This recipe ended up being not-so-sweet Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Tasty, but not the what I remember as Sweet and Sour Chicken from my Chinese take-out days.

I love to cook.  I really, really, really love to cook.  I lose myself in it.  It is probably the only time my full attention and concentration is so focused that the house could fall down around me and I wouldn’t even know it. I have made a couple of new dishes this week, one of them being this Chicken and Cheese Noodle Soup from Cooking Light magazine.  It turned out pretty delicious, even with the slight changes that I made.  I’ll get my version of the recipe posted soon so you can share in the delight of this tummy-warming dish.

Although Sanders Cafe is not completely original, it has been restored and a modern KFC can be found inside, along with the “original” side and memorabilia.  Sanders Cafe is a National Historic Landmark and has a sign out front to familiarize guests with the history of this place.

Of course I had to have some Original Recipe Fried Chicken to make this visit official.  It was actually greasier than I remember it being.

And no visit would be complete without a picture with the Colonel himself.

This dish ended up being WAY too hot for us, so I have modified the recipe by reducing the garlic ginger paste and red pepper flakes and then adding garlic.  This should retain the flavor while still being palatable to wimpy tongues like mine!  The Husband gave the curry a thumbs down: too hot and not a flavor he preferred.  The Naan, however, got his seal of approval.  I will admit that it was pretty tasty.  Not like the real thing, but can you expect a studio apartment to come equipped with a tandoori oven?  So don’t feed this dish to picky eaters (like the Husband) but curry fans like me should be fine.  Now if only I could find the perfect recipe for Bengan Bartha…

Enjoy!

Spicy Chicken Curry

The Ingredients

• 3 Tbs vegetable oil
• 3 large chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bell peppers, one yellow and one red, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbs ginger garlic paste
• 2 Tbs curry powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tbs cardamom
• 4 bay leaves
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 Tbs red pepper flakes
• 15 whole black peppercorns
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add chicken, onion, garlic, peppers and ginger garlic paste then season with curry, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, red pepper flakes, black peppercorns, and coriander seeds. Cover, and simmer for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the chicken has cooked through, remove lid, and cook until liquid is reduced to a thick consistency.

Naan

The Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat skillet to medium-high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil skillet. Place dough on skillet, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from skillet, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Inspired by recipes found at allrecipes.com

Ingedients:

• Your choice of tortillas, shredded cheese and salsa (but I recommend the pineapple-mango)
• 1.25 – 1.50 lbs of boneless, skinless, thinly sliced chicken breasts.
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (I only had from concentrate and it worked just fine)
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F
2. Slice the chicken into strips
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl with a lid to make the marinade(except the the first group of items).
4. Add the chicken strips to the bowl and marinate in the chicken in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more.
5. Pour out a bit of the marinade into a skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
6. Place torillas on a greased cookie sheet and place in oven for about 5 – 7 minutes until warm, but not crispy.
7. While the tortillas are heating up, add marinated chicken to the hot skillet and cook for 3 minutes on each side. This is if you have the thin-sliced breasts. If you have the normal chicken breasts, they take longer too cook through.
8. Finally, add them all together! Tortilla>Chicken>Shredded Cheese>Salsa!