Is It a Stew or a Pot? It's Both: Chicken Tajine

Spicy Chicken Tajine w/ Apricots & Walnuts

You know that harissa I had you make way back when on Tuesday?  Well, it'll come in handy if my take on a chicken tajine happens to tickle your fancy.

Food for Seattle Fans: Cherry Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Bites

For the third and final installment of this week's "Super Bowl Food" series, I make good on my promise to offer Seahawks fans a meal they can call their own.

Due to the large influence the Asian community has had on Seattle (home of the Seahawks), I decided to make a recipe based on chicken teriyaki.  In order to represent the rest of the state of Washington, cherries were thrown into the mix.

Originally, I wanted to use Rainier cherries, but I couldn't find any in the grocery stores, so this recipe uses cherry preserves.

As a non-traditional teriyaki,  there's no need to whip out the hibachi.  You can stay warm and cook these tender bite-size chicken pieces on your stovetop.

Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds and stick a toothpick in them for the perfect Super Bowl appetizer, or toss them in a bowl with rice and veggies for a no fuss dinner. 

Chicken Chettinad Masala - Not For the Faint of Heart

Although, I am a big fan of Indian cuisine, I'm not much of a fan of Indian restaurants (at least here in America).  First of all, most of them run buffets during lunch, which may be the only time you can get to them.  The quality of food on a buffet always takes a hit because of the large quantities prepared, and necessity to hold the food at a particular temperature to assure safety dries it all out.  Have you ever had tandoori chicken from a buffet that wasn't as desiccant as the Thar?  I know I haven't.

Additionally, the food served at most restaurants in America fails to deliver truly aromatic and flavorful dishes one expects from the Indian subcontinent for two reasons:

1.  Spices are expensive and Indian food uses a lot of them.  For this reason, a lot of restaurants cut back on the amount they use to reduce costs.  Your vindaloo might taste like ketchup, and your roghan josh will arrive to your table a deep red color from the paprika they used in place of the pleasantly piquant Kashmiri chiles, which create a burnt orange hue, not ruby. 

2.  Your curry is probably drowned in heavy cream!  Even if you aren't ordering korma or chicken makhani, the kind proprietors of your local Indian establishment have caught onto the fact that Americans love creamy, fatty foods, so they started throwing it into everything they make, further muting the essential spices.  

The solution to all of this is to make your own Indian food at home.  Desi people are a huge immigrant group in the U.S. and worldwide (England, the Caribbean, Spain).  Chances are there's an Indian or Desi grocery store near your humble abode.  This means you can get the necessary stuff to make proper Indian cuisine, probably saving money along the way, too. 

An African Afflatus: Chicken Piri Piri

In the mood for something hot?  Search no further, as this African-inspired chicken piri piri will more than satisfy your cravings for capsaicin.  

Pollo Tomatillo (Chicken in Tomatillo Sauce)

Summer is here and in about a month or so a lot of you are going to be so bored of chicken on the grill, you won't know what to do with yourselves.

The good news is that I'm here to prematurely ward off fatigue from America's favorite bird, and keep this mundane ingredient interesting with some pollo tomatillo, or chicken in a tomatillo sauce.