McCrorey Tina - PERFECT BLEND : irish-indian-american fusion cooking

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2014 Tina & Mark McCrorey. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 11/18/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-4027-8 (sc)

978-1-4969-4028-5 (e)

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CONTENTS

Fusion Cooking with Simple Ingredients

How do you meld two peoples tastes? Harder still, how do you meld two cultures with different ways and methods of cooking? By experimenting, having fun and being creative! Growing up in England, then New Jersey for several years, as well as coming from an Indian household to marrying my Irish-American husband who also has Canadian & German roots. Mark and I quickly realized we had a challenge on our hands! What do we cook on a daily basis? What was fulfilling for both of us? What would satisfy both of our eclectic tastes of food? We struggled with the healthy part initially, given the weight gained in our first year of marriage! Midwest cooking for Mark meant: turkey tacos, venison stews and potatoes throw in a little poutine or gravy and he is golden. Indian cooking for me meant: as much veggies as possible, but always served with rice, roti or pasta. All in all, lots of carbs which meant it was time for a rehab of our diet, and fast!

We made a conscious effort to blend our two seemingly different cultures (as well as our classic American faves) while making it easy and quick to cook. We started documenting recipes that we both loved and ended up with a recipes we think caters to a variety of unique tastes. Some recipes are fast, some are not. Some are healthy, while some . are not. However, if you love cooking and spend a little time on it, you can enjoy delicious meals that will keep you happy in your real daily lives. Cooking together really helps the time go by fast.

Many of our recipes can be made with everyday items you can stock in your pantries and freezers: unsalted butter sticks, frozen veggie bags you can steam in the microwave, frozen fruit bags and blocks of chopped spinach, chicken breasts, Vietnamese garlic chili sauce or my favorite brand: Sambal Oelek, olive oil, cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and beans (all kinds). Keep eggs, milk and fresh spinach on hand, and food process and freeze the chilies, herbs, sides and sauces to save time. Make sure to have foil in the house for those days you want to cook quickly; it is perfect for baking chicken, fish and vegetables.

Once you have bottles of the staple spices, you will probably find that it lasts a long time. Buying these in bulk and freezing or placing the extras in the fridge is perfectly fine if you have the space. Some spices you may need are Turmeric Powder, Cumin Powder, Red Chili Powder and Garam Masala. Garam Masala is a mixture of Turmeric, Black and White crushed peppercorns, Cloves, Cinnamon, Black and White Cumin Seeds, and a variety of Cardamom pods. Dhana Jeeru is another popular spice blend you will need which is a combination of Coriander and Cumin powder. Find the spices on the cheap from an Indian Grocery store!

All the recipes can be doubled, tripled, halved, or quartered to suit your needs. We hope you enjoy our labor of love, and find some unique recipes to try. And some of those vegetarian recipes can easily be altered to include meat and vice versa. Experimenting with different cultures and cuisines is an amazing way to come up with your own unique recipes, so feel free to mix in your own cultures flavors or your favorite spices. We plan on passing this book down to our children, which they can add to, and we hope you do too!

When using hot sauce in most of our recipes, you will need to find something that has a higher heat level because most recipes tend to dilute the flavor. I recommend my favorite Vietnamese Garlic Chili paste or Samba Oelek. It is the red stuff on the table at most Asian restaurants. And I do NOT mean the Sriracha bottles.

Olive oil is only good if you are going to eat it raw; meaning once you heat it, it loses any nutrients it had. For frying and sauting use any quality vegetable oil you prefer. For many of the weekly items I tend to make, I use the Spaghetti Seasoning and the Red & Cheesy Pasta Sauce often. You can make and store these things in advance and use it for multiple dishes.

I also keep bags of frozen vegetables and steam fresh vegetables on hand for those moments where I do not have fresh ingredients from the grocery store. Wherever I have a vegetable in the recipe, 8 times out of ten, you can throw in a few other veggies or substitute it with something else you have on hand. No recipe in here is super rigid. I have simply documented the ones with the ingredients that I use and like the most.

I find garnishes unnecessary unless they enhance the flavor of the food, like cilantro or chives. Sometimes a recipe will call for a sprig of thyme, rosemary or even basil. Powders are perfectly fine. I have used them as substitutes and it tastes just as great. Freeze fresh herbs and thaw them for a few minutes; it comes in handy for those one off dishes.

I tend to use tons of fresh bananas and frozen fruits for smoothies and quick dessert sauces. So make sure to keep bags of your favorite berries on hand in absence of fresh ones. You can also freeze old blackened bananas and keep them for banana bread.

Tips: if something calls for garlic or onion powder and you only have garlic or onion salt on hand; just use the garlic and onion salt and cut out the salt from the recipe. Cooking is an art that can be easily mastered for every day cooking. I never liked cooking much, but with Marks enthusiasm and help, it has become more fun and less daunting.

By the way, get a bag of flax seeds and sprinkle it on and in almost everything you will not be able to taste it but it is an easy and healthy add to almost every dish!

If you are a whiz at pressure cookers, here is a fantastic step by step for you. Every pressure cooker is different, every stove top or cooking range is different, so you may have to try and fail a few times to get your minutes right.

No matter what I do; I always end up burning my rice or adding too much water. My husband for some reason can make my moms handed down recipe perfectly. What is Pilaf you ask? Pilaf just means sauted first on the stovetop. It is what gives it that buttery light fluffy taste and that is what this version is. Many add raisins or peas to the pilaf, but plain is just as delicious.