CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

I have a few friends who refuse to try Indian food, mostly out of fear, or who claim to hate the smell of curry.  How wrong they are.  Indian food is awesome.  Obviously, some dishes are more appetizing than others, but whenever a friend agrees to try Indian food with me, I recommend one of two dishes: chicken tikka masala or chicken korma.  First, you can't really go wrong with chicken.  Second, they're not all that spicy, and for a lot of friends, that's their biggest worry.  My brother's girlfriend thought both dishes were delicious after much coaxing and reassurance that she would not, in fact, die if she tried a few bites.

I order chicken tikka masala the most whenever I go to an Indian restaurant.  I love that it's coated in a delicious, creamy sauce that I can spoon over my rice or dip naan into.  While I have ordered other dishes, of course, chicken tikka masala is usually what I crave.  I bought a tikka masala sauce in a jar from the supermarket once, and it wasn't that great.  After browsing through Ree Drummond's recipes, I decided to try to make it on my own.  Granted, I could have used the recipe in a curry book a coworker bought me for one Christmas as a Secret Santa gift, but the amount of ingredients in that recipe overwhelmed me.  Ree's recipe seemed much more doable.
_________________________________________________________________
Ingredients (serves 6)

• 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
• _____
• 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.

_________________________________________________________________
I had almost all of the ingredients listed in her recipe, or was at least able to easily get them, except for the ground coriander.  The supermarket closest to me didn't have it in stock so I trekked it to the next closest one (which my roommate affectionately calls Shangri-La because it has its own beer room).  After I basically rearranged a good portion of the spice shelves there, I finally found a small package of ground coriander that would not have cost me damn near ten dollars.  I settled on a small package of organic ground coriander that cost $2.75.  Seriously?  I thought to myself, when the fuck am I ever going to use this shit again?  Could I just omit this mess?  But I decided not to tempt fate.

I halved the recipe because I wasn't planning to feed an army and made a change to how I cooked the chicken.  I was too lazy to fuss with the broiler so instead, I seasoned the chicken and coated it in yogurt as instructed but cooked the breasts in a skillet.

As I prepared the sauce, I realized my onions weren't chopped finely enough and neither were the canned diced tomatoes.  Chunky tikka masala sauce, it is!

kinda looks like chili

I might have added too much cream.  I added more salt (I'm a bit of a salt fiend) and some cayenne pepper.  Also, no cilantro for me because I hate the taste of it.  Yes, I am one of those people who think it tastes like soap.  I can handle it in small doses, but I tend to pick out any leaves in dishes I eat.  When my mother made Vietnamese spring rolls (not the fried ones), I was always so confused as to why I thought it tasted absolutely delicious until I got maybe two bites in.  The taste made me shudder.  It took me only a few years to realize that it was that green, leafy shit she was adding.  Once I got her to omit it, it was perfection.

The end result was pretty good, though I might have put too much ginger.  It didn't taste like the dishes I ordered at Indian restaurants though.  Maybe next time, I will try that recipe in my curry cookbook.

SNOWSTORM CHILI

With the warning that a snowstorm was about to hit NYC, I wanted to make sure I stocked up on a few things to be able to ride out the day of the storm.  That meant liquor, mostly, and whatever I would eat for dinner.  

Great timing because my new slow cooker arrived!  I had a small balance left on a Sears gift card a client had given me a while back.  I wanted to use it up before Sears went under.  A slow cooker was always on my list of things to get, but laziness prevented me from just pulling the trigger and buying one (I know I can't really blame laziness since it's just a few mouse clicks on the Sears website, but people seriously underestimate my unwillingness to do certain things when I'm not in the mood). Once I purchased my new kitchen gadget, I set about finding which recipes I would try first.  A chili seemed appropriate - filling, full of protein, takes hours to cook... Plus, it would be great to eat while freezing temps and snow/rain kept me trapped indoors.  Perfect.

I used a fairly simple recipe from food.com.  I'm not a big beans fan, though.  Whenever I get chili, the beans are usually the last bit left that I end up throwing away.  So I decided to put less beans than the recipe called for (a 1 lb. 3 oz can) while hoping that it didn't make the chili too soupy.  By the way, I'm not sure how many people remember how many ounces are in a pound, because I sure as hell didn't.  I thought it was maybe 16 oz., but I got confused by all these fucking numbers for measurements.  It seriously is about time we adopt the damn metric system.  Think of how easier it would be to simply remember 10s, 100s, 1000s, instead of, for example, 1 mile equals 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards because there are 3 feet to a yard, and 8 fluid ounces equal a cup, while 2 cups equal a pint, 2 pints equal a quart, 4 quarts equal a gallon...  What the fuck kind of madness is that?!  Who thought of that shit?!  Anyways, since 19 oz. was far shy of the required 30, I threw in a whole onion, instead of the 1 tbsp called for (I HAVE to believe that was a typo) and I also added a green bell pepper.   A chili just doesn't seem complete to me without one.

Debbie's Crockpot Chili (Serves 4-6)

Seasoning Mix
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Chili
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans

Directions:
1. Mix together seasoning mix.
2. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
3. In a skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink.
4. Drain.
5. Add onion and 3 tsp of seasoning mix.
6. In Crock-Pot, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, one can of beans and two more teaspoons of seasoning mix.
7. Place the other can of beans in a blender and process until smooth.
8. Add beans and meat to the crock pot.
9. Stir together.
10. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

cast of characters... minus all the booze

I could have eaten this, as is

felt a little worried at this point

I wasn't sure whether or not to drain the beans, but I drained them anyways.  I regretted that decision once everything was in the crockpot because it was looking mighty thick.  I contemplated adding another 8 oz can of tomato sauce, but figured I would wait to see if I needed more liquid.

after almost 7 hours of cooking

just needed some shredded cheese and some saltine crackers

Chili turned out pretty good.  I didn't need to add any liquids.  I thought it could have benefited from some salt, but I'm a salt girl.  Nonetheless, it complemented my first attempts at an old-fashioned quite nicely.  

"GOURMET" RAMEN

I am a big noodle-soup fan.  Udon, ramen, naengmyun, pho, chicken noodle soup - I love them all.  So despite its sodium and fat content, and the fact that it apparently takes your body days to digest the noodles, I always keep packs of ramen in my cupboard for a lazy day or just to satisfy a craving. Ramen was a staple in my home while growing up.  But I'm not talking about your 25-cent Top/Maruchan ramen packages.  My mother got the more filling Korean ones.  These are slightly larger and usually on the spicy side.  They also usually have a separate packet filled with dehydrated veggies.  We always threw an egg in there, and sometimes, chopped scallions and/or a splash of sesame oil.  

Here in NYC, the best ramen place that I've tried is Ippudo.  There are a few others that I'm curious about, but the lack of plentiful seating  at these places deters me from going.  I once toyed with the idea of making my own ramen broth.  Have you seen the blog posts on how to make that broth?!  No fucking way was I doing that.  So packaged ramen, it is, with a trip to a ramen joint once in a while.

Despite its convenience, pretty much everyone knows that packaged ramen doesn't keep you full for very long.  At least, that's been my experience.  I scoured the internet for packaged ramen review websites when I stumbled upon one that looked somewhat legit.  One of the posts linked to the following youtube video on how to make a meal out of ramen:

White people.  I don't quite get their sense of humor sometimes, but that's beside the point.  I made a few changes to their suggestions.  I used another nongshim ramen called Shin Ramyun Black.   It's the "gourmet" version to Shin Ramyun.  It tastes similar but the broth is less spicy and creamier. This ramen is supposed to be based off of some beef soup or something  It's more expensive than your standard ramen fare but it's good stuff.  

check out the three little packets

 I did not cook my ramen for 5 minutes.  I don't like my noodles to be that thoroughly cooked.  It gets all mushy and the texture of it grosses me out.  3-4 minutes is more like it.  I didn't have any frozen odang, so I used a sliced hot dog.  Yeah, judge me if you want, but the only way my mother could get me excited whenever she made kimchi jigae was by throwing hot dogs in it.  I used an all beef one.  I added my egg much sooner, after about a minute of my noodles cooking.  I like my egg fully cooked.  Again, it's a texture thing.  Finally, I refused to put a slice of cheese in my ramen.  I know the lady says it's amazing, but I was not putting that shit in my perfectly good bowl of ramen.