Butter Chicken

This recipe is from Weekend Cooking by Company's Coming (Jean Paré). It's not exactly authentic, but it's the second most requested dish from my husband. Serves 4 to 6.

⅔ cup of plain yogurt
¼ cup of tomato paste
1 ½ Teaspoon of ground coriander
1 ½ Teaspoon of Garam Masala
1 Teaspoon of ground ginger
1 Teaspoon of paprika
2 Teaspoons of sugar
½ Teaspoon of chilli powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut in half

 ½ cup of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup of tomato sauce (or ground tomatoes)
1 cup of chicken broth
6 whole green cardamom, lightly cracked
1 4inch cinnamon stick
salt, if needed
1 cup of coconut milk

Combine 9 first ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and marinate overnight.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for around 5 minutes. Add chicken with marinade and next 5 ingredients. Stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and discard cardamom and cinnamon stick.

Add coconut milk, and stir. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons butter (1 ¾ sticks), softened but still slightly cool

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Semi-sweet chocolate chips or raisins, optional

1) Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. line large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3) In a large bowl (of a stand mixer), beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until just combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down the sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Add the flour mixture and mix until barely incorporated, 10-20 seconds. It’s ok if there are a few dry spots. Gradually add the oats and chocolate chips or raisins (optional) and mix until well combined, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. If needed, give the dough a final stir with a wooden spoon to ensure that no flour pockets remain and that the ingredients are evenly distributed.

4) Scoop out about 2 tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and roll them to form balls. Place the cookies about 2 ½-inches apart on the baking sheets – about 8 cookies per sheet. They will spread quite a bit. Lightly press each cookie to about ¾-inch thickness. Mark likes it bigger! I weighed out 80g per plain cookie.

5) Bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time until they are golden brown, edges are crisp, and centers are still very slightly soft, 13-16 minutes. Cooling the cookies completely on the baking sheet will yield crispier, more perfect cookies.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Polpette

Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis

1 small onion, grated

¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 large egg

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to taste

¼ cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs

6 oz ground beef

6 oz ground veal

6 oz ground pork

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk the onions, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the ⅔ cup of Parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs, then mix in the beef, veal, and pork using your hands to combine everything gently but thoroughly. Shape the meat mixture into 1 ¼ - to 1 ½ - inch-diameter meatballs, using about 2 tablespoons for each.

Heat the oil in large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, sauté the meatballs until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meatballs to a plate as they are browned.

When all the meatballs are well browned, return them to the pan and add sauce. Cook sauce until thickened. Or, put ingredients to make sauce with meatballs in slow cooker and cook for 8 hours. Comes out delicious!!!

Serve with spaghetti.