Spicy Chicken!

It seems I'm down to posting once a month... I was hoping to make this a once a week thing. Ah well :) I love Chicken Tikka. It's one of my favorite dishes and I could actually live off it's leftover (I usually get bored with leftovers). Sometimes I will act the martyr & let Matt finish off the Chicken Tikka, but then I'm continually stealing bites off his plate. I'm making myself hungry just typing this...

When Evie was little she used to think she needed to try everything I was cooking with. Once when I was cutting up garlic for this dish she asked for a piece and with some reluctance ("you really aren't going to like this Evie...") I let her have a piece. You should have seen her face! I don't think she's tried anything off my cutting board since then.

Chicken Tikka Masala


This recipie takes more time than the former. I find cutting the veggies at lunch or even the night before really helps save time when throwing this together. The recipie does say you can make the sauce up to 4 days ahead and gently reheat before adding the chicken. Also, they say to use whole milk yogurt, I've never been able to find this at our grocery so just use whatever plain yogurt you can find. (Also, the picture does not do this dish justice! It is so yummy!)

Chicken Tikka
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon table salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat (I'll use 3-4 frozen breasts usually)
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Masala Sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 serrano chilie, ribs and seeds removed, flesh minced (if you want it spicier leave in the ribs and seeds)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon garam masala (substitute with 2 teas. ground coriander, 1/4 teas. ground cardamom, 1/4 teas. ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teas. ground black pepper)
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. For the Chicken: Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adhears. Place chicken on plate, cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate for 30 to 60 minutes. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic and ginger; set aside.
2. For the Sauce: Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook stirring frequently until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.
3. While sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler. Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture (chicken should be coated with thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on wire rack set in foil lined rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture. Broil chicken until thickest parts register 160 degrees on instant read thermometer and exterior is lightly charred in spots, 10 to 18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.
4. Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1 inch chunks and stir into warm sauce (do not simmer chicken in sauce). Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve with basmati rice (I often use jasmine or any rice on hand...)

Let me know if anything is confusing and doesn't make sense. Also, let me know if you need me to explain any cooking terms.
~Cooks Illustrated #88

Key Lime Pie Anyone?

It must be a dessert sort of week :) So, I was hosting an event at our house last night & had to serve dessert. I decided to make a dessert I love: Key Lime Pie Bars. Now this recipe is best if made close to when you plan on serving them. I waited until Friday morning to make them (I also waited till Friday to, scrub my floors, deep clean my kitchen, deep clean my bathroom, okay, just deep clean my whole house). So, Friday morning at 6 AM I'm baking Key Lime Pie bars when I realize I forgot an ingredient. Not just any ingredient, but the main ingredient (can you guess which one?). I packed the kids off to HyVee, Laurence had just finished a bottle & Evie was still in Superman Jammies, all so I could by LIMES! Sigh. Well, the bars got made, they were awesome, the house got cleaned, it looked awesome for 2 seconds. Now I will give you the recipe, just don't forget the LIMES!

Key Lime Pie Bars
Crust

5 oz animal crackers
3 T packed light or dark brown sugar
Pinch table salt
4 T unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
Filling
2 oz cream cheese, room temp (I accidently bought some bizzare named cream cheese starting with an N, but it tasted the same)
1 T grated lime zest, minced
pinch table salt
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg yolk
1/2 C Key lime or regular lime juice
Garnish (optional)
3/4 C shredded sweetened coconut, toasted until golden crisp (I never do this as I don't like coconut)

Note: If you cannot find fresh key limes (or if you don't want to spend forever juicing them...) use regular limes. DO NOT use bottled lime juice. Grate the zest from the limes before juicing them, avoiding the bitter white pith that lies just beneth the outermost skin.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325. Cut about 12-inch length extra wide, heavy duty foil. Line 8-inch square baking pan, allowing excess foil to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. To Make the Crust: In workbowl of food processor, pulse animal crackers until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds. Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, 10 to 12 1-second pulses. Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.

3. To Make the Filling: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy and thouroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

4. To Assemble and Bake: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 - 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temp, 1 to 1.5 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

5. Loosen edges with paring knife & lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days; crust will begin to soften. Let bars stand at room temp about 15 minutes before serving.

~ Cooks Illustrated 81

Tea Cakes

On Father's Day I always think of Tea Cakes. My dad loves this cookie & when I go and visit I try to bring some. Unfortunatley I found with the craziness of just getting back from Florida & trying to pack up for Kansas plus make it to all of that week's activities (not to mention being a mom of 2) I did not manage to make my dad any. So many excuses for not managing to make something special for the man that did so much for my family. I'm going to use this as a reminder that I need to think less of myself & more of others. I suppose the obvious bible verse comes to mind: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" ~ Matthew 7:12. So, take some time to make cookies for someone you love :) and I will be sure to make my dad tea cakes the next time I go to Kansas!

Tea Cakes
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter
3 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
6 Cups Flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash salt

- Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk & vanilla, mix well.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. It should feel like bisucit dough.
- Roll thin & cut (I usually like them kind of thick). Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

(Traditionally these cookies are cut into circles, however, when I am making these with Evie I let her pick out some fun cookie cutters). Enjoy!