A New Easter Tradition

A few years ago we noticed that around Easter Costco had boneless leg of lamb available that was less expensive than a standing rib roast and a new tradition was born - roast lamb for Easter Sunday dinner. And with a family that's growing smaller, that means there are leftovers. So, another new tradition is lamb curry later in the week. Here's one of the curry recipes we like. (And it also used those Easter eggs!)

Chicken Madras

1 tart apple, pared and diced

1 cup cooked diced carrots

1 stalk celery, diced

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon sage

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 bay leaf

3 cups diced cooked chicken

1/2 cup light cream

2 tablespoons chopped chutney

hot cooked rice

curry accompaniments

(bacon bits, chutney, raisins, chopped hard-cooked egg, sliced almonds, coconut)

Cook and stir apple, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in butter for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix flour with curry powder, salt, mustard, and sage; stir into butter mixture. Cook, stirring until mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth. Add bay leaf. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minutes. Stir in chicken, cream, and chutney; heat through. Remove bay leaf. Serve over rice with curry accompaniments. Serves 4-6.

Okay, that was the original recipe from Betty Crocker. Last night I left out the carrots and served them on the side. I forgot to buy celery so that wasn't in it either. Lamb was substituted for the chicken. (Pork also works.) And I sautéd the vegetables in a smidgen of olive oil and left out the butter and only used a 1/4 cup of cream. (Trying to lower the fat content!) I used Wondra flour and mixed it directly with the chicken broth before adding to the pan. I totally forgot about the bay leaf and used double the amount of curry. The recipe is very flexible!