Good Recipes anyone? :)

Here's a great recipe I came up with a while ago. The numbers are guesstimates (I don't typically measure ingredients that carefully except when baking), so feel free to tweak things however you like.

Pumpkin-Ale Curry:

This is ultimate comfort food for those cold nights when it grows dark early. It takes a while to simmer but is almost no work and it will make your entire house smell heavenly. Use a baking pumpkin rather than your old jack-o-lantern; it will have more flavor and be less stringy.

2 lbs. raw pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1/2 bottle Weinhard's Belgian Wheat Ale
2 tbsp. curry powder
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp. minced ginger root, or 1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large carrot, sliced into thin rounds
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 poblano or bell pepper, diced
1/2 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 C chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp. Thai fish sauce or soy sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C pumpkin or sunflower seeds, raw and unsalted
Kosher salt
Hot sauce and black pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro (fresh)
Sour cream or Greek yogurt

Saute onions, bell pepper, ginger (if using fresh), garlic, carrot, and celery in peanut oil over medium-low heat; salt lightly, and cook until soft and aromatic but not browned. Add 1 tbsp. curry powder and coriander seeds and stir well, turning off the heat. Scoop saute mixture into your slow cooker. Briefly brown garbanzos in cooking pan over low heat until well-coated with oil and seasonings, and add to slow cooker. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, remaining curry powder, black pepper, and all liquid ingredients, stir together well, and cook, covered, on the high setting until pumpkin is soft, 2-3 hours. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro, with hot sauce to taste.

20k words already? Wow...

EDIT: I almost forgot one of the most important ingredients: it had sweet potato in it, too. The mix of sweet potato and pumpkin was amazing.

It's a tradition in my house to make this for Talk Like A Pirate Day. I'll guesstimate my ingredients.

Caribbean Chicken

• chicken breast or tenderloins (I cook for 2 so adjust as needed)
• 1 can pineapple slices (if grilling) or chunks (if sauteing)
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice from can (or orange juice if you hate pineapples)
• 1/4 cup rum (in a pinch, I've also used sherry or sake)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or white vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp powdered garlic (if grilling) or one chopped garlic clove (if sauteing)
• one chopped green onion
• a dash of any of the following spices: salt, pepper, ginger, curry, coriander, allspice, thyme, paprika, nutmeg, turmeric (I like to mix them up, but always salt, pepper, and ginger)
• optional dash of crushed red peppers (or for more spicy, use a jalapeno)
• optional coconut extract (I like it, hubby hates it)

Two ways to prepare this:

1) Mix all ingredients but pineapples in a bowl or puree in food processor. Add chicken and marinade into a ziplock bag and let refrigerate 6-8 hours, turning occasionally to coat. Remove chicken. Discard marinade. Grill until thoroughly cooked. Place pineapple slice on top.

2) No time to wait 8 hours? Try my favorite way. mix all dry spices with a cup of flour. Wash and dry chicken. Dredge in flour mix. Saute in pan with butter or olive oil until brown on both sides. Add all other ingredients except pineapple chunks and brown sugar. Allow to simmer, not boiling, 30-40 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken. Add pineapple and brown sugar. Increase heat until sauce is thickened. Pour pineapples and saucer over chicken.

Before serving, squeeze a little more lime onto the chicken. I also drizzle a little more rum :)

Side dishes: any type of rice, snow peas, sliced carrots, or a frozen bag of stir fry veggies.

Again, this is made to taste. Some spices are rare, others might not be liked. I hate to say rum is optional, but if you are against using alcohol in cooking, it can be eliminated.

Don't worry about measurements. Think like a pirate. Pirates don't use measuring spoons like those landlubbers. Pirates add more rum and it all tastes good. Arrrrgh!

2006 - Ghost Coast
2007 - Children of Trinhodg
2008 - The Lastisto Ambassador
2009 - Daughters of Ashby - In Progress

Found another good chicken recipe. I read it in a magazine while waiting for my flat tire to be fixed and jotted it down. As it was, it tasted funny, so I played around and will have to adjust as needed.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tbs cider vinegar
3 tbs maple syrup
(I added 2 tbs brown sugar to enhance the sweetness)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp thyme
salt pepper to taste
Rice pilaf
spinach

Put walnuts in a skillet on med-high and toast 5-6 minutes. Remove and set aside. Rub chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook in the skillet until done (30-40 minutes). Remove chicken and set aside. Add vinegar, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Simmer stirring occasionally until thickens just slightly. Add walnuts and stir. During this time, cook rice pilaf according to directions. Place pilaf on a bed of spinach, put chicken on the rice, and drizzle walnut maple sauce over everything.

Voila! New recipe for me, but instant hit with my husband.

2006 - Ghost Coast
2007 - Children of Trinhodg
2008 - The Lastisto Ambassador
2009 - Daughters of Ashby - In Progress

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies!

2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Pet milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except peanut butter and oats and cook over medium heat.

Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and oats.

Spoon out quickly onto wax paper or aluminum foil.
Cookies will harden as they set.

http://tavernontheedge.guildportal.com

Chicken is popular. This is one of my favorites, my mom used to make it for me all the time.

Ingredients:

Oil
1 C Rice
1 1/2 C Chicken Broth

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (sliced or diced)
2 C sliced celery
1 C diced onion
1/2 C diced green bell pepper
2 TBSP soy sauce

1 can of pineapple rings in heavy syrup
1 chicken bouillon cube

Directions:

In a casserole pan, heat some oil, add rice, stir until brown. Add chicken broth. Bake covered at 350 for 1 hour.

In a frying pan, using 2 TBSP of oil, lightly brown chicken. Add celery, onion, green bell pepper and soy sauce.

In a separate pan, heat 1 C of pineapple syrup (from the can of pineapple) and dissolve the bouillon cube in it. Add to chicken mixture, Cover and simmer for 5 mins. Toss this in with the rice and top with the pineapple slices.

Heat in oven.