Recipes by their Ingredients

canola oil

  • Beer Battered Shrimp Taco with Pineapple Salsa

    Beer Battered Shrimp Taco with Pineapple Salsa
    Beer Battered Shrimp Taco with Pineapple Salsa
    (Serves 4)

    Beer Batter
    ¾ can of beer, (8oz)
    1/3 cup flour, white all purpose
    ½ tblsp garlic, dried granulated
    ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
    ½ tsp black pepper
    1 tsp salt

    32-40 shrimp
    1&rac12; tsp Tony Chachere's Cajun Spice
    1½ - 2 cups of canola oil (or other frying oil)
    ½ Roma tomato, diced very small
    1/3 red onion, diced very small
    1 jalapeno, most of the seeds can be removed, diced very small
    ¼ - 1/3 cup pineapple, diced very small
    ½ carrot, cut into small sticks (julienne) then dice small
    ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, minced
    juice of ½ lime
    5 cabbage leaves, julienne very thin
    8 soft taco shells, corn or flour (I prefer corn in this recipe)
    ½ cup shredded cheese, any variety, I used the mozzarella/provolone blend

    NOTES: I used the 25 per lb shrimp, if you are using smaller shrimp, say the 50 per pound then double the amount of shrimp, on the other end if you're using 12 per pound shrimps, use half as many shrimp, @20.

    In a medium bowl mix the flour, garlic, cayenne, black pepper and salt. Add the beer slowly, mixing with a whisk or fork until the batter resembles glue, then add a little more beer. Keep cold until ready to use.

    Make your salsa right away, so it has time "to marry" inside a bowl. Mix well, the tomato, onion, jalapeno, pineapple, carrot, mint leaves, 1 tsp salt and the juice of ½ lime. Set aside or in the fridge.

    Slice up and set aside your cabbage, set aside or in the fridge

    Get your oil in a small pot and bring it up to 365°F using a hot oil thermometer. Otherwise medium heat but a smidgen more. If the oil smokes too much its too hot. You can test the heat with a drop of batter, it should crisp up alone in 8-10 seconds.

    Coat your shrimp with Tony' Chachere's Cajun spice (or just use salt and pepper). Dip your shrimp in the batter. I do 4-5 at a time. Put the shrimps, one at a time, into the hot oil. Leave in until crispy golden in color, about 1+½ minutes. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.

    All those steps could be done in advance. When guests arrive, pop the shrimps back in the oven on warming temp and start a skillet on medium heat, one by one heat up one side of the tortilla, flip it over, add some cheese, let it melt remove from heat and assemble the taco. Tortilla, cheese, shrimp (4-5 per taco), a small hand-full of shredded cabbage and some delicious pineapple salsa on top, don't be scared, heap it on!

    Repeat three more times for round one!

    Start round two after you've eaten the first one, or just get it over with :) Delicious - enjoy!

  • Chicken Dum Biryani

    Chicken Dum Biryani
    Chicken Dum Biryani
    (Serves 6-8)

    Biryani Masala
    (Toast the following spices)
    2 tblsp coriander seeds
    1 tsp cumin seeds
    2 tsp caraway seeds
    2 tblsp green cardamom pods
    5-6 black cardamom pods
    3 pieces of 1" cinnamon bark
    1 tblsp whole black peppercorns
    7-8 spicy red chilis
    7-8 bay leaves
    2 tsp whole cloves
    3 blades of mace (1/2 tsp powder)
    1 tblsp methi leaves (fenugreek leaves) add this last after toasting all the other spices

    Chicken
    1-1½ lbs chicken thighs and legs bone-in no skin or boneless skinless thighs (or any combo)

    Onions
    2-3 yellow onions thinly sliced and fried until golden (or 7oz of pre-fried onions like these: Ramdev Fried Onions)

    Chicken Spices
    3 tsp salt (to taste)
    2 tblsp Lemon juice
    4 tblsp ginger/garlic paste
    3 green chilies, made into a paste
    2 tblsp Kashmiri chili powder
    ½ tsp turmeric
    2 tsp coriander powder
    1½ tblsp of the biryani masala
    3-4 tblsp oil, saved from cooking the onions or a neutral oil like canola

    After Marinating the Chicken Spices
    1 cup Indian curd or yogurt

    1 potato, peeled, cut into ¾ cubes, optional
    1 carrot, peeled, cut into ¼ discs, optional
    ⅓ cup of frozen peas, optional
    8 sun dried prunes, cut in half, optional
    5-6 tblsp ghee
    2 cups Basmati rice, (no substitutions)
    1 bunch of cilantro (coriander), minced
    1 bunch of mint, minced
    a pinch of saffron, soaked in a tblsp of milk and a tsp water for at least 20 minutes, optional

    Rice Spices
    2 bay leaves
    1 inch stick of cinnamon
    1 tsp caraway seeds
    3-4 green cardamom pods
    4-5 cloves
    1 star anise
    4-5 black peppercorns
    1-2 chilis, slit, optional
    juice of ½ lemon
    salt for the water, (like your making pasta)
    a sachet: small piece of cheesecloth (5" x 4") to bundle up the rice spices, optional


    NOTES:Biryani may seem like a lot of work, but once you take that first bite you'll know that it was all worth it! If you want to go that extra step, you can smoke the chicken before adding anything to it using a half tsp of ghee poured onto a few hot coals that are sitting in a small metal bowl and then covering it and the raw chicken with a bowl or container for 3-4 minutes. Traditionally the cook uses some bread dough to seal the lid onto the pot so no steam escapes, do this or cheat like me and seal it with tinfoil. You can even use a long damp piece of cheesecloth.

    After toasting the Biryani Masala spices, allow them to cool down and then grind them into a coarse or fine powder depending on your preference. This makes enough biryani masala for deveral batches of biryani, store in a jar or sealed baggie, out of the sunlight, for up to 3 months.

    In the thick parts of the chicken make deep slashes into the thicker parts of the chicken to allow the masala spices to better penetrate the chicken. (If your using boneless thighs you can make slashes at a medium depth)
    If you are smoking the chicken, you can do that now.
    In a large bowl, add salt to the chicken, lemon juice, then all the rest of the chicken spices, mix well, cover and let marinate 24 hours.

    The next day, rinse your Basmati rice three times (removing excess starch from the rice) and then cover with water and let soak for 1½ hours. After the rice has soaked long enough, put on a large pot of boiling water, once boiling, add the spice sachet with all the rice spices and the Basmati rice (or add the spices without the sachet, you may want to pick these out before adding to the main pot, or go Indian style as I am sure in Indian households they don't mind eating around the whole spices.

    Par cook the rice for about 4 minutes, we want the rice 90% cooked, don't stir the rice too often as we don't want to break the individual rice grains. After the 4 minutes, strain the water from the rice (and if you want the whole spices if you didn't use a sachet), remove the sachet and discard if you used it. Set the rice aside

    In the bowl with the chicken that was marinating over night, add the 1 cup of yogurt and add 80% (about 5 oz) of the fried onions and ⅓ of the chopped cilantro bunch and ⅓ the chopped mint leaves and if your using the optional ingredients, add in the prunes, potato, carrot and peas. Mix well.

    In a heavy bottomed pot, add 2 tblsp of ghee over high heat, when melted, keep the heat up high until it is roaring hot and now add your chicken pieces with its marinade and the potato cubes. Stir often cook on high heat for 5-6 minutes, cooking the chicken 85-90%, taste the masala for salt content and adjust as needed.

    Now turn the heat to low, make sure the chicken pieces are spread out in one layer and add ⅓ of the chopped cilantro bunch and ⅓ the chopped mint leaves add 15% of the fried onions (about 1½ oz)
    Add all the rice on top of the chicken layer, smooth the rice into an even layer. Drizzle 3-4 tblsp of the ghee over the rice and then sprinkle/drizzle the saffron liquid over the rice.
    Now add the remaining 5% fried onions (about ½ oz) add the remaining ⅓ bunch of chopped mint and cilantro (coriander leaves). Seal the lid with a rolled out piece of bread dough, or tinfoil (or cheesecloth). If you can weight the lid down with something heavy, that helps too!

    Cook for 10-15 minutes on low heat. Then turn off heat and let rest for 10 minutes.

    I believe traditionally the whole pot is turned upside down a into a platter and served, or just scoop it out with a serving spoon. You can sprinkle some garam masala over the top and serve with a side of Indian yogurt to cool down the spices.

  • Oxtails over Rice

    Oxtails over Rice
    Oxtails over Rice
    (Serves 4-6)

    1 oxtail (about 1-2lbs)
    1/3 cup Canola oil, plus 1 tblsp
    1½ tsp salt
    15 cloves of garlic, peeled
    3 carrots, chopped into ½ inch pieces
    2 onions, chopped into ½ inch pieces
    2 stalks of celery, chopped into ½ inch pieces
    1 parsnip, chopped into ½ inch pieces
    1 bottle red wine
    1 cup chicken stock
    2 tblsp butter
    2 chicken bouillon cubes or a tblsp of the chicken stock paste. ("Better then Bouillon")
    1 tblsp Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, grated

    NOTES:

    Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.

    Toss the oxtail in 1 tblsp of canola oil and sprinkle with salt.
    Roast for 20 minutes.

    Meanwhile in a large stock pot, add 1/3 cup of canola oil, 15 cloves of garlic, carrots, parsnip, onions and celery, saute until the vegetables have a nice color to them, about 10 minutes.

    Now pour in the bottle of wine over the sauteed vegetables. Add in the oxtails and any rendered fat from the roasting tray. Cover completely with the chicken stock. Let simmer on low for 2 hours.

    Remove the oxtails from the stock pot, when cooled down a little, remove the meat from the bone and set aside the meat, toss the bones.

    Toss into the stock pot 1 tblsp of butter, then take the liquid and vegetables from the stock pot and using a blender blend them. You may need to add some chicken stock to the mix if it is too thick.

    Taste the mixture, you may want to add some salt or pepper to taste.

    Cook rice in chicken stock or add some chicken bouillon to the water. Twirl a tblsp of butter into the rice along with a tsp of salt and or Tony Chacheres Cajun Spice mix.

    Lets tie this dish together now, heat up some of the oxtail in a pan with the sauce, pour over rice. Top with some fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
    Enjoy!