Friday, August 25, 2006

Laura's Caramel Popcorn

On Med. Heat, mix the following:

2 squares butter
2T water
2C brown sugar
1/2 C Karo

Bring to a boil, and boil only 1 minute! The longer it boils the stiffer it will be.

After boiling, add:
1t vanilla
1/2t baking soda
Mix over 2 bags of microwave popcorn.

One thing I forgot when I did this was to transfer the popcorn from bowl to bowl a few times to get the seeds out. So now when I eat mine, I have to spit the seeds into the garbage can. It's a beautiful sight.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Jakes Chicken Curry with Onion Naan (YUMMY!)

My brother-in-law made this for us when we were visiting and it is DELISH! I'm definitely going to make it, but thought I'd share his recipe with you in the meantime.

Onion Naan
(You can take the onion out and just have
naan if you prefer)

3 T. butter (room temp is best)

1 C. finely chopped or grated onions

1.2 C. warm wager

1 tsp. salt

1.5~2 C. Bread or all purpose flour

Sauté the onions until clear (add butter to skillet at

medium-high heat. Add onions and reduce to low heat.

Cook until the onions turn clear.

Meanwhile -

Melt butter in skillet and pour into a large mixing

bowl. Add warm water, onions, salt and 1.5 cups of

flour (.5 cup at a time). Work the dough into a ball

by hand. If it continues to feel sticky, add 1 or 2

tsp of flour. Work the dough with your hands until it

is slightly firm, 1-2 min.

Shaping -

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and form each into a

ball. Cluster them into a group on a floured work

surface and let them rest for 3 min. Flatten each

ball and roll out as thin as possible. If a piece

resists, move onto another and come back later. Cover

Naan with a towel as each is completed.

Baking -

Using an ungreased heavy non-stick pan, cook naan or

high heat 3-4 minutes on each side. Don't be

concerned if they brown unevenly.

The Curry is very easy.

I chop up and cook the vegetables separately usually in

butter (potatoes, onions, carrots) I usually boil

chicken, but you can grill it or cook it how you like.

While this is going on I cook the rice in our rice

cooker. After the rice, chicken and vegetables are

all cooked, I combine them into a large fry pan and on

low heat I add a chopped up block of either House or

Vermont Curry (You can find it at an Asian mart or a

lot of regular grocery stores have started to carry it

these days to). You can add a little bit of the chick

broth if you boiled the chicken (this steams and helps

the curry blend in a littler better). Mix it up until

the curry is all mixed through. (this is the dry

curry).

For wet curry -

Keep the rice separate. Check the curry box, but you

add the curry block to a pot with the vegetables

and water and heat it up until the curry has dissolved

in and you have a thick stew. Pour over the rice.