Today we're trying something  a little different, folks!  Today's article is a cooking lesson from none other than Husbando, AKA Jim Moreland. Click through if you dare. 

Greetings everyone, it is I, the Great Husbando. Those of you that follow my wife, Behka, may have read some of her blogs that have mentioned me. Well, I figured it was my turn to take over her blog and write about something I am passionate about (besides my wife*), cooking.

Let me start with a little about me. I was a professional cook for about 15 years and spent most of that time traveling across the country working in and helping open restaurants. I loved every minute of it. I got to cook in restaurants ranging from Michelin rated to roadside mom and pop stands. There was a lot to learn and I will never forget those experiences.

At home nowadays I cook every other night, alternating with my beautiful wife, who's quite the cook herself**. As she often says, we don't need to reinvent the wheel every time we cook so we don't always make complicated meals, but we do love finding and trying new recipes. Let me share one with you that we made last week, in fact I just finished off the left-overs which were still fantastic.

Knowing that we like things with a little kick and trying new flavors I looked around for something from one of our favorite Food Network stars, Aarti Sequeira. I decided on her Beef Curry with Vinegar: Beef Vindaloo. It's something neither of us had ever tried so I thought, why not?  The recipe is not too complicated and didn't take a lot of preparation, with only a few things needed from the store that we didn't already have.

Let me share with you all this delicious recipe along with my notes and substitutions to make this fantastic dish.

  • Let's start with the Garlic Ginger Paste:
  • 1/2 cup cloves garlic, whole
  • 1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled, 1/2-inch slices
  • 1/4 cup canola oil

Throw the garlic, ginger, and canola oil in a mini-food processor and let it go until it forms a semi-smooth paste. There will still be tiny little pieces in there, but overall, it should resemble a paste.

Save what you don't use in a small glass jar. It should last in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. We have used the left-overs of this paste a few times in other dishes and it is great to have around in the fridge as an addition to sauces, gravies, etc.

Next lets move to the Wet Masala (Spice Blend):

  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (I substituted 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin)
  • 2 (1-inch) pieces cinnamon bark (I substituted 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and added 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg to round out the flavor)
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 4 whole black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or more if you like spicy)
  • 1 heaping tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste, (if you don't want to make the Garlic Ginger Paste use 6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped and 1-inch thumb fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced very thinly (if you don't have a mandolin for slicing veggies very thin you should get one, it saves time and is a very inexpensive to get)
  • 1 serrano pepper, sliced in half (I sliced it in thirds and removed the seeds)
  • 2 pounds boneless beef top sirloin, trimmed of all excess fat, cut into 1-inch cubes (while we bought 2 pounds, we actually decided on only using 1 for this recipe as it was just the two of us and 2 pounds is a lot of meat)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Hubando's Food Journey

Most commonly this would be served over rice (which I did with the left-overs), or with bread. We chose naan bread from the grocery store and it was a great addition to soak up the gravy and wipe the plates clean.

While this is a curry recipe, you will notice that there is no curry in it at all. That's okay, it turns out with deliciously tender meat and a warm sauce full of spices and onions. The best comparison I can give for this, flavor-wise, would be if you have ever had German sauerbraten. This is a similar flavor profile, with an Indian twist. Overall this is a recipe that I have saved in my collection and will make again.

I hope you enjoyed this and will try this recipe yourselves, let us know what you think.

/End Husbando.

I (Behka) hope you guys liked Husbando's moment in cooking online.  Like he said, let us know what you think? Would you try it?  Would you make any substitutions?

Guestingly yours,

Behka
*I did not tell him to say that. - Behka

**I REALLY didn't tell him to say that. - Behka

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