Jambalaya, my way

A few nights ago I was awoken by an extremely aggressive lone mosquito and the intense desire for jambalaya. A strange desire, considering that I've only had the dish once in my life and that time around it wasn't even very good. But something triggered in me and all I craved was a spicy blend of sausage, rice, peppers, and tomatoes -- so badly that I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.

The desire for the dish continued, despite several evenings of plan derailment. In fact, I was deterred from my plans for so long that by yesterday I had pretty much given up on the idea of attempting to make the dish. However, I had a horrible Tuesday full of out of control hormones and the disappointment of reality and decided that I would have to go home and do at least one thing for myself no matter how much of an effort it took.

So I stopped by the store for some groceries, was harassed by a small child in galoshes, got home, and promptly poured myself a glass of pinot noir.

Like I said, I've only had the dish once and after a minimal amount of research (aka looking jambalaya up on Wikipedia), I came up with something that hit the spot and managed to use up a bunch of ingredients leftover from other cooking endeavors that would otherwise have gone to waste in the kitchen. I also felt quite triumphant because I was able to use a can of Rolling Rock that my husband regrettably purchased months ago but has sat, undrunk/undrank, in our cupboard for quite some time.

Ingredients:
Rice (cooked slightly al dente)
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 stalks of celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 package sundried tomato chicken sausage, cut to size of your desire
tomato paste
1 can very bad beer
parsley, minced
chicken stock
cajun spice
salt
pepper
olive oil

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions.
2. Saute onions, add garlic and celery.
3. Add sausage.
4. Add tomato paste and water down with bad beer.
5. Let this stew/cook for a while while adding salt, pepper, and cajun spice to taste.
6. Add peppers and tomatoes.
7. Add rice.
8. Add chicken stock.
9. Add minced parsley.
10. And that's pretty much it -- let cook until desired thickness and consistency.

The dish was so incredibly easy with such good results! Next time I'm going to add shrimp or scallops and possibly some beans? I'm still not sure if what I made was jambalaya, but what I do know is that it felt so good to cut and chop and just focus on cooking while forgetting about all the other crappy components of the day. Cooking/creating is therapy and thankfully, has results that can feed you for the next day or two!

Color me curry

Weekends of sun and nothing to do but lounge around and eat are my favorites. Last Saturday, as if to taunt us later during this miserable gray and cold week, was frigid but blasted with sunshines. Andrew and I lazed around the house until we started hankering for some food. I was hit by the desire for waffles, so of course I jumped onto Yelp and found a diner just a few blocks north with rave reviews for their waffles and prices. I scarcely travel north of my apartment even though I know Washington Heights is full of good food and every time I do wander north, I'm reminded by just how much I need to take the time out to explore my hood and its surrounding area!

We ambled over to Coral Diner where I was delighted with the quiet upstairs space and dreamed of days I could spend reading and studying there with an endless cup of coffee and the option to satisfy whatever study-worthy craving I was hit with (when I work, I incessantly snack). I had a delightful waffle -- fluffy on the inside with the right amount if crisp on the outside drowned with a little too much syrup (that warranted a raised eyebrow and comment from my ever loving fiance). Andrew had a burger which he said was good but I didn't try it -- although I did eat all his fries when he went to the bathroom. I can't even really remember what we talked about but it was just a perfect happy diner moment with a kid peeking at us from the booth behind us.

There we decided to invite Andrew's friend Ryan over to the apartment for dinner (yes, we're the kind of people who plan our next meal while we're eating our current meal -- I get it from my grandmother, that's for sure). Ryan grew up with Andrew but I had never met him. Regardless, he's been helping us out with our wedding website (along with two other friends) and has done such a great job for us. I decided on something hearty and something I hadn't done in a while -- curry.

I don't really know where I got my curry recipe from but I think I'm just combining all of my favorite elements of different curries I've had to come up with some mutt curry that really satisfies my palette. We walked off our heavy brunch to my neighborhood C-Town, a grocery store that I've always seen but never been into. It wasn't too bad and we made some friends (aka a mustachioed lady who butted into our conversations and made Andrew reach for things for her) and I was pleased with their bunches of fresh basil with the roots still on them.

Ryan came over when I was on my 3rd glass of Chardonnay and the curry was simmering on the stovetop. It was so nice to finally meet him and for some reason, I like seeing Andrew in his element with his friends -- reconnecting, planning a camping trip, talking about things that don't necessarily involve me. The curry was served over brown "Texmati" rice (Texas-grown brown basmati?) and I don't even know if the guys liked it but I was happy, although I could have probably done with more coconut milk.

After dinner I felt like we were lacking a dessert, especially because Ryan had brought a wonderful sparkling wine to celebrate (belatedly) our engagement. So I dashed outside, grabbed a brownie mix, whipped that up, burned myself on the oven, and voila -- dessert for everybody. Sometimes you got to just go with the flow and make something out of a box.

And that, my friends, is a good day. Sleep, eat, cook, drink, eat. Happy happy, color me curry!

Curry
- Chicken breast, cubed
- Golden potatoes, cubed
- Carrots, peeled, cubed
- Red pepper, seeded and diced
- Spanish onion, sliced thinly
- Frozen peas
- Garlic, minced
- Coconut milk (2-3 cans)
- Curry powder
- Chili powder
- Black pepper, fresh ground
- Salt
- Fresh basil
- White cooking wine
- Olive oil

1) Marinate chicken breast in white wine.
2) Heat oil in a large pot that will accomodate the curry. Add garlic.
3) Add onions, cook for 3-5 minutes.
4) In a separate pan, heat olive oil and add cubed chicken. Cook through. Add to pot.
5) Add potatoes and red pepper.
6) Add coconut milk.
7) Add spices to taste (I'm pretty heavy with them b/c the potatoes will soak up a lot of the flavors).
8) Simmer on low heat until potatoes nearly cooked through.
9) Add carrots, frozen peas, and basil.
10) Simmer until ready to serve.
11) Simmer over white or brown rice (brown is better!). Serve with Sriracha!

It is really simple and straightforward and therefore, can very easily become bland. It is important to balance the tastes and flavors -- this is definitely something that you have to keep on taste testing and tweaking.