Coconut Lime Chicken & Coconut Curry Squash Soup

Tonight I made a recipe I found on Pinterest for Coconut Lime Chicken.  I followed it exactly (but used brown sugar instead of white, and didn't bother cooking the marinade afterwards to make a sauce.)  I also found a recipe for Coconut Curry Squash Soup and whipped that up as a side dish for our meal.  For my super sweet baby (who is 7 months old today!) I puréed the two things together and he gobbled it up (twice!)  He's got good taste!!

Thanks for not feeding me boring food, Mom!

Indian Meal

I've been cooking recipes from the Usborne Children's World Cookbook this week - so far we have had pizza and Spaghetti Bolognese, and tonight we're trying the Indian recipes.
BHUNA GOSHT (one of those words probably means lamb, which is what the recipe calls for, but I used chicken)
3 chicken breasts, cubed

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of salt

4 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 c. chicken stock
3 tomatoes, cut into large pieces
14 oz. can tomatoes
Sprinkle chicken with lemon juice and salt and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot and cook onion and garlic until softened.  Combine spices and add to the pot, stirring for a minute.  Add chicken, tomatoes, and stock to the pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes.
DHAL
1 clove garlic
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1/2 c. red lentils (I didn't have lentils so I used yellow split peas and they took a lot longer to cook)
1 c. water
salt
Melt butter in a saucepan and cook garlic and onion until softened.  Add spices and cook for a minute.  Add lentils or split peas and water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until lentils are cooked.  (I seemed to be running low on liquid, and my chicken stew had more liquid than I wanted, so I added the stew liquid to the split peas and just let it continue to simmer until they were softened.)  Purée slightly so that it's smooth but still has some whole pieces left in tact.
CUCUMBER RAITA
1/2 c. cucumber, diced
1 c. plain yogurt
salt and pepper
fresh mint, chopped (I didn't have any, so I used some Lamb Seasoning)
Put cucumber in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Let it sit for an hour so the water comes out.  In another strainer over a bowl, put some cheesecloth and put the yogurt on top to let the water drip out.  Combine the strained cucumbers and yogurt with mint and pepper.

Everything was really tasty, although I made way too much raita and my split peas still weren't cooked all the way through, even after an incredibly long time on the stove.  You could definitely kick up the spices a bit in the stew and the dhal, but it was perfect for kids.

East Indian Meal

This one came from the Best Recipes Ever episode for Best Slow Cooked Chicken Dinner. I made the Easy Chicken Curry in my dutch oven because my crockpot is tall & round, not oval and wide, and I didn't want the chicken thighs all piled on top of eachother in the slowcooker. So I cooked it at 350 F for 1 hour. I made my own curry paste because all I had was a Thai green curry paste and I didn't think that would taste good. So I mixed together roughly 1 tsp. each of Garam Masala, curry powder, paprika, cumin, and coriander, and enough olive oil to make a paste.

I also made the Indian Tomato Salad and the Mango Smoothie (with some juice instead of milk, and frozen mango instead of fresh mango & icecubes).
The whole meal was delicious!!

Salmon Tikka

Last night I made Jamie Oliver's Salmon Tikka recipe. It was quick, it was easy, and it was tasty. What more can you ask for?

SALMON TIKKA
1 salmon filet (boneless, skinless)
1 tbsp. Tandoori Seasoning
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. plain yogurt (I used Balkan so it was nice and thick)
1/2 cucumber, seeded and coarsley chopped
1 chili pepper (I used a jalapeno), seeded and finely chopped
juice of 1/2 a lemon
sea salt & pepper, to taste
cilantro, to garnish
naan

Slice the salmon in thin strips. Mix together Tandoori seasoning and olive oil to make a paste and brush it over the salmon (I just brushed it on one side.) In a bowl, mix together yogurt, most of the cucumber and chili pepper (saving a little bit for garnishing at the end), lemon juice, salt and pepper. Warm the naan in the oven while you cook the salmon in a hot grill pan for about 1 1/2 minutes per side. To serve, scoop a generous helping of the yogurt mixture on top of each piece of naan, and top with a few strips of salmon. Sprinkle with cucumber, chili pepper, and cilantro.

Butter Chicken

I've posted this recipe before, but it's a family favourite so I'm posting it again. I made it with sour cream this time instead of buttermilk, and it was perfect. I swear, my kids would eat dirt if it meant they could have a piece of naan with it - that stuff is like a drug to them! (But just to be clear, my Butter Chicken does not taste like dirt!)

BUTTER CHICKEN

1/4 c. sour cream
1 can tomato paste
2 tbsp. Curry Powder
2 tsp. ginger
salt, to taste
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, sliced
1 c. cream

Mix first 5 ingredients together and marinate chicken for about 30 minutes (or overnight.) Sauté onions in butter until soft, then add chicken and sauce mixture. Cook for 15 minutes, then add cream and heat for another 5 minutes. Serve over basmati rice or naan bread.

Leftover Samosa Filling = Potato Curry!

I had a little bit of samosa filling (and a whole lot of baked potatoes) leftover from yesterday, so I decided to put it all to good use. I used some of the potatoes and made a double-batch of samosa filling (with 1 tsp. Garam Masala tossed in, just to be different.) Once everything was in the pan (along with the leftovers from yesterday) I added 1 c. vegetable broth and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. We ate it with naan bread, and guess what? William even ate all of his! (I'm telling you, naan bread solves all our problems when it comes to mealtime.)

Fresh Rolls, Potato Skins, Samosas with Chutney, and Pinepple Cream Cheese Carrot Cake

I had the girls over for Splurge Night last night, and spent a good portion of my day making these appetizers! It was well worth the trouble though - everything turned out great (at least I think it did... my friends ate everything, so it was either really good, or they are just extremely considerate of my feelings!)

I made my absolute favourite recipe for Fresh Rolls, served with some store-bought peanut sauce. (Superstore's Schezwan sauce is the best.) I discovered it's so much easier making these rolls if you buy the large rice papers instead of the small ones. I used shrimp instead of pork this time, still in the same marinade (1/4 c. each of soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, and honey, plus a little garlic and chili flakes.) This recipe makes a huge batch... I think I made 18 rolls, and I still have some leftover so I can make more rolls tomorrow for lunch.

Next I made Potato Skins adapted from a friend's recipe blog:

POTATO SKINS
8 baking potatoes
1/3 c. oil
2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Smoked Spanish Paprika
2 tsp. Garlic Potato Topper
salt & pepper
16 slices of bacon, crumbled
4 green onions, sliced
3-4 c. cheddar cheese, grated

Scrub potatoes and pierce on all sides. Place in oven and bake at 400 F for 1 hour, turning once. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides. (Save some for your samosa filling!) Mix together oil, Parmesan, paprika, garlic, salt & pepper, and brush over the inside of each potato. Bake at 475 F for 8 minutes, then fill each potato skin with bacon, green onions, and cheddar cheese. Bake for another 5-8 minutes, and serve with sour cream.

Now I was ready to make Samosas with Mango & Saskatoon Chutney. The samosa recipe came from Rachael Ray's website, but I first heard of it on Sook's blog, My Fabulous Recipes. The filling is easy to make, and tastes heavenly! The pie crust was a bit of an obstacle for me... it was dry and cracking, and it took me a while to start making pretty samosas. The first ones looked like they had seen better days. But they tasted wonderful, and I would definitely make them again. Here's my slight adaptation of the recipe:

SAMOSAS

1 tbsp. oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp. ginger paste
1/2 tsp. garlic paste
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp. Curry Dip Mix
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large potato, cooked (I diced up one of the potatoes that I used for potato skins)
1/2 tomato, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 c. frozen peas
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 package (2 9-inch rounds) store-bought, raw pie dough
1 egg, beaten

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. In a small dish, combine jalapeno, ginger, garlic, coriander seeds, curry, cumin, Pumpkin Pie Spice, salt & pepper. Add to onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add potato, tomato, peas, and cilantro and cook for couple minutes. (If the filling looks too thick, you can add a splash of vegetable stock, but I didn't need to.) Allow filling to cool.

Roll out each pie crust on a floured surface, and cut into 8 wedges. (Next time I might do 6 wedges so I could make bigger samosas and have better luck with rolling them.) Put 1 tsp. of the potato filling on each wedge. Brush the edges of each wedge with egg. Fold the pointed end up over the filling so it touches the wider end, then fold the two sides over top and pinch it closed. Place samosas on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and brush with egg. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes, then turn them over and bake for another 5 minutes.

CHUTNEY
1/2 c. saskatoons
1/2 c. mango, chopped (I used frozen mango, and last time I made this recipe I used rhubarb instead)
3 tbsp. raspberry vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. onion, diced
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. ginger
dash of chili pepper flakes

Put everything in small saucepan and bring to a simmer for 20-30 minutes. Cool before serving.

For a sweet treat, I cracked open a box of carrot cake mix and made 2 round cakes. Then I made a delicious icing and slathered it between the two cakes and all around the outside, and topped it with a few pieces of Crystallized Ginger.

PINEAPPLE CREAM CHEESE ICING

1 container (8 oz.) spreadable cream cheese

1 single-serving container of pineapple yogurt (or whatever flavour you like)

1 1/2 - 2 c. Cool Whip

1/2 c. icing sugar

Beat ingredients until smooth. Add more icing sugar if it's too thin, or more Cool Whip if it's too thick.This icing was awesome. (And the cake was pretty good too, thank you Betty Crocker!)

And that's what we ate last night. Enjoy!

Contest Entry #5

Tonight's recipe comes from my friend Jackie again. And, again, it was delicious!

CHICKEN MASALA

1 lb. chicken thighs (skinless)

1 lb. chicken wings

1 c. plain yogurt

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. Garam Masala

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 onions, sliced

Lay chicken in a glass dish. Combine remaining ingredients (except onions) and pour over chicken, coating well. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours (or overnight.) Lay onion slices on a lined baking sheet, and place chicken pieces on top, discarding excess marinade. Bake at 400 F for approximately 1 hour. Serve with naan bread and roasted veggies.

ROASTED VEGGIES

6 carrots, cut into 1/2" pieces

3-4 potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 tbsp. olive oil

1-2 tsp. Garam Masala

sea salt, to taste

Coat veggies in olive oil and seasonings. Arrange on a lined baking sheet, and bake at 400 F for 35-40 minutes.

This meal was a hit with the whole family. Even my son. 'Nuff said.

Butter Beef

Okay, this is just my Butter Chicken recipe made with beef, in a crockpot, and I forgot the butter so I don't know what you'd really call it. But let's just go with Butter Beef for now.

BUTTER BEEF
1 lb. stewing beef
1 can tomato paste
1/4 c. buttermilk (or 1/4 c. milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice, or plain yogurt)
2 tbsp. Curry Powder

2 tsp. ginger paste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, diced or chopped

1 c. whipping cream

Mix together first 5 ingredients in a bowl or ziploc bag, and marinate overnight. Toss in the crockpot with garlic and onion, and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir in cream and let it heat through before serving with rice and naan.

Super easy, super tasty (although I think I put too much lemon juice in it, so it was a little tangy), and the kids love it. Okay, they love the naan bread from Superstore, but they eat the rest of their supper because they know they won't get naan if they don't eat the curry. Who cares, as long as they eat!

Is today done yet?

I'm not exactly sure why, but today kinda sucked. My kids were annoying, I was probably annoying, and my husband still isn't home from work yet. But I do have two new recipes for you, both of which were pretty good.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, cuz I'll likely need to go yell at my kids in about 3 minutes.

Yesterday's meal:

TANDOORI CHICKEN
chicken breasts
plain yogurt
grated ginger & garlic (optional)
Tandoori Seasoning

Mix everything together in a ziploc bag and marinade overnight in the fridge. Barbeque over medium heat and serve with rice. (I served it with naan made on the bbq, but it was a little too thin and therefore a little too dry. I think I'm going back to store-bought naan.)

Today's meal (recipe courtesy of my friend Deanne):

SAUSAGE & COUSCOUS
1 lb. ground sausage
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. bell pepper slices
1 c. couscous
1 1/4 c. water
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. Vegetable Bouillon Base

Form meat into small meatballs and cook in a large skillet with olive oil and garlic. Add bell peppers and cover until cooked (draining as necessary). In a small pot, bring water, butter, and bouillon base to a boil. Pour in couscous, remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve with meatball mixture.

The kids ate hot dogs on a piece of bread with some corn. And that's the kinda day it's been. I'm going to soak in a hot tub for the next 3 hours. See you tomorrow!

East Indian Feast!

We're having our first dinner party in the new house tonight!! How exciting! Well, it is for me at least... we actually have room for 6 adults to comfortably sit in our dining room and eat supper (or 8 adults if we get a couple extra chairs!) This is a huge step up from our old house where we crowded 4 adults around our kitchen table, and made the kids sit at a little table in the living room.

So I'm making my standard Indian recipe, Butter Chicken, along with a few others. The recipe for Chana Masala is just adapted from the side of the box that the spices came in:
CHANA MASALA
1 onion
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp. Chana Masala
3/4 tsp. salt
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook onions until they are golden brown. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, letting it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

The next couple recipes are from a friend's Facebook status, which lead me to the Dinner with Julie website. I am trying out Sweet Potato Aloo Gobi and homemade naan.
A slight problem arose when I made the naan. The dough was super goopy and when the instructions said to roll it out with a rolling pin, there was just no way that was gonna work. So I asked my friend if she had the same problem, and she said she didn't. I double checked my recipe, and that's when I spotted the typo. For some reason, when I printed it off the website, it appeared like this:

1. 1/2 c. warm water
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar
etc.

Notice the error?? I'm not sure why, but my printer turned the recipe into some sort of list (with only the first ingredient numbered), and I ended up putting triple the amount of water I should have. Oopsy. So I added more and more flour until it looked like a workable dough, and then I looked at the clock and realized I still had plenty of time to just whip up a new batch with the right proportions of ingredients. The new dough is rising right now, and I'll post pictures of it all later tonight. Right now I'm off to tidy up the house and brew some Chai Tea to get the house smelling right for our Indian feast!

Update: The Aloo Gobi was good, but it made a pretty huge batch so next time I would likely only make half. The naan was very good (once I got the right recipe), but we discovered that my new house has extremely poor ventilation in the kitchen. Frying them up in the frying pan resulted in ALOT of smoke throughout the entire house. Luckily this was one of the 8 nice days we've had this summer, so we opened up all the windows and doors to air the place out before we sat down to a lovely meal. Next time, I'll use my frying pan that has holes in it and go cook the naan on the barbeque. Or I'll get a fan installed above the stove. Which reminds me, I should go reconnect the smoke detector, now that I'm done cooking for the evening.

Butter Chicken - Crockpot version

I'm having trouble with my blog, so we'll see if this is gonna work...

I'm making Butter Chicken today, but I thought I'd try it in the crockpot. I also tossed in some frozen cauliflower purée (I hate that vegetable, so we'll see if I can fool myself!) Here's what I did:

CROCKPOT BUTTER CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts (I think you could use less, but my kids love this so much, so I made a big batch)
4 tbsp. milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice (let it thicken slightly)
1 can tomato paste
2 tbsp. Curry Dip Mix
2 tsp. ginger
salt
1/4 c. puréed cauliflower
1 onion
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. cream

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Combine milk and lemon juice mixture with tomato paste and spices. Toss chicken with sauce in the crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours. (Or cook it all day on low.) In a frying pan, melt butter and sauté onion. Add it to the crockpot with the cauliflower, and turn to low heat for another 2 hours. Stir in cream at the end, and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

The barbeque has come out of hibernation!

Tonight I made the Indian-Spiced Beef with Warm Curry Potato Salad (the salad was warmed up from the other day, and the steak was made fresh.) I used my Epicure spices instead of the ingredients listed in the original recipe, and it was so good! I nice twist on the usual barbequed steak. I'll definitely make this again!

INDIAN-SPICED BEEF
1 tbsp. Beef & Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp. Curry Dip Mix
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika (I think Chipotle Chili would be a nice substitute, if you like things spicier) 1/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (or Cinnamon & Nutmeg)
1 sirloin steak
Combine the spices and rub into the steak. Let it sit for 15 minutes at room temperature, then rub in some more if it's soaked in. Drizzle with olive oil and grill until it's done to your preference. Serve with Warm Curry Potato Salad.
I think the kids would have eaten this - it wasn't too strong or spicy - but I opted for something more "traditional" for them. I didn't have any barbeque sauce, so I mixed together 1/4 c. ketchup and 1 tbsp. French Onion Dip Mix and brushed it onto their steak. They gobbled it up, along with their scrumptious frozen broccoli that I lovingly microwaved for them.

For dessert, we're having some homemade pie, much to my son's dismay. (Apparently he's not a pie-person, so he had a bowl of cereal instead.)

BERRY RHUBARB PIE
2 c. saskatoons (next time I'd use an extra cup of berries)
2 c. rhubarb, chopped
6 tbsp. Summer Berry Fruit Dip Mix (or use plain sugar)
3 tbsp. flour
1 double pie crust

Simmer the fruit in a saucepan for 10 minutes. (Add a little water if you think it needs it.) Stir in fruit dip mix/sugar and flour, and put in a pie crust. Place another pie crust overtop, dampen the edges, and then pinch it closed. Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F and bake for another 35-45 minutes.

I just couldn't wait

I had absolutely no reason to cook today. I had a leftover Subway sandwich for lunch, and we're going out for supper tonight. But I found a recipe for Indian-Spiced Beef with Warm Curry Potato Salad and just had to try it. I have the steak in the freezer, but I don't need to make supper this weekend and I don't like reheated steak, so I just made the potato salad instead. I even made my own mango chutney to use instead of buying a jar at the store. I've never had mango chutney before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think I did alright.

MANGO CHUTNEY
2 c. frozen mango, chopped into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. crushed chili peppers
1/2 tsp. Fruit Salsa Mix (from Epicure)
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

Combine everything (except mint) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat until it is reduced. (I let it reduce while I was making the potato salad, and it was ready by the time I needed to add it.)

The potato salad is very yummy! The recipe doesn't have onion listed in the ingredients, but it mentions them in the directions, so I did use one small onion. I had to cook the chickpea/broth mixture for longer than it suggested, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. If I end up cooking to steak to serve it with leftoever potato salad in a couple days, I'll update the pictures.

The best baby present = Butter Chicken

I am a firm believer that new parents (whether it's their first or fifth baby) do not need toys and clothes and hooded towels and all the baby gear out there. What they need is TIME - to spend with their new family, or to spend on themselves. (Come on, all you moms out there, remember how amazing it is to get an uninterrupted shower while you're on maternity leave? Pure heaven!)

So now when we have friends with a new baby, I like to bring them a meal (or two) to save them the hassle of cooking supper for at least one day. A full freezer = a happy mom.

Tonight I'm making Butter Chicken for one family. I've tried more complicated recipes, and I've tried the jars from Superstore (which are pretty darn good!) but this is my husband's favourite recipe, so I'll stick with it from now on:

BUTTER CHICKEN

4 tbsp. milk + 1 tbsp. lemon juice (let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken)
1 can tomato paste
2 tbsp. Curry Powder
2 tsp. ginger (or mince up some fresh ginger root)
salt, to taste
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed (tonight I'm going to use boneless/skinless chicken thighs instead)
1 onion, sliced
1 c. cream

Mix first 5 ingredients together and marinate chicken for about 30 minutes. Sauté onions in butter until soft, then add chicken and sauce mixture. Cook for 15 minutes, then add cream and heat for another 5 minutes. Serve over basmati rice or naan bread.

Here's a recipe I made for another family that recently had twins:

CREAMY CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN ENCHILADAS WITH MEXICAN RICE (from this website) Enchilada Filling:
2 tsp. Cuban, Fajita, and/or Pueblo Bean Seasoning
4 chopped green onions, green parts reserved
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed

Enchilada Sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. salsa
2 tsp. Cuban, Fajita, and/or Pueblo Bean Seasoning
1/3 c. sour cream

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
10 tortillas

Rice:
Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a pot. Add 1/2 c. bell pepper strips (I used frozen ones.) When they soften up, stir in:
3/4 c. long grain rice
3 green onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. Cuban Seasoning

Let the rice brown for about 5 minutes (stirring constantly). Add 2c. water + 2 tbsp. Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes.

Sauté chicken over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with seasonings. Add garlic and green onions, and sauté for a couple more minutes. Add black beans and remove from heat. In a medium bowl combine all the sauce ingredients. Add 1/2 c. of this mixture to the chicken and beans and stir to combine. Fill each tortilla with some chicken mixture and roll up. Place seamside down in the baking dish. Spoon the reserved sauce over the rolled tortillas and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Top with reserved chopped green onions, and more sour cream and salsa if you like. Serve with rice.
I saved half of the enchiladas and froze them (without any extra sauce on top.) I've also made them with some frozen corn and refriend beans instead of black beans (because my kids picked all the black beans out the first time, so I was sneaky the next time!) They always turn out delicious.