I got inspired to make this recipe because I was thinking about making Sichuan Chili Chicken but needed a vegetable instead of chicken for dinner…So I thought I could make cauliflower taste like Sichuan Chili Chicken and I DID! I made a batter for the cauliflower and just cooked it off in the oven. The green beans got sort of fried on a pan. You can’t make substitutes here or it won’t taste right. The peanut oil and Szechuan peppercorns are essential.

Ingredients for around 4 portions

1 medium cauliflower – break down in florets

4 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

3 garlic cloves -ground to paste or microplane

4 Tablespoons corn starch

1 egg white

6 oz green beans – trimmed

1 jalapeno – chopped

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

3 Tablespoons chili sauce like sambal – (or to taste)

non stick spray

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

Ina large bowl mix together 4 Tablespoon peanut oil, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns, 3 garlic, egg white and corn starch. Mix well. add the cauliflower and mix till coated. Lay the cauliflower on the sheet tray in a single layer leaving a little room around each floret. They go in the pre heated 375 degree F oven until cooked though and brown and slightly crispy. (in my oven on the middle rack this took 45 minutes but timing can differ)

While the cauliflower is cooking in a small mixing bowl mix together the remaining peanut oil, soy sauce, sugar, Szechuan peppercorns together and heat it up in a small fry pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the green beans and jalapeño. Cover with some foil so it can steam the green beans tender. This willl only take a few minutes. Add the garlic and take off heat.

Stir the cauliflower and green beans with chili sauce and finish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Delicious, spicy and tasty!

I came across a Tomato Chutney recipe and thought of it as an Indian flavored tomato sauce that is used like a salsa or condiment. I started researching different recipes for tomato chutney so I would know what ingredients I’d want to use. Of course tomato chutney is vegetarian and wouldn’t be used the way I’m using it here but it is really delicious this way. Tomato chutney is a sweet, sour and spicy tomato sauce. I didn’t add sugar but used golden raisins for sweetness. It’s something different and delicious that you might want to try. I really got the one pot dishes down and they come out Forking GREAT. However the chicken skin in these dishes is not edible but gives off amazing flavors to the dish. The chicken is always moist and flavorful and leftover heat up moist , tender and flavorful too. This recipe will make about 4 dinners with sauce of about 4 oz of chicken each with around 6 ounces of leftover moist flavorful chicken that you can use for maybe two lunches. I would suggest to serve with a salad or maybe some rice or potato.

Ingredients for 4 servings plus around 6 ounces of extra chicken

1 medium sweet onion – diced

13 garlic cloves – fine chopped

25 curry leaves (curry leaves are controversial in cooking. Some chefs pull them out like bay leaves and other chefs chop up…I chopped them up fine and they were very good in the dish) – fine chopped Or whole if you want to remove.

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste…you might want more or less depending on your tolerance for spicy food.

1 teaspoon gram masala

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

4 1/2 los chicken thighs – (with bone and skin)

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large baking dish or buffet half pan add the onion, garlic, curry leaves, cumin, mustard, red Chile, garam masala, ginger, fennel, tomatoes, raisins, vinegar and add the chicken thighs in a single layer on the top skin side up. Sprinkle evenly the salt, pepper, granulated garlic and paprika over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with foil.

Put in pre-heated 350 degree F oven on the middle rack. Timing may differ but in my oven this was perfect in two and half hours. You must cook till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat…but I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked at least 180 degrees…..I think that you will too if you try it.

When you take this pan out of the oven be careful not o burn yourself. You should remove the thighs so they will cool some so you can remove the meat from the bones and skin. The fat from the chicken does not mix with the sauce and you need to spill the chicken fat off. Either by letting it cool to room temp and chilling over night in the refrigerator and scrapping the fat off the top….OR you can just tilt the pan and let the fat run out.

If you enjoy sweet sour spicy and flavorful then you should enjoy this.

I got my Milk Street Magazine and I thought the German Apple Pie looked really great and I wanted to try it. When I looked at the recipe I thought that this is too much dessert for me so I cut the recipe in half and it still seemed like a full size dessert recipe to me. I simplified the Milk Street Recipe by making it into a one bowl recipe since it seemed very basic to me. The only thing I’d do slightly different is to not to add the one teaspoon cinnamon that I added to the recipe because it makes the dessert too dark. I did notice that many other recipes for German Apple Almond Cake do call for apple jam to brush on the apples and almost none of the recipes call for cinnamon since it makes the cake too dark…Oh well live and learn. The other BIG THING is that the texture and taste of this cake is much better day two…….Day one I wasn’t crazy for it because it seemed oily and too chewy to me but day two it seemed more cake like, fluffier and not as chewy. The Milk Street Recipe is mostly double of the ingredients I used, it goes in a springform pan for about twice as much time. I used a 10 inch pie pan that I sprayed with non stick spray and I thought this is plenty of dessert that can serve 8 or more…The Milk Street Recipe also serves 8 but much bigger pieces.

Ingredients for 8 servings

1/2 cup + I Tablespoon sugar (Tablespoon is for finishing)

4 oz unsalted butter – room temperature

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 oz almond paste (not marzipan) in 1/2 inch pieces

1 apple peeled and cut in thin slices

non stick spray

teaspoon powdered sugar to finish

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F

Spray a 10 inch pie or cake pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

In a large bowl mix together the the sugar and butter till creamy. Then add the egg till that is creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and almond paste and mix well. Spread this evenly in your pan. Top with the apple slices and fan them out to cover most of the surface. Push them in a little. Sprinkle with the remaining Tablespoon of sugar.

Bake till edges of cake are brown and a tooth pick comes out clean. This should take 25-30 minutes.

Let cake cool on counter. This cake should be served room temperature or slightly warmed up and add a small amount of powdered sugar before serving. I thought that this cake was much better the next day.

Mine is a little darker than yours will be because I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar topping. adding more of the cinnamon and sugar to the ends.

ENJOY!

A special THANKS to Milk Street Magazine showing us your version of German Almond Apple Cake.