Tikka Masala Recipe

Chicken Tikka Masala

 

Chicken 
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp table salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped up into cubes
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (low fat or fat free)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 Tb ginger

Sauce:
3 TB vegetable oil
1 medium onion diced
2 medium garlic cloves minced
2 tsp ginger
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB garam masala
1 can chopped tomatoes with jalapenos   
1/2 tsp table salt
2/3 C Greek yogurt 
1/4 c chopped cilantro leaves 

Directions:

The sauce can be made ahead, and gently reheated before adding the hot chicken. Serve with basmati rice.

FOR THE CHICKEN: Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, garlic, ginger, salt, oil and yogurt small bowl. Stir the mixture up and add the chopped chicken to it. Refrigerate in a covered bowl for 30-60 minutes.

 Heat a medium size skillet and cook the chicken mixture until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Combine it at the last minute with the masala sauce. Do not let it simmer in the sauce you want to have 2 layers of flavor and if you simmer it in the sauce it will all taste the same. Serve it on top of basmalti rice.

FOR THE SAUCE: Heat oil in large pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and garlic cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ginger, 1/2 TB curry powder, 1/2 TB turmeric, 2 TB tomato paste, and garam masala; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

 Add canned tomatoes, and salt; bring to boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This is step where most restaurants put the sauce in the blender and make it a liquid but I prefer the chunkier sauce so I left it as is)Stir in yogurt and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.

 










Final product: Add the Chicken to the sauce just before you serve it and stir until it is evenly distributed.

Serve it over basmati rice. 

 

Apple Crisp for Two

Apple Crisp

Ingredients
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons water

4 tablespoon quick-cooking oats
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  2 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Place the sliced apples in a small pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. 

Crumble evenly over the apple mixture. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until apples are tender. (bigger apple slices will take longer to cook.)

 

Red Potatoes with Pesto and Parmesan Cheese

Red Potatoes with Pesto and Parmesan Cheese

8 red potatoes

2 Tb pesto

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the red potatoes into wedges and drizzle with olive oil in a bowl. Add the pesto and stir until all the potatoes are evenly coated.

Place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

 Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing

I love love love the ginger dressing at Japanese restaurants but none of the stores sell it here. This is the first failed attempt at making it. I will not put soy sauce in it in the future because it makes it visually unappealing to me. It taste exactly the same it just looks gross!

  Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing

4 tablespoons chopped carrots
4 tablespoons ginger chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 Tb lemon juice
1 medium onion chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend
Stir and shake before each use

Sweet Potato Fries

I had theses amazing breaded sweet potato fries at a restaurant the other day and I wanted to learn how to make them. These turned out great but I wanted the batter to have a flaky consistency when they were finished and they mostly tasted like donuts instead. I will keep trying to recreate the restaurant version...
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French fried veggie batter

1 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 c. milk
1 tbsp. oil
2 eggs

Boil the sweet potatoes for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Peel the potatoes and cut into thick fries. 

 








 Mix all dry ingredients; mix all wet ingredients, then add to dry ingredients.










Dip Sweet potatoes into batter, then fry as usual for fried vegetables. 

Dredge the cut fries in the batter mixture and drop into a pan with hot oil cooking for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Continue to do this until all the sweet potatoes are cooked.

Ingredients if baking the sweet potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
vegetable oil
1 TB brown sugar
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
pinch cinnamon.
 

Boil the sweet potatoes for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Peel the potatoes and cut into thick fries.
If you choose to bake the potatoes instead of frying them lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. 

Sprinkle them with 1 tsp cayenee pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1tsp garlic salt. Drizzle about 1-2 TB olive oil on the potatoes and put in the oven at 350 to bake 30-35 minutes depending on how crunchy you like your fries.When they are done sprinkle them with brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon or you could drizzle them with maple syrup.

Cajun Burgers

Cajun Burgers! 

 

CAJUN SEASONING BLEND:
1 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

BURGERS:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 -1 TB Cajun Blend
Pepper Jack Cheese

Spicy Mayo-1/2 c miracle whip, 1 TB lemon juice, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning,1/4 tsp hot sauce.  

Directions
Combine 1/2 pound ground meat with 1/2 c bread crumbs. Add the thyme, basil, minced garlic, and 1 TB -2 TB Cajun seasoning blend. 
 








Stir the mixture until everything is evenly distributed. If it is too dry add more hot sauce.

Form the mixture into four patties and cook on med high until they are done to your liking. 

Melt pepper jack cheese on top. 

I used sour dough bread this time but any roll will work. Grill the outside of the bread to give it a nice golden color. Prepare the sandwiches with spicy mayo on the bottom layer, hamburger, cheese, pickles and lettuce. 

Pork chops with sweet potatoes

Pork chops with sweet potatoes

2 slices of bacon
4 pork chops
1 Tb lemon juice
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and shredded
2 medium apples peeled and shredded
1 small onion shredded
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 Tb chopped parsley
1 tsp Cayenne pepper

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Drain bacon grease from pan except for 2 Tbs of it.

2. Rub pork chops with the lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste. Then brown them in the bacon grease. Remove pork chops from pan and set aside.

  3.Shred the vegetables.










 4. Add the shredded sweet potatoes, onion and apples to the pan. Cook them for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add the nutmeg, black pepper, parsley and mix well.

5. Place the vegetables in a greased baking pan. Arrange the pork chops on top of the vegetables sprinkle with parsley and the crumbled bacon.

6. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and back at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the pork chops are tender.