Tandoori Chicken

 

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Tandoori Chicken
Let's be honest. We LOVE British Indian Cuisine. J found an amazing cookbook from The Curry Guy and we cook our way through the book regularly. With a few modifications, even our toddler loves this dish. It's best on a grill but we've made it on the stove and in the oven with similar results. 
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Using a sharp knife, make three slits in each chicken if leaving whole, if you're going the kabob method, dice up the chicken into 1-inch cubes.
  2. Squeeze the lemon juice all over the chicken thighs and sprinkle with the salt and let sit while you make the marinade.
  3. Place all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend to a fine paste. Cover the chicken pieces with the marinade and rub it with your hands deep into the flesh of the chicken. We often stick the chicken and the marinade into a ziptop bag and let marinate for a few hours up to overnight in the refrigerator. You can let it marinate for up to 48 hours, the longer the better!
  4. When ready to cook, either preheat your cast iron skillet or preheat your grill. An important note from the Curry Guy that is good for all things grill related: "You are ready to grill when you can hold your hand two inches above the grill without it being unbearably hot."
  5. Cook the tandoori chicken turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and the edges are blackened.
Recipe Notes

I love this dish and everything else The Curry Guy comes up with. He never lets us down!

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Butternut Squash Soup

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 Butternut Squash Soup
We love love love love love this perfectly fall soup (even the toddler!)
Servings
people
Ingredients
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Coat squash in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast squash in the oven at 425 for about 45 minutes.
  2. Peel the squash and set aside.
  3. In a soup pot, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil until shimmering over medium heat. Add the chopped shallot, onion and salt. Cook, stirring often until the shallot and onions have softened and are starting to turn golden about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently. DON'T LET THE GARLIC BURN.
  4. Add the reserved butternut squash, maple syrup, nutmeg and a few shakes of ground black pepper, plus half the butter.
  5. Pour in the broth and using your favorite stick blender, blend until smooth. Add the butter and blend again.
Instant Pot Directions
  1. On medium saute heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until shimmering. Add the chopped shallot, onion and salt. Cook, stirring often until the shallot and onions have softened and are starting to turn golden about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently. DON'T LET THE GARLIC BURN. Add the reserved butternut squash, maple syrup, nutmeg and a few shakes of ground black pepper, plus half the butter. Pour in the broth.
  2. Add the broth and CANCEL the saute function. Turn on Pressure cook. Set time for 10 minutes. Turn steam value to seal. When cooking time is done, let NATURAL release for 10-15 minutes. If the release valve hasn't depressed after 10-15 minutes, SLOWLY turn the release valve to venting. NOTE: if you get liquid coming up through the valve wait 2 to 3 minutes and try again.
  3. Remove the lid when the pressure has released. Using your favorite stick blender, blend until smooth. Add the butter and blend again. Serve.

Yum

Penne with garden Fresh Tomatoes and Basil plus Mozzarella


Our garden seems to choose every year what it will do well and what it won’t. One year, it was zucchini. Another year, basil. This year seems to be tomatoes. So with the overabundance of tomatoes and a few small basil leaves, we wanted to make something that would be quick and easy and not super hot, since of course it’s late August in Missouri.

Luckily, J found this super simple recipe on the Food Network. We’ve talked about how we love lots of Emeril Lagasse’s dishes before (here, here and here) and he did not disappoint this time either.

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 Penne with garden Fresh Tomatoes and Basil plus Mozzarella
Servings
people
Ingredients
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Put a large pot of salted water on for the pasta. Meanwhile, prepare your sauce.
  2. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil.
  3. Add the garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 1 minute or less.
  4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, just until they begin to release some of their juice.
  5. Cook the pasta in the pot of salted boiling water for 12 to 13 minutes until al dente (you're best bet is to follow the package directions).
  6. Drain the pasta. Add the pasta and basil to the pan with the tomatoes and toss.
  7. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  8. Serve the pasta in bowls, equally distribute the fresh mozzarella between the bowls. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the bowls of pasta and serve immediately.
  9. We reserved some mozzarella to top the pasta and then drizzled it with Balsamic vinegar.

My opinion:
So very tasty and perfect for a hot summer evening. Next time we might add additional veggies like onions or zucchini.