chicken tikka masala

we've always been so intimidated by indian cuisines because of all the spices, but after making some of the more popular dishes the last year or so, it's not so bad anymore.


this chicken tikka masala dish served with rice is so good, can you see that clean plate in the picture? ;)

m is cooking again tonight. he doesn't cook very often, but when he cooks, he cooks indian. and we love it! over the past few years we've become quite a fan of indian cuisine. even c loves it and he's so picky with his food! i have to say they are just so good. you cannot go wrong with all those spices. i know the list of ingredients just seem so intimidating, especially with all the spices. i mean, who has fenugreek or cardamom pods in their spice pantry? i know we definitely didn't 3 or 4 years ago.

well, i figured it's about time i post one of his indian dishes on here. what you see in this post is his chicken tikka masala. we had it with brown rice since we didn't have basmati rice on hand or any naan bread. i know, i have this bread book with this one naan recipe i have yet to try and make. like i've mentioned in the past, someday i will make bread. naan bread will be one of the things i'll make. just not today or tomorrow or next week. hehehe ;)

ok, so far m has cooked us chicken korma (which i think is his signature dish… it's seriously so good), chicken tikka masala (the ones pictured here) and chicken biryani. all three dishes have been superb. i think they are just as good as any dishes you'd get at an indian restaurant or better. i know he's still trying to perfect his biryani dish, but i have to say, that last time we had it, it was almost perfect! hahaha… good enough for eating anyway. for sure better than the first time he ever made it. oh, yeah… let's just say it didn't quite turned out the way it was supposed to. i have pictures of the second biryani try that turned out fine, but i have yet to post it here. someday when i get around to it.

unfortunately, i don't have the recipe for this delicious-looking chicken tikka masala to post here (maybe when i get a hold of it, i'll update and post it?!). he told me he got it out of this book, 660 curries by raghavan iyer. i believe you can get it on amazon. it's got a bunch of indian curry dishes. there are so many, we've only got around to a few of them. plenty more to come!

now, tonight m's making butter chicken. i'm very curious to see how that dish will turn out. i'm sure it'll taste delicious as always. he's such a tough critic himself, so i hope it's good. :)

recipe from: 660 curries by raghavan iyer

goat cheese garlic pizza with fresh greens

over the weekend i wanted to be a little bit adventurous with my party food options so i decided to try a totally random recipe. actually, there really wasn't a recipe for this particular pizza that i made here. i just sort of made it up. i think it turned out quite well. it's like killing two birds with one stone. you get a pizza and salad in one! the pizza was definitely a hit with the hubby. he absolutely loves pizza but such a tough critic at times. this time, he actually said there was a lot of flavor picked in one bite. so the overall verdict? yay! he loves it; and everyone at the party liked it too.

below's the recipe should you want to try this out yourself. i hope you'll enjoy it as much as everyone did here. enjoy! :)


on a whim i made this pizza topped with goat cheese, fresh spring salad mix, almond slivers, and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette


a bite of this pizza packs quite the flavor punch


yum! try the recipe out for yourself and let me know what you think ;)


i think this is a new favorite, simple and easy to make


goat cheese garlic pizza with fresh greens, almond slivers + balsamic vinaigrette

ingredients:

1 ball of pizza dough
1/4 cup flour (or enough for rolling out pizza dough)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pizza or italian seasoning
1/4 cup mozzerella & cheddar cheese mix, shredded
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled + 2 tbsp for topping
1-2 cups spring salad mix
1/2 an apple, sliced thinly
almond slivers, as much as needed

balsamic vinaigrette (for drizzle before serving):
1 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

directions:

preheat oven to 450°F.

sprinkle some flour on a working area where you'll be rolling out your pizza dough. form dough into circular or any shape you'd like for your pizza. once you've shaped your desired pizza shape, put it on a pizza pan. make sure to dust your pan with flour or spray it with some oil before putting the dough on there so that the pizza doesn't stick once it's baked (that happens sometimes to me when i skip this part, it can be very annoying trying to get the pizza off the pan). once your rolled out dough is on the pan, mix the chopped garlic cloves and olive oil together. then brush (generously) 3/4 of the garlic oil mixture onto the dough (it's okay to leave the garlic pieces on the dough). once that's done, sprinkle in some pizza or italian seasoning. then add in the 1/4 cup mozzerella and cheddar cheese mixture.

put the pizza crust in the oven and let it bake for 5 minutes. after 5 minutes, take it out and brush the rest of the garlic oil mixture onto the partially cooked crust. sprinkle 1/4 cup of the crumbled goat cheese onto the crust and put it back in the oven for another 12-15 minutes or until golden.

once the crust is baked, take it out and let it cool for a few minutes before cutting. once cut, sprinkle the spring salad mix along with the rest of the crumbled goat cheese (2 tbsp), apple slices and almond slivers. then drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette over the topped pizza and serve. enjoy!

makes one whole 10-12" pizza (about 8 slices depending on how big/small you cut the slices).

easy sunday night dinner - spam & rice

five years ago if you asked me if i liked spam i would probably respond, "ewww? spam?!" but these days, you'd definitely find me chowing down some good old spam and rice – i'll take it any day. i love it, especially when it's glazed with a sweet salty sauce that's very similar to a teriyaki sauce like the simple one i made for tonight's dinner.

the sauce is so simple, you only need two ingredients and it totally transforms plain boring spam into something delicious and finger-licking good! hahaha, yes, that is if you eat without any forks or knives – which i must confess, i do occasionally. ;)


i used the oven to cook the spam – it makes for easy cleanup!


easy to make teriyaki-like glaze spam over steamed jasmine rice -- yum!

sweet & salty teriyaki-like spam over steamed jasmine rice

ingredients:
1 spam tin, sliced into 8 pieces
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
green onions for garnish (optional)

directions:
mix together the brown sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl and set aside. cook the sliced spam in a nonstick or frying pan over medium heat. once spam is seared enough on both sides (where it looks crusty) in the pan, add in the sauce. make sure to sauce all the pieces of spam. let the pieces sit for a minute or two to get the sauce to caramelize and thicken a bit. after those few minutes the spam should be ready to eat. serve spam over cooked jasmine rice.

suggested serving: 2 slices of spam per 1/2 cup rice. makes enough for 4 total servings. enjoy!

note: you can also cook the spam in the oven – that's what i did this time. i couldn't be bothered to fry them in a pan, so i used the oven instead. it makes the cleaning up process super easy actually. i would highly recommend cooking them in the oven. if you go this route, bake in 400°F for 10 mins, then add in half the sauce sauce, put back in the oven for a minute; take it out, flip the slices, add the rest of the sauce and put it back in the oven again for another minute; and voila! you're all done!

a few photos from yesterday's fourth of july

mark and i took c to his first ever 4th of july fireworks show last night. he loved it and had so much fun. seeing the excitement and joy on his face was worth the hassle of getting to and from the event.


yes, i couldn't help it. starbucks was giving away a free tall coffee in celebration of the fourth of july. a little silly waiting 20 minutes in line for my free coffee, but yes, i was one of them.



nothing says american better than hot dogs, fries, coleslaw and potato salad! yum. :)


of course, another shot of those vanilla cupcakes. this one's a mini actually.