Having just had a week off I've been wrestling with this nagging issue in my mind.  I found myself, throughout the week, hard pressed for energy to think of something to do that didn't involve getting to a store to pick up things that the kids were needing or plunking myself in front of a screen.  Sure, I can chock it up to exhaustion.  I can blame the crappy, cold weather and lack of sun.  Suffice it to say that it was all I could do to keep up a reasonable yoga and running schedule throughout the week and plan one other thing in the day.


Thank goodness for this book which I've been devouring (although I have to slow myself down sometimes to really take it in).  I'm not just pushing the book because the author is Canadian but because he's also kick-ass deep. Throughout the week I was reading his chapter on the image and the power of the image.  J.R.S. went succinctly through a look at western religious art and the transformations that it went through up to about DaVinci when the 3D reality kicked in.  He talks about how artists were looking for the moment of epiphany when that reality was created... except the epiphany didn't quite happen.  The paradigm didn't shift epically like they thought it would.  And then the still photo was invented and that kind of kicked paintings butt.  A perfect image of whatever it was the photographer wanted to capture.  Further still was the moving picture.  But something happened in all of that 'reality' and along the way the reality of the photo and the moving picture wasn't reality at all.  It was illusion.  It was set up.  It was doctored.  Now, we live by the moving picture.  It informs us in every way about ourselves - our looks, our expectations, our beliefs.  J.R. Saul even goes as far to say that tv is our new religion.  It's the one thing that we do, in the western world at least, ritualistically and en masse.  Except it's all staged.
It got me thinking a lot about how much screen I take in.  It got me thinking about how much I see people talking about tv shows on FB, on their blogs or in everyday conversation.  It's how we talk about it too.
'I've got to make sure I catch the new episode of...'
'I can't believe what they just wrote into that story line...'
'I can't stand that character'
'My PVR only records 2 shows at a time.  How am I going to catch everything'
I don't have either cable or satellite.  The channels we get come through our rooftop antenna.  I don't miss cable.  I don't think that I've ever even considered getting it again and that was about 5 years ago.  But I still watch my fair share of shows and it's still crap.  It's still written in this stilted, formulaic manner.  It's still played by actors who must look a certain way for everything to work.  It still wraps up into a neat little package that leaves you with a feeling of satisfaction but the desire to experience the same banal comfort next week.  Reality tv... worse.  News.... the worst.
I'm going to work toward becoming more aware of what's in front of me all the time.  I'm not going to say 'that's it - I'm cutting it out' because that's not just unrealistic, it's unsustainable.  I think that the key is awareness.


During my week off I also decided to get serious about varying my cooking again.  It's so easy to get in ruts.  My ruts include cream, parmesan cheese, greens and pasta.  That's ain't half bad.  There is, however, only so much of that one family can take.  I made some Trini Stewed Pork and this is the stuff that we made with it.  Callaloo looks kinda gross and goopy but once you put it in your mouth you realize you haven't yet lived until that very moment.  It's amazing, beautiful stuff.  It's also good for you and if you can't find Dasheen leaf you can always try substituting with spinach.  You will get quite a different taste so you might have to adjust a bit but it's still absolutely worth it.

Trini Callaloo adapted from 'Naparima Girls High School Cookbook'

Happy Spring.
It's the first day of spring.  Here in Toronto, Spring has been welcomed in with a few days of cold temperatures and off and on snow flurries.  I hear in Montreal they still have about 30 cm of snow so I'll keep my complaining at a minimum.  The imminence of Easter though seems to bring with it the expectation of warmer temperatures.  In that we've been very disappointed, frustrated and even cranky.
I remember one of my first couple of Easter's in Montreal a friend invited me to the Easter 'Sunrise' Service on easter morning.  It sounded interesting and there was a pancake breakfast afterwards.  Either way my friend T and I found ourselves standing on Mount Royal in Montreal at 6 a.m. that particular Easter morning.
We were freezing our asses off because it must have been about -10C at the time and while we were standing (for the entire service!) to add insult to injury... it started to snow.  We were both miserable although T is much better natured than I am about those things and he put on a brave face and faked his way to friendliness.  Neither one of us knew liturgy very well back then.  So when one of the lay-leaders (someone who doesn't get paid for their work) shouted 'Christ is Risen!' at him he didn't know what to do and she was standing there watching, waiting, anticipating a response.  We both looked at each other confused and finally he blurted out 'Hallelujah'.  Not missing a beat, our fearless lay-leader shot both of us a frustrated and angry look and snapped 'No - It's He is Risen Indeed'.  She taught us.  That was it though.  I had stopped even attempting to hide my crankiness and poor T snapped once he got that response.  Pancake breakfast or no, we left.  Bolted.  Found warmth at the closest spot that we could find and then made our way home to make better pancakes than we would have had in the church basement.  Not my best Easter but we made lemonade out of them lemons.


We've all been so sick of winter - the cold, the snow, the damp, the cloudy - that we made our way to the west indian store last week and picked up some much needed ingredients.  We made it a family trip and got a lot of pleasure out of walking the isles looking at foods that reminded us of a warmer, sunnier place.  West Indian curry powder, salt fish, dasheen leaf (recipe to follow in the next post), Apple J, coconut milk and pigeon peas... yup we got it all.
Then we made our way home and I started making some stewed pork.  In Trinidad it's much more common to make stewed chicken.  A typical Sunday lunch is stewed chicken, callalloo (recipe coming with the dasheen leaf) and macaroni pie.  This time around I went for cubed pork instead of the chicken and we opted for plain rice instead of the macaroni pie.  It was fantastic and brought a little bit of sunshine to our cold, cranky, almost-easter-and-disappointed selves.  If you don't want to use that much meat please feel free to halve the quantity but you could easily use the same amounts for everything else just add less water to the marinade.


Trini Stewed Pork adapted from Naparima Girls School Cookbook
serves 8 - 10

Marinade
4 tbsp mixed herbs
5 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
4 tbsp Soy Sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper sauce (or 1/2 tsp cayenne)
1 boullion cube
water

3 - 5 lbs pork (any cut, including the cheaper cuts like shoulder), cubed

1 med onion, sliced
5 - 6 carrots, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter or lard
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup coconut milk (optional)
2 scotch bonnet peppers, whole - do not cut
salt to taste

Combine the herbs, garlic, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper sauce and boullion cube together in a large bowl.  Add in the cubed meat and enough water to just barely cover the meat.  Stir and marinade together for anywhere from 1 - 8 hours (even overnight if you wish)
Heat a large, heavy bottomed dutch oven (big enough to hold all of the meat) over med or slightly higher heat until the pot is quite hot.  Add the brown sugar and the butter or lard to the pot.  Cook together until the brown sugar begins to melt.  Add in the whole garlic cloves.  You can remove the garlic cloves now if you wish or keep them in - up to you.   Once the sugar begins to get dark (chocolate coloured dark) then turn the heat down a bit and add in the carrots and the meat - you might want to add in stages so that the pot doesn't cool down too much.  Once everything is added in and the meat has browned a bit add in the marinade liquid.  Bring to a low simmer.  Add in the ketchup and the coconut milk (I did not add it to mine).  Mix well.
Before covering the pot add the set the scotch bonnet peppers on top of meat but don't stir in.  Cover and lower the heat to just barely keep things simmering.  Cook for about 1 1/2 hrs.  The meat should be quite tender.  Check the tastes and add salt if necessary.
Serve with a big bowl of callalloo and some rice or macaroni pie.

I have amended my Christmas wish list.  'Time' is now officially the first item on the list. I know that it makes no real sense to have 'Time' as part of my wish list because once Christmas is here I'll have lots of time.  Let's look at it as 'At least I know that I'm going to get what I want for Christmas' - oozing positivity.
I have so many recipes ready to go.
I have cookies to bake.
I have lemon curd to whip up.
I have chex mex to make.  This is important for the Christmas Eve movie that we will go to and sneak in our own snacks.
Although most things of worth have gone by the wayside lately, here are some of the things that I've managed to keep up with:
1.  Bathing and teeth brushing
2.  Birthday cake making
3.  Clothes washing... almost
4.  Breakfast
5.  Biking to work
6.  Letters to Santa (Kid #2 wrote a letter that went like this: Dear Santa - I want....... signed Kid #2.  Kid #1 got really upset and told him that if he didn't write some nice things to Santa first that he wouldn't get anything on his list.  You can't just send Santa a list!  He was confused and more than a little frustrated but wrote the letter anyway)
7.  An early gift to myself.  This took a little more of that precious time than I had anticipated but it was so worth it and I'm thrilled and a little itchy.


So I'm keeping up in a manner of speaking.  However, when it comes to food I'm falling way way way behind.  It's pathetic.  And then there is the whole 'dark-in-the-middle-of-the-day' thing that is just totally wrecking photos for me.  It's bumming me out.  Curry helps.  Curry feels warm and sunny.  It reminds me that there are many places in the world that aren't dark, damp and cold.  If you find the curry powder amount sounds a little rash then by all means start with half the amount and ramp it up from there.  We prefer our curry kickin'.


I truly hope that you are finding some time for reflection and quiet.  I hope that you are making all the cookies and curds that your little heart desires.  I hope that your Chex Mex making schedule is right on target... and if it's not just know that you are not alone.


Cabbage and Squash Curry adapted from Simply in Season
serves 8

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3- 4 cups butternut squash (or other winter squash), peeled, de-seeded and cut into 2 inch cubes
3 - 4 cups cabbage
2 lg potatoes, cut into 2 inch cubes
1 cup frozen peas or green beans

Curry seasoning:
2 bouillion cubes
1 full cup mild curry seasoning (I used west indian curry)
4 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 tsp pepper sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 tbsp tomato sauce or paste
1 can (400 ml) chick peas
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
2 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Coat the squash cubes in oil and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for about 35 minutes or until turning golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside.  Remove from oven and set aside.
Heat a heavy bottomed soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add about 4 tbsp of oil or butter and then add in the onion and cubes potatoes.  Cook together for about 10 minutes (turning the heat down if necessary).  The potato should be browning on the outsides.  Add in the garlic and cabbage.  Turn the heat down to medium/low.  Make sure that the cabbage is coated in oil and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.  Stir when necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking.
In another bowl combine the boullion cubes (crushed up with your fingers), curry seasoning, garam masala, ginger, cumin and salt.  Add just enough water to form a paste.  Add in the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce.  Stir well.
Add the paste to the cooking vegetables.  Stir well.  Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and honey.  Stir well.  Add in the roasted squash and the frozen beans.  Mix well.  Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Cover and simmer about 15 minutes on low heat.
Serve with rice.

Kid #2 started soccer last week.  It's pretty funny watching 5 years old play soccer... unless you live in Brazil and then I would imagine it's probably inspiring.
I stretched my garden planting over 3 days to make it a little easier to deal with in my head.  It helped and now I've got pretty much everything planted.  I always wish I were doing more.  Always.  But the run down goes something like this:

Seeds:
cucumber (we'll see)
snow peas
green/purple beans
mammoth dill

In pots:
Black Prince tomatoes
Chadwick Cherry tomatoes
basil
dill (more dill)
strawberries (it's an experiment)

In the ground:
zucchini
eggplant
peppers
kale
beets (fingers crossed)
parsley
oregano
thyme
pumpkin


It sounds like a lot but it isn't.  Just one or two plants of each thing.  I've given up on carrots for the moment and we'll see about the future.  I'm willing to renegotiate but I've got some serious doubts.  I'm pretty confident about the beans and snow peas.  The cucumber... well we'll see.  The zucchini I'm really hoping for... I've wanted to grow them for a while and for some reason can't seem to get it to work from seed.  I'm sure I'm not doing something.  Along with my raspberry patch that is now threatening to take over the back half of my yard I think I'll content myself with this much.
Potatoes.  I almost forgot my potatoes.  I threw some earth into a tall box.  Made sure that the box drains well.  Put about 7 or 8 potatoes that were already growing eyes into the box and covered them with about another 10 inches of earth.  In theory it should be that easy.  In reality... fingers crossed.

D is away right now.  Somewhere in Europe.  I can't remember where he is today.  I know that he'll be back in France by Thursday because I have to put in my requests for 'bring back's'  by then.  In the meantime I've cooked myself some comfort food.  Nobody around here is a huge fan of chickpeas except me.  I love them.  LOVE.  Combine that with curry and coconut milk and I could pretty much eat this stuff everyday.  I actually ate it with my baked risotto from a couple of posts ago.  Curry and Risotto.  It totally worked.  I used some lovely spring spinach from the food box.  Two full bags.  It was about 6 cups but if you were buying in bunches or bags it would be two as well.  I didn't get this from anywhere it just kind of appeared in my life.  It morph's every time I make it but it never disappoints.


Easy Chickpea Spinach Curry 
serves 4

1 can chickpeas (don't drain)
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup onion
6 cups spinach (washed and the big stems removed)
2 1/2 heaping tbsp pataks curry paste
1 veggie boullion
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom and turmeric
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey

Heat a large pot over medium heat.  Throw in a couple of tbsp's of oil.  Cook the onion for about 4 minutes until just lightly browned and beginning to become see through.  Turn the heat down to med/low.
Add the canned chickpeas with the liquid.    Add in the spinach, stir and cover for just a few minutes until the spinach begins to wilt.
In the meantime combine the bouillon cube, pataks curry paste, gram masala, cumin, cardamom, turmeric and salt together.  Mix well and add just a little bit of water to form a paste.  Add in the coconut milk and the honey.  Stir well.
Add the spice mixture to the spinach/chickpea mixture.  Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.  Turn off and ideally let it sit for a few hours.  If you can't wait then just check the tastes, adjust if necessary and then dig in.

You know, I spend a lot of time on this blog telling you all about myself.  I talk to you about how I'm feeling socially (or 'un'socially), politically, environmentally, personally, spiritually (kinda).  I've also read a whole lot of other blogs that do exactly the same thing.  Here's something I've never seen though:  A post about what the reader would say to the blogger.  That sounds ludicrous right.  Ludicrous or not I'm gonna try it 'cause I'm in just that kinda mood.
Here it goes:
Reader #1:  I think that you bake and cook like a god.  (Nuff said right?) Sometimes you just talk too much.
Reader #2:  I love your pictures, especially the ones that have nothing to do with the food.  Sometimes the goopy, soupy looking things are gross but 90% are decent.  I'm looking forward to you getting a better lens on your new camera so that the focus will be better.
Reader #3:  Sometimes I don't understand what you write.  It could be because you seem not to spell check and/or proof your work (very true Reader #2, very true).  It's cool that you give a damn about things though.  I think that sometimes you are coherent enough for me to almost get your point.  Other times though it's just weird.
Reader #4:  I just had a baby and named it 'Wanda' because I love your blog so much.  P.S.  My baby is a boy!
Reader #5:  I think that when you write one of your cooking recipes you might fudge your spice amounts just a bit - sometimes they feel a bit off.  (Another astute reader that #5.  And I like that you might have actually tried my recipes and found that out)  I think that you write funny things though.


Yeah, I could go on but I think that I've proven myself convincingly enough.  I can get into the heads of my readers.  I can.  And since you've been so honest with me, here is what I'm going to promise to you my imaginary Readers #1 through 5:

I will do my best to continue baking and cooking like a god but I can't promise that I won't fudge my spice amounts sometimes because when I'm in the middle of my creative genius it just doesn't feel right to stop and write things down.
I will get a new lens for myself as soon as I can so that even the goopy, soupy crap that I'm not going to stop taking pictures of will look even better.
I will let you all know my middle name in some random post in the future.  That way you'll have options for children's names (or what if you have more than one child).
I will keep writing cheerful and funny, weird things and will do my best not to ignore the annoying correction prompts from my blog program.  I can't make any promises about the proofing reading citing the same kinds of creative genius from a few sentences ago.


I'm glad that we had this little talk.
Here are some more pictures of the goopy, soupy mess that tasted really good.  I made it the other night and was really going for a thai thing but it ended up not really being thai at all and just tasting good.


Thai'ish' Vegetables adapted (rather generously) from BBC GoodFood magazine
serves 4 - 6

1 onion, sliced
1 zucchini, cut into large strips
2 cups green beans (or purple or yellow), keep long or cut in half
3 cups greens - I used Kale - chopped
3 - 4 cups potato in large chunks
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can chickpeas
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 lg lemongrass or quite a few small ones
2 tbsp Thai Basil chopped

1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp ginger (I used powdered for this one but fresh would be fine, just add it with the lemongrass and basil)
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt

In a small bowl combine the curry paste, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, cloves and salt together.  Add just enough water to make a paste of it all.  Set aside.
Saute the onion, zucchini, beans and potatoes over medium heat (add some oil or something too).  After a few minutes add in the Kale and garlic.  Saute another 5 - 6 minutes or so.
Lower the heat and add in the rest of the ingredients.  Stir and then simmer over low heat for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Don't let it simmer too long or else it will all start to look wilty and kinda gross.
Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Serve over rice.

Here is a little bean flower with some baby beans to boot.

Here's to Firetrucking RED Poppies.
Here's to it being warm enough to really want to have a beer in between job #1 (school teaching) and job #2 (home teaching).
Here's to actually doing it.
Here's to hearing this voice on the radio this morning.
Here's to things not always working the first time and still going back to it again.
Here's to having tomatoes and beans fresh from the garden (in about 5 weeks).


Here's to 8 more days of school - give or take - and being a total bum after that.
Here's to biking to work in the morning and being HOT when I get there.
Here's to Sunday nights that stretch on and on because it stays light outside until all hours... and I subsequently forget that I have work the next day and totally enjoy myself.
As of now Sunday nights are about enjoying the fact that an evening doesn't stop at 7pm, that I can sit outside without a jacket and not freeze my ass off, that friends can enjoy it all with you and that summer is God's way of rewarding us for a job well done... ie. surviving another bloody winter.


In the midst of all the crazy try not to miss the moments... reading a book to your kid before work, taking a minute to actually put on lip gloss, stopping to listen - I mean really listen - to what your friend is saying, truly enjoying that cold bubbly beer as it's going down.
I'm just in that kind of mood right now, what can I say.  It's probably because I had the beer (see above). I often wonder though whether in 20, 30, 40 years whether we'll be happier about our accomplishments or about the mistakes we made and what we learned through them.  Just sayin'...


Potato, Yam and Spinach Curry
serves 4 - 6

3 medium potatoes chopped into thick chunks
2 med/large yams chopped into thick chunks
1 onion, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
3 lg cloves of garlic, crushed
1 bunch of spinach (about 4 cups or a little more), washed and roughly chopped
1 can of chickpeas, drained (reserve the liquid)
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp of Madras (mild or hot) curry paste
3 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
dash of cardamom, cinnamon and coriander

Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add in some oil (your choice) and begin to saute the onion and celery.  Cook for a few minutes and then add in the garlic, the potato and the yam.  Cook together for another 5 minutes or so.
Add in the spinach and the chickpeas and turn the heat down to med/low.
In a small dish mix together the curry paste, garam masala, turmeric, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and coriander until it forms a thick paste (use a little chick pea liquid to get the paste).  Add the paste to the vegetables and mix well.  Add in the coconut milk and mix.  Add just enough of the reserved chick pea liquid to almost cover the vegetables.  Mix well.


Turn down to low and let it simmer for about 20 min or until the potato and yam are cooked through.
Serve on it's own or with rice or Naan.

I am married to a Trinidadian.
I lived in Trinidad for well over a year - close to a year and a half (and 'No, I did not miss snow or the seasons.  Even at Christmas!).
I love Trini food.  I thought that I had died and gone to food heaven.  Everything tasted so good.  I mean everything.  Even at homes where we might just show up out of the blue made us fantastic food.  Pot Lucks - something that fills me with fear here in Canada (true confessions) - were fantastic.  Most people aren't afraid of cooking and don't rely on prepackaged food to get there.  The problem is that I don't cook  Trini food often enough.
The food looks straight forward, even on paper but when you try to make it you realize how difficult it is to get those flavours and textures just right.  I've watched D's Mom cook, I've watched D's Granny cook (she was famous for her cooking).  In fact, I've watched them cook this particular dish.  I've made this dish many times myself AND STILL I find it hard to get it 'right'.  I don't know what it is exactly but something comes out wrong.  When you do get this right though, it's one of the single most satisfying dishes in the world and any Trini will be happy to confirm it.


Rumour has it that a few years ago when Jay-Z was in Trinidad for Carnival, somebody's Mom got paid $700 US for a pot of pelau.  Restaurants don't stay open late in T&T (like really late I mean) and Jay-Z and entourage were hungry.  One of the contact people called his Mom, got her out of bed and she cooked up a pot for the lot.  I'm sure that Jay-Z and co. were happy to pay for it too - it's that good.
You can throw anything in this stuff... chicken, including feet (yeah, haven't actually seen that one yet), pork, carrot... you get the idea.
Don't let me put you off trying this though - it's well worth it.  The taste is great.  I'm officially resolving to cook more Trini food.


Beef Pelau (adapted from 'Naparima Girls School Cookbook' and my Mother-in-law)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef chuck

herb seasoning:
2 tsp each - thyme, chives, parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
2 - 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup

1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tin coconut milk (about 2 cups)
2 cups water
1 packet of beef bouillion
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 slices bacon, sliced
1 tin pidgeon peas or kidney beans
2 cups of long grain rice, washed

In a bowl, season the meat with the herb seasoning.  Set aside.


Heat a large pot or Dutch oven.  Add in the brown sugar.  Let the brown sugar melt but not start to turn black (this will take a few minutes - be patient).  Add in the onion and the bacon.  The sugar will seize up a bit but be patient and keep stirring it.  Once the onion and bacon cooks down a bit and the sugar starts to liquify again, add in the seasoned meat.  Let all of that cook over med/high heat until the liquid cooks down.


Mix together the coconut milk, water and bouillion and set aside.
Once the liquid in the meat cooks down, add in the pidgeon peas or beans.  Again, cook down for just a few minutes.  Add in the rice and mix briefly.  Finally, add in the coconut milk, water and bouillion.  Mix well.  Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed (about 30 min. or so).

Just when I think that my cycling is probably over for the season the weather surprises me.  We are at about 1 month before Christmas and, no word of a lie, I'm still biking.  It's cold mind you.  I'm piling on the layers.  But, once you get out there, moving in it, you feel fine.  You feel good.  In fact, you feel great.  It's kind of like you are beating the season - HaHa Winter.  I know you're there but I'm not going to let you keep me down.
Let's face it though, the riding is going to be over soon and I gotta fill the hole.  It's back to yoga in a serious way.  I start ramping up my running to 4 times a week as well.  You know, keeps your heart pumping and your brain clear.  Well, clearer!  I love that about exercise in general.  The stuff that you think about, the way that you motivate yourself, the focus.  Today, as I was running to work I started to think about words.

I think that some words are funny.  Not just words like 'twat', 'munter' or 'wanker' but everyday words like 'bloop' or 'splish' (yeah, I totally use that one on daily basis Wanda).  So, I also think that 'cauliflower' is a funny word.  I have no clue what a 'cauli' is - I should look it up... let me go do that....
Ok, thanks to Wikipedia I have just learned that it comes from the latin word 'caulis' which means cabbage and, well, 'flower' is pretty straight forward.  Ok, well that learned it's still a funny word.  It's a great nutritious veg though.  In the past I have made this adaptations of this curry with chick peas instead of daal or lentils.  Since D doesn't like chickpeas I have altered things a little.  I saw this recipe for this funny sounding veg in one of my mags and decided to give it a go - with my own little twists of course ;-).  Now do take note, D found that this wasn't quite strong enough in the curry department for him and would also have preferred a little more heat (which you can add after the fact so I don't know what he's on about there) so if you think that you might be in the same boat then adjust accordingly.  Add another tbsp of curry/cumin/garam masala and maybe a dash (or four) of pepper sauce.  I love this kind of stuff.  This is comfort food that keeps me going and feels good doing it.  Funny words and all!


Cauliflower, Lentil and Coconut Milk Curry adapted from Delicious UK
serves 4

1 cup (150 g) red lentils or daal (I used daal)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp curry paste (mild or hot)
3 tbsp grated ginger (less if using ground)
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 med cauliflower broken into florets (cut large ones in half)
2 tomatoes diced (I left this out although it would add some depth to the curry)
1 can of coconut milk
dash of salt

Put the lentils into a bowl with double the amount of water and simmer for about 20 min.  Until the lentils or daal become a thick puree.  Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the garam masala, turmeric, cumin, cardamom and curry paste.  Add a little water and make into a thick paste.  Set aside.

In a large pan, heat about 3 tbsp of oil and add the mustard and coriander seeds.  Cook just until they pop a little.  Add in the onion and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for about 2 min.

Add the cauliflower to the pan and coat with the onion/spice mixture.  Cook for about 4 min.  Add in the spice paste and mix well.  Add a little water to mix it.  Add in the tomatoes and the lentils/daal (with the cooking water and all).  Mix well and cover for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked through.  Check the tastes and add a dash of salt if needed.

I run.
I run a lot.  I run about 3 times a week.  A total of about 26 km.  Sometimes more.  Okay... I'm no olympic athlete or anything but I keep it goin'.
I also bike.  Not as much as running but I keep it moving too.  Times kinda running out for me and my bike though.  I've probably got about two weeks left before I put her away until the snow clears.  I'm good with cold.  I just psych myself up for it (and dress appropriately of course) and off we go, my bike and me.  Once the snow hits though that's when I've kinda had enough.  I don't trust the streets here in the winter.  Maybe I'm a chicken but that's how it is for me.


The running though I do year round.  That's has it's own challenges.  You see, I don't use a treadmill.  Partly because I don't like them that much and prefer to run outside and mostly because good ones are damn expensive (and big!) and I can't afford it.  I dream about owning one though.  About getting up early in the morning and having an hour to run while watching a movie or something, before everyone has gotten up.  As it is though, I leave for work early enough to give myself time to run there and clean myself up afterwards.  Challenge is that it's cold and dark and early and outside...  AND right now I psyching myself up for running to work tomorrow morning.


These kinds of recipes are ones that I like because they are a stew sort of thing but they have taste that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.  It's food that sticks to your ribs and tastes great on the way down.  You feel filled up and warm for a long time afterwards.  Just the stuff to keep you going on a cold, dark, early (ok, I don't eat this stuff for breakfast) running day.


Coconut Chicken adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine
serves 4 - 6

3 tbsp butter or oil
1 lg chicken cut into 9 or 10 pieces
2 onions coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green or red pepper, thickly sliced
Lg piece of ginger chopped or 2 tbsp ground ginger
3 tsp each coriander, cumin and cardamom
1 chicken bouillion cube
salt to taste
2 tbsp honey
1 lg can diced tomato with juice
1 tin coconut milk
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped

Place the oil or butter in a large pan (I used a Dutch oven) and flash fry the chicken until browned.
Remove the chicken from the pot and add in the veggies.  Cook for a few minutes, until just starting to wilt and add in the chicken again.  Cook for a few minutes together.
Add in the ginger, coriander, cumin, cardamom and bouillion.  Cook together for a few minutes.  Add in the honey and mix well.  Add the tomato, coconut milk and salt.  Check the tastes and adjust as necessary (may want to add a little heat as well).  Throw in the basil.
Simmer at low heat for about 30 minutes.
Serve over basmati or steamed rice.

Thai food has become very fashionable of late.  It's kind of become, for me, like 'chinese' food was in the 70's and 80's.  You know the stuff I'm talking about, I know you do.  I grew up in a small town in Ontario.  We had all the stereotypes to go with it.  That  included the one 'chinese' family in town owning and running our only chinese restaurant - The Coronation Restaurant!  Yup... I ate there.  Chinese fried rice, sweet and sour chicken balls (ok that makes me want to gag just a little bit right now),  chinese bean sprouts (I don't know exactly what they were called but that's what we called them!).  Imagine my shock when I went to my first dim sum in Montreal's Chinatown and discovered that chicken balls were not on the menu.  I discovered that in reality most actual chinese food was nowhere near that stuff from The Coronation Restaurant.  Shattered!!!  (The dimsum was dope though, I won't lie)
I have a suspicion that if I went to Thailand that the food we are eating here and calling Thai curry and such would be nothing like the red/green curry, phad thai noodles and crap that we're eating ourselves silly with.  What the hell though, it tastes great.  I'm not complaining.


Here's what I've discovered with Thai stuff though.  If you want it to taste like it does when you go out for it (well almost the same) then you have to use fish sauce.  I'd heard that this stuff smelled gross so I was expecting something to knock me over when I opened the bottle.  However, nothing of the sort happened.  In fact, I didn't smell anything at all.  It was pretty innocuous.  It made a huge difference in the taste of the red curry sauce though.  All in all, this came together quite quickly with the right ingredients.  I got this ready in about a half hour from start to simmer.  The taste is really good, it's satisfying and it would be nice enough to serve to guests - especially since it makes you look all 'au currant' and all that ;-)


Red Curry Pork
serves 4 - 6

oil for frying
1 1/2 lb pork (I used chops, tenderloin would do too) cut into strips
1 small onion sliced thin
1 or 2 red/yellow/orange peppers, sliced thin
3 cups green beans, ends cut and beans halved
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of coconut milk
2 - 3 tbsp soy sauce
2 - 3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp red curry paste
2 lemon grass sticks (optional)
salt to taste


Heat a large wok and add enough oil to fry veggies.  I used sesame oil which has a beautiful aroma.  Add in the onion, pepper and beans.  Fry at medium heat for a few minutes.  Add in the garlic and fry that for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add in the pork.  Cook with the veggies until the pork begins to turn colour.  Add in the soy sauce and fish sauce.  Swish around for a couple of minutes.  Add in the coconut milk and curry paste.  Swish around some more until the curry paste is well incorporated.  Add in the lemon grass and salt just to taste.
Serve with rice or noodles.
Easy... Yum!