Red Curry with Seared Duck Breast

Red Curry with Seared Duck Breast

In Denmark we often had curries, but I have never had fresh bamboo shoots before moving to the States. Knowing how good fresh poached bamboo shoot tastes, I will never go back to the ones you can buy canned in the stores. They don't have the soft texture and sweet taste.

This is my take on a red duck curry.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 duck breast, seared and roasted
• 1 red or yellow pepper
• ½ fresh poached bamboo shoot, thinly sliced (can be substituted with canned bamboo shoot)
• 1 can baby corn (or fresh), cut bite sized 
• 150 g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 handful sweet basil leaves
• 8 lychee fruits
• 1 jalapeño, sliced thinly for topping
• vegetables oil for cooking

Curry Paste:

• 2 dried red chili peppers
• 1 fresh red chili pepper
• ¼ red onion
• 3 teaspoons lemongrass (minced or paste)
• 1-inch (3 cm) ginger, peeled and sliced
• 4 garlic gloves
• 7 black peppercorns 
• 3 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

Make the curry paste, by blending all the ingredients in a mini blender until you have a smooth paste. 

Chop all the vegetables in bite sized pieces, and set them aside. 

Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, add the curry paste and cook until fragrant. Add vegetables, a little at a time, so the wok don't cool down. 

Add sugar, coconut milk and fish sauce. Let the sauce thicken a bit while simmering. Season the sauce with fish sauce, pepper and sugar.

Just before serving, add the lychee fruits and basil leaves.

Serve the curry over rice and thinly sliced duck breast.

Enjoy!

Spicy Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce

Spicy Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce

These spicy lamb meatballs in a tomato-curry are so tasty and flavorful, and I really love it. You would think, that the dish is burning hot when you start adding all the chilies, but somehow the chilies mellow out and just adds a nice heat. Of course I removed all the seeds, but serranos usually pack some heat.

I really like to drizzle the juice from the lemon over the dish when plated. The tanginess brightens the flavor profile of the dish.

For at low calorie version, serve the meatballs over cauliflower rice.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

• 450 g ground lamb

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 Serrano chilies

• 1 teaspoon garam masala

• 35 g (1 dl) plain breadcrumbs

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

Purée:

• 4 tomatoes

• 4 Serrano chilies

• 1 inch (2½ cm) fresh ginger

Sauce:

• 2 teaspoons grape seed oil

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• ¾ teaspoon turmeric

• 2 teaspoons paprika

• ⅛ cup almond slivers

• salt to taste

Topping:

• Serrano chili

• lemon

Direction:

Meatballs:

Peel and grate ginger and garlic. Cut the chilies in half, length-wise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Dice the chilies. Mix meat, garlic, ginger, chili, egg, garam masala and breadcrumbs in a bowl, season with salt. Form about 12 round meatballs with your hands.

Purée:

Cut the chilies in half, length-wise and remove the seeds with a spoon, peel the ginger, and roughly chop it up. Cut the tomatoes in half. Add all the ingredients in a blender, and purée until smooth.

Sauce:

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and fry cumin, turmeric, paprika and almonds for about 20-30 seconds until fragrant. Add the purée and bring it to a simmer while stirring. Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes. Place the meatballs in the sauce and simmer them in the sauce for another 15 minutes. Add more water if necessary. 

Finish of the dish with slices of chili and lemon wedges. Serve the meatballs over rice.

Enjoy!

Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry

Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry.

This Indian Lamb and Spinach Curry was one of the first dishes I tried in my slow cooker. A slow cooker was all new to me. If you wanted simmer food you had to stay home to make sure it didn't burn. But with a slow cooker it was possible to start the dinner in the morning, run errands or go to work, and have the simmer food ready by the time for dinner. Why have I never seen a device like this in Denmark - I don't get it. 

This curry is nice and spicy. If you don't care for spicy food use less cayenne pepper. The recipe is from Oprah.  

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup canola oil

• 3 yellow onions , chopped

• 4 cloves garlic , peeled and minced

• 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated

• 2 tsp. ground cumin

• 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

• 1 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

• 2 cups beef broth, preferably high quality

• 3 pounds boneless leg of lamb , cut into 1-inch cubes

• Salt

• 6 cups baby spinach

• 2 cups plain full-fat yogurt

Direction:

The ingredients.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm oil. Add onions and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in broth, raise heat to high, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom. When broth comes to a boil, remove pan from heat.

Put lamb in a slow cooker, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Add contents of frying pan. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 4 hours or low-heat setting for 8 hours.

Add baby spinach to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in 1 1/3 cups yogurt. Season to taste with salt. Spoon into shallow bowls and serve, passing remaining yogurt to add as a garnish.

Serve with rice or quinoa and a chutney.