Food Experiment
20 September 2005 16:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plunkybugSince my headache never seemed to properly go away, and stomach has remained a volcano on the verge of erupting this afternoon, I called in. I think I am PMS-ing a little too, since my back is sore and I feel on the verge of crampiness too. Should have picked up that woman's cycle tea from Whole Foods. Bah. So long perfect attendance for September. Maybe October? So why not cook? I feel better when cooking anyway.
So I decided to cook the chicken I had marinating in the butter chicken and yogurt mixture overnight. I had thought of just baking as normal (when I had planned on being at work), but I changed my mind since I am here and have the time now. I put it in a deep, covered casserole dish and I set the oven to 225F, which I know is low, but I intend to cook it slowly. I put the breast on the bottom, surrounded with the 3 wings, and the thigh and drumsticks on top (I custom picked my pieces at the store yesterday since we both like dark meat more). I figure two things: the breast is white meat and will cook faster, so if heat rises, it should be at the bottom so that it won't dry out as much, and secondly, the juices from the dark meat pieces on top will act as a natural baster to the breast meat. The whole idea is to see if we can fuse the great butter chicken mix flavor into the meat, because using the boneless skinless pieces in a skillet is just like eating cooked chicken in a savory sauce, nothing more, even if the sauce is damn tasty. So the thinking goes like this: the plain yogurt replaces the milk in the directions to cook, and is authentic to cooking Indian meats, and will help make the meat juicier, and the sauce penetrate the chicken (and skin) more, and the slow cooking in the covered casserole dish will keep the flavor sealed in. I am hoping to get a quasi tandoori result. Strictly guessing with some of this, but using what I feel is logic to help me. Guess we will see in a few hours!
Edit: So I turned up the heat a little bit ago...it is now on 300F. Gonna check on it shortly.
The Results: Well, the chicken was uber tender, and falling off the bone, but the butter chicken flavor was a bit lost in the baked chicken taste. It was tasty, but did not achieve the desired result. I might have used too much yogurt also.
Experiment #2: I think next time, I will go back to chicken breasts, boneless and skinless. I think I will also keep the yogurt marinade, though the details of what I will do exactly are undecided. I may mix part of the butter chicken sauce here, and reserve the rest for later, mixing with some other cream product...maybe cream, or maybe coconut milk, and bake. I just don't know, though it doesn't mean that much right now, as I have no more butter chicken mixes.
So I decided to cook the chicken I had marinating in the butter chicken and yogurt mixture overnight. I had thought of just baking as normal (when I had planned on being at work), but I changed my mind since I am here and have the time now. I put it in a deep, covered casserole dish and I set the oven to 225F, which I know is low, but I intend to cook it slowly. I put the breast on the bottom, surrounded with the 3 wings, and the thigh and drumsticks on top (I custom picked my pieces at the store yesterday since we both like dark meat more). I figure two things: the breast is white meat and will cook faster, so if heat rises, it should be at the bottom so that it won't dry out as much, and secondly, the juices from the dark meat pieces on top will act as a natural baster to the breast meat. The whole idea is to see if we can fuse the great butter chicken mix flavor into the meat, because using the boneless skinless pieces in a skillet is just like eating cooked chicken in a savory sauce, nothing more, even if the sauce is damn tasty. So the thinking goes like this: the plain yogurt replaces the milk in the directions to cook, and is authentic to cooking Indian meats, and will help make the meat juicier, and the sauce penetrate the chicken (and skin) more, and the slow cooking in the covered casserole dish will keep the flavor sealed in. I am hoping to get a quasi tandoori result. Strictly guessing with some of this, but using what I feel is logic to help me. Guess we will see in a few hours!
Edit: So I turned up the heat a little bit ago...it is now on 300F. Gonna check on it shortly.
The Results: Well, the chicken was uber tender, and falling off the bone, but the butter chicken flavor was a bit lost in the baked chicken taste. It was tasty, but did not achieve the desired result. I might have used too much yogurt also.
Experiment #2: I think next time, I will go back to chicken breasts, boneless and skinless. I think I will also keep the yogurt marinade, though the details of what I will do exactly are undecided. I may mix part of the butter chicken sauce here, and reserve the rest for later, mixing with some other cream product...maybe cream, or maybe coconut milk, and bake. I just don't know, though it doesn't mean that much right now, as I have no more butter chicken mixes.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 21 Sep 2005 02:00 (UTC)Adventures in cookery.
Date: 21 Sep 2005 02:10 (UTC)