Things got a bit weird due to some minor exhaustion on my part. Luckily I was able to regenerate on Friday by doing minor chores (picking new glasses, picking up prescriptions, etc), mindless things (refilling prescription containers) and napping. As a minor coincidence, both Shannon and I went to the same place to eat, though nearly four hours apart.
Turkey and Bean Chili
I made this Sunday afternoon. I liked the way that it started with whole dried peppers (even though I didn’t have all the kinds, cause of course). Which made me rethink that it would be a better method to make chili in general. By allowing the dried peppers to re-hydrate in warm stock then blending it all together it seems like you get a bit more consistent flavor throughout. Though I suppose I could be imagining things, since I can’t remember having grit or the inconsistent flavor from other chilies that I’ve made with just ground dried peppers. It was an interesting process though, and made some pretty good chili.
Chicken and Rice Meatballs With Hummus
These were easy to make, and would’ve been easier had I remembered to make the rice beforehand (associated with the curry or menudo). they came together well and were nice with the hummus that I bought. Easy dinner that just got passed over a couple of times.
Chicken Massaman Curry With Wheat Beer and Potatoes
So I stopped at 3 stores with no luck, and while I could’ve ordered it from amazon to make it that week, that seemed a bit excessive. I think I need to add some smaller specialty markets to my go rounds. Or at least find something that has a reliably good selection of ingredients that I would occasionally use. I didn’t realize, when I started, how much this would make, so I had to call a lot of audibles. Initially I thought the normal green curry paste I had in would work, but considering this was supposed to be a mild curry, I didn’t want to had the whole 8oz of paste, so I added the 4oz jar, diluted with a bit of water. I could’ve sworn that I had star anise pods, but I did not. So I looked up a reasonable conversion and didn’t have 5 spice powder, or ground anise, so I ended guessing on some cloves. Other then that, I generally followed the recipe. it still worked out pretty good. I think that’s one of the things that comes with making a lot of food, is you can call an audible and it’ll still turn out ok. This is not exactly a weeknight dinner thing I suppose, but it worked on a Saturday afternoon.
Ground Pork Menudo
Delayed!
Taco Salad
Good, as always.