Chicken Kabobs and "Special" Crescent Rolls

We made some super fantastic chicken kabobs last night with these most delicious crescent rolls using a recipe of my best friends MIL! I'll call them Mrs. T's Famous Crescent Rolls!!! The kabobs were pretty standards, chicken, green pepper, white onion, 1 can white potatoes, and mushrooms. Rob put some curry seasoning on them with some extra red pepper powder and a little brush of olive oil. I made the Indian Rice that I blogged below with the kabobs. Now, on to the delicious crescent rolls!

Ingredients
1 tube crescent rolls (Pillsbury or store brand)
4 oz of cream cheese softened in the microwave to make it spoonable
Honey

Directions
Roll out the rolls as you normally would then add a spoon full (tsp) of cream cheese to the large end of the crescent roll. Roll them up and kinda pinch the ends so the cream cheese doesn't ooze when you bake them. Bake according to the package instructions (no extra time needed). Pull them out and put some honey on top of them and spread it around. Let them sit for about 5 minutes.

I suggest eating them with a fork! They are so freaking good! Its like a dinner roll and dessert in one!

Basmati Rice

Basmati rice is an Indian rice that is quite different from regular long grain rice like Minute Rice or other rices along those lines. Its a longer rice that requires either being rinsed or soaked in clean water. The rice above is what I have found in the local grocery store and is very good. Its about $5 for this 1lb bag.

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken is a-mazing and rather simple to make (don't let the ingredients list deterr you from this delicious, flavorful dish). Rob and I opted to chunk the chicken breast and place the chicken on skewers rather than do whole breasts which would need to be cut anyway (it was easier this way, I strongly recommend it). Tandoor Chicken is best served with Basmati rice (or veggie rice, see below) and Naan...steamed curried vegetables would be very tasty too...but I haven't tried making those yet!

Note: All the Indian food I have had, and what I have made, is served "warm" not "hot"

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (I prefer boneless)
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 inch piece fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

DIRECTIONS

Run garlic through a press, or finely mince. Grate ginger. Mix together yogurt, oil, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, and spices.

Make diagonal slashes in the chicken meat to allow marinade to penetrate better. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken parts.

Marinate for 4 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator, turning occasionally. If the chicken is placed in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature before cooking (approximately 1 hour). I recommend overnight to get full flavor!

Preheat broiler.

Brush grill or shallow baking pan with a little oil to keep chicken from sticking. Arrange chicken on the pan.

Broil chicken 2-3 inches away from the heat until cooked through, approximately 25 minutes, turning halfway through.

Naan (Indian Flat Bread)

Naan is a simple and delicious flat bread that is the most common bread in India. It is wonderful to use with rices, curries and my favorite, Tandoori Chicken. The recipe looks like it is very difficult, but it is really quite simple. In all, it took about a half hour to make (minus the time for proofing). I have a feeling this bread is going to become a staple in my house!!! Delicious!!! The picture above shows the raw Naan ready to be cooked and the second picture is the cooked Naan...I used a fry pan and cooked stove top.

Note: You can add spices to this bread if you are feeling daring. I have had it with cumin seeds, onion seeds, blackened sesame seeds and so on. I think it is best without spice and brushed with Ghee.

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ghee
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoons kalonji (onion seed) - opotional

DIRECTIONS
Whisk the warm water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Sift flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee and all the yogurt. Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size .

Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out into 8 inch round naans.

Cover an oven tray with foil and grease the foil. Brush the naan with a little of the remaining ghee and sprinkle with some of the kalonji. Cook naan one at a time under a very hot grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned.

Biryani (Vegetable Rice)

This dish is amazingly aromatic! The spices that are used are simply delicious...my entire house smelled of Indian food last night and it was so yummy! I suppose you can change the vegetables used if you are not a big fan of tomatoes, peas and carrots...but the onion is a must have in this dish. If you don't like spicy food, then this dish is not for you (although, I do believe you can control the heat by skipping red or black pepper). I skipped the potato in my rice because I forgot to buy one at the market.

Note: The recipe calls for a spice mix (which is homemade) called Garam Masala. To make this spice mix you take whole uncooked spices, brown them stove top and grind them. I found a Curry spice at a local market that has everything Garam Masala has for a lot cheaper than buying whole spices and easier than cooking and grinding them myself (yeah, I'm lazy like that). Here is a picture of the Curry spice I used:

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice (red or yellow onion)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced potato
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red chile pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 cups water
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained

DIRECTIONS
Melt ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir Garam Masala; cook until the spices are fragrant, and the cumin seeds begin to pop, about 3 minutes.

Stir in garlic, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas, carrot, and potato. Season with chicken bouillon, salt, red chile, black pepper, and turmeric. Stir well, then cover, and cook for 3 minutes.

Pour in 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, stir in basmati rice, reduce heat to medium, recover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook until the rice has softened, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)

I got this recipe off AllRecipes and changed it up just a little. When I had this dessert (which was homemade by Indian ladies) it included Vermicelli and cashews rather than Basmati rice. It was absolutely fantastic. Because cardamom pods are very hard to find (and somewhat expensive) I purchased already ground cardamom (which mixed in milk tastes an awful lot like Chai). I used 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom. This dessert is very rich and is fantastic served with a sweet corn bread on the side.

Note: I like kheer to be a little on the liquid side rather than a true "rice pudding". You can adjust the thickness of kheer by adding or taking away milk. So, if you like a thicker kheer then add less milk or a runnier kheer, add more milk. Get it?

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup uncooked Basmati Rice
2 quarts milk
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 pods cardamom
2 teaspoons rose water
1/4 cup Raw Cashews

DIRECTIONS
Place the rice in a small bowl and cover with water. Soak for one hour.

Drain the rice and place it in a large, heavy saucepan with the milk over low heat. Cook, covered 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender. Stir in sugar and cardamom and cook 20 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the rose water. Serve topped with cashews.

Ghee

So, ever since my best friends wedding I have been on an Indian food kick. I was spoiled the week of her wedding with endless homemade Indian cuisine that was so fantastically delicious I thought I'd try my hand in it. What I didn't know is that traditional Indian cuisine calls for Ghee about 90% of the time. Ghee is a refined butter and very easy to make. I decided to search on how to make it since the cheapest I could find it online was about $20 after shipping. The directions are very simple. (The pictures above show Ghee in its final clarified state and the second picture is of the milk products curdled at the bottom of the pan).

Ghee

1 lb Unsalted "real" butter (not margarine)

In a heavy saucepan, put the 1 lb of butter in the pan on medium heat. Allow the butter to melt down and come to a rolling boil. Let the butter boil for about 15 minutes. It will smell sort of like popcorn (no kidding). The milk fats will curdle at the bottom of the saucepan and the oil on top of the curdles is what's left, and that is called Ghee. The Ghee should be a clear gold color, once the Ghee reaches the clear gold color you will want to remove it from the heat and let it sit until it is room temperature. Once it is cooled you have to strain it into a clean glass jar. I used a couple of old pantyhose to strain it (cheese cloth or a super fine sieve will work if you have either, if not, use pantyhose). Avoid any water getting into the glass jar as it will cause harmful bacteria to form and ruin your Ghee.

Ghee has many beneficial elements to it. It is refined to the point where all the fats that are bad for you are boiled out leaving you with an oil. The Ghee aids in digestion and offers other benefits that you can't get from using olive oil or actual butter. It can also be used as massage oil (I don't think I'll be using it for that, but good to know).