Messy Cook

In a food processor or blender, add the cashews, cilantro, oil, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, jalapeno, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of water. Pulse or blend until the mixture is a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve a third of the marinade for serving with the chicken. Use the rest for coating the chicken.

Sprinkle the chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken pieces with the marinade. At this point if you want, you can make ahead, and chill for several hours or overnight until ready to cook. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Preheat broiler or prepare grill for medium direct heat. Broil or grill chicken, turning frequently, until golden and crisp and a meat thermometer reads 170°F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching a bone), or when the juices run clear (not pink) when cut into with a knife. This will take about 25 to 35 minutes for a grill on medium heat, or about 10-20 minutes under a broiler, depending on how far the chicken is from the heat. Serve with lime wedges, reserved marinade, and cilantro.

Preheat the oven to 450˚ F.  In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with two thirds of the minced garlic.  Scrape the gills from the inside of the mushroom caps.  Set the mushroom caps on a baking pan, gill side up, and brush lightly with the garlic-oil mixture.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the filling.  Combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, remaining garlic, ½ teaspoon of the thyme, and the spinach in a medium bowl.  Stir together until evenly blended.  Gently stir in the artichokes.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon the filling mixture over the roasted mushroom caps.

In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and remaining 1 teaspoon of thyme.  Stir with a fork to blend.  Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the filling mixture on each mushroom.  Bake for 10 more minutes or until golden and warmed through.  Serve immediately.

For the Cilantro Chutney
2 cups picked fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
1 clove garlic
1 small green Thai bird chile

Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water by 1-inch. Season to taste with salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add grated onion, garlic, ginger, chiles, cilantro stems, and red pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the moisture has evarporated and mixture is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add turmeric, coriander, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, spinach, 1/2 cup of water, and cooked potatoes. Stir until spinach wilts. Add half of lime juice and season to taste with salt. reduce heat to lowest setting, cover, and keep warm while making chutney.

For the Chutney: Combine cilantro, garlic, chile, and remaining lime juice in a blender or in the cup of a hand blender and add 1/3 cup water. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides and adding water as necessary. Season to taste with salt.

Add more liquid to jalfrezi if necessary and serve with chutney and steamed basmati rice or naan.

Heat oil  in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and chili. Cook, stirring frequently, and scraping bottom of pan until golden brown and starting to burn in spots, about 10 minutes. Add cayenne, cashews, and half of spice mixture. Cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add coconut milk and remove from heat. Scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pan.

Transfer mixture to blender and starting a low speed, slowly increase speed to maximum. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Return mixture to pot. Add chickpeas, spinach, and remaining spice mix and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until vegetables are heated through and spinach is wilted, about 10 minutes. Add salt and lime juice to taste. Stir in half of cilantro.

Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle with extra cilantro, and serve with lime wedges, basmati rice pilaf, grilled naan, and cilantro chutney, as desired.

Saute onion in oil and cook until tender. Mix in garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, 1 tsp. salt and cayenne if desired. Place mixture in blender, pour in water, blend until smooth. Pour sauce into a large skillet. Mix in carrots, potatoes, pepper and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Stir peas, raisins, nuts, cream and honey into the pot with the vegetables. Heat through. Season with salt to taste.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a 10-inch heavy nonstick skillet. Add the zucchini. Cook, stirring, until the zucchini begins to wilt, about two minutes. Stir in the garlic. Cook for another minute or until the zucchini has just wilted — it should still be bright green. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

For the Sauce:
1/2 yellow onion, small dice
1 cup tomato sauce (or 2 tomatoes)
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup plain yogurt
pinch cinnamon
pinch tumeric
2 teaspoons cilantro

Place the lentils into a 3 quart pot and cover with water by two or more inches. Add the minced onion. Place the pot over medium heat. Slowly bring the lentils to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the lentils until tender adding a pinch or two of salt in the last 10 minutes of cooking. This should take approximately 30 minutes.

Drain the lentils. Let them cool but puree them in a food processor while they are still warm. They will be easier to handle when warm.

Add the remaining lentil cake ingredients and pulse the cakes a few more times until the rest of the ingredients are combined into the mix. Taste the lentil puree then season the puree with kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Taste again and adjust the seasoning.

Let the cakes sit for a few minutes to hydrate the flour. Take a tablespoon of the mix and make a ball. Is it really wet or is it too stiff? You want the mix to hold its shape but not be overly stiff otherwise they can be dry when cooked. It should just hold its shape. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time if you need to letting the additional flour hydrate before testing. Divide the lentils into eight balls.

Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a heavy bottomed sauté pan by an 1/8 inch. Heat the oil over medium high heat. Test the oil by dropping a pinch of lentil to the pan. It should begin to sizzle right away but not violently sizzle and pop.

When the oil is ready take each lentil ball and smash it down gently forming it into 1/2 inch thick cakes and add them to the oil. Let each side brown nicely and then remove them to a tray lined with a brown bag to soak up the oil. Keep the cakes warm, either in a low, 200 degree oven or in a warm place on the stove.

Drain the oil from the pan, place it back on the heat and then add the remaining diced onion. Saute until tender then add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Stir to combine, bring to a boil then reduce the heat. Let it simmer for ten minutes to come together. You can puree the sauce to make it smooth or leave the onion chunky making the sauce rustic.

Serve with rice.