Treats from the Tipsy Turtle

Julie and I worked at the Blood Bank together and she's truly one of the nicest things to come out of my two years there! She and her husband are big foodies and the dishes they make are often featured on social media, along with their sweet girl who learned how to imitate a tortoise's hiss in one try! Julie posted this red rice recipe a couple of times and was kind enough to share it with me. Here's the cast! I love recipes that consist of dumping most of the ingredients into a bowl! The tomato paste, Better Than Bouillon, and Maggi seasoning were stirred together. Julie's recipe actually calls for the chicken flavored Better Than but for some reason I only had beef and vegetarian. I thought I always had the chicken. Guess not! Julie's recipe said to "go hog wild with fried minced garlic." I started with seven cloves and put some color on them in the frying process. Then I added them to the seasoning mixture. I cooked the jasmine rice in my cooker ahead o...

When my kids were younger, Kraft's deluxe macaroni and cheese was a huge go-to. Fortunately my cooking skills evolved and the kids' taste buds did, too! That's not to say that we will turn our noses up if someone offered us a taste from the blue box! Chris requested this last week.  Here's the calcium-rich cast. Let's not mention the fat, shall we? Since I was doubling the recipe to fill a 9x13 pan, I grated about half a block of sharp cheddar. Go sharp, or go home, people. Got some flour, salt, and black pepper ready to make the roux. The butter got melting... The flour and pepper went in! A lot of whisking follows to get the flour well incorporated into the butter. And there you go. The milk and cream were added a little at a time and whisked well after each addition. After all the milk and cream are added, the mixture needs to be brought to boil. Keep whisking to make sure there are no lumps and the mixture doesn't burn on the bottom. Then the heat is lowered...

Chetna Makan was a semi-finalist on the Great British Bake-Off in 2014 and has since gone on to publish four cookbooks. Her recipes I enjoy most are the ones where she simplifies traditional Indian recipes. This one did require a bit of planning on my part because even though she offered substitutions for lesser used herbs such as fenugreek, I did want to get as close to her recipe as possible. Amazon, to the rescue! Here's the cast--the ingredients I had to order were the Kashmiri chili powder, chickpea flour, and the fenugreek leaves. I had already purchased garam masala from Penzey's spices. The first step is to toast the chickpea flour in a nonstick pan. It took a few minutes and the change is subtle. From a sort of yellowish color... To a slightly more tan color. The yogurt, salt, and seasonings were mixed in a bowl. Then I added the chickpea flour and combined well. The deboned, skinless chicken thighs were cut into approximately 2" pieces and then well-coated with t...