All posts by Angela G.

I'm a (pretty) good girl who says (pretty) bad words and makes (pretty effin') delicious dishes. Foodie for life. Delicious to death.

Meatballs with Coconut Curry

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
When tasked with creating a curry from Southern India or Sri Lanka, I decided to take cues from our host, Mary Mary Culinary, and do a little research to put a happy spin on my recipe for The Daring Kitchen. Her Sri Lankan coconut curry was divine – a blend of chilies, tamarind, fresh curry leaves and coconut milk simmered with cubes of tender lamb. I found that because of the Dutch settlers in Sri Lanka, there were several dishes that formed from the hybrid of cultures. One was the use of meatballs in various curries and baked dishes. Given that I am a lover of the meatball in all forms and ethnic spins, I decided to take Mary’s curry and marry (ha!) it with a meatball. Continue reading Meatballs with Coconut Curry

Appam (Sri Lankan Coconut Rice Pancakes)

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
I’m not gonna lie, these guys take a little bit of fortitude the first time you make them. But truthfully, once you get a batch under your belt, you are a pro. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not a baker that anytime I see yeast invited to the party, I get a little apprehensive with my cooking chops. Or that this particular recipe has you coaxing coconut water, coconut milk and raw rice into a batter to make lacy crepes. Or above all that, that you’re looking at a good 12 hours of waiting for it to do its thing before you even get to cook. Well, I’m here to tell you not to fret, my pets, as you’ve totally got this. Continue reading Appam (Sri Lankan Coconut Rice Pancakes)

Cilantro Chutney

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
No hyperbole employed here, but my god, this stuff is glorious. Like draw a bathtub full of the stuff and take a dip. And maybe use some naan for a towel. What? Too much?

I first fell in love with this chutney at my favorite Indian restaurant in Northern Virginia, Raaga. There, they serve the stuff on their lunch buffet in a huge punch bowl with a ladle that just sings to me to scoop to my hearts content. I would have sold my soul for the recipe and called it a day. Continue reading Cilantro Chutney

Spiced Basmati Rice

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
Rice, for being a finicky devil to prepare, has a few forgiving varieties that seem to come out perfectly with every pot. Maybe it’s just me and I am copacetic with specific grains, but for some reason, basmati never fails me. I’ve learned, though, to follow a few tricks to get it (in the words of Goldilocks) juuuuuuuuuuuust right. Continue reading Spiced Basmati Rice

Appam and Curry Feast Menu

Daring Kitchen Menu

It’s Daring Kitchen time, and this one was an exhilarating trip through Southern India and Sri Lanka. Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.

Mary taught us that much of the Indian food that we consume in this country is from the North and Northwest regions, and that a whole world of culinary delights awaited us in the preparation of the cuisine of the south. Boy, did this feast deliver – a fragrant theme of coconut, ginger, cilantro and chilies carried us through the courses served family style. It was the first party I’ve had in a long time where, when the food was finished, I got to sit down and tuck in with my guests. Not to mention the fact that the dishes were perfect for casually prepping with my guests helping in the kitchen. A true delight for which I have Mary to thank 🙂 Continue reading Appam and Curry Feast Menu

Curried Potatoes and Chickpeas

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
In the midst of planning a well-rounded menu for my second Daring Kitchen Feast, I had a formidable opponent in finding a party-pleasing veggie. My husband, though an adventurous eater, seems to have an outstanding war with turmeric. It just turns his stomach, negating all the loving care placed in perfecting the taste of the dish. I’d been reading through Amanda Hesser’s massive New York Times Essential Cookbook and was on the beans and legumes when I came across a recipe for Chickpeas with Ginger. The sauce had notes of Indian spices that rang true with the other offerings for the Daring Kitchen, and no troublesome turmeric. Continue reading Curried Potatoes and Chickpeas

Herb Roasted Baby Potatoes

Thank goodness for the word “potatoes” at the end of this recipe title – otherwise, you’d think I was writing “A Modest Proposal 2.0”  Ok, enough dark jokes for the day and on to the latest entry in the quest for the perfect weeknight side dish.  Barely a recipe (I love these!), this one graced the table the night my darling husband decided to cook me an anniversary dinner.  Given that I usually rule the roost that is our kitchen, I welcomed the offer excitedly, looking forward to the special menu that he had in mind.  I’d been missing hanger steak a whole lot, which is apparently hard to come by at regular markets here in Phoenix, so he drove to the other side of town to Hobe Meats in search of the beloved butcher’s cut.  He decided to round out the meal with homemade horseradish sauce (*in best Racehl Zoe voice* I die!), creamed spinach and a recipe from this blog, my Summer Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes, String Beans and Fingerlings.  What a treat! Continue reading Herb Roasted Baby Potatoes

Mexican Chicken Vegetable Soup (Caldo Tlalpeño)

Tortilla soup has become a standard of tex-mex menus here in the states, becoming another pillar of the glorious international chicken soup pantheon.  While its origin is shrouded in mystery, food historians can pinpoint its arrival to America somewhere around the 1890s.  The combination of slow simmered chicken, tomatoes, and fried tortillas is a simple blend of flavors that seem as if they were always meant to be together.  Crazily, the myriad chicken tortilla soup fails come in the way of people bastardizing this formula, inundating the soup with unnecessary toppings (or worse, using cheese to cover up a watery broth or lack of chicken and vegetables). Continue reading Mexican Chicken Vegetable Soup (Caldo Tlalpeño)

Creamed Spinach

When did the art of creaming vegetables become en vogue?  And when did it fall out of favor in the first place, with poor creamed corn holding up the fort, all the while labeled as low-brow and trailer park?  It’s rather silly given that if ever there was a way to get people to give vegetables a chance, it’s to slather them in cream.

The first time I ever tried creamed spinach, I wasn’t really a true spinach convert.  Boston Market (then Boston Chicken) had opened down the street from us and the family decided to give it a try.  The guy working the counter (aka the “Side Dish Pimp”) tried to sell us on the glories of their creamed spinach, touting it as a game changer.  We took the bait and I took my first bite of the stuff, more dairy than veg and not at all what I had imagined it to be.  Years later, I realize that what I had had wasn’t revolutionary, but it did deserve credit for resoundingly convincing me that spinach is on my team 100%.  *in my best Will Ferrell as Robert Goulet voice* “You win, spinach.  You always do!” Continue reading Creamed Spinach

Littleneck Clams with Chorizo and Garlic

My husband likes most all that I cook for him – in fact, the only thing that got a resounding thumbs down were my Cold Peanut Noodles – I still say it’s not the noodles so much as his distaste for cold pasta, but that’s another story for another day.  But because of his regular approval, I live for those dishes that mean adoration spelled across his face in a smile – the ones that get a “This is REALLY good, baby!” instead of a mere “It’s good.”  The bites that make him look up immediately, eyes creased with a smile, the satisfaction emanating in a grin and nod.  They don’t tell you when you get married that you become hypersensitive to context clues, but alas, here I am, reading facial expressions like ancient runes, sussing out the inside scoop. Continue reading Littleneck Clams with Chorizo and Garlic