Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

So, you've put in the time (and it really wasn't THAT much time, and was probably fun too) to create the Butter Chicken Sauce and you're ready to eat!  Tell you what - grab a few friends and make a night of it!





Remember the Indian Roti (Chapati) post a while back?  Those are going to go GREAT with this - and if you have help, and a nice glass of wine (or two) plus some terrific conversation - I swear you're going to enjoy this meal even more!

Here's what I do to create a yummy, saucy, melt in your mouth Butter Chicken.  And remember - you're going to have a few containers in the freezer ready to use when the desire strikes - so this is going to be a fairly easy meal!

Butter Chicken Sauce (Murgh Makhani)

If you've never tried Butter Chicken, I think you need to.  And fairly soon.  It's one of the most delicate of curry dishes, and melts in your mouth with greatness.  GREATNESS!!  I was hooked from the first time I tried it, I can tell you that!

Butter Chicken, for us, started at the Farmer's Market here in town.  This great cook (Pam) makes the sauce in little tubs and freezes it so people like me can grab one, store it and create a terrific meal in minutes!

But you know me.  I needed to find MY own recipe!  So off I went in search of just.what makes the sauce, the sauce.  And like a good sleuth, I search many recipes and bought many spices (did you know that Indian spices are the most fragrant I've ever found??) and began to experiment.

Is it traditional?  Probably not quite.  Is it good?  You bet!!  And like any one family spaghetti recipe - Butter Chicken is personal per family, perfect per taste and really something you just NEED to try!

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Summer is approaching (well, not REALLY as we woke up to snow the past 2 days) and in our house that means the BBQ gets put to full use again.

We BBQ in the winter too, but many days it's just far too cold to get it hot enough to do what it's supposed to do and it's just better to plan a meal that's cooked indoors.

BBQ sauce has never been a big favorite of mine.  Main reason?  Too darned sweet.  Now, I know people like different things and there's nothing 'wrong' with a sweet BBQ sauce - it's just not quite my thing.

So over the years I have tried probably over 100+ different kinds of store brand BBQ sauce and never quite found what makes me happy.  So, being worthy enough I finally decided that it was time to start making my own version of what I liked.

Problem was, there are literally thousands and thousands of different kinds on BBQ sauce.  And each recipe claims to be 'the best' BBQ sauce there is!

Check this out - it describes all the different kinds of BBQ sauce around the world and man, I wish I could try them all!  But it will give you an idea as to why the sauces are different (especially across the US, where it appears each region has it's own variety) and what makes them different.

So, off I went to find OUR BBQ sauce.  I looked at many, picked what I liked from them and sorted out what I had to do.  And wouldn't you know it - the first recipe I put together was THE ONE!  It changes slightly from time to time (depending on how funky I'm feeling) but here's the basic layout and perhaps you'll want to add your own spin!

Tomato Cream Sauce

When I have pasta either in our out, I tend to lean towards the cream sauces.  I adore a good, rich cream sauce.  It makes my mouth happy!

So, when I attempted the homemade pasta and ravioli, the best thing that came to mind was CREAM SAUCE!  But no just any cream sauce.  A nice tomato flavoured creamy sauce that just holds onto the pasta is glorious layers.

So, I adapted my regular cream sauce recipe a bit and made it a bit different, because different is good!  Got to keep them guessing, you know!  And Mr. Hungry - he eats almost anything (remember the mashed potatoes) so it was a fun experiment!

This is a quick and super easy recipe that will WOW you and anyone else you choose to feed!  Probably 15 minutes from start to finish!  Just enough time to cook your pasta and toast some bread for garlic bread! 

Prime Rib Dinner - Prime Rib Roast

Remember when Sunday dinners were a big event, surrounded by family around the table.  Sharing a meal, memories and stories??  We need more of that in our busy world.  Everyone should plan a Sunday dinner, if not once a week, then at least once a month.



And at our house, we do plan these family-centred meals.  Not every week, but when everyone has time in their busy schedule to stop by and pay a visit to play with the kids and hover around the kitchen waiting for a delicious meal.



A beautiful roast is the
essence of a Sunday dinner!



This Sunday, we had one of our dear friends over for dinner.  And luck would have it, prime rib roasts were on for a steal of a deal at one of the local markets...so how could I resist!

The nights meal will come in 3 parts.  In different posts. 

The roast.

The potatoes.

The Yorkshire puddings.

Meatball Submarine

OK, so last post I told you about making meatballs that can be used in a variety of ways and how we use them for meatball subs.  I decided to break up the meatballs vs the meatball subs posts so they don't get lost in cyber space.  And this recipe (if you can even call it that) is to show you that I don't ALWAYS cook full meals.

At least once or twice a week we have something simple and easy to do, or leftovers.  Gone are the days when we had loads of time to stand in the kitchen baking, cooking and creating a new meal each day.

But, it's so easy to get into the habit of the same.old.thing over and over again.  I've been there before!  You find a meal that is easy and tastes good and before you know it - you're tired of it because you've had it 5 times in the past month.

So what a great way to take something and change the way you use it!  And really, soup and a sandwich really isn't a bad meal after all!

Meatball Submarine
Makes: as many as you want


Submarine buns, parisian rolls or hoagie rolls

2-4 slices of cheese per 6" bun (we use mozzarella most days but any kind of cheese works nice)

2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I use Classico Four Cheese Sauce because it's got a really nice/rich flavour)








Put your thawed or fresh meatballs (about 6-8 per 6" bun) into a pot and pour in enough sauce to just cover them.  Simmer over low heat until heated through.

Preheat your oven to broil.  Low if you have a choice of settings.

Cut open your roll, without fully cutting it into two pieces.  You want to have a healthy 'hinge' part still holding the top and bottom pieces together or you'll give your meatballs another place to escape from when you bite into this great sub!  One side open is enough!

Carefully lay your buns open on a baking sheet and lightly coat each side of each bun with butter or margarine.  You could also use Extra Virgin Olive Oil or a flavoured oil (I suggest chili oil if you can find it) but be careful you don't soak the bun too much.  Put sheet into the oven to lightly broil (about 3-5 minutes).

Remove from oven and, keeping the buns on your baking sheet, load one side of the bun with meatballs and sauce.  How much sauce you add is up to you, knowing that more sauce = messier sub.  But hey, that's the whole point of this meal!  Layer mozzarella cheese on top of meatballs and put the baking sheet and subs back into the oven until the cheese is melted and slightly toasted.

Gently close your sub, cut if required and slide onto a plate for devouring!  Don't mind the mess of sauce and cheese dripping through your fingers - it's the joy of a great tasting, messy meal!  And watch for that one meatball that just wants to try to escape out the side!

Enjoy your simple, tasty supper!

--The Cook

Spaghetti Night

So I wanted to make spaghetti.  Lots of spaghetti.  Enough spaghetti to feed the whole neighbourhood AND more!

Isn't that a good looking pot of spaghetti?

OK (let's be honest here), I wanted to make spaghetti to feed us, some friends and (because we're a working family) some to put in the freezer for a quick meal.  I usually make things like this in huge bunches, because coming home and heating something yummy is far better than hot dogs and grilled cheese - although the kids never complain when it's hot dogs and grilled cheese.  But then, some days neither do the adults!

So, prepare to witness the biggest pot of spaghetti EVER.  Massive.  And honestly, I'd have made more if I had a bigger pot.  *Note to anyone interested in what to get me for -insert holiday here-, I want a pot.  A big, huge, like-grandma-used-to-use pot.