Kitchen-Gadget Must Have: IKEA Milk Frother

So you technically don't HAVE to have this.  But if you're a coffee lover, it's a great thing to get!  We love having a little whipped milk on top of our coffee in the morning to make it feel more coffee shop-ish.  We've had an espresso machine in the past with the frothing wand thing on the side.  But honestly, I just prefer brewed coffee from a pot, not espresso, every morning.  So this is a perfect way to have that little bit of frothed milk on your regular cup of coffee! :)  You can pick one up on amazon, (if you've got a package headed your way soon) or in Bangkok at IKEA next time you're in Thailand!

Pulled Chicken Barbecue

My husband is a barbecue nut.  He loves it.  He says that barbecue sauce is one of his top two favorite foods.  (The other is parmesan cheese... he's really out of luck living in South Asia!) : )

To make up for his lack of barbecue options on this side of the world, I have experimented with several different options.  The one that he asks for most often are these simple pulled chicken sandwiches.  They're a quick go-to meal, especially if you have a place where you can buy burger buns!

Pulled Chicken Barbecue

Rub:

⅓ c. Sugar

2 t.  Paprika (don't use lal mirch!)

2 t. Dry Mustard
1 t. Salt 

4 whole Chicken Breasts

1 can Ginger Ale
1 c. Water

Sauce:

½ c. Apple Cider Vinegar

½ c. Ketchup
⅓ c. Brown Sugar (or white sugar/bhura is fine too!)
½ c. Pan Drippings (Or Broth)
1 T. Dijon Or Yellow Mustard
2 pinches Salt 

Directions:
Mix together in a bowl the sugar, paprika, dry mustard, and a teaspoon of salt.
Mix and rub on the outside of the chicken breasts. 

Heat 1 t. of oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker.  Quickly sear the chicken breasts on both sides in the oil. Don't cook too long, just brown the tops and bottoms.

Pour water and ginger ale into pressure cooker. Seal the lid. Bring to high pressure and cook for 10-15 minutes. 

Remove from pressure cooker, and use two forks to shred the chicken.

Pour off all but ½ cup of the drippings from the pressure cooker. Put pressure cooker on a medium heat (without the lid on) and add ketchup, brown sugar, prepared mustard, and apple cider vinegar. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to incorporate any drippings sticking to the bottom on the pan.
Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning. I have found that this bbq sauce tastes strongly of vinegar at this point. Don’t worry; it will mellow out once you mix it in with the pulled chicken.

Add bbq sauce to the chicken. You may not want or need all of it. It depends on your taste. I use all of mine, but I really love sauce! Great with potato or pasta salad, or just plain chips or McCain Super Wedges for a quick and easy meal! :) 

Chicken with Creamy Mustard Sauce-from PW

I love the Pioneer Woman. I've said it before.  I'll say it many times in the future. Many of her recipes are so easy to adapt to our available food items.  I keep trying to win a KitchenAid mixer or Le Crueset pot from her.  But it's not working for some reason.  : )

I try to attempt at new PW recipe almost at least once a week.  They pretty much never fail. This is one that I will keep in rotation for awhile, because it was very quick, and very tasty, and my whole family loved it.  My kids even said they wanted to give me a reward for making the best chicken ever, what would I like?  I said "Kids who listen and obey all day tomorrow!" : ) 

The original PW recipe is here.  This is how I tweaked it for our South Asian non-alcoholic version: 

Chicken with Creamy Mustard Sauce-PW Style

4 whole chicken breasts

2 T. olive oil

2 T. butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 c. chicken broth/ 1 cube buillion in 1 c. water

1 T. Dijon mustard (I used Remia imported brand)

1 T. grainy mustard (I used Fun Foods English Mustard)

1/2 c. heavy cream

Water for thinning

1 t. sugar

1 T. red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise for eight thin pieces.  Salt and pepper both sides.  

Heat oil and butter together in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken on both sides until golden brown.  Remove chicken to a plate. 

Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the garlic to the pan and saute for a minute, make sure it doesn't burn.  Add the chicken broth/bullion, and cook to reduce it to half.  Add both mustards and stir.  Add the red wine vinegar and stir with a whisk to combine.  Add the cream.  If sauce seems thick, add a bit of water.  Add sugar, salt and pepper, adjusting seasonings to your taste.  Place the chicken back in the sauce and cook for just a couple of minutes.  Serve with sauce on top of chicken!

PW suggest serving this with a green salad.  We had this with a fresh green bean salad, and it was a big hit. I'll definitely be making this again! :) 

Make Your Own Rice-A-Roni

Make your Own Rice-A-Roni:

½ c. Vermicelli
¾ c. Uncooked Long Grain Rice
3 c. Water, Plus More As Needed
2 T. Butter Or Oil
⅛ t. Salt 
⅛ t Paprika
⅛ t Pepper
⅛ t Onion Powder
⅛ t Garlic Powder
2 cubes Chicken Bouillon 
1 Medium Onion, Diced

Directions:
In medium skillet sauté onion.  When translucent, add broken pasta pieces and rice in butter, stirring constantly, until the pasta is golden brown. Carefully pour in water, spices and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Croissants?!? Yes Please!!!

My family and I went on a little hiatus from South Asian life this past year.  We were in the US from August to the first of February.  We returned to our South Asian city, only to find it was time to move to a different apartment.  It's been a good move for us, but now, about a month later, we're finally settled in and getting back to a routine.

I've been wanting to try making croissants for a long time, but never really had the courage (or a good reason to muster up the courage).  A friend in my city had received a package with a special ingredient, and wanted to make her grandmother's chicken salad and have us all over for lunch.  Well, if that's not a reason to figure out how to make croissants, I don't know what is. I spent some time looking over lots and lots of recipes, and finally settled on this one. It has really cool .gifs. (If you don't know what those are, it's okay, I didn't either before I saw them here!)  They're moving pictures, not like a movie, but sequenced to show action, that gave me a fantastic idea of what the process was supposed to look like.

I learned a lot through the process. Like, the butter inside melts much faster in north Indian heat. : )  And, if I were to do it again, I would roll (and fold) them out twice each time I took them out, to get more layers, because mine didn't have as many layers as the original recipe did.  But all in all, for a first attempt, they turned out great.

One thing that surprised me is that it was about one hour of active work.  And that was spread out over about 15 hours.  I started in the afternoon, made the dough, let it rest in the fridge, and then took it out ever hour on the hour to roll and fold four times (I think!). I lived by the kitchen timer that day. : )  Then the dough rested overnight, and in the morning, I got up, rolled them out and shaped them, and let them rise 2 hours, then baked them.  It wasn't near as hard as I imagined it being. : )

Here's pictures of how mine turned out, and a link to the original recipe!

Be brave in your kitchen! Tackle something previously scary this week! : )

Croissant Tutorial at Top With Cinnamon . com

This is the dough after it's final roll and fold, when it's cut and ready to rise overnight in the fridge.  I was surprised at how many layers there were, but it's nowhere near what the original poster's dough looks like.  Mine definitely looks hot and tired, thanks to the Rajasthan heat! :)

Finished product!  They were yummy with that chicken salad! :)

Shish Taouk (Lebanese Chicken)

This is one of my favorite Lebanese dishes to make.  I got the recipe from Nita Mehta's Lebanese Cooking for the Indian Kitchen.

This will require some planning ahead because you will have to assemble your Lebanese spice mix and also marinate your chicken for at least 4 hours (I usually marinate overnight), but the results are well worth the extra planning. I usually double this for my family.





Serves 3-4
250 gms boneless chicken - cut into 3/4" pieces
1 medium sized onion- cut into 8 pieces

Marinade
1 egg
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste (I usually just use fresh grated ginger and minced garlic)
4 Tbsp. thick curd (yogurt)
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, grated
1 tsp dried thyme or oregano
1 tsp Lebanese spice mix
1 tsp roasted cumin (bhuna jeera) powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder or paprika (degi mirch) powder (I always use paprika b/c of the little people)
2 tsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp oil

1. Mix all ingredients of the marinade in a bowl.
2. Add chicken pieces and onion.  Keep in fridge covered for at least 4 hours.
3. Preheat oven at 180 C for 10 minutes.
4. Grease the wire rack with oil.  Place the chicken pieces on it. (I always use the skewers that came with my oven.)
5. Bake at 180 C in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is well cooked.

This goes great with some hummus, and carrots, cucumbers, and Megan's pita bread for dipping.

Lebanese Spice Mix

This is a great Lebanese spice mix that I use with several recipes. You can find all of these easily in an Indian grocery store. I have re-purposed my husband's old coffee grinder to grind my spices. I quadruple this recipe to make the grinding easier, then I store the extra for later use. The ground spices will keep for 6 months.

Makes 2 tsp.
1/2 tsp. black pepper corns (saboot kali mirch)
4-5 cloves (laung)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (jaiphal) - grated
1/4 tsp.  fenugreek seeds (methi daana)
1/4 tsp. ginger (sonth) powder
1/2 tsp. green cardamom seeds (chhoti illaichi)
1 star anise (phool chakri)
1" stick cinnamon (dalchini)

 Grind all ingredients in a small mixer (or coffee grinder) or crush with a pestle and mortar to a powder. Store in a jar with a tight fitting lid and use as required.