Christmas Cookies and Rasberry Muffins...yipee

I went a little crazy with the Christmas baking yesterday. I guess living with people who are really excited about the holidays has inspired me to be a little less humbug about the whole thing. The original thought was to make gingerbread houses, but that plan became a little complicated when I realized most of the ingredients don't exist here. Instead I used Martha Stewart's sugar cookie recipe and made a cream cheese frosting with vanilla and cinnamon which we proceeded to  fill with chemicals to make these beautiful colors. Everyone was really into the decorating as you can tell from the pictures. 

I also made some raspberry muffins using one of Martha Stewart's recipes for blueberry muffins. As much as I hate to admit it, I love that woman. 

Raspberry Muffins:

6 TBS butter

3 cups + 2 TBS flour

3 Tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg 

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

raspberries or any other kind of berry

(I also added some coconut and dark chocolate to half the batch)

Bake at 350 until done :)

I frosted a few of them with the leftover white cookie frosting, making them a little more cupcake like.

Sweet Potato and Pear Stir-Fry with Chicken and Chile Sauce

I am home for a week in Taos, NM and earlier today my mom and I were searching for something to make for dinner. We decided on this recipe, unsure of how it might turn out- but we very pleasantly surprised. It is more prep-work than anything, but totally worth it! The ginger, sweet potatoes, and pears compliment each other amazingly! Dad however, was hoping for lasagna, but nonetheless loved the stir-fry!





MARINADE

2 Tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 Tbs white wine

1 lb chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)

*Combine all ingredients, add chicken, and let sit for 30 minutes

SAUCE

2 Tbs cornstarch

1 cup chicken broth

1 Tbs soy sauce

1/2 Tbs fish sauce

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

*Combine all ingredients and set aside

STIR-FRY

2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces)

2 Tbs oil (divided)

2 large garlic cloves (minced)

2 Tbs minced fresh ginger

pinch of cayenne

1 med yellow bell pepper (cut into bite size pieces) 

1 med red bell pepper (cut into bite size pieces)

1/2 c canned water chestnuts (drained and sliced)

2 bosc pears (peeled and sliced)

6oz baby spinach

3 c hot cooked brown rice

*Bring a large pot of water and the sweet potatoes to a boil, for about 3 minutes, drain with a colander and set aside

*In a large wok heat 1 Tbs of oil, add garlic ginger and cayenne, and stir-fry until golden; add chicken and stir-fry until almost fully cooked; transfer chicken to a plate or bowl

*In the wok, heat the remaining 1 Tbs of oil and add sweet potatoes, peppers and chestnuts and stir-fry until potatoes and peppers are not quite tender

*Add cooked chicken, pears, and spinach; stir-fry until spinach is just wilted

* Stir in the prepared sauce; stir-fry until the sauce is thickened

*Remove from heat and serve of a heap of brown rice

*ENJOY!

Pumpkin Bread and Gingerbread

Ok, so it is snowing and it is the holidays, so I am going a little baking crazy. Usually I go a little crazy without an excuse, but the holidays present a special excuse for massive baking endeavors. Hopefully someone will be around to start eating my creations before I give myself a heart attack.

Let's start with the gingerbread. I used this recipe from Epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gramercy-Tavern-Gingerbread-103087
I added lemon zest and chunks of crystalized ginger and baked them in muffin tins (surprise surprise- I try to make everything into cupcakes), which was fabulous because it increased the amount of chewy top that I love so much. This recipe involves beer, and so there was an open bottle sitting on the countertop at 10 a.m. when the cleaning lady arrived. I made a point of saying that the beer was for the gingerbread and not for my morning consumption.

Then I made pumpkin bread from a fabulous recipe courtesy of The Martha Stewart Cookbook (page 111). It really is a great recipe, so I would like to share it with you. I was inspired to make pumpkin bread when my dad rescued some pumpkins from the porch after the first night of freezing. They were a little mushy, but I cooked them up and made bread. Then I talked to my mom, who informed me that they were not, in fact, sugarpie pumpkins like I had assumed, but the normal inedible cheap kind. Oops. The pumpkin bread tasted great despite this mistake, so I assume this really is a great recipe.

Pumpkin Bread

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons molasses
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 1/3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (I added this to the recipe)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter three 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans.
With an electric mixer, cream butter, molasses, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add orange juice and pumpkin and mix well.
Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl, and add the pumpkin mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon.
Spoon into prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to rack for cooling.

Baking in Ecuador

So I arrived in Ecuador Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon my family had gone to the store and bought everything for me to bake them muffins...apparently I baked a lot when I lived here, big surprise. Since being back I have also introduced them to oatmeal cookies as well, which they were a little hesitant about at first. My little sister told me I shouldn´t tell anyone they contain oatmeal until after they try them. When I lived here 5 years ago I had to improvise a lot because I couldn't find brown sugar, and butter was hard to come by. Cookies never really came out right because they were made with margarine and panella which was the closest thing to brown sugar, but it had a pretty strong molasses-like flavor. Things seem to have changed though which means cookies in Ecuador taste like real cookies now! My family wants me to stay here and help them open a buisness that sells baked goods to all the Gringo cafes.

I am also adding a picture of bizcochitos (recipe my sister posted below) that I made a few weeks ago for a women's studies class. We had to make an aphrodisiac dish, and since anise, wine and chocolate are all aphrodisiacs it seemed perfect. It's also a traditional christmas cookie in New Mexico, and oh so delicious. (so delicious that I spent $15 on a bottle of anise in Korea last Christmas so I could make them)

A Sausage Fest

As some of you know, my sister Emily has some interesting projects. This weekend, Jake and I had the pleasure of making sausage. As you would expect, making sausage is extremely phallic. First we bought pork shoulder, which has just the right amount of fatty goodness for sausage emulsification. The pork was cubed, seasoned, and left to marinate overnight. The next day, we ground the meat in a handy dandy attachment for the KitchenAide (one more reason why I need to get married so my mom will buy me one). After the meat chills, it is stuffed into hog intestines and twisted into links. I can't explain how manly this whole experience was. We all tried to contain ourselves and not make excessive lewd comments on account of the 2 year old present. Still, no one can refrain from commenting about someone's ability to "handle sausage" or "how big that sausage is growing."

Rachel's Chai Cupcakes, Peppermint Bark and Biscochitos... oh my!

Today was a glorious day... it was Farah's birthday, it snowed 5 inches in Portland, and finals got cancelled for tomorrow! So I got to baking...
First, I decided to make Rach's yummy looking chai cupcakes for Farah. 

I made them extremely miniature, which took forever, but they are way cute. I also made a cinnamon vanilla frosting, which turned out a bit too sweet- but good anyway.

Here are some photos... I also included a photo of Ariel enjoying Rachel's batch that the recipe comes from. 

I want to go into the cupcake making industry. Rachel- are you down?

Also, we made incredible Peppermint Bark last night, and I decided to be artsy and take some pictures... so they are here too.

The recipe is easy- and makes for a nice gift!

-2 bags white chocolate chips

-2 bags chocolate chips

-about 30 peppermint candies-crushed

*Pre-heat the oven to 350

*Place aluminum foil on a pan, and sprinkle the chocolate chips over it. Melt them in the oven until they are soft enough to smooth down into a base layer. Let the chocolate harden.

*Place white chocolate in a metal bowl, situated over a pot of boiling water. When the white chocolate melts, quickly pour it over the hardened chocolate. 

*Sprinkle peppermint crumbles on top of white chocolate before it hardens.

*Place in the refrigerator until fully hardened- then cut into triangles!

ENJOY!

Lastly, I made the New Mexico state cookie- BISCOCHITOS!!!!! mmm! The smell of these make me feel like it really is December!!

-6 cups cake flour

-3 tsp baking powder

-2 cups crisco

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

-2 tsp anise seed

-2 eggs

-1/4 cup brandy (or red wine)

-cinnamon

-more sugar

-melting chocolate

*Preheat oven to 350

*Combine flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl

*Cream crisco, sugar and anise together in another bowl- beat in the eggs one at a time

*Mix in flour

*Roll dough out, and cut into shapes (or use a cup for circles)

*Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on each uncooked cookie

*Bake about 10 minutes, until they begin to lightly brown

*Melt chocolate, and once cookies have cooled, dip 1/2 in 

 

A word about this blog...

The banner on top is a photo I pulled off of a stock photography website - royalty free downloads type thing.  And there are a lot of pictures out there people just run around and steal, while there are also a lot of picutres under creative commons public domain licensing. Just wanted you guys to know I got the photo off of http://sxc.hu all legal and stuff, and I also wrote to the artist to let him know we are using the photo in a publicly accessible work, and that I modified the photo for use (cropped it). He read our blog and thinks is really cool and likes the photo where it is. 

His name is Felipe Peternella, and he is from Salvadaor, Bahia, Brazil. Mmm.. Yummy. (His profile)

Thanksgiving Potatoes

First of all, Molly I love that you made an entire thanksgiving dinner from scratch by yourself... sounds like fun! I made lots of stuff this thanksgiving as well, but not quite the whole meal. I promised Becca I would post my recipe for mashed sweet potatoes. This are THE BEST mashed potatoes ever, you gotta try them.

2 lbs sweet potatoes

4 tbs butter

2 tbs heavy cream

1  tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of pepper

Slice the sweet potatoes so they are the same width. In a pan melt butter and heavy cream together. Add sugar, salt, pepper and potatoes. Cook on low heat stirring occasionally  until the potatoes start to fall apart. Transfer contents to a bowl and mash. 

+You can also make a delicious Indian variation by adding 1 tbs of Garam Masala with sugar and salt. After mashing add golden raisons.    

Thankgiving

Okay, so it was selfish of me to want to do Thanksgiving all by myself. But everyone else gets SO stressed out about it... And I thought it would be fun, plus, I would get to have all the recipes just the way I like it - wi th the free range, organic, antibiotic free turkey, and the organic greens, etc..... So I did it. All from scratch. You know what? I'll do it again tomorrow if you ask me. That was SO MUCH FUN! :) Who is going to give me money to start my own catering business.......?

Impulsively bought some Jubelale while I was picking up the turkey last night... Mmmm.

Mom's Onion Tart with Squash

My mom sent me a recipe for an Onion Tart she has whipped up a few weeks ago, so I decided to give it a try this past weekend. However, the acorn squash lingering in my kitchen was begging to be used, and suddenly my tart was destined to be a Squash and Onion Tart, and the results were fabulous.


Onion Filling:
3 cups slices onions
1 c. cubes of roasted squash, cooled (I think I'll use Butternut next time)
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
½ tsp salt
¼ cup cream
1 egg
1 T. dried sage

Pastry Crust:
1 cup flour
7 T. butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
about 1 T. milk or cream - I used soy milk

Brown the onions in butter and oil. Salt them. Put in a bowl to cool. Mix the cream, salt, sage and egg together, fold in the squash and set aside. Make the crust while the onions are cooling.

Mix together flour, butter and salt like a standard pie crust. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Add enough milk to make a dough that barely sticks together. Kneed a couple times and roll out into a circle and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Mix the cream and egg mixture into the onions and then spread on the circle of dough leaving the outside 1 to 1 ½ inches uncovered. Fold the outside edge over the filling, crimping the edge as you go.

Bake for 30 minutes @ 375°, or until the crust is lightly browned.

Ariel and I enjoyed it with roasted Autumn veggies and a big green salad. I can attest to the fact that the absolutely perfect dessert to this meal is posted right below...

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Last night I experimented with brownies and peanut butter chips...and I was pleased with the result. I used my favorite no fail brownie recipe and gave it some spice:

Brownies:

2 sticks butter

4oz bittersweet chocolate

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup flour

½ tsp SALT

1 bag reeses peanut butter chips

1 tablespoon milk

Melt butter and chocolate. Combine with sugar. Add eggs one at a time while mixing. Mix in remaining dry ingredients. Put in pan.

I then melted the peanut butter chips with the milk and swirled it in using a knife.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Marble Cutter's Soup

Yummy soup. Followed recipe straight from the Splendid Table, except I added oregano. 

Vegan Sausages

Too lazy to write this post out all over again. Just go look at it in the original post. 

Creamy Tomato Rosemary Flax Pasta

Too many words for one past perhaps? In any case, this was sort of a "whatever I have in the fridge" kind of meal... plus, it didn't hurt my freshly removed wisdom holes.

Creamy Tomato Rosemary Flax Pasta

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 can diced tomatoes

2 spoonfuls of low-fat cream cheese

rosemary, salt and pepper

flax seed pasta (Trader Joes!)

~this makes one big serving~

1. cook up the onion and garlic in a skillet, while boiling the pasta on the side.

2. pour the tomatoes and the cream cheese into the skillet, and cook until cheese has melted. 

3. spice it up with some rosemary, salt and pepper

4. simmer the sauce until it is at a desired thickness

5. serve the sauce over the pasta, and ENJOY!

**(it might also be good to throw in some fancy mushrooms and white wine!)

Not only is it delicious- it isn't as horrible for you as the standard creamy alfredo sauce! :)

Made this great soup for dinner, Cream of Sunchoke Soup. Phil and I ordered it at Lovely Hula Hands for my birthday dinner, where it was WAY better, but hey, I'm trying. (photos are all cut off, but full versions if you click I think)
Ingredients

Chop, chop chop chop chop.

Sunchokes look really weird.

Some for me, some for the soup!

Final product.

1 lb sunchokes, washed, peeled, sliced thin, and soaked in a bowl of cold water and fresh lemon juice
1 med onion, diced
2 med new potatoes, diced small
1/2 lb celariac, diced small
2 celery stalks, diced

1 tbs stone ground mustard
1 cup of dry white wine
1 cup of half and half

4 cups broth
Thyme
Rosemary
Olive oil
Salt

Pepper

Sunchoke Soup

Bring 2tbs olive oil to medium heat in a heavy bottom pot. Sautee onion, rosemary, thyme, and celery for 8 minutes, but do not brown.
Add the other vegetables and mustard, and sautee for 10 minutes.
Add white wine and increase heat, boiling off nearly all the liquid.
Add the broth and keep at a light boil for 30 minutes with no lid.
In batches, puree the soup mixture in a food processor or blender, then transfer back to pot.
Add half and half, and stir while bringing heat up to just a boil. Add salt and peper to taste. Serve hot immediately with a celery leaf to garnish.

Isn't fall beautiful?

Soups Galore

As some of you know my lil sister got her wisdom teeth yanked out on Friday. I came up to Portland to take care of her and make soup for her so she wouldn't starve. I cooked up some old favorites;  Red Pepper Coconut and Creamy Squash and Apple. I thought I would share with you lovely ladies....

Creamy Squash and Apple Soup:

5 cups chicken broth

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 cups vertically sliced onion

2 granny smith apples peeled and sliced

Salt and pepper

Cook the squash and potato in the broth until soft enough to mash. Remove from broth and mash it up, when finished return the mashed goodness to the broth. Saute onion and apples until nice and soft. Add to the broth along with salt and pepper to your liking. Heat it all up and serve :)

Chai Cupcakes

As usual, I made cupcakes. This time the special occasion wasn't just "It's Tuesday!!!" It was Ariel's birthday. I decided to make chai flavored cupcakes with a cinnamon buttercream frosting. I also found some great star-shaped cupcake tins while at the Smash Can Store with Molly. I thought that this would be a perfect combo for celebrating Paco's birthday. After looking at recipes online, I decided to make my own up, using ideas from recipes and a yellow cake as a base. So here goes:

3 eggs
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup milk
2 black tea bags
2 chai tea bags
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
ground cloves
nutmeg
allspice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the eggs in a bowl of warm water to warm them. Heat up the milk on the stove and add the tea bags. Let the milk and tea soak at least 10 minutes, and then remove the tea bags.
2. Get out your big, new, fancy red Kitchen-Aide mixer (paco). Cream the butter and sugar until it is a pastel yellow. Add the eggs, one at a time.
3. Sift all of the dry ingredients onto a piece of wax paper. The spices are all an approximation. Add more/less to your own personal taste.
4. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately to the mixer, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Pour the batter into the cupcake thingies and bake for about 18 minutes.
6. Enjoy amazing cupcakes.

Aleta, can you post a birthday picture?

Just one more way to procrastinate...

I just wanted to make y'all aware of my very favorite food blog. I read the usual suspects when I get a chance, like 101 cookbooks, and smitten kitchen, but you should really check this one out too.


La Tartine Gourmande

And while you're at it, you better check this page out too. It's just photos of this woman's breakfast every morning. It sounds lame, but just wait, you'll be checking it a couple times a week here soon...

simply breakfast

.

Delicious Easy Chicken-ness

So last night I got home from yoga at 830pm, and not only was I starving, but I had an eggplant to use. Sooooo I made some incredible chicken for which the recipe follows:

1 medium eggplant

2 medium red bell peppers

salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger 

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

4 tsp lemon or lime juice

1. Slice eggplant and bell peppers and place in microwave on high for 8 minutes- or until soft.

2. Combine ginger, garlic powder, 1/8 tsp red pepper and pinch of salt and sprinkle over chicken.

3. Cook chicken in a pan or on a grill (George Forman works wonders!).

4. PLace eggplant, bell pepper, 1/8 tsp red pepper, oil, paprika, juice and wine in a blender, and process until smooth and pourable. Pour over chicken

5. Serve and ENJOY!

Bagels and Cream Cheese

I fully plan on wowing Phil with some boiled bagels this weekend and
thought some fresh cream cheese would go nicely with it. I started a
buttermilk culture on Tuesday and am now using it to make other
cheeses. Kegerator will make for a nice hard cheese incubator (~50F).
Remember all that cheve we used to make Paco? Let's step it up to feta
and cheddar...

Pizza from Aleta's post

So I bought some of the TGs dough.... How the hell do you get it to
roll out!?!? Was very hard to work with.

Made a quick sauce with tomato paste, white vinegar, herbs de
provance, and fresh onion and garlic. Then topped with roasted red
peppers, capers, asiago shavings and my favorite vegetarian brats,
tofurkey somethin er other. Burned it at 450 for ten min, then aired
out apartment, reduced heat to 350 and continued to back for about
eight more minutes. Mmmmmm. Good call on the whole wheat TGs dough
Leeeeeeetah.

Happy Halloween!!

Ok. Ok. I promised Ariel I would finally put this post up. I got this recipe from Jane Snelling back in the day, and it has remained a favorite of mine for years. It's rather fitting for this time of year, but I think it's always a good fall-back treat. And so easy!



Pumpkin Bars with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

½ c. butter
1 c. brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 egg
1 c. canned pumpkin
1½ c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ginger, allspice, & baking soda. (each)
½ c. chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and pumpkin. Blend flour with spices and blend into the creamed mixture. Add the nuts, and mix well. Spread into a greased 9" x 13" pan, and bake @ 350° for 16-18 minutes.

1 Juicy Orange
1/2 package Cream Cheese
lots of powered sugar (like a cup or two)

I mixed the juice and zest of an Orange into the cream cheese until smooth. Then I added large spoonfuls of powered sugar until it reached the consistency I wanted. I left it kind of runny, and it will set up a little after you spread it over the bars. You could double the amount of cream cheese and use half the orange juice for a thicker, tarter frosting, as well.

Pear Gingerbread

I made this pear gingerbread the other day as a means of procrastination. It was pretty so I took a picture, and yummy so I wanted to share the recipe, but since I don't have it with me during this session of procrastination I will add it on soon :) 

We have been doing ladies dinner night on sundays down here in Corvallis and ofcourse you are all welcome to drop in whenever. Also it's about time for a formal dinner I think....

Birthdayssssss

Most importantly... Me. My birthday is Nov 2nd, but Paco's is Nov 3rd, and Colleen is right around the bend. And then there's Becca! I believe  her birfday is the exact same as Phillip's (which i only learned by some bizarre event of needing to get into something of your mom's and the code was your birthday!?!?!?!?!?) - December 7th. And then Melanie is riiiiiiiight around the New Years bend, 2nd week of Jan? Uhkay. That was fun and informative. 

Bagels Bagels Bagels

Rachel came for the weekend.... And we've made stuff. This is what happens when you share your recipe with your girlfriend. She makes it way better than you ever have or ever could. Thanks Rach.

And it's actually not even MY recipe. I just researched about 50,000 of them before I decided that the consistency was culminated into one, fairly successful sounding one. Which happened to be on allrecipes.com and here it is.... 

Hey Laaaaaddyyyyyyyy

You ladies have never met Jenna Adams, but she is Jake's sister. Um. The Jake you all refer to as Hot Jake and I pretend not to notice... Anyway, I added her as a contributing author ;)

Be proud ladies...

Excerpted from "Grand Canyon", Educated Guess - 2004, Ani DiFranco

shocked to tears by each new vision of all that my ancestors have done  like, say, the women who gave their lives so that i could have one  people, we are standing at ground zero of the feminist revolution yeah, it was an inside job stoic and sly one we're supposed to forget  and downplay and deny but i think the time is nothing if not nigh to let the truth out coolest f-word ever deserves a fucking shout! i mean  why can't all decent men and women call themselves feminists? out of respect  for those who fought for this  i mean, look around  we have this   yes i love my country by which i mean i am indebted joyfully to all the people throughout its history who have fought the government to make right where so many cunning sons and daughters our foremothers and forefathers came singing through slaughter  came through hell and high water so that we could stand here and behold breathlessly the sight how a raging river of tears is cutting a grand canyon of light  words and music by ani difranco © 2004 righteous babe music / BMI

Because cooking at 2.m. is normal

You guys are going to think I'm nuts.... but it wont be the first time. So it's 1:40 a.m. right now, and I am LOVING a chicken curry and naan bread i just whipped up from scratch. I went to get the groceries on my bike at 11:30, so really the cooking itself only took about 40 min. I cleaned the kitchen a long the way, and already packed up the leftovers... This is not my recipe, but i LOVE this website. Real, easy food, from people who are authentically of the ethnic origin of the food itself. 

How To Cook A Chicken Curry In Ten Minutes

How To Cook A Chicken Curry In Ten Minutes: Indian Chef and Cookery Book author Manju Malhi shows VideoJug users a quick and easy chicken curry which is perfect when you're in a hurry. Experience our Chicken Curry in Ten Minutes recipe, and make a quick and tasty dish for all to enjoy.

Weights & Measures:

                           Metric                         US Imperial                         UK Imperial                     

Serves:

2

Preparation Time:

5 minutes

Cooking Time:

10 minutes

---

Step 1:

You will need

• 45 ml olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 400 g chicken fillet
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 green chilli
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• ¼ tsp garam masala or 1 tsp curry paste
• 30 ml double cream
• 1 Teaspoon
• 1 Tablespoon
• 1 Chopping board for meat
• 1 Chopping board for vegetables
• 1 Sharp knife
• 1 Non-stick frying pan
• some Plates to hold the ingredients
• 1 Wooden spoon

---

Step 2:

Prepare

Finely chop a medium sized onion 

Remember- when preparing ingredients, the smaller you chop things, the faster they cook. Chop your ingredients really small, so they'll be ready in no time. 

Crush 2 cloves of garlic with the side of a knife. Now peel away the skin, and finely chop. 

Finely chop a green chilli. Unless you want an incredibly hot curry, use the knife to take out as many seeds as you can. Chilli juices can burn your skin so when you've finished, wash your hands. 

Take the chicken on a fresh chopping board. Chop into small bite-size pieces. Wash your hands after chopping the meat.

---

Step 3:

Fry the onion

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Then add the chopped onion, and fry for 1 minute.

---

Step 4:

Add chicken

Put the chicken in, and continue to fry for 5 to 6 minutes. The chicken will start to cook, and turn entirely white on the outside.

---

Step 5:

Add garlic and chilli

Put the garlic and chilli into the pan, and stir. Carry on frying gently over a medium heat, until everything is golden brown, which will take 2 to 3 minutes. Keep stirring.

---

Step 6:

Add spices

Put 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander in the pan. Stir well.

---

Step 7:

Add more flavour

Add 1 teaspoon of tomato purée, and 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala or curry paste. Here we're using freshly made garam masala. 

Stir, and fold 2 generous tablespoons of double cream into the mixture.

---

Step 8:

Check the chicken

If you're worried about whether the chicken is cooked, take a large piece from the pan, and cut it in half. It should break easily, and be white all the way through, with no trace of pink. It should also be piping hot throughout.

---

Step 9:

Serve

Serve hot with freshly cooked basmati rice, or naan bread.

Stetp 10: Hide from Kitteh!

How To Make Naan Bread

Naan Bread Recipe. Perfect your feast of flavours with delicious, aromatic naan bread fresh from the oven. Manju Mahli's authentic recipe is a real taste of India. Devour our Naan Bread recipe.

Weights & Measures:

                           Metric                         US Imperial                         UK Imperial                     

Serves:

4

Preparation Time:

40 minutes

Cooking Time:

15 minutes

Oven Temperature:

140

280° c  -   ° f

140

---

Step 1:

You will need

• 1 tsp dried active yeast
• 1 tsp demerara sugar
• 200 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp natural yoghurt
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 small bowl
• 1 teaspoon
• 1 tablespoon
• 1 mixing bowl
• 1 rolling pin
• 1 oven tray
• 1 pastry brush
• 1 tea towel

---

Step 2:

Yeast

Mix 1 teaspoon of dried yeast with 1 tablespoon of warm water in a small bowl. 

Stir a teaspoon of sugar into the yeast mixture. Put the bowl in a warm place, and leave it for 5 minutes, until the yeast is covered with froth.

---

Step 3:

Dough

While the yeast begins to froth, start to mix the dough. In a large mixing bowl, put 
200g of plain flour, 
1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. 
Mix well. 

Stir in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt, 2 tablespoons of milk and the yeast mixture, which should be frothy by now. Mix a little, with a spoon.

---

Step 4:

Knead

Press your knuckles repeatedly into the dough. Continue kneading in this way until you have a soft pliable dough. It should take about 5-6 minutes.

---

Step 5:

Rise

Dampen a tea towel or small cloth, and use it to cover the mixing bowl. Leave it in a warm place to rise. This should take 10 to 15 minutes.

---

Step 6:

Pre-heat the oven

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius, 275 degrees Fahrenheit, or Gas Mark 1.

---

Step 7:

Shape the dough

When the dough is ready, it will be spongy and springy. Lightly sprinkle a little flour over a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 4 equally sized balls. With your hands, or a rolling pin, roll each into a long oval shape, about half a centimetre, or a quarter of an inch thick. Don't roll them out too thinly, or they'll turn out like crisps.

---

Step 8:

Bake

Grease a baking tray with a little oil on a pastry brush. Place the ovals of dough onto the tray, and then in the centre of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. When they're ready, they should be light golden, soft and crumbly.

---

Step 9:

Serve

Serve hot, with your favourite curry, like Chicken Jalfrezi or Lamb Madras.

Notice how my naan looks nothing like theirs? That's cause i suck, and i forgot the part about making it round? Mine was pretty dense, but it still tasted good.