Easy Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)

This recipe is from Tasty. Shawn likes this dish so I decided to make it for him. Because I was also going to eat some, I substituted the onion with onion powder. It came out well and our apartment smelled delicious for hours after making it. However, the prep work was lengthy.

I diced the jalapeño pepper.

And prepared the ginger and garlic.

Those went into the pan to cook.

The garam masala, turmeric, salt and pepper were measured out.

Dry spices added to the garlic, ginger, and jalapeño.

Diced some tomatoes.

Drained and rinsed chickpeas from two cans.

Tomatoes and chickpeas added to the pot mixture. Tomatoes will create some water for the dish, but you also need to add some water. I used my judgment for that part.

The last step after the above mixture cooked for 15 minutes. Was to add the lemon juice and cilantro.

After the last cooking step and adding the cilantro and lemon juice, I cooked it a little bit more. I wanted less liquid in the final dish.

 

Pecan-Crusted Rack of Lamb

This came out perfect! I made it in the Luscious Lamb Cookery @ Las Cosas class, but that does not always mean I can reproduce it at home. I made these for my husband Shawn’s birthday this week. It also served as a pre-test for Easter dinner.

First I prepared the ingredients for the crust. I toasted the pecans and crushed them in a chopper.

Measured out some capers, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.

Zested a lemon.

Stripped several sprigs of thyme.

Then mixed all of this together in a bowl.

Now that the crust was ready, it was time to deal with the lamb. This are two french-cut rack of lamb.

Next I cook them fat-side down in a pan to sear them.

After searing them.

Now they are ready for the dijon mustard (aka crust glue).

Brushed the dijon mustard on the racks.

Next I patted the crust mixture on the top and sides of the racks.

And then I baked the racks for 25 minutes at 400˚F. Oven was pre-heated to 450˚F and then turned down to 400˚F once the lamb was put in the oven.

After baking and checking that they had reached 125˚F internally, I let the racks rest for 10 minutes. Next, I had to cut these into individual chops.

A view of the crusty side of the chops.

This recipe is in Chef Johnny Vee’s book – Cooking with Johnny Vee on page 30.

Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks

This recipe is from Delish. This came out okay, but I wish the flavor of the rub had been absorbed by the meat. It mainly stayed on the skin. I suspected this would happen when I saw that there was no marinating step in the recipe. Also I started out cooking it at 450°F as the instructions dictated, but halfway through the baking/roasting turned it down to 425°F. I also skipped the broiling step at the end.

The twelve drumsticks with 2-3 slashes in each.

Warming the spices – paprika, garam masala, cumin, coriander, and tumeric

Mixed the spices in a bowl after warming.

Added the ginger, garlic, yogurt, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper.

Mixed the wet and dry ingredients together into a paste.

After adding the chicken to the bowl with mixture and tossing around to coat, they are arranged on a baking sheet with a wire rack. Then it goes into the oven.

Weeknight Black Bean Chili

This recipe is from Budget Bytes. This is a keeper. I made it yesterday for lunch. It really does not take that long so I will be making it on a weeknight. I did add cheese, tortilla strips, and sour cream as toppings.

The oil, garlic, and onion paste in the large pot. (Please remember I hate onions so I use onion powder and make a sort of paste out of it).

After adding the ground turkey. I have not cooked with ground turkey before. The raw turkey was very soft. I did not think it was going to work out, but cooking it actually hardened it up so it was not all mush.

Next I added the black beans and the tomatoes with green chiles. The tomato/green chile mix was Rotel.

The spices (chile powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano) were added.

Also added the tomato paste. Found the tube kind at my grocery store. I did not think they carried it, but I just read about tube tomato paste in the latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated (March/April).

Everything mixed together before letting it simmer for 10 minutes.

Chili topped with cheese, tortilla strips, and sour cream.