Baked Chicken Pakistani Style

No photo of this dish, and I do apologize.  But boy did it smell wonderful cooking and it tasted soooo good!  John almost always thanks me for the meals I make, usually at the end of eating, but if he compliments a meal WHILE he's eating it, it's something special.  Apparently, this is one of those something special dishes because he complimented the food twice while eating and then thanked me for the meal too. 

I found the recipe in 1958 January issue of Woman's Day magazine and it sounded good then.  I had to buy the Cardamon used in the recipe.  It calls for whole seeds crushed, but I substituted ground.  Because I was reducing the other ingredients to 1/4 (I just used two boneless skinless breasts, I used 1/8 tsp.  I'd say 1/2 tsp should do, but if you're more familiar with cardamon pods you can adjust it.)

Baked Chicken Pakistani Style



1/4 cup soft butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp crushed dried red chili pepper
2 cardamon seeds, crushed
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1 small piece fresh ginger, finely minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 fryer chicken, cut into pieces


Mix all but the chicken.  Place chicken in baking dish, spread mixture over top.  Bake at 400F for 1 hour.


**I didn't have cloves, so used allspice instead and used chili powder (ground chili pepper).  I had sliced almonds on hand but did chop them to mix with the other ingredients.  Served with a pilaf type rice this was very good.  The aroma that filled the house as it baked was awesome.

Penny's Super Easy Apple Cake

*Penny's Super Easy Apple Cake

I've looked and looked for an apple cake recipe I got from an old Family Circle Recipe Magazine in the early 1980's.  No luck.  Then I tried to find a Carrot Cake recipe similar to one in my 1980's copy of Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  No luck.  Finally, I decided to use my head and make up my own recipe.  This one turned out quite good and my family was well pleased.
2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cooking oil
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated apples
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Dump all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed about 2-3 minutes.  Pour into greased and floured 9 X 13 pan.  Bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes, until pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Frost with Caramel Frosting.

An easy caramel frosting is made of:

4 tbsps. melted buter
4 tbsps. packed brown sugar
2 - 4 tbsps milk
2 cups confectioners sugar

This mixture should be thin enough to spread so more milk may be added in one teaspoon increments.  On the other hand if this seems far too thin, add a little more confectioner's sugar.  Humidity will determine how thick or thin this comes out, so not precise measurements are necessary.

Monkey Butter Muffins

I bought bananas last week and as usual we had leftovers...Those few that turned freckly and sweet prior to our eating them all.  I snuck one into pancake batter earlier this week while John was home, but there were two left.  I was determined not to put them in the freezer, because I've got plenty of them in the freezer these days.

So this afternoon as I worked about the house, those bananas kept insinuating themselves into my day.  I'd walk by the counter and smell their ripeness, reminding me again and again that I needed to use them and soon.

I put them on the baking counter thinking I'd not pass that way too often, but there they were all the same.  Come supper time, I didn't want much of anything.  But there were the bananas.  I peeled them and mashed them and then began to dig about in the cabinet for other baking ingredients.  As I reached into my baking spices box, I found my hand upon the almost empty bottle of Butter Nut flavoring...And inspiration hit me hard.  Here's what I came up with.  These babies are wonderful!
Monkey Butter Muffins

2 bananas, mashed
1 egg
3 tbsps sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp butter nut flavoring
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk

Mix well.  Spoon into muffin tins.  (Mine made 9).  Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Glaze:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tsps butter nut flavoring
2 tbsps milk
walnuts

Mix first 4 ingredients.  Spoon onto cooled muffins.  My glaze was a bit thicker than glaze, less so than frosting.  Top frosted muffins with finely chopped walnuts.