Garam Masala

So last night I was making lamb meatballs in green curry sauce and mom was in town and her phone was dead.  I realized that we were out of garam masala (which is like the most essential spice in the whole recipe) so I called grandma freaking out!  I was half through the recipe and couldn't save it for later.  So grandma googled for me and we came across this recipe that worked pretty well!

Garam Masala:
1 Tablespoon ground  cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (I have no idea what this is and we didn't have it so I made it without cardamom)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Grind all the ingredients in a spice grinder and walla!  A substitute for garam masala! :)

Venison Vegetable Hash

This is one of our favorite dinners - it is out of an amazing cook book called "The Grassfed Gourmet".  The recipe calls for venison but quite often we just use ground beef or pork...it is still awesome! :)  This is a really great recipe to whip up fast as it takes almost no time at all to make...and it is a nice budget dinner :)

SERVES: 2 to 4

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tablespoons celery, rough diced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced
1 cup beef stock or water
3 cups diced cooked venison, beef, or pork
4 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown the venison.  Then saute the onion and pepper in the butter over medium-low heat until the onion is translucent.  Add the tomatoes, celery, and parsley, and saute 2 minutes longer.  Add the stock (or water), and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Continue to cook until heated through.

Stir in the breadcrumbs to thicken the mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve immediately with noodles or crusty bread.

Yummo!!!