Phillip Lehner Dot Com

Yet another recipe…  A friend named Burton came over to eat on evening and brought grub from a local Indian place called Shalimar.  One of the dishes he brought over was chicken tikka masala.  I searched for a recipe for a while and think this one works out pretty well.  Still working on the rice, but this masala is terrific.

Ingredients:

Chicken Marinade:
1 Cup Yogurt (we use greek, otherwise you will need to strain)
1 Tbl Lemon Juice
2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 dash Cayenne
2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbl Minced Ginger
~1 – 1.5 lb Chicken cut into half inch slices

Masala:
1 Tbl Butter
1 Clove Garlic
1 Chopped Jalapeno
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Salt
8 oz Tomato Sauce
1 Cup Whole Milk
Cilantro to garnish

In a bowl mix the chicken marinade ingredients and allow to rest in the fridge from 45 minutes to 12 hours. Longer the better. { NOTE: If you can’t get your hands on Greek yogurt don’t despair. Take a typical plain yogurt and spoon a cup of it into a strainer or sieve lined with layered cheese cloth or paper towels and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. Obviously, you should put a bowl under the strainer to catch the dripping moisture. }

Two options here: Grill or broil. Of course, I say grill. But in case you don’t have that ability or desire I will give you instructions for both. Fire up the grill or place your broiler pan in the oven (which can be set to broil at 500 degrees or so. HOT!) Once the cooking apparatus is heated, remove the chicken from its rest in the fridge and prepare to move to the cooking surface. If grilling, I suggest kababing those little fellows. If broiling, you can just drop the chicken on your sizzling hot pan and return to the oven. Turn the chicken pieces over after about 5 or 6 minutes of grilling or broiling. { NOTE: I think you should probably start your rice about now, but I will leave that to you. } Either way they don’t take long to cook, so quickly get the next step working.

In a large saucepan, saute the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, and salt in butter ( you can use olive oil ) for about a minute over pretty high heat. You can add the leftover marinade now if you didn’t throw it out. Also, at this point you can spice things up by adding cayenne and/or red pepper flakes to the saute. More the merrier. Add tomato sauce. Stir a bit. Now add milk. These additions will cool the pan a bit which is good. Lower the heat to medium and let the sauce catch up and simmer so that it will render down for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Sometime during the sauce creation, your chicken will be ready to pull off the grill or out of the oven. Immediately drop the chicken in the sauce and allow to simmer for about 15 to 30 minutes over lowish heat. Your sauce may be thickened up properly pretty early depending on the speed at which your chicken gets done. If it finishes early just cover it and reduce the heat. If you have to wait a while do so with the lid off until you think it looks right.

Serve the masala over rice with a side of your choosing. We eat naan bread and lentil soup. Garnish with rough chopped cilantro. The hot masala releases the flavors in the cilantro and should be eaten with the dish. If you hate cilantro, ditch it. In addition, a Malbec wine (Crios, Mataverde, etc) or strong ale (Arrogant Bastard, Dogfish Head 120, etc) are great with this spicy dish. Let me know what you think.

I woke up this morning feeling peckish for sweet breakfast.  This is not a frequent occurrence as I am more of a bacon and eggs guy.  Having briefly weighed my options, I settled on French toast.  Below is my decadent take on the classic.  I hope you try it. Let me know what you think and any opinions you may have about it.

Ingredients:

Toast:
3 eggs
3/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 loaf French bread
2 Tbl butter
pinch of kosher salt

Syrup:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl whole milk
pinch of kosher salt

Optional filling:
2 oz cream cheese
1 Tbl powder sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Be prepared to mix again between soaking slices because the dry ingredients will tend to separate and float to the surface.

If you plan to make your own syrup (and I hope you do), now is a great time to get that started. In a small sauce pan, combine brown sugar, butter, milk, and salt. Heat to a low boil and keep it there for about 3 or 4 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.

In yet another bowl, mix the cream cheese, powder sugar, and vanilla until all the sugar lumps are gone and mixture is spreadable. Set aside.

Heat a large pan or griddle lubed with the two tablespoons of butter. As this heats up, slice the French loaf diagonally into 2 inch slices. Cutting diagonally will lend more surface area for noms, make the toast a bit easier to eat, and tends to be more aesthetically pleasing. Soak each piece in the egg mixture one at a time, for about 30 seconds per side. Once the slice is soaked drop it into the heated pan, flipping occasionally and pinch a VERY small bit of salt onto each slice. If you are making a lot of toast you can hold finished slices in an oven set to the lowest possible temperature.

After toast is finished, stack the slices as high as you want spreading a thin layer of cream cheese between them. Drizzle with a small bit of syrup and enjoy with a tall, hot cup of Brown Coffee Company joe. You did remember the coffee, right?