Mo' Betta with Butta?

As of late, I have really been craving to try out some new recipes; push the limits of what I know how to do and add some tricks to the bag. So last night I thought that I would dabble in some Indian cuisine and try making Murgh Makhani, also know as Butter Chicken. Now there are about a hundred different versions of this dish and how you can prepare it. I choose a recipe that didn't involve a trip to Peshawar and wouldn't take three days to make. (I was short on time, and dinner hits the table at 6pm in our house.)

As usual, I did have to tweak the preparation of it. The original recipe technique for cooking the chicken would have dried it out in my opinion and I also wanted more of a puree of the "gravy" versus a chunky stew that this recipe called for.
I have to say that it was a success, because Ian had fourths and now there's barely any leftovers. I would like to try this dish again, tweaking it a bit more. Alot of the online recipes called for fenugreek, which this recipe did not call for, and garam masala which after an hour in the grocery store with a three year old telling me he needed donuts and pudding, I had no more patience to look for.
So please try it, enjoy it and tweak it as you like!

Ingredients
For Marinated:
800 grams of chicken cut into pieces (preferably boneless)
1 tablespoon slightly sour yogurt
1 tablespoon(s) vinegar or lemon juice
1 teaspoon(s) each of coriander, cumin and red chili powders
1 onion finely chopped
2 teaspoon(s) each of ginger, garlic pastes or finely chopped ginger and garlic
salt to taste

For the Gravy
4 large tomatoes chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fresh cream
1 teaspoon(s) each of coriander, cumin, red chili and black pepper powders
2 teaspoon(s) each of finely chopped ginger and green chillies
salt and sugar to taste
melted butter, fresh cream and finely chopped cilantro leaves for garnishing

Preparation
Heat half the butter and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or olive oil on medium-high in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the chicken along with the marinade. Par cook chicken so that the outside is browned, but the interior is still raw. Pull the chicken from the pan and set aside. (Make sure that the dish that you put your chicken in has high sides. You want to retain the juices from the chicken to add to the gravy later.)
There should still be some remaining marinade in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining butter in a saucepan and add the red chili, coriander, cumin and black pepper. Fry for a few seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and cook uncovered for about 7 minutes till the puree thickens and the fat separates. Pull the mixture off of the heat and carefully pour into a blender. I suggest that you wait a couple of minutes to let the mixture cool. IMPORTANT: Most blenders have a removable plastic cap that can be used to add ingredients to the blender while blending with out having to remove the entire lid. When blending hot items, I suggest removing this cap and using a kitchen towel to cover the opening and slowly pureeing the ingredients as not to splash yourself with hot gravy. After you get a smooth puree, return the gravy to the saucepan. Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low.
Add the chicken and chicken juices, chopped ginger and green chillies to the simmering gravy. Sprinkle salt to taste if needed. Mix well. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes or till the curry and chicken is thoroughly heated through.
Just before serving pour melted butter over the curry. Garnish with a swirl of fresh cream and finely chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with Jasmine rice and Naan.

Robots and Ravioli

When your doctor puts you on bed rest starting at month 5 of your pregnancy, by the time you get to month 7 you start to go a little crazy. Hormones coupled with wanting to get the hell out of house start to get at you and you start thinking of crazy scenarios, which by the way is driving my husband crazy. So the latest "Girl Interrupted" delusion that I had was, "Does Ian still love me?" I could slap myself for even typing it, but I went there.
So for the past week I have been acting like a damn fool, trying to get a response out of my man that reinforces his passion and love for me after 8 years of being together. I will give you an example...
Crazy Ass Act #102: Dancing in front of Ian, while he's trying to watch TV, wearing my son's Transformers' helmet, half naked and talking sexy through the helmet's microphone so that I sound like Optimus Prime.
My Reasoning: He's a Sci-Fi geek. He's gettin' two great taste that taste great together. Hot wife and super sick Sci-Fi hero.
The Reality: He laughed his ass off, didn't think it was hot and pleaded with me,"N'Gina Saran Kavookjian go sit down somewhere, anywhere and PLEASE take the helmet off!"

Ok ok ok, failed attempt. Now I know that that kind of behavior would only really be tolerated and or appreciated by some dude at Comic Con, or with a man that likes to play W.O.W or Dungeons and Dragons. So I changed my game plan...
Non-Crazy Ass Act #702: Home-made Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Ravioli with Braised Chicken Thigh Meat for dinner.
My Reasoning: The boy likes to eat
The Reality: He loved it. Complimented me a thousand times, gave me the biggest kiss and said," THAT is why I married you!!!"
Eureka!!!! I followed it up the next night with some home-made meatballs and tomato puree on top of spaghetti. Got the same reaction times 10!!!
So ladies when you're feeling low and that your man isn't giving you the attention that you need, or you're friggin crazy like me and he is spoiling you with attention, but all the blood in your body has gone to your growing baby and not your brain...cook him dinner and put lots of love in it. It's alot more practical than dancing around with a robot helmet on your head.

Quick Credit

With my pregnant brain in overdrive I forgot to credit the photo from Erin L. from Yelp.

Ah Sweet Fried Goodness!

I don't think that I have ever written a restaurant review on this blog. I tend to think that most critics are asses and would rather base my experience off of actually going to the restaurant and making a decision for myself. So I won't call this a review, but a compliment to some people doing a damn good job at cooking the BEST soul food in Sacramento; and when I say the BEST, I do mean it!
So this past Thursday, while hunting for bathroom tile, my husband and I were looking for a place to get something to eat. On the way to the tile store, off of Folsom Blvd, I had noticed a new restaurant called Mama Sue's Kitchen Chicken and Waffles. Out front was a very bored, ghetto fabulous young lady shakin' a sign trying in all her apathy to get people to come inside. I told Ian that we should check it out and got a, "Oh hell yea!" in response.

After slapping Ian for looking at Miss Ghetto Fabulous's ample backside, we walked inside and took a seat. It was clean, roomy, smelled like grandma's house and had the old school jams on the radio. A very personable waitress approached us and gave us menus that we quickly scoured over. They had all the basics that you would expect on a soul food menu. Ian selected the Deep Fried Catfish with Greens and Mac n' Cheese and I ordered the Fried Chicken Breast and Waffle.
Food hit the table not 15 minutes after we ordered, it was steamy hot and the plates were busting over with Southern goodness. We jumped in and started to partake in the ecstasy that was Soul Food. I peeled back the crust on the chicken and immediately knew these people were not playin' around. The key to GREAT fried chicken is to always season the meat as well as your flour. Many places in Sac neglect to do this, so after the crunchy crust falls off your chicken, you're left with bland meat to dig into. At Mama Sue's you could see the seasoning on the meat and I knew that this was going to be good.
I went to take a bite of the chicken and was quickly scolded by Ian that I had to take a bite of everything together with the syrup. Ian likes to remind me that he, in his red beard, freckled, Irish glory is more black than me. So I did as I was told and I think a small tear spilled out of my eye. Vanglorious!!! The chicken was well seasoned and very balanced, the waffle was buttery and fluffy, and the syrup was not over the top sweet. On their own, everything on the plate was great and together they were only better.
Ian's Catfish was delicately breaded and so moist on the inside. The greens were perfectly savory and full of meaty pork bits. Now the Mac n' Cheese was not all that, but I've been spoiled by Esquire Grill's Mac n' Cheese. Once you have a four cheese Mac with a Bechamel base you can never really go back to Mac n' Cheese made with processed powdered cheese substitute.
We surprising ate every last drop. We were full until 7pm that night. We sat there completely satisfied.
I broke off the last piece of fried chicken skin and looked at Ian and said,
"Do you know what this is?"
"What?"
"This is Chicharones for Black people!"
"You're stupid N'Gina"
We did the full people's laugh, which is like two "huh huh's" and then paid and thanked our waitress.
So if you are hankerin' for some seriously good soul food, you need to go to Mama Sue's. The prices are super reasonable, the food is fabulous, service warm and inviting and did I mention they have all you can eat Fried Chicken on Sunday's! Whaaaaaaaat!

Mama Sue's Soul Food Kitchen
10113 Folsom Boulevard
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(916) 363-3977

It's My Anniversary...But I'm Not Drinkin' Champagne...But I Wish I Was!

It has been a full year that I have been writing my blog. I tried to think of some really creative post about my year in retrospect, but I've been there and done that in previous posts. So I am re-posting the original post that started it all. It's actually my favorite post that I have written. Thank you to everyone that has read and continues to read my blog. The next year has alot in store, with a new baby on the way, catering business really picking up, and the seeds that we sowed this past year coming to harvest in the upcoming months. Life is good and getting better. http://mouthfulloffood8.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-got-full-on-this.html

The I Do's and Don'ts

For us at Eight, the fall is the beginning of our wedding season. The weddings that we are catering this season absolutely run the spectrum of style and size. From a traditional big Italian fete to a modern art gallery cocktail party. With my own anniversary this past week, it got me thinking about the things that brides and grooms do right and wrong in the planning of their big day. This will be a short list, but here are my top 3 things that you shouldn't and should do to ensure a memorable and fabulous day.

1. Leave the peanut gallery at home: The average wedding cost between 10K to 30K. That's the cost of a car! It's a big and personal financial commitment. Would you bring your whole family and all your friends to help you buy a house? Then why would you bring them to a cake tasting, dress fitting or food tasting and let them make the decisions? The day is about you and your partner, not about what your best friend, mom, little brother wished they could have at their wedding. PLEEEEEASE couples allow yourselves to make a deep personal decision that is just for you. Not your guest or your family. (Even if they are paying. Because a monetary gift is just that a GIFT! You don't tell people what to do with a gift.)

2. Plan ahead: If you are having a shot gun wedding, more power to you. No really. For those that are not having one, please don't act like you are. Plan, plan, plan. So much goes into planning the big day. Get help and get help early. Find a friend that is in the industry and ask them for advice. They will be able to steer you in a proper, money and time saving direction to help plan out the big day. Friends in the industry will turn you on to insider tips on how to get the most bang for your buck.

3. The entire West Coast doesn't need to be invited: This is the one piece of advice I give out to everybody I know who is getting married. Nobody ever listens and after they get married they always say, "Wow you were right." No shit! Having a rave for a wedding will exhaust you. Unless you are a raver. We had 50 people at our wedding and it felt like a night of 50 unfinished conversations. The guest that you invite took the time to buy you an expensive gift, travel across the country to be there and sit through your ceremony. They deserve more than 30 seconds of, "Thank you for coming." Our rule was if we hadn't had dinner with you in a year, then you weren't invited. Harsh rule, but it kept the numbers low and the cost down. It made it intimate. My sister got married a year ago and she had 500 people at her wedding reception. It was a par-tay, but that many people in a dark warehouse with booming music scared the shit out of my son and after being there for 20 minutes I had to leave. Missing everything about my sister's wedding reception. Very disappointing and not very intimate. Something that she regretted later.

So take the time to figure out what you want and how to get it. Let the conversation be between just the two of you and remember you(hopefully)only get married once. Though you may renew your vows, the next time around some loved ones might not be there to enjoy it, so just do it right the first time.

Ready for a Change of Seasons

So today was a cool 84 degrees in Sacramento, but throughout the day we had a beautifully cool breeze that made it feel like the beginning of Fall. It got me aching for Fall so badly. Fall has always been a time of restart for me. In younger years, I would usually move around this time, start a new job, begin school. Fall has a smell that is so unique and I caught a glimpse of that today. Wood burning pizza ovens, sweet pipe tobacco, pencil shavings and cool air. Going to Apple Hill with Danielle and Clint Hostetler, new leather boots and of course, the Renaissance Fair....YEAH I USED TO GO...I AIN'T EMBARRASSED...AND I USED TO DRESS UP TOO!

As of late food has been a cold, evil mistress for me, so for this post I will be referring to my favorite Fall drink. Chili Pepper Hot Chocolate. Ah Jesus, Mary, Joseph how I love a good cup of spicy hot chocolate. The only way that I drink it is with a dried red chili cooked into the milk. The heat hits you on the back of the throat in such a lovely subtle way. So when the weather gets a little more chilly in a month or so, I highly suggest making a cup and snuggling up on the couch with a good Law and Order marathon. You know I will be.

Spicy Hot Chocolate
2 cups milk
3 0z dark chocolate or 2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1-2 dried red chili pepper

In a small saucepan heat milk, but do not bring milk to a boil. Slowly stir milk. Crack the dried red chili pepper into milk and continue to warm milk. If using cocoa powder, add to milk and slowly whisk to incorporate ingredients. If using chocolate bars, pre-melt chocolate. Short cut, melt chocolate in the microwave starting at 30 seconds. Remove and stir chocolate, if not fully melted, place in microwave and at 10second intervals continue to heat and stir until melted. Pour melted chocolate into your desired mug and then slowly incorporate the milk, stirring until all ingredients are fully incorporated.