Mushroom Stock and Chicken Curry

Alright so I know I've been promising to post the mushroom stock.  Well, the good news...I made it tonight...the bad news...I forgot to take pictures.  I know.  I'm a horrible person, and I made a mistake.  But you see, tonight I was also put in charge of making Indian food for 10 people, and that made me forget about the process of documenting everything.  I ended up making a chicken curry with rice, pretty basic but it fed everyone, and they seemed to enjoy it.  I would have liked to have gone a little more elaborate with it - I was hoping to do something with lamb, and maybe make some naan bread - but with work and an expectantly busy week, it just didn't happen.  So we made due with chicken curry (recipe follows).

Keep note this is for 10-12 people.  You would probably want to half it.

• 4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 (15 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt. 
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat; partially cook the chicken in the hot oil in batches until completely browned. Transfer the browned chicken breasts to a plate and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium-high; add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the oil remaining in the skillet and cook and stir until the onion turns translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir the curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons of water into the onion mixture; allow to heat together for about 1 minute while stirring. Mix the tomatoes, yogurt, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, and 2 teaspoons salt into the mixture. Return the chicken breast to the skillet along with any juices on the plate. Pour 1 cup water into the mixture; bring to a boil, turning the chicken to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle the garam masala and 2 tablespoons cilantro over the chicken.
4. Cover the skillet and simmer until the chicken breasts are no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Sprinkle with lemon juice to serve.

 (Recipe found here.)

Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I guess I can't complain.  My roommate Mitchell managed to snap a few shots as I was cooking it.

That was alot of chicken.

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So on to the mushroom stock.  The recipe calls for 1lb of mushrooms (any type), carrots, leeks, onions, parsley, and thyme.  It is made very similarly to the vegetable stock.  All the vegetables are cut up, put in a food processor, then to a stock pot where they are softened with a little oil.  Then simmered in water for about 45 minutes.

What's different about this stock is that after the first simmer, the solids are drained as before, and the stock is set aside.  Then the solids are returned to the pot and simmered again in new water.  After that is strained, both of the stocks are combined, boiled, and reduced down to only 3 cups.  It seems like alot of work for so little, but hopefully it will be worth it.

So sorry about the lack of details and pictures in this post.  I'll try to do better in the future.  And if you need a new meal to try, cook the curry recipe, it is pretty good.

Coming up soon...gnocchi!