You'll have to forgive me.  I was so hangry by the time the chicken was done that I just started cutting it into pieces right after it came out of the oven.  Once it was slice in half, it dawned on me.  Shoot, I need to take a picture first!  I think you still get the gist though, yes?  This chicken was super tasty, and isn't that crunchy outside just gorgeous.  I guess only people who are really into food think stuff like that...
As much fun as I had butterflying this chicken (yuck!), I think this will turn into one of my regular roast chicken recipes.  I love recipes where you can cook the whole shebang in one pot.  The citrus flavor paired with the fragrant spices made this a really delicious dinner.

You will need:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 TSP ground cardamom
1 TBSP orange zest
1 TBSP grated peeled fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 whole chicken, 4-5 pounds, giblets removed, rinsed and patted dry
2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 TBSP sunflower oil, plus more for drizzling


You will start by making a butter mixture.  Soft butter will mix a lot easier, just sayin' :).  Mix butter, cardamom, orange zest, ginger, garlic, 1 TSP salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Set aside while you butterfly the chicken.

I totally hate handling raw meat, so this seemed really daunting at first.  I assure you it isn't that bad.  If you can stick your hang up the inside of a chicken to get the giblets out, then you can probably handle this.

Start with your chicken breast side down with the neck part facing you.  With some sturdy kitchen shears, you are going to cut on either side of the backbone from neck to butt.  You should be able to remove the backbone in one long strip.  now you can flip the chicken over, breast side up, neck still facing you.  In a move reminiscent of first aid training, you will do a 'chest compression' type move.  Using your weight on the heel of your palm, give the chicken a good press until you hear a crack and your chicken is flattened.  You want to rotate the little chicken knees facing each other (like the chicken is knock-kneed).  That wasn't so bad, was it?

Take the butter mixture, and side it under the skin all over the chicken.  You should be able to separate the skin from the meat to make little pockets with your fingers.

At this time, we will focus on potatoes.  Slice them 1/4 in thick.  In a bowl, toss them with 1 TBSP sunflower oil, salt and pepper.  Allow them to sit at room temperature along with the chicken for 30 mins - while you preheat your oven to 500 degrees.  Yes, 500, that isn't a typo.  *

Drain any water that the potatoes have given off, and place them in your skillet in an even layer.  (cast iron is the way to go here)  Now place your chicken on top of the bed of potatoes.  Tuck the wing tips behind the shoulders so they won't burn.

Into the oven it goes.  20 minutes, then rotate and cook for another 20 minutes.  The skin will be nice and crispy and internal temperature should be 160 in the thigh area (that zone takes the longest to cook #stopsalmonella)

Let the chicken rest on a cutting board 10 minutes before cutting up and serving.  At this point, flip your potatoes around.  If you want more crisp taters, pop them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes.  Mine looked pretty good as is, so I skipped that step.

*Aarti suggests giving your oven a quick wipedown.  At temps that hot, anything that may have spilled in there may start smoking and setting off your smoke detectors!

I hope you enjoy this tasty meal!

Basic Chicken Curry

The funny thing about curry powder, is that I have found it used in a legit Indian recipe literally zero times.  All the spicy flavors come from all sorts of places that are much more familiar.  When you are talking about a dish being a curry, it is meaning a spiced sauce.  (note: there are dry curries as well, but trying to keep this simple)
This basic chicken curry is anything but basic. This dish has just the perfect touch of heat, paired with the fresh bite of cilantro and lime. I like serving this with Perfect Basmati Rice and Naan, and making an Indian style gordita. It is said that there may be over 1000 variations of a chicken curry, but Aarti suggests this one is a great place to get your feet wet in the world of curries.  I am a good 10-15 recipes into this cooking adventure, and this has been my favorite thing I have made thus far.

You will need:
3 TBSP sunflower oil
2 cinnamon sticks
4 green cardamom pods, crushed
 2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 2in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium serrano chile, sliced into half moons
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
2 TSP ground coriander
1/2 TSP paprika
1/2 TSP ground turmeric
1 TSP ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 TBSP lime juice (or juice from 1/2 a lime)
1/4 cup minced cilantro



Start with a big skillet (non-stick if you've got it) and heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Once the oil is hot and shimmery, add the cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, bay leaves and cloves.  Let those heat for a few seconds until fragrant, they will add a nice flavor to the oil base.
It is time for the onion.  Add to the pan and then add a pinch of salt.  In 8-10 minutes your onion should be a beautiful golden brown color.  Saute longer if need be to get the onion to be a nice brown color.


Next into the pan goes the serrano, garlic, and ginger.  Stir together and heat for a minute or two before adding the next group of ingredients.
Now we add the tomatoes, coriander, paprika, turmeric, and cumin.  You will allow all these ingredients to simmer together for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the tomatoes have lost their structure.


After 10 minutes have passed, remove the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves from the pan.  You are going to carefully transfer the sauce to the blender to puree.  (but keep the bender handy) Again, be careful not to overfill your blender, or the steam will cause the hot liquid to explode out of the top.  No one likes a burned hand!


Take the pureed sauce and pour back into the pan and bring up to a boil.  Add in the chicken pieces and stir to coat.  Cook for 5-7 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.


Next add the yogurt in slowly, a few drops at a time so it doesn't curdle.  Put the water into the blender and swirl to get the remnants of the tomato puree and pour into the pot.  Add 1 TSP of kosher salt.  Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.  Remove the lid and simmer 5 more minutes to let the sauce thicken.  Lastly, turn off the heat, squeeze in the lime juice and top with the cilantro.


Now that is one nice looking curry.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Did you know that Chicken Tikka Masala is hardly even authentic Indian food?  As it turns out, this national dish of London was created by a chef who was preparing a meal for a British military guy who instructed that there was to be 'none of that spicy stuff'.  Here, here!  I am an avid avoider of spice and it is only recently that I have trained my delicate palate to handle something mildly spicy. 


Chicken Tikka Masala is actually spicy in the perfect harmony of the word.  Not spicy with heat per se, but spicy with a hundred flavor notes that tantalize your taste buds.  Add to it, the richness of the heavy cream. It is akin to taking your mouth to Disneyland.

This dish is a teensy bit involved, but a good meal is at the end of that tunnel, so you ought to try at least once.

You will need:
(for the chicken)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 1/2 in chunks
1 cup plain yogurt
1 TBSP grated and peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TSP kosher salt
1/2 TSP pepper

(for the curry)
2 TSP olive oil
3 TBSP unsalted butter
6 cloves garlic
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced (one if you prefer less heat)
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 TSP garam masala
2 TSP paprika
8 ripe roma tomatoes
2 cups water
1 1/2 TSP kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
chopped cilantro

To prepare the chicken you will first trim the fat and stab all over with a fork.  This was a lot easier to do prior to the cutting into chucks, for your information.  In a bowl, combine the yogurt, ginger, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Once this yogurt marinade is combined, add the chunks of chicken.  This chicken should marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, but up to overnight covered in the fridge.  When I have made this dish, I will do the chicken prep the night before and I end up with the most tender chicken ever.  I have no anecdote for the 30 minute version, my apologies.

On to the curry portion.  Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the butter has melted, add your garlic, ginger and serrano.  Sauté for 1-2 minutes, enough for the components to soften.  A note on the serrano:  I made this dish a few times with different amounts of serrano.  1 with no seeds had a mere hint of heat.  1 with the seeds was perfect for my tastes.  2 with no seeds had my brow sweating a bit, but wasn't unreasonable - probably the hottest I would go without a glass of milk handy. #wimp

After your garlic, ginger and preferred amount of serrano have cooked for a minute or two, add the tomato paste.  You want the paste to darken a bit over the heat and turn a rich maroon color, around 3 minutes.  Next add the garam masala and paprika, and sauté for one more minute.

Are you ready for all those tomatoes? That was way too much chopping for me, I just quartered the tomatoes and into the food processor they went.  Add the chopped tomatoes and water to the skillet.

Cover and bring your skillet contents to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Let this mixture simmer for 20 minutes.  While you are waiting, lets cook the chicken!

This chicken is going to go into the broiler.  You want your pan to be first wrapped in foil, then spread  your chicken chunks around evenly.  Be sure to shake off the excess yogurt mixture because the heat is going to melt that stuff right off.  Your oven rack should ideally be around 4-5 inches from the heat.  Broil the chicken for 7 minutes, then with tongs or a spatula, flip the pieces to heat the opposite side for another 7 minutes.  You want to get those nice little crispy edges as seen below.

Don't worry about cooking the chicken all the way through at this point.  It is going to simmer in the sauce here in a minute and will cook all the way through at that stage.

*Broil tip - when I made this each time, no matter the effort into shaking off as much yogurt marinade as possible, there would be liquid pooled on my baking sheet when I went to turn my chicken pieces during the second half of the broiling time.  My solution was to very carefully tip the pan so the liquid would gather in the corner of my baking sheet and sopped it up with a few wadded paper towels.  I don't know that the liquid would hurt anything if you left it, but I wanted the chicken to stay dry so it would brown nicely instead of a steam effect.

The next step is a bit tricky - we are back to dealing with the curry now.  You are going to transfer this sauce to the blender or food processor to make smooth.  BE CAREFUL.  The sauce is hot, and you don't want to overfill your blender.  When you put hot steamy liquids combined with a spinning blade, the pressure builds up and it will either pop the lid off or send the hot liquid bursting through the lid and on to your hands.  If you have an immersion blender, use that and enjoy the fact that your life is a little easier than the rest of us.  (I might be bitter that I lost the motor half to the one I own)

Once your sauce is all blended put it back in the skillet add the salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Add in your chunks of chicken and cover.  Simmer all together for 10 minutes.  Take off the heat, add in you heavy cream and stir to combine.  You should have a beautiful orange sauce that looks like an India sunset.  Garnish with cilantro and serve over some perfect basmati rice.

This is one of Aaron's all time favorites, so I am hoping to learn this recipe so well that I wont need to refer to the cookbook every time I make it and just know it by memory.  We may be a ways off from that even though I have made this three times in two weeks.  It is seriously that good.  If you have never tried Indian food, or think it isn't your thing - try it.  I think this will be the dish to convert you.