Lamb Curry Dish and accoutrements...

I will say that all this looks very complicated to prepare, but really I think it wasn't terrible. It must have taken maybe a half hour to get everything ready, including thawing the lamb roast and trimming it. It just needs about an hour to cook, so you have to make it on a day when you have time. I thought it was great and totally worth it all, but like I said, the others in my house were less impressed. I hope you like it if you try it! Also, I guess some people use tumeric as a substitute for saffron if you don't have any.

Oh, and Becca, in case you don't see my comment, for the enchilada sauce recipe, try Enchilada Sauce Recipe under the recipes label. :)

1 lb boneless lamb stew meat - we bought some kind of less expensive lamb roast and cut it up into smaller chunks
Salt & pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup oil to saute (we used olive...)
1 medium sweet onion, diced small
2 Tbs minced fresh peeled ginger
1 Tbs minced garlic (we always use more)
2 large tomatoes, diced, with juices... I think it would be good with at least one more
2 largish peeled parsnips, about 1/2 inch diced (enough to replace about 3 medium potatoes)
1 cup peas (we used frozen)
Curry powder to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional, we did not use any...)

Season lamb, and brown in oil over med-high heat, about 5-8 minutes. Set meat aside. Reduce heat to med-low and add onion and curry powder and salt (and pepper) to taste. Stir frequently until onion softens. Add ginger and garlic and stir continuously about 2 minutes. Return meat and add 2 cups water and tomatoes. Increase heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 min. Add parsnips and cook, covered, until lamb and parsnips are tender, about 30 more min. Add peas and cook until heated through. Adjust seasoning if desired. Serve with cucumber yogurt sauce and saffron scallion cous cous (and mango chutney if desired.)


Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
2 cups plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and coarsely grated (we put our in the food processor)
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cumin
dash of cayenne if desired

Mix all ingredients together and chill at least 15 minutes, but up to 3 days.


Saffron Scallion Cous Cous
1 cup cous cous
2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp saffron threads, lightly crushed
salt and pepper
7 scallions (white plus 3 inches of green, about 1 cup) thinly sliced

Drizzle olive oil over cous cous in a heatproof bowl. Rub grains or stir until all coated with oil (about 2 mins.) Bring chicken stock just to a boil. Remove from heat, add saffron, stirring. Add half to the cous cous, keep the rest warm over low heat. Stir and fluff cous cous with a fork. Cover bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining stock, fluff and cover for 5 more minutes. Season to taste and stir in scallions just before serving.

All recipes here are adapted from Food To Live By by Myra Goodman.

Quick Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

I like to mix up my salad dressing right in the bowl before I add my lettuce and other salad fixings. I start with covering the bottom of the bowl with a thin layer of olive oil. Then I splash some balsamic vinegar in there, about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of oil. I squirt some lemon juice in there, maybe one or two tablespoons worth depending on how much dressing you're making, and about the same amount of honey. You can add salt and pepper if you want, or anything else if you think of it, but I like to keep it simple. Stir this together with a fork or whisk until well combined. Then add your salad and toss it and there you go!

Roast Chicken and Chicken Stock

To roast a chicken:

Put slices of a whole onion on the bottom of your roasting pan along with the cloves of 2 heads of garlic. You can stuff the cavity of the bird with whatever fresh herbs you like: thyme, oregano or tarragon...we didn't because we didn't have any fresh... Put the bird on the rack bottom side up. Brush with melted butter and apply seasonings - we used a poultry rub, but any seasonings or just salt and pepper will do. Bake in 375 oven for 1 hour - we kept it covered at this point.

After 1 hour, turn the bird right side up. Brush with more butter and apply more seasoning. Bake another hour - at this point we uncovered it.

Carve chicken as desired. Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup (we were generous) white wine to the drippings and begin to bring to a boil. Add 4 cups of chicken stock (we used homemade stock given to us my by friend Becca). Allow to boil rapidly, stirring frequently, until reduced to about 1/2 the original volume. Strain and serve warm. You can also thicken this sauce more by adding 1 TBS gelatin if desired, but we didn't. It made a pretty thin sauce, but delicious. It would have been great over mashed potatoes, but they're on my no-no list...thats ok, I enjoyed it all the same!

I plan to use the carcass to make stock for chicken noodle soup. I'll add to it 4 cups of water, 2 tbs vinegar, some onion, carrots, and celery, and let it stand for an hour. Then I'll bring it to a boil, then simmer for 6 to 24 hours. About ten minutes before its done, I'll add a bunch of parsley. Then I'll strain it all and put it in my fridge until the fat settles out. Once I've skimmed off the fat, it'll be ready to go! I'll use the veggies and chicken meat bits for the soup, with some nice big noodles I found.

Fri Jan 9th - What I'm Eating

My goodness, today was a crazy day! I was out of the house, and actually also out of town, from 10am til 5pm, and non-stop busy the whole time I was away. Let's see if I can remember what I ate today:

Breakfast: at home, pills and water. in the car, half a piece of string cheese and a small handful of raisins.

Lunch: this was a potluck at a meeting: 2 deviled eggs (so 1 whole egg). a little cabbage salad, like a slaw with dried cranberries and almond slivers. maybe a half a cup of sloppy joe meat. quinoa salad with tomatoes, kidney beans, cilantro, and I'm not sure what else. most of a pineapple ring (some shared with little boy). water.

Dinner: Jason's Deli: bowl of sausage and chicken gumbo (did have a very small amount of white rice sprinkled on the top as garnish). Salad bar - field greens salad with mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, one cherry tomato, blue cheese dressing. fruit salad with grapes, strawberries, apples, and yogurt. A little bit of banana pudding.

bed - pills and water.

Analysis: Well as you can see, I didn't get any snacks in today and I did not drink nearly enough water (I forgot my water bottle at home). Breakfast was pathetic. I was truly running on adrenaline today so I wasn't really feeling hungry, and also I had no access to food. I did a terrible job planning ahead on that one. I did really pretty well at the potluck, and I did give myself a little grace at dinner to indulge in my favorite banana pudding at Jason's Deli, but I probably had 1/4 to 1/3 the amount I would have eaten of it in the past. I even skipped the free soft serve ice cream and gingerbread muffins. Wow, when I say it like that, it almost seems like I have something to be proud of today! Well I'll have another couple of chances next week when I am going to have similar busy days. Note to self: plan ahead!

I also did not get in any formal exercise, but I did run around a lot and up and down some stairs too, so its not like I was sitting on my tush all day. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!

I do have to say a word about the deviled eggs I ate at lunch - they were made by my dear sweet sister, Hannah, who is visiting us right now. They contained safflower mayonnaise, organic white wine vinegar, organic dijon mustard, and a little raw honey. So they could definitely have been a lot worse. If you are looking for a deviled eggs recipe, I highly recommend this combo of ingredients, of course the amounts are all to taste. Don't forget a little paprika sprinkled on top...

Enchilada Sauce Recipe

About 1/4 cup of coconut oil warm up in a skillet - I like my cast iron skillet for this. Add about 2 tbs whole wheat flour. If you like spicy, you would also add chili powder to taste at this point. Stir and simmer until the flour is browned.

Puree one or two tomatoes and add water until you have 1 and 1/2 cups of liquid. Add to skillet along with one smaller can of tomato paste. (You could also just use plain water and a bigger can of tomato paste, or canned tomatoes...) Season with cumin, garlic, and onion powders, about 1/4 tsp each. Simmer and stir all until the sauce is slightly thickened.

I like to pour a little in the bottom of my rectangular glass dish and then line up my tortillas. I fill with whatever, ground beef, beans, cheese, etc., and then roll the tortillas and pour the rest of the sauce over the top. Cover the whole thing with cheese and bake uncovered at 375-ish until the cheese is melted and the sauce is a bit bubbly, maybe 20 minutes or so.