Chicken Tikka Masala

you can see chunks of onion because i gave up on pureeing after my magma spatter disaster. hopefully yours will be smoother.

I do a lot of cooking.  I especially do a lot of cooking while drinking wine and dancing around my kitchen.  Luckily for me, my chopping skills stay mostly intact while drinking.  When I am (occasionally) unlucky, I employ the Bryan Monaghan Certified Medically Sound Method for Healing Kitchen Injuries – I wrap a paper towel really tightly around wherever I’ve cut myself, then swathe the whole thing in duct tape.  It’s great, because it’s really inconvenient AND looks ridiculous.

I didn’t cut  myself during the making of Chicken Tikka Masala, though I did spray myself, the stove and the wall with many droplets of screaming hot pureed tomatoes and onions.  The unfortunate thing is that Sue’s mom JUST sent me a really cute apron for my birthday (thanks again Mrs. Croal!), which I wasn’t wearing because I want to keep it pretty.  Can someone please send me an ugly apron?

Here’s something: Chicken Tikka Masala is the national dish of Britain, according to someone who said that once in Britain.  Basically, it’s a rich, sweetish curry made mostly from tomatoes, cream and spices.  Chances are, if you’ve been to an Indian restaurant in America, you’ve ordered it, as it’s the Indian restaurant equivalent of Pad Thai.  It’s delicious, and this recipe, from Use Real Butter,  is really easy and doesn’t call for anything your local store doesn’t have.  If you cook any Indian or Mexican food at home, you probably have most of the spices already.  It’s hardly any prep at all, and the actual work involved (not including marinating time) takes about 45 minutes.  Simple.  It also makes for EXCELLENT leftovers to take to work for lunch.

Chicken Tikka Masala, from Use Real Butter

For the kebabs:

1 lb chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tbsp plain yogurt

juice of 1 lime

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp paprika (any kind, sweet, hot, whatever)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Method: Mix together all the ingredients but the chicken, then put the chicken in the marinade, in the fridge, for 2-24 hours.  I marinated mine for 6 hours and it was plenty of time.

longer is better, but at least 1-2 hours is fine.

30 minutes before you want to make the curry part, skewer the chicken onto sticks (metal if you have them, if your skewers are wood, soak them in water for 30 minutes prior to using them on the grill) and grill them, for about 6-8 total minutes, turning once.  If you don’t have a grill, you can bake them in the oven, on 400 degrees, on a cookie sheet, for about 6-8 minutes, turning once.  When the kebabs are done, remove them to a plate and get them ready to put into the curry a little later.

For the curry:

2-3 tbsp butter

2 big sweet onions, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 inch piece of ginger, grated

2 big, ripe tomatoes, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tbsp salt

black pepper

1 tbsp sugar

juice of 1/2 a lime

1/4 cup heavy cream

Method:  In a big dutch oven on medium heat, melt the butter, and put in the onion, garlic and ginger.  Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and lightly browned.  Then, put in all the tomatoes and cook another 5-6 minutes, mashing the tomatoes around.

i mashed the tomatoes for awhile. it was a little like hungry hungry hippos.

At this point, you can do the smart thing, which is put the whole mess into a blender and puree it, or you can do the stupid thing (which of course, is what I did) and try to use an immersion blender to puree it, even though there’s definitely not enough stuff in the pot to NOT spray yourself with many droplets of tomato puree the same temperature as lava.  In any case, puree the mixture, taking care because it is HOT, and then return it to the pot.  Stir in all the spices, lime juice and cream, then mix in the chicken pieces.  Heat the whole thing through, maybe 5-8 minutes.  Serve with jasmine rice and naan.  (Not that I ever advocate eating pre-made food items, but Trader Joe’s has thoroughly decent frozen garlic naan that heats up in a toaster oven in like 2 minutes.  Just saying.)

- Cat

Grilled Vegetable and Orzo Salad

This is quite possibly one of the easiest BBQ sides I have ever put together.  I knew a few things: I wanted grilled vegetables, and I didn’t want them on a salad, and I didn’t want them plain. While I love grilled vegetables plain I wanted to spice it up. When you put grilled vegetables on a big salad they all sink to the bottom and end up making the lettuce soggy. While a grilled vegetable salad can be plated nicely individually, it’s not as successful as a big dish.

This salad was also met with rave reviews; it’s been awhile since I had such a rush of requests for a recipe. A few other great things about this recipe: it can be made ahead, and I can attest to this because I ate every last bit of the leftovers. It can also be eaten warm or cold (versatility at its finest). It’s a GREAT summer salad because there is no mayo in it or anything to get all nasty when you leave it out in the sun while you are distracted playing bags (I know I’m not the only one). You can feel completely safe about eating round two hours after this salad has been sitting out. Feta cheese is one of those great cheeses that never really melts and never gets the greasy sweat that other cheeses sometimes do. Perfect for something like this.

By far- the best part of this recipe is how damn easy it is. Cook some orzo, skewer some vegetables, and crumble some feta…delicious amazing salad complete.

Grilled Vegetable and Orzo salad

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo pasta, cooked and drained

¾ to 1 cup block feta cheese, crumbled

1 zucchini, cubed

1 yellow squash, cubed

10 asparagus spears

15 (or so) cherry tomatoes

1 medium Vidalia (or sweet) onion chopped in large pieces.

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

Skewer the zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, and onion. Skewer only one kind of vegetable together. The onions will take a little longer, and the tomatoes will take the least amount of time which is why I keep like vegetables together. For the asparagus, prepare a foil packet for the grill and toss the asparagus with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper before sealing up. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a healthy grind of pepper. Over medium heat grill each of the skewers until each of the vegetables has a nice light char. Onions first; asparagus, zucchini, and squash at the same time, and tomatoes a quick turn last. While the vegetables cook (or before) cook the orzo according the the directions on the box.

In a large bowl top the orzo with the vegetables and the feta cheese and toss.

Add a drizzle of olive oil and a few grinds of pepper (no salt is necessary, the cheese has plenty) and serve.

A few notes:

You could use any kind of vegetable here. Bell peppers would be lovely (if I liked them) along with eggplant, or any other vegetable (I can’t think of any other vegetables you grill, but maybe you can).

I love grilled (or roasted) tomatoes, but this salad could also be served with them fresh.

I highly recommend trying this as is first, but a bit of fresh basil, or other fresh herbs, would be wonderful.

-Sue

Pasta Puttanesca

It has anchovies in it.  Don’t be afraid.

Puttanesca is Italian for Slutty McSlutslut, I think, or something like that (seriously).  The legend is, this pasta was what ladies of the night would make after, ahem, the night, because it was cheap and fast.  I made this the other day in 20 minutes.  Seriously, 20 minutes.  It’s really delicious and tomato-y and briny and salty and olive-y.  And not scary, the anchovies melt into the sauce and all you notice is an extra nutty tang.  Plus, you should have some anchovy paste in your house for making Caesar salad.  And, if you’re like me, there’s a lady in your apartment complex (Crazy Plant Lady) who planted a bunch of stuff and then knocked on your door at 7am all summer to remind you to water the garden, because in some misdirected attempt to be neighborly you said you would help with the garden, but she planted some good stuff like parsley and basil so you can go out there and grab a whole bunch for this recipe.  If not- you can omit the fresh herbs if you want, but it’s always better to have them.

Pasta Puttanesca

1 lb pasta, I used spaghetti this time

1 big onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

32 ounce can of diced tomatoes

2 tsp anchovy paste, or 3 anchovy fillets

1/4 cup red wine, I always have  red wine in my house, don’t judge me

1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives

1/4 cup capers

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

glug of olive oil, glug is a technical cooking term, you may not know it, it mean “pour some in the pan”

glug of balsamic vinegar

Handful of fresh basil and parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

Salt a big pot of water, and set it to get boiling on medium high heat.  While the water gets hot, put the onion, garlic, anchovy and olive oil in a big pan and saute it on medium heat until the onions get translucent.  Don’t be frightened by this stage, it will smell a little fishy, but that will cook off.  When the onions look lightly translucent and a little brown, and the anchovy has cooked into nothingness, pour in the wine and balsamic vinegar, cooking until the liquid is absorbed.  Then, dump in everything else but the fresh herbs.  At this point, the pasta water is probably boiling, so salt it (salting pasta water is serious business: put in a healthy 5 finger pinch, or a tablespoon or so) and put the pasta in.  While the pasta is cooking (probably 10-15 minutes) let the sauce bubble away happily, it should be thickening up quite a lot.  When the pasta seems al dente, which is just a shade under fully cooked, drain it and toss it in the pan with the sauce.  Sprinkle the whole lot with the fresh herbs and serve, with copious amounts of parmesan cheese.

 

mmmmmm.

 

- Cat