Butter Chicken--My Quintessential Indian Dish

I was standing in the line to the register at an Asian grocery store, which I visit frequently to get some less common vegetables and spices. There was an Indian man just behind me standing with his daughter who looked about six years old. As the customer ahead of me was taking a long time to check out his groceries, I started to inspect the items that the man behind me had in his cart. I peaked with curiosity at the exotic Asian vegetables he chose--small eggplants, hot peppers, mangoes, fresh coriander. And also chicken breasts, garlic, potatoes, and rice. I could only imagine what a delicious Indian dinner will his family have tonight. Maybe dal, maybe spicy eggplants, some samosas, biryani meat? I was imagining some thick and creamy Indian dishes, I almost felt the aroma of the basmati rice, covered with a spicy curdled yogurt sauce, and a piece of freshly baked naan with that.

I was almost drooling as I thought about all the lovely and fragrant possibilities and the aromas of coriander, curry, and cumin when the man's phone rang. He answered and after exchanging with somebody on the other end a couple of sentences in his native tongue, he switched to English and turned toward his daughter: "Mommy asks what you want for dinner--pasta or chicken nuggets?".

That was the best example of what a united world we live in today. There is neither rice nor potatoes on every table, but pizza, hot dogs, or pasta, no matter, if we are Asians, Arabs, Americans, or Europeans.

Nevertheless, my senses were still inspired by his shopping list. When I got home I have decided to cook an Indian dinner to satisfy my craving for all these spices. Butter chicken is almost always my first choice, as my sons both like it as much as I do.

I know that there are many butter chicken recipes with individual influences deriving from various family traditions. Mine is just another one, coming from an Indian friend, and it is a version that my family happens to love.

Butter Chicken
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
2 lb chicken breast tenderloins, or chicken breasts,
3/4 cup natural whole yogurt,
1/2 tsp chili powder (if you like it more spicy),
3 bay leaves,
1/4 tsp ground cloves,
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon,
1 tsp garam masala,
4 green cardamom pods,
1 tsp ginger pulp,
1 tsp garlic pulp,
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce,
1 1/4 tsp salt.
6 tbsp butter,
1 tbsp oil,
2 medium onions sliced,
3 tbsp fresh chopped coriander,
4 tbsp cream--heavy whipping cream tastes better but single cream can be used as well.

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl place the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, and salt. Blend all the ingredients thoroughly to make a homogeneous yogurt sauce.
2. Put the chicken into the yogurt sauce and set aside.
3. Melt together butter and oil in a frying pan.
4. Add onion to the pan and fry for about 3 min.
5. Add chicken to the mixture and fry for about 7-10 minutes.
6. Stir in a half of coriander and mix well.
7. Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with the remaining chopped coriander and serve.

I like to serve it with the plain basmati rice, naan bread, accompany by the Indian carrot salad or cucumber salad.

Rosemary and Himalayan Pink Salt Focaccia

A friend walked in to my house the other day, bringing with her a gust of the cold wind. As I opened the door she inhaled deeply the aroma that was filling the whole house from the basement to the second floor. "Mmmm... Smells like home" she commented. Indeed, is there anything that smells more homey than a freshly baked bread?

As the cold, too cold days arrived unexpectedly I forgot quickly about all the frozen desserts that I did not have a chance to post yet. All I dreamed of was a piece of warm cake, maybe one based on yeast? Or even better a piece of warm bread. I looked through the window at my gigantic rosemary bush bent by the strong wind and I instantly knew what I wanted to do.

From the youngest age, I have felt the urge to bake. I watched my grandmother bake and later helped her make hundreds of different cakes and I have never been afraid of experimenting with baking. I was only ten years old when, as a first person in my family, I made my own pizza from scratch. Of course it was a Polish version of it, based on a very thick crust and rich in sausage. But those first tries gave me the confidence to make more sophisticated desserts, and later also breads.

It is kind of funny how baking with yeast is different from other ways to bake. I know people who can make absolutely the best yeast cakes, which are light like feather, with different seasonal fruits, or with poppy seeds (e.g., for Christmas) but are not able to make any other kinds of cake. And I have met some, who bake excellent sponge cakes, but their yeast cakes are heavy, and often slack-baked. I still cannot reproduce the perfect yeast cakes my grandma made, but did OK with the Italian and Polish breads.

I haven't made focaccia for 20 years or more, so with some curiosity, I tossed all the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid mixer and let it work.I left a dough to rise for an hour, finished with fresh rosemary and finally salted with the Himalayan pink salt which is acclaimed to be the purest salt on earth. I put it in the oven and in half an hour the focaccia was ready. Before it even cooled down completely my two friends and my son were fighting for the last piece of the warm bread, licking their fingers to pick up every last grain of salt from the baking tin. There was nothing easier to make and more enjoyable on a cold November evening.

Rosemary and Himalayan Pink Salt Focaccia

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cup white flour,
1 1/2 cup warm water,
1 packet of fast rise yeast or about 3 tsp.active dry yeast.
4 tbsp olive oil,
2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves,
1 tbsp coarse Himalayan or sea salt.

Preparation:
1. Place all the ingredients in a Kitchen Aid food mixer.
2. Using the bent arm attachment (see picture below), mix all the ingredients for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and shiny.

3. Cover the dough with plastic foil and let it rise for an hour.
4. When the dough doubles in volume, put it on a working surface dusted with flour and stretch to make it one-inch thick.
5. Preheat the oven to 400F.
6. Sprinkle the baking tin with a little bit of olive oil and put the dough in it.
7. Finish the top of the focaccia dough with rosemary leaves and coarse salt.
8. Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
9. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down a bit before serving. Of course you can also eat it cold, but it's best when it is still warm from the oven.

Brussels Sprouts in Béchamel Sauce--a Taste from the Childhood Garden

When I saw stalks of Brussels sprouts at my local food store, all my childhood memories came back to me at once. Brussels sprouts, with their very intriguing way of growing, for some mysterious reason, were the only vegetable thriving in my parents' garden. We tried to grow absolutely every vegetable that was known in Poland at that time, but the only vegetable that ended up being impressive were the Brussels sprouts. To my deep disappointment, we never managed to see various lettuces we planted to turn into lettuce heads. And I did not know at that time that a baby salad mix was considered more desirable in the culinary world than a lettuce head and cherry tomatoes were more sweet than those on the vine. I guess we considered their size rather than their taste as the proof of quality.

While being famous for the love of cabbage, we have never befriended Brussels sprouts. You can spot them occasionally on a Polish table, served with buttered bread crumbs, but compared to other cuisines, their presence in our culinary tradition was timid to say the least. Therefore, when I think Brussels sprouts I feel completely free to choose how to make them. From various experiments I have conducted with Brussels sprouts, I concluded that they tasted best when baked in béchamel sauce.

Brussels Sprouts in Béchamel Sauce

Ingredients:
2 lb Brussels sprouts,
2 tbsp butter,
2 tbsp white flour,
2 cups milk at room temperature,
1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese,
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Cook Brussels sprouts in salted water for 5-10 minutes. Drain.
2. Heat the oven to 375F.
3. To make béchamel sauce melt butter in a saucepan, over a medium heat.
4. Add flour and using a whisker mix until the sauce becomes smooth.
5. Pour in at first 1/2 cup milk whisking continuously. Add the remainig milk gradually, and let the sauce simmer on a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent it from burning.
6. Take the saucepan off the heat, add nutmeg, salt,pepper and Fontina cheese.
7. Place Brussels sprouts in oven proof dish and cover with the sauce.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the sauce starts bubbling and becomes dark gold.

Serve with a tomato salad and white bread.