Hi Musical Foodies,

Had an impromptu kitchen concert last night with my friends Chancy Rogers and Brandon Green… if you haven’t heard Brandon yet, never fear — you will… great singer and writer. Chancy operated the video camera and when we get things edited, I’ll start posting video/audio clips for what I hope will be your listening and viewing pleasure…

Meanwhile, I want to share this cooking experiment before I forget what I did. I made a tandoori spice inspired marinade:

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP ginger rice vinegar

(I’ll have this for sale when I get the Global Soup Pantry open again… meanwhile, you can find it at specialty groceries. Regular rice vinegar is fine too, and you can grate a teaspoon or so of fresh ginger into it.)

1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBSP minced jalapeno
1/3 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp crushed fennel seed
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp each coriander, cumin, tandoori masala powder*, hot red masilla powder* & hot madras curry powder*
salt and pepper to taste

*these can be found in Indian groceries or online — the Spice House in Chicago is a good one: http://www.thespicehouse.com/

Mix all together and pour over 3 or 4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves that have been scored diagonally, on the bias, 3/4 of the way through. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or more (can be made ahead to this point up to 4 hours in advance).

Make the rice — I used Long grain Jasmine rice, Jasmati, and it was perfik! In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water with 1 cup rice & 2 TBSP unsalted butter… stir once, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 TBSP grated lemon zest & 2 or more TBSP chopped fresh cilantro…

While the rice is cooking, heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and marinade and cook about 5 minutes before flipping the scored breasts to cook the other side. It’s almost like you’re poaching them in their liquid so get the marinade to a simmer and keep it there. When they’re opaque throughout (you know, not translucent), you’re done.

Serve over the rice with extra cilantro & lemon wedges on the side … and maybe a cold, cold beer or glass of Viognier.

Love to hear your feed-back!

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Kitchen by Suzi