About That Strawberry Granita

So that strawberry granita I was preparing when I made mole in hopes of having that night but had to put off for another night because I'd underestimated the required freezing time? Yeah, the husband and I didn't so much wait.

Here's the story....

After the granita had been in the freezer (the chest freezer in the garage, for our refrigerator's freezer had no room at the inn) roughly three hours, I went out to stir it as the recipe required. Upon removing the lid of the blender container (I was lazy and didn't pour the stuff into a more suitable container), I discovered the granita had a nice slushie-like consistency. Since the husband and I are big fans of slushies.... Well, Gentle Reader, you can probably guess the end of the story.

Strawberry Granita1/2 C sugar
1/2 C warm water
3 C sliced strawberries
2 T fresh lemon juice

1. Combine the sugar and water in a blender, then process until sugar dissolves.
2. Add the strawberries and lemon juice, then process until smooth.
   
3. Pour the mixture into an 8" square baking dish, cover and freeze 3 hours.
   
4. After three hours, stir the mixture well, then over and freeze an additional 5 hours or overnight.
   
5. Remove the mixture from freezer and let it stand at room temperature 10 min.
6. Scrape the entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Nutritional Info
Calories: 136
Fat: 0.5 g
Protein: 0.8 g
Carbs: 34.4 g
Fiber: 2.9 g
Sodium: 2 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
Obviously, Gentle Reader, I omitted steps 4, 5 and 6 and only did part of step 3, all to no ill effects. The only other change I made was that instead of warm water, I used the juice that remained after I'd thawed the strawberries I'd stowed in the freezer almost three months ago. Luckily I had exactly half a cup, so I put that in the blender, then I threw in half a cup of C&H. (Shocking, I know, Gentle Reader, that I used regular white sugar and not some replacer product or agave!)

Oh, I didn't process the strawberry juice and sugar to dissolve the latter into the former. I just let the stuff sit in the blender while we ate supper, then stirred it a little with a small rubber scraper. Job done!

Doesn't look terribly different after three hours of freezing, does it?

If you have three cups of strawberries and a lemon on hand, I highly recommend whipping up a batch of strawberry granita. Very tasty! And I'm sure if you follow the recipe more precisely than I did, it's probably still very tasty.

Holy Mole

Gentle Reader, I've found the solution to keeping hydrated when the weather's hot: Make spicy dishes. The heat of chiles may not be appealing when it's hot, so how do I solve that problem?

Quite simple, Gentle Reader. Add chocolate.

Cocoa powder, to be specific. Yes, Gentle Reader, I've finally ventured into new territory--mole.

If you never knew that mole was a dish, then...get out more, Gentle Reader! Or perhaps you already know what mole is and know that it's a fabulous Mexican dish that uses cocoa. As I learned from Wiki, mole is just "the generic name for several sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces. In English, it often refers to a specific sauce which is known in Spanish by the more specific name mole poblano."

And whether you call it mole or mole poblano, I've never eaten the dish, nor has the husband. Truth be told, I didn't know what mole is until last summer, when Joy visited and she and her husband shared it when we went out to eat. The dish intrigued me, but not enough to seek out an opportunity to try it myself until a few weeks ago, when MyRecipes.com sent me an email with a series of recipes featuring chocolate that included one for chicken mole. The ingredients I usually have on hand, so I bookmarked the recipe and bided my time.

Mexican Chicken Mole3/4 C chopped green bell pepper
1/2 C chopped onion
1 T vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T sugar
3 T unsweetened cocoa
1 T chili powder
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1 14.5-oz. can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 4.5-oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
3 skinned, boned chicken thighs, 4-oz. each
3 skinned, boned chicken breast halves, 4-oz. each
1/4 t salt
1 T water
2 t cornstarch
6 C hot cooked rice
Cilantro sprigs (optional)

1. Combine the chopped green pepper and onion with the garlic and oil in a 2-quart casserole.
   
2. Cover with heavy-duty plastic wrap, vent and microwave at high for 4 min. or until tender.
   
3. Add the sugar, cocoa, cumin, chili powder, salt, tomatoes and chiles, stirring well.
   
4. Arrange the chicken over the tomato mixture, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
   
5. Cover and microwave on high for 8 min., rearrange the chicken, spoon the tomato mixture over the chicken, then cover and microwave on high for 8 min. again or until the chicken is done.
   
6. Remove the chicken from the dish, set it aside and keep warm.
   
7. In a small bowl, combine the water and cornstarch, stirring until blended, then add it to the tomato mixture.
   
8. Microwave the tomato mixture, uncovered, on high for 5 min., stirring after 2 1/2 min.
   
9. Serve the chicken and tomato mixture over the rice, garnishing with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 piece of chicken, 1/2 cup sauce and 1 cup rice)

Nutritional Info
Calories: 409
Fat: 6.7 g
Sat fat: 1.6 g
Protein: 30.5 g
Carbs: 54.8 g
Fiber: 2.1 g
Cholesterol: 78 mg
Sodium: 428 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
This recipe was originally published in Cooking Light back in May 1995. Yes, Gentle Reader, this recipe is 14 years old. Perhaps that explains the method used. I mean, microwaving as a legitimate means of cooking hadn't yet become verboten back then, for the phenomenon of foodies and Martha Stewart, the slow foods movement and the movement to reclaim the kitchen from ourselves hadn't yet gathered steam back in '95. Hell, I was just a year out of high school when this recipe hit newsstands. We've come a long way, baby....

You can probably already presume, Gentle Reader, that I didn't follow the instructions for preparation. While I do think that microwaving as a method of cooking--as opposed to a convenient means of reheating leftovers--does probably destroy some of the nutritional value of the foods nuked (moreso than more conventional cooking methods), I choose not to use my microwave much because, well, what exactly is "high" on a microwave? There is no standard. You can't quantify the temperature as you can with a conventional oven, and you can't feel and quickly adjust the temperature of a microwave as you can when using a stove top burner.

If you want to follow in my footsteps, here's what I did:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of veggie oil in a nonstick skillet, then saute the chopped onion, green pepper and garlic until tender. (Ideally, you'd probably want to put the onion in first, then the garlic after a little time has passed, then the green pepper. I didn't because I'd stupidly stored my chopped onion and pepper in the same bowl, thus I just dumped them in at the same time.)
   
2. Lower the heat slightly, then add in the sugar, cocoa, cumin and chili powder, stirring to combine and to scrape off anything that sticks.
   
3. Add the tomatoes and green chiles, stir, increase the heat and let the concoction come to a gentle simmer.
   
4. Place the chicken pieces in the skillet, spooning some of the tomato-chocolate concoction atop.
   
5. Let the mole continue to simmer until the chicken is cooked through (about 10 to 15 min., depending on the size and thickness of the chicken).
   
6. Serve atop a bed of rice, and garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired.

As you may have noticed, I didn't remove the chicken at any time, nor did I add the cornstarch to thicken the tomato concoction. After all that quality simmering time, I didn't feel the mole needed a thickening agent.

Just a few other futzings of note:

• I used Clabbergirl sugar replacer instead of regular sugar.
  
• I didn't sprinkle the chicken with a quarter-teaspoon of salt after I put it in the skillet.
  
• I thawed two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts then cut them in half. Forget the thighs.
  
• I prepared basmati rice. I was this close to preparing lime-cilantro rice, the stuff we make every Wednesday for Burrito Night using jasmine rice, but I didn't want it to potentially interfere with the flavor of the mole, having never tasted mole before.
  
• Even though I bought a fresh bunch of cilantro at HEB today, I didn't chop any up. I was busy trying to slice up some slightly frozen strawberries for strawberry granita. (More on that later.)

So how did my first encounter with mole go, you ask, Gentle Reader? It was quite satisfying and tasty! I'm not sure if the dish is supposed to have a definite taste of cocoa, even if it's somewhat subtle, but I will say that my mole didn't have a cocoa taste, even though you could detect it when you took a whiff. Does that disappoint me? Maybe a little. Honestly, it makes me very interested in trying a "properly" prepared mole poblano at a local restaurant so that I have a frame of reference. I mean, how authentic can this version of mole be when it came from a dieter-friendly cooking publication that called for it to be microwaved?

For dessert tonight, I'd planned to have strawberry granita ready. However, I did not recall as clearly as I thought I did how much time's needed in its preparation, so the husband and I won't be enjoying it tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.

To wrap up this post, I'll share with you some pictures of today's culinary misadventure. If they make you hungry, Gentle Reader, then they've done their job!

My New Favorite Indian Restaurant?

With the boy off on his summer vacation adventures, the husband and I are largely free to do with our weekends as we want. Which is nice since our weeks seem already crammed full of schedulings and appointments that, when combined with the soaring heat, leave us wanting to do very little.

Except, perhaps, find any excuse to be near the Dairy Queen so that we can score this month's Blizzard 'o the Month, brownie batter. (Say that when you're drunk, tired or giddy, and it comes out somewhere along the lines of brownie bladder, which hardly sounds appealing. Wouldn't you agree, Gentle Reader?) After a busy Saturday of going to the gym early--and waiting an hour for it to open since the numbskull who was supposed to open didn't show up and the guy who is usually there on Saturday who happened to be off that day had to come and do it--and then selling some more plasma (I tells ya, Gentle Reader, when a skilled phlebotomist gets the needle in right, I'm done in less than 30 minutes) before zipping off to far South Austin to get my CPR/AED certification so I can once again teach at Gold's before hitting the veloway for four laps around the 3.1-mile course, we were not looking to do much this Sunday except score a brownie batter Blizzard--and maybe try a new restaurant.

Sarovar Is Not Hindu for Located Near Dairy Queen
For some five years or so, the husband or I drove past Sarovar practically daily as one of us ferried the boy to daycare. We knew it was an Indian restaurant, but in all that time, we never were curious enough to try it out. Even more recently, as we discussed places we might like to try out while the boy's away, Sarovar was not one that earned a "Ooh! Ooh! Gotta try that! Jonesin' to try that!" Let's face it: Far too many Indian restaurants--particularly ones that offer a buffet--feature the same array of dishes, and while the flavors might differ slightly, chicken tikka masala is chicken tikka masala.

Add the possibility of getting a brownie batter Blizzard on a lazy Sunday when the temperature's expected to reach 105 degrees with a heat index around 110 degrees, and suddenly Sarovar seemed like a very intriguing place for the husband and I to luncheon.

Fond Memories of the Late Rangoli
Sarovar's buffet features a nice combination of North and South Indian fare--which means you get both meat-focused dishes and vegetarian ones and both creamier ones with hot and spicy ones. If you love Indian food as much as I do, then you too, Gentle Reader, might be excited about getting chicken biryani and a bowl of sambar along with some idlis at one place. That's why I was so bummed when Rangoli went under: It combined the carnivore delights of Indian Palace and Taj Palace (granted, we haven't been there in...three years now, I think) with the herbivore delights of Madras Pavilion.

On the first visit to the buffet, I scored some sambar (not too spicy and not too runny, but the veggies were a little lacking) and an idli (just right!), a dosa (these don't work well on a buffet unless they're kept under the right conditions, and these weren't--but that doesn't mean my dosa wasn't tasty) that I stuffed with the spicy turmeric potatoes and peas filling (kept in a separate pan, thankfully), both vegetable and chicken biryani (both excellent and not too greasy, as the chicken biryani is wont to be at Taj Palace), a wedge of naan (good, but not in any way standoutish--which isn't a bad thing) and some pepper fish, which was a dish of fish pieces (couldn't tell what type of fish) that, I think, was lightly breaded with besan flavored with chili pepper. That fish was fabulous and sinus-openingly spicy!

The husband stuck with his usuals: A piece of tandoori chicken, some basmati rice pilaf, some chicken curry (just labeled as such, which was kind of unhelpful), some of the spicy turmeric potatoes and peas (he ate around the peas) and what looked like a large and slightly misshaped hushpuppy that turned out to be medu vada holes. Now understand, Gentle Reader, that medu vada, as I've heretofore had them, look just like donuts. Since these medu vada were round balls, just like donut holes, we called these at Sarovar medu vada holes. Plus these medu vada were not as spicy as the ones we've had previously. In fact, there was even a sweetness to them.

Just a note on that chicken curry: It was a bit of a disappointment. The flavor was muddled--kind of gingery, but not necessarily so. The sauce was a little too soupy for my tastes, and the chicken appeared to be bone-in hunks of chicken legs and other parts not used for tandoori that had been cut up. Because the meat was still attached to the bone, you could not use a piece of naan and your fork to scoop up some rice mixed with the curry and chew contented away. No, you had to politely use your fingers and fork (or just your fingers) to remove the small chunks of bone. And those bone pieces are cut small enough as to go relatively unseen and become a choking hazard.

Get My Goat
I'd wisely taken small portions on my first go-round of the buffet because I spied plenty of dishes I wanted to try on a second trip. And here's where I have to register a complaint with Sarovar: The buffet doesn't offer nearly enough bowls to put the more soup- and stew-like dishes into. For you see, Gentle Reader, I saved the toor dal (yellow lentil) dish for my second trip, along with the chana masala and the eggplant curry and the goat curry. I didn't want any of these dishes mingling on my plate and tainting their respective flavors. Unfortunately, there weren't enough bowls available, and the plates were flat enough that I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to keep my selections separate. But I did my best.

The toor dal was tasty, with the dal being not too mushy but not too...well, solid and distinct. The chana masala was, in my opinion, unremarkable. Not that that's a bad thing, but I was hoping for some variation or some thing to make it unique, but it tasted much like the chana masala I enjoy at Indian Palace and Madras Pavilion.

As for the two new-to-me dishes, they were, I think, the highlight of the main meal. The eggplant curry had a thicker sauce that was wonderfully flavorful, and the eggplant pieces were not unidentifiable mush. The goat curry was also very flavorful, if perhaps a bit reminiscent of the beef aloo we enjoy at Indian Palace. One literal bone of contention with this dish: The meat was also bone-in pieces, so scooping up some curry and rice with a piece of naan to nosh on was not doable.

Halwa Heaven
While the eggplant curry and goat curry were wonderful finds, the dessert offerings are what allowed Sarovar to clinch the top spot on my list of favorite Indian restaurants.

Carrot halwa. And lots of it.

It's been ages since I've had carrot halwa--and I don't count the carrot halwa-like pieces of "cake" Indian Palace has recently started offering. Sarovar's carrot halwa is the consistency that I like--very thick with a nice texture, not creamy and smooth like pudding. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but some of the big mound I scooped out for the husband and I to share was warm, and some of the big mound was cold. (I'm chalking this up to an oddity with the chaffing dish, but carrot halwa can be served cold or hot, depending on where in Indian you're eating it.) Trust me, Gentle Reader, when I say that it was good both ways.

The dessert offerings included gulab jamuns, all nice and warm and soft in their cardamom and rose syrup, and a third dish I'd never tried before but found quite tasty, ras malai. Or at least I'm guessing that's what it was from looking at Sarovar's menu and using the good 'ol process of elimination. These cheese cakes floating in milk syrup looked like miniature idlis, and that's why I initially hesitated to sample the dish. You see, Gentle Reader, idlis and medu vada--although usually it's medu vada--are sometimes served floating in a pool of raita, a yogurt concoction that looks like it should be sweet but isn't. Imagine my delight, then, when I found the ras malai to be sweet. And the cheese cakes were not like, well, any sort of cheese I've ever had, which I'll grant you my experience with cheese is rather limited. The cakes had the texture and consistency of idlis, so they were more bread-like than cheese-like. But as I said, Gentle Reader, my experience with cheese is limited, so perhaps there's a cheese out there that does have the texture and consistency that's more breadlike.

(A quick search of "ras malai" on Google reveals to me that these cakes are made from ricotta or cottage cheese. Given that gulab jamuns are also made from milk solids, I'm not surprised now by the consistency and texture of these Indian cheese cakes.)

The husband, who is not as much of culinary adventurer as I am (not eating much that is red or green kind of hinders one's culinary explorations), was not as ready to sing the praises of Sarovar. He still has Indian Palace at the top of his Indian restaurant favorites list, and that's fine. It's a good place to go to satisfy your Indian carnivorous hankerings. Me, I like a combination of meat and veggie dishes--and a massive mound of carrot halwa to finish it all off!

(Yes, Gentle Reader, we did get the Blizzard, even though we were thoroughly stuffed after lunch. We nibbled on it a bit on the drive home then enjoyed it while watching Diamonds Are Forever. It was far more palatable than an aged, thick Sean Connery in an early 70s-era leisure suit.

Get that man a wax job!)

Another Installment of Random Kitteny Goodness

I realize it's been a while since I showed off the kittens. To be honest, they haven't been around much this month. With the reroofing and fence reconstruction going on next door, the heat and their kitteny need to explore, they've been scarce. But when they're here, they're still adorable as hell!

Of course, all this adoration of the kittens has my own feline children rather jealous. They ganged up on me the other day and demanded I post some pictures of them. I told them to do something adorable en masse, and I'd happily satisfy their demand.

So they finally did it. Friday night, the husband and I opted to do some bike maintenance. In our living room. Hey, if you've got concrete floors and some old linens, you can do it too, Gentle Reader! Furthermore, the living room was the most feasible place to do it since the garage was sweltering (a heat index of 110 degrees F makes for a roasty-toasty garage) and the kitchen isn't spacious enough.

Anywho, the presence of my bike, with all its outdoor smells and grime, was a major feline attraction.

They think they're so helpful!

Bucket seemed really keen about the tires. Maybe he's got a rubber fetish? Of course, after he thoroughly sniffed them over, the indoor member of the Nickel family proceeded to try to bite my front tire.

Perhaps Bucket wants to make sure I remember how to replace an inner tube by puncturing the one I have.

By the way, my school bus-yellow bike after a wipe-down with some degreaser is now canary yellow. Who knew? To be honest, I preferred the dirty school bus yellow.

Needlessly Bland Bars

The May/June issue of Whole Paycheck's The Whole Deal contained a recipe for what I thought would be pretty tasty and fairly nutritious bars. I mean, shouldn't cherries, oranges and oatmeal together make for some tasty bars, don't you think, Gentle Reader?

Cherry Orange Oatmeal Bars3 C gluten-free rolled oats
1/3 C smooth almond butter
1 C dried sour cherries or a mix of cherries and raisins
1/2 C orange juice
1/3 C honey
1 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
3 egg whites
2 T finely ground flaxseed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
2. Lightly spray an 8" square pan with oil.
   
3. Mix together oats, almond butter, cherries, orange juice, honey, nutmeg, salt and egg whites in a bowl.
   
4. Press the mixture firmly into the pan.
   
5. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 35 minute.
   
6. Let bars cool 5 min., sprinkle flaxseed over the top, let cool completely then cut into bars and serve.

Yield: 12 bars

Nutritional Info
Calories: 200
Fat: 5 g
Protein: 7 g
Carbs: 32 g
Fiber: 6 g
Na: 110 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
Even though I recently made a trip to Whole Paycheck, I opted not to pick up all the ingredients for this recipe. Instead, I made due with what I had or bought substitutes cheaper at HEB.

• In lieu of almond butter, I picked up a small jar of Wally World-brand reduced-fat peanut butter. I promptly froze the rest of the jar lest I be unable (as usual) to keep my fingers out of it.
  
• I almost bought dried cherries, but I opted to use cranberries because I know that orange and cranberry are a good combo.
  
• I didn't use gluten-free rolled oats. I used the regular 'ol "old-fashioned" oats I buy from HEB.
  
• I didn't use 2 tablespoons of flaxseed. In fact, I don't think I even used a full tablespoon--maybe a teaspoon and a half. I also don't think the flaxseed I bought at HEB's bulk foods mini-playland was ground. I have a smallish Ziplock of itty-bitty dark brown seeds. I can't imagine, though, grinding these things and getting anything except dust, but what do I know?

Speaking of those flaxseed, I'm not sure if it's intended to be a dusting that's meant to stick or not. I sprinkled a little atop my bars after I'd let them cool 5 minutes, and the suckers just bounced off the top. There was no adhesion whatsoever. Personally, I find it annoying to eat something that has a dusting of something or other--seeds, sugar granules, coconut flake particulates, whatever--on top that just falls off and gets everywhere except your mouth. Am I a neat freak for that reason? I don't think so. If you're going to use a topping that's to add flavor to the finished product, wouldn't it behoove you to do so in a way to ensure that topping stays atop the finished product?

And don't suggest, Gentle Reader, that I add the flaxseed before baking or at some point during the baking process. The page of The Whole Deal on which the recipe appears also contains a handy ad for Whole Paycheck's ground flaxseed that highlights its nutritional value and its versatility. That ad notes, "For maximum benefits you should not heat it in your processing, either...." So there ya go, Gentle Reader. Don't you feel smarter now?

Getting back to the question with which I opened this post: Shouldn't cherries (or cranberries, for that matter), oranges and oatmeal together make for some tasty bars, don't you think, Gentle Reader? They should, but these bars are tasteless. They have an odd consistency--not necessarily chewy but still dense--and are largely devoid of flavor. The orange is nonexistent, the nutmeg seems to have disappeared and the peanut butter is totally lost.

As a note, Gentle Reader, I'm not the only person to find the bars a big disappointment in the flavor department. A few people who've reviewed the recipe on Whole Paycheck's site made similar comments. That site also recommends some additions and substitutions, but I don't think using cinnamon instead of nutmeg or adding chocolate chips would miraculously give these things flavor.

And to think I wasted a perfectly good bag of dried cranberries on these things....

For All You Bacon-Lovin' Bastards Out There (Francophones or Not)

You don't have to like bacon (Canadian or otherwise) to get a laugh out of these "kitchen essentials":
Yes, that's right, Gentle Reader. If you cut yourself or burn yourself while working with bacon, you can cover your ouchie with a bacon bandage. As an added bonus, the tin of bandages comes with a free toy to "to take your mind off...the excruciating pain."

Wow, those bacon Band-Aid makers think of everything, don't they!

And just because I haven't put it in a post in a while, enjoy a little MST3K!

Sunday Morning Travel Tunes

I celebrated Father's Day this year by driving up to OKC to deliver my old bike to my little sister. Yeah, nothing like 12+ hours on the road to honor one's male chromosome donor. (To be fair, the boys are in New Mexico and my own dad was working, and I did spend some time thinking about them. What else is there to do when you're alone in your car for 12+ hours?)

As I am wont to do on Sunday mornings, I tuned in for the 6 a.m. broadcast of Speaking of Faith on my local public radio station. Unlike other Sunday mornings, I actually caught most of the show because I left so early, and that was a real treat because this week's episode was a rebroadcast of an interview with Joe Carter and a discussion about the history and significance of African-American spirituals.

This revelation may come as a surprise to you, Gentle Reader, given that I so rail against organized religion and dogma, but I'm a huge fan of African-American gospel music. Don't give me any of that contemporary Christian crap. It has no soul. The gospel music I'm talking about has soul. It's embued in every note and it doesn't matter, I think, what you believe or what you don't believe because so long as you're a human living and breathing, that soul is going to find a way to connect with you. You may not like that experience or it may confuse you, but really good gospel music embued with soul, I think, has the power to find the soul--or whatever you want to call that ineffable essence each of us has--in every listener, no matter how deeply it's hidden or tarnished or denied.

Of course, spirituals are, as I learned, not the same as gospels. You too, Gentle Reader, can learn that by listening to the podcast of the episode or by listening to the entire interview with Joe Carter, both of which are available on the site set up specifically for the episode. I also encourage you to listen to the playlist of spirituals, in their entirety, that Mr. Carter performed during the interview. That's some really amazing, powerful stuff--just what I needed to break the monotony of a long drive up I-35.

Unspeakable Things That Happen in the Kitchen

Beer Butt Chicken

Sticking alcohol containers into the gutted carcass of poultry is just wrong. Shoving a beer can up a dead, gutted chicken carcass and dubbing the recipe "Beer Butt Chicken" is even more wrong.

A Frightening Food Find for a Fiery Friday

Summer is such fun here in Central Texas, especially when we sit around and watch the mercury climb. And there's nothing like sweltering heat to put you in the mood for food that looks disgusting.

Barbecued Dog's Head, Anyone?

A Culinary Misadventure Sans Pictures

I'm sure, Gentle Reader, I mentioned more than a few times over the preceding nine months how crazy life seemed while the boy was in school and how I yearned for the break that summer vacation would bring. Ha! Was I ever deluding myself! I think the boy and I have crammed more into the week and a half he's been out of school than we did all during his school year.

Because we here at Chez Boeckman-Walker have been so crazy busy, last night I decided to take a break from cooking. For a quick, easy supper before dashing out to the sprinkler park and hike and bike trail, I thawed some fabulous Boomerang's pies--curry chicken, curry veggie and pepperoni, to be precise.

I don't know if I've before mentioned Boomerang's on this blog, Gentle Reader. If not, that's a damn shame. These pies are fabulous and just so happen to be made by the husband's boss's husband. (Nothing like a little benevolent nepotism, I always say.) Because of the husband's close connection to the restaurant, we can score freshly made, sealed and frozen pies easily. Not that if we were to go to the restaurant and order five pies for $20 that we'd wind up with old, freezer-burned ones. No, so very often the place is out of stock of the varieties we like, so that's why the husband occasionally places a special order via his boss. (Again, nothing like a little benevolent nepotism.)

While these pies are a meal in and of themselves, you must not assume, Gentle Reader, that my baking up three of them would satisfy we three human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker. No, not with a boy with a raging appetite, an adult male who hasn't eaten much all day and an adult female who, well, needs her protein, especially right before hitting the trail for a 14-mile bike ride. Instead of tossing out a bag of baked potato chips or tortilla chips to accompany the pies, I thought I'd instead make up a side dish that I knew the husband and I would eat, thus leaving a little more of the pies for the boy, who can be awfully picky.

Easy Curry Couscous 1 1/2 C couscous
3 C chicken stock
1 T curry powder
2 t salt
1 t ground black pepper
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 C raisins
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 C slivered almonds, toasted

1. Pour couscous into a bowl.
   
2. Mix chicken stock, curry powder, salt, pepper, olive oil and raisins in a saucepan, bring to a boil, remove from heat then pour over couscous, stirring to combine.
   
3. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 10 min.
   
4. Fluff couscous with a fork, then top with cilantro and almonds.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutritional Info
Calories: 283
Fat: 11 g
Protein: 7.6 g
Carbs: 39.9 g
Fiber: 3.9 g
Cholesterol:
Sodium: 1,131 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I've got a bit of experience with couscous and know a little goes a long way, so I opted to halve this recipe. Of course, I also made a few changes here and there:

• I used my favorite fat-free low-sodium chicken broth, to which I had to add about a quarter of a cup of water because my carton didn't quite have enough.
  
• I did not add the salt, pepper, olive oil (more on that in a moment), almonds or cilantro.
  
• After reviewing some of the comments from other recipe testers who noted they would use more curry the next time they made the dish, I used a rounded half-tablespoon.
  
• Speaking of the curry, I added it to the broth, which I'd poured into a microwavable liquid measuring cub, but did not add the raisins along with it. The curried broth I then nuked to boiling. The raisins I added--probably about half a cup of 'em--after the couscous had absorbed the liquid.

I didn't add the olive oil, which I do normally when I make couscous, because I felt there was a bit more liquid than was necessary, thus the couscous was not as dry and crumbly as it often is when I make it as part of the scrumptious tagine feast we all love. I honestly think that the recipe, whether the full serving or halved, calls for a wee bit too much liquid. But that's my opinion.

Because the recipe uses chicken broth combined with curry, I found the couscous tasted more like, well, a 10-cent package of ramen noodles with their MSG-loaded packet of seasoning, except not so darn damaging to the nervous system. Not that the flavor was necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it went quite well with the curry veggie and curry chicken Boomerang's pies I was enjoying. However, I didn't get a sense of curry goodness that I expect when I use my curry powder. In that sense, Gentle Reader, the recipe was a bit of a disappointment.

I apologize I have no pictures of the completed dish, but I was on a tight schedule and couldn't be bothered to pick up the camera, which is once again spending more time in the kitchen than on the shelf in the other room where it's supposed to be. Honestly, I don't think pictures of the couscous would add that much to this post either. If you need visuals, Gentle Reader, use your imagination.

Blueberry Barack Burgers

Unless you've been living under a rock, Gentle Reader, you probably learned, like the rest of the world, that Pesident Obama likes his burgers with Dijon mustard--and the world then turned upside in shock and horror (if right wingers are to be believed). I personally never cared for any sort of mustard on my burgers when I ate them: Give me ketchup, mayo, lettuce and maybe some reconstituted McD's onions. Hell, I was sort of a ketchup freak in my fast food-eating days. I liked it on my burgers, it was the only thing I ever put on my hot dogs (even the cheese-filled ones) and it was the only thing I ate with my chicken grizzle nuggets. I'm sure those preferences turns the stomachs of many people out there, just as Obama's preference for Dijon on his burger turns the stomachs and ridiculously roils the...whatever of certain idiots out there.

So what does Barack's preference for what can be spooned out of a Grey Poupon jar have to do with the ongoings of the kitchen here at Chez Boeckman-Walker? Well, Gentle Reader, read on and find out.

Blueberry-Beef Burgers2 slices whole-wheat country bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces
1/3 C fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 t Dijon mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t salt OR to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
12 oz. 90%-lean ground beef

1. Place bread in a food processor, pulse into fine crumbs then transfer to a large bowl.
   
2. Puree blueberries, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, salt and pepper in food processor, then scrape mixture into the bowl with the breadcrumbs.
   
3. Add ground beef to crumbs and blueberry mixture and mix well with a potato masher.
   
4. Form four patties 1/2" thick and about 4" in diameter.
   
5. Preheat broiler or heat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium-high heat.
   
6. Cook patties until browned and no longer pink in the center, 4 to 5 min. per side, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 160 degrees F.

Nutritional Info
Calories: 200
Fat: 9 g
Sat fat: 4 g
Protein: 19 g
Carbs: 10 g
Cholesterol: 55 mg
Sodium: 352 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I really didn't futz with this recipe, so instead, Gentle Reader, I'll finally get around to telling you the story of how I came to make these burgers and connect them with Barack Obama.

The husband forwarded a collection of blueberry-containing recipes collected by MSNBC or some other odd source, noting that he was salivating over this particular burger recipe. I gawked at it and thought it had potential but put it in an folder of recipe links I rarely enter because, hey, we're not beef eaters here at Chez Boeckman-Walker and, hey, blueberries are expensive.

And then I was at HEB two weeks ago and found most of its frozen foods were on sale, including frozen blueberries. Knowing how thrilled the husband would be if I made these burgers, I bit the bullet and bought some blueberries.

(Love that consonance!)

Then I bought a tube of 90/10 ground sirloin and figured making the burgers would be a good way to use up some whole wheat buns I had taking up space in the back of the 'fridge while, as I said a few lines back, giving the husband a thrill.

I considered using the last of my panko in lieu of making crumbs from whole wheat bread, but the bread we buy for the boy's sandwiches is a light whole wheat loaf with a nice nutritional profile. Plus I wasn't sure what kind of yield pulsing two slices would get me, therefore I wouldn't know if I had enough panko to keep the burgers moist while they cooked.

While I was putting the blueberry "sauce" ingredients into the food processor, I took a whiff and realized how potent the two teaspoons of Dijon were. In fact, I told the husband, who was wanting badly to assist me, that the blueberry flavor--if there was meant to be any--would be overwhelmed by the Dijon. "Barack would love these," I told him.

And I was right. There was no detectable blueberry flavor. The husband noted while noshing on his second burger--which he'd eaten plain, after drowning his first in ketchup and perhaps some mayo--that he'd taken a bite that had some hint of blueberry, but just that one bite. Instead, the Dijon was the strongest note, and I'm sure Barack would love that.

Getting Sloshed on a Saturday Night

Summer brings an onslaught of grilling recipes, and I've already discussed our lack of a grill here at Chez Boeckman-Walker. Most of these grilling recipes I pass over, not even giving them the time of day, but when I'm searching for a recipe to use a particular ingredient I have on hand, I'll glance over the ingredients so I can decide if the flavor of the final product would hit the spot and if I can adapt the recipe for more conventional indoor cooking.

So was the case a few days ago. I'd determined we'd have more of the mahimahi from the giant piece I bought back in April, but I wanted to do something different with it instead of the usual ginger-lime bake. A search of MyRecipes.com yielded what I thought had tasty potential, if I could manage to convert it from an outdoor grilling recipe to an indoor...something recipe.

Grilled MahiMahi Skewers With Pineapple-Mandarin Sauce1/2 C chopped onion
1/3 C honey
1/2 C dry red wine
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T pineapple juice
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T mirin or slightly sweet white wine (such as Riesling)
2 C diced fresh pineapple
1 1/2 lb. mahimahi steaks, cut into 24 1" pieces
24 1" fresh pineapple cubes
24 1" green bell pepper pieces
1 T chopped fresh OR 1 t dried rubbed sage
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
Chopped fresh chives (optional)

1. Combine the onions and honey in a medium nonstick skillet, place over medium heat and cook 12 min. or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
   
2. Add red wine, balsamic vinegar, pineapple juice, soy sauce and mirin, then cook 10 min.
   
3. Stir in diced pineapple, cook 5 min., then keep warm.
   
4. Prepare the grill.
   
5. Thread three mahimahi pieces, three pineapple cubes and three bell pepper pieces alternately onto each of eight 12" skewers.
   
6. Sprinkle the kebabs with sage, salt and black pepper.
   
7. Place the kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 15 min. or until fish is done, turning every 5 min.
   
8. Serve with pineapple sauce and sprinkle with chives, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: two kebabs and 1/2 C pineapple sauce)

Nutritional Info
Calories: 392
Fat: 7.8 g
Sat fat: 2 g
Protein: 35.1 g
Carbs: 47.7 g
Fiber: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 66 mg
Sodium: 427 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I know, Gentle Reader, you're asking right now, "So how did you convert this recipe for indoor cooking?" Well, here's how: I wound up making a stir fry. I didn't set out to make a stir fry, and I've never made a fish stir fry before, although I've encountered my fair share of recipes for them. I had originally decided I'd make the sauce in one pan and then saute the mahimahi, green peppers and pineapple in a little bit of olive oil.

But then as I was cooking the wine (I had to break down and show my face in a liquor store and ask the clerk for the cheapest bottle of dry red wine it had in stock because you can't tell these things by just looking at the label, dammit all) and the mirin (another special purchase, although I'm sure it'll get more use than the red wine) and balsamic vinegar (which put me in the mood for balsamic vinegar-glazed chicken and red peppers) and the soy sauce and the pineapple juice with the honeyed onions (thus making them drunk since mirin is sweeted sake), I realized how very similar this concoction (minus the drunken onions) was to stir-fry sauces I've made in the past. That's when inspiration struck: Why not drown my cubed fish in the drunken onion sauce to let it cook that way, then throw in the green pepper strips and pineapple chunks to lightly braise (don't know if that's the right culinary verb here)?

Speaking of those drunken onions, that pineapple-mandarin sauce is damn tasty, Gentle Reader. While the husband and I were waiting for the side dish (more on that in a moment), we were sopping up some of the sauce with some sweeter bread I'd bought on the discount rack at Wally World earlier in the week. I think we both could have dined on that alone.

The fish, in case you're wondering, Gentle Reader, absorbed a good amount of the savory sweetness of the sauce without losing its mild mahimahi flavor.

Drowning Fish in Drunken Onions--Somebody Call PETA

I was really pleasantly surprised the fish turned out as well as it did, and stewing it in the drunken onions was far easier and less messy than if I'd sauted it in its own pan. Perhaps if I were a more skilled saute chef, I could cook the fish without a messy pan that requires lots of scrubbing and without a lingering odor of fish in the kitchen. But I'm not and doubt I ever will be. Oh well.

Here are some other futzings:

• I don't have any honey, so I used agave nectar instead. I wondered as I was chowing down if using honey might have given the onions--and the completed dish--a slightly sweeter flavor since I find that agave and honey do have noticeably different sweetness profiles. Guess I'll just have to make the dish with honey to find out.
  
• I combined the dried sage, salt and pepper in a small bowl then sprinkled it over the bowl of cubed mahimahi shortly before adding it to the drunken onions.
  
• I just used a can of chunk pineapple, not 2 cups of diced pineapple and 24 cubes of the stuff. The pineapple juice came from the same can (and I drank what was left after the required 2 tablespoons).

Combined with the tender peppers and pineapple, the completed dish was, in my opinion, very successful.

Colorful, isn't it!

I'm thinking of making the drunken onion sauce--er, the pineapple-Mandarin sauce--again but with chicken. I'd imagine that's another tasty combo.

Quasi-Chinese for the Main, Quasi-Caribbean on the Side
Back when I was having my jerk cravings, I'd bookmarked a recipe for an interesting rice dish. Maybe it even qualifies as a pilaf or pulao in their traditional sense, but it's not like the pilafs and pulaos I've found in Indian and Persian cooking resources. You can decide for yourself, Gentle Reader.

Jamaican Rice1 T vegetable oil
1/2 large onion, sliced
1/2 red apple, cored and sliced
1 pinch curry powder
1 C water
2/3 C brown rice
1 t dark molasses or treacle
1 small banana, sliced
1 T unsweetened flaked coconut

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
   
2. Add the onion and red apple and cook until the onion is transparent.
   
3. Season with curry powder, thend stir in the water.
   
4. Add the rice and molasses, cover and cook over low heat until the rice is tender and all the water has been absorbed (about 30 min.).
   
5. Stir in the banana, then sprinkle the coconut on top.
   
6. Heat through for a moment over low heat before serving.

Yield: 2 servings

Nutritional Info
Calories: 400
Fat: 10.9 g
Protein: 6 g
Carbs: 71.9 g
Fiber: 5.6g
Sodium: 10 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I didn't mess with this one much, and maybe I should have:

• I used maybe a teaspoon of olive oil instead of a tablespoon (yikes!) of veggie oil.
  
• I used regular 'ol unsulphured molasses--Grandma's, in fact (not as in Graga's, coming from the kitchen of my maternal grandmother, bless her narcissistic, sedentary soul) because that's all I have.
  
• I didn't add in flaked coconut. Between the macaroons Mum made and the jerk chicken pasta-cum-curry I made recently, I've had my fill of coconut for the decade, thank you.

This side dish was a bit of a disaster. I knew the rice would need more than 30 minutes to cook, and it still wasn't ready after 45 minutes. Despite the grains being a bit...well, chewy would be the best way to describe the rice's need for a tad extra mastication, I stirred in the sliced banana and served it up.

Half-cooked mush in a pot. Yum.

Despite my failure to cook the rice thoroughly and the somewhat stomach-turning image above, the dish was pretty tasty, a little on the sweet side and a nice departure from the more earthy and occasionally savory rice flavors we're used to here at Chez Boeckman-Walker. (Trust me when I write that we do eat a lot of rice here at Chez Boeckman-Walker, and most of it isn't just plain Jane stuff either.) I don't think it was diminished by the lack of coconut because that mere teaspoon of molasses was adequate sweetener.

Perhaps it wasn't intended to be as sweet as my dish turned out. Perhaps a dark molasses (which I admit I don't know what precisely that is--perhaps blackstrap molasses?) would have given it a different flavor. As I made it, the sweetness of the molasses and fruit slices completely overwhelmed the curry powder. In fact, if I were to make this dish again--which is highly improbable--I might use jerk seasoning instead of curry powder. After all, this is Jamaican rice and jerk seasoning strikes me as somehow more apropos.

Considering the sad state of the side dish, I found myself wishing I'd just whipped up a batch of plain 'ol Jasmine rice to go with the fish, especially since it's sweeter sauce was not of the same sweet flavor profile as the Jamaican rice. Ah well. Live and learn.

Not a Bad Way to Wrap Up a Crazy Week

Not too shabby an accomplishment for the boy's first full week of summer vacation, which has required me to truncate my gym time. Granted, I ran a half-marathon (actually, 13.5 miles) today to hit the 1,600 miles mark, but I don't think it's all that bad that I found time to run a half-marathon today.

I'll celebrate by taking the bike out this evening to ride the entire length of the Brushy Creek Regional Trail again (did it Wednesday evening too) while the boys play at the sprinkler park. Run 13 miles in the morning, donate some plasma, then bike 13 miles in the evening. Happy summer!

'...then we get bored and do something kind of stupid.'

While searching for something from the June issue, I found an interesting article on Gourmet's Web site that is sort of like my own frightening food finds: "The Gross-Food Movement." Check out this delectable excerpt:

Consider the Taco Town Taco. Inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit of the same name, gross foodie Andrew Sloan and his friends spent hours in an Oklahoma kitchen building this fast-food Frankenstein. Layered among the tortillas and beans were a crèpe stuffed with sausage and eggs, a 'meat lovers’' freezer pizza, and a blueberry pancake. Sloan and friends put it together, dipped it into a vat of batter, and deep-fried it. Then they dropped it into a bucket of vegetarian chili. Then they ate it. A few bites at least.

How did it taste? 'We thought, "If it's all good-tasting stuff, it should all taste good when you put it together,"' says Sloan. 'But when you get a blueberry in the same bite as a pepperoni, it just makes you want to throw up.' So why spend all that time making it? 'We've got big football games down here, and every now and then we get bored and do something kind of stupid.' Sloan's most recent boredom-fueled gross-food creation was a fondue fountain modified to burble chili instead of cheese or chocolate. 'You could just kind of hold the hot dog in your hand and run it under the fountain of chili,' says Sloan. 'In theory at least. It flowed, but it wasn't quite as beautiful as we had imagined.'

As you may already know, Gentle Reader, I was born and raised in Oklahoma, so I can attest to the "big" football games and the stupidity of many a people who attend them. However, I have to admit I'm surprised someone in Oklahoma had the...ingenuity to rig up a fondue fountain to burble forth chili. That strikes me as a beer-fueled moment's inspiration from a Texas tailgater.

If you don't read the article, do at least check out one of the blogs it references, "This Is Why You're Fat." I dare you to look at any of the pictures posted there and even consider the photos' contents to be edible food. And just as a fair warning, make sure you haven't eaten shortly before viewing the site.

Now This Is Playing With Your Food

Bento art! Check it out!

Nah, Really?!?

Kick off your workweek, Gentle Reader, with some No Shit, Sherlock news.

Relationship Found Between Napping, Hyperactivity, Depression and Anxiety

Napping may have a significant influence on young children's daytime functioning, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Monday, June 8 at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Results indicate that children between the ages of 4 and 5 who did not take daytime naps were reported by their parents to exhibit higher levels of hyperactivity, anxiety and depression than children who continued to nap at this age.

According to lead author Brian Crosby, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow of psychology at Pennsylvania State University, previous studies have shown that poor or inadequate sleep is linked with symptoms of hyperactivity, anxiety and depression; researchers involved in this study were happy to demonstrate the potential importance of napping for optimal daytime functioning in young children, as napping is often overlooked in favor of nighttime or total sleep.

'There is a lot of individual variability in when children are ready to give up naps. I would encourage parents to include a quiet "rest" time in their daily schedule that would allow children to nap if necessary.'

The study included data from 62 children between the ages of 4 and 5 who were classified as either napping (77 percent) or nonnapping (23 percent) based on actigraphy data. Napping children napped an average of 3.4 days per week. Of the sample, 55 percent were white non-Hispanics and 53 percent were male. Caretakers reported their child's typical weekday and weekend bedtime/rise time, napping patterns and family demographics and completed a behavioral assessment of the child. Actigraphy data for each child was collected continuously for seven to 14 days.

Crosby hopes that findings of this study will encourage caregivers and other researchers to look at the ways napping impacts daytime functioning in children, as an optimal age to stop napping has not yet been determined.

Anyone who's cared for a young child or been around one for a modicum of time can tell you how important naptime is for having a kiddo who's relatively cooperative. Hell, my kindergarten graduate still needs a midday nap if his father and I want him to obey the household rules and be relatively cooperative when we are out and about. It's honestly no wonder he had behavior problems at school: His body and brain weren't getting any rest and reset time.

I'd argue that most adults need a midday nap too. I'm not the first to advocate for a siesta, and I won't be the last. A rudimentary search, Gentle Reader, will allow you to find all kinds of studies indicating the value of a brief (no longer than 15 or 20 minutes, I believe) nap during the day for adults. Ya gotta wonder how different the world might be--and how potentially fewer therapists and prescriptions for antidepressants might be needed--if more adults got adequate sleep at night and took a nap daily. Lack of rest not only leads to crazed kids, it also leads to crazed adults.

Now go get yer blankie, Gentle Reader, and take a cat nap.

Tons of Fun With Tomatillos

I love Hatch green chile soup. Last fall, during Central Markup's annual Hatch chile festival, the boys and I discovered a jarred green chile soup base, made with what I was assured by the makers to be the finest tomatillos and pick-of-the-crop Hatch green chiles. I wound up using the soup base both as a soup and as an enchilada sauce. Sadly, a jar of that yummy stuff is a bit pricey, so I've been trying to find something comparable at a cheaper price point.

"Why not just make some yourself?" you ask, Gentle Reader? Quite frankly, Gentle Reader, I'm not that ambitious, especially when it comes to working with tomatoes and those incredibly tasty but incredibly foreign-to-me fruits, tomatillos.

Hmmm. I should rephrase that last sentence. It should read, "...I wasn't that ambitious...." because MyRecipes.com kindly sent me a recipe that I thought could help me overcome my trepidation with tomatillos.

Grilled Cumin Chicken With Fresh Tomatillo Sauce2 t olive oil
1/2 t ground cumin
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 6-oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 lb. tomatillos
1/2 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 C cilantro leaves
1/4 C chopped green onions
2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 t salt

1. Prepare the grill to medium-high heat.
   
2. Combine the olive oil, cumin, garlic and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag, add the chicken, seal and let stand for 15 min.
   
3. Discard the husks and stems from the tomatillos.
   
4. Combine the tomatillos and broth in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, then cover and cook 8 min.
   
5. Drain the remaining broth from the saucepan, and let the tomatillos cool slightly.
   
6. Combine the tomatillos, cilantro, green onions, lime juice, sugar, salt, chopped garlic and chopped jalapeño in a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth.
   
7. Remove the chicken from its bag, discard the marinade, then sprinkle the chicken evenly with a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
   
8. Place the chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 6 min. on each side or until the chicken is done.
   
9. Serve the chicken with about 5 tablespoons of tomatillo sauce per breast.

Nutritional Info
Calories: 237
Fat: 5.1 g
Sat fat: 1 g
Protein: 40.4 g
Carbs: 6 g
Fiber: 1.5 g
Cholesterol: 99 mg
Sodium: 465 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
We here at Chez Boeckman-Walker have yet another way in which we set ourselves apart from our fellow Austinoids: We don't own a grill. We had a cheap hibachi years ago that we used once when we were in an apartment, but the prohibition on patio barbecuing that comes with apartment dwelling in addition to the many burn bans we've experienced since becoming home owners--not to mention that I'm not a big fan of open flame of any kind--deterred us from ever buying a real grill. Therefore, these chicken breasts weren't grilled. I cooked them in some olive oil, which I did not add to the marinade, in a skillet on the stove.

And that's about the only futzing I did with this recipe. Oh, I did forget to throw in the garlic to the marinade, but I don't think the flavor of the chicken suffered for it.

The tomatillos were incredibly easy to prepare, as was the rest of the sauce. I only used two tomatillos because they were fairly large and together met the half-pound requirement of the recipe. I didn't cook them for the full 8 minutes because after about 6 minutes over medium-high heat, most of the broth had cooked off. I'm not sure if that was what supposed to happen or if I should have lowered the heat. I fault the recipe for not clarifying the matter. I mean, the direction to drain the tomatillos indicates to me that some liquid should remain after cooking.

My tomatillo sauce might have had a bit more kick to it because I used a heaping tablespoon of diced jalapeno from a can, which included the seeds. Granted, most of the heat of a pepper is actually in the rib, not the seeds as some people (myself included, formerly) believe, but the seeds do have some capsicum in them to add to the heat.

My tomatillo sauce also had a stronger lime flavor than was probably intended because I might have used too much lime juice. I juiced two smallish limes directly into the food processor because juicing limes into some kind of measuring cup that's small enough to be marked with tablespoons is pretty difficult.

Much to my surprise, the boy decided he liked the sauce, although I refrained from giving him a lot. The husband ate a fair amount as well, and he's found that after his surgeries, eating too much spicy foods gives him hiccups. Bizarre, non? Well, at least he can eat spicy foods, which he couldn't do for a while after the surgeries.

I will warn you, Gentle Reader, that 5 tablespoons is a lot of sauce. I think I used maybe a tablespoon for my own serving, and that chicken got a good smothering. Luckily, though, all that leftover sauce means I have tasty sauce with which to make some enchiladas later. Woohoo!

Chipatopley, Anyone?


Jack combined his chipotle with chicken. Me, I used my chipotle with rice.

Chipotle Rice1 C long-grain rice
2 C fat-free, reduced-Na chicken broth
1/4 C chopped green onions
1/2 t minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

1. Combine the rice and chicken broth in a medium saucepan, then bring to a boil.
   
2. Cover the rice, reduce the heat and let it simmer 15 min. or until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice.
   
3. Stir in the sliced green onions and minced chipotle pepper.

Nutritional Info
Sorry, none was provided for this recipe, which was tacked on to the grilled cumin chicken with fresh tomatillo sauce recipe. I don't think the nutritional info given for the main dish includes the rice since the yield for the chicken recipe doesn't mention a serving size for the rice.

The Faudie's Futzings
Since we here at Chez Boeckman-Walker love rice and since I know that two cups of liquid is too much for just one cup of rice, I wound up using one and three-quarters cups of broth (which was all that was left in my already-opened carton) with a cup and a half of basmati rice (I haven't had plain white rice in the house for probably a year). I wanted to make sure I had plenty of rice in case the boy turned his nose up at the chicken.

I also used about three-quarters of a teaspoon of minced chipotle pepper since I also threw in the adobo sauce that wound up on the cutting board when I pulled sections of pepper out of the container to be minced. I used the sauce because I really doubted a half-teaspoon of minced pepper alone would give the rice any detectable chipotle flavor and kick.

Final Analysis
I was honestly surprised how easily both dishes came together. The tomatillo sauce is ridiculously easy to make, and I know already I'll be making it again once I polish off the leftover sauce. If you have a hankerin' for something tasty and spicy but don't want to put out a lot of effort, I highly recommend this meal. You won't be disappointed, Gentle Reader.

¡Buen provecho!*

*I don't speak Spanish and the brief time I studied it while in the first grade did not prepare me to translate "Bon appetit!" into it. I found this via BlurtIt, so if the phrase is wrong, Gentle Reader, forgive me.

Cultural Exchange

Each week I get an email from Tarla Dalal, a food maven of sorts in India. Here's this week's email, Gentle Reader. Read it and try very hard not to die laughing at how "American" food--and its alleged culture--is viewed by folks outside the country.


Yep, denim, some faux-Italian food done Olive Garden-style and chip and dip are all you need to get a party started!

More Like Salmon-Cilantro Crumbles

Over the past year, practically everyone here at Chez Boeckman-Walker--humans and felines alike--has come to love salmon patties, or salmon cakes (call 'em what you will, Gentle Reader). I have a curried salmon cake recipe that I like to whip up when I can score pouches of salmon on the cheap (double the called-for amount of curry if you want to taste it, by the by), and the husband and I love the salmon and Hatch chile patties I find every now and then at Central Markup and HEB.

It's that latter love that had me excited to receive a recipe for salmon-cilantro burgers from MyRecipes.com shortly before Memorial Day. Since we're not a family that does the typical holiday things, I thought trying out these burgers might be a fun thing for the three-day weekend.

Fresh Salmon-Cilantro Burgers1/4 C reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T fresh lime juice
1/8 t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
1-lb. salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 1" pieces
1/4 C dry breadcrumbs
2 T cilantro leaves
2 T chopped green onions
1 T chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
4 1.5-oz. hamburger buns with sesame seeds, toasted
12 1/4"-thick slices English cucumber
4 leaf lettuce leaves

1. Combine the mayo, lime juice, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper in a small bowl, cover and chill.
   
2. Place the salmon in a food processor, then pulse until coarsely chopped.
   
3. Add the breadcrumbs, cilantro leaves, chopped green onions, chopped jalapeño, lime juice, salt and black pepper to the pulsed salmon, then pulse four times to combine or until well blended.
   
4. Divide the salmon mixture into four equal portions, shaping each into a 3/4"-thick patty.
   
5. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
   
6. Cook the patties 2 min., carefully turn, then cook 2 more min. or until done.
   
7. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the chilled mayonnaise mixture over the bottom half of each hamburger bun, then top with a salmon patty, three cucumber slices, a lettuce leaf and finally the top half of bun.

Yield: 4 (1 burger is one serving, obviously)

Nutritional Info
Calories: 341
Fat: 11.5g
Sat fat: 2 g
Protein: 31.6 g
Carbs: 30.9 g
Fiber: 1.8 g
Cholesterol: 66 mg
Sodium: 816 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I should have paid closer attention to the recipe when I first followed the link to it. Instead, I glanced merely at the list of ingredients and formed a certain impression of the final product. Only when I jotted it down before preparing it did I realize that the recipe is for the entire burger, not just the patties. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed and futzed accordingly.

• I totally skipped the special mayo, even though I'd bought a new jar of fat-free Miracle Whip just to ensure I had enough, not realizing at the time of purchase that I didn't actually need it for the patties but as a garnish. Bully!
  
• While I do still have some salmon in the freezer from the big slab we bought a few months back at Central Markup, I used pink salmon from a can that I'd bought on sale a few weeks ago. Once I'd sworn never to use canned salmon again because it's just...incredibly unappetizing right out of the can, but, hey, beggars can't be choosers, y'know? Plus the kitties outside loved chowing down on the bits and pieces from the can I refused to use in the patties.
  
• Instead of regular dried breadcrumbs, I used panko. I've yet to find breadcrumbs that have as little fat and as much protein (even thought the amounts or negligible) as panko.
  
• The jalapeño pieces came from a can of diced ones. The can was cheaper than buying fresh ones, and right now I'm more about saving money where I can so long as I'm not sacrificing much for nutritional content.
  
• Forget the English cucumber slices (I don't do cucumber slices unless they've been transformed into bread and butter pickles, and I didn't even bother to discover what might set an English cucumber apart from the ones grown locally, which look just like the ones Dad grew and Mum pickled when I was a kid), forget the leaf lettuce (I only buy iceberg in all its tasteless, watery goodness, thank you very much) and forget the toasted, sesame seed-covered buns. I'd found some whole wheat buns on the discounted bakery rack at Wally World, so that's what I used.

As I was mushing together by hand the salmon, lime juice, cilantro leaves, jalapeño chunks and pepper (I skipped the salt since the canned jalapeño pieces had a small amount of added salt), my faudie senses were telling me that I was setting myself up for disappointment. Something's missing, my faudie senses, sharpened by many a culinary misadventure, told me. This isn't going to work,, those senses told me as I was attempting to shape the patties, which just didn't want to stick together.

Sure enough, when I started cooking the patties on my Circulon grill pan, the damn things started crumbling at the edges. When I tried to flip them, the patties lost their cohesion big time. And don't even get me started on the fiasco that was attempting to serve the cooked patties. All I can say is this: Thank the FSM I had the boys' burger buns slices and open and ready to receive their protein patty because those salmon patties would not have survived any further movement from one surface to another.

I really, really don't think the ingredients combined with the salmon are sufficient enough to get the mixture to hold a patty shape for any length of time. Perhaps the folks who put this recipe together used really fatty salmon, but I think if I were to try this one again, I'd add a bit of egg to it as a quasi-adhesive, just as the curried salmon cakes recipe calls for two large eggs.

As for the taste of the finished patties.... Well, I honestly didn't get much flavor aside from salmon as I was eating. Let's face it: Salmon has a very prominent flavor, and you really have to have an additional ingredient or combo of other ingredients that have a strong presence and that don't clash with the flavor of salmon to overcome that fish's very prominent flavor. Perhaps I'd have a different opinion if I'd whipped up that cilantro-lime mayo and put some of it on my patty. Maybe not.