Chicken Tikka Masala

3 whole (to 4) Chicken Breasts
Kosher Salt
Ground Coriander
Cumin, To Taste
1/2 cup Plain Yogurt
6 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Large Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 piece (approximately 2 Inches) Chunk Fresh Ginger
Garam Masala
1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
Sugar
1-1/2 cup Heavy Cream
2 cups Basmati Rice
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OPTIONAL:
Fresh Cilantro
Chili Peppers
Turmeric
Frozen Peas


Preparation Instructions
Start by seasoning the chicken breasts with some kosher salt. Next sprinkle them on both sides with some coriander and cumin. Then coat the chicken breasts completely with the plain yogurt. Set the chicken on a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about 10-12 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side. Watch carefully so as not to totally char the chicken. It should have slightly blackened edges. Remove from oven.
Next dice one large onion. In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and sauté until they are slightly browned. As the onions cook, mince your garlic. Next, cut off the outer skin and mince or grate a 1 by 2 inch chunk of fresh ginger. Add the garlic and ginger to the onions. Also throw in about 1 tablespoon of salt.
Next you are going to add about 3 tablespoons Garam Masala spice. And if you like it hot, this is also when you will add your hot chili peppers. Serranos work well. Now you are going to add your can of diced tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add about 1 tablespoon sugar. Let this mixture simmer on medium for about 5 minutes.
To a rice cooker add 2 cups Basmati rice, 4 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon Ground Turmeric and 4 cups water. Cover, turn on your rice cooker and walk away. If you do not have a rice cooker, cook your rice as usual but make sure that you use Basmati rice.
After the Tikka Masala sauce has had a chance to simmer for a little bit, add in the 1 ½ cups of heavy cream. Now, chop up your chicken breasts into chunks and stir them into the Tikka Masala sauce. A handful of chopped fresh cilantro is a nice addition if you like cilantro. You can also throw some frozen peas into the cooked rice, give them a stir, and allow the heat of the rice to cook the peas. It tastes great and gives another nice dash of color. Serve the rice with the Chicken Tikka Masala over top.

Make sure to have some Nann bread handy, too. (see below)

Naan

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill.

Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares (Am's Recipe)

2c All Purpose Flour

*1 TB Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 tsp Salt

1c Unsalted Butter (room temp)

1 1/4c Sugar

1 egg

2 tsp Vanilla

1c canned pumpkin puree

1 pkg (12 oz) Chocolate Chips

*if you don't have Pumpkin Pie Spice:

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

3/4 tsp Ginger

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/8 allspice

1/8 cloves

(all ground)

Preheat oven 350'

Grease 9x13" pan line w foil

in med bowl whisk together first 4 ingredients (set aside)

cream together butter and sugar until smooth

beat in egg and vanilla until combined

beat in pumpkin puree (may appear curdled)

reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients until just combined.

Fold in Chocolate chips

Pour mixture into pan

Bake 350' 30-40 mins

Cool completely in pan!!

makes 24

Thanksgiving Tip...

When making mashed potatoes, heat the milk and butter together, over medium heat, until thoroughly warmed and the butter is melted (there should also be a few bubbles forming on the surface of the mixture). THEN add the milk/butter mixture to the hot, cooked potatoes. Apparently it is supposed to be way better than dumping in the cold butter and milk. 

Also, mash with a fork if you have the patience.  Supposed to give them a great texture!

Bon appetit!

Adobo chicken

So I'm on a crusade to try all the recipes I pulled from my cooking light mags and deem them yummy or not. Here is the first one, we liked it!

Ingredients:

1 tbls canola oil

8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

2 cups chopped onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

6 tbls soy sauce

3 tbls water

3 tbls white vinegar

2 tbls honey

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 bay leaf

3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken sauté 4 mins on each side or until browned. Remove chicken. Add onions sauté 3 mins. Add garlic; sauté 1 min, stirring frequently.

Return chicken to pan. Add soy sauce, and next 5 ingredients ( through bay leaf); bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 12 mins. Uncover and cook 20 mins or until Chicken is done and sauce thickens. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice!

It also says to serve with sliced oranges.

Pulled Pork

Honestly, this is the best thing ever-- spend 5 seconds to make a dinner that will last all week. And its delicious.

1. Have a crock pot.  (I bought one for this.  Worth it.)
2. Put 3 Ingredients in the pot.  I used:

• pork shoulder aka pork butt (I bought a huge thing from Costco, 8 lbs)
• 1 full bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's, and 
• 2 cans of soda (you can use Dr Pepper, root beer, Cherry Cola... whatevs-- I did caffeine-free Coke).  Some people also say to use your favorite seasoning on the pork before you put it in-- up to you. I did a little salt and a little Lowry's.  I don't think it is necessary, but again, up to you.

3. Turn on crock pot and let cook on high for 6-8 hours.
4. Shred meat and call to tell me how awesome I am for sharing this with you.

pic via

Serve on Heather's awesome homemade rolls. Add cheese if you're "like that."

PS Also it's the BEST thing to make if you're bringing dinner to people because it is delicious comfort food, cheap, and super simple. You can also freeze the leftovers or feed an army-- when I made this it lasted for at least 16 servings.  Prob more like 20. And cost way less than $20 total. Serious.

Its-The-Most-Wonderful-Time-Of-The-Year-Bread

I have an obsession with fall, and my husband has an obsession with with pumpkin bread.  That makes this the most wonderful time of the year (contrary to popular belief). We start with the pumpkin bread in September and keep it going well into March.  It is amazing.  My mother-in-law shared this recipe with me and it is to-die-for.  My personal additions are noted with the *

3.5 c flour (*I like baking flour)
3 c sugar
2 tsp soda
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg (*I do a little less because I don't like this flavor to over power)
1 tsp cinnamon (*I do a tiny bit more because I love this flavor)
1 c corn oil (*or canola)
4 eggs
2/3 c water
2 c pumpkin

(*I separate the batter in two and make 1/2 of it with chocolate chips and the other half without.  I mix the chocolate chips with a couple teaspoons of flour before adding to the batter to make sure they don't just all sink to the bottom of the pan). 

Mix dry, add wet (*I like to mix eggs together before adding to the rest). Bake at 350 for appx 1 hour in 2 greased loaf pans (or several small disposable loaf pans and give them to people-- best gift ever.)

*Baking times vary, so depending on the oven or the size of my pan, I bake for 50 minutes and check back every 5 minutes until the middle is no longer jiggly. 

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

This is from my sister-in-law Jenn, and its so yummy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 pounds tilapia fillets

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Healthy Turkey Meatloaf

1 package lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (any color)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup oat bran
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (preferably one without sugar)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onion, bell pepper and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and spices and cook until it simmers. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl add the ground turkey, oat bran, egg, and tomato mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Pack into an 8 X 4 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf, about 4-6 servings.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Chopped Walnut

• Topping:
• Chopped Walnuts
• Brown Sugar
• Melted Butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Add Waluts and mix in.

Pour batter into prepared pan

Top with Walnuts. Mix Butter and Brown Sugar and pour on top.

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Best-Cookies-I've-Ever-Eaten Cookies (a chewy cookie)

I know you guys like your own recipes-- and I like them too.  They are delicious.  But I've been on the hunt for cookies that don't taste too salty (for me), don't taste like baking soda (to me), aren't too cakey (to me), and have enough chewiness and a tiny crunch on the edges to completely satisfy me. This is the one!  I actually didn't even use chocolate chips, rather, I divided the batter in 3 and made some with minced up Twix bar (mom's idea), peanut butter Dove bar, and Heath bar.  I'm so happy I did! I'm completely hooked.  If only Greta could let me have a glass of milk once in a while...

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I barely sifted it, I used a spoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (yes! melted!)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or crushed candy bar of your choice... I'd advise against Skittles ;-))

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. (I just kept checking them until they looked golden.  This was at exactly 15 minutes for me, but depends on your oven)

Goat Cheese Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

This is amazing.  They seem a little nicer than my average hors d'oeuvres (if you can call guacamole an hors d'oeuvre ;-)) and they're super quick to make.  As in like 10 minutes. SO addicting and absolutely delicious...

• 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
• 1 scallion (white part only), thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons aged Spanish sherry vinegar
• 1 can (13.75 ounces; 16 peppers) piquillo peppers, drained
• 3 ounces soft goat cheese (I used A LOT more :-))
• Olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Whisk shallots, scallion and vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Slice open the top of each pepper to create a pocket. Spoon cheese into peppers, dividing it equally among them. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat; coat with a little olive oil. Cook peppers, flipping once, until cheese begins to melt, about 30 seconds each side. Transfer to a platter. Sprinkle with parsley and thyme. Drizzle dressing over peppers and serve.
Seriously, I could eat these like candy.  Enjoy!

PS recipe and image from epicurious.

The Pioneer Woman

So about a year ago I found The Pioneer Woman's food blog. I have tried a few of her recipes and most of them are pretty amazing. I even bought her recipe book at Costco. I thought I would post my top fave's so far here:

White Chicken Enchiladas(my change: use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Way better for you and you don't taste the difference, I PROMISE!)

To go with the enchiladas you will want...
Mexican Rice (my change: use a rice cooker if you are like me and have never been able to make decent rice on the stove top.)

Meatloaf(so easy and sooooo delicious!)

Pie or Quiche Crust

There you have it.

You are welcome. ;)

Stuffed Peppers

Yet another recipe I randomly threw together... thankfully it is super easy and turned out yummy!
Hard to mess up because everything is to taste...

Ingredients:
2 red peppers (washed, halved, and seeded)
appx. 1 lb. ground beef (or turkey... if ground beef I like the free range/grass fed)
appx. 2 c. brown rice
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
dash garlic powder
dash seasoning salt
appx. 1 c. salsa (I like Green Mountain Gringo jarred, but fresh would be even better)
appx. 1 c. cheddar cheese (+ extra for garnish)
greek yogurt (or sour cream) for garnish
avocado for garnish

Saute chopped onion in a fry pan with a little butter.  Add ground beef.  Season with garlic powder and seasoning salt. 

While meat is cooking, place pepper halves on cookie sheet and bake on 350 for about 6 min.

When beef is fully cooked, add salsa, rice and cheese to the fry pan. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from heat.  Scoop the beef mixture into the pepper halves evenly.  Cover with remaining cheddar cheese and put back in oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with a scoop of Greek yogurt and a few slices of avocado.  Yum!

-my guess is that Ty would really like this one (especially when made with turkey) because it's pretty healthy and still tasty.

Amazing Raspberry Bars

Crust:

1 c butter (softened)

1 c sugar

2 c flour

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c coconut (optional)

Cream together butter and sugar

Mix all dry ingredients together

Combine the two mixtures and mix well.

Press in to the bottom of 9 x 13 pan.

Bake 375 for 10 mins

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Spread Jam on top (about 1 1/2 c)

Sprinkle with 1/2c to 1c sliced almonds (or whatever nut you prefer)

Bake 375 for 13 mins

Mix powdered sugar w milk and drizzle on top!!