Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala (served by Susan)

Slow cooker Chicken Tikka Masala


From:  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-masala/ by Rebecca

Ingredients:

FOR THE CHICKEN:
9 whole boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 TBS ground coriander
1 TBS ground cumin
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 cup yogurt
4 TBS butter
1 whole jalapeno pepper, stem removed, pepper pierced several times with a sharp knife

FOR THE SAUCE:
4 TBS butter
1 whole large onion, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 TBS Kosher salt
3 TBS Garam Masala
1 piece fresh ginger, about 2-3 inches, peeled and grated
4 cups crushed tomatoes
1 TBS raw sugar (can substitute white granulated if necessary)
2 tsp cornstarch or clear gel
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

TO SERVE:
Rice
Chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation:

Cut the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces.  Sprinkle the coriander, cumin, and salt over the chicken, then stir in the yogurt until all the pieces are evenly coated.  Cover lightly and let sit for ten minutes before proceeding.

Melt 1 TBS butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Raise the heat to medium high and quickly brown about 1/4 of the chicken. Using 1 TBS butter per batch, repeat until all the chicken is browned. Transfer browned chicken to the slow cooker as it is finished.   Throw the pierced jalapeno in on top of the chicken.

Prepare the sauce. Return the pan to heat and melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and kosher salt, then stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to lightly brown around the edges.

Stir in the garam marsala and ginger and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute) before raising the heat to high and adding the crushed tomatoes and raw sugar.  Stir well, scraping the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, and bring to a boil.  Pour over the chicken in the slow-cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, or until the chicken is very tender.

Use a fork or whisk to stir the cornstarch or cleargel into the heavy cream until smooth.  Pour into the slow-cooker and stir gently until the color is even.  Replace the lid and let cook for 10 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.

Serve over hot rice, topped with a generous amount of chopped cilantro.

NOTES FROM SUSAN:

• Instead of chicken thighs, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used about 4 lbs (8 half breasts).  This Pioneer Woman recipe shows how to broil the chicken breasts and also how to make the sauce without using a crock pot:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/chicken-tikka-masala-by-pastor-ryan/
• Because I used the chicken breasts, I only cooked it for about 2 hours in the crock pot rather than five hours.
• Rather than the 1 cup yogurt, I just purchased 2 individual serving cups of the greek yogurt and dumped both in.
• I have used an anaheim pepper in place of the jalapeno pepper but I think the jalapeno is better and gives it a little more "kick"
• Fresh Market sells minced ginger in a jar
• For the 4 cups crushed tomatoes I used 2 large cans of un-seasoned Crush Tomatoes
• I did not use any cornstarch to thicken the cream

Rice for Chicken Tikka Masala (served by SUSAN)

Rice for Chicken Tikka Masala

From: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/chicken-tikka-masala-by-pastor-ryan/

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati Rice
4 tablespoons Butter
1 tsp salt
1 TBS ground turmeric
4 cups water

Preparation:

Turn on the rice-cooker and walk away. If you don’t have a rice-cooker, you’ll have to prepare rice as you normally would. Just make sure it’s Basmati.

Notes from Susan:

I used 1 tsp of the ground tumeric rather than 1 TBS.

NAAN BREAD - served by SUSAN

NAAN BREAD


From: Tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/naan-bread
By: Heather Christo

Ingredients:

FOR THE YEAST BLOOM:
1 Cup Hot Water (110-115 degrees)
1 TBS Sugar
1 pckg Dry Active Yeast (7g package)

FOR THE NAAN:
1 whole egg
4 TBS Milk
4-1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 cups butter, melted
2 whole garlic cloves, minced

Preparation:

In the bowl of a standing mixer combine the hot water, sugar, and yeast.  (I like to to rinse the bowl with hot water before I do this so that the cold bowl doesn't kill the yeast bloom). This should take about ten minutes.
When the yeast is done blooming, it should be nice and fluffy.
While you are waiting for the yeast, beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients together.  When the yeast is ready, add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl.  Add the milk, and then the rest of the dry ingredients.  Mix until you have created a stiff shredded-looking dough.  Then beat with the dough hook and the mixer on medium for about 5 minutes (you could also knead this by hand on a lightly floured surface).
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit in a warm place for a least an hour.  When the hour is up, the dough should be nice and puffy.  Break off golf-ball sized pieces and shape them into balls.  Place them on a parchment -lined sheet pan.  Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and let sit another 30-60 minutes until the dough has risen again.

When I went to roll the dough out on a marble counter, I did not even need any flour, but if you do, just use it sparingly.  Roll out the dough balls as thinly as you can and set them aside on the parchment-lined sheet pan. When you have rolled out all the dough, you can heat your grill or grill pan to medium heat.

While waiting for the grill to heat, melt your butter and garlic together (I discovered that a clove of garlic just infusing the butter was not a strong enough taste so I wound up mincing the garlic and letting it sit in the butter). Spray your grill with a little grill spray and then brush each side of the bread dough with the garlic-butter.  Grill on each side just until there are grill marks on the bread, and the dough starts to turn golden, then flip. It takes about 1 minute on each side.

They are the very best while still hot. I stacked them in a large sheet of tie foil and wrapped them together to keep them steaming hot.

Notes from Susan:

• Roll the dough balls out so thin that you think you can't possibly get it any thinner.
• For our Bunko, Blake cooked the Naan on the outdoor grill.  Susan's sister-in-law tried cooking them on an iron skillet on the stove and it worked great.  To make them look authentic, Mary charred them over the gas flame on the stove.

Taste of Home Lemon-Curd (prepared by TAMI)

Taste of Home Lemon-Curd (prepared by Tami)

Served over cheesecake alongside fresh lemon slices.  SO.GOOD.

 3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

In a heavy saucepan, beat eggs and sugar. Stir in lemon juice, butter and lemon peel. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until mixture is thickened and reaches 160°. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Yield: 1-2/3 cups.

TIP:
Keep finished result away from Elizabeth... she will try and eat the entire bowl with a spoon like pudding.  It's THAT good.

Tami's Chicken and Bow-tie Pasta Salad

Tami's Chicken and Bow-tie Pasta Salad

One bag bow-tie pasta
One rotisserie chicken
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled or 1 bag Oscar Meyer bacon pieces
2 cucumbers
1 package grape tomatoes
olives (black and/or green)
green onions to taste

Cook pasta to al-dente.  Drain, rinse with cold water until cool.
Shred rotisserie chicken.
Peel and dice cucumber.
Slice green onions

Add chicken, bacon pieces, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, onions.  Toss together.  Serve cold with dressing (below), sliced french bread, and fresh fruit.  YUM!!!!

Dressing:
One package dry Italian dressing, prepared according to package directions