Deep Fried...Something

Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

When I first saw this recipe, what caught my eye was how easy it would be to modify it for just about any flavor combination that sounded good.  While I mainly stuck with the original Italian theme, it would be super easy to switch a few spices and make a wide variety of tasty dishes (Mexican and Indian come to mind).  I modified the original recipe a bit, my modifications are reflected in the ingredients below.

Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
For the stuffing:

• 1½ cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• ½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 handful of kale or spinach
• ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teapoon dried oregano 
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste

The rest: 

• 6-8 medium sized tomatoes 
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan or skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and kale. Cook, stirring regularly, until kale is wilted.
2. Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Don't be afraid to add salt! Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 375ºF. With a sharp knife, gently cut out the stem portion of each tomato. Then, with a spoon, gently scoop out as much of the seeds as possible, being careful not to split the tomatoes or poke through the bottom of them. Chop the tomato innards and add to stuffing mix.
4. Gently stuff each tomato with quinoa mixture, again making sure you don't split or poke through the tomatoes. Put them in a baking pan. Drizzle them with olive oil and top them with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with a bit more cheese.

Notes:
I used 6 tomatoes, and added the innards from 4 of them to the stuffing mix.  I had enough leftover stuffing to fill a ramekin (which I baked right next to the baking pan).   

Pressure Cooker Pork Vindaloo

It's been a while, so I decided to go searching for more interesting recipes to try out.  This one comes from the Pressure Cooker Perfection cookbook, and other than one change which I'll mention in the notes, it's a definite winner as written.  It has a little bit of kick but not too much (our 5 year old scarfed it down), and the flavor is amazing.  It's a little more work than most of the other pressure cooker recipes I've posted so far, but it's worth it.

Pressure Cooker Pork Vindaloo

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless pork butt roast (sometimes referred to as Boston butt), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 onions, chopped fine
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pressure-cooker pot over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of meat on all sides, about 8 minutes; transfer to bowl. 
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, mustard seeds, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cloves and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Stir in tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, browned pork with any accumulated juices, and remaining pork. 
3. High Pressure for 30 minutes: Lock pressure-cooker lid in place and bring to high heat pressure over medium-high heat. As soon as pot reaches high pressure, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain high pressure. 
4. Naturally release pressure: Remove pot from heat and allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure, then carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you. 
5. Before serving: Using large spoon, skim excess fat from surface of soup. Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Notes:
Next time, I'll add the flour after the pressure cooking instead of before, then let it simmer for a little while.  It still came out fine, but it did burn slightly to the bottom of the pot.  

Cilantro, as always, is optional.  We don't like it, so I very rarely use it in my recipes.

Browning only half of the pork seems strange, but it lets you do the browning in one batch instead of two (without overfilling the pot), and since it cooks at pressure for 30 minutes, the flavor is well distributed through the entire dish.

Coming soon to a blog near you

I should have a few new recipes in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned! And to the spammers who left me 30+ comments in the last 24 hours, thanks?