Ghosts in the kitchen

Dinner

So I made my first dinner since I got back home. I made Tandoori chicken, which is quite easy and I always get positive results.  You just:
1. go to the Indian store by Saag Tandoori season mix.
2. Then mix lemon juice, the mix, and yogurt together.
3. Cover any kind of chicken peices in it
4. Put in the Fridge
5. Take out later and broil till done. 

I made peanut lemon rice and Kale with unsweetened coconut and butter, sooo good. I steamed the Kale then toasted the coconut in butter and tossed it together.  The meal turned out very pretty the yellow rice the green kale and the red chicken it is nice to be in my kitchen. I am trying to set up skype so I can cook with my mother. Then I will get great skills for sure.

Christina from Rachael Ray-please read

The Rachael Ray show is doing this piece about a teenage girl named Christina, who has set a goal to loose 70 lbs by prom. This weight loss will be essential for her health (important) and in her mind the development of friendships. I want to yell at my TV and tell the girl, "friends are not made by the size of you butt, but the size of your heart." I have loved many an obese person and not thought one second about their weight. It appears that this girl is motivated to be pretty and to have power. I have never seen her do anything for anyone else other than whine about not being pretty. REALLY this is inspiring people, for God sake I don't feel inspired I feel annoyed, this kind of television is continuing to perpetuate the idea that what gives a person value is there exterior. Christina, joy will never last if it is based on you external needs. What makes joy last is being motivated by love, both for self and others. That will mean weight loss. Love is first, then, butt size, not the other way, it never works.

Stuffed Cabbage

Today I made stuffed cabbage for the first time. It is said to be a Polish dish. Which makes me wish I had some very dark Rye bread to serve with it and my friend in Tucson Michael, who is Polish to eat it. I served little red mashed potatoes instead of dark Rye bread. I am getting plumpy and not doing anything to stop the plumpy progress. To the potatoes I added butter and a dash of half and half. I best be careful as most of my jeans just fit with no room to grow. The topic being stuffed cabbage not stuffed me I will get back to the point.
I placed the whole head of cabbage in a large dish and I slow boiled it slowly, removing one leaf at a time. I eventually placed all the leaves in a dish to cool. For the filling, I picked up one pound of ground beef from the farmers market. I did discover that the cows in the north east are only grass fed part of the year due to the long winter. In such case I will not be buying beef again while I live here unless I win the lottery and can shop at Whole Foods/Whole paycheck.
For the heat in the dish I used one, very little, green and purple chili, that I bought at the farmers market. So pretty, but, for a little guy OH MY goodness he was hot. To test the heat I stuck my tongue just to the end of the chili after I cut it, off went a four alarm fire. I quickly got rid of the seeds and washed my hands, twice. One of my fingers still has a tingle. I sauteed the little chili in a little olive oil and added finely shredded carrot, ginger, garlic, clove and dried onions. (The dried onions were only because I am out of onions and to much of a fatty to ride my bike to the store and get more.) I mixed the carrot mixture, some half cooked brown rice and one egg into the ground beef. I made the little cabbage rolls drowned them in, tomato sauce water honey and clove and baked for an hour and a half. They are good and I think they will be even better tomorrow. Perhaps I should have friends over before my husband and I get more cubby with all the time on my hands. Mustn't be too chubby yet, the hubby brought me flowers when he came home.
Perhaps I should take up jogging before I have to start eating salads. No one wants to eat salads on cold New England evenings.

improve with white beans.

I am heading out for a writers group tonight and decided I wanted to make dinner before I left with what I had in the cupboards.
for the bean dish I used:
2 cups dry Great Northern White Beans
1 can green chillies
1 can diced tomatoes with Jalepeno
2 cloves garlic
three dried red chilies
15-20 frozen basil leaves
peanuts
Olive Oil
Red bell pepper (about one fourth)

for the Rice
1 can coconut milk
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cup organic brown rice.
To make the beans I cooked them in the rice cooker with 10 cups of water. Mean while sauteed the onion and bell pepper till soft. Then I dumped in the tomatoes and the chillies (both green and dried) and finely shredded garlic. Brought to a boil then shut if off until the beans were done. I used the olive oil the basil and the peanuts to make a pesto. When the beans were done I added them to my tomato mixture and simmered till it became a nice paste. I then stirred in my pesto. Voila-

For the rice I dumped everything in the rice cooker and am waiting for it to finish.  Hope all turns out.

returning to the world.

Yesterday was my first day back in the real world as a worker. I am a worker as a volunteer and only worked a few hours and when I came home I was all buzzed up, I went on a long walk. I cleaned, made plans to cook and quite frankly wore myself out.

When I headed out to find some greens for our dinner I came across a nice little gift from the neighborhood. On the side of the main road, a hand painted sign read, corn and tomatoes. I pulled the car in it's tires crackling on the gravel covered parking lot. The place had several buildings that looked like small barns and a long sloping hill with horses and a goat curiously watching me.
There was a little ice cream stand, a young pretty girl working there showed me over one of the little red barns. Inside corn was piled on a long wooden shelf and fat red tomatoes were piled in a box. I only had five dollars cash on me and bought two ears of corn and three large tomatoes.
The lady of the house told me to buy up the tomatoes, they were the last of the season. The young girl told me to check my corn to make sure it was good, "it's the end of the season, you know." she said. I am new to the area but, I do know on a primal level that things are different this season as am I.

The east coast and I are still falling in love and we are both filled with mystery. I looked out across the landscape, it's rich green trees and big white clouds and am filed with hope as seasons pass.

The young girl told me I could bring food to the horses on the land. I walked around and talked to each horse. A large golden horse put his head against my chest, instant friends.

On the way home I brought my husband to the farm and fed the large golden horse an apple and a granola bar.
Then we came home boiled farm fresh corn, chopped tomatoes and pulled the leaves off fresh cilantro.  We made Amy's chipotle black bean burgers into burritos (I can still eat like a Tucsonan sometimes). I then deeply slept covered in a blanket warm in the chill of the coming fall.

Flan with cream cheese.

The couple flan.

It is interesting how making something can open your eyes to your strengths and your weaknesses. As I was circling the spoon in the deep bottom pan, smelling the sugar, cinnamon stick and orange zest and (not patiently) waiting for it to turn in to a rich golden color. I became anxious for the caramel to present itself and kept pausing to see if I had screwed it up.  My husband, comforting, and encouraging me to wait. Not yet... I as in a previous article I wrote I realize I am a member of the fast food nation. I want to be a slow food girl like my mother, who could can, bake, and sew, with saintly patience.

When at last I poured the golden caramel  into the pan it quickly began to thicken and I was happy that it had not burned. My hubby then pointed out it was thicker on one side. I panicked thinking, Oh NO he doesn't think I am perfect, I want to be perfect, and fast.
My husband helped me put the heavy pot in the stove and made sure any details were not missed. I added water in the pan underneith and together we slid the flan and it's steam bath back inside the stove.
In the end it all turned out quite nicely. I get gold stars because, I took the risk of making the flan, and I guess you can say I am brave.  I will work on being imperfect, and slower next time. As for now I am still speedy with a dream of perfection.
love
MSD or SDP. :)

Cooking

Here above is a picture of the carrots on the stove with the curry leaves. The green and orange were so pretty I had to run get the camera.


To the right is a photo of my prepared spices so I did not dig through the spice rack in a panic as my food burned (there is a reason they do that on cooking shows.)

The tomatoes were emotional about going into the dal. I tried to comfort them by cutting them in half.

last nights feast

Oh my, dinner last night turned out great. I got this new book from a friend called, Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness. It is a lovely book and I am amazed by Suvir's ability to remember foods he had as a child, where he had them, and how he felt about it.

Out of the book: I made lemon rice using peanuts instead of cashews and I turned a khitcheree into a dal by omitting the rice and from my own imagination I made a broiled fish which was marinated in olive oil, turmeric, lemon and sea salt. We ended the meal with chocolate bars and clementines. I enjoyed the meal and looked forward to left overs when I woke up.

In the beginning of the cook book Suvir talks about the kitchen in his home as a child being a sacred place. I have always felt they way about the kitchen. When I was a child it was the place I learned math: in how to measure to double a recipe or to divide it, it is the place I learned science, while holding the thermometer for my mother as she made candy or learning what air and speed does to egg whites.
Today I scrubbed my kitchen and burned incense It is the place I commune, create and nourish my body. Today I love and thought of making my dinner in the sanctuary of my home.