Madrashi Curry
approx. 2 hours total prep & cooking time
1.5 lbs meat
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion chopped finely
2/3 of a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (including 2/3 of the water in the can)
2 teaspoon ginger paste
4 cloves garlic diced
1 teaspoon salt
Mix together:
2 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon coriander powder
2 peppercorns (ground in pestle)
1 bay leaf
2.5 inch cinnamon stick
4 cloves (ground in pestle)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (ground in pestle)
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (ground in pestle)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
Sear meat in the oil (8 to 9 minutes on medium heat).
Don't fully cook it through, just enough to cut it more easily. Transfer to cutting board.
While the meat is cooling, brown the onion.
Add the all spices (except the ginger, garlic, and salt) and reduce the heat to low.
Saute for 15 minutes.
Cut the meat into desired size pieces.
Add the meat and tomatoes and increase the heat to medium. Saute for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water (a little bit at a time) and continue simmering on medium heat for 30 minutes.
Add the salt, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Allow it to continue to sit at very low heat until some of the liquid reduces for a thicker sauce.
Stir in the sour cream and heavy cream.
Serve over rice or mashed cauliflower.
Madrashi Curry
Shawarma Meatloaf
Shawarma Meatloaf
2 lbs ground lamb
1/3 cup celery diced
2/3 cup onion diced
1 egg
1/3 cup sour cream
1.5 teaspoons lime juice
1.5 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all of the above ingredients together.
Form into loaf shape in a baking pan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
Serve sliced with mint sauce.
Mint Sauce
2/3 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic minced
2/3 oz. fresh mint diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix together and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or more.
Yay! A Pinker RSA Video: Language as a Window into Human Nature
Click here for my post about The Stuff of Thought, the book this video was referencing.
Mashed Cauliflower
Mashed Cauliflower
3 heads of cauliflower cut into quarters [or as required to fit in the pot]
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
4 garlic cloves pressed or chop
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
Steam the cauliflower until soft and drain it.
Saute the garlic in the butter.
Blend 1/2 of the cauliflower with the sour cream, heavy cream,
salt, butter and garlic.
Mash the remaining cauliflower so that some texture still remains,
then combine with blended ingredients. Stir in pepper to taste.
Cherry Almond Kugel
Cherry Almond Kugel
12oz egg noodles
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp melted butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp almond paste
4 eggs
1.5 lb cottage cheese
1.5 cup fresh or dried/soaked cherries, chopped
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1. Cook and drain noodles
2. Beat sugar, mascarpone, almond paste/extract, salt, melted butter, vanilla, eggs. Incorporate other ingredients first, and then add eggs one at a time to mix well.
3. Mix with noodles, cottage cheese, and fruit
4. Put in a well-buttered casserole dish
5. Pour evaporated milk on top
6. Bake at 375 until golden brown and serve warm or cold
My Everyday Salad
My Everyday Salad
The measurements below are approximate.
2.5 oz or 5-6 handfuls baby salad greens
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 lg sliced radish
1 tin of skinless/boneless sardines 3.75 oz
2 tablespoons cheesy Caesar dressing
Mix greens, carrot, cabbage, radish and dressing in large bowl. Divide into bowls and top with sardines. Makes 2 servings.
These are the sardines I usually buy:
This is the dressing I like to use:
Easy Brussels Sprouts
Easy Brussels Sprouts
2 lbs brussels sprouts
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each brussels sprout in half. Rinse the sprouts. Dice shallot and garlic. Add sprouts, garlic, and shallot to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the sprouts and stir so they are coated. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes. 
Broccoli & Collards Casserole
Broccoli & Collards Casserole
1 large onion chopped
3 broccoli crowns
1 can of Campbells condensed cream of broccoli soup
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
1 pkg Uncle Ben's ready made rice (I used the whole grain medley with chicken flavor)
2 bunches collard greens chopped finely
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
Saute the collard greens and onion in the olive oil until soft. Steam the broccoli crowns. Break broccoli into smaller pieces. Combine the collards, onion, broccoli, rice, cheese, and soup in a 3 quart casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.
Montana Brewers Association Brewfest
With 21 participating breweries, and 73 different selections, we had a terrific time at the 2010 Montana Brewers Festival. It was an outstanding way to end our time in Montana and end our pretty much un-planned but totally awesome Montana brewery tour. 
Needless to say, we were unable to try everything (not even half of the options). Our ratings below are based on a 1-10 scale. Personally, I may have become more forgiving towards the later part of the evening, so, the marks are probably a bit biased.
| Brewery | Brew | Type | Rating |
| Bayern | St. Wilbur | Hefeweizen | 7 |
| Bayern | Dump Truck Summer Boch | Smooth Boch | 9 |
| Bayern | Bayern Octoberfest | Dark Marzen | 8 |
| Bayern | Bayern Pilsner | Pilsner | 6 |
| Beaver Creek | Cherry Wheat | Wheat | 5 |
| Beaver Creek | Beaver Creek Pale Ale | Pale Ale | 5 |
| Blackfoot River | Blackfoot Maibock | Maibock | 6 |
| Blacksmith | Imperial Red Ale | Imperial IPA | 5 |
| Blacksmith | Cutthroat IPA | IPA | 6 |
| Bozeman | Bozone Select | Amber Ale | 6 |
| Bozeman | Plum Street Porter | Porter | 6 |
| Carter's | Saison de Carter | Belgian-French Saison | 6 |
| Flathead Lake | Rising Sun Espresso Porter | Coffee Porter | 5 |
| Glacier | Golden Grizzly Ale | Kolsch Golden Ale | 7 |
| Glacier | Glacier Select Oktoberfest | Marzen | 7 |
| Great Northern | Highlander Premium Beer | Scottish Red Ale | 7 |
| Great Northern | Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lager | Filtered Wheat w/Fruit | 6 |
| Harvest Moon | Pigs Ass Porter | Porter | 6 |
| Harvest Moon | Beltian White | Belgian style vitbier | 7 |
| Harvest Moon | Nut Brown | Brown | 6 |
| Kettlehouse | Eddy Out | Pale Ale | 5 |
| Kettlehouse | Cold Smoke Scotch Ale | Scotch Ale | 5 |
| Lewis and Clark | Miner's Gold | Hefeweisen | 6 |
| Lewis and Clark | Portage Porter | Porter | 8 |
| Lone Peak | Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout | Oatmeal Stout | 7 |
| Lone Peak | Hellroaring ESB | English Style Extra Special Bitter | 5 |
| Montana | Whitetail Wheat | American Hefeweisen | 7.5 |
| Neptune's | Wheat | American Wheat | 6 |
| Quarry | Open Pit Porter | Porter | 8 |
| Tamarack | Rye Sally Rye PA | Rye Pale Ale | 5 |
| Tamarack | Wakeboard Wheat | Belgium Style Wit | 7 |
We did not sample any of the Bitter Root beers because we had already had them all with a flight at their brewery. Unfortunately, we missed out on trying anything from Angry Hank's, Madison River, and Red Lodge Ales.
The musical headliner was a group called Keegan Smih & The Fam and they were a lot of fun. : )
If you are traveling to Montana and like micro-brews, you should definitely check out: www.montanabrewers.org
