Butter Chicken ~ For My Sister

We love Indian cuisine around here.

One of our all-time favourite dishes is Butter Chicken.

Creamy, tomato-y, soothing comfort food....yum!

Recently, I came across two recipes and gave them a go.
The family gave their stamp of approval to both,
but, one emerged as the best.  I think it may be the fresh ginger.

On one of my experimentation days I had a phone visit with
my sister and I told her what was for dinner.
We often exchange recipes and food ideas.  It's a tradition.
For proof, click here, here, here, and here.  See what I mean?

"I need that recipe!", was her response.  (Of course.)
And, then, I told her she had to wait until all votes were in.
Now they are, so, here it is.  Ready to share.
For you, J...with much love.

 Originally found here and tweaked by moi.

 What you need:

1 cup Sour Cream (or, yogurt but, don't use *light*)
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
4 tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp Paprika
1 and 1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper**
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
2 tsp freshly ground Black Peppercorns
3 Tbsp freshly minced Ginger Root (not powdered)
1 Tbsp freshly minced Garlic Cloves (see above note....it makes a difference!)
4 Tbsp Butter (use the real thing here...it is Butter Chicken, after all)
3 to 4 raw boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (1 and 1/2 lbs) ~ cubed
1 tin (398 ml or 14 oz) Tomato Sauce
1 and 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream (un-whipped)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Optional: 1 medium sized head of Cauliflower ~ Roughly chopped,
and roasted at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes (until just browning on the edges)

What you do:

Roast your cauliflower, if you plan on using it, in a 400 degree F oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, stir together medium sized glass bowl (and set aside) the following:
sour cream, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and pepper.

Cube the chicken meat and set aside.
Mince the ginger root and garlic cloves.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium-large pot over medium heat.
Stir fry the garlic and ginger for a few minutes until fragrant.

Add in the cubed chicken and stir fry until the outsides begin to cook.
Stir the sour cream mixture into the pot
and simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.

Slowly add in the tomato sauce, stirring constantly.
Bring to a simmer and temper the whipping cream with the hot mixture
by stirring one ladle of the simmering sauce into it.

Add about three ladles full of the simmering sauce to
the whipping cream before adding it slowly (stirring constantly)
into the simmering pot of chicken.

Stir in the brown sugar and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook,
lid slightly ajar, for about 25 minutes.  Check that the chicken is cooked
by cutting a piece open...it should be white throughout.

Stir in the cauliflower, if using, and heat through.
Serve over a bed of freshly cooked rice with Naan Bread on the side.

Happy Cooking!
With Love, Camille
 

**If you don't like things too spicy, cut back on the
cayenne pepper by half or more.  There's quite a bit of heat
in the recipe as presented...you can always add more, but,
you cannot remove it once it's there!  Fair warning?  :)

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

Who doesn't love to come home to dinner all ready to go?
Sadly, it's rare for the Chief-Cook-and-Bottle-Washer to have that happen.
That is, unless the crock pot is employed.  And, employ it, I do.
Not often enough, however.

There are a few reasons for that.

One of those being that crock pot meals tend to be a little on the blah side.
At least, the ones I've put to the test over the years have been.
This recipe is anything but blah.  Far from it, actually.
It's been my *go to* for the slow cooker in recent days.

I've shared it over the last few months with two lovely
ladies who raved about it's yumminess.  
One even told me she had been craving it.  Surely a compliment!
 I'd say that is a slow cooker success story, wouldn't you?    

There is quite a bit of *kick* to this meal.
If you are a little shy about spicy hot things, cut back on the cayenne pepper.
On the other hand, if spicy is your thing, then, go ahead and double up on the cayenne.
We find that it's nicely spicy with the amount I suggest here.

See all those lovely spices just waiting to be whisked together?

Crock Pot Chicken Curry ~
Mennonite Girls Can Cook featured the recipe that propelled
me forward to land on the specifics below.

Here's what you will need:

4 medium sized yellow flesh potatoes, with skin on, cut into chunks
1 large yam (dark orange sweet potato), peeled and diced
2 medium yellow cooking onions, finely diced
3 large bell peppers, diced (I like to use red or yellow, not green)
 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tins (6 oz size) tomato paste
2 tins (15 oz size) full fat coconut milk
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp red curry powder
2 Tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Here's what you do:

Prepare and layer the potatoes, yam, onions, and peppers
into large (6 Quart size) slow cooker.
Place the diced raw chicken over top of the veggie layer.

Whisk together the tomato paste, coconut milk, minced garlic,
and spices to form the sauce.  Pour over the veggies and chicken.
Separate the layers with a spatula to allow some of the sauce to be
incorporated throughout the dish.  Put the lid on and leave it while it cooks.

Don't lift the lid until you are ready to serve dinner!

Cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours.
My slow cooker is extremely hot, so, six hours is enough.
You should see the sauce bubbling at the edges and all
the veggies should be tender when it's fully cooked.

Serve over a bed of rice and
sprinkle with shredded coconut and raisins.

I like to set a covered casserole dish in the oven on the
delay cooking setting to have rice ready at the same time
as the curried chicken.  Then, there's nothing to do but serve it all up!

Here's what you do to make oven-baked rice:

Measure out rice (1 cup per three people)
and water (double the amount of rice) into a covered casserole dish.
Be sure you have enough room for the rice to expand by about double.
Stir together, cover the dish, and place in the oven on the centre rack.

Set the delay bake cycle to come on an hour and fifteen minutes
prior to the time you plan on serving dinner.
Set the heat to 350 degrees F and the baking time for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
(I usually make a double or triple batch of rice this way.  If you are only cooking
one cup of rice, I'd reduce the cooking time by about 15 minutes.)

When you come through the door, dinner will be ready!
This Chicken Curry is enough to feed approximately 8 to 10 very hungry people.
Leftovers are even better due to the flavours having had a change to mingle.
We like shredded coconut and raisins on our individual servings.

What about you?  Do you have a favourite slow cooker meal to share?
I'd love to hear how you employ the crock pot on your crazy-busy days.

Happy Tuesday!
With Love, Camille

Janine's Indian Chicken

My sister and I frequently exchange food ideas.
It's even been the subject of our texts.

She shared this recipe with me a little while back.
I've made it a few times and my family approves.  Heartily.

No complaints and clean plates all around.

In honour of it's roots, it's been dubbed "Janine's Indian Chicken".

I've tweaked and adjusted in order to land on our favourite combination.

Adapt it to your liking.  You really can't go wrong.

What you need:

2 medium Sweet Potatoes (often referred to as Yams) ~ chopped and roasted

1 medium head Cauliflower ~ chopped and roasted

Olive Oil for roasting

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 large boneless, skinless Chicken Breast ~ cubed

2 small yellow cooking Onions ~ diced

6 cloves fresh Garlic ~ minced

1/4 cup fresh Ginger ~ minced

8 to 10 medium sized nugget Potatoes ~ quartered

4 tsp Garam Masala

1 Tbsp Cumin

1 Tbsp Turmeric

1 Tbsp Coriander

1 tsp Cardamom

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tsp Sea Salt

1 tin (14 oz or 400 ml) Coconut Cream (or Coconut Milk)

1 tin (14 oz or 400 ml) Tomato Sauce (plain)

1 tin (6 oz or 170 g) Tomato Paste

5 cups Chicken Broth

10 to 12 Campari Tomatoes ~ quartered

1 cup Heavy Cream ~ room temperature

 Raisins and Shredded Coconut for garnish

What you do:

Clean and chop the cauliflower and sweet potatoes.
Arrange on a parchment lined jelly roll pan or baking dish.
Drizzle with olive oil and roast at 425 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.
The veggies should be tender and just browning on the edges when done.
Remove from the oven and set aside until they are needed.

Measure out the heavy cream and set on the counter.

Meanwhile, in a large pot (10 Quart or bigger),
pour in the 3 Tbsp Olive Oil and set to medium heat.
When the oil is hot, toss in the onions and cubed chicken meat.
Stir fry a few minutes and add the minced garlic and ginger.
Stir fry a few minutes longer until the onion is translucent and
the chicken meat is turning white.

Mix all the dry spices together and add all at once to the chicken mixture
along with the diced nugget potatoes.
Stir and cook a few minutes more.
If your ingredients are sticking to the bottom of the pan,
reduce the heat to low and continue to stir.

Add in the coconut cream, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and chicken stock.
At this point, add in the roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes.
Turn heat to medium-high and bring everything to a simmer.
Simmer, covered with lid slightly ajar, for 30 to 40 minutes to allow
flavours to mingle and the potatoes to cook through.  Stir occasionally.

In the last five minutes, add in the campari tomatoes and cream.
Be sure to add the cream slowly, while stirring, so it does not curdle.
(I have found it helps to temper the cream with some of the hot sauce
prior to committing it to the pot.)

Taste and check for salt.  We usually just add more at the table.
Serve with raisins and coconut over a bed of rice.
This recipe makes enough for ten (or more?) hungry people.
It freezes well if the need should arise.
However, it is super yummy the next day and the next day after that.
(Freeze for longer storage.)

Always reheat to the boiling point and simmer a few minutes
prior to serving any leftovers.  Always a good rule to follow.

Happy Cooking!!

With Love,
Camille

My New Go-To

I have a new favourite around here.  

Credit for this idea goes to my sister-in-law.

Thank you, TJ for sharing!  :)

Perfect for summer grilling and easy hosting.

This Trader Joe's marinade is my new go-to for chicken.

I've also used it for white fish and it turned out yummy.

(Actually, I think anything done in this sauce would be yummy.)

Take a package of chicken tenderloins and lay them in a 9x13 glass dish.

Pour marinade over the meat until it's covered.

Tightly wrap with plastic and set in the fridge overnight.

When ready to grill, preheat BBQ on high heat.

Prepare an old jelly roll pan by lining the inside 

of it with a few layers of tin foil ~ seal it well.

(I have a dedicated grill pan ~ they do get ruined by the BBQ.)

Then, put a layer of parchment paper on top of the foil.

Scrunch up the sides of the foil so the sauce won't spill out.

Pour the chicken and sauce into the prepared pan.

Place pan on the BBQ and close the lid.

When the sauce begins to boil and the chicken begins to turn white

(approximately five minutes) turn each piece of chicken over

to allow for cooking on the other side.

Keep the lid of the BBQ open at this point and keep turning

the meat until thoroughly cooked.  YUM!

Happy Grilling!

With Love, Camille

Yummy Chicken Casserole ~ SCD Compliant

This is one of our favourite recipes from the 
Specific Carbohydrate Diet ~ otherwise known as the SCD.
I always bake it in a 9 x 11 inch pan and cut it up 
into single serving portions and freeze them for future use.
It is so handy to have such a lovely meal to pull out as needed.

Today, I am posting my version of the recipe originally 
found in one of my favourite cookbooks for the SCD.
I'm sharing because I promised my sweet friend I would ~
So, as promised, sweet friend...here it is!  :)

This chicken casserole is gluten-free and Crohn's friendly
and it's yummy as well.  You can't miss!

Think, meatloaf meets fancy chicken salad ~ baked.

I severely altered the original recipe.
No slight on the girl who wrote the book ~
She creates fabulous recipes!
(One of the reasons why I love it).



~ Chicken Meatloaf ~

4 cups cooked chicken meat ~ diced
3 large eggs ~ beaten
2 shallots (tiny little onion-looking things) ~ peeled and minced
1/2 cup shredded carrot ~ shredded like cheese
1 sweet bell pepper (red, yellow or orange) ~ diced
1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms ~ cleaned and diced
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
2 cloves fresh garlic ~ minced
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1/2 cup green (spring) onions ~ chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup butter ~ melted
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

**If you don't do well with milk products, 
you could omit both the butter and the cheddar.
Substitute extra virgin coconut oil for the butter and leave out the cheese ~
It will still turn out wonderful.  Enjoy!  :)



Put all ingredients together in a large bowl.
Mix together well ~ with bare hands is best.
Press into a parchment paper lined 9 x 11 inch glass baking dish.
Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes until golden brown on edges.
Let stand 10 minutes in the baking dish prior to serving.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.



Serve hot with a side of rice (not SCD recommended),
or quinoa and freshly steamed vegetables or a salad.  Yummy!
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Many Blessings,
Camille

**This would also be THM compliant ~ S category**