Random updates and assorted crap

First, an update on my food challenges. I've sourced what I think are the cutest indoor herb gardens around! Too cute, and not very expensive, either. I think I'll probably order them in April with that cute stackable planter. I want other herbs, too, but I'll just have to venture to a garden store or something. Which should be interesting. While I'm there, I'm considering getting tomatoes, too. I just LOVE fresh tomatoes. Really, does anything taste better than a fresh, homegrown tomato, perfectly ripe, with just a little salt and pepper? I eat them like apples. Or sliced in a caprese salad. Mmmmmmmm.

Anyway, back to the other challenges. I've been passively on the search for an easy ethnic dish to try that I hadn't done before. Then, suddenly, along comes the perfect dish: Butter Chicken. The recipe comes straight from India, even, from an Indian woman living in Mumbai who is, apparently, quite the Chef. I cooked it yesterday and OH MY GOD it turned out absolutely fabulous. I'm hooked now. I think Indian is the way to go for a while, unfortunately for my office colleagues who get to smell the leftovers - some people just don't go for the curry smell, you know. Weirdos. Anyway, here is the recipe I used, with my modifications and notes (modifications are strictly due to inability to get certain things, not because I thought changing the recipe would make it better at all). I also doubled the recipe, using 2 chicken breasts and one huge onion.

Butter Chicken

2 to 3 Tbsp. butter
1 onion
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. crushed garlic (I used 8 cloves through a garlic press)
2 tsp. crushed ginger (I used a knob about as big as my thumb, grated)
½ tsp. ground turmeric
1 to 2 tsp. ground chilli
1 Tbsp. coriander (I had to look up whether this meant the ground coriander seed or fresh cilantro leaves - it's the ground coriander)
400 grams / 14 oz of skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts (used 2 chicken breasts, about 1.5 lbs total)
¼ to ½ cups ground almonds (these ended up being just finely to roughly chopped due to only having one grinder and it's got coffee grounds in it)
225 gram / 8 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes with juice (used 14.5 oz can)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup of unsweetened yoghurt

Trim and cut the chicken into small cubes, cover and put aside. Slice the onions into thin wedges (lyonnaise).

Heat a large saucepan or frying pan and melt 2 to 3 Tbsp. butter until it is frothy. Add the onions and the cinnamon to the pan and fry lightly. When the onions are soft stir in the crushed garlic and ginger. Then add the turmeric, chilli and coriander, and sauté over a medium heat. The spices are fried first to release their maximum flavour and this really enhances the dish.

Add the cubed chicken and sauté stirring constantly until the chicken has turned white. Pour in the ground almonds, tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix thoroughly. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the yoghurt and heat through. Serve on rice with a salad and Indian bread if desired. (serves 4)

Chef's cooking tip: the flavour is enhanced if you marinate the chicken with a paste of ginger, garlic & 1/2 tsp. lemon juice for 30 minutes before cooking.

I didn't marinate the chicken because I thought I'd just chuck it all in the pan, but after spending so much time cutting and chopping and grating and crushing . . . I should have. I will next time I make this, which is probably later this week. It's that good. This is really, really easy and, as I say, is an authentic recipe which really makes me happy. I've never ever had it before, so I have no restaurant or other experiences to compare it to. I didn't eat it with rice or bread because I'm trying to lose weight right now, but I might try it with a little brown rice this weekend, depending on my weigh-in April 1. Oh, and the Chef must not eat much at all - if half of what I made is supposed to be 4 servings, they must either eat like birds or eat it with lots of rice, salad and naan.

Speaking of which, the Chef also provided a recipe for naan which doesn't use a tandoori oven, so at some point I'll attempt that, too. That means I can then tick off another challenge, right? The bread one?

Ballet classes really do pay off. On public transportation, anyway. I discovered about a year ago that a modified fourth position is the best way to maintain your balance when standing on a crowded Metro bus or train. Try it. Seriously, it works. Of course, most people look at you a little funny, but I just figure I'm providing them with some of that free entertainment that public transportation is known for.

Also, WMATA. Yes, I'm talking to you. Can you please get your collective asses in gear and do something about the escalator situation? This is seriously becoming a problem now. Look, I know you're busy with trying to figure out your new raises, and hiring on a new chief or whatever, and planning that new line out to Tysons and Dulles Airport (very nice move, btw, and only about 20 years overdue, but never mind that), and supposedly you're revamping the bus routes and schedules for my lines (yeah, I'll believe THAT when I see it), but COME ON. This morning, out of 5 escalators at my station, there was a grand total of 2 working. 2! Out of 5! Congratulations on sinking to a new low, my friends. Mind you, the up escalator that I need to use going home has only worked for a total of 2 weeks since Thanksgiving, so I don't know why I'm surprised at this at all.

In other news, the National Cherry Blossom Festival is once again upon us. And once again, in one of its finest traditions, our country borrows a festival from another country and fucks it all up. See, these cherry trees were given to us by the Japanese government. In Japan, as explained so well by Jo, they celebrate the blooming of the cherry trees, and spring in general it seems, with lounging in parks under the trees and copious amounts of food and booze. THAT'S a celebration. Not the crap they try to pawn off on us here. I mean, how are we supposed to properly celebrate this thousands of years old tradition when we can't even have any booze out on the Mall? Can't they get anything right? Sheesh.

And finally, the stars may truly be aligning for me. Finances improving steadily, thanks to new job that I actually don't hate. And now it appears that a very nice apartment will be coming available just about the time I'd be able to afford to move into it. It's in a nice area, not the 'hood, in a great building with a pool, and parking, and 24 hour security, and a convenience store right there . . . and it's a lot more space than I have now . . . and the rent includes utilities, which means it's not really any more than what I pay now . . . and the landlord allows pets . . . and it has a dishwasher . . . and can you tell I really, really want this place? Cross your fingers for me that the landlords will be willing to overlook my crap credit and depend instead on my current landlord's referral and my job.

Oh, one more thing: my best friend, who reads this shite (lord knows why, must have a thing for self-inflicted pain like the rest of you freaks ;) ), is finally moving home after a little over 3 years in Oz. It's not due to the happiest of circumstances, but I'm thrilled that we'll finally at least be in the same country again and I'm going to do my damnedest to get her back to DC (K, you have been warned!). I just wish it were under better circumstances. K Warning: full-on DC appeal will be forthcoming when I have more time tonight!