Karin's Week Twenty-Nine Recipe: Chicken in Peanut Sauce

I had some chicken breasts that were needing to be used up, and thought, why not try a new Indian recipe? I had all the ingredients for this recipe from Six Spices: A simple concept of Indian cooking, and it looked pretty tasty and quick to make.

Chicken in Peanut Sauce

2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
3/4 c water, divided
4 T oil
1 large onion, chopped very fine
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tsp salt
1 T lemon juice
2 tsp brown sugar
4 T crushed peanuts

In a small bowl, mix coriander, turmeric, and chili powders with 1/4 c of the water to make a paste. Set aside. In a nonstick frying pan, heat oil. When oil is hot, add chopped onions and saute until onions become soft and translucent.

Add spice paste. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, adding a tablespoon of 1/4 c of water at a time until you reach a 1/4 cup added.  Add chicken; stir to coat pieces with the spices. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add salt and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Add brown sugar and peanuts. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with boiled rice.

Although this recipe had ingredients that looked good, the recipe itself was really bland. Even for me. It really didn't taste like much of anything. I thought it might get better if I let it sit in the fridge overnight, but nope, still bland. Both Nate and I were rather disappointed, and agreed to continue the quest for a better, more flavorful recipe for Peanut Sauce.

Karin's Week Twenty-Three Recipe: Chicken Curry

After reading Jenni's post last week about the Curried Chicken Pot Pie, I got the idea of making curry stuck in my head. Again with the rather quick lunch at my house, I looked through my Thai and my Indian cookbooks for something for which I had the ingredients. I had no coconut milk, so that cut out most of the Thai curries. This one I found in my Indian cookbook, Six Spices: A simple concept of Indian cooking, and it didn't call for coconut milk. Also, this cookbook has been a fun one to read, as the author is local to my area, and really seems to have made complicated recipes simple. There are lots of ingredients, but it goes together in less time than needed to cook the rice. Just make sure you have things lined up on the counter before you turn on the heat.

Chicken Curry (Rase wali Murgi)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lb skinned chicken parts (we used breast meat)
• 2 1/2 tsp salt, divided (I omitted this)
• 6 T cooking oil, divided (olive oil worked fine)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped (I used Penzey's ground, about 1.5 tsp)
• 1 tsp cumin, roasted and ground (again Penzey's)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder (I used Penzey's Medium)
• 1/4 c water, divided
• 1/2 lb fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 T fresh cilantro, chopped (again with the Penzey's)
• 6 T plain yogurt (this I didn't have, but had Vanilla flavor, so used that)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Wash chicken pieces and dry. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp of salt and set aside.
2. In nonstick frying pan, heat 2 T of oil on high heat. When hot, add chicken and fry for 3-4 min, turning once. Transfer to a plate. (Chicken will be fully cooked later in recipe.)
3. Add remaining 4 T of oil to the pan. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until onions are soft and golden brown. (I added my ginger with the other dry spices instead.)
4. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cumin, turmeric, coriander, red chili powder, and 2 T of the water. Cook for 1-2 min, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes, 1 T of cilantro, yogurt, and remaining salt.
5. Increase heat to medium, add chicken pieces with juices from plate. Pour in remaining water. Bring to a boil, turning chicken in sauce to evenly coat.
6. Sprinkle curry with garam masala. Reduce heat to low. Cover and let curry simmer for about 20 min or until chicken is tender.
7. Add lemon juice and remaining cilantro. Simmer another 5 min.
8. Serve hot over rice.

Note: All spices used came from Penzey's, of course. They had the garam masala in the catalog, and I liked the story so much, that I bought it when I bought this cookbook, as then I didn't have to mix it myself.

This curry was simple to make, and the vanilla yogurt didn't affect the taste or smell at all. Both of us agreed it was tasty and worth making again, maybe with a slightly different meat. We ate it with brown rice (not my favorite, but Nate's choice), and it wasn't as spicy as you would think looking at the ingredients list. This could be made with root veggies for a vegetarian version, as almost the same ingredients are on the facing page for Mixed-Vegetables Curry. It does make a lot, and tastes great as left-overs.

Jennifer's Week Twenty-Two Recipe: Curry Chicken Pot Pie

So, after posting last week's recipe from Rachael Ray and lamenting that it was not an Alton Brown recipe, I figured that this week I would make a recipe from AB! So, I did! This is from the Good Eats episode "Casserole Over".


Curry Chicken Pot Pie

4 cups frozen vegetable mix (I used peas and carrots)

1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth/stock

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 package puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Place into oven and cook until golden brown.

In a saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and sweat the onion and celery. In another saucepan, heat the broth and milk. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery mix and cook out the water. Add the flour and curry and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened. Add the parsley, salt and pepper. Toss the browned vegetables and the chicken. Pour into a shallow baking pan, or a large terra cotta pot base, lined with foil, and top with 6 to 8 circles of puff pastry. Place into the oven and cook until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Would I make this again? Yes, I would! However, it seems that we have come to the conclusion in the Wagner Household that Chad just does not like curry. (I know, I know...) He blames it on the fact that growing up he ate mostly 3 different meals: spaghetti, burgers and Hamburger Helper. Erik will not have a similar problem - he likes curry! And I refuse to make Hamburger Helper.