SECRET RECIPE CLUB: CHICKEN KORMA & A BONUS RECIPE

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, Poultry, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

Another month begins, a favorite of mine because April means winter is OVER! I survived another meteorological ordeal, and must confess it wasn’t that bad. HA! Am I getting tougher or what? The first Monday of the month brings Reveal Day of Group A from The Secret Recipe Club, so here I am to divulge which blog was my assignment. Drum roll, please…. I got the amazing Thyme for Cooking blog, hosted by Katie. Now, for a shocking statement: I would cook ANY of her recipes, each and every one appealed to me. She is one eclectic cook, having lived in several countries (Ireland, Andorra & France), but not only that, her writing captivates you. I opened a huge smile when I read her About page, and stumbled on this simple paragraph:

From learning about French paperwork (exhausting) to French chickens (of course they come with feet, Duh!) it’s a constant, often / usually entertaining challenge.

Well, I love France, don’t even think I don’t. But until you face the convoluted French bureaucracy, you’ll know nothing about paperwork hell. Unless of course, you’ve lived in Brazil… Those two beautiful countries could compete to see which bureaucracy would drive a foreigner crazy first. I have a tough time deciding the “winner.” But, I digress… Her site kept me glued to the computer for many hours on many evenings. I blamed it for preventing me from sitting down with Phil to watch the news. “Are you coming, Sally?” “I can’t… I can’t… I have Thyme for Cooking, so No Thyme for News.” Just to give you an idea of her level of sophistication, she’s got 9 recipes for cornish hens. Nine. I almost lost my mind trying to decide what to cook, here is a very short list: Ham, Spinach and Avocado Clafoutis…. Shrimp and Spinach Pie... Chicken with Chickpeas and Preserved Lemon…. Zucchini-Courgette Gratin... Chicken with Tarragon Cream… Slow-cooker Coq au Vin... (almost made it for this reveal day, as I also got a slow-cooker recently). And so many more, I simply had to stop bookmarking them. I had no choice but to make two, one savory, one sweet. For savory I went with her Chicken Korma, and for dessert (well, not quite, I made it one week later), her Absolute Best Brownies.

CHICKEN KORMA WITH APRICOTS AND ALMONDS
(slightly adapted from Thyme for Cooking)

3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into slices 3 pieces
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 shallot, chopped
1 piece of ginger, about 1/2 inch long, finely minced
1 tbs olive oil
2 bay leaves
5 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1 inch of a cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3oz (90gr) dried apricots, cut in half
1/2 cup chicken stock

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and stir-fry 10 seconds. Add shallot and fry until tender and starting to brown. Reduce heat to medium, add ginger, cumin, coriander and stir-fry 2 minutes longer. Add tomato paste and stir well to combine.

Add chicken pieces, ground almonds, chicken stock and heat to simmering. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add yogurt to chicken and stir well to combine. Add apricots, cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer.

Serve over white rice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: We loved this recipe! The magical ingredient is definitely cardamon. Every time I open the bottle of cardamon pods I get mesmerized by the smell. The delicate taste they impair to any dish, savory or sweet, is hard to beat. The ground almonds (or almond meal, depending on what is available to you) give the sauce extra body and make it feel substantial and filling. Finally, the apricots bring the bit of sweetness and a pleasant chewy texture. Three chicken breasts were enough for our dinner and lunch a couple of days later. I should add that the sauce was even more flavorful the second time around, although the texture of the meat was better right after cooking. Overall, this korma is not spicy, just very aromatic. We enjoyed it over white rice with snap peas alongside. Delicious dinner!

Just make sure you don’t bite into the cloves! Find them and put them aside…

And now, for the bonus recipe:

ABSOLUTE BEST BROWNIES
(from Thyme for Cooking)

for the brownie:
6 tbs butter, plus a bit more for the pan
8oz dark chocolate, in chunks
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped

for the glaze:
4oz (120gr) dark chocolate, in chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line the inside of an 8-inch square pan with 2 lengths of foil, laying them perpendicular to each other and folding the edges over to form handles. Lightly butter the foil.

In a medium saucepan melt the butter over low heat, add the chocolate. Stir constantly until melted.
Remove pan from heat, add sugar, vanilla and stir well. Add eggs and beat well with a medium-size wooden spoon.
Add the flour and beat vigorously for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Better should be shiny and smooth. Stir in the nuts, and pour the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. The center should be almost set. Do not over-bake. Cool brownies completely in the pan. As the brownie cools, make the glaze by heating the cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir until just melted.

Lift the brownies out of the pan and loosen the foil on the sides and bottom. Transfer to a plate. Pour the glaze over the top and smooth to the edges. When the glaze is cool, cut into small squares and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You will find this to be a very popular recipe (original from David Lebovitz). Many bloggers have made it, not always successfully, in the sense that for some these did not turn out as “absolute best.” Well, it is all in the technique. For this recipe to work its magic you absolutely MUST beat the batter for at least a full minute, probably two minutes is better. I considered adding the batter to a KitchenAid but ended up beating by hand. Good workout for the right arm, I can tell you that… The brownies turned out great, I think the walnuts worked perfectly well with the chocolate, but if you do a google search you’ll find that the basic recipe can be adapted to all sorts of add-ons, one that seems quite popular is mint. Just crush some mint candy and add to the batter after you beat it into submission. I took the brownies to our department on a foggy and a bit chilly Monday morning. They made many colleagues forget the Monday blues.

Katie, I will be a faithful follower of your blog, and hope you had as much joy with your assignment this month as I had with mine…

For my readers, make sure to click on the blue extra-terrestrial looking frog at the end of this post, so you can marvel at the productions of my fellow secret recipe friends.

ONE YEAR AGO: Josey Baker’s Olive Bread

TWO YEARS AGO: Almonds, A Cookbook Review

THREE YEAR AGO: Pomegranate-Molasses Glazed Carrots

FOUR YEARS AGO: Codruta’s Rolled Oat Sourdough Bread

FIVE YEARS AGO: Roasted Corn and Tomato Risotto

SIX YEARS AGO: Light Rye Bread

29Feb2016

INDIAN SPICED CHICKEN WITH CHICKPEAS AND SPINACH

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

Another great recipe using my beloved pressure cooker, but no need to run away if you don’t own one, the original method (found here) uses a regular pan. We’ve been so busy lately (by lately I guess I mean a few years in a row…) that shortcuts to get dinner at the table faster are more than welcome. As long as they don’t compromise flavor. No need to worry about it in this recipe, flavorful is one adjective that comes to mind to describe it.

INDIAN SPICED CHICKEN WITH CHICKPEAS AND SPINACH
(adapted from Bon Appetit)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used grape seed oil)
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 + 1/2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
1 cups chicken broth
5 ounces baby spinach
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped (optional)

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat or in your pressure cooker. Season chicken with salt. Working in batches, cook chicken, reducing heat as needed to prevent over-browning, until golden brown on all side.Transfer to a plate.

Add butter and shallot to drippings in pot; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until soft and fragrant. Stir in ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chickpeas and chicken broth. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Bring to a simmer. Cover pot and either braise it in a 325 F oven for about 50 minutes, or cook under pressure for 15 minutes.

Quickly release the steam (or place the closed pan under running cold water in the sink), and when the pressure equalizes open the pan. Return the pan to the stove, add the spinach and simmer for a couple of minutes until wilted. Stir yogurt into cooking liquid, mix gently and serve right away, sprinkled with fresh cilantro, if you like.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I absolutely love the way pressure cooking intensifies the flavors of a sauce, and this one with all the warm spices and the chickpeas turned out quite spectacular indeed. The recipe made so much sauce that even after leftovers were enjoyed at lunch, a little sauce remained. I went at it with a spoon on day 3. Yeah, that good. And, of course the time-saving aspect is hard to be neglected…

Screen Shot 2016-02-28 at 1.02.19 PM

This recipe could be served quite simply with a slice of naan bread, but I opted for cauli-rice and some snow peas sautéed in olive oil and a little mint. We ate like the King and the Queen… except for the fact that we did the dishes afterwards. I doubt royalty deals with such mundane issues. Their loss. Doing dishes can be a lot of fun. All you need is the right music in the background…

😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Curry Cardamon Cookies

TWO YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, March 2014

THREE YEARS AGO: Boeuf Bourguignon for a Snowy Evening

FOUR YEARS AGO: Chickpea Salad

FIVE YEARS AGO: Soft Spot for Chevre

SIX YEARS AGO: Roasted Onion and Asiago Cheese Miche

13Jan2016

DUCK CONFIT FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION

Posted in Poultry, Sous-Vide Cooking by sallybr

It is hard to beat duck confit when you want to have a memorable meal. I will never forget the first time I had it, actually. I was all alone in Paris (my first trip to Europe!), having flown from Brazil to take part of a scientific workshop sponsored by The World Health Organization. The 2-week workshop launched the sequencing of the whole genome of Mycobacterium leprae. In those days, sequencing DNA was a cumbersome, slow, and painful process, nothing to do with what it is today. I was one of the lucky people invited to participate of that initial workshop. I knew very little about automated DNA sequencing, but even less about duck confit. On my first evening, very tired and a bit insecure to walk around town, I crossed the street and bravely entered a restaurant near Institut Pasteur (Le Pot au Feu). The special of the day was duck confit, so that’s what I ordered. I thought I had died and gone straight to heaven, arriving at dinner time. Unforgettable experience, even if all alone sitting at my table, staring at couples in love all around me. Or so it seemed… Paris and romance go always hand in hand.

I made duck confit twice in the past, before my blogging years. Even though both meals turned out great, the process was not very pleasant: a lot of fat to deal with, and a pretty intense smell lingering in the house for way too long. This time, I used sous-vide to cook the duck legs and I have one word to describe it: WOW! I go as far as saying that buying the Anova circulator is worthy it just to make duck confit. Easy, very little fat needed, no lingering smell, and once the duck legs are cooked, they can go still in the bags to the fridge and stay there for 2 to 3 days until showtime. Cannot get much better than that…

DUCK CONFIT
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

3 tablespoons salt
2 cloves garlic, smashed (optional)
1 shallot, peeled and sliced
6 sprigs thyme (I used dried thyme)
4 sage leaves
Coarsely ground black pepper
4 duck legs with thighs
4 tablespoons duck fat

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt in the bottom of a dish or plastic container large enough to hold the duck pieces in a single layer. Evenly scatter half the garlic, shallots, and thyme in the container. Arrange the duck, skin-side up, over the salt mixture, placing one sage leaf underneath each piece of duck. Sprinkle with the remaining salt, garlic, shallots, and thyme and a little pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.

Rinse the duck pieces well, to remove the coarse salt. Dry the meat with paper towels. Place each piece in a plastic bag, adding 1 tablespoon of very cold duck fat inside, vacuum-seal the bags. Submerge the sealed bags in a water-bath set at 82 C (180 F) for 10 hours. When the time is up, chill the pieces in an ice bath and place in the fridge, still sealed.

About 45 minutes before dinner time, remove the duck from the fridge, open the bag and scrape off most of the congealed fat. Place in a roasting pan, skin side up, cover with aluminum foil and warm up in a 375 F oven for about 30 minutes. Before serving, place the pan under the broiler to crisp up the skin. Alternatively, you can warm up the pieces and then sear the skin on a blazing hot skillet.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I made this recipe for a very special dinner. First, it was my beloved’s Birthday, and since it falls very close to Christmas, it’s tricky to have a party for him. Most people are away visiting family, or too busy with the holidays. But, it turns out that two VERY special friends made a trip all the way from Brazil to be here with us on that special day! And they are amazing cooks, so the pressure was high on me to deliver a nice meal. Needless to say, I did a lot of research on duck confit sous-vide before settling on the method I shared here.

Several things are important. The duck itself. The best kind to get is Moulard duck, so I special ordered it from d’Artagnan (remember my latest IMK post?). Then, the salting to cure the meat before cooking. Some sous-vide methods advise you to do that step in vacuum-sealed bags, but the meat can turn out overly salty. I decided to salt the pieces in a baking dish in the fridge for 36 hours, then rinse the meat well before cooking it. The sous-vide step is another major consideration. I visited a discussion forum (eGullet), and read everything I could find on duck confit before settling on my choice of 10 hours at 82 C (180 F). As to the amount of fat to use, one tablespoon is enough, but you could even omit adding any extra fat. If you look at the last photo on the composite picture above, you’ll notice that there was a lot more than one tablespoon of fat in each bag. The fat rendered from the leg itself will be more than enough to properly coat it during cooking. So, if you rather not render duck fat or buy pre-rendered fat, simply go from the salting step to vacuum-sealing. It will work like a charm. Of course, you could get by with olive oil too. The main goal is to cook the meat submerged in some type of fat, duck fat being the best one for flavor.

I feel that I hit the jackpot with that combination of time and temperature, would not change it in the future. Finally, the last consideration is how to warm up the meat before serving. I did not want to deal with a hot skillet and searing the skin, making a huge mess right before our meal, so I went with a regular oven. First 375 F for about 30 minutes, then running the pieces under the broiler to crisp up the skin. Would not do it any other way, it was spectacular! The meat had the exact texture I remember from my first duck confit enjoyed in Paris! Not too salty, not too greasy, simply perfect!

Dinner is served! Duck confit and gratin of potatoes…
Life is good!

ONE YEAR AGO: Ken Forkish’s Warm Spot Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Bran Muffins, Rainbows, and a wonderful surprise!

THREE YEARS AGO: Salmon Wellington

FOUR YEARS AGO: The Green Chip Alternative

FIVE YEARS AGO: Weekend Pita Project

SIX YEARS AGO: Let it snow, let it snow, eggs in snow

22Nov2015

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: RUSTIC CIABATTA AND MINI-MEATLOAVES

Posted in Breads, Poultry, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

FOUR YEARS AS A MEMBER OF THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB!

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It’s that fun time of the month again, Reveal Day of The Secret Recipe Club, a virtual event in which food bloggers are assigned a site in secret, then blog about a chosen recipe at midnight of Reveal Day. In two words: incredibly awesome. But what is more awesome than that is the blog I got this month. I almost passed out from excitement, thrill, and joy. Why? Because my assigned site is one of my favorites in the whole food blogosphere: Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Just to make an analogy, if blogging was like acting, my Secret Acting Club assignment would be Meryl Streep. Yeap, that awesome! I’ve been reading Karen’s blog forever, I consider her as one of my personal gurus in bread baking. She is the type of baker who is not afraid to push the limits, moving easily from tangzhong type breads to bialys, baguettes, all sorts of rustic sourdoughs, Pullman type loaves, really amazing what she can do with flour, water, salt, and yeast, often wild (the yeast, not her). At my last count, she’s got 247 bread recipes in her blog. Two hundred and forty-seven. You can collect your chin off the floor now. I bookmarked so many recipes that it was not even funny. Just to give you a small sampling of the breads that tempted me: Cheese and Herb Happy Bread, Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls , Corn and Jalapeno Rolls (oh, my!), English Muffin Bread (I really need to make this one!), Tangzhong Whole Wheat Bread (very interesting method), Kesra Moroccan Flatbread, Hawaiian Style Sweet Rolls (reminds me of my childhood in Brazil), Stuffed Pretzel Bites (O.M.G.!). Of course, that doesn’t include the breads from her site I already made like the delicious Ka’Kat. or Forkish’s Warm Spot Sourdough. But of course there’s a lot more than bread in her blog. For instance, if you like stir-fries, she has a section on Wok Wednesdays that is a must-follow, holding so far 57 entries. The bottom line is, I had no choice but to make two recipes from her site. A rustic ciabatta, because it would be almost rude not to choose a bread from Karen’s blog, and some mini-meatloaves because they looked so incredibly cute, I could not stop dreaming about them…

Ciabatta Dates Flax2

RUSTIC CIABATTA WITH DATES AND FLAX SEEDS
(from Karen’s Kitchen Stories)

for the soaker:
48 grams flaxseeds

72 grams (1/3 C) water

for the poolish:
125 grams unbleached bread flour

125 grams (1/2 C) water

pinch of instant yeast

for the final dough:
278 grams (~1 1/4 C) water

All of the poolish

300 grams unbleached bread flour

50 grams coarsely ground whole wheat flour

25 grams coarsely ground rye flour

10 grams (1 3/4 tsp) salt

2 grams (~ 3/4 tsp) instant yeast

All of the soaker

84 grams dried dates, seeded previously, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

The night before baking day, mix the soaker and poolish in separate bowls. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap. Leave enough room in the poolish bowl for it to double in size.

The next day (about 12 to 16 hours later), measure the 278 grams of water into a large bowl or dough rising bucket. Add the poolish, and mix it into the water with your hand to break it apart. Add the flours, salt, and yeast, and mix the dough with your hands, stirring, pinching, and folding the dough to absorb all of the flour and dissolve the salt and yeast. When you pinch the dough, you should not feel any grit.

Once all of the ingredients are combined, mix in the soaker with your hand until evenly distributed. Add the dates, and mix to distribute. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot.

After 45 minutes, stretch and fold the dough over itself from all four “sides.” Repeat the 45 minute rest followed by a stretch-and-fold two more times (a total of 3 stretch-and-folds). Let the dough rest for a final 45 minutes, covered, in a warm spot.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, and gently nudge it into a rectangle. Be careful not to deflate the dough. Using an oiled bench knife, cut the dough into three equal pieces. Pick each piece up with floured hands and place it on a floured couche or parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with the rest of the couche or oiled plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, while you heat the oven to 475 degrees F, and set it up with a steam pan on the lowest rack and a baking stone directly above it. Fill a spray bottle with water.

When the oven is at the correct temperature, transfer the loaves to the baking stone (see notes above, or place the baking sheet with the loaves on it in the oven). Place a cup of boiling water in the steam pan (cover your oven’s window), and spray the oven walls with water. Quickly close the door. Bake the loaves for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating halfway through. They are done when the internal temperature reaches 200 to 210 degrees F. Cool on a wire rack.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here
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Comments: I made this bread in one of those perfect Saturdays! Why? Because I woke up before 5am feeling super energetic, could hardly wait to get downstairs and play with my ingredients already measured since the evening before. During the first 45 minutes rise I did a nice P90X yoga while the house was still dark, peaceful and silent… As in a perfectly timed symphony, just as I finished my exercises, Phil woke up and made me a fantastic cappuccino…. the dogs immediately joined us in welcoming the weekend…Told ya: perfect Saturday!

Back to Karen’s ciabatta: the dough was a pleasure to work with, gaining strength at each folding cycle. In the composite photo above, the dough is shown after the last folding cycle, all plump and shiny. I used whole flaxseeds, Karen used ground, but I followed the exact same method, including the volume of water to make the soaker. You can use whatever type of flaxseeds you have in your pantry. Most important thing is not to deflate the dough too much as you coach it into the ciabatta shape. The less you mess with it, the better. You will be rewarded with a ton of holes, a very airy bread, comme il faut.
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We both loved this bread! The dates offer a burst of sweetness that plays well with the almost sour nature of the dough given by the extended fermentation of the poolish. Cut a slice, toast it very very lightly, top it with some Gorgonzola and you will have to tie yourself to your seat not to fly away in a magic carpet…. Awesome combo.

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And now, for the bonus recipe from Karen’s site… Adorable meatloaves in individual servings. Her recipe used beef, I changed it slightly by using ground turkey.

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INDIVIDUAL MEATLOAVES WITH CHILI SAUCE
(adapted from Karen’s Kitchen Stories)

1 shallot, coarsely chopped

1 rib celery, diced
1/3 cup packed flat leaf parsley leaves

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2/3 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup boiling water

1 pound 85% lean ground turkey

1/4 pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup jarred chili sauce, such as Heinz

Spray a half sheet pan with spray oil and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a food processor, pulse the shallot, celery, parsley, and bacon several times until well chopped. In a large bowl, combine the oats and boiling water and stir. Add the mixture from the food processor and combine.

Break up the ground turkey and pork and add them to the large bowl. Whisk the eggs and add them to the meat and oat mixture. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of the chili sauce to the meat mixture. Mix with your hands until everything is well mixed.

Divide the mixture into four equal parts and shape each into a small loaf, placing them onto the baking sheet. Take 1/2 cup of the chili sauce, and brush it over the four loaves. Bake the loaves on the center rack for about 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the loaves with the rest (1/4 cup) of the chili sauce. Turn on the broiler, and place the pan back on the center rack. Broil for about 5 minutes, until the chili sauce just begins to brown.
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ENJOY!
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to print the recipe, click here

PicMonkey Collage11

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These meatloaves were sooooo good! The chili sauce is a must, do not skip it. They turned out moist, flavorful, spicy but not overly so. I served them with sweet potato noodles that were recently published in my guest post over at Foodbod. The recipe made 3 loaves and we enjoyed them for dinner, then I had leftovers for my lunch a couple of days in a row. Heaven. Just heaven. If I may make a public confession, I had some slices straight from the fridge. Cold. Yeah, standing up, with a Jack Russell staring at me wondering how long it would take for Newton’s Law of Gravity to work its magic in his favor. HA! Not a chance!

Karen, I hope you enjoyed your assignment this month. It goes without saying that I spent the past 4 weeks anticipating this Reveal Day, anxious to share the recipes I made from your blog. For my readers, if you don’t yet know Karen’s Kitchen Stories, stop right now and go pay her a visit. Not only she is a great baker and cook, but a very cool person with great sense of humor and wit. Plus, she is the Grandma of two beautiful boys, and lucky to live very close to them, so it’s easier for her to spoil them rotten. I intend to follow her footsteps and do my best to spoil Greenlee at every chance I get… Maybe one day I can teach Greenlee to bake a chocolate cake for her Dad too. Oops, did I just use “teach” and “bake a cake” in the same sentence? Excuse me while I go grab a thermometer. I might be running a very high fever… (sigh)

ONE YEAR AGO: Green Rice

TWO YEARS AGO: Potato-Crusted Italian Mini-Quiches

THREE YEARS AGO: Beetroot Sourdough for the Holidays

FOUR YEARS AGO: Cod Filet with Mustard Tarragon Crust

FIVE YEARS AGO: Soba Noodles: Light and Healthy

SIX YEARS AGO: Potato-Rosemary Bread

9Nov2015

BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN CURRY

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

This recipe was published in Food and Wine magazine back in February 1999. Yes, you read that right, over 16 years ago, when I was only a teenager (in my heart, that is). But someone recently raved so much about it in a cooking forum that other members decided to make it, and next thing I knew, they were raving about it too. I had to join the party and try the recipe myself. However, I modified it a bit, incorporating some tips from our graduate student Aritri (born and raised in India so she knows a thing or two about curries). I also opted by making it in a pressure cooker. No need to run away screaming. If you don’t have one, I’ll share instructions to make it in a regular pan. I am nothing if not accommodating. You are very welcome.

BLACK PEPPER CHICKEN CURRY
(adapted from Food and Wine magazine)

2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely crushed black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 shallot, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced Serrano chile
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raw cashews, divided
juice from 1/2 lemon
fresh parsley, minced

In a bowl, combine the coriander with the cumin, peppercorns, turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Add the chicken and rub with the spices to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place 1/4 cup of cashews in a small food processor and process, not too fine. Reserve.

In a large deep nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 cup of the oil. Add the shallots and saute’ for a few minutes until translucent. Add the chicken, ginger, Serrano chile and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is golden, about 8 minutes. No need to cook through.

Stir in 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, the water, and the processed cashews, then transfer to a pressure cooker and cook under pressure for 15 minutes. Quickly release the steam (or place the closed pan under running cold water in the sink), and when the pressure equalizes open the pan. If using a normal pan, simply cover the pan and simmer until cooked to your liking (at least 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of cashews and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut milk, the lemon juice and the fresh parsley to the chicken and simmer, stirring. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with the cashews; serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Seems familiar? The same photo was in my previous post…

Comments: After so many years of blogging, it’s hard not to repeat statements from previous posts. For those who follow my blog for a while it will be old news that I like to cook chicken thighs longer than most recipes specify. Super tender is what I shoot for. Exactly the same goes for pork ribs. Some people prefer to have a firmer texture in both types of meat, so if you are part of that team, reduce the cooking time. For instance, in a pressure cooker, you could get by with 10 minutes, in a regular pan, 20 minutes (which is what Food and Wine magazine recommends in the original recipe).

Pressure cooking is fantastic for recipes such as curries, stews, soups, and chili (made one recently in 20 minutes that was absolutely spectacular). Until a couple of months ago I made the mistake of keeping my pressure cooker in the basement, bringing it to the kitchen only when I needed to make a batch of black beans, or maybe cook some artichokes in a hurry (pressure cooker works wonders on artichokes). Out of sight, out of mind. Not anymore. It is now sitting in our appliance rack and I am always finding ways to use it. It makes life so much easier, many recipes that are not feasible on a weeknight because they would take too long become a breeze to prepare.

This curry turned out wonderful! It is interesting how the humble black pepper offers a heat different from any other type. Aritri also suggested that we add ground chili to the curry, but I was afraid it would be too hot for our taste, so I went without it. Keep her suggestion in mind if you make it, I think a little extra heat would not hurt the outcome. I hope you try this recipe, make sure to have some rice to fully enjoy the delicious sauce, or if you prefer to keep the carb content low, a cauli-rice or a cauli-mash will work just fine…

ONE YEAR AGO: Feta-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

TWO YEARS AGO: Thai-Style Pesto with Brown Rice Pasta

THREE YEARS AGO: Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Simple Appetizer (Baked Ricotta)

FIVE YEARS AGO: Sour Cream Sandwich Bread

SIX YEARS AGO: Pasta with Zucchini Strands and Shrimp