Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Tandoori-Spiced Chicken Breast


Tandoori-Spiced Chicken Breast
Grilled Tomato Jam, Herbed Yogurt, Grilled Naan

 Recipe courtesy of Food Network
Had an amazing inservice today with Will Richardson, pretty much the guru of online social interaction with the aim of improving education.  Hearing him speak about the power of the Internet, the goal to have students talk to strangers online, and how people of common interest can get together to exchange information in groups and improve themselves...well, it was really inspiring.  Trust me when I tell you, if you are in any way in the education field, you will want to check out his blog.  I'm buying what he's selling, and I'm not just talking about his book (which I've read, and is awesome).

What does it have to do with food?  Nothing really, but I did get to sneak in my blog address during our discussion.  Inspired by Will, I've got a little map on the right side of the blog now.  I want to add more dots to my map!

I was looking for some clever ways of using some defrosted chicken breasts, and this seemed to fit the bill, despite the fact that Steph prefers another recipe for tandoori I make more often.  The spice paste was rather pungent, and I used a tenth of the cayenne that the recipe called for, and the tomato jam had a nice sweetness from the balsamic vinegar.  Even though I used cilantro and mint in the yogurt (two of Steph's least favorite herbs) it was still refreshing and cooled the heat from the spice paste nicely.  I was a big fan of this dish - lots of flavors coming together nicely.  The only change I'd make (and you should too!) is to halve the spice paste recipe - for 3 chicken breasts, it is far too much.

Would I make it again?  Only if I was cooking for myself - I thought it tasted amazing.  However, I got the "good, but not great" from the wife, so this is one that won't necessarily be going into the recipe file.  If anyone else decides to give it a whirl, please let me know!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I wouldn't mind eating this again - I did clear my plate if you didn't notice. Although I wouldn't necessarily request this dish, if you wanted to make it, I would still gladly eat it. . .as long as your other tandori chicken recipe doesn't go away. :)

Rob Timko said...

I hear you are having a Top Chef party tonight, and inviting me, because....I'm getting married tomorrow and going to Italy for a month, and I haven't yet had a Bachelor party.


...and I have no cable.

Alex said...

@Rob:

No Top Chef party tonight - tomorrow is the first day of school, so I'm busy doing last-minute prep and playing around with some new software I was given today. Alas.

But anyway...congratulations! Nothing better than getting married (note: I didn't say 'plan a wedding'). I didn't realize that when you were off to Italia for a long stretch, it was for the honeymoon. That's pretty amazing, hope you take lots of pictures and post some.