Chicken Mole

So, this is not an impressive recipe, I mean it's from Paula Dean, but it's pretty easy. It's also quite tasty, and Myron really likes it. I made it so he can have some when he gets home from Hong Kong tomorrow. I used thighs only, because they are cheap and both myself and Myron love dark meat. Also I don't strain it, because MORE SAUCE. 

"Hey, more sauce!"

-Terell Owens

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 chipotle peppers, roughly chopped

1 (10-ounce) can chicken broth

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 (5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces

White rice, for serving

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and spices and continue to saute to toast and develop flavor. Add diced tomatoes, peppers, chipotles, broth, peanut butter, and chocolate. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and puree until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sear the chicken in a heavy bottomed hot saute pan over medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Add to casserole dish, cover with sauce and braise the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Garnish with pepitas and serve with white rice.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Myron is more of a baker, but wile he’s in Hong Kong I must make due with my own abilities. I made a strawberry tart a month or so ago. After the success of that it wasn’t a giant leap to think of the combo of chocolate and peanut butter.  I looked at some other recipes, and I didn’t really like any of them on their own. The best one had a crust that also had peanut butter in it. Too much for me. No balance, so the recipe is kind of a combo other ones I put together for my use. I used an 11 inch tart pan, so the crust recipe is the Culinary Institute of America’s doubled. 


Tart crust


ingredients


2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg yolk

3 cups cake flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting


With a mixer cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until smooth and light in color, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolk and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add the flour all at once, mixing on low speed until just blended, about 30 seconds. 


The dough will be very crumbly when you remove it from the mixer. Use a gentle touch to press the dough into a disk. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for 20 minutes before rolling. Roll the dough out into a circle. Try to get it about 2 inches bigger than an 11” tart pan. fit it into the pan, and remove the excess from the edges. You shouldn’t need to grease or dust the pan there is enough butter in the dough to take care of that.


Use a fork to poke holes in the dough. The dough could puff up in a way we don’t want wile you blind bake it, so use a pie weight or put dry beans in some aluminum foil to make one. Put the crust in a 400 degree oven for around 15 min till it starts to brown. 
You can take the weight out just before this so it can cook evenly. 


Let the dough cool completely wile you make the peanut butter mouse.


Peanut Butter Mousse


ingredients 


7 tbs cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks




Beat the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks. Separately, beat all the other ingredients in another bowl till combined. Fold in the heavy whipped cream. Spread it into the tart and smooth the surface. Refrigerate while you make the ganache.


Ganache


3 oz milk chocolate
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp vanilla




Melt all of these together in a double boiler over the stove, and stir until combined. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. I don’t have a double boiler, but a big coffee mug in a shallow pot of water works fine for me. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for a couple of minutes. Pour it over the tart, and refrigerate until it sets.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I’ve not been the biggest fan of Indian food, but I recently had this dish at a restaurant with a British theme. According to Wikipedia it is one of the most popular dishes in London. All I knew when I had it was that I wanted more, and looking at a few recipes I decided that this one's level of difficulty was not out of reach for me. After making it I can tell you that I am very pleased with this recipe. It has most of the flavors I enjoyed while eating it in the restaurant. Even though I might try some tweaks in the future like a teaspoon of sugar or a bit of cinnamon in the sauce I will be making this many more times.

Ingredients


1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs


Marinade
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground red pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 piece minced ginger ( 1-inch long)


Sauce
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapenos, minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup whipping cream


Mix the marinate add the chicken and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Discard marinade. Grill or broil chicken, turning occasionally for about 8 minutes. For sauce, melt butter on medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeno; cook 1 minute. Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and Simmer 15 minutes. Stir in cream; simmer to thicken- about 5 minutes. Chop chicken into about 1 inch pieces and add to sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.

New Orleans Style Barbecue Shrimp

Even though I’ve lived in Louisiana my whole life I’ve only had New Orleans style Barbecue shrimp once as far as I can remember, and it was within the past year. It wasn’t great, but when I saw this recipe I got excited because it was my favorite kind of recipe. One that has lots of stuff in it, but it’s easy to make. I had most of the ingredients sitting in my kitchen already including some frozen Louisiana Gulf Shrimp. They had once been fresh enough to be from the “Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival” (which is a real thing). Ironic festivals aside for a while the only thing I knew to do with shrimp was fry them, and for lack of a healthier option I let these shrimp sit in my freezer quite a bit longer than I should have. I used 1lb. of shrimp even though the recipe calls for 2 lbs., because of this I tried to cook down the sauce at the end. This last part was a mistake, because it resulted in the shrimp being overcooked a bit. I think it also made the sauce more likely to break. The next time I make it I’ll still use half the shrimp called for, because hey more sauce, I’ll just be more mindful of not overcooking the shrimp. Also, I think I might add some zest to add a bit more lemon flavor to the party.

ingredients

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ancho chili pepper powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 pounds extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice, from one lemon

3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

Mix the paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shrimp to the spices and toss to coat evenly. Set aside. Melt the butter over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. Add the garlic and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for one minute. Do not brown. Add the shrimp and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are almost cooked but still opaque in spots, 3-4 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water and cook until shrimp are done, 1-2 minutes more. Scatter scallions over top and serve.

I chose to ignore the scallions part. I paired it with a yummy corn with pepers and onions thing I did the day before, and some left over three bean salad Myron made earlier in the week which makes for a plate of delicious piles of food.