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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

Gonna make some Indian dal dishes. Grabbed some moong beans (yellow lentils) and some red lentils. Plus desiccated coconut (no sugar no nothing) for rendang dish coming up. But I seriously might make this dal recipe tonight. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/101610… So I soaked the moong dal for an hour or so, not the two hours it calls for. Don’t want to be up all night but also I can’t sleep if I don’t try this recipe. Really basic. Boil & then simmer beans with salt & turmeric; then make tarka of garlic/shallot/chili & turmeric. Then mix

Home. And SweetDog wants us to go to Tinkleland and so we go to Tinkleland. MeanCat and Big Eyes stand guard cuz they both love SweetDog immensely as do we all.



The Extra Orangey, Big Eyes, and MeanCat are up to something. I keep hearing the term ‘the spectacular’ but I’m sure it’s fine.

Making paneer Vindaloo. Start by dry wok toasting Kashmiri peppers; green cardamom; cumin, coriander, mustard seeds; black peppercorns; cloves. I love this step twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Then add the garlic, ginger, tamarind paste, white vinegar, and a bit of water. Blend blend blend until smooth smooth smooth. And that’s the vindaloo masala paste.

This is as close to a perfect piece of writing as I’ve read. Sedaris has always been one of my favorite writers but somehow I missed this from 2017. There are segments in here that are laugh out loud funny just after you wince & your eyes water with profound sadness. Wonderful

https://twitter.com/newyorker/status/1639383830535770114

Like this about the intensity of interventions with family members reading their heart felt letters:
“The authors of the letters often cry, perhaps because what they’ve written is so poorly constructed. Then again, reality TV is fuelled by tears”

Made Indian butter tofu again. Cubed some firm tofu. Marinated it in turmeric, cumin, and lemon juice for few hours. Then got started on the sauce. Minced a lot of fresh ginger. Then garlic. Teaspoon each of hot Indian chili powder & paprika. Cinnamon stick. Teaspoon of kosher salt.

Made tikka masala paneer (didn’t make the ‘gravy’ step with the tomatoes and onions cuz I’m lazy). The paneer marinated for 8 hours & then air broiled for 9 minutes on high. Melted a bit but produced a tasty crunch of the homemade marinade. Will serve over basmati rice I felt guilty for not completing the recipe as it should be, so I made the simmering savory masala. Lots of onions & tomatoes & cumin seeds and Kashmir chilies. Then I ladled it out in batches and blended it super smooth. Then back in with tofu to simmer. Over basmati rice. Yay twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Even a quick kinda-parade is awesome with these dangerous criminals.

We ARE The Eastside Orangeys. The Baked Potato is so excited that he had to show SweetDog & Sweet Potato Pie Pup the return of his pumpkin patch. Around here this is huge and exciting news.

Making naan later. Cuz of course I’m making naan later. twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Then I’m making Tikka Masala Paneer. But first I have to open green cardamom pods to get the seeds.

Used a different recipe for Vindaloo. As I suspected, this one IS SO GOOD. Tamarind paste, lots of mild dried Kashmir peppers, cardamom, & coriander seeds did the trick. Not that spicy at all. Just huge flavor. And I blended the Vindaloo paste proper and smooth. Yay me. I present “Tofu Skindaloo” a savory but also tangy-mildly-spicy-with-huge-flavors dish. Indian Vindaloo with tamarind paste, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, lots of Kashmir chilies, cinnamon stick, tbsp of white vinegar, turmeric, and get this, only one teaspoon of salt. Yay me

Getting ready to take Blacky and Stripey to their first adoption event today from noon to 4 at Pet Smart on Victory Drive. Stripey is a sweet fixed/chipped male and Blacky is a sweet fixed/chipped female. They need permanent loving homes. Stop by and save them! Also check out MeanCat in the bottom left of that picture. He’s always trying to recruit for his army. I’m sure it’s fine

The Extra Orangey is getting ready for Operation Protect Basil, which starts in a few weeks and lasts until September or so. These orangeys don’t play around with MeanCat’s main cash crop, now that he can’t sell opium anymore thank you very much DEA. The Orangey Army on maneuvers at Fort Basil.

And so it begins. The making of the naan dough twitter.com/i/web/status/1… The dough rises. I believe at this rate of expansion it should take over the earth in a few days at the most. I’m sure it’s fine.

Made Tofu Makhani (Indian Butter Tofu) and I’m so pleased with this dish. It’s up with my best stuff so far. It’s legit restaurant quality. And Theresa loved it! It starts, fittingly, with a stick of butter. Melt it and add a lot of yellow onions to soften. With teaspoon of legit spicy Indian chili powder. (Or cayenne). Then add garlic and ginger. Cool until onions brown.

Home. And I am making Tofu Vindaloo. Ooooohhhhhh yeahhhh Trust me there is cumin seeds and lots more. This is just what I bought from the Indian cuisine store.

I’ll come out now & say that I’m not sitting for the sergeant promotion because I would be a bad sergeant cuz I object to essentially 80% of police work on the grounds that it really isn’t police work & really shouldn’t/must not be police work. So corporal detective I shall stay I’m not changing anything as a sgt. The issue isn’t a department. It’s way bigger than that; It’s America. As a patrol sgt I’d quit/get fired fast because I can’t turn off my ‘we don’t have to be this way’ operating system. I can help neighbors by solving murders. I accept this