Braisin' Hussy

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

I had a very bizarre dream last night. It was 1995, and the city I was in was under attack by Godzilla and Mothra. The population was scared but not panicking, even though we were going to have to sacrifice a lot of people to Godzilla for some reason. I was one of those chosen to get eaten, and he was picking me up to eat me when I decided I wanted to die in a classier manner. I ended up being coated in bread crumbs and wrapped in a huge flank steak- essentially, a human-stuffed braciole. So I got eaten, but apparently he didn't chew (a pity, I bet that would have been tasty), because after some darkness, I was out and alive again. And not gross from like Godzilla poop or anything. I couldn't find anyone, and no phone numbers worked except for 911. I got the county dispatch, and she told me it was now 1998 and my city had been completely wiped out.

Good dream, Sarah.

I went to BookBuyers on Saturday and picked up a Dungeon Masters Guide for 11.95, which isn't a great price, but it's a decent one. Considering that's the only money I've spent on D&D stuff so far, it's pretty good. Dennis gave me his Player's Guide for free, and I found my brother's old dice when we were cleaning out closets.

Game on for tonight. Here's hoping Cooper doesn't die. AGAIN. He's died (I think) three times since I've started playing.

Homemade tortillas are good. Put lots of salt in them. I make a half recipe with the full recipe's salt amount. (When I didn't, they ended up tasting more like matzoh than tortillas, and yes, I know I've mentioned this before.) Mm!

Man, it's cold.

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Monday, November 29, 2004

Apple-Rutabaga Soup
The Inn at Little Washington

1 stick butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup peeled and chopped Granny Smith apple
1 cup chopped rutabaga
1 cup chopped butternut squash
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped sweet potato
1 quart chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Lemon slices and chives for garnish (optional)

Melt the butter in a large pot set over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook until the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Puree using a blender, food processor, or stick blender. Strain through a fine sieve. Add the cream, maple syrup, cayenne, and salt. Bring to a bare simmer and serve.

Makes 2 quarts. Can be made in advance and frozen.

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Saturday, November 27, 2004

So, this broccoli recipe? Oh, it's so good. I hate myself SO HARD for loving it. Karen F. is a family friend originally from the Midwest. She brought this to a Thanksgiving dinner probably eight or so years ago, and the family fell in love with it. Well, not fell in love. Fell into a horrible relationship where the broccoli beats us up, but we're so screwed up that we let it happen.

Ee. That was a bad analogy. Love-hate relationship. That's better. Dysfunctional. Anyway, Sara mentioned it on her blog, so I figured I had to get it up macht schnell.

Oh, Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous this year. (It was fabulous last year, too, but in a different way- we had duck... mmmmm. I digress.) My aunt and uncle came and visited from back east. Hi there, Peg and Ted! Aunt Peggy brought a recipe for this incredible soup from The Inn at Little Washington. Oh, it was amazing. We ate the leftovers at Thanksgiving II last night, and Sara said, "I would totally just drink this through a straw." I have a copy of the recipe; I'll post that later.

If I had patience, I'd make creamed onions all the time. Er, and if I was skinny. Yum! But peeling all those little onions is annoying. I wonder if it can be made successfully using frozen ones. (Insert rant here from my mom, saying that the frozen ones suck and have bad texture.) (Insert counter-rant from my brother, saying they're easier and he can't tell the difference.)

What else... oh, Ryan made tasty cranberry relish and mincemeat pie. And of course, there was also Indian Pudding for dessert. I stole the cookbook with the recipe in it, so I'll post that later, too.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, rutabagas! All wonderful!

I still have a curry recipe to post! Yipes!

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Death By Broccoli
A recipe from Karen F.

6-7 heads of broccoli, florets only, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb. Velveeta
8 oz. Ritz crackers, crushed
2 sticks butter, melted and separated

Unwrap the Velveeta and freeze. This is the most important step. Once frozen, shred.

Blanch the broccoli for 60-90 seconds in boiling water, then plunge into ice water. Dry thoroughly. This is the second most important step.

Heat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, Velveeta, and half of the butter (it's a little tricky stirring it in the baking dish, but if you don't want to dirty another bowl, go ahead). Empty the broccoli mixture into the baking dish. In the same bowl, mix the crushed Ritz crackers with the other half of the butter. Spread evenly over the top of the broccoli.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. You'll hate yourself by loving it.

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Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Well, I've still got one more curry recipe to post. I'll do that later, although I'll probably fuss with the times so that this appears above it. I'm not very helpful.

On Thursday night, I went with Ryan and the 'rents to see Jon perform. It was a good show. Hookslide and The House Jacks. Good times.

Friday was spent making curries. Whee! Actually, these weren't very hard. A little time consuming, but not bad. So on Saturday morning, I packed them and a bunch of cookies and headed over to Lydia's, where I spent the day. We ate, drank, and made merry with anime and video games. I felt very stupid playing a taiko drumming game- even though I am a musician, I can't say I have many skillz in rhythm. I'm sort of hopelessly white. I also felt stupid, although less so, playing Katamari Damacy. I kept forgetting what the controls were. But I still made a couple wee stars. That's a bizarre game. We watched a fairly new anime showing in Japan called Yakitate!! It's about a young man with really warm hands who wants to create Japan's national bread. No, really.

On Sunday, I went over to Jon and Ryan's and played video games that don't make me feel inept. Well, game. I dearly love the Ratchet & Clank series, and can't wait for Jon to get the third. Ryan made tons of cookies, I made tortillas that turned out disturbingly like matzoh (next time, more salt and rolled thicker), and Jon made yummy nachos (using the joy-sucking America's Test Kitchen method).

I went to the grocery store last night to buy ingredients for my part of Thanksgiving. I was assigned two things- Crescent Rolls and Heart-Attack Broccoli. I thought about making buttermilk biscuits instead, but the Crescent Rolls are traditional. (And also used to be almost the only thing I would eat at Thanksgiving- Crescent Rolls and cranberry sauce.) I ended up sepnding $25, which seems rather ridiculous. Okay, a fifth of that was unnecessary, but two pounds of butter for five dollars? That's a good price! Five dollars each on butter, broccoli, Velveeta (I know, shut up), and Ritz Crackers (what did I just say?). The Crescent Rolls were on sale, and I bought some little containers of the right size for one-person leftovers. I have a lot of Gladware and such that's not really the right size in which to freeze lunch-sized portions.

I think that's it. D&D tonight.

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Monday, November 22, 2004

Aloo Matar
Potato and Pea Curry

2-4 Tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
Pinch of punch-phoron seeds*
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (or use a drained can of same)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp garam masala
2 cups fresh (or frozen, really) green peas
1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) coconut milk or warm water
3-4 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/8 tsp paprika

*Punch-phoron is a mixture of five whole spices mixed in equal proportions- cumin, black cumin, mustard, fenugreek, and fennel. I think I used cumin, fennel, and coriander (mistakenly), because those were the only ones I had in whole form.

Heat vegetable oil or ghee in a large saucepan. Fry punch-phoron seeds, bay leaf, ginger, and onion for 3 minutes. Add potatoes and continue cooking another 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, salt, ground cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, garam masala, and peas and cook for another 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and boil rapidly for 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to a bare simmer, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro and paprika.
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Matar Dal
Yellow Split-Pea Curry

1/2 lb. yellow split-peas (about 1 cup)
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp salt
Big pinch of ground turmeric
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of sugar
2-4 Tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 red or green chiles
2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
3/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 bay leaf
1/2 lb. slab of bacon or chicken livers, chopped
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
Pinch of monosodium glutamate (optional, can you even find this?)
Pinch of seasoned salt (I used Old Bay)
Pinch of paprika

Wash spilt peas and soak in water for 20 minutes. Boil spilt peas in their soaking water. Add salt and turmeric. Boil for 2 minutes, removing scum. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat. Add ground cumin, lemon juice, coriander, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and sugar to the pot.

Heat vegetable oil or ghee in a large saucepan and cook cumin seeds, chiles, onions, ginger, bay leaf, and bacon or chicken livers for 3-4 minutes. (Or, cook bacon alone until almost crisp, then add other ingredients and cook them.) Add tomato paste, MSG, and seasoned salt. Stirring, add the boiled peas mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and mix well. Cook slowly for 15-30 minutes, adding water if mixture looks too thick.
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Thursday, November 18, 2004

Grr! The TWoP fora are down AGAIN.

And another Grr! for our stupid dishwasher. We couldn't get an appointment until next Wednesday, so I'm stuck doing the dishes of 50 people until then.

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I used to be a big Red Dwarf fan. I still enjoy watching it, but I'm not insane like I used to be. (I changed, moved obsessions elsewhere.) I was really very surprised in a recent Economist by seeing a picture of the character Arnold J. Rimmer used to illustrate a story about holograms. Seemed a weird choice, but the Economist does sometimes use pictures that don't always make a whole lot of sense.

I'm out of salt. Isn't that weird? Last night, I was making chicken soup, and I kept having to improvise with Old Bay, Tabasco, and chili powder. I was thinking, "Oh, thank heavens I brined this chicken, or else it'd be über bland."

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Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Oh, man. When our D&D session last night hit about 11:30pm, the Cranky Pants were on. My apologies to everyone in our group. I was a big, big jerk. So tired. I was just so... not into the game.

Cooper did some hard-core dying last night. He got negative levels from wraiths and the like until he was undead. So Mynnyd, my character, shot him full of arrows until he died again. And then we found a cleric and got him raisied. We owe a LOT of money to the temple of Duran. This was in the battle where I got no negative levels, made all my fortitude and will saves, and only lost, like, eight hit points. I did get my comeuppance later, though. We ran into some ichor-dripping mummy zombie things. Mynnyd got hit a few times, failed his saves, and ended up losing six points of constitution. Ee. Seventy-one hit points gone in a VERY short amount of time. I did, however, forget about my dwarf's +2 to saves against poison, which meant I would have made the first save that knocked me down by five constitution points. I think our DM (Jer) is deciding whether I can retroactively not lose those points. The last DM, Cam, wouldn't have let me, I don't think.

Stupid undead. Anyway.

I brought some of my carbonnade for dinner last night. It spilled a little in the car. ANNOYING.

I set my VCR last night but forgot to turn my Tivo to standby, so I didn't tape House. ANNOYING.

I'm making soup tonight.

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Tuesday, November 16, 2004

So, check it out. I made flour tortillas and they didn't suck! They were a little salty- I made a half recipe, but used the full recipe's amount of salt. And maybe I didn't roll them quite thin enough- they were a little more like naan than my not-naan was. But I'd totally make them again.

So, I went out to dinner last night down in Mountain View, and I wasn't blown away. We went to Frankie, Johnny, and Luigi, Too! and I have to say, meh. I got veal parmesan, and it was only random. It came with a side of spaghetti in a watery and uninspiring sauce (that had bell peppers in it- ugh to me) and boiled spinach (not my favorite, but could have been cooked in a tastier way). Some people got garlic bread with their meals, and I tried it- weird metallic/chemically aftertaste. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, so maybe I just picked wrong, but I? I would not go there again.

Because it cannot be said enough: these cookies rock. Man, I just love them. Slightly overcooked and with an extra dash of salt... wow. They're so good! I know I'm a freak for liking my chocolate chip cookies thin and crispy, but if that means I can keep these to myself, so much the better.

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Flour Tortillas
San Jose Mercury News - Stacy Diaz

4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups warm water

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Pour in the vegetable oil and mix ingredients by hand. Add the water a little at a time until the mixture turns into a soft dough. Add more water if necessary. The dough should not be sticky - if it is, balance things out with a little flour.

Turn out dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead for 2-4 minutes. Form dough into a ball, cover it with a towel, and place the bowl upside-down over it. Let dough rest for 15-20 minutes (it will not rise). Meanwhile, heat an ungreased griddle over medium-high heat.

Pull off golf-ball-sized pieces of dough and pat each one into a 5-inch circle. Dust counter with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Work from center, using a back-and-forth motion, turning dough a quarter of a turn after each roll and flipping dough at least once. Continue to roll out the dough until quite thin and about 7 to 8 inches in diameter.

Place tortilla on the hot griddle (and begin rolling out the next one). After about 20-25 seconds, bubbles will rise on the tortilla's surface. (The first one is kind of a test to see if your griddle is hot enough or too hot- kind of like crepes.) Flip and cook the other side for another 20-25 seconds. It should have dark brown speckles on it. Remove from pan and continue with remaining tortillas.

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Monday, November 15, 2004

Gr, Tim Goodman's latest article doesn't sound too promising for House. But he says Hugh Laurie is very good, and really, that's the only reason I was planning on watching it.

Holy crap, Arrested Development is funny. I mean, I really enjoyed it last year, and I bought the DVDs (although I haven't had time to watch them yet, unfortunatley), but the two episodes so far this season have had me laughing out loud with tears in the corners of my eyes.

Kenny wanted me to explain why Veronica Mars is worth my time. I am not good at explaining things. The main character is likeable and the Twin Peaks-ish mystery is intriguing. The voiceovers are much less annoying than on Desperate Housewives (which I also watch and enjoy, but don't think is quite as good a show). I also find the mystery more intriguing. Plus, Kenny, Veronica dressed up as a Japanese schoolgirl in the episode "The Wrath of Con." She wore the cute tie and everything. Which should be a reason for you to watch, if only for that particular episode. I'd recommend the recaps over at Television Without Pity, if you want to learn more.

I have a recipe half-copied, saved in draft. It will get finished! I started it on Saturday, so it will be showing up below this post, when I get done with it.

So yeah, that's now up. :)

We got a dishwasher at work. Yay for me not washing stuff by hand anymore. However... I cannot get the damned thing to work. Seriously. I don't know what my brain damage is that I can't figure out this thing. It fills up with water, and then it stops. I've tried, like, eight times. I've read the manual, visited the website. Asko dishwashers? I wouldn't waste my money.

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Saturday, November 13, 2004

Beef Carbonnade
Cook's Illustrated

3 1/2 lbs top blade steaks (or boneless chuck roast), 1-inch thick, trimmed of gristle and fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs yellow onions (about 3 medium), halved and sliced about 1/4-inch thick
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp AP flour
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 12-oz bottle or can of beer
4 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with kitchen twine
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300. Dry beef thoroughly with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high until almost smoking. Add about a third of the beef to the pot, and cook without moving pieces for 2-3 minutes. Flip pieces over with tongs and coook for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer the browned beef to a bowl, and repeat with the other two-thirds of the beef, adding more oil if necessary.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pot and lower the heat to medium-low. Add onions, tomato paste, and some salt. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to loosen the fond. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have released some moisture, and raise the heat to medium. Continue to cook until onions are lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and stir until onions are evenly coated and flour is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in broths, scraping the bottom of the pot, then add beer, thyme, bay, vinegar, and the beef (with any accumulated juices). Add salt and pepper to taste. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover partially, then place pot in oven. Cook until fork inserted into beef meets little resistance, about 2 hours.

Discard bay and thyme. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes.

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Friday, November 12, 2004

I made Beef Carbonnade last night. I tried a little of it, but I really wasn't into eating when it finished cooking. So I guess it's okay. Jon says it needs salt, but then, Jon says everything needs salt. And he's usually right. He thought it was a little sweet, which I attribute to the chosen beer- I used Fat Tire, because it's what I had. Well, it was either that or pumpkin ale, and that probably would have been vile. The beer Cook's Illustrated (if you didn't have an actual Belgian ale) recommended was Newcastle, which I like, and I would totally buy, but like I said, I already had Fat Tire. So I'll try it again tonight or tomorrow, and let y'all know.

I'm so hungry. I've got the last container of my pasta e fagioli in the fridge here at work. Looking forward to lunch.

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Wednesday, November 10, 2004

ARGH. I forgot to set my VCR and turn my Tivo off last night so that I could tape Veronica Mars. God, that's annoying. (Don't laugh at me for liking a show on UPN. I already know.) Also, networks need to learn that there are other times in the week to schedule programs other than Tuesday nights from nine to ten. Starting next week, I have major problems. Scrubs on NBC, Veronica Mars on UPN (shut up) (it's not airing next week, though, which is a mixed blessing), Amazing Race on CBS, and House on Fox. I'm interested in House because it stars Hugh Laurie, one of my preferred British actors. You may have seen him in Blackadder or Jeeves and Wooster. He's also done guest bits on Friends and MI-5. My favorite show of his has been A Bit of Fry and Laurie. It's a great sketch comedy show that ran from 1986 to 1995 (according to IMDb). He and Stephen Fry wrote and acted in it. I caught a few episodes on a local PBS station back in 1997, bought the one VHS tape produced, and have been interested in a DVD purchase since. I doubt it'll ever happen.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. I want to see House because of Mr. Laurie, but I have scheduling conflicts. Playing D&D on Tuesday nights isn't helping the matter much, either.

The Sandra Lee thread on Television Without Pity has now reached 600 pages, the last hundred of which were filled in only four weeks. That's some big hate, right there. Very impressive.

One of the cookbooks I bought a few weeks back was The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop. "Sarah, you're SO not a vegetarian." Very true. However, Jack Bishop, or as he is better known, "Taste-Test Guy from America's Test Kitchen," has written a few books on vegetables that are pretty good. And, while I am not a vegetarian, I am interested in treating vegetables with respect, as well as any vegetarians I might have over to dinner. It's so much fun to read cookbooks. I can't remember who said it (or if I've mentioned this on the blog before), but it's true: cookbooks are like fairy tales for adults. And I'm a gal who loves both. Ryan picked up a copy of the Lang Blue Fairy Book this past weekend, and I can't wait to read it. I've got hardcover copies of the Red and Green, but I've never read the Blue, which was the first of them (and there are quite a few). Dover started putting them out for cheap a while back, but I've never gotten around to buying them. Need my adult fairy tales. Ooh! A frittata. Mm.

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Tuesday, November 09, 2004

So, if you can't see the comments, try looking at them in another browser. For me, they're not showing up in Firefox, but they are in IE. Bizarre.

I got to sleep sometime between 10 and 11pm last night. Which means I have to take the Tea of Insanity this afternoon/evening if I want to make it through the D&D session. Tea of Insanity is Guayaki Yerba Mate, which contains, like, a pound of caffine per cup. Since I plan on being crazy later, I need to be calm now. So, until then, I am drinking the Tea of Soothing Calmliness. I like the flavor of licorice- I know many people don't. Jon, Ryan, and I all really like this herbal tea. My mom, on the other hand, can't stand the way it smells.

I've started defrosting some short ribs that I bought AGES ago. I figure I'll use them in the other thing I want to make, Beef Carbonnade, which I forgot to mention yesterday. There was a recipe in the new Cook's Illustrated. It looks easy. I am wondering if I can brown the onions and beef in a pot and then transfer everything to a slow-cooker for braising. I think that's a valid option.

I'm $195 poorer today, but at least my car's registered.

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Monday, November 08, 2004

Savoy cabbage. Not Napa cabbage. Anyway.

There are a lot of things I want to make. My supervisor is ill, so my brain immediately jumped to SOUP today. That could be seen as too much of a suck-up move, though, so I probably won't. Although roasting a chicken sounds good- especially if I do the rice thing again (crap, but I don't have any onion soup- I wonder if Jon's got any still in his freezer). I want to make the smothered pork chops from America's Test Kitchen (ohhh, the gravy is so good- and I don't like gravy in general). I want to make a sour cherry cobbler (also from ATK). I want to make tortillas and these very cool looking butter cookies with a garnish of salt (San Jose Mercury News from a couple weeks ago). I want to make baked beans again (ATK).

However, I'm extremely paranoid about driving at the moment, so no store for me. I got pulled over yesterday for an expired registration. I have very good luck. But if it hadn't happened then, I still wouldn't have seen it, and it just would have been until the next officer noticed. So m'dad and I are going to the DMV today hopefully to sort things out.

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Friday, November 05, 2004

Sometimes I make things that don't turn out well. Sometimes I grate my knuckle, too. Sometimes recipes call for a crapload of cabbage in a soup. If I ever make ribollita again, I'm going to use one kind of leafy vegetable, not three. Kale, Swiss chard, and Napa cabbage? Far too much. I ended up with, like, a keg of soup.

Finished up my not-naan yesterday. I should stick to biscuits. I kick ass at those. And yet, there's a recipe for tortillas that intrigues....

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Wednesday, November 03, 2004

I was going to bitch about the election and stuff (insert list of everything I'm pissed and worried and scared shitless about here), but I am restraining myself. This is a geek's food blog, and such it will remain.

So here's that lentil recipe I was talking about.

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Lentil Curry

1 1/4 cups moong dal, roasted
1 1/2 to 2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
3 Tbsp ghee
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 small bay leaves
2 red chiles
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 Tsbp raisins
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh coconut
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp sugar
2 to 4 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Wash roasted dal and bring to a boil. Add salt and tumeric. While boiling, remove scum. Cover and simmer about 20 to 30 minutes, or until tender. Be careful not to disturb dal during the simmering process since stirring may break the grains.

Heat ghee in a saucepan. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, chiles, onions, and ginger. Fry about 2 minutes, stirring. Add raisins and coconut and mix in prepared boiled dal. Add cardamom, garam masala, sugar, cilantro. Mix well. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 16 to 20 minutes. If dal is too thick, add a little warm water. It should be creamy and thick, like pea soup.

(I used canola oil, since I didn't have time to clarify butter. I didn't have roasted moong dal, so I toasted the same amount of Le Puy lentils. I fried the onions, chiles, and spices for a lot longer- probably 8 to 10 minutes, adding the ginger near the end of that time, so it wouldn't burn. During the final simmer, I ended up adding a lot of water, a bit at a time, to keep it the correct consistency. Also, I used more salt, and omitted the coconut. And I forgot the cilantro, although I did have some.)

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Tuesday, November 02, 2004

I don't care what your political leanings are, if you're a U.S. citizen registered to do so, please vote today.

I ended up attempting to make a lentil curry and naan on Sunday. That didn't really work. Well, the naan definitely didn't work. It's not bad, it's just not naan. It tastes okay with that homemade cottage cheese I made, though. The lentils are tasty. But I don't think they're what they were supposed to be either. The recipe called for roasted moong dal, and I had Le Puy lentils, which I toasted in a skillet. I don't know if that was an okay substitution, but it was all I had. Also, no coconut. I ended up cooking it for a lot longer than the directions said, because I couldn't get the darn lentils soft enough. I wasn't going to put raisins in it- I really dislike raisins in savory dishes- but I changed my mind in the end, and they're actually not bad. I'll post the recipe tomorrow. It's good. It's subtle. (I'm currently eating it for lunch.)

I have bread currently going stale. I'm thinking about soup. Ribollita or something.

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