Recipes by their Ingredients

onion powder

  • 2 Minute Indian Butter Sauce (Makhani Masala)

    2 Minute Indian Butter Sauce or Makhani Masala
    2 Minute Indian Butter Sauce or Makhani Masala
    (Serves 4)     (Revised 10/28/2022)

    3 tblsp butter
    1 tsp sugar
    1½ tsp salt
    1 tsp garam masala powder
    2 tblsp coriander powder
    2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder or paprika
    2 tsp methi leaves
    1 tsp turmeric powder
    1 tsp cumin powder
    1½ tsp onion powder
    ¼ cup tomato sauce
    1 tblsp tomato ketchup
    ½ cup heavy cream

    NOTES:If you don't like the spice of the chili powder, substitute paprika.
     

    In a sauce pan add the butter and all the spices
    saute the spices in the butter while the butter is melting. Now add the tomato sauce and the ketchup. Cover and let simmer for 1 minute. stir in the cream a little at a time so it does not curdle.

    Serve or mix in some left over chicken, or paneer or some steamed/sauted vegetables. I tweaked the recipe of vahrehvah.com

  • Competition Chicken Thighs

    Competition Chicken Thighs

    Competition Chicken Thighs (Serves the Judges)

    16-20 All Natural, bone-in, with skin chicken thighs
    2 quarts chicken broth (8 cups)
    2 large zip lock bags (that will hold 6-10 thighs each

    Spice Rub
    4 tblsp brown sugar
    4 tblsp paprika
    1 tblsp salt
    1 tblsp garlic powder
    1 tblsp black pepper
    1 tblsp onion powder
    1 tblsp chili powder

    Optional spices:
    celery, lemon pepper, cumin, thyme, dry mustard, cloves, cayenne pepper, sage and ginger

    Irish salted butter
    I can't believe it's not butter spray
    Apple juice, for spritzing

    BBQ sauce
    4 cups your favorite bbq sauce
    ¼ cup apple juice, for thinning the bbq sauce
    2-3 tsp real maple syrup
    Irish unsalted butter


    NOTES: There are so many different types of chili powder, that picking the right one or blending the right ones could be the difference between 1st place and no place! Don't be afraid to experiment! The optional spices have all been used in various rub recipes, try adding one or a few to the spice mix, start with a tsp and go from there!
     

    Loosen the skin of chicken on the open sides, you'll notice it adheres strongly to one side in particular, let that side stay attached.
    Square the chicken thigh with a boning knife, by laying it on its skin side down, the skin should now be pushed to side where it does not get trimmed away (make sure that the one side the skin is attached, stays attached!).
    Now trim the knuckle off the bone, there will be a groove where your heavier chef knife will do the trick just inside the knuckle bone, press hard with the back end of the chefs knife, give it hard short hit to the knife end with your palm to get the knife through. Trim any pieces of cartilage you may have missed and in general any veins, tendons or any thick pieces of fat that will not render.
    Trim the edge of the other side of the knuckle you removed, just square it off.

    Wrap the skin around the whole thigh, tuck in ends, smooth the top and tuck tuck tuck. Place 8-10 thighs in each large zip lock bag and add 4 cups of the chicken stock to each bag.
    Place the marinated thighs in the refrigerator for 5 hours.

    Remove the thighs from the brine and place skin side down on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath it.
    Mix all the dry rub spices together. Sprinkle the dry rub spices evenly over the bottom of the chicken. Don't be shy because a lot of flavor needs to come from that single bite that judges will take!

    Now it's time for the spice rub.

    300°F. to 310°F.

    Put the chick thighs skin side up, making sure they are wrapped snugly in their skin in an aluminum baking pan, 8 to a pan, use a whole stick of butter, cut into pieces, tucked into the sides of the chicken and pan and between the 2 rows of chicken, you don't want to put the butter on top of the chickens skin to keep the spices adhered.
    Now a quick thin spritz of I can't believe it's not butter spray over the top of the chicken will help to break down any fat in the skin.

    Place in an offset heat source BBQ for 1 hour.

    If the color is looking good then put a temperature probe into one of the thickest thighs and wrap the top with tinfoil so you don't burn the chickens skin. You are looking for 196-197°F.
    Once the temp is hit, you want to have a quick dunk in your BBQ sauce, let the thighs sit back on a wire rack so the excess sauce drips off and add it back to the smoker for 10 minutes to set the sauce.

    The final step is to give the thighs a quick spritz (through a spray bottle) of apple juice to create a shiny sheen on top.
    Use any chicken that is too small looking or the skin shrunk back too much as your taste tester, check for salt content and bam! time for the judges to judge!

  • Croutons

    Croutons
    Croutons
    (Serves 12)

    1 baguette, day old bread, (about 2 cups), cut off the crusts
    ½ tsp granulated garlic (or you can use 1 clove of fresh garlic, minced)
    ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
    ½ tsp onion powder
    2 tsp fresh herbs, minced, like thyme, parsley and rosemary
    2 tblsp melted unsalted butter or olive oil
    1 tblsp parmesan cheese, grated

    NOTES: You can use fresh bread, or even sandwich bread or sour dough. I pop these in my mouth as a snack, they're that good! The parmesan cheese should be grated fresh with a micro planer or the smallest grid on your grating device!
     

    Pre-heat oven to 325°F. On a sheet tray

    Cut your crustless bread into cubes about ¾ inch in size. Set aside.

    Add the olive oil or melted butter to a large bowl, then add the spices, herbs and cheese, mix well, dump in all the bread cubes quickly and mix quickly so the oil/butter does not only get into the the first bread cubes that landed on it! Mix, mix, mix!

    On a sheet tray, spread out the saturated bread cubes and place in the oven. check every 5 minutes and flip over the cubes with a spatula. When they are golden turn off the oven and remove to cool in a bowl, about 15-20 minutes. Store in an airtight container on your counter, for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for a month.

  • Kung Pau Shrimp

    King Pau
    Kung Pao
    (Serves 4)

    Protein
    1 lb your choice: shrimp, beef, pork, chicken or firm tofu, cut into equal 1 inch pieces (keep shrimp whole if using, but de-shell and de-vein)
    3-4 tblsp peanut oil, for shallow frying your protein OR 2 cups vegetable oil for deep frying your protein

    Protein Marinade
    1 tblsp mirin (rice wine)
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp onion powder, optional

    Protein Slurry
    1 lg egg white
    2 tblsp corn starch

    Kung Pao Sauce
    1 tblsp Dou Ban Jiang (Broad Bean Paste)
    1 tbsp of light soy sauce
    1 tsp of dark soy sauce
    1.5 tbsp of black vinegar
    a handful of red dried chilies
    1 tsp of Sichuan (Szechuan) peppercorns, ground
    1 tbsp of garlic
    1 tsp of ginger
    2 tbsp of brown sugar
    1/2 cup of water
    2 tsp of cornstarch

    Vegetables
    4 or 5 green onions, sliced
    1/2 onion, sliced in half then thin
    1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin
    1/2 Serrano chili, optional
    Optional, Another half cup of vegetables, your choice, like green beans, carrots, etc, sliced thin

    At the end extras
    1/4 cup shelled peanuts, toasted
    5-10 dried chilis, toasted
    1 cup Jasmin rice, cooked

    NOTES: I add the Serrano chili for extra heat, you do not have to. You can make this with cut up chicken breast and have kung pao chicken. The Szechuan Peppercorns give a numbing floral quality which is key to the Sichuan province in China where the dish comes from. At the 3:46 second mark of this video will show you the "velveting" technique. Technically you would finish the "velveting" process by dunking the protein briefly in hot oil or water, which we are not doing here. To cook the rice, rinse the rice in a bowl of water, drain and repeat 3 times (or until the water runs clear). Add rice to sauce pan, add water 1/3 inch over the top of the rice. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the rice to a boil and reduce the heat immediately to simmer and cover the pot and set your timer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, unless there's excess water, turn off the heat, using a fork fluff the rice and then keep covered for an additional few minutes. If there's additional water after 8 minutes you can turn up the heat briefly until the water evaporates.
     

    Mix the shrimp, salt, onion powder and mirin. Add the cornstarch and the egg white in the side of the bowl with the shrimp and mix the white and starch together so there are no lumps, then using the velveting technique, hand mix the shrimp until the egg whites and starch have evenly coated the shrimp and seem to take on a smoother "velvety" texture, let the shrimp rest for 30 minutes before frying.

    Make your sauce by mixing all of the sauce ingredients together. Set Aside, in the fridge if your letting your protein sit for over an hour.

    Shallow or deep fry your protein, a handful at a time, do not crowd the pan. Once you are finished with all of your protein.

    Add the shrimp (or whatever protein you are using) back to your shallow fry pan, if you deep fried, using a new pan, heat it up and add your fried protein, mix in any vegetables you like, mix in the peanuts and chilis, toss until all incorporated. toss for a few minutes to warm it all through, then add your sauce, 1/2 at a time until you are happy with the taste. Serve over Jasmin rice and sprinkle with remaining green onions.