Farewell dinner

Earlier this week, we packed Dylan back off to Seattle after a nice stay with us here in C'ville. (Poor Brad has had to watch the World Cup all by himself since Dylan left.) The evening before Dylan went, I made a farewell dinner with a few new items, including a simple chicken and fig curry from Made in India, which was a big hit with the three carnivores in our family. And everyone really liked the lemon gelato, including Dylan, who's not usually a big ice cream fan.

Chicken and Fig Curry

Adapted from Made in India (2015) by Meera Sodha and Meera Sodha's website

Time from start to finish: 60 minutes

12 dried figs
1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon red chilli powder (preferably Kashmiri), or to taste
1¾ pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
250 grams (~1 cup + 2 tablespoons) Greek yogurt (plain whole milk yogurt works too)
2 tablespoons canola or sunflower oil
1 very large or 2 medium white onions (~300 grams total), finely sliced from pole to pole
1 cinnamon stick
4 garlic cloves, chopped
a 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated on a Microplane (1½ tablespoons)

    1. In a small bowl, pour boiling water over the figs. Let them soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
    2. Place the salt, garam masala, and chili powder in a large bowl. Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs, then cut them into ¾-inch cubes. Add the chicken and the yogurt to the bowl with the spices. Drain the figs, then cut them lengthwise into quarters and crosswise into ¼-inch pieces. Add the figs to the chicken mixture, and stir until everything is well mixed.
    3. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet or sautè pan (that has a lid) over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cinnamon stick. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and golden, about 8–10 minutes.
    4. Stir in the garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken mixture, cover, and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through and a sauce has formed. Remove the cinnamon stick. Serve the chicken and sauce promptly with basmati or jasmine rice. Serves 4.

No-Churn Lemon Gelato

Adapted from Dori Sanders’ Country Cooking (1995) by Dori Sanders via Food52 (with video)

If you’re like us and all you have on hand is 1% milk, use 257 grams (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) heavy cream and 223 grams (1 cup - 2 tablespoons) 1% milk. The original recipe calls this "ice cream," but given the intense lemon flavor, the lack of any overrun, and that there's no egg custard base, I think this is more like gelato than ice cream.

1 tablespoon lemon zest grated on a Microplane

¼ cup (60 grams) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 very large or 2 medium lemons)

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups (480 grams) light cream; or 1 cup (235 grams) heavy cream + 1 cup (245 grams) whole milk (see note)

    1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, juice, sugar, and salt until well combined.

    2. In a 2-cup measuring cup, stir the cream and milk together. Trickle into the lemon-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until the sugar is completely dissolved (you won’t hear or feel the sugar scraping on the bottom of the bowl anymore), about 2 minutes.

    3. Scrape into an 8-inch square metal baking pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and freeze until the mixture is solid around the edges and mushy in the middle, about 3 hours. Stir well, then spread evenly in the pan. Cover with foil again, then continue to freeze until the ice cream is completely firm, about 1 hour more. Makes ~1 pint.