Hello all my fellow foodies :)
Last weekend I chose to make Indian Butter Chicken. My boyfriend's mom was down visiting us and she's all gung-ho for my cuisine project, so I figured I'd try making something that I have made and eaten many times in the past, but have always just used the jarred sauce. I found a recipe on allrecipes.org, but I changed it around a decent amount to make it my own. I hope you guys enjoy it, I know I sure did!! This is probably one of the yummiest recipes I have made so far. It's pretty easy to make, and doesn't take that long to cook! Let me know how you guys enjoy it!!
Chicken Makhani (Indian butter chicken)
1 tbsp peanut oil (omitted, used olive oil instead)
1 shallot, finely chopped (omitted)
1/4 white onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp garam masala (garam just refers to the level of heat, I used a pre-mixed Indian Masala for this recipe)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used 1/2 PC greek yogurt, 0% fat)
1 cup half and half (I used 1 1/4 cup 18%)
1 cup tomato puree (I used tomato sauce)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch salt, pinch pepper
I also put in about 2 tbsp fenugreek seeds, added a wonderful flavour!!!
1 tbsp peanut oil (omitted, used olive oil instead)
3-4 chicken breasts (thighs of the same weight amount can be used too), cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp Indian Masala
1 pinch cayenne
1 tbsp cornstarch combined with 1/4 cup water
In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat, sautee the onion until soft. Add butter, lemon juice, ginger and garlic, masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook and stir for one minute. Add tomato sauce, and cook/stir for another 2 minutes. Add yogurt and cream, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes while stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
Heat oil in large frying pan or skillet over medium heat, cook chicken until lightly browned. Reduce heat and season with masala and cayenne. Add a few spoonfuls of the sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced and chicken is cooked. Stir this into the sauce that was set aside.
Add the cornstarch and water mixture into the sauce and cook until thickened, 5-10 minutes.
Served over rice. I should have made up some pappadums to go with it, but I totally forgot I even had any!! Definitely a must for the next time I make it. It was so good I'm actually tempted to make it again this weekend!! But I shouldn't, I should go for another nationality.
Please, let me know how this recipes goes for you, if you like it, if you'd change anything. I like input!!
Thanks for reading and happy cooking!!
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Moroccan Chicken
Hello my fellow foodies!!
A couple of weeks ago I was having a hard time deciding where I wanted to cook from, and while I was perusing my photo albums on my computer I noticed that I had taken a picture of a recipe for Moroccan chicken. Upon reading the ingredient list I realized that I had everything I needed for the most part, and could easily omit the items I didn't have. It's an easy dish to make and very very tasty. Makes great leftovers as well!! Once again, I'll post the pictures to this post once I get them off my phone.
3 Boneless chicken breasts
1 large onion
4 cloves or garlic, minced
1 tsp each of cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg (nutmeg was omitted as my other half doesn't like it)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup orange juice
1 tbsp liquid honey
3 carrots thinly sliced
1 cup couscous (I used rice instead as couscous doesn't like me)
4 green onions (omitted)
Slice onion into thin wedges and stir in a large frying pan with garlic, spices, broth, juice and honey and add the carrots. Place chicken on top and boil gently over med-high heat, uncovered until onion is softened (approx 10 minutes). Turn chicken halfway through. Partially cover and reduce heat to med-low. Simmer, turning chicken occasionally until it is cooked all the way through (25-ish minutes). Remove chicken to plate and cover with tinfoil. Stir in rice, and add juice and broth as needed until rice is cooked, and then remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Serve.
It was a DELICIOUS meal. Just make sure your actually adding orange juice and not orange DRINK. I made the mistake of buying Minute Maid orange drink thinking it was juice. It still tasted good in the meal, but I think the actual juice would be that much better!!
Thanks for reading, and happy cooking! Next post: Butter Chicken :)
A couple of weeks ago I was having a hard time deciding where I wanted to cook from, and while I was perusing my photo albums on my computer I noticed that I had taken a picture of a recipe for Moroccan chicken. Upon reading the ingredient list I realized that I had everything I needed for the most part, and could easily omit the items I didn't have. It's an easy dish to make and very very tasty. Makes great leftovers as well!! Once again, I'll post the pictures to this post once I get them off my phone.
3 Boneless chicken breasts
1 large onion
4 cloves or garlic, minced
1 tsp each of cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg (nutmeg was omitted as my other half doesn't like it)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup orange juice
1 tbsp liquid honey
3 carrots thinly sliced
1 cup couscous (I used rice instead as couscous doesn't like me)
4 green onions (omitted)
Slice onion into thin wedges and stir in a large frying pan with garlic, spices, broth, juice and honey and add the carrots. Place chicken on top and boil gently over med-high heat, uncovered until onion is softened (approx 10 minutes). Turn chicken halfway through. Partially cover and reduce heat to med-low. Simmer, turning chicken occasionally until it is cooked all the way through (25-ish minutes). Remove chicken to plate and cover with tinfoil. Stir in rice, and add juice and broth as needed until rice is cooked, and then remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Serve.
It was a DELICIOUS meal. Just make sure your actually adding orange juice and not orange DRINK. I made the mistake of buying Minute Maid orange drink thinking it was juice. It still tasted good in the meal, but I think the actual juice would be that much better!!
Thanks for reading, and happy cooking! Next post: Butter Chicken :)
Good Greek Eats!!!
Hello my fellow foodies!! I apologize in the delay of my blog posts. Life has been incredibly busy and I've also been under the weather. But FINALLY I am able to post some of the creations I've been making :) For the first in this series of posts, I'll talk about the Greek dinner I made. Moussaka and traditional greek salad.
Moussaka:
3 eggplants (two if your using the large ones) cut lengthwise into 1/2" slices
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp butter
ground black pepper
2 small onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp (total) of oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 egg, beaten
sauce:
4 cups milk
1/2 cup butter (reduced from the original recipe)
6 tbsp flour (I used amaranth flour for the gluten free part)
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp nutmeg (omitted)
Place eggplant slices on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. let dry 30 minutes and then broil in oven until they are lightly browned on both sides. Set aside.
In a large skillet brown the ground beef, and then add salt, pepper, onion, garlic during the browning process. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg, herbs and parsley. Combine well. Pour in tomato sauce and wine. Simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and stir in the egg. Set aside.
To make the beschamel sauce: the initial recipe says to scald the milk. I don't know what that means so I skipped that step.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Reduce heat, and gradually pour in the milk whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Arrange a layer of eggplant in a greased 9X13 baking dish. Cover eggplant with all the meat mixture and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Cover with remaining eggplant and sprinkle with 1/2 cup parmesan. Pour the beschamel sauce over the cheese, sprinkle with nutmeg (optional) and the remaining parmesan cheese.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 1 hour (I baked an additional 5 minutes).
I highly recommend letting it sit for about 10 minutes before serving as it is quite runny coming out of the oven. I made the mistake of cutting into it right off the bat and ending up with a meaty-eggplanty stew instead of a well formed piece of Moussaka. That being said, it was still quite delicious.
Now onto the salad (nice and simple to make!)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tomatoes
1/4 red onion, sliced
1/2 cucumber ( I used a whole cucumber)
1/2 green onion (I omitted)
feta cheese
kalamata olives
put olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, peppers and oregano into a jar and shake well. Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl, pour in dressing. Toss and serve.
I LOVED the salad. It tasted so light and healthy, and I had enough for a few days. It kept very well as there was no lettuce to get soggy.
I got both of these recipes from epicurious, but altered them a little bit for my liking. I hope you enjoy them!!! I will post pictures up once I get them off my phone :) My next post will be Moroccan Chicken!!
Thanks for reading and happy cooking! :)
Moussaka:
3 eggplants (two if your using the large ones) cut lengthwise into 1/2" slices
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp butter
ground black pepper
2 small onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp (total) of oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 egg, beaten
sauce:
4 cups milk
1/2 cup butter (reduced from the original recipe)
6 tbsp flour (I used amaranth flour for the gluten free part)
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp nutmeg (omitted)
Place eggplant slices on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. let dry 30 minutes and then broil in oven until they are lightly browned on both sides. Set aside.
In a large skillet brown the ground beef, and then add salt, pepper, onion, garlic during the browning process. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg, herbs and parsley. Combine well. Pour in tomato sauce and wine. Simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and stir in the egg. Set aside.
To make the beschamel sauce: the initial recipe says to scald the milk. I don't know what that means so I skipped that step.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Reduce heat, and gradually pour in the milk whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Arrange a layer of eggplant in a greased 9X13 baking dish. Cover eggplant with all the meat mixture and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Cover with remaining eggplant and sprinkle with 1/2 cup parmesan. Pour the beschamel sauce over the cheese, sprinkle with nutmeg (optional) and the remaining parmesan cheese.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 1 hour (I baked an additional 5 minutes).
I highly recommend letting it sit for about 10 minutes before serving as it is quite runny coming out of the oven. I made the mistake of cutting into it right off the bat and ending up with a meaty-eggplanty stew instead of a well formed piece of Moussaka. That being said, it was still quite delicious.
Now onto the salad (nice and simple to make!)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tomatoes
1/4 red onion, sliced
1/2 cucumber ( I used a whole cucumber)
1/2 green onion (I omitted)
feta cheese
kalamata olives
put olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, peppers and oregano into a jar and shake well. Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl, pour in dressing. Toss and serve.
I LOVED the salad. It tasted so light and healthy, and I had enough for a few days. It kept very well as there was no lettuce to get soggy.
I got both of these recipes from epicurious, but altered them a little bit for my liking. I hope you enjoy them!!! I will post pictures up once I get them off my phone :) My next post will be Moroccan Chicken!!
Thanks for reading and happy cooking! :)
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