Tandoori Chicken with Butter Sauce, Aloo Gobi and Basmati Rice (Michael Smith - Food Network)

Wow, this is one of my favorite Indian dishes!! Complete with Naan bread and basmati rice, minus the Aloo Gobi!! God love him, Jamie did all of this one himself -even the homemade curry powder!

Now, I'm no expert but it seems that this is two Indian dishes put together! I'm sure I've had Tandoori Chicken and Butter Chicken as two completely different dishes. This one was Tandoori Chicken done with a butter sauce!! There was lots of work to this, and we even had our smoke detectors going off!LOL The chicken was cooked in the oven on the highest temperature which probably had something to do with it!! The chicken was marinated overnight in the Tandoori marinade and the butter sauce was served over it once it was cooked.

This other dish, Aloo Gobi was the first time we've had this and it will be the last for me!! This plate you see pictured above was mine and when it was all said and done, mostly everything was gone except for the potato and cauliflower dish! I can't put my finger on it, but there was some flavor that didn't appeal to me and it only had potato, cauliflower, onions, cumin seeds, curry powder and a green chili in it??? Whatever it was, I didn't like it but Jamie did - so it was all worth it! The kids weren't fussy on it, but they tried and that's all that matters! You can't be adventurous without getting mixed reviews!!

Once again, my house had the lovely aroma of Indian spices gone through it and I went crazy with my candles and Febreeze bottle!LOL

These recipes were on-line actually on Michael Smith's show on the Food Network!! Shouldn't be too hard to find and it's definitely worth looking for! Thanks guys - again!!!

Curried Moose - a Family recipe usually made with beef!

This a family recipe that I've been making myself for years that my Grandmother used to make. Traditionally, we made it with beef, but since we had a moose roast in the freezer, we opted for that instead! It worked really well..... always nice to come up with something different to do with moose!

This curry was different though from the ones that I'm used to making because the curry powder wasn't the same as the kind you buy off of the shelf at the supermarket! You guessed it, it was a homemade blend - I guess I do owe Jamie some of the credit after all!!LOL Apparently curry powder isn't just curry powder! It consists of numerous spices blended together...didn't know that!!!

First thing you need to do is finely chop a few onions, at least enough to cover the entire bottom of your pot (we used our red 9 qt Le Crueset Dutch Oven Pot!!) to probably about a 1/4 of an inch if not more!! You brown your meet in the onions, salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Once your meet is browned, add your curry powder (about 3 tbsps) and chili powder (about a tsp) and cook for a while reducing the onions. At this point I used to add a little water, but started using beef broth which is better!

While this is simmering away, peel and cut your potatoes into cubes. You need to top your pot up with water and boil your potatoes until soft. Don't put more water than you need into the pot! Once your potatoes are cooked, add your green peas and about 1/2 to 3/4 of a can of tomato paste to thicken it!

At this stage you can cook your rice (we use basmati rice) and by the time it's ready, so should your curried moose! We always serve this dish with buttered bread/rolls and a glass of white milk! This has me craving this dish all over again!!

One thing that I do not like, is the smell of onions and other food smells on my clothes and in my hair. I prefer to make this dish on a weekend and I usually have scented candles lit as I'm cooking it! After it's all said and done and the dishes and leftovers are put away, I go through the house with my spray bottle of Febreeze!!LOL Jamie thinks I have an overly sensitive nose, but if I can smell food off me, I assume others can too!! But in saying that, I do what I have to do in order to still make this dish - definitely worth it!!

This dish takes a while to cook - you can't rush it, so don't even try!LOL

Prime Rib Roast with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes from the Food Network

Easter Sunday was a fantastic eating day and I don't mean just because of the chocolate Easter eggs!!

The morning started with delicious buttermilk pancakes which we substituted half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and added about a tablespoon of Nutella!!! This recipe came from allrecipes.com in case you wanted to know and it's called buttermilk pancakes II.

The main meal of the day for us though was supper. We had a Prime Rib Roast with Horseradish Mashes Potatoes and Yorkshire Puddings from scratch all drizzled in a wine and beef broth reduced sauce!!! Unbelievable!!

The Roast was seared with salt and pepper and then roasted in the oven with mushrooms, pearl onions and thyme. The potatoes were delicious which I didn't expect knowing that they were called Horseradish Mashed Potatoes, but the mixture of butter, heavy cream and buttermilk added to the balance that brought them to an entire new level!!!!

The yorkshire puddings were fantastic and made from scratch but what topped off this meal was the wine and beef stock reduced sauce that was drizzled over the entire meal! Amazing flavors!!

For dessert we had butter pecan cake (store bought!) decorated with caramel icing and coconut and chocolate Easter eggs of course! The Icing was made from sweetened condensed milk boiled for 3 hours in a pot with the water covering the can the entire time. Peel the label off first of course, but do not open the can until it has cooled to the point of just being warm!! Absolutely delicious and I did two cans to have some left over for ice-cream!!

I hope you try some if not all of these recipes! And I hope you had a fantastic Easter with lots of family, friends and to top if off - great food.....

Cottage Pie from the Food Network

Well, I found out something new Thursday night! The dish I always thought of as Shephard's Pie, was actually called Cottage Pie. Do you know what the difference is? No, I didn't either, but Cottage Pie has ground beef in it but true Shepard's Pie has ground lamb.

Whenever I made it, I used just the basic ingredients...ground beef, green peas, carrots, corn, etc and of course mashed potato as the top. This recipe that Jamie used the other night was out of this world and as you could tell by the intense flavors, a tad more complicated!!!!

By complicated I mean more work, but not hard by no means! It consisted of alot of ingredients - salt, pepper, onions, celery, garlic, tomato paste, beef stock, rosemary, thyme, a bay leaf and red wine....

Even the mashed potatoes were fancier from what I'm used to making! The combination of garlic, butter, whipping cream, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese was awesome! It would be shameful for me to make my version of Shepard's Pie after tasting this one, so I'm just not going to make mine ever again!LOL

Jamie found this one on the Food Network once again...I guess you're starting to see a trend here with his favorite recipe sites!!

Take my word for it, if you ever go to make this dish you have to try this recipe and you will not believe the flavor! The kids ate every last bit in their bowls which is chore for one of them to do at the best of times!!

Pistachio Crusted Chicken From allrecipes.com

OMG!! That's about all I can say! This way to do chicken will make you love it again because if you're anything like us, you've eaten it that much that you're finding it hard to make it fun, delicious and interesting!! Well, this will do it!!


Start with a great television show or a movie and sit down to separate a full bag of pistachio nuts from their shells while you watch!LOL I didn't do any of the cooking (don't say it!) but I sure did help in the preparation which counts for an aweful lot in this recipe!


The chicken is actually coated in a dijon mustard, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper mixture then rolled in the bread crumbs and chopped pistachios!! Wonderful flavor, not too nutty, not too sweet! With it of course, as you can see in the photo was steamed broccoli and roasted potatoes which is from our buddy, Michael Smith. I can't remember what we had for dessert, but I'm thinking nothing because I remember not being able to eat another bite!!! This portion size is actually what Jamie picks up for me all the time, and after alot of protesting about it, I clean my plate most of the time!LOL


Well, there it is folks, an absolutely great tasting meal which is also simple and all you have to do is go to allrecipes.com....another one of Jamie's favorite sites!! Enjoy and I hope you take the time to try this one!!

**Note - we didn't have this today and figured I'd mention that little tidbit of information since today is Good Friday!LOL**

Curry Chicken Pot Pie

I have to start by saying I LOVE this dish!!! It is easy, full of vegetables and just such a comfort dish!! It is the kind of dish that you can use whatever you have in you freezer at the time and still love it!

I found this recipe on-line (there is one by Alton Brown - Food Network) just by typing in curry chicken pot pies and just kind of make it up as I go now!!

The first thing I do is bake two of my pie shells. I by two boxes because I find the mixture is more than enough for two and I leave the other box out to thaw to use to cover my pot pies when they go back into the oven.

I start with cooking my cubed chicken in olive oil with onions, celery, salt and pepper. Once cooked I add my chicken broth, usually the low sodium one, and my variety of frozen veggies and my curry powder. I usually use broccoli, corn, peas and carrots - but obviously you can pick your favorites! This time we used the frozen mixture that had green peas, carrots, lima beans, green beans and my favorite - corn!! This makes this dish so easy to make!!

Once the vegetables are ready, I add my cornstarch and water (just a little) to thicken up the filling! I fill up my two cooked pie shells and top them with the other two shells that I put aside!!

I bake the two of them on my sheet pan just until the top pastry is cooked and serve it right away - YUMMY!!!!!!

Hope you try this easy one and enjoy it as much as we do! This one is made by myself when we have it...funny how we have certain meals assigned to each other!LOL Hey, it works for us!! Truth be known, it's about a 30-70% ratio!!

A little tip - any left over filling can be frozen and made into another pot pie or Jamie likes to eat the mixture just as it is!!

Maple Baked Beans - Michael Smith style!!

Well, I haven't been at it in a while but that's not to say we haven't been cooking!LOL Actually there a few new favorites that we tried over again and cooked for others!! The newest one we tried though has been Maple Baked Beans from Michael's cookbook!

This was a really nice flavour with maple syrup and fried bacon! The texture was firmer than the regular baked beans that I'm familiar with but we're not sure if that's the way they were supposed to be or an error on our part!LOL The recipe mentions 2 cups of water in the list of ingredients and they are not mentioned after! We're thinking that the extra 2 cups of water would have made a difference and softened up the beans a little more. It was fine though, we just added a little more water and baked them for longer. I will definitely eat them again and try it with the "extra" water right from the start!! I'm really not sure though, but I may still like the regular baked beans with molasses best! With it of course was homemade bread with butter - YUMMY!! (note: the bread was not baked at our house!LOL)

Dessert was my job! We had a Fruit Crisp made with a frozen berry blend of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries (which you can get almost anywhere!!) and topped it off with ice-cream! Timed to come out of the oven just as we sat down to eat - PERFECT!!! Also from The Best of Chef at Home cookbook....

Thanks again guys for another fantastic meal!!! Oh, and your welcome for the fabulous dessert!LOL