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.

Rice Pudding

We love rice and we eat it at least twice a day, if not 4 times, including breakfast and for snacks. This rice pudding recipe appealed to me instantly when I read it because of the combination of flavors that I really love. It is similar to our guinatang mais (glutinous rice and sweet corn cooked in coconut milk) with a hint of cardamom, cloves, and lemon. One spoonful and I was in rice pudding heaven, yuuummmy. Wow!

Adapted from Food Section The Washington Post 2/28/2007 by Bonny Wolf

'International' Rice Pudding
2½ cups milk
1 ¾ cups coconut milk
5 cardamom pods, crushed
5 whole cloves
finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups cooked arborio rice (I used Japanese short grain rice)
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup pistachios, for garnish (optional)

• Combine the milks, cardamon, cloves, and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil, then transfer the mixture to a container, let cool for 40 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
• Strain the milk mixture into a medium saucepan,discarding the solids. Add the sugar, salt and rice, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn to low and cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often, until thick. Add the raisins after 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with pistachios, if desired.

Chicken With Cashews & Steamed Yardlong Beans

This dish, Chicken With Cashews was featured last week in the Food section of the Washington Post. The Chinese-Australian who wrote the article said this dish is a "new" soy sauce free version of the usual Chinese chicken. But I have been preparing and have eaten this dish many many times in restaurants in Binondo in the Philippines. This dish is also in 3 of my Chinese cookbooks, one of which is 25 years old.

Chicken With Cashews
1 pound boneless, skinless dark or white chicken meat, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sherry
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
1 tablespoon light olive oil
3 spring onions, sliced into ½ inch pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 cup roasted cashews (or walnuts, or petite green peas)
2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

• Mix first 4 ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes. Mix in egg white. Stir fry in hot oil for 3 minutes, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the spring onions, cook for 2 minutes, then add salt, sugar, sesame seed oil, and cashews, stir fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, cook for 1 minute. Serve with rice and steamed and salted, or sauteed yardlong beans.

Hazelnut Crust Apple Tart

I love apple pie/tart/pizza with Nutella and am always looking for recipes that use both. I have a pound of ground hazelnuts in my pantry waiting to be made into something yummy. I pressed half a cup of ground hazelnuts onto one unbaked 10-inch pie shell, sprinkled 2 tablespoons sugar then layered thin apple slices, poured ¼ cup of melted butter all over, sprinkled 3 more tablespoons of sugar and baked the tart for 40 minutes. The best part is the slightly burnt caramelized pieces, and with a drizzle of Nutella, it is just divine.

A variation of this tart is using ground almonds in place of hazelnuts on the tart shell and adding a layer of almond meringue before layering the apple slices, then brushing the top with warmed apple jelly after baking, instead of drizzling Nutella.