Day 100: “The Minimalist Cooks Dinner”
April 10, 2011
Traditionally Tandoori chicken is baked in a clay oven and the restaurants that I have found it in tend to be Indian in origin. The chicken is full of flavor and tender and is often bright in color. I have later found out that some of this color is from food dye and not from spices. So making it at home you can control the color….and the food dye! I always thought since I didn’t have a clay oven, that I couldn’t make this dish at home. But forget the clay oven, if you have a grill you will have success with this dish.
Mark Bitman writes a weekly column for the “New York Times” on minimalist cooking. Minimalist cooking really is about good flavor fast. If you are a gourmet on limited time, Mark Bitman is a good person to follow and get tips from. We are all rushed to get dinner to the table and the idea of pulling fresh ingredients together instead of things from a can or boxed or frozen meals is really appealing. I think the recipe for Roast Salmon Steaks with Pinot Noir Syrup sounds delicious! I like the fact that the recipes in this cookbook don’t have a huge list of ingredients. Each recipe come with a wine pairing and sides to serve with the meal. Part of being a minimalist is few ingredients that are big on flavor!
The Ruling: Now that I said the above sentence about big on flavor, this recipe was lacking in some spice. I think it is because we are used to tandoori chicken in our local Indian restaurant. But I think a sprinkle of red pepper flakes would cure this easy enough. Everyone in the family ate this chicken! Hurrah! Easy to make and easy to get dinner on the table! Winner! I just ordered some flexible skewers and I am going to try this recipe again with cubes of chicken skewed and grilled with some veggies like zucchini and red pepper on it. I would double the sauce and pull half aside and place some of the sauce on the cooked chicken after it is grilled.
Fast Chicken Tandoori, page 120
Ingredients:
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon medium to hot paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- juice of one lime
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- minced fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Preheat the broiler, start a hot charcoal or wood fire, or preheat a gas grill to the maximum. Set the rack 2 to 4 inches from the heat source. Combine the yogurt, ginger, garlic, paprika, half the lime juice, and some salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir the chicken into the yogurt mixture and marinate for 5 to 60 minutes, as time allows.
- TO BROIL THE CHICKEN: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to facilitate cleanup. To broil, put the chicken breasts on the baking sheet, bone, rough side up; reserve any marinade that does not cling to the breasts. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn and spoon the remaining marinade over the chicken. Broil on the skin (smooth) side for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly browned. TO GRILL: Simply grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until the chicken brown and is cooked through, brushing with the marinade from time to time.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve, spooning the basting juices over the chicken.
To Joyful, Simplified Living,
MS. Simplicity
MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity. She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com . Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com. For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page here.
If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you. It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.
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