Fun in the kitchen

Yesterday I made chicken curry for the fourth time. The second time was the best still, but I think I'm getting closer to producing quality consistently. I also made dal, which turned out just fine. Sometimes I judge the salt wrong, but not as often these days.

My chicken curry is a bit of a variation on Mother's. We buy a family pack of drumsticks normally, approximately 5 lbs. I'll use about half that at once. Darren likes the skin and I don't, so I pull the skin down and leave it hanging off the bone. Then I cut four slashes in the meat, make it easier to soak in seasoning and cook through. Salt, cumin, turmeric, crushed red chili - rubbed in, then refrigerated while I prepare the rest. First I chop up garlic, then ginger root, and I cut baby carrots into quarters. (The carrots were an accident - we didn't have potatoes the first time I did it in my apartment, and then they turned out well, so I just keep doing it.) I pour some oil into a pan, throw on some mustard seeds, whole dried red chilis, and a some more crushed red chilis. Once it gets hot and starts popping, I cover with a lid for a few minutes. Once it's settled down, I remove the lid and add the garlic and ginger. As the garlic roasts, I throw on the carrots, sprinkle some cumin over them and let them simmer a bit. I add the chicken and turn it periodically. It's normally a pretty tight fit in our pan, but it seems to work well enough. When the chicken is mostly done, I add about a cup or cup and a half of water then cover. This time the flavour didn't permeate the chicken properly, but it was so soft it was falling off the bone, which I liked. And the carrots and sauce were delicious.

Today I experimented some more. Added cumin, black pepper, a tiny bit of turmeric, and squeezed half a lime into the rice before turning on the rice cooker. I'd seasoned rice in the rice cooker once with success at Ueda-sensei's apartment two summers ago. I think I used fennel and such then. This time the lime overwhelmed everthing else. Bad if you don't like sour things as much as I do. :-(

I skinned and slashed the rest of the family pack of chicken same as always. Then mixed up some "Caribbean Jerk Seasoning" that Darren keeps in stock with a bit of soy sauce, vinegar and squeezed in half a juice orange. The other half of the orange I sliced thinly. After dipping each drumstick in the caribbean concoction, I laid each on a slice of orange then covered it with another slice. Poured the remaining caribbean stuff on top, then refrigerated for 20 minutes before putting in the oven, which had been set at 350, for 1.5 hr. It turned out pretty well. Cooked through and still moist. Basically it tasted like the caribbean seasoning with a subtle (and pleasant, I thought) hint of orange. The orange slices soaked in caribbean seasoning were a little weird though. I was pretty satisfied with it. I'm not a huge fan of chicken - it's either tasteless or dry or overwhelmed with seasoning, but this was a decent balance.

The best part of the meal was the potatoes though. One day at Brett's house, I happened to see part of TLC's "Take Home Chef," in which the Take Home Chef did something sort of like this: I boiled half a dozen small potatoes then sliced into coins and removed the skins. In a pan I heated oil, laid out a layer of potatoes flat. I sprinkled on salt, crushed red chili, and a tiny bit of turmeric. After they browned on one side, I flipped them and sprinkled parsley flakes on top. They were really really good. Darren was eating them about as fast as I was making them at first. :-)

I'm too lazy to learn recipes and stuff, but it's kind of fun to just go to the fridge and see what can happen. Relaxing too. And this way I experiment on Darren before putting anyone else at risk. ;-P

Me?

Found this quiz on Ri'chan's livejournal. Hers seemed pretty reasonable. Not sure about mine. I'm not nearly that cool, right?

Which Classic Story Role Do You Play?

- You Are The Outlaw
"Sure, I'll do it. My way."

Just because you do not conform to the same laws and rules as everyone else does not mean that you are a bad guy. You travel your own path, separate from those around you, with your own reasons for doing what you do. Because of this and your own nature, it goes without saying that you are generally misunderstood. That does not matter much, though, as people love you for being who you are. You are pretty well set in your ways and have no real intention of changing. This can come across as a flicker of arrogance if your not careful. You do what is right for you, and God help anyone who stands in your way.
Take this quiz!








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Cornell

So last weekend, the 13th - 15th, I went to Ithaca to visit Ryan at Cornell - specifically, to go to his Glee Club's Homecoming concert. I'd "listened" to him on im from Japan for the past year talk about Glee Club, so before I even knew I'd be back, I'd said I'd go to the concert this year. So Friday afternoon, I packed my bags (complete with yukata for Julia) and took a train east to New Haven, Connecticut. Lev (whose a grad student at Yale) met me at the train station, where we soon learned that Julia's bus from Boston (where she's working this year while applying to med school) was late. By the time we picked Julia up from the station, it was 9:30 pm. Luckily Lev, even (or especially) when sick, drives like a man possessed. We made it to Ithaca in four hours. Picked Ryan up with sleeping bags at the CS department, walked around campus a bit, went to Ryan's house, hung out, then camped out on Ryan's bedroom floor.

The next day we had bagels and tea from CTB (Collegetown Bagels) before heading back to the CS department where Ryan showed us the systems lab where he works and watches movies with friends. We walked around campus again, much more beautiful in the daylight (particularly in fall, I imagine) and climbed into a gorge. His parents, who had driven up from Princeton, met us there, then treated us to dinner in downtown Ithaca. Then we had to rush Ryan back to campus to change into his tux for the concert. The newly renovated and reopened Bailey Hall is beautiful. It wasn't packed, but apparently the Glee Club concert is right under the football game as a big Homecoming event. There were guest performances by 1966 alum, and they premiered two commissioned pieces. They were good of course, the second half better than the first, but mostly it was great to see Ryan, Julia, and Lev again. And the drive back Sunday afternoon through the fall scenery of upstate New York was amazing. Though we spent as much or more time traveling as we did with Ryan in Ithaca, it was worth it. I only wish Lev had let me do some of the driving. He was so sick and exhausted, I felt really bad for him.

Oh, also
as we were saying goodbye to Ryan's family after the concert, his dad gave each of us a hug. When it was my turn, I said "Bye, Dr. Peterson," and he brusquely said "Larry." *sheepish* I know so many professors who want to be called by their first names, but I don't know. Somehow I'm just so uncomfortable with it. As my elders and mentors, I want to use a term of respect. I suppose you could argue that it would be more respectful to do as they ask, but I just can't get over it. Especially when they're the parents of my friends. Friends' parents since childhood have always been "Mr." and "Ms." and I just can't do it any other way. Part of the way I was raised? Part of our culture? Or maybe I just think it's more romantic.

By the way

My sister got engaged 5 October. She called me the next (Friday) morning, twice I missed the call. Finally I heard the news from her Friday evening.

We're all very excited. :-)

Hello

So the test is over. It went well. Lab is not going so well. It's possibly the worst course I have *ever* taken. No guidance whatsoever. We aren't *taught* anything, and then we are penalized for not understanding... not only the material, but also what they want/expect from us. But onto more fun things.

The kittens are growing. Momotaro is looking so mature these days, though still as irresistibly cute as ever. It has also become a bit obvious *ahem* that we need to neuter him soon. Serena is such a little powerhouse. Her body is muscular, her shoulders wide-set; she can jump three times her height. And he little stubby, duck-tail is *so* cute! Especially when it wiggles when she's being petted. heehee :-D Rorschach is such a little cat, as Deepa said when she was here last week, "You know how there are kids who look like miniature adults? That's what Rorschach reminds me of." She has also become very affectionate, especially with Deepa. She followed her around everywhere and was constantly meowing for petting.

so anyway, Pictures!

Rorschach likes to knead one's hair. It actually feels good, like a scalp massage, though if her nose and whiskers are right over your ear it can kind of tickle. :-) It's pretty much the first thing she insists on when Darren gets home from work every evening. And it's about the only time we really hear her purr. She and Darren fell asleep after one such session, and I just had to take a picture. Also, we couldn't figure out for a while why Rorschach always seemed to be wet in the mornings. And then we discovered that, as soon as one of us gets out of the shower, she likes to run into the tub and play with the water droplets.

And unrelated to the kittens, we have a hilarious posed picture of Darren at work in a three-piece suit and Darren cleaning off the huge bone of the bulk pork shoulder we got from Fresh Direct.

We've taken some (low quality) videos of the kittens with my camera too. As soon as I can figure out how, I plan to post them on youtube. I know you can't wait! =^..^= But for now, enjoy these...