January 12th is National Chicken Curry Day.

Here’s an enjoyable, family-friendly twist on the Indian classic, courtesy of the southern peanut farmers at PeanutButterLovers.com. There are many more PB recipes on the website.
 
 
PEANUT APPLE CHICKEN CURRY

For The Peanut Sauce

 
For The Chicken

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the sauce: Heat the oil in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, curry powder and scallions. Sauté 1 minute.

2. ADD the peanut butter, vinegar, apple juice, coconut milk, brown sugar and cayenne. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, to allow flavors to develop and sauce to thicken (about 10-15 minutes). Meanwhile…

[1] Brighten up chicken curry with peanut butter and apples (both photo © Peanut Butter Lovers).

[2] Chicken curry is delicious with peanut butter and apples.

4. ADD the chicken and apples and stir until chicken is cooked completely. Add the peanut sauce and cook until heated evenly (about 2-5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm over rice.

[1] A Saké Hot Toddy (photo © Saké One).

[2] A Cider Hot Toddy (photo © Hella Cocktail Co.).

[3] A Whiskey Hot Toddy (photo © Ruth’s Chris Steak House).

[4] A close up on shichi hon yari label, an earthy, rustic style of saké (photo © Englewood Wine Merchants).

January 11th is National Hot Toddy Day.

A Hot Toddy is a cocktail made with whiskey or sherry, boiling water, sugar and spices.

 
Warm alcoholic beverages such as glogg, mulled wine and toddies originated in Northern Europe, where beer, cider, wine and spirits were mulled with sugar and spices to add some cheer to cold winter days.

Toddies can be made of any spirit—bourbon, brandy, tequila, Scotch and other whiskeys are popular.

Hot buttered rum was a favorite in Colonial America. Distilleries in the Colonies were making rum from the molasses by the 1650s, and “hot buttered rum” joined the toddies and nogs of English tradition (a nog is a beverage made of beaten eggs).

Here’s the recipe for a conventional Hot Toddy.

You may see recipes for creamy toddies, which add cream or ice cream to the basic recipe. These are new interpretations, not traditional toddies, which were not cream beverages.

But here’s a new interpretation that fuses East and West: a Saké Toddy recipe from Saké One.
 
 
WHAT IS SAKÉ?

Saké is about as old as any food we can pin a date on: a 6800-year-old beverage.

Saké-making implements have been discovered in the Yangtze River Valley in China, dating back to 4800 B.C.E.—about the time that nomadic man settled down to farm.

According to some anthropologists, the reason for this lifestyle change was so that man could grow rice to turn into saké, ensuring he could enjoy it on a regular basis.

It’s the same rationale for nomads settling down to farm in the Fertile Crescent: to brew barley for beer.

Saké is made from four ingredients: rice, water, yeast and koji, an enzyme particular to saké-making.

Saké is fermented and brewed like beer, and served like wine. It is also characterized as a wine because of its higher alcohol content.

Here’s more about saké.
 
 
WHAT KIND OF SAKE SHOULD YOU USE?

Use whatever saké you have on hand, such as junmai or ginjo. You may want to hold back on nigori, which is sweet, cloudy saké, until you’ve tried the recipe with a dry saké.

Even flavored saké works, such as Saké One’s Moonstone Asian Pear Infused Ginjo.
 
 
RECIPE: SAKÉ HOT TODDY

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the lemon juice and honey into glass or mug. Warm saké to your liking, including the spices as desired.

2. POUR the heated saké into glass or mug, mix until honey dissolves.

3. GARNISH with cinnamon stick and lemon wedge. Add optional spices and ginger slices to taste. Kanpai!

We’ve given up trying to lose weight as a New Year’s resolution, so more than a decade ago, we decided we’d give up a different less-good-for-you food every year.

These included fried foods, drinks with sugar, pizza and whole milk. Instead of every day or every week, we have them four times a year or so (O.K., pizza is once a month).

One of these resolutions was to substitute 0% or 2% Greek yogurt for sour cream.

We eat a lot of crudités with dips, so it was a good reduction in fat and calories.

The recipe follows, but first, for your consideration:

> The history of yogurt.

> The different types of yogurt: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 18 sauce, dips, and dressings holidays.

> The year’s 7 yogurt holidays are below below.
 
 
RECIPE: HERBED GREEK YOGURT DIP & SAUCE

This dip is very flexible.

 
Ingredients

 
For The Garnish

 
To Serve

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

2. COVER and chill for at 4 – 8 hours or preferably, overnight, to allow the flavors to blend.

[1] Herbed yogurt dip in a beautiful presentation from Elea Restaurant in New York City (photo © Elea).

[2] Crudités. Perhaps you have some serving dishes that will make the presentation more dramatic, like this seafood tower (photo © Australian Asparagus Growers)?

[3] Our favorite Greek yogurt is FAGE, pronounced FAH-yeh. It means “to eat” or simply, “eat!” in Greek (photo © FAGE USA).

 
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*Both dates are observed as National Frozen Yogurt Day. February 6th is the date recognized by many national day calendars and is widely celebrated by frozen yogurt chains. The first Sunday in June was established by TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) in 1993, and is also celebrated.
 
 

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