![Spicy Alaskan Cod with Thai Red Curry Sauce]()
by Yvonne Maffei | May 1, 2016 | Dinner, Fish & Seafood, Halal-Certified Products
Lately I’ve been watching a lot of travel shows that involve copious amounts of eating along the way- think anything and everything Anthony Bourdain is in only because of all the interesting places he visits–but, definitely not what he eats or drinks. Some of the dishes that he tries are, in my opinion, a lesson in what not to eat. At the very least, it’s education about the vast amounts of food people around the world eat that are completely and utterly a figment of our imagination here in the Midwest. I wouldn’t want his job of eating some pretty stomach-churning (and not so halal) things, but I would love his job of traveling, cooking and eating the halal stuff, for sure…
Backing away from Netflix and right back into the kitchen and I am craving some spicy Thai food- or anything spicy, at least somewhat. All the shows with such great seafood dishes reminds me that the world does offer up some incredibly great seafood recipes I just don’t see very often in restaurants around me, but I like to try making them myself. The problem is, I am usually the only one who ends up eating fish dishes because so few people are turned on by seafood. I think it’s ALL in how it’s made- the resulting flavor is the key factor that’s going to attract eaters, so perhaps just make a great dish without discussing all the details of what’s in it and what it looked like prior to cooking it. At least that’s the lesson I’ve learned…
I mean, none of the ingredients below look unappetizing, do they? No. But we’re not cooking with a whole fish that has to be cleaned up. The only somewhat scary ingredient to anyone not used to fish or seafood dishes is the fish sauce- I can just imagine telling someone that it’s an ingredient in a dish without explaining that it’s not so bad- just ground up salty anchovies or something similar–and that means you don’t need to add salt to your dish. Great, isn’t it?
For this recipe, which totally satisfied my craving for something nice and spicy but not too hot, I chose Alaskan cod in pieces as my main seafood ingredient. I like the because it takes the work out of slicing it up yourself and they’re found frozen which typically means the fish is freshly frozen rather than the ‘fresh’ fish at the grocery store that has simply been defrosted after arriving on ice and frozen from the transport trucks.
I found found this particular fish in nice chunks is at Trader Joe’s- next time I make this dish I’d probably cut them even a bit smaller just because I don’t like huge chunks of fish on my plate, but to each his own. You could even get a large piece of cod and put it in without cutting at all and it would be fine, too.
For the vegetables, I chose an Asian Vegetable Stir Fry mix which you can find at most grocery stores or just make it yourself with equal parts of sliced round carrots, broccoli, red and green pepper, red onion, snap peas, mushrooms, baby corn and water chestnuts, if you like. Leave out what you don’t.
After cooking the vegetables then fish in a neutral oil (i.e. sunflower), I add the fish sauce and Saffron Road Thai Red Curry Simmer Sauce. You can find it at many different stores – just take a look at their store locator on their website for a
The Simmer Sauce is gluten free and halal and contains the ethnic Thai flavors you would want in this dish like lemongrass, coconut milk, ginger, and paprika. It also adds a lot of nice moisture to the dish, which is important when you’re not cooking with much fat, as in this case.
To give the dish a nice kick, I added two heaping spoons of fire roasted green chilies. You can find small cans of this stuff in the Mexican aisle of most grocers. In my case, I got these from Trader Joe’s. Of course.
I let this simmer for some time (around 15 minutes) while my wonderfully fragrant Jasmine rice was cooking at the same time. Once they’re both done, it’s a really nice meal on a plate.
Perfect for dinner. Even on a weekday.
I’ll be giving away a packet of another one of Saffron Road’s Simmer Sauces this week, so stay tuned and make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter to find out about all the new and exciting things we have coming up, insha’Allah.
Enjoy!
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2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 pound Asian stir fry vegetable mix (equal amounts of broccoli, carrot, mushrooms, red onion, snap peas, baby corn)
1 1/4 pound Alaskan cod pieces
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/8 cup fish sauce
1 packet Saffron Road Thai Red Curry Simmer Sauce
2 teaspoons fire roasted green chiles
Salute until browned
add 2 teaspoon sesame oil
Add Simmer Sauce packet
Simmer for 15 minutes
Serve with Jasmine rice
![Moroccan Tagine with Meatballs and Eggs]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Aug 30, 2014 | Dinner, Moroccan, North African
Any type of Moroccan tagine is something I’ll try and usually love, really any Moroccan dish at all, especially ones that you don’t even actually have to cook in a ‘tagine’ pot, per se. In this recipe I used Saffron Road’s Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce to make something I’d always wanted to try- a tagine with beef kofta (meatballs) and eggs. Doesn’t sound like something you hear about everyday, but since I love meatballs and eggs are a staple at both breakfast and dinner in my house, I couldn’t wit to finally give it a try. Here goes…and this is what you need:
Ground beef, bread crumbps, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, sliced green peppers, minced garlic, onion and tomatoes, tomato paste and the all-natural, non-GMO Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce by Saffron Road.
To make the meatballs, mix the ground beef with an egg, parsley, salt, and bread crumbs.
Form it into one big ball, then break into smaller round balls- or you could shape them more oblong; that’s up to you.
I like them this way.
Continue to do this until you have used up all the ground beef. 1/2 pound of ground beef makes about 10 small meatballs.
You’ll start out by first sautéeing the green pepper, tomato, onion and garlic in a pan first. Then you’ll add the meatballs.
Cook the mixture until the meatballs are mostly brown, turning only when they’re ready (they’re easy to move around without sticking). Add the tomato sauce now, too, with a little water.
Add six eggs. I just crack them right into the pan. Let them cook for just a few minutes, long enough for them to ‘set’ or gel to the pan.
Now add the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce.
Cover and cook until the eggs and meatballs are fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
Add parsley on top for garnish just before serving.
Use a spatula to lift out separate pieces to plate, otherwise, enjoy communally straight from the pan as it looks so much less messy than pulling out individual portions.
The meatballs are so nice and soft like this and the simmer sauce adds that wonderful smokey flavor you can only get with good, smoked spices and other ingredients that speak to its authenticity. It’s such a great recipe to make, especially now that it can be made a little more conveniently with the Saffron Road products like it.
What other ways would you enjoy the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce by Saffron Road?
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![Quick and Easy Chicken Wings]()
by Yvonne Maffei | May 28, 2014 | American, Appetizers & Snacks, By Meal Type, Chicken, Halal-Certified Products, Poultry Dishes, Recipes
My love of eating chicken wings began in college when I really got a taste of how wonderful they were- mild, hot and spicy and always with some sort of creamy dip and a side of fries. It’s the college kid ting to do, right? Well, the saucy wings weren’t the first kind I was exposed to, but the first kind I actually liked. My mom used to order the southern style fried wings that came with fries and gravy smothered on top, a sort of specialty in our small town’s tiny but popular mom and pop restaurant called Rainbow Kitchen. But as a kid, I couldn’t appreciate anything but the fries…
Looking back, it’s the stuff people crave now- totally homemade meals like mom used to make, reminiscent of the olden days when things really were farm to fork on a daily basis. It was also a time when people weren’t so wigged out by cooking with the raw product.
When you have a beautiful and clean product to work with, there should be nothing to get squirmy about, although wings should probably be cut in half (which I did not do in this recipe and wish I had) for ease of eating, having more bites available for more people and for the pure aesthetics of it, as wings look better cut in half.
I simply got carried away with this recipe and went full force preparing and photographing before even thinking about all that because it’s so easy to make, and so quick, that it’s just delightful to get right into the cooking and eating part.
All you need are a few things:
About 1 and 3/4 pounds chicken wings (that’s often how the packs come), one tablespoon of date vinegar (but you can use just about any other type of vinegar you like), one teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and one packet of Saffron Road’s Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce (although it’s delicious with the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce, too).
Make sure to use a good sea salt (coarse or fine) and a pungent black pepper. I know the Simmer Sauce has spice in it already and if you like your wings mild, my recipe will keep it that way with the addition of a tiny kick. If you like things hotter, add some chili flakes or chili powder.
Check out that gorgeous color of the Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce, which has no artificial color, additives or preservatives. It’s also gluten-free, low in carbs (only 3 grams) and calories (only 20). To top it off, it’s ingredients are non-GMO, which is not easy for food companies to do anymore.
Next, pour on the vinegar. I like to use either apple cider vinegar or date vinegar in this recipe, but you can liven it up with other types of vinegar you have on hand, preferably something dark. The Simmer Sauce already has some vinegar in it, but since we’re either oven-roasting or grilling these wings, the additional vinegar helps give the sauce a little more cooking liquid without liquefying the dish-basically so it doesn’t become one big mess that doesn’t stick to the chicken.
Add the salt and pepper.
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Mix it all together to coat the chicken well.
Alternatively you can do this in a bag instead of a bowl: simply place everything in a bag instead of ever using a bowl and shake it up. It’s easy to marinate for a bit this way, too, although there is no need for marinating the chicken in this recipe unless you want to do that.
Now here’s another alternative: You can either opt to grill or oven-roast these wings. You can also do a little bit of both stove-top grilling then oven roasting or use the oven the whole time. I’m giving you the recipe for all three at the end of this post, but in the rest of the post I’m going to show you how to oven roast them only. If you were to use the stove top or outdoor grill, be sure to crank up the heat nice and high before adding the chicken.
Otherwise, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can thank me later about how much less the cleanup is.
Add the wings. Be sure to spread them apart nicely so they can roast evenly. The oven should be preheated to 375°.
Let them roast on one side, without turning, for 20 minutes. Crank up the heat to 425° for 15 minutes, then turn each one over. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes, or until nicely browned and fully cooked on the inside. Remember, chicken should read at least 165° F on a meat thermometer, away from the bone.
Looks like they’ve been grilled outdoors, don’t they? You can also do a bit of stovetop grilling first and then move to the oven to get this effect, but oven-only grilling will do the same if you crank the heat up to broil for the last five minutes of cooking. Not necessary, but it’s a nice effect.
Plate the finished chicken however you like. In this case, I added chopped cilantro, cut radishes and lime to the top because I planned to make tasty tacos out of the wings.
I’ve sort of adopted that, too. Just add tortillas, sour cream and salsa and you’ve got it together. In this case, though, the wings are great all on their own.
Can you believe a Simmer Sauce can help you do this so easily? What other Simmer Sauces by Saffron Road would you try that you think would be great on wings?
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, however, all opinions and recipes are my own and not that of the sponsoring company.
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