Tip - Turkey Tips

Use a roasting pan with a rack, and cook your turkey upside down.

Start with the bird with the breast up, and cook it for about 25 minutes at about 400 degrees. Drop the heat to 325, open the oven, remove the turkey, and carefully flip it breast down. This is a good time to put a remote thermometer into the thigh or breast.

Put it back in the oven and finish cooking it upside down to ensure you get juicy white meat.

Tip - Glass Top Stove Care

Ever burn a serious amount of grease splatter right onto the heating element on your glass-top stove? Fun, right? I just went through this while making Chicken Marsala, and I tried a bunch of things to clean it.

The less-successful attempts were:
Soft Scrub (Which is what I normally use to clean the stove)
Soft Scrub with a Scotch-Brite (Which is what I normally use to clean the stove when it's filthy)
A Razor Blade (Not uncommon when the stove has a small spot of burnt-on grease)
A cleaner designed specifically for cleaning burnt-on grease from a glass cooktop (I'm not going to mention the name, because the produce was worthless)
Dish detergent left to sit on the grease for several hours
Some cussing (Didn't work, but helped my mood tremendously)

All of that failed. The only thing that seemed to make a dent was the razor blade. I poked around the kitchen and garage and found two things that worked, with very little effort and fantastic results:

A fresh razor blade.
A Mister Clean Magic Eraser.

That's it - nothing fancy. If you can't figure out how to make that work, put down the razor blade and don't play with stoves anymore.

Recipe - Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed into 1" cubes. (Don't bother with white meat, the thighs are better here)

Marinade Ingredients:
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1 Tsp. Chile Powder
1 Tbsp. Garlic Paste
2 Tbsp. Ginger Paste
2 Tsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Garam Masala
1 Tsp. Paprika
1/4 Tsp. Turmeric
1/2 Tsp. Ground Coriander
1/2 Oz. Lemon Juice
2-3 Pinches Salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, whisk together, and add the chicken pieces.
Stir well to cover all the chicken and put in refrigerator, preferably overnight, but, for at least 8 hours.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Onions, Chopped
1 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Oil (Vegetable is fine)
1 Tbsp. Ginger Paste
1 Tbsp. Garlic Paste
1 Tsp. Cumin
1 Tsp. Ground Coriander
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Garam Masala
1 Tsp. Paprika
1/2 Tsp. Turmeric
1 Pint Heavy Cream
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
6 oz. Tomato Paste
Salt

Preparation:
Begin making the Sauce:
Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan or chef's pan. Once heated, add the onions and a pinch of salt, and caramalize the onions.
Get the Heavy Cream ready, and add the Garlic and Ginger pastes to the onions. As soon as the pastes begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the heavy cream, then, the rest of the ingredients.
Stir well, and then stir occasionally while you cook the chicken.

Cooking the chicken:
There are several ways to accomplish this. The tastiest way by far is to grill the chicken. In the past, I've skewered the chicken pieces and grilled them. Great flavor, however, quite time consuming.

Alternately, a large skillet will suffice, however, don't crowd the pieces in the skillet, as they'll end up boiled instead of pan-seared, and you'll lose the marinade. As the chicken finishes cooking, add it to the sauce.

Another method that works quite well is using a clamshell grill. It's fast, maintains the marinade on the chicken, and is easy to clean up afterward. Again, once the chicken finishes cooking, add it to the sauce

Once all the chicken is combined with the sauce, cook over low heat for an additional 15 minutes or so to let the flavors incorporate.

Plating:
Serve with or over saffron-infused rice, and with naan.

You're going to need:
Aside from the spices, nothing special.

Serves:
4-6, easily.