Day off is done. Ton of yard work done. Even started what will be a loooooooong project: chipping off the bark from our dearly departed giant oak. Tried out some stain to see how it looks. It’s gonna be lovely. But it’s a grind of a project. Figure I’ll do a little every day.
Meanwhile the koi have gotten huge and the stupid orangey fish (god I can’t believe I even have orangey fish) are legion. Hopefully a neighbor can take a few/all orangey fish.
Big Eyes and The Lady Orangey took a nap. They’re ridiculous. From day one they’ve been besties. And yes Big Eyes is turning more orange by the day. This is insanity.
The Extra Orangey slept in bed all day but came out to see what’s the deal with dinner.
And lastly, SweetDog, The Baked Potato, and Sweet Potato Pie Pup never let me forget that Theresa is their queen and where she goes they go. They spend hours hanging out while she does yard work. I’m a distant distant second. Which is fine, cuz MeanCat is gonna murder me anyway.
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First steps of making naan. Keys are bread flour (more protein for the stickiness I think), and full fat Greek yogurt. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, salt, & yogurt in mixer on low for 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap & leave on counter for 2 hours.
2 hours later, divide the dough into 12 similar sized ball thingys. Cover and let sit for 2 more hours.
Two hours later, take the 12 ball thingys and stretch them out into flattened oblong thingys. By hand or roller. I used hand. 8 by 10 inches or whatevs. Get your grill super hot. Like 500 or 600 degrees or acres or fathoms I’m not good with units of measurement.
I’m making Tofu Tikka Masala. It has ALOT of ingredients & steps. These are just some of the spices needed. Take coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, the pods from green cardamom, & fenugreek leaves. Toast for a few minutes. Then grind
Cube your pressed firm tofu. Then mix lemon juice, yogurt, ginger, garlic. Add the spice mix (to which you’ve added hot chili powder, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, turmeric. Blend. And then rub over tofu. Cover in fridge for a few hours. I’ll go cut trees as I wait.
Remember when I wrote that this tofu tikka masala has ALOT of ingredients & steps. Yeah. Not joking. So while my chainsaw battery recharged I finished the dish. Took a few hours. I broiled the tofu under high heat. Flipped and repeat. To get a nice char on the marinade. So good
Getting my early morning wok on! Sichuan eggplant over jasmine rice. Always the right choice.
After brining the sliced eggplant in salted water for 39 minutes and then drying in a salad spinner and tossing with corn starch, I wok fry the pieces for 4 or 5 minutes. Then remove.
Then add the aromatics: ginger, garlic, scallions, pickled peppers, and Doubanjiang (broad bean chili paste). Heat super quick and then add the sauce of chinkiang vinegar, pickled chili juice, soy sauce, sugar, corn starch. This is all quick. Less than a half a minute
Saturday morning at home means cooking. This is Madhur Jaffrey’s chickpea curry. A perfectly spicy, but not hot, bright tasting dish she had in Delhi. So let’s try it out.
Make the paste of coriander leaves, garlic, ginger, green chilis, tomatoes, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, and hot chili powder. Then blend into smooth paste.
In some hot oil, add big bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, whole green cardamom pods for a minute or less. Then add onions and brown them up a bit.
Made my first massaman curry. And this turned out wonderfully. Wow.
This took some time. 2st, Had to make the massaman curry paste: cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, white peppercorn, coriander seeds. Roast/grind into powder. Then blend with shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, lemongrass, red chilis etc etc. it’s strong. But it gets tempered by the rest…
Then fry up some thinly sliced shallots and let drain on paper towels. This is the crunchy topping on the finished plate.
Sorry but I’m gonna post a bunch of pictures of SweetDog. Mute away. Like this when she picked out her last and favorite bed (we used to let her roam PetSmart and try all the beds). She loved this one the most. Was in the dining room where she could see the bedroom and front door
Or this one, that captures her true sense of grace and poise, like Jackie O but more stretchy.
Or this, when Theresa and nieces got their toes done and Lady SweetDog wanted in.