Green Curry Chicken Panang

Posted September 6, 2013

Filed under entree, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, stainless steel cookware

This past weekend, I had the pleasure to keep my nephew for the weekend. Since most of my husband’s family lives in town, it is rare that any of my nieces or nephews spend the nights at our house. It only happens if my children wants to have sleepover with them or if their parents are going out-of-town. This past weekend my brother-in-law decided to go away for the weekend with his wife and thus let us keep Aksel, my nephew.
My weekends are usually quite boring, we rarely go out as I am happy to just relax and do nothing. But this weekend, having company, we decided to go here and there. One night we went to the movies, another night we did pizza and movies, and another night we went to a restaurant to eat Thai food. One of my favorite:-) and my children. I ordered the same as : always : Chicken Curry Panang with steamed tofu…. Yum!!!

Well this weekend as I was cleaning my refrigerator and needed to cook some of the chicken I had left over, I decided to cook another curry dish for my school luncheons…;-)

Better than a peanut butter sandwich, right!!?!:-)

Ingredients for 4:

1 tbsp of sesame or peanut oil
1/2 container of the green curry paste or about 4 tbsp.
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1 can of coconut milk
2 chicken breasts cleaned, and diced in small cubes
1-2 bags of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of carrot matches
1/ 2 red pepper diced very small
1/2 yellow or orange pepper diced very small as well.
Salt
Pepper
4 cups of cooked rice

In a large date pan, warm up the oil and sauté the chicken on all sides. season with salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken from the sauté pan and set aside.
In the same sauté pan, stir in the curry paste.
Pour in the coconut milk, the brown sugar and stir. Bring the mixture to boil.
Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.
Them add the peppers, carrots and spinach and bring the mixture to boil again.
Stir , reduce the temperature and cook do 5 minutes.
When ready spoon some rice ( or not) and spoon the mixture over the rice.
Enjoy!!!

Bon appetit and Happy Cooking!!!!

Mixed Green Salad

Posted May 23, 2013

Filed under Crudite/ salad, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I get so busy that sometimes putting food on the table can be a challenge. This past Monday was one of those days. I was out running errands when I got a text saying:” what’s for dinner?” I am not one that likes to eat out, or order out so i rushed home to cook dinner, an easy and fast dinner: Quiche Lorraine and Salad. But I get so bored with salad, that i tried to search for things to put in it. And this is what I came up with. Doesn’t it look pretty???;-)

Ingredients for 4:

1/2 box of aragula
1 fresh corn or a small box of corn
1/4 cup of shredded carrots
4 fresh asparagus
1 cup of cherry tomatoes halves
2 tbsp of balsalmic vinegar
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1/8 tsp of salt
1/16 tsp of pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside
Trim the asparagus, then cut them in about 1/4″ pieces. Set aside.
Place the corn in the large round mold, place the octogonal silpat on top of the round mold and cook it for 2 minutes. Cook, then trim the corn of the cobb.
Add all the vegetables to the bowl where the dressing was made and toss the salad. Serve on individual plates with a piece of Quiche Lorraine.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Carrot and Leek Soup

Posted January 11, 2013

Filed under appetizers, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, soup, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I easily get cold. In the winter, it is even worse. I am a total ice-cube. You can ask my husband, he would confirm;-). Well, even though my classroom is the warmest in the school ( it must be because my students always say, it is warm in here, Madame Wagner), I am still cold and wear a vest all day long. So I will tell you that in the winter a nice warm soup for lunch is always welcome, because it warms me up from inside out.

I had lots of carrots that needed attention so I decided that a leek and carrot soup would be awesome. I still have great memories of my mom’s;-). I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I am ….

Ingredients for 4:

1 lb of carrots
2 medium-sized leeks
4 cups of vegetables or chicken broth
2 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of heavy cream
celeri salt.

Cut the green end of each leek but leaving the tender green part of the leek ( about 1/2 inch from the white part).
Cut the leeks in half and run water over them while spreading the layers of the leeks to clean up any dirt, or sand.
With a paper towel, dry the leeks. Then place them on a cutting board and cut very thinly.
Place a medium-sized pot on medium-high temperature and melt the butter.
When the butter is sizzling, add the leeks and saute them for a few minutes until they become translucent and golden.
Add the carrots and saute them as well for a few minutes.
Add the warm broth to it and bring to boil.
When the soup is boiling, reduce the heat down to low and cook for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are getting really soft.
Puree the soup with an immersion blender.
While the soup is cooking, whip the cream in a kitchen mixer and add some celeri salt to season it to your taste.
Serve the soup in individual bowls, add a dollop of whipped cream. Decorate with some carrots matches, et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Carrot and GInger Soup

Posted October 30, 2012

Filed under appetizers, Large round mold, octogonal silpat, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, soup, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I was not feeling very well today. There has been so much going on at school, and so much viruses and “bugs” that it must have caught up with me today. I was a bit croaggy, but was hungry so I decided to make soup. Any soup would have probably done its trick. Soups make you feel better somehow. Well, I wanted to get rid of my carrots, and thought to use ginger as it usually heal any stomach ache. So here it is:

Ingredients for 4 individual bowls.

1 bag of carrots of 1lb.
1 inch of fresh ginger grated
6 cups of vegetable broth
1 sweet onion sliced and diced thinly
salt/ pepper to taste
parsley or chives for decoration

Peel and cut the carrots, and place them in the round mold. Place the octogonal silpat on top of the round mold, and place the mold in the microwave. Cook the carrots for 6 minutes. In a medium saucepan, warm up the olive oil. When the oil is warm, add the diced onions and cook at medium temperature until the onions are becoming translucent and golden. Add the grated ginger and cook for a minute or two. Then add the carrots to the onions and saute them for a few minutes. Add the warm broth, and bring to boil. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper, stir and bring the mixture to boil. When the soup has come to boil, reduce the temperature to low and cook for 3o minutes. Puree the soup.

At this point, you can do a few things. If you want to impress your guests, then drain your soup through a fine sieve to get rid of the large pieces.

You may also eat the soup ” au naturel”, but you may also add 1/2-1 cup of heavy cream to make the soup smoother.

Laddle the soup into individual bowls and add a sprig of chives for decoration. C’est tout!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

An Asian Twist on Vegetables….

Posted January 22, 2012

Filed under Large round mold, octogonal silpat, vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Some people crave sweets, salty snacks. Me… good vegetables… I am not satisfied if my dinner does not include vegetables. The problem is variety. I get tired of eating the same vegetables. Luckily with each season comes new vegetables, yet it is difficult to find fun ways to eat them. In the book ” 75 Nouvelles Recettes Proteinees” from the Marabout Editions, there is a large selection of vegetables recipes. Some better than others. The recipe of today’s post was based on the recipe called “legumes vapeurs a l’asiatique”. Though I really like the originality of the vegetable mix, I made a few changes including the sauce.

Ingredients for 4: 1 red pepper cut in thin strips, 1 bag of miniature carrots ( can be found in the packaged vegetables in your grocery store), 2-3 summer squash sliced thinly, 2 cups of snow peas, salt, light soy sauce, hoisin sauce.

Trim the snow peas. Place all the vegetables in the round mold to steam them. Mix 1/16 tsp of salt with 1 tsp of water, and pour it into the round mold. Place the octogonal silpat on top of the round mold and microwave for 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, mix 2 tsp of light soy sauce with 2 tsp of hoisin sauce and 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger. Pour this mixture into the cooked vegetable and mix well to coat. Et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Candied Carrots

Posted November 15, 2011

Filed under vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

As I was browsing the vegetable display of my grocery store in search of vegetable my family may like to eat, I could not help but noticing those fresh carrots with their stems still on. They looked so good that i had to have them. At least if they were not going to eat them, I was going to!!!

I love carrots but I have shied away from them in favor of more green vegetables. I usually cook my carrots in a small pot with water and brown sugar, but I wanted to see if using my new cookware would do the trick, and here it is.

Ingredients for 2-3: 1 bundle of fresh carrots or a small package of mini carrots, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, fresh parsley chopped.

Rinse the carrots very well, and trim the stems (Do not discard of them as they can be a great addition to a vegetable soup). Place the carrots in the large round mold. Add 1 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and 1 tbsp of butter. Sprinkle the carrots with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover the round mold with the octogonal silpat and cook in microwave for 4-5 minutes. Et voila!!! They taste as good as if you had cooked them for 15 minutes on the stove. How awesome!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!