Beef Stroganoff

Cold weather always leaves me craving something hearty and warm for dinner. As I was perusing some recipes last week this Beef Stroganoff recipe called out my name and begged me to make it. Chunks of beef simmered with onions and mushrooms in broth and brandy, finished off with sour cream and served with egg noodles. It sounded like the perfect thing to satisfy my craving for something warm and delicious, and it was. Not only was it delicious, but this recipe is quite simple, not too many ingredients, and everything cooks in one skillet, even the noodles. I love only having to get one pan dirty!

Simple ingredients, simple recipe, outstanding results. This is a wonderful winter meal that I can definitely make again. All you need to do is cut up some meat into chunks, and brown them in a skillet. Remove the beef, add mushrooms and onions and cook until they release all of their liquid. Then you just add the broth and brandy, return the meat to the skillet and let it simmer for half and hour or so. Add in the noodles at the end and continue cooking until they are cooked through. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the sour cream, and dig in, yum!

This dish made me happy and warm as I ate it, the flavors are so nice. I ate my leftovers the next day at lunch and thought it was almost better the next day. The flavors had had a chance to sit and meld together, so if it seems like too big of a recipe for you or your family, have no fear, it reheats beautifully!

Ingredients shot

Cut the beef up

and brown it up

Then throw in the mushrooms

and onions

Add in the stock, brandy and beef

Finally it's time for the noodles

and sour cream

Mmmm...

Skillet Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds sirloin tips, pounded and cut into 1/2-inch strips
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 6 ounces egg noodles (about 4 cups)
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Directions
Pat beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 12-inch skillet until hot. Add half of the beef and cook until well browned on both sides, 6-8 minutes total. Transfer beef to a bowl and repeat with the remaining meat. 

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the now empty skillet. Add mushrooms and onions and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, and then gradually stir in the broth and brandy, then return the beef and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the beef is nice and tender, about 30-35 minutes. 

Stir the noodles into the skillet, cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until the noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Take the skillet off the heat and add the sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Pork Chops Shepherd Style

A few months ago I was searching for something new and different for dinner. I looked around online for something that looked simple and fairly quick, and yet yummy and different from what I normally eat. Since I was feeling like Italian, I looked at Lidia Bastianich's site Lidia's Italy and I came across this recipe. All I needed to go buy was a few pork chops, and some cheese, the few other ingredients were already in my fridge. Although this recipe only used these few ingredients, they melded together nicely to make a delicious and hearty meal, perfect to satisfy my craving for something new and flavorful.

So all you really need to do for this recipe is brown up your pork chops until nice and crispy. Then just sauté up some onions until nice and soft, cover the chops in the onions and top with cheese. Pour in some wine and let it reduce a little bit, then throw the whole thing into the oven until the chops are cooked through. That's it. Pull them out of the oven and dig in!

Since I think that covering anything in cheese will make it better, these pork chops were definitely elevated by the melty, gooey provolone on top. The sprinkle of pecorino added a nice sharp bite which I love. The softened onions add such a nice gently onion flavor that goes so well with meat. To be honest I don't really love pork chops most of the time. I think they are pretty boring. But this recipe added just a couple of ingredients that really helped the chops shine!

Browned up nicely

Cover with the softened onions

And don't forget the cheese!

Serve it up with some crusty bread to soak up all the tasty juice

Pork Chops Shepherd Style
From: Lidia's Italy
Ingredients

• 3 bone-in pork loin chops, about 1-inch thick, 6 to 8 ounces each
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
• 2 plump garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 ounce provolone, chunk, preferably imported from Italy
• 3 tablespoons pecorino, grated

Directions
Trim excess fat from the pork chops, leaving only a thin layer on the edges. Season both sides of the chops with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Spread the flour on a plate, and dredge the chops, lightly coating both sides with flour.

Meanwhile, pour the olive oil in the skillet, and set it over medium heat. Shake excess flour from the chops, and lay them all in the skillet in one layer (depending on the size of your pan, you may have to snuggle them in). Gently brown the pork on the first side, about 4 minutes; turn the chops over, and brown the second side, another 4 minutes. Remove the chops to a plate and keep warm.

Scatter the onions and garlic in the skillet, stir them around the pan, season with the remaining salt, and cover. Cook the onions slowly, stirring occasionally, and scraping the pan bottom to mix the crusty browned bits with the onion juices.

Meanwhile, if you'll be finishing the dish right away, set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 400 degrees. Slice the provolone into 3 or more thick slices about the size of the pork chops.

After the onions have cooked for 15 minutes or so, and are quite tender and colored with the pan scrapings, uncover, and push them all to one side of the skillet. Lay the pork chops back in, one at a time, spooning a layer of soft onions on the top of each chop. When they're all in the pan, lay the provolone slices over the onions.

Raise the heat, and when the meat is sizzling again, pour the wine into the skillet (in the spaces between the chops, not over them). Swirl the pan so the wine flows all through it, and bring to a boil. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of pecorino on each chop, then carefully move the skillet from the stove to the oven.

Bake the chops for 10 minutes or so, until the cheese toppings are bubbly and crusty. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, and let chops rest in it for a few minutes. To serve, lift out each chop with a spatula, keeping the cheese topping intact, set it on a dinner plate, and spoon some of the skillet juices and onions around it.

Three Cheese Ravioli

Ravioli -- thin sheets of pasta encasing spoonfuls of deliciously creamy, cheesy filling, perfumed with fragrant basil; what's not to love? I've made homemade pasta several times now, but I've always cut it up into thin, flat sheets. It was time to try something a little more involved and attempt a filled pasta. Of course ravioli was the first thing that came to mind, it seems to be the most popular (or at least most common) form of filled pasta. Rolling all the dough by hand took some time, but I was in no hurry, and the finished product was definitely worth it. I thought they looked like little edible pillows, perfect for pulling out of the freezer when I don't have a lot of time for dinner.

I found a very simple pasta dough recipe online and whipped it together, I don't know how it compares with other pasta dough recipes, all I know is that it seemed to do the job and was quite tasty. For the filling I just made up a cheesy mixture of ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella along with some chopped basil, salt and pepper, and then added an egg to hold it all together a little better. It's hard to go wrong with these ingredients, just eyeball it and taste as you go and it should turn out delicious.

I ended up making a triple batch of the dough and ended up with about 36 ravioli. I ate a few for dinner and then froze the rest of them on floured cookie sheets before bagging them up for later. It has been so great to be able to open up my freezer, pull out a few homemade ravioli, and drop them into boiling water. Heat up some leftover tomato sauce for a few minutes and you've got dinner.

Making homemade ravioli was a fun way to spend an afternoon, and the end result was tasty and convenient. This is a project I will for sure do again when I have a couple of free hours. It's a great accomplishment.

Starting to roll out the dough

Hope you have a lot of muscle

There are many methods for making ravioli,

I did it by cutting out circles with a cookie cutter

Getting a little silly in the kitchen

Lots of little circles

Grab your filling

Scoop a small spoonful into the center of a round of dough

Cover it with a second circle of dough

Use the tines of a fork to seal in the filling

Lay them out in a single layer as you go

Boil up some water and heat your sauce

Drop the ravioli into the salted water

In they go!

Let them cook up in the water for a little bit

Once they start to float they are done, it only takes a few minutes

I laid them out on a paper towel for a minute because

I don't like when my ravioli is all watery

Top with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

Basic Pasta Dough
From Allrecipes
Ingredients

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions
In a medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the flour, add the slightly beaten egg, and mix. Mixture should form a stiff dough. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for about 3 to 4 minutes. With a pasta machine or by hand roll dough out to desired thinness. Use machine or knife to cut into strips of desired width.

Cream Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Cheese is one of my favorite things, any kind, it doesn't matter. Macaroni and cheese is therefore a no brainer for me. Pasta and cheese has got to be one of the best combinations ever. I've been wanting to make homemade macaroni and cheese for some time now, but I would just never get around to it. Either I didn't have the cheese, or the right noodles, or I wanted to eat something lighter for dinner, etc., I always seemed to have an excuse. A few weeks ago though I put my foot down and told myself I was just going to do it. I think the hardest part is picking a recipe. There are a million out there to choose from and they all sound delicious, how is one to choose? In the end I picked this recipe because I happened to have a block of cream cheese in the back of my fridge that I didn't know what to do with, and since I think cream cheese makes just about everything better I knew this had to be good. I was beyond right.

This mac and cheese turned out super cheesy and gooey and absolutely delicious. I chose three cheeses at random to go with the cream cheese and I think I picked the winning combination, it was so delicious. First I went with cheddar because I always have it in the fridge, and it just seems like the right thing to put in mac and cheese. Next I went with fontina because I love it, it is so creamy and flavorful, and it melts wonderfully. Finally I wanted something with a more unique flavor so I decided that something smoked sounded good. I ended up buying smoked mozzarella which I think was perfect. It added a hint of smokiness to the final dish without overpowering it. The smoky undertones from the mozzarella, the sharp bite of the cheddar and the creamy finish of the fontina made this a meal to remember for a long time.

The original recipe did not have a crunchy topping with it, but I love crunchy, cheesy breadcrumbs on top of my baked mac and cheese so I threw together my own version of a breadcrumb topping. It turned out quite delicious if I do say so myself. The butter, cheesy breadcrumbs are the perfect balance to the rich creamy pasta, don't skip it. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

I actually halved the recipe as written and made it in a 9-inch square pan, but it would be just as easy to make the full batch and throw it into a 9x13. Even though I only made half I did have enough cheese for a second go at this dish. I just stuck it in the freezer, waiting for the perfect time to try again. Guess what I'm having for dinner this weekend?!

The star of the recipe, the cheese

Grate it up

Make sure you have some noodles, I like shells

Toast up your breadcrumbs

Add cheese and spices to make

a the delicious topping

Boil up the noodles, but don't cook them all the way

through, they'll finished cooking in the oven

Then you can start making the sauce,

start by melting the butter

Add in the flour

Stir it around and let it cook for a few minutes to 

cook away the raw flour taste

Then add in the milk and cream cheese, dijon, salt and pepper

Stir it all around until the cream cheese melts and the

sauce gets nice and thick and creamy, yum!

Throw in the partially cooked noodles

And the cheese of course!

Mix it all up until everything is covered in 

the gooey cheese sauce

Pour it into a greased pan

Admire all the cheesy goodness

Then cover with crunchy topping

And bake!

Dish it up next to something healthy, 

to make yourself feel better :)

Dig in!

Cream Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen
Ingredients

• 1 pound Macaroni Noodles
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
• 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard (heaping)
• 3/4 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 3/4 cup Fontina
• 3/4 cup Smoked Mozzarella

Topping

• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons each of the three cheeses used in the mac and cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by making the topping. Place the breadcrumbs in an even layer on a baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. When cool, add the remaining ingredients and set aside. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until al dente; drain.

In a saucepan melt butter and stir in flour. Cook for about 1 minute, until smooth and bubbly; stirring occasionally. Mix in milk, cream cheese, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard. Continue cooking until sauce is thickened. Add cooked macaroni and the 3/4 cups of each cheese.

Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish and sprinkle the topping mixture on top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through and topping is brown and crunchy. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before digging in.

Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes

Over the past few months I've become a big fan of lentils. Until recently I had never tried a lentil, but now I've had them in several dishes and really like them a lot. They don't have a lot of flavor, so you can add them to a lot of different things and they don't change the taste of the dish much. I first bought them because I was looking for a cheap and easy to store protein source. Lentils are a high-fiber, protein-rich legume that cook quickly without any need for presoaking or anything like that. There are a lot of different kinds of lentils, but so far I've only used green lentils, they stay firm and don't get mushy when you cook them. As I've used them they have really grown on me and now I like them a lot. If you've never tried them before, go out and pick up a bag, you really have no reason not to.

This is one of the lentil recipes I've tried recently. It was very simple, hearty and extremely healthy. Basically it is just vegetables, lentils and spices, that's it. Throw it all together in a pot and let it cook for 40 minutes, dinner is served. This recipe uses carrots, onions and tomatoes, but you could really do whatever you wanted and whatever you like best, it is really versatile. In the end it turns into a really thick stew. If you wanted you could add more liquid and make it into more of a soup, either way would work I think. Slice up some nice crusty bread for dipping and you have a delicious and healthy meal, perfect for a cold, blustery night.

Chop just a few veggies

Throw them into the pot

Grab the rest of the ingredients

Once the veggies soften, add the tomatoes...

...lentils...

...and spices

Stir it all together, cover and cook

40 minutes later

A nice, hearty bowl

Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes
From Smitten Kitchen, originally from Barefoot Contessa at Home
Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons good olive oil
• 2 cups large-diced yellow onions (2 onions)
• 2 cups large-diced carrots (3 to 4 carrots)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 cup French green lentils (7 ounces)
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons mild curry powder
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and the carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

Meanwhile,  coarsely chop the tomatoes, either in a food processor or use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut them into piece right in the can. Rinse and pick over the lentils to make sure there are no stones in the package.

Add the tomatoes, lentils, broth, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper to the pan. Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is still simmering. Remove from the heat and allow the lentils to sit covered for another 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, season to taste and serve hot.

Vegetable Parmesan

First of all, I have to say a big thank you to my cousin Anna for giving my blog a new look! I knew I wanted something new and fun, but to be honest I didn't really know what else. So with very little direction Anna came up with a new, fantastic header! I think she did a wonderful job. I know I never could have done it on my own, so thanks Anna! Now on to this yummy cheesy vegetable dish.

This recipe comes from the cookbook Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis, a really fun cookbook. In it she says that this dish is the biggest hit of any recipe she's made for her TV show, everyone just loves it. Since I have yet to make a Giada recipe I don't like, I knew it was bound to be good. It is a very simple recipe, but it does take some time to assemble all of the components. All you need are vegetables, marinara, cheese and breadcrumbs, that's basically it. Layer it all up like a lasagna and stick it in the oven. The smell emanating from the oven while this dish cooking was fantastic, a mix of peppers, cheese, toasting bread and tomato sauce. It was like I apparated to Italy!

I started out by whipping together a quick and simple marinara sauce, but canned is good too if you don't have the time (or desire) to make your own. While that cooked I cut and prepped the vegetables for grilling.  The slightly smoky flavor that comes from grilling was really yummy, but if you don't have a grill pan I'm sure you could roast the veggies in the oven instead. After that it was just a matter of layering all the ingredients.

Since I already had onions, and didn't feel like going out to buy fennel, that's what I used and it turned out really nice. I would probably cut the onion a little thinner next time to make sure it cooked through, but it wasn't a big deal. The peppers added really nice flavor, while the eggplant contributed a great contrasting texture. I think summer squash would work really well too. You can use whatever veggies you have on hand at the moment, or just use your favorite. Whatever you choose, it's bound to be delicious!

 The eggplant was so pretty I had to take a picture

 All the vegetables cut up and ready for grilling

 After the grilling, they got some nice grill marks

 Start the layering, first sauce and then eggplant

 Some cheese is next

 Then the peppers

 More sauce

 Cheese and then onions

 The rest of the sauce

 And finally the rest of the cheese

Cover in bread crumbs, drizzle with olive oil, and bake

Crusty and golden, your house will smell like an Italian restaurant, I promise

Vegetable Parmesan
From Giada at Home
Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing 
• Olive oil, for drizzling 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices 
• 2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces ( I used onions instead) 
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thirds 
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thirds 
• 1 orange bell pepper, cut into thirds 
• 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce 
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
• 1 cup grated Parmesan 
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs 

Directions
Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish.

Drizzle the eggplant slices, fennel slices and peppers with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes each side until softened.

Spoon 3/4 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange the eggplant slices on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange the peppers in a single layer on top. Spoon 3/4 cup of marinara sauce over the peppers. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange the fennel on top and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Scatter the bread crumbs over the cheese and drizzle liberally with oil. Bake until the top is golden and forms a crust, about 30 to 35 minutes

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: The vegetables can also be baked in a 375 degrees F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until softened.

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is a great thing. It's fun to eat, it's tasty, it's healthy and it is extremely versatile. Since it is not very flavorful on its own, you can pretty much do anything you want with it. You can make it sweet or savory, whatever you feel like. I've done the typical 'spaghetti' by adding a nice tomato sauce and pretending the squash is actually noodles and I've also added butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and eaten my squash for dessert. Recently I've been looking for something new and different to do with my spaghetti squash though. When I saw this southwestern version I knew I had to try it.

This dish combines the cooked spaghetti squash with onions, peppers, corn, beans, cilantro, cheese and lots of cumin and chile powder. The result was a slightly spicy, nicely seasoned light and healthy main dish. And making boats from the squash shell makes a fun presentation (I wasn't thinking and accidentally cut the ends off my squash so the 'boats' were a little unstable, but still fun). You get a lot of food out of one spaghetti squash this way, I got four servings out of the one recipe, and the recipe only uses half the squash so you can play around with the rest of it for fun. The leftovers reheated quite well the next day, they were a quick and delicious lunch. This is one to make again in the future.

Grab a nice spaghetti squash and get it cooking

The rest of the players

All chopped up

Fresh cilantro adds so much to a dish

Start cooking those peppers and onions

Add the spices and then 

throw in the corn, beans and cilantro

Mix it all up

Scrape the flesh out of the squash

Add the squash to the veggie mixture and 

then pile it all in the squash boats, 

don't forget to top with cheese

Place it all under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese in nice and melty, then eat!

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
From Bev Cooks
Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash 
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1/2 red onion, chopped 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (leave seeds in for more heat) 
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped 
• 1 Tbs. ground cumin 
• 1 Tbs. Mexican oregano (if you have it, I don't and so I just used my regular oregano) 
• 1 Tbs. chili powder 
• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed) or about 1 cup dried beans, cooked 
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed 
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper1/2 cup freshly torn cilantro, plus more for garnish 
• 1 lime 
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 

Directions
Start by cooking the spaghetti squash. You can either by roast it on a baking sheet for 50 minutes at 375 degrees or if you're in a hurry, just poke some holes in it with a fork and stick in the microwave for 12-15 minutes, turning every few minutes. Let cool another 30 minutes, then cut in half. Spoon out the seeds, then using a fork, scrape up the flesh.

Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper and red bell pepper. Saute 2 minutes. Add cumin, Mexican oregano, chili powder and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Saute another minute. Add the beans, corn and cilantro. Stir to combine. Squeeze in the lime juice and give one last stir.

Add in half the squash to the bean mixture and stir to combine. Taste and season accordingly.

Stuff each squash half with the mixture and top with grated cheese. Stick it under the broiler until the cheese melts and gets all brown and bubbly.

Chicken Biryani

I love trying new foods and new cuisines and so am always on the lookout for something new and delicious to experiment with. However, I admit that a lot of the time I find something I want to try, but then never get around to making it. Most of the time it is because I don't have a lot of the ingredients on hand and I don't feel like going out and searching for them, and spending more money than I (as a poor graduate student) want to. Recently though, my sister Lara came across this recipe for Chicken Biryani and decided that we were just going to try it. We decided to go out and buy what we needed, regardless of what that was.

Putting this dish together, I had no idea what to expect. The combination of spices and the cooking method was unique to me. It isn't a difficult recipe, but it does have multiple steps and took a good couple of hours to complete. The end result however was totally worth it. The combination of flavors and textures was completely delicious, I couldn't get enough. A wonderful mixture of warm spices coats the chicken which is layered with a sweet and spicy caramelized onions and serrano chiles mixture, seasoned again with some of the same spices as is on the chicken. Layers of seasoned rice complete the dish along with fresh cilantro and mint.

I've posted the original recipe below, but I had to make a few changes when I made it. I used ground cardamom and cinnamon because that's what I had, and I added it directly to the rice after cooking. Maybe not authentic, but still delicious. I also didn't have a tall pot, so I used my cast iron skillet and it worked just fine. I absolutely loved how this recipe turned out and will definitely make it again!

Onions chopped, and spice paste made

My first time using serrano chiles

Chop them up

And some cilantro

Paste for the chicken, yum!

Rub it all over the chicken

Start cooking that chicken

A beautiful brown crust

Ready for the rest of the dish

Take out the chicken and throw the onions into the skillet

Cook them until they are nice and caramelized

Add the chiles

Then it's time for the spices

Remove the onion mixture and start layering; Layer #1: Rice

Add some cilantro and mint (I didn't splurge for the saffron)

Next is the onion mixture

Time for the chicken

Followed by more onions

Then the rest of the rice

Finally, the last of the cilantro and mint. Cover and cook until the rice and chicken are finished.

This picture doesn't do it justice so just trust me, it's delicious!

Chicken Biryani
From No Recipes
Ingredients
Chicken

• 4-5 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs 
• 2 cloves of garlic minced 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 teaspoon grated ginger) 
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 3 quarts water 

Rice

• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 10 green cardamom pods, crushed 
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 
• 1 bay leaf 
• 2 cups basmati rice

Onions

• 2 medium onions sliced thin 
• 2 serrano chiles minced (remove the seeds and membranes if you want it less spicy) 
• 1 clove garlic minced 
• 1 teaspoon garam masala 
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

For Assembly

• 1 cup + 3 tablespoons water the rice was boiled in 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 2 tablespoons cilantro minced 
• 2 tablespoons mint minced 
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron (optional) 

Directions
Wash the chicken, pat dry and trim any excess fat or skin off the chicken. Mash together the garlic, salt, ginger, garam masala, black pepper and oil to make a paste. Coat all the pieces of chicken rubbing into all the crevices.

In a tall deep pot, add the water, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and bay leaf, cover then bring to a simmer on medium low heat.

Meanwhile, heat a large heavy bottomed frying pan over medium high heat until hot. Add a small splash of oil coating the bottom of the pan then add the chicken skin side down. Fry undisturbed until the chicken is nice and brown on that side (about 3 minutes). Flip the chicken then brown on the other side.

Transfer the chicken to a plate, turn down the heat to medium low then add the onions to the pan. Fry the onions, scrapping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan until the onions are fully caramelized (about 20 minutes). Add the chiles, garlic, garam masala, ginger, and salt and continue to cook until the garlic and spices are fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.

Turn the heat on the water up and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover, then turn the heat back down to medium low. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain the rice reserving 1 C + 3 Tbs of liquid.

To assemble the biryani, put half the rice back into the tall pot. Sprinkle half the saffron over the rice followed by half the cilantro and mint. Spread half the onion mixture over this then lay the chicken pieces on top. Cover with the rest of the onions then the rest of the rice. Top with the rest of the saffron, cilantro and mint. Pour the reserved liquid from the rice into the pan you fried the onions in scraping up any residual browned bits of onion then dump this on top of the rice.

Cover then cook the biryani over medium low heat for 20-30 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated and the chicken is cooked.