Din din and stuff

Although the light in my kitchen is a pain in the ass sometimes with these pics, this is a picture of yesterday's dinner.

Every once in a while, i just feel like making something special, but something special as in pulling a new recipe out of my ass.  This is about a dozen sea scallops (the big ones) and a lb of mussels, seared and steamed (respectively), tossed in a spicy red thai curry, over a bed of crispy steamed green beans and shiritake noodles.  The seafood curry base is make with red and green peppers and carmelized onions and portabellos.  I meant to add pineapple to the curry, but I forgot to buy it.  It was plated beautifully, but I just couldn't get the camera to behave for this one.  

It was really, really good.

I mean, really good.

If it would have had pineapple, this could be a favorite ever.  

Anyways, I re-did the blog background.  I need to tweak it, but since I spent a while drawing these characters, and then about an hour trying to export it in a format that it would be small enough to fit on here, it will not get done tonight this morning.  blarg.  Anyways, i think they are super cute.

Tomorrow is lengua/Pants day.  I'm so excited to see her and take her to my fav taqueria, and then fart around the Menil.  I've got to take Pig to the vet in the early AM, then I've got about a 10-12 mile bike ride, and then Pants time.  

I've started a training program for riding that should get me to the point where i can start training group rides in the next month or so.  Night one was last night, and it truly hurts to sit.  I need to get a larger road bike, and i'm going to start scouting for that pretty soon.  I really really want to do the MS150 in March.  Maybe just march next year, but so far my max rides have been about 20 miles.  Granted thats on the mountain bike, but stiiilll.  If my calculations are right, i keep a 14 mph speed for about an hour on the road bike, 16 mph for about 30 minutes (which is supposedly really fast).  Cheesily, i calculated this by seeing how many times around the 1.2 mile track i could get on the bike in an hour.  Either way, i need front and rear bike lights, a better chain, a better seat for the road bike, a second pair of shorts.  I also want some sort of cycle computer and heart rate monitor.  Once i get on a diet/workout routine, I'm fanatical.  Heck, i passed up the Chocolate Bar today!

Anyways, its past 2.  sleepy time.

my house smells amazing.

Today is in the middle of Pesach, and we have having our seder tonight instead of on Wednesday, since all of us had to work. This is a variation of my chicken soup, it's really tasty, and very good for slight hangovers after a night of drinking. In my circle of friends, this is "the holiday with the wine and that soup with the balls" and people always ask to come over for dinner. I also make a vegan soup, which I give to close friends this holiday that are either vegetarian or Muslim. However, i put not vegan matzoh balls in them, but they are veg not vegan anyways.

This particular recipe is kind of strange. I make 2 pots of chicken soup, but i only return half of the chicken, dividing among the 2 soups. The other chicken is served as stewed chicken along with the seder meal (and is quite tasty!!). The matzoh balls can either be split amongst the 2 pots or just cooked in one and then divided.

Just a note - this takes about 5 hours to make, start to finish, but is well worth it!! It's doesn't need very much babysitting, thankfully.

Matzoh Ball Soup

the balls (this is really a quadruple batch)
2 c matzoh meal
8 tbsp veg oil
8 tbsp water or stock
a little salt and pepper
8 eggs


the broth (double this)
1 chicken (about 3-4 lbs)
1 pretty large stockpot
4 or 5 cloves garlic
sprig each of dill and parsley
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
3 carrots, peeled and broken in half
3 celery stalks washed and broken in half
a little salt
3 peppercorns (or a couple shakes of pepper)
a large pyrex dish and cutting board (for sorting)

first, make the balls. Mix the salt, pepper, eggs, and oil lightly. add matzoh meal and mix. add water and mix. This should be pretty soupy now, but it will thicken, promise. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until the soup is ready for them.

Now make the soup. Put the chicken in the pot, cover with water till it's about an inch or two above the chicken. add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and bring to a boil. Once this boils, reduce the heat to med-low and simmer for at least an hour (i usually do about 1.5-2 hours). You will know when it's ready when you try to fish out the chicken and it falls apart. taste for salt content, add a little water if needed. Fish out the chicken (tongs and a fry skimmer really help) and put in the pyrex dish. Skim the half inch of fat off of the top of the soup and discard (EW!). Fish out the veggies, chop them up, and return them to the pot. Add about 4 c of water, recover, and continue to simmer.

Cook the balls. Give the bowl of matzoh mash a quick stir. Take a tablespoon and chunk out a nice hunk of mix. roll a 2" size ball in your hand, and return to the pot. When all the balls are rolled, cover tightly and cook for 30-40 min.

Sort the chicken. just do ONE of the chickens! Remove the skin and discard. Pull the meat off the bones and remove any cartilige; toss the bones and cartilige. This will probably be really hot, so work quickly and use tongs and a fork if you need to. Let cool for about 10 min, so you can actually touch the meat without burning the crap out of yourself. shred into spoon-friendly chunks, returning half to each pot of soup. Serve HOT as first course of Passover! YUM!

Vegetarian Matzoh ball soup
1 pretty large stockpot
5 cloves garlic
sprig each of dill and parsley
1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 green onions, cleaned (NOT chopped)
5 carrots, peeled and broken in half
5 celery stalks washed and broken in half
a little salt
5 peppercorns (or a couple shakes of pepper)
1 small piece of ginger
a couple shakes italian seasoning

put everything in a stockpot, fill with water to a couple inches above all the veggies. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low boil/simmer and cook for about 3-40 min (the celery should be REALLY really cooked and the onions almost mooshy). Add salt as needed. Fish everything out of the soup. Add a couple cups of water, cook balls as directed in first recipe. During this time, chop up all the veggies (toss the parsley, ginger, and dill). When the balls are done, return everything to the pot. Serve and share with your girlfriend this year, dangit!