Curried rice 'n' bird

This is something Nik and I kind of made up one evening, because we had a hankering for it. We originally meant to use chicken, but had a bunch of turkey leg meat around instead, and it came out awesome! So, turkey is good. Chicken is probably good, too. Or other poultry. Pick your bird! 1 lb filleted bird meat (chicken, turkey) coconut oil turmeric cumin coriander cinnamon curry powder (these come in many varieties... pretty much any will do, though if you want to get specific I'd recommend going for something more like sambar powder than garam masala) black pepper chili powder and/or fresh chili peppers garlic onion rice (jasmine is good, though I'm sure there are others equally tasty) spinach (frozen fine... probably the easiest, in fact, esp if it's pre-chopped!) tomato any other veggies you feel like throwing in (we used chopped green beans, I bet peas and carrots would be good) white wine a few cups of chicken broth Cube up the meat. In a large pot, saute on high heat in coconut oil, along with all the spices and some salt, until browned (seriously browned, not just cooked). Remove meat and decrease heat to low. Add more coconut oil if needed, and saute chopped garlic, onion, and chilis. Add more of the spice mixture at this stage, to taste. Add back the meat, along with the chicken broth, a few splashes of white wine, and rice. Bring to a boil, then simmer until rice is almost cooked. At this point, add any veggies that don't need a long time to cook: thawed spinach, chopped tomato, thawed mixed veggies. Check on the mixture periodically to see if it needs a stir, or needs more water for the rice. It's finished when the rice is cooked. Serve with shredded cheese and salt and pepper to taste. VARIATIONS: If you wanted to make a vegetarian version of this, I bet it would be equally tasty to use lentils in place of the meat! I.e., just skip the meat stage, and add an equal amount of lentils (yellow ones, maybe) along with the rice. And more water/broth, of course, to cook the little guys.

Steamed clams

• 3 - 4 lb steamer clams (live) 
• 1 small onion lots of cloves of garlic 
• 1 small tomato 
• bunch cilantro 
• crushed, dried red pepper 
• 1 bottle dry white wine 
• generous butter 
• 1 lemon 

PREPARATION 

Cover the clams in fresh water with some salt and black pepper. Believe it or not, this induces them to spit out sand and grit! Be sure to use non-iodized salt (sea salt maybe), because conventional wisdom says iodine in conventional table salt will kill the clams before cooking. And you don't want to cook dead clams. After the clams have soaked for at least 30 mins, rinse them off and scrub the shells with a vegetable brush. If the shell is open, tap on it. If it doesn't close, throw away the clam. 

COOKING: 

In a large pot or wide, deep pan (my preference), saute chopped onion and garlic in generous butter. Add wine and red pepper and bring to a simmer. 

Add clams, chopped tomato, and chopped cilantro. Cover pan and steam just until clams open, about 5 - 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and be careful not to overcook, as overcooking will make them rubbery. Note that you want just enough wine to steam the clams, but not cover them (ie, steam, don't boil). Err on the side of too little liquid: the clams will release their own liquor as they cook! So if you use too much liquid initially, you'll not only have too much by the time you're done, but you'll dilute the delicious natural clam broth. And that would be a shaaaaame, believe me. :) 

SERVING: 

Discard any clams that didn't open (these were dead before cooking). Transfer clams to deep plates or flat bowls with a large, flat spoon, being sure to include some liquid and veggies from the pan. Slice lemon and squirt lots of lemon juice over each plate. Eat with bread and the rest of the wine. Soooo good!

Stuffing

• 1 loaf medium-weight bread (not too heavy or too light -- a Bauernbrot is good, e.g.) 
• yellow onions 
• chopped celery stalks 
• lots of sage (dried or fresh leaves) 
• lots of parsley 
• some thyme 
• lots of butter 
• chicken or veggie broth 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Preparation: cut the bread into cubes, and dry it out. Either: 1. Leave it out on the counter for a couple of days, or 2. Spread the cubes on a cookie sheet and place in a 170C/350F oven for an hour. (have also made this with toasted bread, and it's just fine!) 

When the bread is dry: Chop onion, celery, sage, parsley, and thyme. Saute in very generous amounts of butter (maybe 1/2 cup or so), in a pot large enough to hold the bread. Prepare about 3 c of broth. When the onion and celery are soft and translucent, toss in the bread and coat thoroughly. Remove from heat. Pour in broth, tossing bread to distribute. Cover to keep warm, and let the mixture rest until all broth is absorbed (20 - 30 mins) and stuffing is chewy (not mushy or crunchy). Stir and enjoy!