Butter Chicken - The Easy Way

It would probably come as no surprise to you, if you've scrolled through my recipes over the last few years, that I like spicy food. The Aussie's mum was born and raised in India, so he was raised eating curry dishes. Usually, I make my version of his mum's recipe when I make chicken curry, but last night I wanted to try something different. I wanted to make Butter Chicken. I didn't want to run out and get ingredients I didn't have in the refrigerator, freezer or pantry, I heavily adapted the recipe from Pressure Cooking Today. Maybe I'm a bad Texan, but I rarely have jalapeno peppers on hand. Oh well. This was a winner in our book.

Pressure Cooker Indian Butter Chicken  (serves 4)

5 boneless skinless chicken thighs (one Costco pack)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 t ground chipotle pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 inch knob of ginger
2 T mild curry powder
1 T hot curry powder
1 t salt
1 t garam masala
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 sour cream (I use this in place of Greek yogurt when cooking because The Aussie hates yogurt)

1 - trim the excess fat off of the chicken thighs, and cut them in to large bite pieces
2 - Put the tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chipotle, curry powders, salt and garam masala in a blender, and blend until fairly smooth. You don't want chunks of tomato in the sauce.
3 - Set your pressure cooker on brown. Add half of the butter. When it's melted, add the chicken pieces and brown them. This will take about 5 minutes per batch, and you may need to do a couple of batches of chicken. Note: The original recipe calls for all of the butter to be added, but the chicken wasn't browning, so I took everything out and added the chicken back in to brown. The remaining butter was added back in with the tomato sauce.
4 - When the chicken has browned, add the rest of the butter, and cook until it's melted.
5 - Add in the tomato puree and stir, making sure all of the chicken is coated.
6 - Cover the cooker and lock the lid. Select high pressure for 5 minutes. When the timer beeps that the 5 minutes is done, let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then do a quick release to drop it the rest of the way.
7 - Stir in the cream and sour cream (or yogurt if you're using it).  Taste the sauce, and add more salt if necessary.

Serve with hot rice and enjoy!

The Perfect Recipe For April

Since eating paleo is really big these days, I have been working on more meat recipes this spring. We usually do lamb on Easter, but I've decided to branch out this year. I'm not sure that this will fit in my pressure cooker. I may have to get out my Dutch oven. Or a really, really big rotisserie.  In the meantime, I am putting together a marinade with red wine, garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper, and perhaps a bit of sage.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Eat Your Greens Hearty Winter Soup

Greens, greens, they're good for your heart... well, that's not how the rhythm goes, but greens are very good for you. In fact, 1 cup of chopped kale contains nearly 3 grams of protein, and over 100% of your vitamins A and C. Not too shabby, right?  It isn't a budget buster, either. In fact, none of the ingredients in my kale and lentil soup are budget busters, especially if you make your own chicken stock. The bay leaf might be priciest thing, and it's pretty much optional. I have a bunch because my mom has a huge bay plant. Which reminds me, I need to beg for more bay leaves...

Kale and Lentil Soup

1 T olive oil

3 leeks, well rinsed, cut lengthwise and then thinly sliced

4 ribs of celery, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

1 lb of lentils

8 ounces of chopped kale, rinsed (that's 1/2 of one of these huge bags)

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock

2-3 cups water

1/4 cup red wine (I had it on hand, it's optional)

1 bay leaf (optional)

2 T Worcestershire sauce

Before serving:

2 T red wine vinegar - add at the end, before serving - it brightens up the flavors

dash of hot sauce

Set your pressure cooker to saute. Drizzle in your olive oil and let the pot heat up for a minute or two while you are chopping the vegetables. Add in your leeks and celery first, stirring them around to coat with the olive oil. Cook for a minute or two and then add the sliced carrots and cook for a minute. Next, add your lentils. Stir to combine with the vegetables, then add in the kale and diced tomatoes. The half bag seriously filled up my cooker

Lastly, add in the liquids: chicken stock, water, red wine, Worcestershire sauce. If you're using a bay leaf, throw it in now. Set your cooker to high pressure for 20 minutes.  When it's done, do a quick release of the pressure. Before serving, I like to add a bit of red wine vinegar and hot sauce.  Black pepper and red pepper flakes rock, too. Season as you wish. By switching out the stock and seasoning, you can make this vegetarian or vegan. It is a seriously flexible and flavorful soup. 

For stovetop cooking, simply follow the directions using a dutch oven and let the soup simmer for about 35 minutes, or until the kale is tender.

If Money Were No Object

The Aussie and I like to dream about what we would do if we won a big*ss lottery. All of our basic needs and quite a number of luxuries have already been met, so we are quite blessed. There are a few things, however, that I would love to do, if we had millions and millions to spend. Most of them are practical, with a side of frivolity.


1- Fence the immediate yard at the ranch so that the doggies could roam around safely. There are all manner of dangerous wild critters in the area, as well as local dogs that roam. I'd prefer it if they didn't have access to our property.

2 - Get the pond fixed. If you are going to build a pond in an area with really sandy soil, LINE IT WITH CLAY BEFORE YOU FILL IT!

3 - Renovate the house at the ranch. It boggles my mind that the previous owners built a house in the middle of the woods with a gas only fireplace. There isn't even a chimney. The amount of firewood we potentially have from trees that fell in storms is ridiculous. The fact that I can't have a proper wood fire in my fireplace makes me sad. I want to build an addition with large windows, a fireplace, another bathroom, install solar panels, convert the kitchen to gas, and install a tankless hot water system. Oh, and re-do the landscaping around the house with some sort of metal mesh under the lawn to prevent the gophers from digging up the yard.


4 - Because every dog deserves a furever sofa, I would really, really love to give a lot of money to charities that I support. My favorite charity, Galgos Del Sol, is raising funds to build a center. They rescue abandoned and injured Spanish Galgos, a dog similar to a Greyhound, rehabilitate them and find them homes. The new center will have an on-site vet, kennels and enclosures for the rescued dogs, an educational center. They will be able to help so many more of these beautiful dogs.  I would also love to make significant donations to Ibizan Hound Rescue to support their rescue work and to help cover the costs for medical attention and fostering the dogs.


5 - The Aussie is a pack rat. I would dearly love a clean, organized house. I'm not sure even millions could accomplish that, though.

Transform

I have to be honest with you. I don't like moving out of my comfort zone. Heck, some days I don't like getting out of my pajamas and doing grown up things, but at my age, I have to admit that am actually a grown up. I am prone to getting panic attacks in social situations. Going to large parties and clubs where I don't know many people freaks me out. In some ways, social media has helped me get over the initial discomfort and awkwardness, simply because I've often had the chance to get to know people, and they me, before actually meeting in person. Sometimes that is all the push needed to get me out of my comfort zone to do something that scares me.

In a very uncharacteristic move, I actually applied to be one of the Ignite speakers at Fitbloggin in Denver this year. This week they announced the first seven people chosen, and I am lucky enough to be one of them. This both thrills and terrifies me. Will this event be something that transforms me from an introvert to an extrovert? Not likely. But it will help me grow. And hey. What's the worst thing that could happen? Last year I barked like my boy Bear to win a bag of dog goodies in from of a room full of Fitbloggin people. Speaking should be a piece of cake.

Seriously? Yup. Seriously.

After having a blog for several years, I just figured out how to add tabs. Seriously?

Yup. I know. Seriously. So, one of the tabs I added is called "Cookbooks I Love." I am a self-described cookbook hoarder. Just the other day, a food blogger I know on FB asked if people still, in this digital age, use cookbooks. I responded that yes, and I had just bought four cookbooks (from BandN) and two e-cookbooks that day. What makes this all really amusing is that my husband is such a meat and potatoes type of eater. Roast it, bread it and fry it, serve some fries with it, and a small side of one of the few vegetables he eats with it. Why I have SO MANY cookbooks is really beyond me, but for the fact that I do enjoy reading a lot of them. I almost never follow a recipe exactly, so they are more there to keep me company while I cook, like cooking friends. Clearly, I have a lot of cooking friends.

Red Beans And Rice - But Not On Monday - Axis Of Ineptitude

Today's prompt for Axis Of Ineptitude is "Soup For The Soul." What better to feed the soul than something delicious, warming, and spicy, that could have been a family tradition, passed down from your grandparents.

From what I have read, traditionally, red beans and rice were cooked on a Monday, because Monday was laundry day, and the pot of red beans could cook on the stove without a lot of fuss. I don't know if that's how my grandmother's family did it, but they were from Louisiana, so I'd like to think they did. Now, I have to admit, while I did cook red beans and rice yesterday, I did not do any laundry. I also did not cook it on the stove. And it didn't take hours and hours to soak the beans and to cook. In fact, from start to finish, it took about two hours. In a pressure cooker. Yup. A pressure cooker. That means you don't need to soak beans overnight before you cook them. Hooray for gadgets.

My electric pressure cooker has different settings, including saute, so I started with the "trinity" of chopped celery, onion and bell pepper, about a cup of each, and cooked them down in a drizzle of olive oil (no, not bacon grease last night, although I could have used that), for about five minutes.
 

Next, I added a package of smoked ham hocks. That was a first for me, let me tell you. I stirred that around a little, then added a large link of andouille sausage, cut in to half in sliced rounds. Next in to the pot was a couple of bay leaves, a tablespoon of cajun seasoning mix, a tablespoon of dried oregano, and a tablespoon of garlic powder.

Finally, I added a pound of dried red kidney beans that I had rinsed off, a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, and 6 cups of water. Here it is, ready to put the cover on. It looks like a lot of liquid, but the beans will soak up a lot of it.

 

It's the final countdown.... Just kidding. I have the lid on and locked, and have set the cooker on high pressure for 90 minutes. I've read anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes for timing, but since I didn't pre-soak the beans, I wanted to make sure they would be well cooked and soft.

 

After 90 minutes, presto. You have red beans and rice with amazing flavor. At this point, I removed the ham hocks. For extra yum factor, I sliced up some smoked ham and mixed that in.

Served over some hot rice, it's smoky, spicy, cream, meaty. Delicious. Truly, a soul warming dish. Not soup, but for the soul...

Capsule Kitchen - Could I do this?

I stumbled upon something that intrigued me today while I was searching for information about what appears to be a capsular kitchen. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything about this neat little Jetsons type kitchen, but I did find something else using the term capsule kitchen

I have no idea where this picture came from, it was in an email forwarded to me

As it turns out, there is a challenge put forth by a blogger, Be More With Less, to choose 33 items, food and drink. Water, spices, condiments and flavor enhancers, that you use in small amounts, etc, don't count as part of the 33. Then, you plan your meals around these items. The aim is to do this for 3 months. I thought it would be interesting to come up with my list of 33. I'm glad that spices and such aren't included, because I use a lot of spices in my cooking. I'm guessing that cooking oil isn't supposed to be included either, since you don't actually eat the oil.

dairy	cheese
dairy	milk
dairy	sour cream
dairy	yogurt
fruit	banana
fruit	berries
liquids	coffee
liquids	juice
liquids	wine
protein	almond milk
protein	bacon
protein	beef
protein	chicken
protein	eggs
protein	lamb
protein	protein powder
protein	salmon
protein	shellfish
seeds/nuts	nut butter
seeds/nuts	sunflower seeds
starch	flour/bread
starch	oats
starch	peas
starch	rice
starch	sweet potato
starch	white potato
vegetable	broccoli
vegetable	tomatoes
vegetable	green beans
vegetable	leeks
vegetable	mushrooms
vegetable	onion
vegetable	salad greens

I am sure that I'm missing something that, if I didn't have it I would be absolutely devastated. Oh, crap. I left dark chocolate off the list. I can consider cream cheese a cheese, right?

Oh, to tie this in to today's Axis Of Ineptitude prompt, "gratitude," I am profoundly grateful for the abundance in my life. I have the opportunity to make a list like this, not wondering where my next meal is coming from. I am grateful that I have a stocked pantry. I am very blessed.

What would you put on your "33" list?

Axis Of Ineptitude Strikes Again - Book Quote

I never took French in high school. What is left of my three years of Spanish would enable me to ask where the bathroom is, but probably not understand the response I would receive to that question. So it's a bit strange that one of my favorite quotes is from a French children's book.

source Google images

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Axis Of Ineptitude - Celebrity Crush

In true inept fashion, I have barely posted this month. In good faith, however, I cannot, simply cannot let today's prompt pass without posting. CELEBRITY CRUSH. Oh, yes. I will try not to think about how much younger these fine gentlemen are than me. And yes, I am happily married. As a wise woman once told me, "just because you've already ordered, doesn't mean you can't look at the menu."

Yum.

I don't care how old I am, I'm still going to

How appropriate that today's prompt falls on my birthday. One of my favorite birthday traditions from when I worked in NYC was to head to Central Park on my birthday and ride the carousel. This picture was taken the last time I was in New York. My mom, my sister and I all met up, did fun things, and while it wasn't on my birthday, it was close enough to it to count. I miss that carousel.
So, I don't care how old I am, I'm still going to ride on carousels.

Come Play In May - Inside My Purse

It's hard to believe that it's just about the end of the month. I've blogged just about every day of May. Pretty much a record, for me. So, today's prompt is what's in my purse. Apparently, I am a hoarder of eye drops.

The contents: one wallet, one checkbook, 31 Gifts wristlet with a lanyard from Home Depot so I can wear it around my neck, garage door opener, glasses case with cleaning cloth, keys, nail clippers, lip gloss, one tube of lip balm, one EOS lip sphere, loose change, pocket knife with black canvas cover (pink camo. My husband *gets* me), two lottery tickets, my shopper card to Quilt Country, a packet of Taco Bell fire sauce, receipts, Bear's new rabies tag still in envelope, one cortaid dabber, hand cream, a bottle of Zyrtec, two pens, a Larabar, mini flashlight from Walgreens that I got at the last 5k I did, a puffy mint and an empty puffy mint wrapper, and last but not least, FIVE bottles of eye drops.

Come Play In May - A Day/Week/Month In Pictures

Come Play In May - Book Report

It's no surprise to anyone that I read. A lot. I have books in my sewing room/library. I have books in the living room. I have books on bookshelves in my office. I have books on the window sill next to my night table. Lots and lots of books. It's heredity. What I don't have, is sophisticated taste in books. I read sci-fi/fantasy books, I read YA supernatural books, I read gardening and homesteading books, I read the kind of trash you can download for free on your kindle, and one of my favorite genres, I read romance novels.

I was a latecomer to the world of regency romances. Sure, I knew friends that read them, but they didn't appeal to me. And then I read my first Barbara Cartland book. The next thing I knew, I was prowling through the paperback book exchange in Guilford, looking for inexpensive copies of her books. And let me tell you, she wrote plenty of books for me to prowl for. Then I moved on to the harder stuff: Kathleen Woodiwiss, Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsey, Shirley Busbee. I was hooked. And this was all before anyone actually knew Fabio had a name.  But, alas, I had to move on again. That's the sad part about reading everything someone's written. You have to find new things to read. Eventually, I stumbled upon Stephanie Laurens. The book above is the latest of hers that I've read. While I did enjoy it, I didn't enjoy it as much as her earlier books. If you are a fan of Regency romances, I highly recommend the Cynster novels.

In Devil's Bride, the first of the Cynster novels, we meet Honoria Anstruther-Wetherby, a finishing governess of aristocratic birth who wants to live a life of adventure, and Sylvester "Devil" Cynster, the Duke of St. Ives. Honoria, in an attempt to help a dying young man, finds herself trapped in a compromising position with the young man's dark and mysterious cousin, the Duke. Forced by a terrible storm to spend the night in a woodcutter's cottage, Devil decides that he wants to make the headstrong young woman his Duchess. Together, they embark on an adventure of solving Devil's young cousin's murder, all the while the Duke attempts to ensnare his Duchess.

Come Play In May - Feel A Thing

The Aussie and I playing with BearPup aka Wookie Boy. I feel fur, and love, and puppy sneezes.

Come Play In May - Tell Me A Story

"Oh, come off it," She said. "You didn't seriously think I was going leave it alone, did you?"

The kitchen was silent except for the rhythmic sound of her chopping vegetables. One of the dogs hovered nearby, hoping for something to fall on the floor.

"I mean, when, have you ever known me to leave well enough alone? It's against my nature not to mess with things. I'm not saying that you weren't good, but you just weren't right for me, so I had to do something."

She continued to chop the vegetables, pausing only to scoop them in to the bowl. They looked pretty, she thought, jumbled together, with bits of the red pepper peeking through the various shades of green.

"I hope you aren't offended. I didn't mean to insult you."

She opened the jar of mayonnaise and spooned it in to the vegetables. Tasting it, she decided that it needed something else, something to brighten it up. Turning around, she reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rice wine vinegar. Spying the Togarashi spice and wasabi powder she pulled them out, too. She splashed a liberal amount of the rice wine vinegar to the mixture and a spoonful of each the Togarashi and wasabi, and stirred.

"Can you at least try to see where I'm coming from just this once?"

That works, she thought, and spooned some in to a bowl. She garnished it with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, and stuck a fork in it.

"Well, if you aren't going to say anything, then that's it. I'm done explaining myself to you."

She picked up the bowl and walked towards her office, raising the fork to her mouth as she went.

Crunchy Pea Salad (adapted from Shrinking Kitchen's recipe)

1 bag of frozen green peas

1 can of sliced water chestnuts, chopped

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced 

1 small bag of snow peas, thinly sliced

1/2 cup light mayonnaise 

2 T rice wine vinegar

1 t Togarashi spice

1 t wasabi powder (or to taste)

1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Mix the vegetables together with the spices, mayo and vinegar. Chill for at least a couple of hours. Serve with chopped peanuts on top.

Come Play In May - Wordless Wednesday - My Effing Uterus (and Hormones aka this is kinda what a hot flash looks like)

Come Play In May - Write A Letter To Your Past Self

May 20, 1995

Dear Kyra,

I'm writing this letter to you on this very special day. I know you're rushing around, trying to get ready, so I'll be quick.

Have fun today. You look beautiful and happy. Don't be nervous. You two have many, many years together ahead of you. It won't always be easy, and yes, you'll do some stupid things, but you'll get through everything together. Always remember to kiss each other goodbye in the morning. Hug often, and say "I love you" frequently. You know it, but it's always nice to hear it said. Laugh together often. You are about to embark on a grand adventure with your best friend.

Love,

Kyra

P.S. He was right, chocolate cake was an excellent choice for the wedding cake. 

 

Come Play In May - (Ir)rational Hatred of Something

Nothing irrational about what I hate:

people who abuse animals

eggplant (except in Mechie's crab casserole)

redback, funnel web and brown recluse spiders


GU gels

missing the turn arrow because the first driver off the rank took 5 seconds to start moving


stepping on prickers or sweet gum seed pods

people who park their vehicle so that it takes up two spaces

that line of dirt that you can never get in to the dust pan when you're sweeping the floor

people who don't put their shopping carts back when they're literally steps from the cart return

Come Play In May - Fashion I Wish Was Still In Style

Ooh, this was a fun one. I remember some of the fun dresses that my mom wore when she and my father went to dinner dances in the late 60s and early 70s. So cool. She actually sent me a couple of them last year when she was going through her closets. Not a chance in hell that I can fit in them, but they're still very cool. When you get right down to it, I wish I was a combination of Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Mary Quant and Audrey Hepburn. Cool and mod looking. With great legs and great hair.