A bit of Indian Flair: Chicken Tikka Masala

After a recommendation from a friend, we tried this recipe one night. It was another hit at the Kaiser household! I won't take credit for the recipe. It came from The Pioneer Woman website, and I plan to revisit that site and try some others, too. For the original recipe (almost the same as below, but mine has a bit less fat) and for step-by-step instructions and pictures, click on the link here.

Chicken Tikka Masala

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken breasts
  
• Kosher salt, to taste
  
• Ground coriander, to taste
  
• Cumin, to taste
• ½ cup plain low-fat yogurt, plus more for garnish
  
• 3 TB Butter
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 2-inch chunk fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 TB Garam masala (an Indian spice mix, see note at bottom)
  
• 2 14-oz cans Fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 TB Sugar
• 1-½ cup half-and-half
  
• 2 cups Basmati rice
• Tumeric
  
• Fresh cilantro
• Chili peppers, optional
  
• Turmeric
• Frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, carrots)

Seasoning both sides of the chicken breasts with kosher salt, coriander, and cumin. Then coat the chicken breasts completely with the plain yogurt. Set the chicken on a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and place it about 10-12 inches below a broiler for 5-7 minutes per side. Watch carefully so as not to totally char the chicken. It should have slightly blackened edges. Remove from oven.

In a large skillet melt 1 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and sauté until they are slightly browned, then add the garlic and ginger.

Next, add Garam Masala spice. And, if you like it hot, this is also when you will add your hot chili peppers. Serranos work well. (I made the Tikka Masala in one pan up to the point of adding the Serrano peppers. At that point, I moved some of it into a smaller pan to add the spice for Allen. Those peppers made me cough like crazy when I was cutting them and I thought they'd be too hot for the kids and me.)

Now add the diced tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add sugar. Let mixture simmer on medium for about 5 minutes.

To a rice cooker add 2 cups Basmati rice, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon Ground Turmeric and 4 cups water. Cover, turn on your rice cooker and walk away. If you do not have a rice cooker, cook your rice as usual but make sure that you use Basmati rice.

After the Tikka Masala sauce simmered for a little bit, add the half & half. Chop the chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks and stir them into the Tikka Masala sauce. A handful of chopped fresh cilantro is a nice addition if you like cilantro. You can also throw some frozen veggie mix into the cooked rice, give them a stir, and allow the heat of the rice to cook them. It tastes great and gives another nice dash of color. Serve the rice with the Chicken Tikka Masala over top, and a dollop of yogurt on top of that.

Note: I couldn't find the Garam Masala spice mix at our grocery stores, but I made the mix as suggested. Next time I will probably reduce the cayenne to 1/2 TB since it had a bit too much of a kick for the kids' palates.

Garam Masala Mix

• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 TB ground coriander
• 1 TB ground cumin
• 1 TB ground black pepper
• 1 TB ground cayenne pepper (this was too much for the kids, I will use 1/2TB next time)
• 1 TB fennel seeds
• 1 TB ground ginger
• 1 TB ground cardamom
• 1 TB ground nutmeg

Daffylion Adventure

Yesterday, Allen and I decided to take the kids to see the flowers today since it had been such a pretty weekend. We had a back-o-the-car picnic then walked through the gardens. It was a bit chilly and it did start raining on us at the end, but we enjoyed our outing and got a cute picture of the kids, too. Sadly, the rain messed up a few of my planned shots, so I'm glad I have plans to go back next week, too. . . . hopefully, I'll get some sunnier pictures soon . . .

All Smiles

This is the face that Ben usually wears. His eyebrows are raised high on his head. His cheeks are up as high as they will go, forcing his eyes into a cute squint and his mouth into a beautiful smile. He does this all . . . the . . . time. I am not sure if this is how he is squinting to see better or if he is just always this happy. He even puts on this face when he's being scolded and, well, that is when it really frustrates me. Otherwise, it is a contagious grin even if it aches my face to watch it. :DThis week he had a few scratches above his eye and on the edge of his nose (you can still see part of the scab). Every time someone asked what happened we'd get one of two stories.

Version #1:
What happened to your face, Ben?
The lion scratched me. ROAR!
Oh? That must hurt. What is the lion's name?
Tiger.

Version #2
What happened to your face, Ben?
The dinosaur scratched me. ROAR! Ooh . . . Scary.
Oh? That must hurt. What is the dinosaur's name?
It was a dinosaur lion named Tiger.

Ben likes to make silly faces and make up silly words. Can you tell that he enjoys frustrating his brother, too? He is often in his own little world and we are deciding right now not to worry about it too much. Last week, we were going around this dinner table naming things we loved about each of the kids. Ben kindly told Maddie he liked her hair. He told Jon he liked to play with him. He told Will he liked when Will read to him. When we got to Daddy, Ben must have been bored. "I like Daddy thunderstorms BOOM! BOOM! and lightening (as he opened and closed his eyes quickly to recreate the flicker.)" When I asked what he liked about Daddy, he repeated it all. Asking once more, but rephrasing, I got the same response again, but then his voice jumped an octave and his fingers danced over his head as he added, ". . . and then there comes a little rain cloud, sprinkle, sprinkle." Oh, he was proud of his answer, but Allen and I just looked at each other wondering where Ben went. When he is with me by himself he is a calm, collected child who speaks in complete sentences, even if they are punctuated with lion and dinosaur roars or fire-engine sirens and horns. Of fire trucks, he does a PERFECT impression. We don't let the kids be sirens in the car, but he's kept the volume low enough that I have, in fact, even slowed the car and looked in my rear-view mirror for the fire-truck I thought was heading my way. I have been embarrassed a few times to look back and see a proud little boy making those sounds and grinning just as big as can be at the fact that he fooled me.

Daddy and Maddie

. . . and Maddie's Magna-doodle of Daddy that she drew today. As she explained it, "There's his smile and glasses and hair!"
What else is new this week with Maddie? She tells me about half-a-dozen times a day, "I love my family. . . it's my favorite family. I like family days."

Novel Approaches

Is there anything better than sitting in a sunbeam reading a good book? Maybe so, but this definitely make the top ten for my list of favorite ways to relax. I've slowed down a bit on my reading lately, but mostly because I've been too tired to read before going to sleep at night. I am hoping to catch up on some pages next week during spring break when we won't be running around so much.
I've been keeping a blog of my thoughts of all the books I've been reading this year. Some good, some not so good, but if you are interested, check out my BiblioFiles blog. Remember my 2010 Resolution to read 50 books? I'm definitely making progress, but as I look at Lord of the Rings and War & Peace, and realize I've been trying to get through The Stand since January, I'm wondering if I'll make it through all of them or not. I am going to do my best and try to enjoy the process, so in the end, I'll still have broadened my horizons and read a lot of great books. And our library has grown, too. As of now, I am borrowing one and there is only one we don't have yet, but the others -- we've got 'em.

Not including magazines or books I've read to the kids, I have read more than 4500 pages this year. Here is what I've read so far (from "The List") in order of completion:

• The Secret Garden (Burnett, 1911)
• Wuthering Heights (Bronte, E, 1847)
• Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, 1937)
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis, 1950)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Shaffer & Barrows, 2008)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick, 1968)
• The Kite Runner (Hosseini, 2003)
• Beloved (Morrison, 1987)
• Winnie the Pooh (Milne, 1926)

I've attempted Lolita (Nabokov, 1955) and I read about three-quarters of it before deciding I'd rather be spending my time reading something I was enjoying. I decided not to finish it and I am working on being okay with that. Right now, I am reading Memoirs of a Geisha (Golden, 1997) and The Stand (King, 1978). All in all, I am still averaging a book a week from the list, but have also read some others [not on my list] at the same time.

I am enjoying this reading project a lot. Many of these novels are English, and I do get tired of reading about England so often. Many are historical fiction, and that is not a genre I usually read, yet I am enjoying it.

As the sunshine brightens and warms the days, I'll probably slow down the reading to spend some time in the garden, but I'll get back to the books soon enough. Now. . . I'm going to start dreaming of the days I can swing in the hammock sipping lemonade and reading a novel while the kids run and play in the yard. . . .

Thai Chicken with Tomato, Basil, and Coconut

It's been too long since I've posted a recipe, and I hope to get some more of our favorites posted in the near future. This is my favorite meal, and it has held that title for more than a year since I remember making it for my last two birthdays. I started with a recipe on the Betty Crocker site, then I made adjustments to fit our tastes. The recipe below has been changed enough I am calling it mine for now. :) One of my favorite aspect of this meal is that I can make it quickly -- in about 30 minutes I have a delicious meal that my whole family loves!
Thai Chicken with Tomato, Basil, and Coconut

Yield: 6-8 Servings

• 1 TB vegetable oil
• 2 pounds uncooked chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tsp green Thai curry paste (find it in the Asian food section, look for Thai Kitchen-brand)
• 2 cans (14 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drain one of the cans
• 2 TB lime juice
• 1 TB packed brown sugar
• 1 cup Coconut milk (in the Asian food section; do not get the "light" or cream of coconut)
• 1 TB Fish sauce (in the Asian food section, see note below recipe)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, if available (otherwise, look for the non-dried version in the refrigerated produce section)
• about 1/2 box of thin rice noodles (8.8 oz.)
• 3-4 green onions, sliced

Boil about 3 cups of water in large bowl or pan (this will be for the rice noodles.) In a separate 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil 2 minutes. Add red-onion and garlic and cook another 2 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in curry paste; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, lime juice and brown sugar. Heat to boiling then reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, fish sauce, and basil. Heat over low heat until hot.

Meanwhile, add rice noodles to the hot water and let them soak for about 4 minutes until they are soft. Drain noodles and add them to the chicken sauce. Turn off heat. Stir and add green onion to the top.

Serve as is, or offer fish sauce, lime juice, coconut milk, and curry paste at the table. The adults in our family add a bit more spice, and this is a perfect way to make each individual's dish taste just right. Did I mention everyone in our family loves this meal?

Note: Most of the products above are Thai Kitchen brand at our local grocery store. As for the fish sauce, it sounds weird, but it adds the perfect flavor to many of our meals. Just a little bit adds a lot of depth to the dishes. Do NOT smell it though. (I know that means you probably will, but don't say I didn't warn you, and try it anyway.)

Getting it done: The Weekend Edition

We had a fabulous weekend! The weather was beautiful and the kids got lots of time in the sunshine. They played well and Allen and I got a lot accomplished. THAT is my idea of an awesome weekend!

Saturday started perfectly for me: Allen let me sleep in, the kids were quiet, and only the sunshine on my pillow woke me up. Allen and I enjoyed coffee together then made plans for the day -- namely, attack the closet-cave-monster and retame the beast that keeps making a mess. We emptied the shelves, scooted and rearranged clothes, sorted out trash and give-aways, then sat down for lunch. While the kids napped, Allen went to Lowe's and came back with a trunk full of shelves. The kids enjoyed playing outside, and the weather was nice enough we opened the windows to keep and eye and ear on them. Meanwhile, Allen assembled shelves and we started moving things back into the closet. All in a day, I have a brand new closet that made Will say, "Wow-- I didn't know it was that big!" and Maddie chimed in with her opinion, "It is beautiful!" I still have a few projects behind that door, but I was glad to have my bed cleared for bedtime.

Sunday I somehow got to sleep in again. Yes, my husband is a sweetheart and a bit of an insomniac. By 8:30, I started clearing out my bathroom and by lunchtime the room was sparkly, smelling fresh, and had several reorganized cabinets. Since it was still a bit too cool for the kids to play outside, I entertained Maddie and Jon by teaching them how to clean mirrors and wipe the sink. Allen vacuumed and helped clean the shower and we had a lazy afternoon. At one point, I went to my room to choose my next novel. I ended up reorganizing the bookshelf and Maddie came and sat keeping me company. She whispered to me, "Mama, is this something only for us girls?" Since it wasn't, I got out the nail polish and painted her little fingers and toes so we could have some girl-time. I had so much fun with her that I asked her to help me cook dinner, and she loved that. At dinner, when Ben thanked me for cooking dinner, Maddie piped up that he should thank her, too. When Jon and Will told me they liked dinner, she insisted they tell her, too. She was proud to be my helper. The boys fought over who got to clean up after dinner and in the end Allen oversaw it all: Will washed dishes, Jon rinsed, Allen dried, and Ben put them away and wipe the table. I think only one thing was broken in the process, but we didn't need it anyway, right?

Letting kids help makes the job take longer and it usually isn't done quite to my standards. I'm learning to let go of the perfectionism as a mean to teach my kids how to do things for themselves. I know I should probably enlist their help more often, but its a learning process for us all.

And to wrap up February's events, here is what happened last night. Will came down in the middle of the night to tell me his smoke detector was going off and he was afraid there was a fire. It turns out it was just chirping because it needs a new battery soon, so I told him he could go back to bed. A while later, Will was at my bedside again -- this time with a rash on his tummy that was hurting him. In my mostly-unconscious-state, I said I'd look at it in the morning and sent him back to bed. This morning I saw he did indeed have some big, ugly red spots and I asked how he got them. He explained that he got them coming down the stairs on his belly. Why would he do that?? Yes, I asked. His response made sense: "Because the fireman said when there is a fire we have to crawl on our tummy to stay out of the smoke!" Poor little guy -- I'm glad his rug-burn didn't start a real fire, and I am REALLY glad he listens to safety lessons. Now, to go find that new battery . . .