Chicken Tandoori Sandwich

It seems all I cook these days is chicken. I actually cook other stuff but get lazy writing and posting about them. A week ago I smoked a 4-pound ham (which btw is waaay better than store bought) that I will feature in a future breakfast post. Anyways, last Sunday I read a tandoori chicken slider sandwich featured in a magazine restaurant review and I drool each time I see the photos of the sandwiches. I love tandoori-style chicken and the sandwich version looks really good. And it is so good, at least the one I made.:=)

For the tandoori I diced the chicken meat instead of ground and used aluminum rings for making crumpets to keep the meat patties from crumbling. I wanted to charcoal grill the patties but the weather was threatening (to rain) yesterday. Frying in very hot skillet worked just fine. I served the sandwiches with tzatziki broccoli slaw, shaved mini cucumber, and lots of tomatoes. Yummy! My daughter slathered homemade Greek yogurt cheese on the bottom bun and added tzatziki on top of the chicken for a triple dose of yogurt. Yummier!

My tandoori-style chicken recipe is here.

Dale's Ribs

The winner of last week's Top Chef elimination challenge was Dale Talde, a Filipino sous chef in a New York City restaurant. The challenge was to prepare barbecue for the Chicago Bears tailgaters. Dale's winning recipe is a tandoori style pork ribs. He originally wanted chicken wings but another cheftestant bought all the chicken wings so he chose pork ribs but kept his original idea of tandoori. Many party goers including former players and all the judges loved the ribs. I was almost drooling while watching them eat.

I adapted his recipe for 12 racks of pork ribs which is for a huge crowd. I did some calculations for the amount of ribs I have and I was so happy the seasonings came out perfect. I also marinated the ribs overnight and broiled them in the oven because I was too lazy to light the charcoal, which didn't matter because the ribs are yummy to the max. Dale deserves the win. His ribs are superb, we all love it. I like that he poached the ribs in seasoned water before marinating, resulting in very tender and flavorful ribs.

Tandoori Style Chicken

Lately I have been into cardamom. I just love it in desserts, tea and sweet baked items. It is also the flavor that defines chicken tandoori. I don't have a traditional tandoor oven, I usually grill the chicken. Today I baked them, I'm not in the mood to start the charcoal grill, although it is warmer today at almost 55°F. I bought some frozen naan at Trader Joe's and when I got home I found out they are made in India! They are sooo good, the real thing, soft, pillowy, crunchy, and chewy. I love it hot smothered with unsalted butter, yumm. Naan is the perfect pair to chicken tandoori. Hmm, maybe I should try to bake this naan recipe but it looks difficult.

Chicken Tandoori
2 pounds boneless chicken meat, white or thigh, butterflied
1½ cups plain yogurt
juice of ½ a large lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons ground cardamom
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon annatto powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you want it hotter)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly, marinate overnight in the fridge. Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Arrange chicken on a single layer on a large baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is slightly browned, turning once after 25 minutes. Serve with buttered hot naan and salad mix or sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.