Easy to cook. Hard to resist!

The mercury hit 113 F this afternoon*. Ooof.

I’ve been checking out the local ethnic markets. I found a decent Asian market and also a good Indian market. From the Indian market, I couldn’t resist this box of Kat-a-Kat Curry Mix:

Now with more brains.

In case you’re having trouble reading it, the box says, “Mix for stir fried chops, brain, heart & kidneys,” and the back of the box does indeed say, “Easy to cook. Hard to resist!”

You can buy it here, and they have a recipe, too, which calls for (among other things) 2 goat kidneys, 1 goat heart, 2 goat brains, and 3 mutton chops. I guess you’re out of luck if you only have one goat to slaughter — either that, or you’ll have to do with less brains. Sigh.

I’m going to make the Wimp’s Version, which substitutes chicken thighs for . . . well, for everything. Thighs aren’t too challenging. I’ll boil some potatoes and add those in, and we can pretend they’re brains.

I’ll keep you posted.

D.

*According to Karen, formally, the temps are checked in the shade. So it only maxed out at around 104 today. Does it make any sense to check it in the shade, when we drive, walk, etc. under the beating sun?

Necessity is the mother of garbage

We’re staying in temporary housing while we wait for this house deal to go through escrow. It’s a good-sized apartment, about 1000 square feet, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room/dining room, kitchen with a gas range and granite counter tops, and a washer and dryer. Oh, and it’s furnished, too! Everything we could ask for (and now, with INTERNET!)

But the kitchen is a bit lean. I had to buy a cutting board today, and I have so far resisted the temptation to buy a decent butcher knife since we own two (at least) (but they’re both packed). I’ve had to restock the kitchen with staples, which I never seem to do in a logical fashion.

So . . . I wanted to make that rhubarb crisp dessert I told you about the other week (click on the food category if you missed it), this time with peaches and nectarines and rhubarb. But I forgot that I needed corn starch. Worse, the recipe calls for flour, and I only had oatmeal. And matzo meal. So I used matzo meal instead of flour*, and I left out the corn starch; I reduced the water to 1/2 cup and crossed my fingers.

I had the usual thought at this point. Maybe I’ve discovered a new recipe! Maybe everyone will talk about my amazing matzo meal fruit crisp!

I took the first taste, and I didn’t think it was bad at all. Nothing incredible. Not a recipe that will go viral. So I gave some to Karen and Jake, and soon realized that I had failed to take into account The Matzo Effect: if you’re Jewish, everything tastes better with matzo. That’s just the way it is. But it only works if you’re Jewish.

Two big fehs from Karen and Jake. They both tasted a spoonful, and both had strawberry ice cream for dessert.

I can’t quite bring myself to throw it out. I like it, but I shouldn’t eat this stuff — I’m kind of dieting. And exercising. But I’m still fat. Fat! FAT.

Fat.

D.

*Turns out I had indeed bought flour, but put it in the freezer to keep it fresh . . . and then forgot about it. I’d outsmarted myself.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I thought about writing some sort of “pros and cons of B-field” post, but honestly, I don’t know the town well enough yet. My list thus far:

Pro: We’re getting used to global warming way before our pals back in the Pacific Northwest.
Con: By the time they experience global warming, we’ll look like Raisinettes.

Pro: Thanks to the heat, women show a lot more skin here in B-field.
Con: Thanks to the heat, women show a lot more skin here in B-field.

Yeah, that’s all I have. That and Chinese chicken salad. This stuff . . .

Chinese chicken salad, the standard interpretation

Or is it this version?

Chinese chicken salad, all farfed up.

More below the cut.

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