Butter Chicken

From "Indian Instant Pot Cookbook" by Urvashi Pitre

To make this vegetarian or vegan, add 1/4 cup of water or stock instead of chicken on the first cook. After dividing the sauce, add your tofu, other protein, or steamed vegetable of choice. (I've made it with chickpeas and with cauliflower and liked both.)

1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes — do not drain

5 or 6 garlic cloves, minced

1 T minced ginger

1 t ground turmeric

1 t ground cayenne pepper

1 t ground paprika

2 t Garam Masala, divided

1 t ground cumin

1 t salt

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)

4 oz. butter, cubed, or 1/2 cup coconut oil (I used butter at GAW)

1/2 cup heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk (I used cream at GAW)

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine the first nine ingredients, reserving 1 teaspoon of Garam Masala, in the InstaPot. Mix thoroughly, then place chicken on top.

Lock lid into place, select Manual, set pressure to High, and cook for 10 minutes. Allow natural release. Remove chicken and set it aside.

Blend ingredients in the pot with an immersion blender or transfer to blender or food processor and blend to smooth sauce.

Add butter, cream, remaining teaspoon of Garam Masala, and cilantro. Stir to incorporate — sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. (ed: If you do a lot of Indian cooking and happen to have Amchur [mango] powder, this would be where you'd add a little pinch to brighten things up. I forgot to for GAW, but I have in the past and I like it.)

Remove half the sauce and freeze it or refrigerate for up to three days. (ed: I thought this part of the recipe was bullshit, but it really does make a TON of sauce. For GAW, I doubled the chicken but kept the sauce amount the same, and it was plenty saucy — though the extra juices from the chicken did make it a little runnier.)

Add chicken back to the sauce. If you're doing a vegetarian version, this is where you'd add your precooked protein or veg. Preheat by selecting Sauté and adjust to Less for low heat. Let the chicken heat through — break into smaller pieces if you want, but it shouldn't be shredded. Serve over basmati rice. (ed: If you can get Martin to prepare homemade naan to go with it, you should totally do that.)

Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Again, these were requested over at Musing & Mutterings, but if I don't keep any & all recipes here, they're totally going to be non-findable for me later.

Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Peel two giant-sized, 3 regular, or 4 smallish sweet potatoes. Cut into 1/4" to 1/2" dice.  This should  be about enough to cover a 9x13"pan at pretty much a single layer.  Pour on some olive oil and sprinkle on some (fresh, preferably, but dried is fine) thyme & some (preferably coarse-grained/kosher) salt.  Bake at 350F (very adaptable to more/less heat), stirring occasionally but not too often, until sweet potatoes are soft & have acquired at least one roasted/caramelized/not-quite-burnt-but-really-brown side.

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

This was requested over at Musings & Mutterings, but if I don't also post it here, I'll completely lose track of it.  Fancy name notwithstanding, I totally made up this recipe, so adapt at will!

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

Cook a butternut squash.  For me, that means halve a butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. Put both halves cut-side down in a 9x13" pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cook for an hour, or until soft.  Scoop the flesh out of the skin and discard the skin.  (You can totally do this ahead of time or, as in the case of this Turkey Day feast, use leftover squash.)  Mash/mix the squash with butter.  LOTS of butter, and a fair amount of brown sugar and a decent splash of vanilla.  Mash until you deem the texture suitable, adding more butter as needed. (Julia Child note: more butter is good!). I made ours early with leftover squash & kept it warm in a minicrockpot, which worked very well.

Roasted Radishes

Yes, seriously. Roasted radishes. I know, it sounds bizarre, but they're really actually tasty. We've gotten radishes the last several weeks in our CSA box, and they've kind of built up 'cuz who has  big ol' BUNCH of radishes for a snack?! They'd mentioned roasting radishes in their newsletter so I figured, hey, why not? Good way to use up these not-so-crisp-anymore radishes filling up my fridge.

I didn't want to search through the newsletters so I just did a quick online search, which gave me what I was basically planning anyway.  This is really so very simple that it's only a mental recipe, but roasted radishes are unusual enough I wanted to share the idea.

• A lot of radishes (Recipe says 1 lb.; I used 3 or 4 bunches, some rather not-so-crisp) Wash 'em, cut off their tips and tails, and quarter.
• Toss with olive oil and large grain (kosher-type) salt. I did this right in the pan I was going to use anyway 'cuz hey, less dishes.
• Roast in oven until done.  Done may mean more or less caramelized for you, but give them time to mellow and roast - maybe 30 minutes? I had them in at 325F 'cuz that's what I wanted for my roast, but you've got a lot of leeway here as long as you're keeping an eye on them periodically so they don't burn.

That's it. I know - not really a recipe, but I never would've thought to try roasting radishes without our CSA's suggestion in the newsletter.  Mr. Kluges and I found them tasty, but the girls weren't so keen. Also, beware the radish burps later. :)

Creamed spinach

This is the Julia Child version, so don't faint over the amount of dairy involved. :-)

 From frozen spinach: Thaw two 10-oz packages of frozen spinach just until you can cut through it with a heavy knife. If spinach is chopped, slice into 1/2" pieces. If whole, chop into small bits.

From fresh spinach: Blanch 1.5 lbs. spinach in salted boiling water until wilted and almost tender. Strain, squeeze out liquid, and chop. Melt 1 1/2 T butter in a heavy saucepan Add spinach

For frozen: Cook, covered, over low heat for a couple minutes until for spinach has thawed and released its juices.


For both: Cook over moderately high heat, uncovered, 2-3 minutes until moisture is evaporated. Add 1/4 t salt, pinch of pepper, small pinch of nutmeg. Lower heat to moderate and sprinkle on 1 T flour, sifted. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes Remove pan from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup heavy cream by spoonful, stirring to incorporate each spoonful as it is added. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook on low about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to keep spinach from sticking to pan and adding additional spoonsful of cream as necessary if spinach becomes too dry. Remove from heat and fold in 1 T softened butter. Serve.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

My mother-in-law made this cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving & it was so yummy I had to ask her for the recipe.  She says it's easy, can be made ahead, and that she used a bit less sugar than called for because she likes her cranberries a bit tart.  I thought they were YUM, so you should use less sugar, too!  Thanks, Gramma Yori!


Orange Cranberry Sauce

1 pkg. (12 oz.) fresh cranberries

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange segments, drained, juice reserved

½ tsp. grated orange zest

Parsley sprig, optional

In pot, bring cranberries, brown sugar, reserved mandarin juice and ¼ cup water to boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries pop, 20-25 minutes. 

Cool: cover and chill 2 hours.  [I think she might have chilled it overnight - I'd sure think you could.]  Reserve 10 orange segments – chop remaining.  Just before serving, stir in zest and chopped segments.  Transfer to dish, arrange reserved orange segments on top of sauce.  If desired, garnish with parsley.

Kale Chips

We got this recipe a few years ago from our CSA in the newsletter, and I had to get it out again this year.  These kale chips are not at all like potato chips, except that they are salty & crispy & rather more-ish.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
1 Tbl. olive oil (approximately)
1 tsp. seasoned sale (or regular salt)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spray a low-sided cookie sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.

With a kitchen scissors or knife, remove the thick stems from the kale (and put in the compost bin!).  Tear the kale into small pieces - maybe and approximately 1.5" square? Wash, then use a salad spinner to dry them thoroughly... or use the towel trick*.

Place kale pieces on to a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with (seasoning or plain) salt.  Bake until the edges are brown but not burnt, maybe 10-15 minutes.  Keep a close eye on it at the end - you want crispy, but not crumbling-to-bits when you eat it.  Let cool very briefly, then enjoy!


* Towel trick: Put your washed greens into the center of a kitchen towel - the flour sack kind works well.  Gather up the four corners into one hand so you've got the greens-filled part hanging down.  GO OUTSIDE.  Start swinging the towel around like you'd swing a jump rope.  Be amazed as centrifugal force causes more water than you would believe to be driven out from the greens!  It might take a couple spins until you've built up enough speed, but oh, is it fun!  :)

Jamie Oliver's Leek and Potato Soup

We like this classic soup found in Cooking Light magazine (Jan/Feb 2010), even though it's a brothy, not creamy version. Pusher, maybe it'll work for you... or at least provide a starting point for experimentation.

2 leeks (about 1 lb.)
6 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (Of course, I used Better than Bouillon; if you were vegetarian, you could sub in your favorite veg broth.)
2 Tbl. olive oil
3 c. coarsely chopped onion (about 1 lb.)
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. cubed, peeled Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 lb.)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

1. Remove roots, outer leaves, and tops from leeks. Cut each leek in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices. Immerse in cold water; swirl. Drain.*

2. Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. [Ok, maybe it's just me, but I'd start the broth heating and then work on the leeks to save time.]

3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leek, onion, carrot, celery & garlic. Partially cover, and cook 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender; stirring occasionally. Add hot broth and potato; return to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potato is tender. Stir in pepper and salt. Serve chunky or puree with an immersion blender or in a blender. Yield: 8 servings (serving size; about 1 1/4 c.)


Calories: 130; Fat 3.6g (sat 0.5g, mono 2.5g, poly 0.4g); Protein 3.4g; Carb 21.5g; Fiber 2.9g; Chol 0mg; Iron 1.3mg; Sodium 443mg; Calc 42mg


*I like to clean/wash my leeks by cutting off the roots, removing the tough outer leaves, and trimming the top very green parts off. Then I do cut them in half lengthwise as stated in this recipe, but then I pop them in a sink of water and/or rinse them out as needed. I find that washing/rinsing them like this, almost as a half-a-scroll, gives the water a chance to get into the leek, but it's not as hassle-some as cutting them all into bits first. THEN I cut them crosswise into slices.

Palak Paneer

The second recipe I promised from GAW, finally. :-)

Palak Paneer

4 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1.5 lbs. fresh spinach
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
2 dried red chili peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups cooked basmati rice

In a medium, heavy saucepan, bring milk to a boil. Remove from the heat and add lemon juice. (I add a dash of salt at this point.) Stir until milk curdles and separates. Let stand 5 minutes, then pour through fine-meshed sieve lined with at least a double layer of cheesecloth. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then pull the corners of the cloth together and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Flatten the curd to a thickness of 1/2 to 1 inch. Set on a plate, top with another plate, then top that plate with a weight and let stand for half an hour. Remove from cheesecloth and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Wash, stem, drain and coarsely chop spinach. Thinly slice onion and garlic, and either slightly crush or add a couple slits to dried peppers.

Heat canola oil in a nonstick pan and lightly toast cumin (about 15 seconds). At this point I remove half the seeds with a slotted spoon. Sauté the cheese cubes until golden brown. Remove cheese and set aside on a paper towel.

In remaining oil, sauté red peppers and onions with until translucent. Add and sauté garlic. Add spinach by the handful and cook until it's all wilted. Add salt, cook until all liquid is evaporated. Add cream and boil until thickened to desired consistency. Gold in fried cheese, remove red peppers, and serve over rice.

Garlic Fries

Back in April, this recipe inspired my Wednesday Fun question about your favorite French fries. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting it. My kids don't like garlic, so I made it without step 4 & it was still delicious. I think the Yukon Gold potatoes are totally the way to go & make these especially wonderful. From Cooking Light magazine, April 2002.

Garlic Fries

3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch thick strips [I made these with Yukon Gold potatoes and they were way better than any other kind I've tried.]
4 tsp. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
2 Tbl. butter
8 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 tsp.)
2 Tbl. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbl. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Combine first 1 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat.
3. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400F for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 20 minutes. [Don't turn too soon, or the crispy part will stick to the cookie sheet instead of the potato. If they don't want to turn after 20 minutes, leave them 5 more & try again.]
4. Place butter and garlic in a large nonstick skillet; cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, parsley, and cheese to pan; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
   

Cous cous salad

1 box whole wheat cous cous
1 15 oz. can of kidney beans
2 medium scallions
1 cup fresh broccoli
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 c. tomato juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp olive oil

Prepare cous cous per instructions. When cous cous has cooled to room temperature, mix with beans (strained), scallions, and broccoli. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Pour over salad and toss lightly.

The vegetables and beans can be varied for different flavors.

Wednesday Fun #120 - NALAPAK review

Nalapak vegetarian Indian Restaurant. This is the place I would recommend to anyone that claims vegetarian food is tasteless. They have great curries, breads, and everything else.

I really wanted to have their food again before I wrote this but I didn't make it... I'll have to correct that soon. I was trying to correct a health issue and couldn't eat much meat and boy was I glad to have Nalapak. Whenever I was craving rich and fulfilling food, this was the place to go... and I didn't have to feel guilty.

This isn't a place where I have one dish I go for, I've had lots of different things and they have all been good. The one thing I would always advise getting it the Channa Bhatura. This bread is great... puffed up and oily in a good clean way.

If you need some good tasty food this is a great place. Enough said.

Egg Baked in Cream

Addendum 9/28/10: I had this on our weekly menu, but the day I was to make it, I realized, "I have no leeks!" Instead, I caramelized some onion (always caramelize more than you think you're going to need 'cuz it cooks down so much) and steamed/sauteed some Swiss chard from our CSA & threw that in too. Results = delicious!!!


I know I just posted a recipe that came from The Wednesday Chef, but I actually made two of hers that week & the other was so good, too, that I wanted to share it. Of course, you should really pop over to her site to read her mouth-watering description of Camino's Egg Baked in Cream and see some yummy-looking pictures. We had it for supper, but I think it would make a fabulous brunch dish & comes across as fancy and difficult. So, perfect for impressing the in-laws for brunch!

It's really quite easy. I think you could probably even saute the leek mixture ahead of time and then just allow a little longer for cooking. Luisa mentions cooking the leeks longer than recommended since she likes them softer, and since I do, too, that's how I did it. Mr. Kluges and I threw some torn-up spinach leaves in the ramekins on top of our leeks & it was great! The girls opted for no leeks & their spinach as a salad, but each ate TWO plain baked eggs with cream, so that was a winner for us. I have to confess that Mr. Kluges & I liked it so much that we ate two each as well! *grin* So, you may want to allow for seconds if you're not serving it with a lot of side dishes!

Egg Baked in Cream
Serves 1 with leftover leeks for many uses

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 leeks, sliced, light green and white parts only
Salt
2 sprigs thyme, leaves roughly chopped
2 sprigs parsley, leaves roughly chopped
1 large farm-fresh egg
About 2 tablespoons half-and-half
Coarsely ground black pepper
Grilled or toasted bread slices

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. In a small sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks, a splash of water and a pinch of salt and cook until the leeks are tender, about 2 minutes. Add the herbs and transfer to a 6-inch cazuela, cocotte or other ceramic dish, covering the bottom with the butter, leeks and herbs.

2. Crack the egg into the middle of the dish. Add enough half-and-half to barely cover the white. Sprinkle with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Cook until the white is set, 8 to 12 minutes. Serve with grilled or toasted bread.

Guacamole with mango and pomegranate

Yeti made this last week for Wednesday dinner, and it was awesome. I'm glad I hadn't read the recipe before I ate some, because I probably would have been scared away by the raw onion. But I don't even remember tasting it. Good stuff!

4 ripe avocados (about 2 lbs.)
1 cup finely chopped white onion
2 fresh serrano chiles, finely chopped (2 tablespoons), including seeds
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds (from 1 pomegranate)
3/4 cup diced peeled mango
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Lime wedges to garnish

Halve, pit, and peel avocados. Coarsely mash in a bowl. Stir in onion, chiles, 1/4 cup lime juice, and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, then fold in pomegranate seeds, mango, and cilantro. Season with salt and additional lime juice. Garnish with lime wedges.

(Recipe is from Epicurious.)

Cream Cheese Chutney Dip

I am ashamed to even try to call this a recipe, but it's good and fits the theme.

4-8 oz of cream cheese on a plate (spread it around if you want it to look pretty)
spoon Major Grey Mango Chutney on top (use less if you don't want it too sweet)

Spread this on crackers. I find water crackers and Wheat Thins work well. Delicious!

Greek Salad

3-4 Roma Tomatoes

1/2 Red Onion

1-2 Green Peppers

2+ Cucumbers

Feta Cheese (we like lots)

Kraft Greek Salad Dressing



Chop into bite size pieces. Pour the Greek Salad Dressing over and mix.



Enjoy! I meant to post this in August and it did not happen.

Tomato not really recipes

Most of the things I make with tomatoes aren't recipes.

Case in point: last night for supper, we grabbed some tomatoes, cucumber and basil from the garden, cut them up with cubes of fresh mozzarella and drizzled a little 18-year balsamic vinegar over the lot of it.

Or cutting a tomato in half, topping it with mozzarella and throwing it on the grill or under the broiler until the cheese is melty and starting to brown. Maybe sprinkling it with oregano or pressing a fresh basil leaf into the top before you serve it.

Puck's mom is in town, and on hearing me wax rhapsodic about both garden tomatoes and Colorado peaches, sent me this New York Times link, which includes the following:

"Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Astonishing."

I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds really good and like something I would never think to try on my own.

(Those of you who don't like tomatoes, follow the link anyway -- it's 101 summer salads, many of which have no tomato at all. I think I need to make the walnut, bleu cheese and raspberry one too.)

And we have all tried BLTs with avocado, right?

Temp's Refreshing Summer Salad

I may be hopeless at putting my own recipes up, but damn it, I can cut and paste for others. :-) Here's the zucchini salad Temp brought to mai tai, as posted on her blog.

Temp's Refreshing Summer Salad

Take 4 or 5 Zucchini and peel them, and then keep using the peeler to make ribbons into a bowl until you get down to the seeds.

Open up a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil and chop some of those up and toss into the zucchini until you have a good ratio. Pour about a tablespoon of the oil in there too.

Take a lemon and shave about a tablespoon of zest off it into the zucchini. Squeeze about a tablespoon of lemon juice in there too (This is less than when I served it this weekend, and much less than the 2 tablespoons I recall the original recipe asking for).

Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

This would probably also be good with artichokes, but I like the color of the tomatoes in there. It's also a little soppy, so you can let the zucchini sweat a little before putting the other stuff in there.

7 Layer Bars

Made these for a party last night and I was shocked at how much folks loved them. Despite being one of Wog's favorites and tasty, they are so simple, everyone back home has this recipe type of recipe. But, if you don't here you go. Super easy.

1 - 1 1/2 c crushed graham crackers (about one package of crackers out of a box)
1/2 c melted butter.

Pat this onto bottom of 9x13 pan. Will be a very thin layer, don't worry.

On top of crust put ingredients in this order
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips
1 c. flaked coconut
1 c. chopped nuts (I use walnuts, but nuts altogether are optional)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk poured/spooned over the top. You do NOT have to evenly spread it, but try to avoid putting a lot right at the edge or the edges will be hard to get out of the pan.

Bake at 350 for 30 min.

The first bar you take out will probably crumble a bit, but after that you should be able to take them out no problem.

Coffee Cake

Finally broke down and called my mom for this wonderful recipe. This is my simplified version as I hate mixing dry ingredients separate and then adding them to wet. Throw it all in at once I say! Turns out just fine!

This makes a 9x13 pan.

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Beat this till creamy and then add:
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1 c. sour cream

Filling/Topping:
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice (optional) (or any other spice you like. Cloves and or nutmeg are also good to add IMHO)
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)

Put 1/2 or a bit more of batter in a greased 9x13 pan. The batter will be rather thick, so you will have to spread it out.
Put 1/2 of filling on top of batter. Then place rest of batter in the pan (again, a bit tricky to spread) and top with remaining brown sugar mix.

Bake for 30 min at 350.

Enjoy!