Garam Masala Update

Please note that I have made an update to the Garam Masala recipe. I couldn't find my exact recipe I used the last time I made it. So, I used one that I thought was the right one, but after making it I realized it didn't smell right. I went to a cooking store and looked at their garam masala - NO turmeric! Aaack! So, sorry about that. Don't add the turmeric or your garam masala will taste more like curry. Not what you want for this recipe. Sorry for the confusion.

Mughlai Chicken & Naan Bread

Now that you have a good garam masala recipe (see previous post), you need a few good Indian recipes to put it in! Here is the first installment. Making naan bread for it isn't necessary, since you can serve the chicken over brown rice, but who would be that silly to not make the naan bread? Naan is absolutely amazing (especially the next day, toasted in the toaster and spread with butter... YUM!)
The following recipe is from the Food Network website with a few tweaks of my own.

Mughlai Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled or 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
  
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled or 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 4 tablespoons ground almonds
• 1/2 cup water
• 5 cardamom pods, bruised or 2 tsp. ground cardamom
  
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or less if you'd like)
  
• 3 pounds boned chicken thighs, each cut into 2
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup Greek yogurt or regular plain yogurt
  
• 1 cup chicken stock (I used broth)
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I'm using 1% milk next time - it was way to greasy)
  
• 1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins) - a MUST
  
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted, to garnish

Directions

Put the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili into a food processor, or into a mortar and pestle, and blend to a paste. Add the ground almonds and water and then blend again, set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chicken pieces - in batches so they fry rather than stew - and cook them just long enough to seal on both sides, then remove to a dish.(They will not be cooked all the way, but that's okay!)

On medium-low heat, add the spices and turn them in the oil. Be careful to not let it burn. Add the onions and cook them until softened and lightly browned, but keep the heat gentle and stir frequently, to avoid sticking. Pour in the blended paste, and cook everything until it begins to colour, about 3-5 minutes. Add the yogurt, half a cup at a time stirring it in to make a sauce, then stir in the stock, cream, and sultanas.

Put the browned chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected under them, and sprinkle the garam masala, sugar, and salt over. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, testing to make sure the meat is cooked through.

Pour into a serving dish and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds. Serve with brown rice and/or naan bread.

**Note: I like to cook my brown rice with a 1/2 tsp of turmeric to give it a lovely golden color and chicken broth instead of water.



Naan Bread
(from allrecipes.com)
This bread is a little extra work, but I think it is sooooo worth it!

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I ended up only using 3 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wheat flour)
  
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional) (I didn't do this)
  
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic, if desired. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

**Note: To cut back on fat I used a lower calorie butter spread which worked fine.


Coming Next: Tarkh Dahl & Chapati Bread

Garam Masala

If you like Indian food, then you need a good garam masala recipe. Garam masala is a spice mix called for in many Indian dishes and cannot be lived without! It's best not to buy it pre-made because who knows how much of what went in there and there's no way to customize it for yourself. And that is the beauty of garam masala - customization.
So, here' my own recipe that is more simple than some.

Garam Masala

2 Tbsp. coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. ground cardamom
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. black pepper

Mix until well combined. Keep in an airtight container or spice jar in a cool, dry place.

Beans on Toast

I had to give a little tribute to one of my most favorite recipes. I "stole" the idea for British-style beans on toast from the movie Bend It Like Beckham. It is so simple, light, low fat and tasty!
Give it a try!

Beans on Toast

2 slices of your favorite bread
Favorite buttery spread (butter, margarine, Smart Balance, etc.)
1/2 cup favorite baked beans (In my opinion, nothing can compare to Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans.)

1. Heat up the beans in a small pot or in the microwave.
2. Toast one slice of bread so that it is really golden. Not, what I like to call "raw" toast, but good and crunchy. It needs to be crunchy to resist getting soggy from the beans.
3. While the toast is hot, spread on your favorite butteriness. Put the toast on a plate and add half of the beans. Eat and relish the amazing flavors.
4. Toast the second slice of bread and repeat steps 2 and 3. (The hot toast makes all the difference, which is why I only toast one slice at a time.)

Yummy!

Citron-Semoule de Maïs Madeleines

Okay, so I got a little fancy with the name. I just thought "Lemon-Cornmeal Madeleines" sounded so boring and thought French would spice it up a bit. I found this recipe in a Weight Watchers cookbook and made a few changes. Anyway, this is my new favorite recipe! It is easy, delicious, refreshing and low fat. I think these would be perfect for a wedding reception or a tea. These madeleines are basically a cross between a mini muffin and a cookie and go perfectly with a cup of your favorite warm beverage or a bowl of strawberry ice cream.

Citron-Semoule de Maïs Madeleines

1 lemon
1 egg white
2 Tbsp. water
4 Tbsp. powdered sugar, sifted
1 (8 1/2-ounce) package corn muffin mix (dry)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray 48 mini-madeleine molds, 2 (12-cup) mini-muffin pans, OR 2 (12-cup) regular-sized muffin pans with non stick spray. (I used the regular muffin pans and it worked great.)

2. Grate 1 tsp. of the zest from the lemon; squeeze 3 Tbsp. of juice, set aside. Combine the egg white and 2 Tbsp. water in a medium bowl, beating with a whisk until blended. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. of the powdered sugar. Add the melted butter and the muffin mix; stir just until blended. (I found that using a whisk to stir gave the muffins a finer crumb.)

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. (I used a tablespoon measuring spoon, filling it 3/4 full for each muffin cup to be sure the batter would stretch for all 24 muffin cups.) Bake until the edges are golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed in the center, about 8 minutes. Immediately invert the madeleines on racks and let cool. Using a seive, sprinkle the remaining 2 Tbsp. of powdered sugar onto the tops of the madeleines just before serving.

Makes 12, 2-madeleine servings.

**Note: These are great fresh. I put the leftovers in a sealed plastic container on the counter and they lost their crunchy edge, making them taste more like muffins. I didn't like them too much that way, but they were still good. So, for an experiment I left the rest of them out on the counter for about 2 days with the lid off and they dried out, becoming a lemony, crunchy cookie. I think they tasted great! You might want to experiment to see how you like them best.

**Another note: An idea I had was instead of sprinkling them with just powdered sugar, mix some of the extra lemon juice with the powdered sugar and use it as a glaze.... Yum! I think I'll try this next time.

Banana-Raspberry Bread

Aaah! The most wonderful way to use up over-ripe bananas. I like plain banana bread pretty well, but this version is wonderful! The raspberries add just the right amount of tartness to contrast with the mellow taste of the banana. This recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking (I added the raspberries to the recipe and made a few other adjustments.)

Banana-Raspberry Bread
(adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder

5 1/3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup mashed, very ripe banana (about 2)
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
½ -1 cup frozen raspberries (in pieces and whole)

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed with an electric mixture until lightened in color and texture, 2-3 minutes.

4. Beat in the flour mixture until well blended and is the consistency of brown sugar. Gradually beat in the eggs. Finally, fold in the banana, walnuts if desired, and frozen raspberries, just until combined. (Baker's Note: Keep the raspberries in the freezer until you're ready to add them to the batter. Otherwise, you'll end up with red streaks and raspberries that fall apart as you're stirring.)

5. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely on the rack.

Baker's Note: As tempting as it is, don't cut this bread until it has cooled down for at least a half hour to an hour. When it's removed from the oven, it's still cooking and contains a lot of moisture. We want to let that process wind down on its own without letting a lot of the moisture escape. The wait is well worth it!

Recipe Requests

I had a few requests for recipes so here they are!

Tuna Loaf

This is a good change from beef meatloaf, especially if you love tuna. Using foil during the baking really helps keep this loaf moist. You can make this recipe using salmon as well. Some day I'll have to try making this with fresh, broiled tuna. Yum!

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. dried dill weed
2 tsp olive oil
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup fat-free skim milk (powdered milk would work here)
4 6-oz. cans of tuna, drained and broken into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a regular-sized bread loaf pan with a little extra olive oil or some cooking spray.
2. Saute onions and dill weed in a saucepan with the olive oil until onions are tender.
3. Add eggs, bread crumbs, milk and tuna. Stir until everything is well distributed.
4. Pour the filling into the bread pan, spreading the top to make it even without pressing the filling down too much. (We don't want it to be dense!)
5. Cover the top with aluminum foil (to keep it from drying out) and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let it cool about 5 minutes with the foil off before serving. Good with tartar sauce or Italian dressing.


Spinach Artichoke Dip

A classic recipe good for dinner or an appetizer.
Thank you, Janae! I hope you don't mind me posting this - I've had a number of requests for this recipe. Everyone loves it!

8 oz. (1 package) reduced-fat "neufchatel" cream cheese, softened
1 cup light mayo
1 cup light sour cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 14-oz. can artichokes (in water), chopped and drained
1 small package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 tsp. dill
1/8 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil a medium-sized, deep baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl by hand or with a hand mixer. Pour into baking dish, using a spatula to get all of the dip out of the bowl.
3. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes. Serve with your favorite corn chips or a good French baguette.