Chicken Tikka Masala

I love Indian food. There's something so exciting me about trying exotic flavors, especially when I know nothing raw or slimy is involved. I got this recipe off the Pioneer Woman's site, although it's not actually her recipe (it's Pastor Ryan's). This is comfort food, and I love how the colors all work together, especially with the turmeric rice and peas. This is not spicy or weird. My 3-year-old eats it. It's just plain yummy :)

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream, or honestly, you can skip this altogether, although some Indian food purists would probably get mad at me for saying so)

3 Tbsp. butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1 inch chunk of fresh ginger

1 1/2 Tbsp. Garam Masala spice (found in the spice section with all the other bottles of spices). It's a mixture of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper, and coriander.

Ground coriander

Cumin

Kosher salt

Sugar

Optional:

Fresh cilantro

Chili peppers

Instructions:

Start by seasoning the chicken breasts with kosher salt. Then sprinkle both sides with some coriander and cumin. Then coat the chicken breasts completely with the plain yogurt. (This is the part I think you can skip if you like). 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. You want the chicken to get slightly blackened (not charred, like a burnt offering).

While the chicken is broiling, cut the onion into large chunks. In a large skillet, melt 1 Tbps. butter over medium-high heat, then add onions and sautee until they are slightly browned. Mince or press your garlic and ginger and add to the onions, along with about 1 1/2 tsp. of salt.

Next, add the Garam Masala spice and also hot chili peppers if you have opted to do this. (I have never added peppers, but I think I would like it). Add your can of diced tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add about 1 1/2 tsp. sugar. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add your heavy cream, and then add your cut-up pieces of broiled chicken. Serve over plain Basmati rice and top with cilantro if desired. Or you can make the turmeric rice with peas. It doesn't really taste any different, but it looks pretty :)

Turmeric Rice With Peas

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati rice

4 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. ground turmeric

4 cups water

1/2 cup (or more) of frozen peas

Add all ingredients except peas to a rice cooker. Turn on and walk away. When the rice is done, throw in the peas and close the lid. The steam will cook the peas and they will retain their lovely green hue.

Now you have a truly impressive dish!



Restaurant-worthy Orange Chicken

I have been joking for years that if only I could figure out how to make perfect orange chicken, I could die in peace. No matter what I tried, though, it never worked. Either the breading would fall off, or it would never get crispy in the first place, or once the sauce was added, everything would get soggy. I was just about to accept the possibility that I might actually die without ever uncovering this mystery. But Eureka! One day I tried a new combination, and, again, Eureka! (I know I just said that. I may have said it prematurely the first time). Anyhoo, I don't want you to be tormented by orange chicken the way I was. So I am going to reveal the secret of how to make restaurant-worthy orange chicken in your own home. And, I am also going to give you three--yes, three sauce recipes so that you can also have sweet and sour chicken and sesame chicken. Oh, and if I have time, I'll add a lemon sauce as well.

There are two great secrets to making this perfect chicken. The first one is this:

This is called "Frying Mix" and can be found at your local Asian market. What? You don't have a local Asian market? Well, I guess you'll die crying bitter tears because you are unable to make perfect orange chicken. Or you might get over it. Or you might not care. ANYHOW, to continue, you really need this.

The second thing you absolutely must have is one of these:

This is an electric skillet. You must get one that goes up to 400 degrees. You must. It is essential. Anything lower will not work. We have a proper deep-fat fryer, but it only goes up to 375 degrees. I have searched and searched for one that goes up to 400, but they must be illegal in America. I was thinking I was going to have to go on the Chinese black market to get a fryer that goes up to 400. But I have no idea how to go on the Chinese black market, so I came up with the skillet idea instead.

Now, here's how you do it. For the chicken part, you only need three ingredients:
Chicken (1-2 breasts)
Frying Mix
Water

Just cut up your chicken into 1/2 inch squares. Put some Frying Mix into a plastic bag, then add your chicken and shake it all about. Then do the Hokey Pokey and stick your leg out and open the fridge with it. Wait. First take the chicken out of the bag and put it on a plate (or a couple plates depending on how much chicken you are using) and put it in the fridge while you complete the Hokey Pokey. Then wait at least 1/2 hour. That's what it's all about.

Get out your electric skillet, pour in 1-2 inches of oil (enough to cover the chicken pieces when they are dropped in). Heat oil to 350 degrees. When it's about ready, get some more Frying Mix and follow the directions on the package (on mine it said to just add water, but I added ice-water). Get out your chicken and drop a few pieces at a time into the wet frying mix, then take out and drop (carefully!) into the 350 degree oil. Fry until golden. It should look like this:

See how it's kind of light and not really as brown as you would expect? That's o.k. Don't fry it longer, because no matter how long you fry it in 350-degree oil, it will never get any browner. Trust me--I've tried.

Once you've done this first fry with all the chicken, turn the skillet temperature up to 400 degrees and wait for the oil to be ready. Then re-fry all your chicken for another minute or so, until it turns a nice golden brown. It should look like this:

See how much more golden and delicious that looks? This won't work at 375, folks. It MUST be 400 degrees! Now you can make one of the wonderful sauces listed below, or just buy some sweet and sour or orange sauce at the store to make it easy on yourself. Pour it over the chicken and enjoy! Enjoy it thoroughly, because now all your dreams have come true :)

Orange Sauce (taken from The Everything Chinese Cookbook)
1/4 cup water
5 tsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. chili paste
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. corn starch

Cook sauce in small pan on stove over medium heat until it boils and thickens.

Sesame Chicken Sauce (also taken from the same cookbook)
1/2 cup water
1 cup chicken stock or broth
2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tsp. chili sauce with garlic
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. rice vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. corn starch

Cook on stove over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Pour over chicken and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Lemon Sauce (from the same cookbook again)
3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. corn starch mixed with 4 tsp. water
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. honey
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar (or rice wine)
2 tsp. soy sauce

Mix together and cook over medium heat until it boils and thickens.

Sweet and Sour Sauce (from my awesome friend Annie Easterbrook)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 Tbsp. corn starch
3/4 cup pineapple juice

Cook until clear and thickened.

Chicken Enchiladas with Special Sauce and Guacamole

I have been making chicken enchiladas for years. I have always felt like they lacked a certain je ne se quois. (Please excuse my French. I don't speak French). I finally decided to try a recipe I have had forever, but mostly ignored. I ignored the special sauce, but once I made it, I knew I had found the missing element. Also, I think my guacamole is pretty awesome, so I figured I'd share that recipe as well. But make the special sauce from now on until you die. O.K? That's all I ask.

Enchiladas:
4 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 medium onion, finely chopped (it's up to you whether or not to saute these before adding them)
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 package flour tortillas

Put several spoonfuls of filling in tortillas and roll up. Place seam-side down in slightly greased 9x13 baking dish.

Special Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cube or 1 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 can diced green chilies (I never have a can of green chilies, so I just left these out, and the sauce was still fantastic).
1/4 cup salsa
3 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup evaporated milk.

Mix together and pour over enchiladas when ready to bake. If desired, you can sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes until sauce is hot and cheese is melted.

Guacamole:
Ripe avocados
Finely chopped red onion
Chopped cilantro
Lime juice
Salt to taste

Mash ripe avocados with fork on a plate. Add remainder of ingredients and mix. Cover and refrigerate. If you put an avocado pit in the guacamole, it will stay bright green longer.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Everybody likes this chicken. If you don't like this chicken, there is something wrong with you (just kidding). I have found that you cannot go wrong when you include honey in your cooking. This recipe is also very versatile. You can either bake it in the oven with large pieces of chicken, or cut up the chicken and cook it for less time. Or you can do it all on the stovetop if you want to eat sooner (guess which way I always do it).
You can also mess with the proportions of the ingredients. In fact, I am just going to guess right now since I mostly just throw this together. Don't worry. You really can't mess this up.

Ingredients:
2-4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard (please, not the hoity-toity fancy kind. Just use the yellow bottle).
1 tsp. curry powder
1/4 cup butter.

Directions:
To bake in oven: Melt butter in oven-safe pan. Mix honey, mustard, and curry into melted butter and add chicken. Cover chicken with sauce. If baking whole breasts, bake for 40-60 minutes. If baking cut-up chicken, bake for 30-40 minutes.

To make on the stove: Cut up chicken and cook in butter. When chicken is almost cooked through, add remainder of ingredients and stir.

Serve over rice.

Japanese Deliciousness

Two weeks ago, we had a lovely quick visit from Daniel (Jacob's brother) and Charity and their kids. I wanted to make them something special, so for dinner, we had some of my favorite Japanese food. Many people have had tempura, but don't know how to make it. I am about to unfold this mystery to you. And most people have not had oyako donburi, but they don't know what they're missing out on. I shall also share this recipe with you, and then you will have the opportunity to eat "safe" (i.e. not raw) Japanese food that is so tasty and wonderful. Daniel and Charity commented that this was like a $50 restaurant meal. I would have to agree. Yes, it was THAT good :)

Tempura

Ingredients: A tempura or Asian frying mix (I just saw a box of tempura mix at Walmart, so it's easily accessible. Or you can buy something like this at an Asian market).

An assortment of vegetables. The following are what we had:

Carrots (cut into sticks)

Sweet potato (uncooked, sliced about 1/4 inch thick)

Asparagus spears

Onions (red or white, sliced into rings)

Parsley

Green and red peppers, sliced

Instructions:

Prepare the tempura batter by following the directions on the mix (usually this just says to add ice-water. It is very important that it be ice water, and not just tepid water). Dip the vegetables in the mix and fry at about 360 degrees in oil (I highly suggest a fryer for his, as it will regulate the temperature, and it is very difficult to do this if you're just using a pan on the stove). Turn vegetables in oil if necessary. Remove when golden and crispy. You can dip this in any kind of Asian sauce (like plum sauce) but I honestly think it is so good alone that it doesn't need any sauce.

The tempura was the appetizer. Then our main dish was the Oyako Donburi. This consists of Japanese rice covered with a very tasty broth with chicken, onions, and coddled eggs. If you've never had this, you'll just have to trust me on how good it is. This is the perfect dish for a super-cold day (like tomorrow, when the high here in Denver is supposed to be a whopping -2 degrees F).

Oyako Donburi

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. oil
1 1/2 cups chicken, sliced thin
2 cups chicken stock
5 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2-1 tsp. salt
1/2 a white or yellow onion, sliced
5 eggs
2 green onions, sliced (for garnish)
Cooked rice to fill 4-6 bowls

Instructions:
Saute chicken in oil (I usually don't do this and just cook the chicken in the stock). Add stock, salt, sugar, and soy sauce and onions and cook until chicken and onions are tender. Beat eggs slightly. Pour slowly over top of simmering stock. DO NOT MIX. Let eggs coddle on top of stock (you may need to put a lid over the pan to help the eggs get cooked all the way through). Ladle on top of rice in bowls and sprinkle green onions on top. Eat with chopsticks (if you can :)

Leftoverpalooza

A new year has begun. Time to figure out what the heck to do with all that turkey and ham in your freezer that were left over from Thanksgiving and Christmas. Never fear! I've got you covered with lots of tasty recipes. This first one is really handy for a day or two after a holiday in which you've used stuffing. But if you have a box of dry stuffing, that will work, too. This is one of my favorites, and it works great with chicken any time of the year.

Chicken (or turkey) Yum Yum

 2 cups cooked cut-up turkey or chicken
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 box Stove Top Stuffing (or whatever leftover stuffing you already have)
1 1/2 cups boiling water (if using dry stuffing)

Put chicken or turkey in 9x13 pan. Mix sour cream and soup together and pour over chicken. Sprinkle dry Stove Top Stuffing over the top and pour the boiling water over everything. (If using leftover already-made stuffing, just put it over everything and do not pour water on it).
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

This goes great with mashed potatoes or rice.

Creamy Lemon Chicken

This is not an ordinary lemon chicken recipe. It is my go-to dish for when company comes. And it's so easy! You can start with frozen chicken--no thawing necessary!

Creamy Lemon Chicken

4 chicken breasts
2 tsp lemon pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp parsley flakes (optional)

Sprinkle 1 tsp lemon pepper on breasts and bake 20 minutes in 350 degree oven. (If starting with frozen breasts, cook for 10 minutes, then sprinkle on lemon pepper, then cook remaining 20 minutes). Mix remaining ingredients together (including the other tsp of lemon pepper) and pour over partially baked chicken. Bake another 20-30 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving to let the sauce thicken.

I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and put some of the sauce on my potatoes (so yummy!) The best part is, if you have any leftover chicken and/or sauce, you can cook up some angel hair pasta the next day and mix it together! This also goes great with rice. It's a truly versatile dish that I come back to again and again.

Welcome to the Howell Family Food Blog!

So I was thinking today that we ought to do a family cookbook. Then I thought how much time and effort that would take, and how many trees would have to die if we were to pursue that endeavor. So then I thought, "I know! We'll do a Howell Family cooking blog!" (I'm brilliant, I know). The idea is that anyone can post their most favorite recipes, and then when we need a little inspiration for dinner or we want something that will really wow the crowd at the next ward potluck, we can come here, where all our culinary dreams will come true! If you have not been invited to post to this blog and would like to, just leave a comment on here and I'll send you an invite. Please note the rules for posting on the sidebar, and happy eating!

To start us off, I'll post a favorite dinner recipe--Thai Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Stir Fry
2 cups chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tsp. garlic or 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (can use less if desired)
1/2 cup sliced yellow onion
1 red bell pepper, sliced
6 green onions cut at an angle in 2-inch pieces
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup snow peas

Sauce
8 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
6 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp honey
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic (or one clove, minced or pressed)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I used red pepper flakes)

Instructions
For stir fry, heat skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, garlic and onion for 3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and stir fry for 5 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness. For sauce, heat in a separate pan over low heat until combined. Pour over stir fry just before serving. Serve over rice.

This recipe is easily adaptable to include vegetables you have on hand. I rarely use snow peas because I rarely have them, and it's just as good!