and bake for about 20-35 minutes (I like a light crust). Mmmmmm. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.

This recipe makes a nice, mild flax seed loaf, something the kids will eat because it doesn’t look (and taste) like that suspicious “health food” and weight loss supplements stuff. Of course, you can add more flax seed (I would add it as crushed meal, not with more seeds) and you can use whole wheat flour or mix it in with the white somewhat. Be aware that whole wheat is drier than the white, and will require more water. Do a little experimenting of your own if you wish, and feel free to leave a comment with your own alterations.

Eggshells in Coffee

Since I recently purchased a new coffeemaker, I’m back in the experimental mode of trying new things with my coffee. I have a sensitive stomach, and while I love coffee, the acidity in it makes my stomach curl. I’m quite touchy about how my coffee is perked, and I can only drink very fresh coffee, since the older coffee gets, the more bitter and acidic it gets.

Years ago, I used to try everything to moderate the coffee acidity: add sugar or salt to the grounds before perking, try shredded wild chicory, etc etc. The best thing I found was eggshells. Yep! Eggshells. It’s not done very much anymore; it’s considered an “old wives’ tale.” But it seemed to work for me! So I’m back to using eggshells for my coffee. You can try it and see if you sense a difference.

Note: I DO NOT recommend using raw eggshells from raw eggs. There’s the chance of salmonella poisoning, and that would defeat the purpose of making a yummy, stomach-friendly cup of coffee, wouldn’t it? You always have to keep safety (and use safety products) in mind when dealing with raw stuff. I save the eggshells from our boiled eggs. I store them, crunched up, in a baggie in the fridge. They will keep for a few days. And any eggshells you do not use, toss in the compost or in your potting soil– eggshells are marvelous for the soil.

Here’s what you do:
Add a tablespoon of crunched-up eggshells to your coffee grounds. It has been said that the calcium carbonate in the shells reduces the acids in the coffee. Plus, the calcium will cause any loose coffee grounds floating around in the coffee pot to sink to the bottom.

I taste a difference. My coffee is slightly milder and less acidity. You can experiment with the amount of eggshell in your coffee grounds– add less if you want a more robust drink. Try it and see!

How to Cook Basmati Rice

I love Basmati rice, LOVE it. I’ve never been a rice eater, it never seemed “hearty” or flavorful enough. I always preferred potatoes or pasta (I am the perfect posterchild for a ultra 90 review, I know!). BUT I will eat Basmati rice. It’s got such a wonderful texture, and it smells incredible, mmmmm a slightly floral scent.

Cooking Basmati rice involves a little more than throwing some grains on the stovetop to boil, though. Here’s a great way to cook Basmati rice. Increase your ingredients accordingly: figure you’ll need 1.5 cups of water for every uncooked cup of rice.

1. Measure one cup of Basmati rice into a large bowl that sits in a larger colander. Fill the bowl with cold water, and sift through the rice with your fingers to wash the rice. Empty the water into the colander. Again, add water to the bowl and rice to wash and rince the rice. Repeat until the water no longer clouds up. This make take several minutes. Sometimes manufacturers will add talc or a powder to the rice, to keep it from sticking during shipping. This must be thoroughly rinsed off.

2. Drain out the wash water and refill the bowl with fresh, cold water. Allow the rice to soak for at least an hour. Some even soak it overnight. I am not that good a planner, so I soak it for about 2-3 hours. But one hour is OK.

3. In a saucepan, boil 1.5 cups of water. Add half a teaspoon of salt (or more or less depending on your salt intake) and 2 Tablespoons of butter (or use margarine).

4. Drain your soaking rice. Pour the rice into the boiling water. Stir only a FEW times with a wooden spoon, just enough to swirl the grains around. DO NOT OVER-STIR, this will break up the tender grains.

5. Return the water to a fast boil, the turn the heat down to LOW and simmer. Cover tightly. No peeking! Cook this way for about 10-15 minutes, until the water is absorbed (you can peek for that). Once the water is absorbed, remove the saucepan from the heat– keep it covered– and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

photo credit: Brave Heart

Make Your Own Brown Sugar

In case you haven’t noticed, store-made brown sugar isn’t good for you. No, really– it’s just granulated white sugar with caramel coloring. YUK. I make my own, which has *minimal* nutritious value, but hey– it’s better than that caramel coloring stuff!

With my recipe, you can adjust your sweetener to your own liking, whether you want light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar.

Homemade Brown Sugar

Molasses
White sugar
A very large, tall container
A wooden spoon

Beware, though– this gets a little messy.

Dump the white sugar in the tall container. I recommend a tall one because it’s easier to mix and keep the molasses in the container while stirring. If you use a low, round bowl, you may wind up with your sugar all over the counter. Unless you are a neat-nik. I am not, so…

Once you have the sugar in the container, dump in some molasses. BE SURE to keep the molasses away from the sides of the container, because it will stick to it and you’ll have to stir like the dickens to get it off and mixed into the sugar. I create a small well in the center of the sugar and dump molasses in, a little at a time.

Mix by hand for 4.67 hours.

KIDDING.

But it will feel like it.

Mix and mix and mix, until it is, well, mixed. I usually recruit a few of the kids to take turns. They are usually reluctant, until I promise them I will make them the Bread Machine Apple Donuts, which at the mention of those, they turn into salivating, slathering slaves ready to build the pyramids if I ask them.

When the enslaved minions have mixed your molasses and sugar, cover the container well and place in storage. I don’t know how long the stuff will keep; ours is always used up within a few months.

So now you can rest easy, knowing that you are feeding your family some REAL sweetener for their goodies. I know I feel like a better mother after doing it.

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