Monday, August 13, 2012

What's For Dinner, Ma?

Nothing stresses me out more than the dreaded four words "What's for dinner, Ma?" I suck at menu-planning and I especially hate, hate, hate being a short-order cook to my picky son, Rodney who groans at everything and anything I put on his plate. But surprisingly, these days I seem to look forward to my time in the kitchen as I try out new recipes thanks to Pinterest and the many awesome food blogs I visit. Just last week, I added 7 new dishes, one each day  to my otherwise very boring menu repertoire.
It's such a delight to see Rodney now devouring his food with gusto instead of stabbing it murderously with his fork.

Some lipsmackin' keepers to share.......

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA - Britain's true national dish. Yep, it's not Fish & Chips!
Hubby and the boys were fighting over the last piece of naan to sop up the buttery gravy!! Mmmmm! But my Indian cousin-in-law insisted my Chicken Tikka Masala tasted more like Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)!

Whatever it was, it was heavenly! Apparently, there's a story behind this famous dish that is loved the world over.
It is thought that butter chicken was hastily prepared by a Delhi eatery chef post dinner time for a harried VIP customer who wanted "some" chicken dish. A chef named Simon Mahli Chahal first prepared this when he only had half of a Tandoori chicken which he tossed with liberal amounts of butter, tomato, and garam masalas to improvise for an delicious delicacy he was supposed to make for the ruler of Mareelun. He forgot to buy enough ingredients so he ended up with this dish!
recipe @ http://cafezupas.blogspot.com/2008/10/recipe-chicken-tikka-masala.html


BEEF WITH RED WINE SAUCE - a simple one-dish dinner to wow your family
recipe @ http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beef-
with-red-wine-sauce-10000001152942/


BERGEDIL  - Indonesian Mashed Potato Patties derived from the Dutch word 'frikadel'. Shallots, garlic, candlenut, nutmeg, white pepper, chopped Chinese celery are added to a mashed potato mixture, then shaped into patties, dipped in beaten egg and deep-fried until golden brown.

recipe @ http://indonesiaeats.com/potato-perkedel-patties-frikadeller-frikadel/


PARMESAN CRUSTED FISH - Fish coated with a mixture of grated parmesan cheese and mayo and topped with breadcrumbs. 4 ingredients, 5 minutes of prep time and 20 quick minutes of baking time - that's all it takes! You wouldn't want your fish done any other way again!

11 comments:

  1. YUM!!!! My 3 love butter chicken... maybe I'll try your tikka masala and call it butter chicken! ;)
    I stress hours before dinner too when i don't plan the night before (need to defrost meat and all that good stuff!).
    thanks for sharing your recipes... will give it a go!
    Take care, V!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice collection of recipes. Bergedil is new to me. I'll have to give it a try.

    I enjoy trying out new recipes from the Internet too. I've found so many wonderful dishes from my blogging, Pinterest, and FB friends!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for stopping by my blog! =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. thanks for stopping by my blog and im now following your blog :) you know, ive been addicted to all the cooking blogs this past week. especially the "copycats" and knock-offs" ones. sooo many ways to save money while making it taste wonderful :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am a new follower from the Tea on Tuesday Social Hop! I would love to have you stop by and follow me as well :) http://domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL... I always answer the dreaded "What's for dinner" question with... "food" My kids hate me ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Heck ya Tikki Masala. Looks amazing. Ive been meaning to do this for ever! One-up-ing me again! Good work.

    -h

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're making me hungry! :) My kids are odd. They will eat salmon, grilled chicken, any veggie except zucchini and any fruit. They'll even eat plain yogurt. When we put a cheese burger or pizza in front of Isaak he want NOTHING to do with it! He must not know that kids are supposed to like that kind of food.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm coming over for dinner! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. everything looks awesome including the tikka masala/butter chicken!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love to cook and look forward to it, but I will agree 100% I HATE the question "What's for dinner?" :) Especially when I'm asked this question at 7am. lol

    ReplyDelete