Coralville Courier

Lamb Shawarma - a tasty treat

Here's a recipe that is a great dish for casual entertaining.

 

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs boneless lamb

3 Tbsp plain yogurt

1 Tbsp tomato paste

½ Tbsp hot sauce

1 teaspoon  salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cardamon

 

Cut the lamb into bite size pieces. Mix the rest of the ingredients well and  pour over the lamb. Mix all and let marinate for about 6 hours. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes and either serve over rice or make sandwiches with pocket pita bread, lettuce, tomato, and onion.  Enjoy.

Something different to do with chicken

Curry Chicken (4 servings)

2 cups Basmati rice
2-3 lbs. chicken drumsticks cut in small pieces (you can use a different cut of chicken if you prefer)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp curry powder  2 tsp cooking white wine
4 cups chicken broth or water
1/2 cup frozen green peas (cooked,
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the rice as per cooking instructions

2. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan, fry potatoes until the color of potatoes
turns light brown, then set aside.

3. Heat 3 tbsp of oil, stir in garlic until light brown.

4. Reduce to low heat, stir in curry powder, chicken and white wine.
Stir-fry until the chicken turns brown.

5. Adding water or chicken broth to the pan, season with ginger, salt and
pepper. Cover the pan and let simmer for 20 minutes.

6. Add potatoes to the pan and let simmer for another 5 minutes or until the
potatoes are soft.

7. Serve hot accompanied with Basmati rice available at the Akdeniz Market in Coralville.

Enjoy!  A nice but simple side dish:  Broccoli with butter, salt, dash of pepper. 

A lovely rice dish

Rice is such a versatile food.  Here's something different, something not found in a typical Iowa cookbook.....

Rice Salad (4 Servings)

1 cup Basmati rice
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp wine vinegar
1 tsp oil
1 celery stalk (diced)
1/2 cup mushrooms (finely diced)
1/2 yellow bell pepper (finely diced)  2 cups spinach (washed & dried)
1/2 cup carrot (finely chopped)
1/2 cup frozen green peas (cooked, drained & chilled)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions: 

1. Cook the rice as per cooking instructions.

2. While the rice is warm, mix well with onion and vinegar, let it stand to
cool.

3. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, vegetables and seasonings.

4. Just before serving, toss cooled rice and salad mixtures together.

A great side for any occasion, enjoy!

Tired of the same old chip?

By Filiz Thayer

If you're looking for something a little different in your next chip snack, try one of the following:

Tostitos Multigrain tortilla chips:  I like these better than the regular corn tortilla chips.   With my first bite I was pleasantly surprised with a heartier, more robust flavor.  When I do eat tortilla chips, it's almost always with a salsa, guacamole, or nacho cheese dip.  A regular tortilla chip is almost boring by itself, you know what I mean?  Not true with these, the multi-grain element kicks this chip up another notch.  Good work Frito Lay!

Terra Exotic Harvest Vegetable Chips:  Buying these chips on a whim at Bed, Bath & Beyond, they're fantastic!  Seasoned with sea salt, the blend features chips made out of Kabocha squash, carrots, and blue potatoes.  It looks great in a party bowl and is a winner in your mouth.  My kids love them too!

Enjoy a classic Mediterranean area dish, great for brunch!

By Filiz Thayer 

Tunisian Shakshouka - An egg, potato and tomato dish, with garlic and basil.  

Ingredients:

- One medium onion, finely chopped
- One clove of garlic, finely chopped (minced from a jar works fine too)
- Small bunch of basil (optional), finely chopped
- Three medium sized potatoes, diced
- Three medium tomatoes, diced (canned works fine too)
- Four eggs
- One tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flake (optional) 

Directions:  In a large frying pan, sauté onion until lightly browned, then add the garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes.  Cover and simmer over low heat for about 25 minutes.  Remove the cover and break your eggs over the surface, then stir gently to break the yolks slightly.  Add the basil and red pepper flake (optional).  Cover and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until the eggs are set.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Excellent served on a wedge of pita bread!

Quick, easy, simple

Need a quick lunch?  Check out the Coralville Hy-Vee.  They grill up some pretty tasty fare at the entrance to the store, offering up hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst and grilled chicken.

More convenient than a line at some fast food drive-thru, the simplicity of walking up for a quick hot dog or brat is perfect for a lunch hour that includes running some errands.  

Chips, sodas, bottled water, a condiment bar and very reasonable prices make this a lunch stop worth looking into.

The Hy-Vee to go grill gets 4 stars.

 

Hy-Vee.com

1914 8th St
Coralville, IA 52241

(319) 351-5523‎

(800) 928-2274‎

 

Mike's Spicy Chicken Rub

For diehards such as myself who grill even if a foot of snow is on the ground, I'm pleased to announce that the weather is finally and consistently decent enough - grilling season has arrived in Iowa! 

To kick things off here's a recipe with a kick!

1 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

This is a great dry rub with a little influence from Turkey.  Apply it to your favorite cut of chicken for grilling.  I usually put it on about four hours prior to firing things up.   

Grilling tip:  Don't put cold chicken or steak on the grill!  Take your meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to grilling, it will cook more evenly and have better flavor.

Filiz's Thumbprint Cookies

by Filiz Thayer

Thumbprint cookies are a classic and making them is a family fun activity, especially on these chilly Iowa winter nights!  Who wants to venture outside when it's -25 degrees?

You’ll need:

• Cooking spray
• ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup or 1 stick vegetable shortening or margarine
• 3 large eggs, separated
• ¼  cup  water
• 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups  finely chopped nuts, any kind
• 1 cup jam, any flavor 
   
  Preheat oven to 350 F. Adjust rack to the middle position. Spray two cookie sheets with no-stick spray. Beat the brown sugar and shortening in a mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add egg yolks, water, vanilla and salt; beat until well combined. Add flour on low speed until well blended. Beat egg whites in a shallow bowl until foamy. Place nuts in a separate shallow bowl. Divide dough into equal portions (around 48). Form into balls by rolling between your palms. Dip each dough ball into egg whites, then roll into the nuts and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb (kids love this part), make a rounded indentation in the top of each cookie. Bake cookies for 10 minutes; remove from oven. It may be necessary to press the indentation once again. Fill each cookie with a teaspoon of jam. Return cookies to oven; bake another 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven; allow cookies to cool on baking sheet.
  

Comfort Food: Banana Cake

by Filiz Thayer

If you're in the mood to do a bit of baking, this is a great little recipe.  And warm banana cake/bread just out of the oven with a little butter on top..... Yummy! 

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 stick margarine – room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe and smashed bananas
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup or any kind of jam or marmalade
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup any kind of nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Mix sugars and margarine until creamy.  Add eggs, mix.  Add maple syrup or favorite jam, mix.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nuts or chocolate (optional) and mix.  Oil and flour your baking pan (11x13) and pour mixture into it.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake about 25 to 30 minutes.

Coralville Huhot Exceeds Expectations

If you're craving some oriental style food, visit the Huhot Mongolian Grill.  The nice thing about Huhot is that it's not your typical warming lamps and steam tables kind of buffet.  You pick up a bowl and fill it with your choice of frozen beef, chicken, pork, or shrimp, noodles, and a large assortments of raw vegetables.  Then you get to choose what kind of sauces and oil to mix with your stir fry.  Hand off your concoction to one of the chefs, watch him Mongolian Grill it up and in minutes you're sitting down to a pleasant meal.

You can mix and match your meal and it's fun for the kids.  Go with a standard Broccoli Beef, or create some spicy chicken of your own doing (doom?).  You can skip the meat and go tofu with veggies if you like, after all, in this place you're only limited by your own imagination and curiosity. 

The Coralville Huhot appears to be well managed.  The place was neat, clean, orderly, the staff all polite and energetic.  Our waiter always kept our glasses filled; asked how everything was; cleared our table of 1st round plates (2 rounds was VERY filling).  The manager stopped by to see if we enjoyed our meal.  To sum, all 'i's were dotted and 't's crossed, and done with a smile.

The Huhot is NOT your typical buffet and scores five stars!  

Huhot Mongolian Grill

www.huhot.com

917 25th Ave
Coralville, IA 52241
(319) 358-9100