Quick Chicken Tikka Masala

Hey Ladies! It has been quite some time since my last post. But the recipe I made last night deserves recognition and to be shared with you lovely gals. It is "Quick Chicken Tikka Masala" courtesies of my new favorite recipe/food site eatingwell.com I have used the site in the past and to be honest, it is sometimes a hit or miss. Definitely look at the reviews before attempting a dish.

What I most love about the site is that it is health conscious and allows you to see the nutritional facts of the food you are cooking, allowing for a more transparent meal and healthier choices to be made on your part (if you should so choose =). With spring around the corner and summer approaching, I so choose the healthier option (at least for now ;).

Anywho, this recipe was super quick, easy, healthy and so delicious.

TIPS:

*If you cannot find chicken tenders, you can buy chicken stir fry or even just a pound of chicken breast, cut into smaller portions.

**I love flavor and following the recipe exactly will deliver a nice, yet mild flavor. I added more garam masala/tumeric and a lil salt/curry to taste.

Quick Chicken Tikka Masala (courtesy of www.eatingwell.com)

• 4 teaspoons garam masala (see Note)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound chicken tenders
• 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, undrained (I recommend buying crushed or already diced tomatoes)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Stir together garam masala, salt and turmeric in a small dish. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mixture and dredge in the flour. (Reserve the remaining spice mix and 1 tablespoon of the remaining flour.)
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
3. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved spice mix and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Sprinkle with the reserved 1 tablespoon flour and stir until coated. Add tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a simmer, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring often, until thickened and the onion is tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Stir in cream. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

**I served the dish over a bed of brown rice**

Caramel Apple Pie

Hi all,

I made this first for Thanksgiving with the hubby's family. I was rushed and nervous, had trouble rolling out the dough, ended up making more dough at the last minute, but successfully threw it all together. I was privy to the first slice and when I took my first bite, I glared at hubby and said "you better go get your own, because you're not having any of mine." He rushed over to get some and was glad he did. It disappeared.

I'm not a big baker, but this is worth making. It's the best apple pie I've ever had.

This recipe is a compilation of tips from my mother and the recipe found here.

Crust Ingredients:

-1 1/2 cups Crisco

-1 tsp salt

-2 tsp milk

-1/2 cup boiling water

-4 cups flour

Note: I don't make the traditional crust with butter. I make a "hot water crust" with Crisco, (super easy). It turns out thicker, which I think is more rustic and country-style. It's not a crust that you make look pretty, it's something you throw over a huge pile of apples and caramel and balances out all the different sugars. Also, this will make extra dough. You only need 3/4 of it at max. I recommend making the top layer thicker than you normally would, but I just love crust.

Crust Directions:

1. Dump Crisco, salt, and milk in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over. Stir or whisk until creamy and fluffy (I used a fork to begin, and a whisk to finish it).

2. Pour in the flour. Using a spatula, make broad, round strokes to integrate the flour. When crumbly, use hands to finish mixing, but don't over-knead it. Place in freezer while preparing filling (about 30 min) or fridge overnight.

Pie Ingredients:

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1/4 cup butter

-5 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced into thin pieces-1/3 cup flour

-2/3 cup sugar

-3 tbs flour

-1 tsp lemon juice

-2 tsp ground cinnamon

-20 caramel pieces, halved

-milk & sugar to brush over pie

Pie Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. To Make Taffy: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and 1/3 cup flour. Mix well and set aside.
3. To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated. Feel free to add a bit more sugar
   and cinnamon to taste.
4. Split pastry into halves. Use 1/4 for the bottom and 1/2 for the top. Use the rest for mini pies filled with jam! Roll out bottom of pastry and place in pie-dish (deep dish is better).
5. Spoon half of apple filling into pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels and taffy mixture.
   
6. Roll out top of pastry and place over pie. Seal well!!! (Important to prevent caramel from boiling out!) Cut off excess pastry.
7. Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk and sugar.
8. Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet (important!). Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another half hour or so, until crust is golden. The thicker your crust, the longer it will take. Serve warm.

ENJOY!

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

Picture taken from simplyrecipes.com

My apologies for my blogging lethargy :-/. Excuses can be made, such as, "oh I was busy moving", "oh, my sister's wedding", "oh, I'm just super lazy and forgetful". Yeah, probably the latter is mostly true...my bad! Anywho, I recently made this amazing and incredibly easy brazilian cheese bread this week and who better to share the recipe with than me fellow food bloggers. If you haven't heard of or visited Espetus in Hayes Valley, then I highly recommend you satiate your carnivorous itch and try this place. It is like a Brazilian, ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT meat buffet. Well, sort of buffet. Waiters circle your table with different cuts of meat for you to choose from, including chicken hearts. There is also a wonderful salad bar to accompany the meal, which may be overkill with the amount of meat that they serve you.

While waiting for our first round of meat, they bring out these absolutely great cheese bread appetizers for you to snack on. They were so good that our table requested multiple plates, in addition to the meat and salad bar. They were chewy, cheesey, puffy goodness.

Luckily, while perusing the food blogging world, I stumbled upon a recipe for pao de queijo. I love recipes that take no time to make and come out so great that you are likely to impress your friends with your "culinary skills".

Recipe Taken from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_brazilian_cheese_bread/

Ingredients:

1 egg (room temp)

1/3 c. olive oil

2/3 c. milk

1/2 c. tapioca flour (found at Whole Foods - Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 c. packed grated cheese - used Queso Fresco

1 tsp. salt

Special Equipment: mini cupcake tin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly greaser cupcake tin.

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. The batter will be a smooth, runny consistency - more so than pancake batter.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the batter into each cupcake holder.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (I did full 20 minutes) until puffy and golden. Be sure not to open the oven a lot cause the puffs will deflate.

When done, cool on rack and then consume immediately =).

**You can store extra batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Coconut Date Smoothie

Blend together following for a mighty refreshing smoothie:

- 8 oz. coconut water
- 10 ice cubes
- 3 tbl spoons almond butter
- 8 dried dates (chopped)
- splash of vanilla extract
- pinch of salt

Tricolor Salad

This recipe is also from one of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazines (LOVE THEM!). This salad is beautiful with the mixture of color, light, but yet hearty with the Parmesan.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

Salad

• 2 c. corn kernels (from 3 ears) - I just used 1 can of corn
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into .25 in half-moons
• 1 small head of radicchio, cut into 1-in pieces

Dressing

• 2 TBS red-wine vinegar
• 1 TBS EVOO
• 2 TBS grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp honey

1. Mix all dressing ingredients together thoroughly
2. Mix all salad ingredients, and then toss with mixed dressing. You can prep everything up to a day before (be careful, as the water from the cucumber will come out) and then mix the salad and dressing together right before serving.

Nutrition:
122 cal; 5 g fat (1 g sat fat); 4 g protein; 18 g carb; 3 g fiber

Frozen Lemon Souffle

I got this from one of those little Martha Stewart's "Everyday Foods" magazines (they're AWESOME!). Made it for 4th of July. Originally to be topped with only raspberries, but why not add some blackberries and blueberries to make it more festive, eh?!

Ingredients:

• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1 TBS finely grated lemon zest + 3/4 c lemon juice (From 3 lemons)
• 8 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup cold heavy cream
• 1.5 c raspberries (6 oz)
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Recipe:

1. Wrap outside of a 3.5 c. souffle mold or 4 6-oz ramekins with parchment, extending 2-3 inches above rim (it should fit snugly). Secure with tape; set aside. Note: I just used whatever souffle pan i had available :) and did not put the parchment paper since it didn't overflow like it would in the 3.5 c souffle
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together granulated sugar, lemon zest and juice, egg yolks, and salt over medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and small bubbles form around edge of pan, about 5 min (do not boil). Immediately remove from heat while continuing to whisk. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on lemon curd with a rubber spatula. Note: I squeezed 3 lemons but didn't have 3/4 c. of lemon juice, so just used whatever came out (might be why it was so sweet)
3. Place plastic wrap directly against surface of curd and refrigerate until cool, about 30 min (up to overnight). Note: I just let it sit in the fridge for 30 min.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whits on high until stiff peaks form, about 2 min. Gently fold egg whites into cooled lemon curd. In the same large bowl, beat cream on high until stiff peaks form, 1-2 min. Gently fold whipped cream into lemon curd mixture. Pour into mold and freeze until firm, 6 hours (or up to overnight). To serve, remove parchment, top with raspberries, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Note: I let it sit overnight and added blueberries and blackberries to the mix to make it red/white/blue for Independence Day
   

Kettlecorn!

My recent obsession, inspired by SMT's groupons to KettlePop, is kettlecorn. Fortunately, kettlecorn is easy to make on the stovetop!

Original source: Allrecipes

Ingredients/tools:

• Stock pot with snugly-fitted lid
• 1/4 cup - popcorn kernels (these are cheapest in the natural food section-- just get about $1/worth)
• 1/4 cup - canola oil
• 1/4 cup - sugar (probably less-- just eyeball it)
• Salt

Steps:

1. Pour the oil in the pan and place on medium-high. Add in three kernels of corn.
2. When the kernels pop, the oil is hot enough. Add in the remaining popcorn kernels. Add in the 1/4 cup sugar, distributing in the sugar equally across the bottom of the pot. Place the top on the pot.
3. Immediately lift the pot about 1 inch above the stove and begin shaking the pot over the heat. The idea is that you don't want the kernels or sugar to crystalize in any one place on the pot. After about a minute, the kernels will begin to pop.
4. Be careful-- popcorn creates steam, so steam will try to escape the pot, particularly when you remove the top!
5. When the popping slows, remove the pot from the heat and sprinkle liberally with salt to taste.

Enjoy!