Reality Camp recipe thread

[clandyone]

What do y'all like to cook, when you have access to such amenities as ovens and refrigerators and supermarkets and stuff? I know we have some foodies here... please, share your wisdom.

[clandyone]

I posted this recipe on another BB, in a slightly different form. If you get the chicken marinating ahead of time dinner takes 15 minutes to make. It is shockingly healthy and very very good. I adapted it from a recipe on Epicurious.

And come to think of it, it is playa-able, in its on-the-grill form.

Fake Tandoori Chicken Breasts

You need:

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, one or two per person
One smallish red onion

for marinade
2 or 3 large garlic cloves, depending on how garlicky you like your food
half a teaspoon of salt
1 or 2 serrano chiles (depending on your tolerance for heat -- can be omitted altogether. My husband likes habanero chiles, but he's made of asbestos.)
1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
Paprika for color

"The Spice Hunter" brand Tandoori Blend spice mix, about 1 1/2 tbsp AND a few twists of black pepper

or

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

for the raita
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
Juice of the other half of the aforementioned lemon
Half a cucumber, chopped fine (Invest in the English kind of cucumber if you can. If all you can find are those giant waxed monsters, peel and seed first)
Cilantro to taste (optional)

Slice the onion in half from the root end. Slice one half in lengthwise strips, separating layers. Place in a bowl with ice water, and leave it in the fridge. Chop the other half very fine and reserve.

Mince the garlic fine and mash it up really good with the salt. A mortar and pestle is good for this, but if you don't have one you can use a bowl and the back of a spoon. You are aiming for a pastelike substance.
Mince the chile(s) very very fine. Include the seeds and membranes for more heat (I do NOT recommend this if you're using habaneros) and add to the garlic paste. Stir in other marinade ingredients. Taste, and adjust if necessary.

Make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts in each chicken breast. Thickly coat chicken with marinade, making sure it gets into the cuts. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour -- the longer the better.

Line broiler pan with foil. Arrange chicken on rack of broiler pan, being careful not to crowd. (If you don't have a broiler pan you can use a baking sheet, but you'll have to turn the chicken more often.) Broil about 3 inches from heat until done, turning once. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that the yogurt makes the chicken so velvety that it's nearly impossible to overcook it.

Or, you can slap the chicken on your backyard grill.

While the chicken is cooking, make the raita. Mix yogurt, lemon juice, cilantro, the reserved chopped onion, and cucumber. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice.

When the chicken is done, drain the onion slices that have been soaking in the fridge and sprinkle them on top of the chicken. Serve with raita.

I served this with jasmine rice to which I added a handful of frozen peas. A salad of baby greens, crumbled gorgonzola, fennel and orange slices in a balsamic vinaigrette is very nice too.

[J]

Here is a sauce I learned from a chef at a restaurant I used to work at, I apologise for there not being proper measurements. i'll try to approximate for the average home use. We would make large pots of this using jugs of soy.

Marmalade- Soy sauce
2 cloves garlic -minced
1/2 half onion - finely chopped
1 cup Soy sauce
2 to 3 tbls marmalade
lemon and/or lime, salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Sweat onion and garlic in a pot until onion starts to colour,
add soy and marmalde,
bring to a boil so that the marmalde melts completely,
taste,
salt and pepper if needed
add lemon, lime and sugar to taste
if too thick add more soy sauce

the brands that you use for soy and marmalade directly affect the amount of lemon, lime salt etc. that you use. Some marmalade is sweeter than others, some soy sauces are saltier.

I've used this on most meats, (excellent on chicken and pork), for the vegitarians, we would use this mixed in with a stirfry of Nappa cabbage, red pepper, and whatever ever veg we had handy.

[consumer]

Clandyone, thanks for your recipe - I ended up making it this evening. I had to improvise a little: I didn't have any nutmeg, and I didn't have any yogurt, so I used sour cream instead. Marinated for about two hours and then put it out on the grill. Turned out very tasty!

[clandyone]

Clandyone, thanks for your recipe - I ended up making it this evening. I had to improvise a little: I didn't have any nutmeg, and I didn't have any yogurt, so I used sour cream instead. Marinated for about two hours and then put it out on the grill. Turned out very tasty!

Why, you're welcome! I confess I'm a little surprised that the sour cream worked well -- always thought that the acidity of yogurt was what made tandoori anything so successful. I use almost Russian amounts of sour cream in my cooking as is, though -- next time I'll try your method and use what I always have around, instead of venturing out to the always dispiriting Albertsons for yogurt.

Never mind about the nutmeg. It's only a benefit if you have whole nutmeg that you can grate on the spot -- the powdered kind is useless.

I hear that the recipe is fantastic with lamb as well as chicken. Will keep you posted. Mint in the raita for that one, instead of cilantro.

[zanaru]

I think we need more recipes on this thread.