Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken is a classic Indian chicken recipe. I was a bit intimidated by it at first, but it is quite simple to make. Yogurt and lemon tenderize and moisten the meat, while spices give it a very fragrant and flavorful taste.

Ingredients:

3 lb skinless chicken of your choice thighs or breast

For marinade:

1 Tbsp ground coriander, lime juice

4 cloves garlice finely chopped

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp each salt, paprika, ground cumin

1-2 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp each ground turmeric, cayenne, pepper

1/2 c plain yogurt

Wash and pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels. Make deep diagonal slashes across each piece so the flavor can penetrate the meat.

Mix together all the ingredients for marinade in a small bowl.

Pour the marinade into a zip lock bag, add chicken and mix well. Turn the bag a few time to make sure chicken is well coated. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Take the chicken out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Preheat your grill to 350 degree, grill chicken for about 20 minutes (depending on the size), turn every 8 minutes for so. Brush with oil on each side, grill for 5 minutes longer. Remove chicken and serve with Indian bread and curried vegetable.

Banana zeppole

Zeppole is a kind of Italian doughnut. It is deep fried and dusted with powder sugar. Fresh zeppole is light and fluffy and quickly disappears at my house. Banana or apple can be used to add a fruity flavor to this little pastry.

1/4 c sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c water

1 c flour

4 eggs

2 medium ripe banana, chopped into small pieces

powder sugar and cinnamon for dusting

vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan combine buter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add flour. Stir continuously until mixture form a ball. Turn the heat back on low and stir a bit longer until the dough is nice and smooth.

Transfer dough mixture into a mixing bowl. Add one egg at the time and use electric mixer to beat it together, continue with the remaining egg. Beat until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until ready to use.

To avoid banana turning brown, add it to the dough mixture just before you are ready to fry. Mix well.

Pour enough oil into a heavy saucepan, about 2 inches from the bottom. Drop teaspoonful of batter into the hot oil. When you 1st drop the little dough in, it will stick to the bottom, but it will puff up and rise to the surface. Don't overcrowd the pan, fry them in batches. Fry until golden brown on all side, scoop them out and let drain in a brown paper bag or paper towel.

When ready to serve, sprinkle them with powder sugar and cinnamon.

These little fruity fritters are a big hit with my family, they are wonderful and melt in your mouth, you can't just have one. Enjoy!

Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are awsome! They smell darn good! Those are commons I've got from my family after they finished tasting. My first batch was gone in a flash.
They are indeed quite good, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the inside, and they smell wonderful. I like my cookies nice and fat so I use well chilled butter, it keeps the dough cool and won't spread too much in the oven.

Adapted from Alsolutely Chocolate

Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 sticks unsalted butter - yes, three sticks

3 tbsp instant espresso powder or 4 tbsp instant coffee - crushed

1 c confectioners sugar

1/2 c parked light brown sugar

1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 c granulated sugar for dipping

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, coffee, salt and cinnamon. Add flour in 2 or 3 increment. mix well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. Put the dough in the fridge for 1/2 hour to cool.

Heat oven to 350 degree. Put granulated sugar in a dish. Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into the sugar, place it on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea. They are pretty hard to resist.

Creamy split pea soup

2 c dried green split peas
5 c water
1/2 c dry sherry
2 c peeled, chopped sweet potato (1 large sweet potato)
1 c chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 TBSP salt
1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
1 c half and half
20 large shrimp, deveined
ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except spinach, half and half in a large pot.
Cover and cook on low heat for an hour, stir occasionally. Use a large spoon and mash the sweet potato and split peas agaisnt the side of the pot. I like the soup nice and smooth, or you can use a hand mixture to do the job.
While the soup is simmering, wash and devein your shrimp. Cut each shrimp in 3, and season them with old bay.
Adjust the thickness of the soup to your desire. Add more water, if you like it thin. Bring to a boil.
Stire in spinach, half and half and shrimp. Cover and cook long enough until the spinach is wilted and shrimp turned white. Season with pepper and serve.

My husband loves split peas soup, but the rest of the family doesn't. This way everyone is happy with the thick, tasty bowl of goodness.

Orange Glazed Salmon

Orange Glazed Salmon, corn pudding and steam veggie. The salmon was a wow factor at dinner.