Time for a long-ago recipe post. Well, maybe not so long ago! I can’t believe that it has only been a month since we made this dinner.
In mid-July, my friends Jenni and Nancy joined me at our lake house for a couple days of cooking, talking, and relaxing. I really look forward to this yearly event because I enjoy their company so much, and because we do a lot of cooking together and talking about cooking and recipes.
This year, I chose an Indian menu for dinner. The Grilled Tandoori Chicken (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/grilled-tandoori-chicken-recipe/index.html) and Basmati Rice Salad (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/basmati-rice-salad-recipe/index.html) were found at the Food Network website; and I asked Nancy to provide an appropriate vegetable, while Jenni contributed dessert.
You would think that, with three people cooking in the kitchen, dinner would be speedily prepared. No such thing happening in this kitchen! We talked, laughed, caught up on each other’s lives, and generally had such a good time that we didn’t sit down to dinner until 9:30. It was great fun.
The tandoori chicken was tandoori style, because I have no tandoor oven, but it was still very good, very flavorful. It was marinated several hours ahead, making the prep quite simple. A bit messy on the grill (the sauce...), but in my opinion it was worth the extra clean up.
The basmati rice salad was a little bland but was a really good base recipe, though. I plan to add more garlic (perhaps twice as much) and cayenne (again, 2x) next time. I also have to ask what the heck Emeril was thinking-- 1/2 cup clarified butter or vegetable oil? Not needed. I used 2 tablespoons of canola oil and a nonstick saute pan to cook the onion and it worked just fine. The salad "held" very well in the refrigerator-- leftovers a few days later were just as good as it was that evening.
Nancy made Curried Cauliflower which we all just loved. I cook a lot of Indian-style recipes and this cauliflower recipe is a fantastic side dish-- one of the best veggie sides I've found. I especially enjoyed the tang of the yogurt contrasting with the smoothness (???) of the cauliflower. There was a little of this leftover and I ate it a couple of days later-- a bit on the soft side but the taste was still terrific!
I will post about the dessert next...
