Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

Made this tonight - a nice cold late fall day - fire going, perfect comfort food  night.  Had some chicken thighs in the freezer - and looked for recipes.  Came across this one on allrecipes.com.  Followed it pretty much to the letter - although I cooked the thighs in a 1.5 qt Le Creuset braiser - covered, for about 20 minutes.  Served it over risotto - REALLY tasty.  My first Indian food experiment, and I was very pleased with it!

Original recipe makes 4 servings

 1 tablespoon peanut oil

 1 shallot, finely chopped

 1/4 white onion, chopped

 2 tablespoons butter

 2 teaspoons lemon juice

 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

 1 teaspoon garam masala

 1 teaspoon chili powder

 1 teaspoon ground cumin

 1 bay leaf

 1/4 cup plain yogurt

 1 cup half-and-half

 1 cup tomato puree

 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

 1 pinch salt

 1 pinch black pepper

 1 tablespoon peanut oil

 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs ( I use 4)

 1 teaspoon garam masala

 1 pinch cayenne pepper

 1 tablespoon cornstarch

 1/4 cup water

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Saute shallot and onion until soft and translucent. Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in half-and-half and yogurt. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat, and season with 1 teaspoon garam masala and cayenne. Stir in a few spoonfuls of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink. Stir cooked chicken into sauce.

Mix together cornstarch and water, then stir into the sauce. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened

Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup

Ok, I have been TERRIBLE about posting new recipes for the last year - new job, bunch of life going on - what can I say.  But we are getting into cooking season - and this year I am going to be focusing on more healthy recipes.

Simply awesome!

So, today was the first really chilly day of the year - cold, rainy - just kind of nasty.  Can you spell SOUP????  Threw together an amazingly simple cauliflower soup - it was awesome, and GARLICKY - you might want to cut back on the roasted garlic if you want to talk to anyone for about three days.  If you love garlic - then go with it!

This recipe is so simple - I used frozen chicken broth that I make from scratch every year - but store bought is fine.  

There it is:

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, broken up into chunks

5 cups chicken broth

1 whole head of garlic

2 tsp fresh thyme - separated

olive oil

salt, pepper

Instructions:

Roasted Veggies

Place cauliflower on cookie sheet, and coat with extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Cut top of garlic head off, coat with oil, and place on sheet with cauliflower.

Place veggies in oven pre heated to 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

After roasted - chop cauliflower fairly fine, and add to stock pot with chicken broth.  Squeeze garlic cloves out of head, and add to soup.  Add one tsp thyme, one tsp salt, and pepper to taste. 

Simmer for about 20 minutes or so till all is tender.  Add to blender ( or use immersion blender) and reduce to thick liquid.  ( if using blender, BE CAREFUL, and only do small amounts on very low speed)  Salt to taste, serve with sprinkle of fresh thyme, and drizzle of olive oil.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas with Warm Chili Corn

This was a totally easy, and REALLY tasty vegetarian midweek entree.  Total prep time was about 20 minutes, plus another 15 to cook.  Very simple to make, but amazingly good.  Here it is:

Ingredients:
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
3 tsp chili powder
1 lg onion, chopped
3 tbs light olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 15.5 oz can black beans rinsed
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and shredded
3 cloves garlic diced fine
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp dried celantro
2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 lb shredded cheddar
6 flour tortillas
3 scallions, sliced thin, whites/ greens separated
2 cups frozen corn

Instructions:

1 - pre heat oven to 450.  In food processor, puree the tomatoes, dash of hot sauce, 2 tsp chili powder, half the onion 1 tbs oil, salt and pepper to taste until smooth.
2  Heat 1 tbs oil in large skillet, add remaining onion, half the garlic, and saute till soft - 2 to 3 minutes.  Add sweet potatoes, and saute for 5 minutes till potatoes start to reduce.  Add black beans, salt and pepper, 2 tsp cilantro, oregano, 1 tsp hot sauce, and stir till cooked through.  Add 1/2 cheddar cheese, mix well, and set aside.
3- Spread 1 cup tomato mixture in bottom of 9x13 baking dish.  Roll the bean mixture in the tortillas - about 1/2 cup each.  Place rolls seam side down on sauce.  Top with remaining tomato sauce, sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake on top rack of oven till cheese is brown and bubbly.
4 - Add last tbs of oil to small fry pan, and saute remaining garlic, and whites of scallions till soft.  Add frozen corn, balance of cilantro, salt pepper, balance of chili powder and several shakes of hot sauce.  Saute till warm.
5 - Serve enchiladas with daub of sour cream, scallion greens, and warm chili corn.

Potato Leek Soup, with Pan Roasted Garlic, Wine, and Bacon

Potato Leek Soup, with Pan Roasted Garlic, Wine, and Bacon

So Lynne and I went to a totally cool winter Farmers Market, at the old Velvet Mill in Stonington, Connecticut. ( I HIGHLY recommend this if you live here – everything from fresh local meat, eggs, produce, sauces, jellies, jams, artwork….. a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.)  We picked up some fresh, organic sweet leeks, and a loaf of fresh sour dough bread…. And I thought…. Well – what else besides potato leek soup?  We also picked up a bottle of green curry pineapple satay hot sauce from Dragon’s Blood Elixir hot sauce – dragonsbloodelixir.com.  This guy had awesome hot sauces – I really liked the sweet potato hot sauce!  I had Lynne try some – forgetting that her tolerance for heat is infinitely lower than mine…… oops)  We had the grand daughter with us – no I didn’t have her try any!  It was a nice morning for sure!  Anyway… the soup.

Most tater soup recipes are pretty similar – potato’s, celery, thyme, chicken stock, and usually cream.  I thought I would mix it up a bit.  No cream, a little white wine for some acidity, some roasted garlic, and …. Of course …. BACON.  I mean what else goes with potatoes?  If I could have thrown some eggs in I would have!  This soup is “souper” simple to make – takes about 20 minutes of prep, then about 40 minutes of simmering.  A note about the leeks – slice them up, and place in a bowl of cold water – swish around every few minutes to clean the sand out of them…. Otherwise your soup will be very gritty.

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 – 4 leeks, sliced thin, and soaked in cold water to rinse

3 stalks celery, sliced ( grab some leaves and rough chop for garnish)

2 tbs butter

6 cups chicken stock ( I cheated and used store bought instead of home made…. Didn’t feel like defrosting it)

2 cups water ( you may need to add more as the soup simmers)

½ cup dry white wine ( Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio are fine – do NOT use a sweet wine like Riesling)

2 – 3 lbs potatoes, peeled, and diced into ½ inch ish pieces

4 slices cooked bacon chopped rough ( 2 tbs reserved for garnish)

¼ cup fresh parsley

1 tsp thyme

Pinch red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1)      Slice the leeks, and soak as instructed.  Peel potato’s and place in a bowl of water to keep from oxidizing.

2)      In a small sauté pan, add butter and garlic.  Sauté until garlic starts to brown – DON’T burn it!.  Drain leeks, add to pan with celery.  Sauté for about 10 minutes until starting to soften.

3)      In a medium saucepan, add broth, water, wine, salt pepper, thyme, bacon and potatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Add leeks and garlic before this comes to a boil.  Simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until potatoes are soft and falling apart. You may need to add water as the potatoes absorb liquid.

4)      Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.  You can use a blender to do this, but only put fill about ½ blender at a time, and CAREFULLY pulse at a low speed to blend.  If using a blender, please be CAREFUL!!  Hot liquids have a tendency to explode out of the top if you just crank away at high speed.

5)      Serve with fresh bread, garnish with celery leaves, parsley, and a little chopped bacon

This was a really good, rich soup – awesome in front of a roaring fire on a cold, snowy day!

Enjoy!

Thai lime chicken soup

Just made this again tonight - was really good!  I made a few changes to the following recipe: I used baby bok choy instead of spinach.  I chopped the leaves, and added to the broth, and I pre roasted the stems, after quartering them.  I also added a can of coconut milk to it.....  I used fresh made chicken broth, made from the bones, wings and thighs of a roasted chicken we made the night before last.  Great recipe - kind of a kitchen sink thing - you can add whatever you want to it and it still tastes good!

Thai Lime Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 sm pkg Shitaki mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 tsp fresh ground ginger root ( to taste - a little goes a long way)

3 tbs fish sauce ( to taste - again, a little goes a long way)

1/4 tsp yellow curry powder

1 tsp Thai seasoning (totally optional - I keep this around normally)

zest and juice from 2 limes

2 tbs fresh rough chopped cilantro

3 tbs fresh rough chopped basil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 seeded, sliced Thai chili pepper ( or small Jalapeno)

1 leek, dark green part removed, sliced into thin rings, rinsed well and separated

1 9 oz pkg Perdue Short Cuts pre cooked chicken breast

1/4 pkg ( about 4 oz ) Thai rice noodles

1 cup rough chopped spinach, raw

Instructions:

Soak rice noodles in HOT water, according to instructions for about 15 minutes, or until soft.  Drain, put to side.  In med - large sauce pan ( at least 4qts) add everything but the noodles and the spinach.  Bring to a boil over med high heat, then lower to med low, and simmer for about 20 minutes or so.  Add noodles, and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Add spinach, and simmer till wilted - about 5 minutes more.

Using tongs, pile a portion of noodles into a soup bowl, then ladle liquid/chicken etc over the top.  Garnish with a few fresh copped cilantro leaves, and if you want to spice it up a bit, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, and enjoy!  This soup is as good as any I have had in a restaurant!

One note - please taste as you go - basil, cilantro and ginger are VERY strong ingredients - you may want to alter the quantities up or down to your taste as you go!

Hot Turkey Sausage, Roasted Garlic and Tri Color Peppers A Olio, over Basil Whole Wheat Spagetti

Yummy and relatively low calorie!

Ok, time to loose the weight!!  Been saying that for years, and been cooking like Paula Dean for years..... and I am still fat.  Trying to make some..... healthier..... recipes that still taste good. This was quite tasty, and only about 600 calories per serving.... mostly because it has about 4 tbs of olive oil in it.  But NO butter!!!  This was pretty much a "whats in the pantry" dish - feel free to change things around!  Olive oil, basil and garlic powder measurements are..... approximate... lol.

Ingredients:

3 hot turkey Italian sausage sliced into 1 inch chunks...( Ok, kind of an oxymoron, I know.. but .... think HEALTHY)
about 2 cups frozen tri color peppers
2 heads of garlic, tops cut off ( about 3/4 from the bottom)
4 tbs olive oil, reserved
about 1 inch around, whole wheat spaghetti
garlic powder - 1 tsp
dried basil 2 tbs, reserved
1 tsp salt
fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.  When up to heat, place garlic heads on baking sheet ( cover with foil to save washing later), and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Roast for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  When done, pull out, and squeeze out cooked cloves ( I use a paper towel to hold the head and avoid the heat) Mince garlic, and put aside.

As the oven is warming, ad 1 tbs olive oil to a 10" saute pan over med-high heat, and begin to cook.  Stir frequently, until sausage is browned on all sides.  Deglaze the pan with a little white wine, or water and scrape up the brown bits, and cook down till thick.  Add 2 - 3 tbs olive oil, 1 tbs basil, and 3/4 of the roasted garlic, minced, and the frozen peppers.  Simmer until savory and done - about 5 minutes  - total cook time is about 20 minutes total.  Save the remaining 1/4 roasted garlic for a salad dressing, or pasta sauce - will last a week or so in the fridge.

When you put the garlic in, in 3 qt sauce pan, fill about 2/3 with water, add 1 tsp salt, garlic powder and a tbs of dried basil.  Bring to a boil, then add spaghetti.  Stir occasionally, about 15 minutes until slightly al dente.  When done, drain water, sprinkle with garlic powder, 1 tsp or so basil, a little Parmesan cheese ( the kind in the canister from a store - fine powder - not fresh shredded) salt and pepper, and about 2 tbs olive oil.  Stir to mix well, and cover to keep warm..

All of the pieces should be done about the same time  - in about 20 - 25 minutes.  Place about 1/3 of the pasta on a plate, and cover with sausage/pepper mixture.  Top with a sprinkle of dried basil and fresh grated parm cheese.  Fresh basil would be awesome with this dish, if you have it.

Enjoy - Bon Appetit!