Vindaloo, Wine and Kheer - Oh My!

In keeping with my Indian theme, I made goan-style hot and sour pork (Vindaloo) this weekend. It was a bit more time consuming than the other dishes, but it turned out deliciously!

To make this meal, I ended up biting the bullet and buying a spice grinder and I also made a trek to Central Market (and their bulk spice isle) to find 2 key ingredients for this dish - fenugreek and brown mustard seeds. You start by taking all your spices (cumin seeds, dried chilies, peppercorns, cardamon seeds, a cinnamon stick, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds) and grinding them up, then you add vinegar, salt, and brown sugar to make the start of the vindaloo paste. After that, you brown 2 onions in lots of oil and then transfer them to a food processor, add some water and make an onion paste - this gets added to the spices and you have vindaloo paste. Once the paste is made, the rest of the meal is pretty easy - cut up and brown your meat (I used pork), make a garlic & ginger paste and add that, add turmeric & coriander and the vindaloo and let it simmer for at least an hour.

I made plain rice to go with the pork vindaloo (I thought that the dish itself had enough seasoning and plain rice would go better than a seasoned rice) and served garlic naan (from Treader Joe's), broccoli and a delicious Dry Riesling from Chateau Ste. Michelle.

I discovered the Dry Riesling in talking to the "wine lady" at Safeway - I wanted a white wine that went well with spicy food and she recommend the Dry Riesling. It is very drinkable and goes perfectly with anything spicy - it has quickly become one of my favorite wines! It also helps that I can buy it right at the grocery store and it is under $7.00 a bottle!!

For dessert, I made Kheer again (see my post from 01/13/10 for the recipe), but I changed it up a bit from the original recipe. I used coconut milk, vanilla and toasted coconut in the recipe - along with the raisins, milk and cream. The addition of vanilla and coconut added dimensions to the flavor that were exceptional! Since the dish was a bit spicy, the creamy rice pudding put an exclamation point on the dinner - I love the Kheer!

If you make this meal at home, give yourself lots of time for prep and to chill the Kheer!! I had been running around and didn't start cooking until 2:00 pm - I served dinner at 6:15, but I was "running" around the kitchen all afternoon! It was worth it and there were enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow night too!! I also love my new spice grinder, I can't believe that it has taken me so long to fork out the $20.00 to buy one - it is a must have!

Spice Up Your Night (or at least your dinner)

On cold, wet January nights, I can't help but crave something hot and spicy. For me, that comes in the form of chili!

I love it and the more beans the better! Now I know that there are a million and one different recipes and ways to both eat and make chili - over rice, with bread, smothered in cheese and sour cream, over pasta, with corn chips, etc. My favorite chili is made with tomatoes, beans, and steak and accompanied with avocados and cornbread. Yummy!

So here is my super easy recipe and my secret ingredient - Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce...1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 pounds stew meat, cubed
2 large cans diced tomatoes
1, 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 small can green chilies
1 can black beans
1 can dark kidney beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 can garbanzo beans
2 medium onions
chili powder to taste (2-3 tablespoons)
cumin to taste (2-3 tablespoons)
salt & pepper to taste
chipotles peppers in adobo sauce (1 small can)

• In a large pot over medium high heat, add the vegetable oil and cubed stew meat and brown on all sides.
• Add the garlic and onions to the meat and cook until the onions are translucent.
• Cut up the chipotles in adobo - these will make the chili very hot if you use the entire can. Try adding about a tablespoon first, you can always add more later! If you don't use the entire can, freeze the remaining amount in small batches.
  
• Turn down the heat to simmer and add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and green chilies. Drain the beans and add them along with the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.
• Cover the chili and let it cook all day - the longer the better!

Feel free to add/remove any ingredients that you like - my family likes peppers (I am not much of a fan) too. Enjoy plain or with anything you eat chili with!