keeping that chicken tender

I apologize for the lack of posting! Here's a couple of past food experiments to keep you happy and hungry:

This tandoori-marinated chicken from Martha Stewart hooked me with one ingredient: Greek yogurt. I don't even eat this stuff but I thought it was novel to use yogurt to keep chicken moist. Now we can roast the bird breast side up!

Start by toasting some fennel, coriander, and cumin... Martha demands whole seeds but nothing wrong with the ground-up variety... you're going to grind it anyways!

Toast for a few minutes in a dry pan...

looks paltry, smells intoxicating

And set aside. Meanwhile, heat up a little canola or vegetable oil (not olive) in a pan over medium-high heat and add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook and stir until the onions soften and are translucent, about 10 minutes. (Feel free to follow Martha's exact directions, I just felt like not looking at the recipe every two minutes for once and cooking from memory.)

also smells great, thanks to the ginger

Combine the onion mixture and the spices in a blender and, well, blend! If you have turmeric, add it now. If you don't, add a little mustard like I did... you won't get the gorgeous color for Martha's flawless presentation but it will add a little more spice to the chicken.

ready for spin-off

Add the onion-spice mixture to a little Greek yogurt and stir. Oh yes, and salt as needed. A little salt makes your home cooking taste better.

Unfortunately, the mustard does not give the marinade a lovely deep color.
Despite the sickly color of the onion mixture, it tastes really good!

Hopefully you've had a bird sitting pretty in a pan while you were slaving away over the marinade. With the help of a spoon and well-washed fingers, separate the skin of the chicken from the breast... don't bother with the legs or wings, that's much too difficult.

not for the faint of grease!

Spoon some yogurt marinade under the skin and rub to distribute evenly. Feel free to repeat on the flip side, and definitely add a little marinade on top of the skin.

drowning in yogurt

Once the chicken is covered in marinade, cover the chicken with saran wrap - not too tight! Store in the refrigerator overnight.

While the oven is preheating to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, bring the chicken out of the refrigerator and remove the saran wrap. Stick the chicken in the oven and immediately lower the heat to 400 degrees. Cook for half an hour, then make a loose tent of foil and return the roast to the oven. Cook for another thirty minutes and voila! Super-moist, lightly marinated roast chicken awaits!

And though it doesn't look pretty, always stab your chicken to makes sure
it's been cooked through.
The chicken should have a little clear juice seeping out... if there's too much
or if it's not clear, put it back in the oven for 15 minutes!

Martha recommends serving the chicken with cucumbers, limes, and chiles. That sounds like a weirdly weak salad to me, so I made my own combination of cucumbers and pre-washed Parisian salad with a squeeze of lime. Keep extra lime wedges on hand to perk up the chicken!

Dinner is served... and surprisingly healthy at that!