Made a chicken curry in the crockpot, after Frankenstein-ing several recipes I found online.

It came out very well.

The only "problem" is that I used too much chicken broth and no arrowroot starch, so it came out just a skinch watery. (If I'd let it cook down a little more or added the starch, it woulda been poifect.)

I was thinking about trying to add cauliflower in there, but all I had was frozen (and that would've added even more to the watery aspect) and the crock was looking pretty full anyway.

Chadu's Crockpot Chicken Curry
* 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch strips or chunks; OR 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
# 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
* 1 can new potatoes, sliced, drained
* 1 can chickpeas, drained
# 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1 large onion, quartered and sliced thinly
# 3 cloves garlic, minced
# 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
# 1 tablespoon soy sauce or Tamari
# 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
# 1 teaspoon turmeric
# 1 teaspoon ground ginger
# 1 teaspoon hot sauce
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Whisk together all ingredients marked with an octothorpe (#) in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Layer onion, new potatoes, chicken, chickpeas in crock.

3. Pour mixture from step one over stuff in crock. Feel free to give it a stir.

4. Slow cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

5. Make some rice -- brown rice packet from Trader Joes was excellent here (2 minutes in microwave).

6. Serve!

7. Eat!

8. Bliss out!

Tags: food

Growing up in my hometown, there was Sam's Pizza.

Sicilian pizza (square), but with a thinner semi-Neapolitan crust (crisp and chewy, but not thick/cakey). Sauce was sweet and a little salty.

Any DC Metro area peeps know where I can find something similar?

Mario's (in Clarendon) and Marino's (on Jeff Davis Hwy) come close, but their crusts are both still a bit too thick and cakey for my tastes.

(A week of South Beach as made me really want a pizza, but no simple one will make me fall off the wagon. It's gotta be exactly what I want.)

Tags: dc-metro, food

One of the good things about telecommuting today is that I get to test out my crockpot cooking on LOW. I've been a bit worried how the kitties will react to it if I leave it go all day. (They are curious but dumb.)

I'm basing it off of this recipe.

Here are my hacks (of necessity):
* Using chicken thighs (what I had).
* Using chunky peanut butter (what I had).
* Using chipotle salsa (what I had).

The only bit here that gives me pause is the chipotle aspect. I took a taste as I put it over the chicken, and it was INTERESTING. Not particularly Thai, I think, but INTERESTING.

T-Minus 9 hours to find out what's what.

Tags: food

The Spiced Citrus Chicken I made in the crockpot last night came out as an unqualified success!

I based it off of this recipe.

Here are my hacks:
* Used chicken thighs.
* Used OJ.
* Used 2 Tbsps. of Moroccan Spice Mixture (Spice House) to replace chili powder.
* Reduced paprika to 1/2 tsp.
* Reduced cayenne to 1/2 tsp.
* Cooked on HIGH for 4.25 hrs.

It came out fantastic. Since I just started South Beach, I served it over the remnants of some bag spinach, which was pretty tasty.

(Next time I do this, I'm gonna add about half a small bottle of sliced green olives and serve it over whole wheat couscous.)

Tags: food

I maded meatsloaf tonights. But first...

A follow-up on how the Mutant Moroccan Chili recipe came out.

Okay, fairly tasty.

There were three minor negative issues with it, however:
1. A bit too salty.

2. A bit too thick (and, taking into account my love for "soups you can eat with a fork," that's saying that it's way damn too thick for most normal people).

3. Beef was not the optimum meat for the spice mixture.

#1 and #2 can be solved by me adding about a cup, cup and a half of water or other liquid to the mix. #3 can be solved by using chicken, I think... but I've never stewed chicken, so some research is necessary.

Thus, I call this experiment a mixed success.

---

MEATSLOAF

Let me begin by saying that St. Alton of Brown is a BIG FAT CONFUSING PERSON.

He gives two different recipes and methods and admonitions between I'm Just Here for the Food and the Good Eats episode, "A Grind is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

To wit: the egg. In the book, 2 eggs. In the ep, vehemently 1 egg.

Recipes are completely different, suffice to say.

Jerk.

Anyways, I mostly followed the book, though I -- as usual -- modified the hell out of it:

2 eggs, beaten
1 lb ground sirloin
i lb ground pork
1 T. Worschershire sauce
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1 small can stems and pieces mushrooms
1 half red onion
1 T. dried minced onion
3 T. Penzey's Old World Seasoning
1 T. A-1 Sauce
2 t. Heinz 57 Sauce (all I had)
1 T. minced garlic
1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper
1 piece bread, torn into small pieces
1 cup italian breadcrumbs

350 degree preheated oven, casserole dish, cover with foil, 75 minutes, 15 minute rest

I've had a slice or two already, and -- surprisingly -- it's not salty enough. I avoided adding any extra salt due to salt being in the Old World Seasoning. However, this lack-of-saltiness is sporadic throughout the loaf (from my sample slices thus far), and I believe it could be corrected with a heavy pinch of kosher salt and better mixing of the gooey mess o' meat.

I may want to experiment with chuck instead of sirloin next time (as it's the preferred meatloaf meat), but I think the fattiness of the pork protects the sirloin. Also, I may take St. Alton's recommendation and sweat the onions next time before adding to the bowl.

The true test of this recipe will be over the next few days, however. For me, the preferred method of meatloaf consumption is on a sandwich with plenty of mayo. I am hopeful that when the meatsloaf cools enough to be placed in the fridge, and cools further from the coldness within, it will slice a bit solider and be suitable for meatsloaf sammitches for this week at work.

More as it develops, food fans!

---

In other news, I am the proud possessor of a new piece of lab equipment: a 3 quart crockpot.

I have resisted crockpot-cooking for a long time, as most meals that come out of such tend to be... bland. However, drivingblind and omphaloskepsis have put paid to that, in that during the Evil Hat Summit, I had a wonderful spicy chicken dish.

I believe I will opt for a chicken dish for my first foray into slow cooking, but am trying to decide between lemon/citrus chicken, chicken and mushrooms, or garlic chicken as the first attempt. Any advice on such greatly welcomed. ALSO, how do I involve brown rice in such, if at all?

Tags: food, mad science

Given the gift of a bottle of Moroccan Spice Mixture (The Spice House) from geekchick, and my lack of fundage (April is gonna be tight), I was inspired today to create a pot of... something to eat off of for the rest of the week.


I have no idea what to call it, and -- as it's still simmering -- I have no idea if it will be any good. Here's the "recipe":

2 lbs. of chuck, browned with a handful of diced red onion, 1 drained can stems & pieces of button mushroom, about a clove of minced garlic, salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of Moroccan Spice Mixture (MSM), a shot of Chipotle Tabasco, and a shot or three of rottgrub's hot sauce.

Deglazed the fond with 3/4 of a cup of Carlo Rossi Paisano (classy!).

Added 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a drained can of chickpeas, the rest of the red onion, another half cup of Paisano, half of a bottle of sliced green olives, a can of tomato paste, and 3 tomato paste cansful of water. Added about another tablespoon, tablespoon and a half, of MSM.

Bring to a boil; boil for 4 minutes.

Reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 3.5 to 5 hrs (as you will) -- stirring every 15 minutes.

We're into the third 15 minute period. This needs to cook until at least 3 pm or 3:30, to give the collagen in the chuck time to dissolve.

My question is this: what the hell do I call this thing? It's the mutant baby of beef stew, chili, tagine, and Eye-talian gravy. (I'm taking suggestions.)

I suspect it should be tasty. I hope so -- I've been mourning the lack of Trader Joe's Tagine Simmer Sauce.

I'll make another post about the relative edibility of the result.

I'll prolly serve it over couscous.

Tags: food, mad science

So, I get home from work yesterday to find my cable modem has died. Won't reset, no matter what I do.

Called Comcast. Got put on hold for 35 minutes. Finally got through to a technician. He tried to reset it (this worked the last time it went dead). Nada, zip, zilch. The modem is at least 4 or 5 years old at this point, maybe it just gave up the ghost. The guy on the phone said it might have something to do with "signaling."

"Luckily," I have a technician coming out tomorrow between 9 and 12 while I'm telecommuting to either fix it or give me a new one.

So, in the face of this, I did what any reasonable crazyhead person would do: wrote for two hours on S7S, made deviled egg salad, and watched Countdown.

gah

Tags: food, gah, game design, s7s, writing

My friend Jess Nevins/ratmmjess is in town doing some research at the Library of Congress for upcoming encyclopedic works of his. While he's been here, I've taken on the role of Cruise Director: plying him with food, drink, and friendly people.

It's Jesstoberfest in DC.

Thursday night: Boardgames/cardgames with righteousfist and John M., with deadly pizza from Monterey's Gourmet Pizza. (I still think that Angelico has the edge, but was a damnfine za.)

Friday night: Drinks and dinner at the , with oletheros, crossbonesdj, and geekchick.

Saturday: Nuffink Jess-related, as he needed to rest after putting a couple gruelling days over the microfiche/microfilm reader. (Though boadiccea, rottgrub, and I dig go to Gadsby's Tavern, which I've always wanted to go to.)

Sunday: Trucked up to Silver Spring to visit/strategize/chew the fat with drivingblind and rob_donoghue (and omphaloskepsis fluttering around in the background).

There should be at least one or two more episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Nevins before he toddles back off to jolly old Texas-land.

Tags: 240 dollars worth of puddin', dc-metro, evilhat, food, game design, gaming, sekrit projekt, silly

Poll #1094814 Classy, Gauche, or Weird?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Dinner tonight was a grilled cheese sandwich on ryes and a glass of pinot noir.

While I ate, I was reading PRIDE & PREJUDICE.

Tags: books, food, silly

Ran an alpha playtest session of S7S for the Musketeer group today. Much violence doen to their particular setting, then: chili!

( the gory details )

After the MUsketeer group left, I went to the supamarkette -- to buy CHILI FIXINS!

Yes, indeedy-do, it's the first chili of the season. I dub this batch "talking on the phone to your mom while listening to very loud 80s music" chili. It should be ready around midnight, after my careful stirring every fifteen minutes.

Many thanks to taschoene for grabbing some arrowroot starch and chili powder from Penzey's in Falls Church -- which I have until now avoided, due to the New Austerity (tm).

Because, gods, the amount of money I could spend in Penzey's in quite amazing.

2.5 hours to chili, yo!

Happy Chad!

Tags: asmp, evilhat, food, game design, gaming, s7s, writing