Chicken tikka masala and naan

For dinner on Saturday night I made chicken tikka masala and naan. Naan is basically an indian flat bread. This dinner took more time than I would normally spend on any meal but it was really good and actually I had a lot of fun making it. I have not made bread in such a long time and making the naan helped to satisfy that need for a little longer. I think next year I will be baking a lot more so that I spend a lot less (I'm thinking that if I spend my saturday baking instead of shopping it will be much cheaper) I'm really excited to try and perfect my bread recipe, so far it is really good but I would like it to be a bit more moist. Anyway here is the recipes (I added all the salt that the chicken tikka masala calls for but now that I have made it next time I would add only a total of 2 teaspoons, it was really to salty). The recipes are both from Allrecipes.
This is the chicken tikka masala

Ingredients

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 long skewers
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat a grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

This is the naan

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

French Macaroons and Southwestern Egg Rolls

For FHE on Monday night we were having a bake/cook off and so I decided to try my hand a French Macaroons and also to try out a recipe for Southwestern Egg Rolls that my dad gave me. The macaroons had a white chocolate ganache frosting filling which was really good. Here is the recipe for the cookies and the frosting. I got the recipe for the cookies from Carly's Kitchen, and the recipe for the frosting from Recipezaar.
Basic Macaron Recipe
3 egg whites or 100 g. weighed
50 gr. granulated sugar
200 gr. powdered sugar

110 gr. blanched almonds, whole or ground
1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue.
2. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse if you use already ground almonds. It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. If you use whole almonds, pulse thoroughly for a minute or so.
3. Add them to the meringue, and start to give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flatten on its own, you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple more folds.
4. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
5. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 10–12 minutes, depending on their size. Let them cool completely before filling.
6. Pipe or spoon some of your filling on one shell and sandwich with another one
White Chocolate Ganache Frosting
1/2 cup heavy cream
12 ounces white chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
Directions
In a small, heavy saucepan, heat the cream just until it starts to simmer.
Add the white chocolate, shaking the pan gently to immerse it into the cream, then add the butter.
Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, then beat with a wire whisk until the chocolate and butter dissolve and the mixture is smooth.
Refrigerate until mixture is cold, then whip with a wire whisk again until fluffy.
Use frosting as desired; refrigerate your frosted goodies to firm up the frosting.

Then the recipe for the egg rolls is;
2-3 boneless chicken breasts cooked and shredded with a fork
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of mixed corn (yellow and white)
1 can of black beans
1 package of egg roll wraps
1 bag of shredded cheese

Directions
Prepare the chicken with the taco seasoning as on back of package
Mix the chicken mixture with the corn and black beans (of course you will want to drain and rinse both of those)
Put the egg roll wrappers with a corner pointing toward you. Put a teaspoon or so of the mixture and the a pinch of the cheese and the roll up like an egg roll.
Drop into your deep fryer or a heavy pot about 1/2 way full with oil and cook until they start to turn golden.
Take out of the fryer and let drain on paper towels.
Good Luck!!
P.S. I will post pictures tomorrow.