Winner Winner Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala Dinner

It's a good thing when your cooking looks at least a little like the cover.

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If you have an Instant Pot get this book!*

I made Chicken Tikka Masala from this Indian Instant Pot Cookbook by Urvashi Pitre of the Two Sleevers cooking blog. She has a lot of "low-carb appetizers, soups, and dinner recipes big on taste and short on calories. From Stove Top to Instant Pot, these recipes are fast, varied and most importantly...delicious."

It was really good and I got a passing grade from an experienced Indian food connoisseur.

There are a lot of ingredients I have never used and it does take some prep time but it was worth it. When you make the recipe you will make extra sauce. It can be used for a lot of things. I also made a coconut tomato soup from this book as a first course. It also tasted great.

I can't wait to make more from this cookbook.

Here is the recipe link and here is the ingredients list
she does include a garam masala recipe in the book

Marinate the chicken
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breast or thighs), cut into large pieces
½ cups Greek yogurt
4 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger minced
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika for color and a slightly smoky taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (omit if unavailable)

For the sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 carrot, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon minced ginger minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1-2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin

To finish
4 ounce half and half (use full-fat coconut milk if dairy free)
1 teaspoon garam masala
¼-1/2 cup chopped cilantro

*Amazon Smile link supports the ALS Association Golden West Chapter

BBQ Simple

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I think that's a good name for a cookbook. BBQ Simple. So many BBQ books seem like they are for reading not for using. I agree all the details are important and it can be interesting to read about all the aspects that go along with some good low and slow cooking.  But sometimes you just want to cook something to eat. You aren't in a competition, don't own a food truck, or catering service, or run a restaurant. Here's my favorite BBQ cookbook. I like all of Ray Lampe's books.

I recently made some really good pulled pork on my Big Green Egg and it was about as easy as could be. I saw some pre rubbed ready to cook Swift Premium Dry Rubbed Santa Maria Boneless Petite Pork Shoulder Roast and thought I'd give it a try.

As you can see by the label it is ready for a crock pot slow cooker but I was going to use it on my BBQ.

I didn't do anything to prep it. I got my BBQ going with some hardwood charcoal and some big apple wood chunks. I used the Big Green Egg plate setter for indirect heat. Any indirect setup would work on a BBQ like a Weber or even a gas grill. Check out The Snake Method. I put a pan of water and the grate on top of that and the pork with a temperature probe centered over all of that.

The BBQ temps ran about 275 to 300 and at first the pork shoulder was about 50 degrees. (I set it out from the fridge for an hour or so before I put it on.)

That was it. I didn't add any charcoal or wood or baste or mop or anything else. I just looked at the temperature on the BBQ to make sure it was running below 300 and above 250.

During the day the pork slowly came up to 100 then 150 then 175 and finally it hit 200 about 5 hours after I started. The BBQ temps were dropping as it ran out of fuel but with the lower vents open it stayed above 225 so that was OK. I let it go a little more to get it to 205 and took it off. It cooked down to a perfect size for dinner for 2.

There was a small cap of BBQ "bark" on top that was a little dry so I threw that away. The rest of it was moist and full of flavor. It was a little salty but the Heinz Kansas City Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce balanced it out.

I am a fan of these sauces. They are regional style BBQ sauces with Kansas City, Texas, Carolina, and more. Check them out here.

It was a Paleo friendly dinner with pulled pork and spaghetti squash dressed with a little bit of California olive oil.

You can do this. BBQ Simple.