Butter Chicken

This recipe is from my friend Rachel, who got it from an Indian Restaurant Cookbook which has long since been out of print. I have made this recipe a great many times for dinner parties, and served over basmati rice it is delicious, and easy to make as well. This pic shows chicken from our farm, all cooked up. It seems like a lot of ingredients, but they are mostly spices. From the book: "Butter chicken is made from freshly cooked tandoori chicken joints reheated in tomato sauce laden with butter and cream." Mmmmm. Serve with some jarred lime pickle, I like Patak's.

Tandoori Chicken

8 pieces of fleshy chicken
1 cup thick plain yoghurt
2 tbsp tandoori spice mix (I use Patak's in a jar)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic

1. Make deep cuts in the chicken with a sharp knife, arrange in a single layer in a glass dish for marinating and baking

2. Mix yoghurt with all spices, lemon and crushed garlic, salt.

3. Spread mix thickly over chicken, cover with foil, put in fridge to marinate x 8 hours

4. Bring back to room temperature x 1 hour then remove foil, cook in preheated oven at 350F x 45-60 min  or until cooked through.

Now use this to make the butter chicken:

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1 cm ginger peeled and finely chopped
1/3 cup butter
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp EACH ground ginger, paprika, chili powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ssugar
1 tsp salt
1 can of chopped tomatoes drained
juice of 1/2 lime or lemon
2/3 cup whipping cream
4 tbsp fresh chopped coriander


1. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in butter until light gold, about 5 minutes on med heat

2. Stir in all the spices followed by the tomato paste, sugar and salt. Add the tomatoes and lemon juice. Leave on low heat

3. When cooked chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into small neat pieces and add to the tomato mixture, simmer half covered 20 minutes  until chicken is well heated through. (Note: I put in all juices and sauce from tandoori chicken).

4. Gradually blend in the cream, stir and reheat briefly. Serve sprinkled with fresh chopped coriander. And the jarred lime pickle on the side.

Scones for Breakfast

This is a great recipe from a medical student that I worked with named Colleen, and it makes me wonder what she is doing now- I think she became a surgeon. I should look her up. Anyway it's a wonderful recipe that she gave me to make with cranberries, but it really works well with any kind of fruit - I made these for J using blueberries.

Ingredients

3/4 cup buttermilk or plain yoghurt
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour (for whole wheat scones substitute 1 cup with whole wheat flour)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter melted a bit in the microwave
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fruit blueberries here (but I often use frozen cranberries, chopped strawberries, whatever is on hand)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix yoghurt + egg and set aside

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix in melted butter.
Mix in cranberries, sugar.
Add wet ingredients and stir until soft dough forms. Use hands to form a large ball and put on a dinner plate, pat into a circle and cut into 8 wedges like pie pieces.
Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes. They don't need a lot of room as they don't expand when baking. While still warm brush with melted butter and sprinkle with icing sugar. Makes 8 large scones.

Unbaked scones on baking sheet

Ready to eat

Carrot Haul 2014

We dug up about 100 lbs of carrots this year, a record.

The best find was the giant carrot

It looks only medium sized on its own

Then compared to the dog  it looks bigger (the pumpkin had some animal was gnaw on it- it wasn't the dog, she even spits out the vegetables when we give her leftover stew).

The best size comparison is the baby

Below is soup a recipe from my friend Sylvia, and we have made this soup many many times now- delicious.

Moroccan carrot soup

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

1 cup chopped white onion

1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)

2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

Preparation

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

Per serving: 154.7 kcal calories, 42.1 % calories from fat, 7.2 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 22.1 mg cholesterol, 18.7 g carbohydrates, 3.2. g dietary fiber, 11.8 g total sugars, 15.5 g net carbohydrates, 5.0 g protein

Nutritional analysis provided by Bon Appétit