Recipe: Chicken Satay, Chicken Salad and Apple Tarte Tatin

On Monday night, I was in a real mood to cook. I have no idea why, but it overcame me. Earlier that day I read smitten kitchen and was inspired to make an apple tarte tatin. I had all of the ingredients except the apples. I couldn't just go to the store for apples, so I also decided that chicken Satay sounded good. About $20 and two hours later, I had a pretty tasty dinner.

First, the apple tarte tatin. If you're not familiar, its basically a French, upside-down apple pie. You cook the apples in butter and sugar, then top it with pate brisee, a butter-based pastry, and bake it. It sounds really difficult, but it isn't!

Molly's directions are so darn great, I can't improve upon them. I will give you a few additional tips: make sure that the crust is slightly BIGGER than the pan so you can tuck it in, and also make sure you've separated the pastry from the pan. Really. It'll still taste good if it falls apart.

The chicken satay was really easy as well. I used Tyler Florence's recipe and doubled it. One batch was made with hot madras curry and the other with Thai yellow curry. You see, Terry doesn't like curry-- he had a bad experience involving Air India and food poisoning. I'm convinced he just needs to try it in ways that don't involve airline food. After eating three skewers' worth of chicken, he said, "Wow, these are good, what's in them?" Turns out, he liked the curry!

Yum. I served them with couscous, peanut sauce, and sweet chili sauce. My upstairs neighbor, Ilan, came down to see what smelled so good and I sent him home with some satay and peanut sauce. He liked it too!


Since I had a ton of chicken left, I did what I love to do with leftover chicken: make chicken salad. My favorite is curried chicken salad, also known as Coronation Chicken. Mine's not terribly traditional, but I still think it's great-- and a great use for leftover chicken.

There aren't a lot of measurements here-- I hate to be Rachael Ray and say "eyeball it", but that's what I do-- taste and eyeball.

1 pound of cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon (or to taste) curry powder
handful of chopped cilantro
Mayonnaise (I use Light Hellman's), about a half cup, or enough to moisten the chicken

Mix it all together. Easy, peasy. Let it sit in the refrigerator for the flavors to develop. It tastes great alone or on some nice, crusty bread.