I've been absent for a while. I was working during the whole month, and did not have enough time to cook something special, only repeat performances to get by. I also had some technical problems with the blog, because, as it seems, I needed to install a new program. Now I hope everything will be alright and that the technical difficulties are solved so that I will be able to resume my blog. I have to admit that I am very proud of myself, since I was able to solve these problems on my own, and that to start with, I taught myself how to use a computer.
During my absence we had a couple of graduations and birthdays in the family. We decided to have a nice big family dinner and celebration this week-end for the graduates and the birthday girls. Maha is going to college, Sarah to middle school, Salma is nine and Sophie just turned one. So I needed to think of an easy menu, easy to prepare and easy for the children to accept. In such situations I usually build my menu around a popular dish. In this case it's a leg of lamb. I know that everybody likes it. I will add a chicken dish, preferably something easy for the children to handle, meaning, no skin, no bones, just bites of chicken for them to eat, even with their fingers (in big gatherings I cannot control every one!!). Then I'll introduce some veggies that they usually don't have at home: this is how you set your trap. You give them a sense of security with familiar foods, then you lure them to the Brussels sprouts!! It worked, the veggies were a hit.
YELLOW RICE WITH CHICKEN CUBES
When you need to make a dish that should serve a large number of people, you better go with chicken: it's easy to prepare in advance, to have it diced, so that you can serve it on a large platter and at the same time it can be like finger food. Also look for a way to cook it in one single process, no frying, and make sure that you go for a recipe that will please all tastes and ages. This is why I opted for this dish. Yellow rice is the only carb on the table, and the chicken will be well seasoned to give a new twist to the dish and keep it from being boring. Of course it's not that easy: we don't eat spicy or hot foods, so I have to find the right balance between the spices I'm going to use. So I stood in front of the spice rack, and here is what I came up with.
You'll need (for a crowd of about 10 people):
8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
4 half breasts, skinless and boneless
2 to 3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture
1 and 1/2 tbsp garam masala (Indian spices)
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
2 heaping tbsp plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt, it's creamier)
Salt and pepper to taste (I use Adobo seasoning)
Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces. Remove all the visible fat from the chicken and cut them into 1 inch cubes. Put the chicken pieces in a big bowl, add the onion/garlic mixture, all the spices and the lemon juice and mix well. Add the yogurt, mix to coat all the chicken pieces. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the chicken pieces on it in one layer. Cook for about 20 minutes, then turn once and return the chicken to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. You'll know that the chicken is cooked when you'll notice that the liquid in the baking sheet is almost all gone and the chicken pieces are well browned. Serve over the yellow rice (recipe found in previous blogs).
NOTE: You can use only thighs, you'll notice that they are juicier and will never dry even if you overcook them.
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