Jack is Cooking Hurricane Curry

Well Hello Internet!

Last night as Hurricane Irene bore down upon new york city, we hunkered down and made some curry!  It was the perfect thing to eat while eagerly waiting for the storm.

Otherwise known as a Navratan Korma, this was my own twist on a delicious creamy vegetable curry.
as always with my curry recipes i will divide the spices into groups depending on when they need to be added.  This particular curry has lots of separate steps to take in order to prepare your mis-en-place, but otherwise the actual steps taken are quite simple.

Heres what you will need:

Spice Group A:
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

Spice Group B
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon asafetida
1/2 teaspoon salt

The Rest of the Ingredients:
1 potato cut into 1 cm cubes
2 large carrots sliced
1/2 cup green peas
1 large head of broccoli (with as much stalk as you can get) cubed

1/2 lb paneer (cubed)
2 tomatoes (cubed)
1 onion (grated)
2 cloves of garlic (finely grated)
1.5 inches of ginger (finely grated)
1 can of coconut milk
2 tablespoons ghee
olive oil.

The Preparation:

1.  Prepare your spice bowls.
2. Cut all vegetables to equal sized pieces and parboil them.  these will be cooked more later, so don’t overdo it now.  strain and set aside in a colander.
3. Cube the tomatoes, grate the onion, grate the ginger and the garlic.
4. Heat the ghee and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan.  fry the paneer until it is golden brown on all sides.   pour the paneer with ghee and all over the vegetables in the colander.  While its still hot sprinkle some garam masala over them and toss.

Boiled Veggies and Paneer sprinkled with Garam Masala

Now that everything is prepared we can get onto the cooking of the actual curry.

1.  In a medium sized pot, heat some olive oil, and add in Spice Group A.  fry for about 30 seconds, and then add in the onions.  fry these together for about 4-5 minutes.  Add the Ginger and the Garlic, and fry for 30 more seconds.
2.  throw in Spice Group B and fry together for about a minute.  add the chopped tomatoes, and fry for 3-4 more minutes:
Spices and Tomatoes

3.  Add the vegetables and paneer, and toss until they are all nice and coated in the spice-tomato mixture.

4.  Add the can of coconut milk, bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are just tender.
simmering curry
Serve with rice, and sprinkle a little cilantro on top for added effect! 
and that’s about it!  you can make this during a hurricane no problem, as long as your gas stays on…. or you can make it any other day and its just as good!
mmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Pea Souffle

Well Hello Internet!
the other day (actually a couple of weeks ago… this post got lost somehow) i made a pea souffle with my newly learned knowledge of making souffle.  
apparently souffle’s are very easy to make!
all you need is to make a bechamel, and egg whites, with whatever filling you want!
heres what you will need:

flour 1 tablespoon
butter 2 tablespoons
milk 3/4 cup
salt and pepper
a little nutmeg

frozen peas
garlic
an onion (chopped up)
salt and pepper
paprika
olive oil

6 egg whites
a pinch of salt

pepper jack cheese (grated)  you could use cheddar, or any other cheese of your own fancy.

preheat the oven to 450°

So First!  i sauteed the peas, garlic, and peas, in a little olive oil and flavored them with some salt and pepper and some paprika.  when they were all done i put them in my blender and blended it until it was a fine mush.  or one might say a purée…

Next!  i made my béchamel.  that’s pretty easy.  first you melt the butter.  then you add the flour to the butter, and mix it together.  then you add the milk stirring constantly.  when it comes to a boil it should be a pretty thick mixture.  yum yum!  this is an important base to lots of different recipes.  i like to add a little nutmeg for flavor.  after it was done i mixed the pea purée into the béchamel.

then i took my egg whites and whipped them up until they were nice and stiff.  after that i took the egg whites and folded the béchamel purée mixture together.  really really fold these!  no mixing!  you must keep the fluffiness of the egg whites or it won’t work!

after that i filled some ramequins half way, then put a nice little bit of cheese into each one, and filled them up to the top with more of the mixture.  and then a nice coating of cheese on top!

into the oven, and cook them until they have puffed up and gone nice and golden brown on top!

mmmmm mmmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Macaroni and Cheese from a Box – and making it better!




Hello Internet!

For This concoction you will need any kind of macaroni and cheese that comes in a box. it usually will cost anywhere from 49¢ to $2.00

then whatever you want to put in it!

here are some things i reccomend
sausage
peas
garlic
onions
broccoli
peppers
bacon

and pretty much anything else you can imagine that you think would be delicious!

so this is a pretty lazy one, but one day i will make a real macaroni and cheese video.

http://www.jackiscooking.com

Jack is Cooking Pasta with Sausage-Tomato Sauce




Hello Internet!  


For this pasta sauce you will need: 
one large can of diced tomatoes
2 onions chopped 
garlic (i didn’t have any but it would be good) 
peas 
sausages  




Pasta  




Thanks to O T O for the additional camera work at the end!

Jack is Cooking Fettucini Alfredo




tonight i am cooking fettuccini alfredo. here is an approximate list of ingredients in case you want to make it to. for instructions, watch the video

2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 cup half n half (or heavy cream)
1 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
3/4 cup frozen peas