Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Chicken Curry and a Birthday

A 7 month birthday, that is. No cake, no candles. Just a happy-go-lucky little guy who got to take a trip to Grandpa's office this evening to be weighed on the antique scale there. Official weight: 14 pounds...and 27 inches long. Whatever would we do without this bundle of joy???
In response to the requests for the recipe I used for the chicken curry last night, here it is. It's from an extremely helpful cookbook, Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook by Dawn Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good. I'll post the recipe the way it appears in the book; of course, I had to do things just a little bit differently. ;)

4 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves
1 small onion, chopped
2 sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), cubed
2/3 cup orange juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. cold water
rice

Toppings:
sliced green onions
shredded coconut
peanuts
raisins

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Cover with onions and sweet potatoes.
2. Combine orange juice, garlic, chicken bouillon granules, salt, pepper, and curry powder. Pour over vegetables.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours.
4. Remove chicken and vegetables and keep warm.
5. Turn slow cooker to High. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Stir into sauce in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on High 15-20 minutes.
6. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Sprinkle with your choice of toppings.

My main changes were cooking it longer than indicated, and not removing the chicken and vegetables before adding the cornstarch/water mixture.

New Mom asked what kind of flavor curry gives. I've thought and thought about this today, but haven't come up with an answer. It just tastes like...curry! :) Curry powder is actually a mixture of spices, I discovered last evening when looking at my spice bottle. To me, it's the flavor of Eastern food--not Asian as much as Indian and Middle Eastern. I love it! (And it's not hot-spicy, although some prepared curry dishes at restaurants are. The recipe I used doesn't have any spicy heat to it at all.)

One of the reasons I like to serve this dish to guests is that everyone can personalize it with their own toppings. Jeff, of course, adds lots of green onions to his since he's a big onion fan. :) As for me, the picture below shows how I like mine...

17 comments:

Unknown said...

lovely food pic -- looks delicious! -- and I like your pretty dinner service.

Bonnie said...

I have been wondering how this recipe is, and am glad to know someone likes it!
I keep throwing around the idea of making it(with a few changes-we don't like sweet potatoes), but I've had about 50/50 luck with Fix-It-And-Forget-It. How about you?
Some things are wonderful, and others, well, they leave something to be desired. This will go on the to try list.
Tobin is such a cutie, though I smiled at his weight. My babies have been 14+ pounds by 3 months of age, and nearly 20 by 7 months. I hope this baby is a bit smaller than her brother and sister!

Buzzings of a Queen Bee! said...

Wow, that dish looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I am always looking for new chicken dishes, so I will definitely try that one, and I love that it goes in the crock pot! :)
-Carrie

Polly said...

he's adorable!!

the chicken curry looks great!!!

Crystal said...

mmmmmm...looks yummy! And that little boy is pretty cute, too. We're hoping to make it to the valley for a visit this fall and one of my goals is to meet little Tobin. Of course, I'd really like to see his mommy as well. :-)

Sarah said...

I've had curry before...it does have a unique taste and it's interesting to experiment with toppings to see what you like with it! Happy Birthday to your little guy!

Mamajil said...

Thanks for the recipe!!! I will have to try it out! I am gonna tell Sarah about it too ....I just happen to know she has that cook book...
Your little boy is so cute and he is getting so big! Its hard to believe that Ramsey will be that size in just 3 months....
btw: I love your plate!!

Kris said...

Indian food is my favorite! Gotta love the curry! Can't wait to try this recipe out!

Julie said...

I weighed Mairi at my friend's house today, and she was 14lbs, too!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Tobin.

Thanks for the recipe. You have inspired me yet again!

Marie said...

Happy Birthday Tobin!
He is so precious Davene!!

This recipe sounds so good!!! I'm going to have ta steal it!!!!

MrsTribble said...

Oh my word Tobin looks so cute! What a sweet little guy!

New Mom said...

Thanks for the recipe! I think I might actually try it since my husband bought some curry. Can you believe that I am so closed-minded to new flavors that I can't even build up the courage to taste a tiny bit of the spice? I guess I'd better before I make the recipe.

Sally said...

Happy 7 mo. birthday to Tobin! I can only imagine how wonderful he is, knowing how much I am enjoying Hannah at 5 mo.

The curry recipe sounds wonderful. I will have to try it, maybe soon!

Elizabeth said...

This recipe sounds really good! Thanks for sharing Davene!

Davene said...

Mrs. Bonnie, about my success with that cookbook, I wouldn't say that I've loved everything I've tried from it. If anything, I'd say some of the recipes have been a little too bland (maybe not the best word?) for my taste. However, there are SO MANY recipes in there...and so many variations on recipes. For example, what to do with the round steak that's in my freezer? Hmm...let me look in this cookbook...oh, there are quite a few recipes that call for that. A lot of them are similar to each other, but with enough differences that I can usually find something to fit with what I have on hand and/or what we like. Make sense?

The other thing that cookbook has helped me do is think beyond a roast when it comes to the crockpot. :) Lots and lots of foods can be prepared in one...it just so happens that a roast is what immediately comes to my mind when I think of crockpot cooking! But now I'm experimenting more with using it for soups or side dishes or other things.

New Mom, I don't think I would like a tiny taste of curry by itself, even though I think it's absolutely scrumptious in recipes. So even if you taste a little and don't like it so much, you might be surprised by how it is combined with the other flavors. :)

For everyone, thanks so much for your sweet comments. You all know how to make a woman's day! :)

(And yeah, Tobin's kind of a little guy...14 pounds at 7 months isn't much of a roly-poly plump butterball of a baby...but then, none of mine have been. Even though Tobin started out big, I'm not surprised that he's slimmed down.)

Margie said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thought 14 lbs was light. I think of Sarah as my baby, but she's nearing two and, I say this with pause...I can't REMEMBER when she was 14 lbs.