Chicken Tikka Masala

A few years ago, I was part of a group at work who would bring in ingredients and start making Masala in the break room at 9:00 am so that it would be all nice and blended by lunch time. Two people were always tasked with bringing in the spices (not me), so I've been on the lookout for a good Masala for a while. If you like yourself some good Masala, give this a try. I didn't mix the Masala spices (just used the prepared Garam Masala you can get at any grocery store), but it sure tasted like what we made for lunch. Good memories. Now I just need to find me a good Garam Masala recipe so I can make that up myself.

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken tenders
salt
ground coriander
cumin
1/2 C plain yogurt
6 Tbs butter
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 2" piece fresh ginger root, pealed and finely grated
3 Tbs Garam Masala
28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
1 Tbs sugar
1-1/2 C heavy cream
2 C Basmati or Jasmine rice
1 Tbs ground turmeric
4 C water
1 C frozen peas

Line a baking sheet with foil and place a large, oven-safe cooling rack in it that will hold all of the chicken. Season the chicken with some salt. Sprinkle on all sides with coriander and cumin. Coat the chicken completely with the yogurt. Place chicken on the cooling rack.

Place under the oven broiler on high about 10-12 inched below the heating element. Broil for 5-7 minutes per side. Watch carefully so the chicken doesn't completely char. Some blackening on the edges is normal. Chop chicken into chunks.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tbs of the butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and sauté until they are slightly browned. Add garlic, ginger, and 1 Tbs salt to the onions. Next, add the Garam Masala and tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it.

Add sugar. Let mixture simmer on medium for about 5 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, mix rice, 4 Tbs butter, 1 tsp salt, turmeric, and water. Cook as you normally cook rice. You can also use a rice cooker.

After the sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, add the heavy cream and chicken. Stir until the chicken is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Continue simmering while the rice cooks.

Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the heating element and add frozen peas. Cover again. The steam from the rice will cook the peas.

Serve the chicken and sauce over the rice.

Printed version

Liebster Award nominations

I know it's been a while since I last posted, and this isn't even a recipe. However, I do have pictures for three recipes waiting patiently in my camera. I'm hoping to get to them soon.

I was very sweetly nominated for a Liebster Award by M Double M Crafts. Here are the rules:

The Fun Rules:

• The nominee must link back to the blogger who nominated them.
• The nominee must state 11 facts about themselves, and then answer the 11 questions provided for them by the person who nominated them.
• The nominee must then nominate bloggers with less than 200 followers, who they think deserve the recognition, and pose 11 new questions for them to answer.

Random facts about me:

1. Most people don't think I look like my first name. It was so bad that when I went back to college for my second Bachelor's degree, I started going by my middle name. I actually got my current job during this time, and for the first five years I worked here, I went by my middle name. Eight years ago, I decided that was ridiculous. It was the only place where I wasn't using my first name. However, there are still people here who call me by my middle name, because that's not confusing.
2. I am a very sarcastic person. I once had a friend tell me that without sarcasm, I would have no personality. Thanks a lot, Del.
3. My husband and I are remodeling our house. You can see pictures of it on my other blog (randon things and kite strings).
4. I write two blogs: this one and the one linked in Random Fact #3.
5. We have a crazy dog named Murphy.
6. I have two Bachelor degrees from the University of Utah: Music Education and English.
7. I have one brother and three sisters. My husband has one brother and six sisters.
8. My mom has a cousin who has a highway in the Salt Lake Valley named after him. (If you live here, you know which one I'm talking about.)
9. My favorite season is fall.
10. I love photography. When I was a child, I wanted to grow up to be a free-lance photographer for the National Geographic Society.
11. I have 20 piano/voice students.

Answers to M Double M's questions:

1. What is your favorite meal to cook and eat?
   Rosemary Roasted Lamb with Garlic Red Potatoes: I love lamb and I love red potatoes. 'Nuf said.
2. If you could take a one week trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
   Switzerland. My grandmother's parents immigrated from Switzerland, and I've always wanted to go there.
3. What is the one thing you couldn't go a single day without?
   Water. Seriously, I drink about three gallons a day.
4. What is the last book your read?
   Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon.
5. Do you prefer movies that make you laugh, cry, or scream in terror?
   Laugh. Currently, my favorite "new" movie is Warm Bodies. It does all three.
6. Do you prefer the city or the country?
   Depends on the day.
7. What do you want to learn to do this year?
   Use Photoshop to make my pictures look better.
8. Do you have any pets? If yes, what are they?
   Yes, we have a Shar Pei mix dog named Murphy. He's insane.
9. What is your favorite type of cuisine?
   Asian
10. Would you go skydiving?
    Probably not. I wrecked my knee 20 years ago, and it wouldn't survive the landing.
11. Why did you start blogging?
    I'm a writer, and it seemed like a really good way to keep a journal and work on my writing skills. More people would see my blog than a personal journal I kept under my bed.

My nominees (listed alphabetically):

Dizzy Dandelion

Foxy and Fabulous

Larissa Explains It All

Melina Moore Memories

Notes from my Notebooks

Questions for nominees:

1. What is your favorite color and why?
2. Who is your greatest inspiration?
3. What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?
4. What is one talent you wish you had?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite vacation memory?
7. What is one food you refuse to eat?
8. How long have you lived in your current home?
9. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
11. What is one thing you couldn't live without for a day?

Tortilla Soup

A couple of weeks ago, my husband burned out our blender making smoothies. He's a really good smoothie maker, it's just that our blender was older and not really made for heavy-duty smoothie making. So, after much research and going over our budget, we invested in a BlendTec. We are now converts. It also came with this really good tortilla soup recipe.

Ingredients:
2 C warm water
3 small tomatoes
1 medium carrot
1" slice red pepper
1/4 avocado
1/4 medium onion
2 1"x1/2" chunks pepper jack cheese
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 tsp herb seasoning
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 can black beans
1/2 can whole kernel corn
1/2 large can chunk chicken breast
Handful of tortilla chips

Add all ingredients to your blender/BlendTec jar in the order listed except the beans, corn, chips, and chicken.

Cover with lid. Blend on high (for the BlendTec, select "Soup"). Add chips, beans, and corn and pulse several times. Add chicken.

If you want it warmer, put in medium sauce pan and heat over medium heat.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Printable version

Reuchel Sandwiches

A classic Reuben sandwich has corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, Swiss cheese, and rye bread. A Rachel has a lot of the same stuff, except it's made with pastrami and coleslaw. For the Reuchel, we used pastrami, Thousand Island dressing, Jarlsburg (a type of Swiss cheese), sauerkraut, and white bread. We also threw on some red onion, just for good measure.

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
Generous amounts of Jarlsburg cheese
Heaps of sauerkraut
Scads of sliced red onion
Mounds of pastrami (about 3 large slices per sandwich)
Thousand Island dressing

To assemble the sandwiches, spread both slices of bread with dressing. Place the other ingredients on the sandwich in any order you want.

Butter the outsides the sandwich. Grill until golden brown.

Eat hot.

Printable version

Quiche Lorraine

This is a recipe I got from my mom. She's been making it as long as I can remember. It's pretty simple and very delicious. Even though this is usually a breakfast dish, it's great any time. If you use my pie crust recipe, you can make two quiches (double the recipe below).

This one is for Audrey.

Ingredients
4 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 lb Swiss cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 C cream
1/2 C milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 unbaked pie crust

Mix all ingredients together.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake 35-40 minutes at 375F on lower shelf in oven. Center should still be slightly wiggly.

(For the one pictured below, we also added spinach.)

Additional optional ingredients:

• Mushrooms
• Carrots, shredded
• Spinach, 10 oz. package
• Broccoli
• Asparagus (1-1/2 lb)
• Red pepper
• Avocado
• Zucchini
• Ham (with cheddar cheese instead of Swiss)
• Salami and corn
• Tomato and onion

Printable version