recipelink.com Chat Room Recipe Swap
03-27 to 3-30-2000 – 13 Assorted Recipes

Christy.AZ (10:38:44) : Chicken Tikka (by BudgetGal)
Serves 4- I always double or triple etc. It freezes well and since it is time-
consuming, why not! Also, for dinner parties I make it ahead and freeze it.

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 t salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t tandoori color or a few drops of red coloring mixed with 1T tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
1/2" (or more) cube of root ginger, peeled & chopped
2 t ground coriander
1/2 t garam masala (or allspice-never tried this)
1/4 of a whole nutmeg, finely grated
1/2 t ground turmeric
2/3 c thick set plain yogurt (Whole milk if possible-Stonyfield Organics has
one)
4 T veg oil
1/2 t chili powder (or to taste) I like spicy but I prefer my Chicken Tikka
Masala mild because it's so tasty.

1) Cut chicken into "bite-size" chunks. (I'd guess 1" to 1 1/2") Sprinkle with
1/2 of the salt (1/2 t)and the lemon juice. Cover & set aside for 30 minutes.

2) Put the rest of the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Stop when
smooth.

3) STRAIN this over the chicken. Press the marinade with the back of a spoon
until only a very coarse mixture is left. Discard the leftover spices.

4) Coat the chicken thoroughly, cover and marinate in the fridge for of a
minimum 6-8 hours. Overnight is much better.

5) Next day, preheat the oven to 450 F. Line a roasting pan with foil (heavy
duty is best if you have it). Theoretically this keeps the temps high for
quick cooking without drying out the chicken. (One day I want to use my clay
cooker for this!)

6) The recipe calls for you to thread the chicken onto skewers leaving a 1/4"
gap between each piece in order to heat all surfaces of the chicken. If you are
stopping with Chicken Tikka you may want to do this. (Or if you decide to BBQ
these or prepare them for a dinner. However, if I make Chicken Tikka Masala I
find that it's more of a pain because the meat slides around when you go to
turn it over anyway. It's easier to cook it in the pan and turn en masse. You
can experiment.

7) Cook in the center of the oven brushing with marinade if necessary for
about 6-8 minutes. Turn chicken over. Repeat with marinade and cook for another
6-8 min. Don't overcook.

8) Shake off any excess liquid over the pan as you will use this for Chicken
Tikka Masala. (You can freeze this for future use. The sauce is so yummy that
any extra is welcome.) The author says to strain the liquid but I don't see the
point in it as all the coarse spices have already been sieved out.

9) At this point you can serve your Chicken Tikka as an appetizer or a main
course. It looks quite nice if you have fancy skewers on a platter for a
dinner party.

Christy.AZ (10:40:11) : Chicken Tikka Masala (Part Two)
By Budget Gal

Serve 4 -once again -I double or triple this every time

1 lb Chicken Tikka (see separate recipe)
1/2" root ginger, peeled & chopped
1 t salt or to taste
4 T unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 t turmeric
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t garam masala
1/4-1/2 t chili powder
1/2 c reserved cooking liquid from the Chicken Tikka (if necessary, add warm
water to make up 1/2 a cup)
1 1/4 c whipping cream (she calls for double-cream, as found in the U.K.)
2 heaped T ground almonds

1) Mix together the ginger, garlic and 1/2 t salt in a mortar & pestle .
Crush to a pulp.

2) Melt the butter gently and saute the onions for 2-3 minutes.

3) Add the ginger/garlic paste and cook for 1 minute

4) Add the cooking liquid from the Chicken Tikka and stir gently.

5) Gradually add the cream & stir.

6)Add the remaining salt if needed and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chicken,
cover and cook on low for 10 minutes.

7) Stir in the ground almonds and simmer for another 5 minutes.

8) ENJOY!!!

I serve this with a Pilau Rice. You can freeze this and defrost it before
reheating. Reheat gently in a covered pan.

I often make a big recipe of Chicken Tikka and freeze that. Any cooking liquid
can be frozen in 1/2 c portions or in equal lesser amounts depending on how
much you have to freeze. If you only have half of a cup don't bother splitting
it into smaller amounts. I defrost what I need and then make the Chicken Tikka
Masala fresh using the pre-cooked Chicken Tikka. (Hope I haven't confused
you.) I usually do a Big Indian Dinner Party once a year for different friends
where I pre-cook and freeze certain dishes and make more fragile ones on the
day. People always love the Chicken Tikka Masala even if they've never had it
before. I hope that you like it too. As always, I'm happy to ask any questions.

Christy.AZ (10:35:12) : Very Minty, Very tasty, Vegetable Biryani
From: Jamuna Krishnappa
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994

2 1/2 cups rice (basumathi Rice)
2 med-large onions, chopped fine
To soak: in 2 cups thick yogurt,
good if homemade with half and half)
FOR BEST RESULTS: soak for 2-3 hours.
6 med tomatoes, diced
6 cardamoms
6 cloves
6 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. garam masala
2 tsp. dhania powder
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1 bunch chopped coriander
1 bunch chopped fresh mint
5 green chillies, slit.
Grind to paste: (and add to above
yogurt mix to soak)
4-5 cloves garlic, 4 green chillies,
2" x 2" inch ginger
Preparation

1. Fry half the onions in a little ghee/oil until translucent,
add washed drained rice, stir till oil coated and a little
crisp. Cook on low, low heat till 3/4 quarters done.
Remove from heat.

2. Sliver veggies. (carrots, beans) (cauliflower in small
florets)

3. Warm 4 tbsp oil and a little ghee for flavor. Drop bay
leaves, fennel, star anise (a must!). Fry onions till clear.
Add veggies, stir until crisp cooked. Add yogurt mix. Salt
to taste. And cook it down till thick and spoonable.

4. Pre-heat oven to 400.

5. Spread some rice in a large aluminum baking pan, then
alternate by spreading some of the yogurt mix. Repeat
alternating rice and yogurt mix till everything is used up.
Cover tightly with foil wrap by crimping foil over edges of
pan. Bake for 30 mins.

Lori.NY (07:47:34) : Smothered Chicken

1 Chicken, cut up, OR
4 Boneless chicken breasts
-cut up
1 can Cream of mushroom soup
1 can Cream of chicken soup
1 lg Onion; sliced
1 can French onion soup
Garlic, fresh or powder;
-to taste
1 pk Fresh mushrooms; sliced
Poultry seasoning; to taste
-(optional)

Add all ingredients to crock pot, cover and simmer on LOW for at least 5 to
6 hours, but can cook all day if that's easier for your schedule. You can
also add any veggies you like. Just serve over rice, potatoes cooked any
way you like, noodles, biscuits, or over popovers is great. Can be frozen
and reheated. You can double or triple recipe if you need to and then
freeze in dinner size portions too. This can also be cooked on the stove.
Just cook everything in a large Dutch oven for about 1 hour.

Have a dish of jello on the side..ENJOY..

JBB,So.FL (06:28:34) : CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN ENCHILADAS

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1-1/2+ c. Pace picante sauce
1 16-oz can black beans, undrained
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. sliced green onions
12 flour tortillas
1-1/2* c. (*I use way more) shredded cheddar or jack cheese

TOPPINGS: Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, sour cream, avocado, black olives, fresh salsa

Cut chicken into short, thin strips. Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain; crumble.
Pour off all but 2 T bacon fat. Cook and stir chicken in bacon drippings with garlic until chicken is no longer pink.
Stir in 1/2 c. of picante sauce, can of beans, red pepper, cumin, and salt. Simmer until thickened and liquid is
reduced, stirring occasionally. Then stir in green onion and reserved bacon. Spoon heaping 1/4 c of
bean/chicken mixture down center of each tortilla, top w/a large pinch of cheese. Roll up, placing seam side
down in lightly greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Spoon remaining 1+ c. of picante sauce evenly over enchiladas.
Bake 350 x 15 minutes. Top with remaining cheese, return to oven for about 3 min until cheese is melted. Top
as desired. Makes 6 servings (not in this house).

Note: These freeze great.

JBB,So.FL (06:28:34) : CHEESE AND CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chicken broth
1-1/2 c. cooked shredded chicken breast (about 1/2 lb)
1 c. (4 oz) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 c. bottled picante sauce
3 oz of 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (about 1/3 c.)
1 t. ground cumin
8 6-inch flour tortillas
1-1/2 c bottled green taco sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute onion in nonstick skillet for 6 minutes in chicken broth, cooking until 'dry' and onion is translucent. Add
chicken, 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, picante sauce, cream cheese, and cumin. Cook 3 min or until cheese melts.
Spoon about 1/3 c. of chicken mixture down center of each tortilla and roll up. Place enchiladas seam side down
in 13 x 9 baking dish, drizzle with taco sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Cover and bake for
15 min or until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

305 calories per enchilada, 8.2 g fat

Carol,IL (09:41:15) : Hush Puppies

3/4 cup yellow corn meal
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk (may use buttermilk)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1 small chopped onion
1 small finely chopped pepper (such as jalapeno) *optional
Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and soda. Beat egg. Add milk then add to dry
mixture. Stir in onion (and pepper if used). Batter should be stiff. If batter
is too dry, add milk or if too liquid, add flour. Drop by small spoonfuls into
deep hot oil (370-380 degrees) Dip spoon in oil each time to ease dropping.
This makes about 30 hush puppies.

RAY,.Cleveland,.OH (09:32:06) :
WARM SPINACH & PEAR (APPLE) SALAD w/ Bacon Dressing

1 bag (10 oz) fresh spinach, rinsed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 pear (or apple), cored and thinly sliced

Place spinach in a large bowl

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove to paper toweling to drain. Discard all but 3 tablespoons drippings from the skillet.

Add oil to drippings in skillet and heat. Add onion; cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat.

Add pear (or apple) to spinach. Pour hot dressing over spinach and pear (apple); toss well to coat. Crumble bacon and sprinkle over salad. SERVE IMMEDIATELY!!!

... NOTE: This is EXCELLENT!!! Use peaches, papaya or even melon in place of the pears.

calliope,.NY (10:54:26) : Long Island Potato Salad - German Style

8 medium Long Island Potatoes or potatoes of choice
6- strips of cooked, turkey bacon, minced
1- cup chopped onion...Yel. and/or red...
1- cup chopped celery
1/2 chopped dill pickle...some sweet...if desired
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1-TBSP. of sugar
1/2-tsp. salt and 1/2 black pepper
1/2-tsp. celery seed
1/8 teaspoon of paprika
1-TBSP. Dijon mustard
chopped parsley and/or chives and scallions
*optional...chopped hard-boiled eggs*

Boil the potatoes in their skins in a medium saucepan but do not overcook.
Peel, or not, and slice potatoes while still warm.
Heat a bit of oil in a skillet. Mince the bacon and saute with
onion, celery and pickle. Don't saute the onion and celery
past "tender-crisp"!
Heat to boiling the following:
* 1/4 cup of water or stock with vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika and
mustard.
Pour the boiling mixture into the skillet.
Gently add the potatoes and mix to coat.
Serve at once.

* NOTE...tastes even better when served, re-warmed, the next day!
or you can serve it cold, if you like.

calliope,.NY (10:53:08) :
PERFECT ROASTED POTATOES...(and onions, *garlic......optional)

Preheat oven to 375

5 pounds red skinned little potatoes,("creamers") unpeeled, halved
***2 onions, cut into chunks.....optional...or see ***
you could also roast some whole garlic cloves...if you like garlic
1/2- cup olive oil...may need more
Juice of one, large lemon, optional
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
...or more of the above amounts if using fresh...don't have to use all the herbs.
salt, freshly cracked black pepper
1-TBSP. or more, minced fresh rosemary
3-Tbsp. or more, minced fresh parsley
***2-6" stalks, scallion..sliced thinly***...but added after roasting!!!
...or you can roast some sliced red or yellow onions with them...or add the red ones raw and finely minced, instead of the scallions...depends on your taste
Cayenne and paprika for dusting

Wash and cut the potatoes to size of choice.
(You'll have to do this many potatoes in batches.) Begin by sauteing the potatoes in olive oil in a large skillet for about 15 min., then cover, turn heat down and steam another 10-15 min.. with some whole, fresh sprigs of rosemary or oregano. Finish by tossing with your dry herbs (if you can't have fresh) and spices of choice, (like Lawry Salt, which no longer has MSG...or Cajun Spice blend) and lightly sauteed onions...if using them......then spread both of them in a roasting or jellyroll pan and roast at 375 for about 20 min., or until desired crispiness is reached, stirring occasionally.
When done to your taste for crispiness....empty them into a big bowl and add...the minced; scallion, and lemon juice, if using..........toss.
Serve as soon as possible as the crispiness is most desirable. They will re-heat well..but may loose some of the crunchiness, so don't enclosed them completely when you reheat.....unless you like them moister.

calliope,.NY (10:50:53) : CALLIOPE'S UNUSUAL SCALLOPED POTATOES ETC.

5-lb. bag or red or white skinned potatoes...you’ll probably only use 2-1/2--3
pounds though. Peeled or not, sliced in about 1/4” thick rounds.
2-large yellow onions...or 3 of the smaller Vidalias,... rough chopped.
1-cup chopped scallions
4-6 turnips, depending on size, peeled and grated coarse
4-6 large carrots. peeled and grated coarse
mix the grated turnips and carrots together.
flour for dusting the layers
butter, to taste dotted between the layers
*Bacos......or real or turkey “bacon”
3/4-cup milk
3/4-cup buttermilk
1-tsp, heaping, dried thyme, or sage, or a mix of the 2
3-good dashes of ground cloves
salt and pepper, to taste
1-small handful of chopped, fresh Italian parsley, if possible
you can substitute dried equivalent if you must.
2-cups grated Gruyere cheese, or cheese of choice...you could even use
Parmesan.

optional........1-2 cloves minced garlic, if you like

Use a large, rectangular glass lasagna dish for this and oil it with olive oil
Put down a layer of potato slices, sprinkle with some of the onion, dust with some flour, dot with some butter, salt, pepper some *Bacos and some parsley

Layer with half of the turnip/carrot mixture. Repeat with a second layer.
Top with one last layer of potato slices more salt, pepper, parsley and the chopped scallions. Mix your herbs and spices with the milk-s...to which you could add a beaten egg or 2 if you wish...but its not necessary. Pour over,
cover with foil and bake about 45 minutes at 350...or till tender. Remove foil, sprinkle with the grated cheese and continue to bake, uncovered until cheese melts. Yum!

*=Bacos...can’t find a thing wrong with them. And for those of us who don’t eat red meat, its a wonderful substitute in many dishes...after all you use a small amount...don’t think it will hurt us any more than the air we breath!

A quick personal note that may surprise you! When I invented this, I had about a cup of my homemade Broccoli Soup that wouldn’t fit in a container...so I just added another cup of buttermilk to it and poured that over. It was fantastic! I might make it that way all the time! Sounds strange I know, but it was great!

calliope,.NY (10:49:13) : POTATO 'SOUFFLE'

5-lbs. boiling potatoes, boiled and put through a ricer or mashed,
but the ricer makes for a much better texture.
2-3-large eggs, well beaten
***the following are suggestions and you may use them in whatever
combinations and amounts you choose.

Sour cream...or Buttermilk, I prefer buttermilk!
Regular or unsalted butter
Cream cheese
Chives...parsley...roasted garlic...horseradish...sage...black pepper
...sometimes I mix in some minced scallions too.
Dust the top with paprika

When all combined, put into a large buttered, round glass baking or souffle dish. Bake at 400 for 40-45 min. until top is golden.
Part of the delight of this, aside from the wonderful flavor and fluffy texture, is that it actually does puff up a bit! It’s worth the effort.

calliope,.NY (10:17:33) : FOR SHANA!...just substitute strawberries for raspberries...this is a great dessert and can be made ahead and kept for at least 2 weeks, covered in the 'fridge...best of luck!

BUTTER ‘N NUT PIE CRUST FOR FROZEN RASPBERRY PIE
......and another filling idea

1-cup flour
1/4-cup very finely ground almonds...or pistachios, or filberts
3-Tbsp. sugar
1/4-tsp. salt
1/2-cup ( one stick ) butter, softened

Combine as usual. Press into a pie pan and up the sides and on top of the rim...as it will sag (cause of all the butter...but oh, is it great! and makes a beautiful shell for frozen filling type pies!!!)as you bake it for 10-12 minutes at 400 till light brown...pricking the bottom with a fork first!. It might be helpful to refrigerate it for an hour first before baking.

*I’m going to try filling the shell when cooled and chilled, with pistachio pudding, or the recipe in this dessert file for pistachio ice cream, and top with peaches and blueberries at serving time*

But this is the filling I always use;

2-egg whites at room temperature
2-10 0z. boxes frozen raspberries, drained, but save the juice,
you’ll use some of it. Of course you could use fresh berries,
but you’ll want to macerate a few for their juice.
3/4-cups sugar
1-Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1-tsp almond extract
1-pint heavy cream

Beat the egg whites for a few minutes, then very slowly, add the sugar.
When it’s all added, beat at top speed for another 10 minutes. Last, quickly beat in the lemon juice and almond extract.

Gently fold in the berries with no more than 1/4 cup of the juice. (Too much and it gets kinda crystal-y)

Beat the cream till done in a separate bowl. Gently fold into the rest.
Spoon into the above chilled shell and freeze for several hours.

*This is soooo divine and great for a party since you can make it several days ahead if you need to*