Tag Archives: onions

30-Minute Chicken Tagine

Hi everyone! I am back from Guadalajara! All toilets, I am pleased to report, were in full working order. Not a single large spider was spotted. We were also not kidnapped (as I briefly feared when my boss recommended that we wear jeans instead of the business outfits we’d brought, having just been told by a Mexican friend that we should try to look as inconspicuous as possible). I view my non-kidnapping as a huge plus.

But of course, what kind of a story is ‘all was well’? Really, it’s no kind of a story. So be reassured: shenanigans were nonetheless afoot. A big week-long festival in Tlaquepaque (where we stayed) serenaded us with exploding fireworks, loud mariachi bands, and the crazy, energetic noise of people celebrating in the street. This went on all night long. And by ‘all night long’ I mean that we checked into our bed and breakfast around 8pm Monday evening, and when we came down for breakfast around 7:30am the next morning, the party was still raging. Not petering out, or winding down, or losing its steam–raging, I tell you. Raging.

Number of hours of sleep between check-in and check-out = 0.256. I was suddenly very grateful that our connecting flight had us at the Dallas airport the following night, where not a single enthusiastic mariachi man was in sight.

Now please don’t misunderstand me–I’m in full support of people partying in the streets, saying the Lord’s Prayer over a loudspeaker, and greeting the dawn with dancing and yelling. But those firecrackers sounded like bombs, man. And we kind of had a meeting with a client the next morning, type of thing. The short dozes I coaxed myself into throughout the night were populated with nightmares of large hairy rats whose heads I was trying to smash against the wall, except that I couldn’t quite get enough energy in my arm to do the deed with one try.

What does that dream mean? I don’t think that a detailed analysis would be fruitful at this point.

Anyway, it’s time for more food.

I am one of those people who mentally divide meals into two categories: weekend and weeknight. Being a workin’ woman these days, Monday through Friday there is simply no time to make most braises, stews, or roasts. The incomparable flavor of these dishes has been reserved, in my mind, for a Saturday or Sunday.

When I started leafing through my library copy of the fantastic cookbook ‘The Best 30-Minute Recipe,’ I read that the brilliant minds over at America’s Test Kitchen wanted to make stews, braises, and traditionally long-cooking things like lasagna into faster (but still delicious) weeknight versions. I may have pumped a fist in the air. In fact, if these people want to lead a revolution, I will follow. Take me to your leader.

Are you getting the feeling that I’m becoming obsessed with America’s Test Kitchen? Because if you are, that feeling would be correct, sir.

This recipe for Chicken Tagine that I bring to you today was a thrilling success. It all starts with microwaving chicken thighs to get the cooking done faster. I was skeptical at first–really? The microwave? Wouldn’t that make the chicken all gross and stuff? Where would the flavor come from? Well if there’s one thing I can state with confidence: there is no lack of flavor here! I still can’t believe it’s possible to make such a rich and wonderful dish in so short a time. The chicken is just as tender as if it had been on the stove for much longer. Rest assured that I’ll be bringing you more of this kind of recipe. I’ve been craving more ever since the last bite.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 TBS olive oil
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt
2 TBS flour
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup quartered dried apricots
2 TBS minced cilantro

In order to make this work in 30 minutes, multitasking and prepping things in order is very important, so I’ll walk you through it as best I can. First up: getting the chicken started.

Season the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper and place them in a single layer in a microwave-safe casserole dish (if you use a plate, the juices may run over and make a mess).

Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap . . .

. . . and microwave on 50% power for 15 minutes. Now I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to make my microwave go to 50% power, and since I suspected the manual was in a dusty spot under the couch where it was likely trod upon repeatedly by spiders, I simply did 15 minutes of ‘cook’ using the regular settings and it worked fine.

Now grab a large onion.

Give it a good mince. A good sharp knife is essential to performing this task quickly and safely.

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. When hot, add the onion, garam masala and 1/4 tsp of salt, and cook for 5 minutes until the onion is softened.

Garam masala, by the way, is an Indian blend of spices that will rock your world. If you don’t have any on hand, just do a quick google search and you will turn up a million recipes telling you how to make your own by combining spices such as cinnamon, coriander, cumin, etc.

While the onions are cooking, get your chicken stock ready and open the cans of chickpeas and tomatoes (and drain/rinse the chickpeas under the faucet). Here they are, standing to attention.

Ready to jump into action at my beck and call.

While you’re at it, quarter the dried apricots. Such a lovely, bright orange!

You should also have time to mince up the garlic. I hope that multitasking doesn’t make your head spin.

Once the onion is softened, add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.

Add the flour . . .

. . . and cook for about a minute, until the flour is slightly browned. Stir constantly so that the flour doesn’t burn.

Pour in the chicken stock . . .

. . . and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatoes . . .

. . . chickpeas . . .

. . . and the quartered apricots.

Stir everything in and then bring it to a simmer.

Cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat (until the apricots are soft).

During those 5 minutes, give the cilantro a rough chop:

The chicken should definitely be out of the microwave by now. Be careful when removing the plastic wrap so that you don’t burn yourself with the steam.

Turn down the heat to low and add the chicken thighs, submerging them in the liquid.

Add any juices from the chicken as well. Cover the pot . . .

. . . and cook for about 10 minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

The chicken is so tender that you can break it apart or shred it with a spatula before serving it, for optimal ease of consumption.

I’m all about optimal ease of consumption.

Stir in the cilantro and season the stew to suit your taste. I needed a little extra salt and pepper. Serve the Tagine over rice or couscous, with extra cilantro for garnish.

And there you have it–a wonderful stew adapted to the weeknight schedule.

You all have to try this. Have to.

Am I sounding bossy?

You know–don’t answer that question. Just obey.

Love,

The Older Sister Who Never Got Over Being a Bossy Older Sister

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Gouda Stovetop Mac and Cheese

In my quest for the perfect stovetop mac and cheese, I absolutely had to try Tracy’s recipe from Tasty Kitchen as soon as I saw it. I’ve never tried using Gouda in my mac and cheese, and was very interested to see how it went down. So after adjusting the recipe to add more onion, more cheese and more cream, here’s how it went down:

Oh baby oh.

Look no further.

Let me break it down for you: I’ve made stovetop mac and cheese at least 4 times in the past few months. I photographed all my efforts so that I could share the recipes with you in the event of success, but none of them made the cut. Until this recipe. Point #2: my husband normally doesn’t even like mac and cheese unless it’s baked. But he loved this recipe. Need I say more?

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

1 lb campanelle pasta (or any other kind)

5 slices bacon

1 whole sweet onion, chopped finely

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup shredded Gouda cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

First, boil some salted water and cook the pasta until al dente.

Set it aside.

You can really use any shape of pasta–elbow macaroni, penne, farfalle, etc.–but I love the campanelle because the little shell-shaped swirls are perfect for capturing the sauce inside. Check it out:

I shall rename this pasta shape “Ye Horne of Plenty.”

While the pasta is cooking, you can focus on the very simple sauce–it all starts with the bacon.

Fry the bacon slices until they’re starting to get crispy, then remove them to a paper towel and pad off the grease. Roughly chop them and set them aside.

As you can see, I used my trusty kitchen scissors for this task.

While the pasta is cooking and the bacon is frying, there’s plenty of time to mince up the onion. First I halve it, then I slice each half like so:

Then I cut in the opposite direction like so:

Thank you photography for saving me from a confusing verbal description of what just happened to that onion.

These little morsels of sweet onion are going to be perfect in that cheesy sauce. Yup.

Take a piece of Gouda . . .

. . . and grate up 1 cup. Or grate up more and eat the extra; the choice is yours.

Can you tell that I grated significantly more than I needed? On purpose? It’s called ‘the cook’s prerogative,’ and I claim that authority. Plus, the packaging says “Great for Entertaining,” and I was in sore need of entertainment after a frustrating day at work.

Nothing like melted cheese to make the stresses of the day melt away. Hmmm–that rhymes. I think I’ll write a song about that. The chorus will go “The stress is melting like cheese in fondue/with this kind of goodness, who could feel blue?/Give me that mac and cheese any old day/cause baby my worries are falling away.” And it will top the charts.

Remove most of the bacon grease from the pot (leaving about 1 TBS) and fry the sweet onion in the bacon grease over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until translucent and slightly soft.

Season the onion with salt and pepper as it cooks.

Add the bacon back into the pot along with the heavy cream.

Simmer over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the mixture has reduced and thickened a little.

Mmmm!

Turn off the heat and stir in the Gouda cheese.

As soon as it has melted into the sauce (this will only take a minute), it will look something like this:

Add in the cooked pasta and stir the whole mess around until each and every Ye Horne of Plenty is coated in the sauce.

Taste and re-season, adding salt and pepper as needed. I added a healthy pinch of salt.

Voilà!

Quickly gather the troops, because this is best served hot.

A word to the wise–like most mac and cheese type dishes, this doesn’t reheat extraordinarily well, so chow down! And then thank the Dutch for the miracle of Gouda.

The next experiment: how would it taste if I used smoked Gouda?

Though I don’t know if I want to experiment–it’s so perfect just as it is.

If you need a little more protein, you can always grab that piece of salmon that’s been skulking around in your fridge and give it a quick fry.

Flake it up a little with a fork or two . . .

. . . and toss it in the bowl right along with the creamy pasta goodness.

Also quite choice. Either way, this recipe is fabulous. If you’re a lover of mac and cheese, you will not be disappointed.

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