Thank Goodness for Christmas Gifts-4/24/09

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I had to run out at the last minute to pick up the sun-dried tomatoes for the Penne with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula. As I started dinner tonight, I thought I was about to repeat that story. I remembered I had used the last of my curry powder for another Gourmet recipe last month. In a panic, I searched through my spice drawers and was intensely relieved to find a stocking gift that Richard gave me at Christmas, a jar of Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger Curry Powder. Tonight I made Curry Chicken with Cashews from epicurious.com and I really think the quality of this curry powder really helped make this dish outstanding. Throughout the project of making each recipe in Gourmet magazine, I have struggled with balancing the desire to use the best quality ingredients and the need to stay within a family budget. I am sure many of the dishes I have made would have been even better if I did not have to think of price and could buy based on quality alone.
To make this dish, I bought a whole chicken and cut it up as the recipe recommended. The cashews and yogurt made a thick sauce that coated the chicken and added depth to the curry. Though this was not a dish from May's Gourmet, it was a great compliment to the recipe I made from Gourmet.
Each month, the final page of Gourmet has a set of several recipes that focus on a single common ingredient. The last several month's have ranged from pudding to Key Limes to ham. This month, the "The Last Touch" theme is dumplings, a food popular throughout the world. Tonight, I made the Indian Sweet Coconut Dumplings on page 134 to go with the excellent curry chicken recipe I found on epicurious.com. I bought dumpling wrappers at Super H Mart and they are so easy to use. This recipe was easy to make and very good. I didn't have golden raisins so I used some chopped dates instead. I thought they worked great and I think any other kind of dried fruit would work as well. My only suggestion to this recipe would be the addition of a dipping sauce of some kind. Richard and I brainstormed a few ideas like a sweet pineapple sauce or even a simple caramel sauce. This is a yummy sweet dumpling and a dipping sauce would turn it into a classy dessert. Wait, did I get some Chipotle Chocolate Dipping Sauce in my stocking?


Curry Chicken with Cashews-A
(Not from Gourmet)

Indian Sweet Coconut Dumplings-B+
Cost- $6.20
Calories per serving- 65 per dumpling

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