Tikka Masala

Excellent sauce at a great Aldi price!  Just combine with cooked chunks of chicken and sweet peppers and serve over rice.  (They sell jasmine rice at Aldi now too!)

Rice. Just plain rice.

Great texture, no scorching, dump into the pot and move on to the stir fry and potstickers.

Equal proportions of white rice and water. (Maybe just a bit of extra water.
Salt
Rinse the rice and put it in the water.
Lock the lid in place and push the Rice button.

I used this very wordy post to begin.
http://instantpot.com/how-to-cook-perfect-rice-in-an-electric-pressure-cooker/

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

70s Comfort Food :-)

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 slices canned unsweetened pineapple (20-ounce can)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (more below)
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• 19 maraschino cherries
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk  (more below)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Have ready a 9x2-inch round cake pan. Drain pineapple and place in one layer on paper towels to absorb the excess juice.

2. Place the 3 tablespoons unsalted butter in the cake pan. Place the pan in the oven until the butter is melted. Tilt to coat all sides with butter. The extra butter will settle in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan.

3. Place one pineapple ring in the center of the pan and arrange six more around it. Place the maraschino cherries in the center of each ring and in the spaces between them.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 2 tablespoons of buttermilk and vanilla with a fork.

5. In a mixer bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 6 tablespoons of buttermilk. Beat on low speed just until the flour is moistened, then increase the speed to medium, or high if using a handheld mixer, and beat for exactly 1½ minutes. The batter will be stiff. Add one-third of the egg mixture at a time, beating for exactly 20 seconds and scraping the bowl after each addition. Scrape the batter over the fruit in the pan and spread evenly.

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and tilt the pan in all directions to detach it from the sides of the pan. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before unmolding.

7. Invert a serving platter on top of the pan. Cover your hands with oven mitts and turn the cake onto the platter. Lift off the pan. If any fruit or cherry pieces are askew, use a fork to push them back into place. If any brown sugar is left in the pan, scrape it up and spoon it over the cake. Serve warm or cool.

YIELD:
makes one 9-inch cake
PREP:
30 minutes
COOK:
35 to 40 minutes

NOTES: Buttery and a manageable size for my smaller family.  I'd make it again!
SOURCE: Brown-Eyed Baker

Grandma's (in)famous Cranberry Relish

People have strong love/hate feelings about this recipe, but it's worth recording here.

Ingredients
16 ounce bag of rinsed raw cranberries
2 crisp apples, cut into thick slices
1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
1 to 2 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you would like your relish to be)

Method

• Chop in your food processor until it's the texture you like.  Don't overprocess if you want it to be like Grandma's.
• Mix in the sugar and store in a sealed container.  Start with one cup and add more later if necessary.

"Fun" fact: Grandma likes to eat this as an ice cream topping.
Funner fact: Make a batch for Thanksgiving and it'll still be good at Christmas.

Denise's Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups butter (softened)               
2 cups white sugar                            
2 eggs                                                 
½  cup molasses                                                                     
4 cups flour
1  Tlbs. baking soda
1  tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1  tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves  

Preparation and Instructions:

Mix together all the wet ingredients, add all dry ingredients to that.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees roll dough into balls and roll in white sugar.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until tops are cracked.
Cool on wire racks.

Notes:
- I usually double the amount of spices and toss in a heaping spoonful of fresh ginger paste if I have it available.
- If you try to bake more than one pan at a time, they may not develop cracks in the top
- I also sprinkle a couple of drops of water on the top of each to help encourage cracking.

From Denise at Dad's office.

Cashew Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry

Sauce
1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
 Dash ground red pepper

Vegetables and Chicken
4 cups broccoli florets
3   stalks celery, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
3   green onions with tops, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons finely chopped, peeled fresh gingerroot, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
2   garlic cloves, pressed, divided
2 packages (3 ounces each) ramen noodles, any flavor
1/3 cup cashews or peanuts

DIRECTIONS
For sauce, combine chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey and ground red pepper in Small Batter Bowl; mix with Stainless Whisk (mixture will not be smooth). Set aside.

For vegetables and chicken, cut broccoli, celery and green onions using Chef's Knife. Finely chop peeled fresh gingerroot using Food Chopper. Set vegetables aside. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in Stir-Fry Skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add chicken, 1 teaspoon of the gingerroot and 1 garlic clove pressed with Garlic Press. Cook and stir 6-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; keep warm.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to skillet. Add broccoli, celery and remaining gingerroot and garlic. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Add green onions and continue cooking 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Return chicken to skillet. Stir in sauce; bring to a boil. Remove skillet from heat.

Meanwhile, bring 4 cups water to a boil in (2-qt.) Saucepan. Break noodles and add to boiling water (discard seasoning packets or reserve for another use). Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; drain. Stir noodles into chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cashews. Serve immediately.

Yield:
4  servings

NOTES:

• It's easy to overcook pretty much everything here, but better if you take care not to.
• This is another in my series of "getting rid of cookbooks that feature all the recipes online" project.  This one is from Pampered Chef.
• I prepared the vegetables and chicken the night before and it came together very quickly when we all got home from work/school.

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Yield: About 8 fajitas, 4 servings

Seasoning
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fajita filling
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2-inch thick strips (slice extra wide strips in half)
1 of each red, green and yellow bell peppers, cored and sliced into strips (3 whole total)
1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced from top to root
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro

For serving
8 taco size flour tortillas
Sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole, diced tomatoes, Mexican cheese blend (toppings are optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 17 by 12-inch rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

For the seasoning:
In a small mixing bowl whisk together chili powders, cumin, paprika, coriander, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, set aside.

For the fajitas filling:

• Spread bell peppers and yellow onion onto baking sheet. 
• Top with chicken strips then sprinkle garlic and seasoning evenly over chicken strips. 
• Drizzle olive oil over top then toss everything to evenly coat. 
• Spread into an even layer working to keep chicken from overlapping. 
• Roast in preheated oven, tossing once halfway through cooking, until veggies are tender and chicken has cooked through, about 20 - 25 minutes (test a few of the larger pieces to make sure they are 165 in the center, careful not to over-bake it or the chicken may be dry). 
• Wrap tortillas tightly in foil and warm in oven during last 5 minutes of fajita filling cooking.

Drizzle lime juice evenly over top of the chicken fajita filling, sprinkle with cilantro and more salt to taste and toss to coat. Serve filling warm in warm tortillas with desired toppings.