Four Foods on Friday

Posted by Ami-chan on February 1, 2008

This is my second week of participation in the Four Foods on Friday meme. I’m not sure I’ll have a recipe this week but I’ll see if I can come up with something.

#1. What is your favorite kind of cheese for snacking?
When I was pregnant I got really into string cheese, but it’s one of those foods that I can’t stomach any more because of that. I tend to get Muenster cheese slices or Provolone if I’m getting cheese from the Deli, but if we’re just getting block cheese I usually go for the sharp cheddars and every once in a while colby jack.

#2. What is your favorite kind of jelly?
Hrm. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had jelly. I tend to be boring and just get strawberry. When we lived in England my Gran would make home made jams: strawberry, raspberry sometimes blackcurrent or gooseberry, the biggest deal of jam/jelly making was when she would make marmalade. Compared to that store-bought jam just doesn’t “cut the mustard”.

3. Yogurt. Regular or custard style?
… I’m not sure what the difference is, so I guess I probably just get regular. If I get yoghurt it’s usually the 7 for $3-4 deals that the local grocery store does. Although for a while I was really into the Yoplait mousses.

4. Share a recipe for a stew or soup.
I don’t really have any. On the rare occasions that we have leftovers in our house I tend to curry them, which is a tradition handed down from my Grandfather who got curry recipes when he was stationed in what is now Sri Lanka but was then Ceylon while he was in the British Navy. My Gran would make stews with leftovers some times and my MIL and FIL do tend to make things into soup, but I’ve carried on the tradition of “slinging it in a curry” because my husband loves spicy food.
I don’t really measure when it comes to spices and things I’ll just add bits here and there until the mix starts “chuckling” appropriately and gets a bit of a skin forming on it. We call that “melt the spoon good”. So, here are the spices I put in and how I make the curry itself, but if you’re making it yourself you can adjust to your own taste.

Core foods:
Leftover meat (turkey, chicken, beef…usually work best)
Leftover veggies (peas, carrots…etc for example)
Sometimes my grandfather would put sultanas or apple in the curry too.
I like to chop up potatoes and have them in the curry if I have some.

The curry sauce:
Coconut milk with equal parts water.
Curry Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Garam Masala
Turmeric
Ginger
Nutmeg
Paprika.

**cornstarch if needed.

To make:
Chop the leftovers into bite size pieces if they’re not there already. Put the leftovers into the pan over a low heat. I use a wok, but my granddad used to use a saucepan. Add the coconut milk and water, and mix until blended then add the spices at varying intervals stirring until thoroughly mixed. The Cayenne Pepper is what makes the curry spicy so it’s best to start with a little and work up on that one. The main essential spice for the curry flavor is the curry powder, the others can be added to preference. The Garam Masala is a spice which helps to blend all the other flavors together.

I’ll have to see if I can find my grandfather’s recipe for making your own curry powder, but most grocery stores sell yellow or red curry powder or both. It took me a while to find Garam Masala here in Florida though.

Well, that’s it from me. Happy cooking!