Spicing up the cooking

Recipes, Cooking tips and maybe some 'Home Made' secrets !
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manda
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

Post by manda »

Meanqueen wrote: 08 Dec 2022, 12:35 I have given up with butternut squash. Too chuffing hard to peel and chop up.

ilona

{cry}
Try popping it in the microwave for a couple of minutes... makes it softer to peel.
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

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I've got a couple of the multi cookers (a slow cooker/pressure cooker/rice cooker saute thingy etc ...only thing it doesn't do is the hoovering which is a shame)...I love them and we use them a lot especially in the winter. I do pulled pork or corned beef or pickled pork in them either by pressure (if I've not given myself time) or slow cook or a mix of the two.
Be interested to see how your the wok pan does slow cooking LL.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

Post by lancashire lass »

manda wrote: 11 Apr 2023, 23:34 Be interested to see how your the wok pan does slow cooking LL.
lancashire lass wrote: 11 Apr 2023, 13:14 The pork cooked perfectly and in just over 6 hours.
I'm still ploughing my way through the pork and had several meals out of it )t'

Last night I decided to use the pan to make a frittata (basically an all in one big omelette) with some of the pork and vegetables and it was perfect. No matter what I did with the old frying pan, my omelettes usually ended up as scrambled eggs. I'm really pleased with the new pan - as non-stick pans go, this has to be the ultimate and looks like it will be more enduring than most other brands.

This is it (called a Scoville Neverstick shallow casserole):

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manda
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

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Given my love of all things kitcheny )like(
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lancashire lass
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

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lancashire lass wrote: 13 Apr 2023, 09:39 This is it (called a Scoville Neverstick shallow casserole):
My old frying pan may be retiring soon - this has to be the best pan I've ever bought. It does what it says: "Neverstick" - I've had some non-stick / Teflon coated pans over the years but this one has to beat them all. The main reason I got it was because my frying pan was a bit too shallow for the all-in-one pot cooking even though it had served me well for the past 20 or so years.
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Re: Spicing up the BBQ or grill

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I haven't posted on this topic for a while but I can recommend some packet spice mixes I came across the other week. They were being displayed near the till and my eyes lit up .... oooooh, I've never seen those before. They are for marinating meat for grilling or BBQ. I happened to pick up the Citrus Brazilian BBQ and used it with a bit of oil and honey to marinate some chicken thighs and then cooked them in the air fryer. Finger linking delicious. The recipe actually suggested chicken pieces (or other meat like beef or pork pieces) skewered to make kebabs but my stand alone spiced chicken thighs (and yummy crispy flavoured skin) went down just as well.

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PS - this photo was taken from a bargain website which was posted a long time ago so they are no longer 39p each ....
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Rice, Bulgur Wheat and Cous cous

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Spicy foods, whether it be hot, aromatic, curry or whatever, go well with a bland carbohydrate foodstuff. As everyone knows, there's more than one type of rice on the market - Basmati, short grain, long grain and a whole load of specialised such as Jasmine used in Thai cooking or Arborio for a risotto and so on. I think I've tried most but cost-wise for those on a tight budget, the long grain (even the cheap stuff) on sale works fine. The trick is to definitely rinse the rice thoroughly in a sieve before cooking (be aware that cheap rice don't take as long to cook) I do like the mix of wild rice and Basmati - I once threw a handful into a curry to cook in the pot but had left it a little bit too long waiting for the vegetables to cook through. So the Basmati rice went very soft giving it a slight rice pudding texture yet the nutty wild rice off-set it and the whole dish actually turned out very nice. So even overcooking the rice didn't spoil the dish.

Cous cous has to be the simplest to cook - just add boiling water, lid on and leave until the cous cous softens, then use a fork to fluff it up. Unlike Rice and Bulgar wheat where you can cook vegetables with the rice at the same time (saves using multiple pans and energy), these are added either already pre-cooked or raw (such as spring onion or sweet pepper) to the cooked cous cous.

When I first came to Nottingham, I lived in a bedsit for a year and shared a tiny kitchen with another tenant (a vegetarian) As it so happens, the tiny fridge (with a chill box) was not big enough to store much and I had already been using vegetarian alternatives (such as adding Bulgar wheat to a spaggi bol) but after I moved to my first house, that all changed once I had my new fridge freezer. With my recent renewed interest in cooking, I have been looking at some foodstuffs I'd forgotten about and Bulgur wheat is once again on the menu.

Bulgur wheat really is a good alternate to rice and quite versatile. As well as having more fibre and protein than rice, it is also lower in calories. As it takes between 10 and 20 minutes to cook (similar to rice), you can add vegetables and spices to the cooking pot (or rice cooker) and eat hot or cold. It went very well with my recent chicken thigh "tray bake" spices (and the remains of the marinade after taking the chicken out to cook, had gone in the rice cooker with all the raw vegetables and Bulgur wheat giving is a little extra flavour) The next day the rest of the cooked Bulgur wheat was eaten cold with tinned tuna (originally in oil which I think would be better than tuna drained from water or brine). It tolerates a lot of garlic added during cooking
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Peanut + curry

Post by lancashire lass »

I really want to start expanding my spicy cooking a bit more and looking for something a little different. In particular, some recipes containing peanuts (or peanut butter - so not a post for those allergic to peanuts!) and of course, the first just has to be:

Thai Peanut Curry
This easy to make peanut curry is bursting with delicious Thai flavors. Sweet potatoes, carrots, red pepper, and kale are cooked in a creamy broth made of red Thai curry paste, coconut milk, and peanut butter. You will LOVE it!
INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 medium onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2-3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, depending on how spicy you like it
2 tablespoons soy sauce or coco aminos
14 ounce can coconut milk
1 ½ cups water or stock
¼ cup natural peanut butter
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cups chopped kale
Sea salt, to taste
To serve: chopped peanuts and minced cilantro
I haven't tried Thai curry pastes before so time to be adventurous ....

Meanwhile, the BBC Good Food site have loads of recipes to choose from. These next 2 sound lovely (though I may have to tweak some ingredients to what I like, have or easily obtain):

Thai Pork & peanut curry recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
bunch spring onions, sliced
small bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves picked
400g pork tenderloin, sliced
4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
400ml can light coconut milk
175g pack baby corn
juice 1 lime
steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Method

STEP 1
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole. Add the spring onions and coriander stalks and cook for 1 min. Add the pork slices and cook for 5 mins until starting to brown.

STEP 2
Stir in the curry paste and peanut butter. After 30 secs, add the sugar, soy and coconut milk, plus ½ can of water. Mix well, put a lid on and leave to simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.

STEP 3
Remove the lid, add the baby corn and increase the heat. Bubble for 3 mins until the corn is cooked and the sauce has thickened a little. Stir in the lime juice and check the seasoning. Can now be frozen for up to 2 months. To cook from frozen: thoroughly defrost, then heat in a pan on the hob until curry is hot all the way through. Serve scattered with the coriander leaves and rice.

Peanut Butter Curry

Ingredients

2tbsp avocado oil
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chillies, finely sliced (deseeded if you don't like it too hot)
2tsp fresh ginger, grated
2tbsp garam masala
100g smooth peanut butter
400ml coconut milk
400g can chopped tomatoes
coriander, ½ roughly chopped, ½ leaves picked
roasted peanuts, to serve

Method

STEP 1
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a deep frying pan over a medium heat. Brown the chicken in batches, setting aside once golden. Fry the onion for 8 minutes until softened. Then add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry in the other 1 tbsp oil for 1 min. Add the garam masala and fry for 1 min more.

STEP 2
Stir in the peanut butter, coconut milk and tomatoes, and bring to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan and add the chopped coriander. Cook for 30 mins until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through.

STEP 3
Serve with the remaining coriander, roasted peanuts and rice, if you like.
cauliflower rice to serve

Seems there is a beef version:

Beef Panang Curry
This Thai red beef curry is made with peanuts, coconut milk and red curry paste and is ready within 30 minutes. Easy to make, this beef and peanut curry is great for meal prep, batch cooking and freezer meals.
Ingredients

21 ounces stir fry beef strips or sliced sirloin (600g)
salt and pepper
2 medium onions finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
2 red bell peppers
2 Thai red chilies (adjust to taste)
1 stalk lemongrass tough outside removed and cut in half lengthways
zest of one lime
2 cans of full fat coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
3 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 ½ cups peanut butter
1 tablespoon fish sauce
juice of one lime
2 tablespoons corn starch
4 tablespoons water
Toppings
peanuts
sliced Thai red chili
fresh coriander

Instructions

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan over a high heat.

Season the beef with salt and pepper.

Once hot add the beef and cook until browned. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside. Turn the pot down to a medium high heat.

Add the onions, peppers, garlic, ginger, chilies, lemongrass and lime zest to the pot. Cook while stirring occasionally until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, stock, curry paste, peanut butter, lime juice and fish sauce to the pot and stir to combine. Turn the heat to high and let it come to a boil.

Turn the pot to a simmer and add in the cooked beef. Mix the corn starch and water together and stir this in. Remove the lemongrass.

Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened and serve.

Notes

Make the chili in a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven. I used my Crock Pot Dutch oven which distributes heat really well so you don’t end up with hot spots that can burn the ingredients on the bottom of the pot.

Make this curry your own by mixing up the protein. Swap the beef for chicken or tofu or add shrimp towards the end of cooking.

This curry is flavourful but mild in spice. If you want to make it spicier add in one or two more chilies - take care not to go overboard though!

The recipe is easily halved if you don't want to make a big batch.

Top with peanuts, sliced red chili and fresh coriander.

Serve with rice, cauliflower rice or noodles and naan or poppadoms on the side.
I wouldn't mind giving any of these recipes a try so I think I will need to buy in some ingredients ...
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Spreckly
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

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It is making my mouth water, LL.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

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Spreckly wrote: 05 Jul 2023, 21:29 It is making my mouth water, LL.
)t'

Since my illness last year, trying out spices and combinations with other ingredients that I wouldn't have normally entertained in the past, is opening up a new world for me. Blame John Torode on Masterchef for going on and on about some fresh ginger in a dish that was warming up the back of his throat ... I realised that I had never in my life ever cooked with fresh ginger (ground dried ginger for cakes only - not that I did much baking anyway) That Chinese 5 Spice noodle dish I used to make, which was okay (but not something I would want too often), suddenly went up a whole new dimension with the added fresh ginger (and garlic & hint of chilli flakes)

I have had Thai Peanut Curry before (I was away on a conference at the time) which I thoroughly enjoyed so I'm eager to give that a go
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New (to me) Spices / Herbs

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I buy most spices, herbs and mixes from the supermarket as I'm not quite ready to try mixing up my own blends yet. However, even the bigger supermarkets don't sell everything that are available (even ones they used to sell) but after I had visited the Schwartz herbs & spices website to check if they still package & sell them (they do!), I realised that I could easily make up an order worth £20 or more to get free delivery. As well as replacing the ones I missed, a few others fell in the basket (Steakhouse pepper, Chargrilled chicken seasoning to name a few) plus some new ones I'd never heard of before:

Sumac
What is sumac?

This wine-coloured ground spice is one of the most useful but least known and most underappreciated. Made from dried berries, it has an appealing lemon-lime tartness that can be widely used. In Iran, they use it as a condiment, putting it onto the table with salt and pepper. You can try this yourself and it will complement most dishes.

Using sumac instead of lemon juice or zest immediately enhances dishes, giving a fascinating and exotic twist. Fish, poultry and vegetable dishes all spring to life in a new way. Simply sprinkle over yogurt as a dip, too.

How to cook with sumac

The flavour of sumac is so universally appealing that it’s hard to go wrong. Add it to salad dressings or the salads themselves, in fact, add it wherever you would use lemon or lime. It’s great on fried fish and on the chips too, rice dishes, and Middle Eastern fare such as hummus, bean or chickpea salads. It’s a great lifter of sandwich fillings and something as simple as cheddar and sumac is a winning combination. Sumac is not usually cooked with but can be and its reduced flavour brought to life by serving the dish with more sumac to sprinkle.

Recipe suggestions;

Give your roast chicken a flavour of the middle east with our chicken with lemons, sumac and spiced yoghurt. Baked feta with sumac and grapes is an easy but impressive starter, it's cheap to throw together, too. Spice up your sweet potato wedges with sumac, rosemary and thyme. These would go well with grilled chicken, salmon or alongside falafel wraps.
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Makrut Lime Leaves (aka Kaffir Lime)
Makrut lime leaves are a key ingredient in Thai cooking as well as other Southeast Asian cuisines. They are probably one of the most aromatic of all herbs and a wonderful addition to many Thai and Southeast Asian soups, curries, and stir-fries. The thick leaves are dark green and shiny on one side, and pale-colored and porous on the other. They are sold fresh, frozen, and dried.

What Are Makrut Lime Leaves?

Makrut limes (Citrus hystrix) are different from regular limes in that they are very bitter with bumpy skin. In Thailand, the makrut limes are not consumed but are used mainly in producing household cleaning products. The leaves, however, are very aromatic and can be eaten if very thinly sliced or cooked. They are hourglass-shaped "double" leaves, meaning there are two leaves at the end of each stem. Makrut lime leaves are sold fresh, frozen, and dried.

Makrut Lime Leaves Recipes

Many Thai recipes, such as fried rice, feature lime leaves as a key ingredient. If a recipe calls for makrut lime leaves, and you cannot find them or choose not to use them, do not substitute with another ingredient; there is no replacement for the unique flavor the makrut lime leaves impart to a dish.

Thai Lime Leaf Chicken Stir-Fry
Thai Lime Leaf Green Curry
Thai Steamed Mussels
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Zaatar
Za'atar[a] (/ˈzɑːtɑːr/ ZAH-tar; Arabic: زَعْتَر, IPA: [ˈzaʕtar]) is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices.[1] As a family of related Middle Eastern herbs, it contains plants from the genera Origanum (oregano), Calamintha (basil thyme), Thymus (typically Thymus vulgaris, i.e., thyme), and Satureja (savory) plants.[2] The name za'atar alone most properly applies to Origanum syriacum, considered in biblical scholarship to be the ezov of the Hebrew Bible
One Sheet Pan Roasted Za'atar Chicken and Potatoes
One Sheet Pan Roasted Za'atar Chicken and Potatoes

prep time 25 MINUTES
cook time 35 MINUTES
total time 1 HOUR

Chicken crusted with za'atar spices, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. Toss it all into a zip-top bag and give it a good shake before baking it. It's a crowd pleaser

Ingredients

6-8 pieces of bone-in, skin on chicken (thighs, breasts, drumsticks)
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons za'atar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
16 ounces new potatoes, halved (see notes)
fresh thyme, optional

Instructions

1. Position a rack near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF. You can line a sturdy baking sheet with heavy duty foil for easier clean up if you'd like.
2. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of za'atar seasoning, and garlic powder in a zip-top bag. Give the marinade a taste. If if the seasoning is salt-free like mine was, add in 1 teaspoon or as desired.
3. Add the chicken pieces and the potatoes to the bag. Seal the bag and give it a good shake so the marinade evenly coats the chicken and potatoes. Allow the chicken and potatoes to marinate for 20 minutes or up to 3 hours
4. Spread the chicken and potato pieces out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of za'atar on the chicken and potatoes. You could even sprinkle some chopped fresh thyme on top of you'd like.
5. Bake the roasted za'atar chicken for 35-45 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 165ºF, you may need to turn the baking sheet half way through the baking if your oven has heat spots.
6. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and lemon slices or wedges, serve warm.

Notes

Make ahead: The chicken can be marinated up to 12 hours in advance. If you decide to do that, add the potatoes 20 minutes-3 hours before baking.

POTATOES: You can swap out the new potatoes for sweet potatoes if you'd like. Make sure to cut the potatoes into 1-inch pieces so that they cook evenly in the time allotted for the chicken. Larger pieces will not cook in the time and you will have to remove the chicken and continue roasting.
Of course I'd already placed the order by the time I had got round to asking a work colleague (from the middle east) if she had heard of the Sumac or Zaatar and what would she used them for. Of course she had, and this morning brought me a big bag of dried sumac berries. Meanwhile, while researching Makrut Lime Leaves, they are the alternate name for Kaffir Lime leaves (I've never cooked with them before so are still new to me)
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Re: Peanut + curry

Post by lancashire lass »

lancashire lass wrote: 05 Jul 2023, 11:22 I really want to start expanding my spicy cooking a bit more and looking for something a little different. In particular, some recipes containing peanuts (or peanut butter - so not a post for those allergic to peanuts!)

Seems there is a beef version:

Beef Panang Curry
Just an update of my version Beef Panang Curry.

First, getting hold of Thai red curry paste seems strangely difficult (I've seen jars of Thai green curry paste) as does fresh lemongrass. I'm sure if I went to the bigger supermarkets or to some of the Asian shops it might be easier but I'm still shopping locally. Anyway, I had decided to buy some dried lemongrass (google searches indicated it was just as good) but then ... long story short, I thought I'd ordered it, I thought I'd received it >coc< but when I finally gathered the ingredients for the cooking, I had done neither. As for Thai red curry paste, I ended up buying a kit (containing sachets of red paste, coconut milk and one with dry ingredients such as red chillies)

When buying the beef, I opted for a piece of rump steak and sliced it. A quick fry in a little oil to seal the meat and then got on with preparing the other ingredients (the garlic, ginger, dried chilli flakes, no red pepper but I had a green pepper, onion) Now I like to cook vegetables in the same pan and I decided to add a diced sweet potato and some frozen peas. I didn't have any lemongrass but added some lemon juice instead (to be honest, I don't think it made any difference) I didn't bother with the stock or zest of lime, and decided to use soy sauce instead of fish sauce. As for the dry ingredients in the kit, I had decided to stick with my original plan of using chilli flakes instead as I have got an idea of how much heat I like and how much to add.

Okay, the kit was for a chicken curry and the only other ingredient it suggested was baby corn. As it happens I had some, so that went in as well. I followed the instructions (both for the recipe above and the kit which were similar) thereafter. While everything was cooking, I was finally able to read the ingredients on the kit ... hmmm, the red paste actually contained among other things .... lemongrass and ginger. So I have to confess I then did a lot of tasting during the cooking and all seemed just right. Until I added the peanut butter - it thickened the sauce very quickly. After checking everything was thoroughly cooked, I served it with some heated naan bread (with garlic and coriander)

What did I think?

First - the beef was very nice and although it was not cheap (I wouldn't normally buy beef because it is expensive), I would happily get another piece of that rump steak just for a steak dinner. It cooked really nicely and melted in your mouth (another reason why I don't normally buy beef is because I can quite easily ruin it when cooking, but not in this case)

The naan bread was a good choice rather than rice or noodles.

As for the Thai curry, I think it tasted nicer without the peanut butter. It still tasted nice but it didn't have that "wow, I could eat that all over again" factor before as well as after the peanut butter. I don't think omitting the lime and using a green pepper instead of a red one made any difference. So a little disappointed but there is room for improvement and might need some tweaks (perhaps getting hold of Thai red curry paste and lemongrass might help!)

Cost-wise, the beef and the curry kit alone made it a much more expensive meal than I would normally budget for, so not something I would do too often. Even if I'd got individual ingredients, coconut milk isn't cheap either. So one of those things to think about if being careful on food costs (at least with spices, you only need a small amount to make a big flavour and still have some left for another time)
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

Post by Mo »

Is the sumac the same as the shrub that gives good autumn colour in the garden.
Spreads from runners, if one house has it all the neighbours do to.
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Re: Spicing up the cooking

Post by lancashire lass »

Mo wrote: 13 Jul 2023, 16:13 Is the sumac the same as the shrub that gives good autumn colour in the garden.
Spreads from runners, if one house has it all the neighbours do to.
No idea as there seems to be an edible and a poisonous variety. Spreads by suckers as you mention but then I'm not sure if that is a general sumac trait. As for containing toxic compounds, always make sure you identify the tree / shrub carefully before ingesting any parts (berries, leaves, bark and so on)!

Rhus typhina
Rhus typhina, the staghorn sumac,[4] is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains,[5] but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate world.
Is staghorn sumac poisonous?
While very common, staghorn sumac isn’t dangerous to most people. Other species that share common ancestors, like poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix, formerly Rhus vernix) and the Chinese lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum, formerly Rhus vernicifera) are very poisonous for most humans and pets
.
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Spicing up the cooking - Bobotie

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I had just been re-reading some of the Growing Up in South Africa posts (food) and one of the recipes which was popular over there (but my mother never cooked because she didn't like anything with "curry" in it) is called Bobotie. I decided to look up the recipe and found this on the BBC Good Food recipes site. Madras curry mix is one of my favourites plus I don't mind adding fruit to savoury dishes like a curry, so I thought I'd put the recipe here for future reference:
Pronounced ba-boor-tea, this much-loved South African dish is a delicious mixture of curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden topping, not dissimilar to moussaka
Ingredients

2 slices white bread
2 onions, chopped
25g butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg packet lean minced beef
2 tbsp Madras curry paste
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
3 cloves
5 allspice berries
2 tbsp peach or mango chutney
3 tbsp sultana
6 bay leaves
For the topping
300ml full-cream milk
2 large eggs

Method

STEP 1
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Pour cold water over the bread and set aside to soak.

STEP 2
Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter, stirring regularly for 10 mins until they are soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic and beef and stir well, crushing the mince into fine grains until it changes colour. Stir in the curry paste, herbs, spices, chutney, sultanas and 2 of the bay leaves with 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

STEP 3
Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Squeeze the water from the bread, then beat into the meat mixture until well blended. Tip into an oval ovenproof dish (23 x 33cm and about 5-6cm deep). Press the mixture down well and smooth the top. You can make this and chill 1 day ahead.

STEP 4
For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, then pour over the meat. Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.
I'm not a big lover of chutney (or anything pickled) but I'm sure without it would affect the flavour (I can imagine the fruit and vinegar / sugar mix would be missed) So I'll have to see what I can get. And instead of whole allspice or clove, I'm sure powdered spices could be used. Knowing me, I'd probably add a lot more garlic ...

One website Immaculate Bites had slightly different ingredients .... oooh, they both sound nice
Bobotie, pronounced as BA-BOOR-TEA, appears to be a dish accounted way back to ancient Roman times (yep, imagine those thigh-high Roman sandals). It was basically layers of cooked meat with pine nuts seasoned with pepper, celery seeds, and asafoetida (a herb similar to that of leeks), then added with a top layer of egg and milk mixture.

Today, Bobotie recipes have been simplified by using curry powder and usually call for chopped onions and almonds. Traditionally, bobotie is added with dried fruits like raisins or sultanas and often garnished with walnuts, chutney, and bananas.
Ingredients

▢2 tablespoons butter
▢2 medium onions , finely diced
▢1 tablespoon garlic , minced
▢2 bread slices
▢½ cup milk
▢1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
▢1 teaspoon turmeric
▢1 teaspoon ground cumin
▢1 teaspoon coriander
▢2 pounds lean ground beef
▢1 1/2 tablespoon dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano, )
▢1 large apple , grated
▢⅓ -½ cup fruit chutney
▢1/4 cup raisins (optional)
▢½ -1 lemon juice and zest
▢1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Savory egg Custard topping

▢3 eggs
▢5-6 bay leaves
▢½ cup cream
▢½ cup milk
▢salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pre-heat oven at 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius.

In a medium bowl, mix together milk and bread to soften it. Set aside.
Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish, or a cast iron.

Heat up a large saucepan or large skillet over medium heat,then add butter until melted, followed by onions and garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes just until soft and fragrant.

Next stir in the spices: curry powder, turmeric, ground cumin, coriander and dried herbs.

Add ground beef and herbs stirring constantly to break it up, cook until beef is no longer pink or slightly brown. Remove from the stove.

Add to a bowl, followed by bread mixture, chutney, grated apple, lemon juice and zest, and Worcestershire – add raisins here, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add beef mixture into greased casserole dish or cast iron pan. I used a 10 inch pan. Using a spoon press the beef mixture down. This helps keep the eggs mixture afloat and forms a nice custardy top when baked,

Bake in the oven for around 40-50 minutes.

While bobotie is baking, mix together eggs, cream , milk and a ¼ teaspoon of turmeric .

Take the meat out of the oven, pour the eggs mixture over the beef. Arrange the bay leaves on top of it .

Bake for another 20 minutes (start checking after 15 minutes ) or until the eggs mixture has set.

Remove and let it rest for a few minutes then serve with yellow rice and vegetables.
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