Curry Sauce

This month's Recipe Redux challenge was created just for me. Well, not just for me but maybe with me in mind?

This is the challenge for October: Spooky Spices: You know they are lurking there: Way in the back of your spice drawer. There lie the herbs, spices, or rubs that are getting dusty because you’re afraid to use them… you simply don’t know what to do with them! Well, pull them out and show us a recipe you created to deliciously conquer that fearful spice. (Or maybe the recipe was a flop – and the spice still give you nightmares?!)

Now, please, don't judge me too harshly but they wrote that knowing my secret. I hate curry. Just the smell will chase me away.
I know we are in a small minority here, because curry dishes are loved worldwide and I often wonder what it is about that spice, that makes my face scrunch like a little kids, who has just smelt liver and onions for the first time. Yes, quite the nightmare.

Or is it?
I do know that curry is from India and is actually a blend of many spices, each cook creates their own. Maybe I could experiment and come up with a version that isn't an aversion to my senses.

When it comes to curry, I think a British one is a good place to start so I need to find a proper right Englishman who can cook. So who did I choose? Jamie Oliver.

I have been watching him when he was a single bloke that called himself the Naked Chef and have recreated many of his dishes over the years. Except, that is, his curry. With the recent release and excitement for his new cookbook, I thought it was the perfect place to start. It seems his favourite curry sauce is everyone else's also. He gives the basic mixture of spices, then the appropriate additions, depending on what protein you will be cooking.

Simple enough, even for me. I knew that jar of fenugreek seeds I bought would be good for something. The only thing I had to buy was Serrano peppers and I had to omit the curry leaves (no time to order and nowhere locally). I decided my use would be with chicken.

Wish me luck!!! Aren't I such a sorry arse? You would think I was about to pluck that chicken, geez.

Update: While I was measuring each ingredient into it's receptacle I realized it was the fenugreek that gave curry that unique smell, so what was any good little curry hating girl to do? I reduced the fenugreek from Jamie's teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon. Yes, I am a wuss, but one that likes my customized version and The Nudge totally agreed with me.

While mine was made with chicken and coriander seeds, I added a few cubes of butternut squash to round out the meal. I served mine with brown basmati rice and we both ate our dinners. I am not sure he even realized that this was the curry, and psssst....I am not going to tell him.

If there are any other curry haters out there, make this sauce (with a smidgen of fenugreek). You will really like it and technically it is a curry sauce and a wonderful Asian sauce, that I might just use with everything, from now on.

Once again, I have to thank The Recipe Redux for showing me that where there is a will,, there was a way.

Jamie Oliver's Favourite Curry Sauce
Adapted from  Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef

Ingredients
* 5 tbsp vegetable oil
* 2 tsp mustard seeds
* 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
* 3 green chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced
* A handful of curry leaves, ripped into small pieces
* 2 thumb sized pieces of ginger
* 3 onions, chopped
* 6 tomatoes, chopped
* 1 tsp turmeric
* 1 tsp chili powder
* 1 or 2 wineglass water (about 10 oz)
* 14 fluid oz can coconut milk
* Salt

Fish version
* 4 (225 g) haddock fillets, skinned and pin-boned
* 1 knob (1 tbsp) tamarind paste or 1 tsp tamarind syrup
* A very large handful baby spinach (optional)

Chicken version:
* 4 chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2 inch (1 cm) strips
* 2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

Vegetarian version:
* 800 g mixed veg, chopped (potatoes, zucchini, onions, sweet potatoes, spinach, chard, cauliflower, lentil beans)

Directions
1. Heat the oil.  When hot add mustard seeds & wait for it to pop.  Then add fenugreek, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger. Stir fry for a few mins.
2. Using food processor, chop the onion and add to the pan.
3. When brown & soft, add the chili powder and turmeric.
4. Using same food processor, pulse the tomatoes & add to the pan.  Cook a couple of mins.
5. Add 1 or 2 wineglasses of water & the coconut milk.  Simmer about 5 mins until it has the consistency of thick heavy cream.
6. Season carefully with salt & take this sauce as the base.

7. To make fish curry:
- 1.  Add the fish & tamarind to the sauce and simmer 6 mins.
- 2.  Add baby spinach at the end of cooking time.

8. To make chicken version:
- 1.  Stir fry chicken strips & coriander seeds until light colored.
- 2.  Add to sauce & simmer for 10 mins.

9. Vegetable version:
- 1.  Simply add all vegetables to the sauce at the beginning when you add the onions.
- 2.  Continue to cook as normal and simmer until tender.

Miso Marinade

I posted this recipe on my sister site (Wish Upon A Dish), last week, as an entry into a recipe contest sponsored by the Honey Board.
Contest has ended and I wanted to share it with you............

Honey provides balance to any dish, complementing and enhancing a variety of foods and flavors: sweet, savory, sour, bitter and salty.

We all know marinades and BBQ sauces use lots of brown sugar for not only the sweetness but for a molasses flavor.
Did you know that buckwheat honey also adds that rich, dark molasses flavor and color to these foods, making it ideal for browning and glazing?

Learning that information led to the development of this marinade and basting sauce using honey instead of the traditional brown sugar.

Now I have a great recipe, using whole foods to make it healthier and diappropriate. Although the Honey Board's recommendation is a substitution of up to half the sweetener in any sauce or marinade, my sweetener was 100% honey. It needed nothing else.

As a matter of fact I used the "bottom of a honey bottle" to make and to store my marinade. Just shake and use.

Many years ago I was introduced to miso. 
Still not an easy item to find, I was lucky and found mine at a local Asian market. Near a Whole Foods? You can buy miso there and if not, since it requires no refrigeration until you use it, this is also an excellent on-line source for all your miso needs.

Miso
What exactly is it? It's like yogurt and is generally made with soybeans.
It's fermented and contains a culture.
Most miso is consumed in Japan and is a side or condiment that is added to a meal uncooked.
Like yogurt, once you cook the miso you kill the live culture.
Like yogurt or any fermented food, it is an excellent tenderizer.
Unlike yogurt, it is classified by grain type, color, taste and background.

• mugi (麦): barley
• tsubu (粒): whole wheat/barley
• genmai (玄米): brown rice
• moromi (醪): chunky, healthy (kōji is unblended)
• nanban (南蛮): mixed with hot chili pepper for dipping sauce
• taima (大麻): hemp seed
• sobamugi (蕎麦): buckwheat
• hadakamugi (裸麦): rye
• nari (蘇鉄): made from cycad pulp, Buddhist temple diet
• gokoku (五穀): "5 grain": soy, wheat, barley, proso millet, and foxtail millet

Most Americans are familiar with miso in soup form, that uses dashi (bonito flakes), shiitake mushrooms and tofu. Not so familiar to Americans is it's use in salad dressings and marinades.

You are now going to be very happy and will want to hug me. Two distinct reasons:

This marinade includes all 5 taste senses.....
Bitter & Sour - ginger and naranja agria (sour orange)
Salty - fermented soybeans (miso)
Sweet - honey
Umami - sake (seasoned white wine)

......making it the PERFECT MARINADE.

The nutritionals are blockbuster good.....
Although very high in sodium (over 400% DV), one cup (275 g) of miso paste is an excellent source of dietary fiber (59%) and protein (64% DV), as well as a good source of minerals. Miso paste is also high in amino acids, the basic building blocks of protein. An excellent source of vitamin K and a decent source of riboflavin (38% DV), miso also provides small amounts of other vitamins. One major benefit of miso is its extremely high omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid content, although the balance is six times greater for omega-6 than omega-3. A cup of miso soup can be a complete meal depending on what other ingredients are included.

Now for the bonus reason.....
I have used it on pork, salmon and chicken. All with great success.  I can only imagine what it would do to a steak or better yet, mixed into a hamburger.
Trust me, you will never use another marinade. If you want other flavor components, like say, garlic, herbs or spices, go ahead. All compatible.

Miso Salmon
Prep time: 10 minutes
Unattended time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes an inch
Makes: 4 servings

Marinade:
* 1/4 cup sake (or gin)
* 1/4 cup Goya naranja agria (or fresh sour orange juice)
* 1/2 cup red or white miso
* 2 tablespoons amber honey
* 2 tablespoons buckwheat honey (optional) or 1/4 cup total favorite honey
* 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk to incorporate. Shake before using.

Salmon:
* 4 (6oz) salmon fillets, skin on
* 1/4 cup miso marinade

1. In a bowl or large plastic bag add the salmon and marinade, turning to coat on all sides.
2. Heat a gas, light about 25 charcoal briquettes or heat a heavy-weight grill pan. While grill is heating, marinate your salmon.
3. Place the salmon, skin side down, directly onto the heated grill, over the heat and close the lid (or cover with foil) and cook for 10 minutes an inch. Thinner fillets will only take about 5-6 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, tent with foil allow the fish to rest for 5 minutes.

The Quickest 5 Ingredient Marinade and Glaze Ever

I am not a fan of marinating salmon. I find they can be harsh and too sweet as well as make the meat mealy. Acids will break down the flesh but with good wild salmon, you don't need to tenderize.
We all know never marinate fish longer then 30 minutes?

I developed this glaze for two reasons, to give the fish a little more flavor and to hopefully get The Nudge to like salmon.

His one major complaint was that it tastes fishy. Now, if you buy bad food it will taste bad, he just never had good salmon. So afraid the fish I cook would taste the way he's had it year's ago.

Year's ago you could not get really fresh salmon, only frozen and everyone cooked the crap out of it (sorry to offend, but it's the truth).

Well, it worked and I have been grilling these at least 2x every summer at his request.

The other day I had one lone boneless chicken cutlet and dinner to make on the fly.
Why not try this glaze on chicken. I butterflied one boneless breast, brushed the glaze on both sides and let it sit while the coals got hot.

The chicken had lots of flavor and the perfect grilled glaze without being too much.
Takes 5 ingredients everyone should have in their pantry, 5 minutes to put together and 5 minutes on each side to grill. No need to salt the meat but I did grind some pepper on it. The ginger does give it a slight amount of heat so not too much black pepper.

The key to getting the glaze to glaze correctly is to make sure your grill or grill pan is screaming hot and lubed.

Can be multiplied to how many pieces you are cooking. This amount will work on 4-6 chicken pieces, 4 salmon steaks and a dozen large shrimp.

Salmon Marinade and Glaze
* 1 tbls Colemans Dry Mustard
* 2 tbls dark brown sugar
* 1 tbls water
* 1 tbls Tamari (or soy)
* 1 tsp ground ginger

Grill for 4-5 minutes on each side, turning only once. The longer it sits on the grill without moving the darker those caramelized grill marks will be and the better the flavor.
Do not play with your food, please.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

Keeping with the vinegar theme (and with the healthy theme), I introduce you to a very flavorful Vietnamese Dipping Sauce. This 5 minute sauce is delightfully refreshing and the perfect accompaniment to grilled foods, whether it be vegetables, seafood or pork.

In this instance, it was paired with a marinaded grilled pork tenderloin. I could see this as a marinade for vegetables that would be a great garnish for a cold meat sandwich.

Delicious indeed.

If you want to switch the sugar out for agave or Truvia (my new favorite sugar sub) make sure to start with less, as the subs are all VERY sweet.

I cut in some mint for color as well as flavor but basil would be an excellent substitution.

You can find the pork recipe on my sister site, here.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
makes 4 servings

* 1/3 cup grated carrot
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 cup rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 Thai or serrano chile, thinly sliced and divided
* 1 teaspoon shopped mint or basil

Place all ingredients in a bowl and let it sit so the flavors can meld.
Serve room temp.