Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude: For the Love of Garlic

Note: Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude is a weekly feature about food, food and more FOOD. No, I do not necessarily want to be a food blogger, but I do LOVE to talk about food prep, cooking food, eating food and making sweet love to food. Okay, maybe not the "sweet love" part. This is not meant to be some homage to 9 1/2 Weeks.

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Man, I love me some garlic. LOVE ME SOME GARLIC. In the past, I simply used the jarred garlic (by the gallon) but over the years, I ratcheted my love affair with garlic up a few notches.

Doing fresh garlic does take some time - just under 4 minutes. I timed the process - from grabbing the bulb of garlic from my Franciscan Apple garlic keeper, to taking off the skins, to the chopping, to the rinsing of the peeler thingie (which yes, is a Unitasker, but one that I use nearly every day).  I do chop the garlic by hand - I have a mincer, but the knife is just as easy and since I am already using the knife for other things, that translates into one less thing to clean up.

YUM.  The smell of garlic hitting a pan of hot oil is out of this world.

Next, I am reconsidering my use of powdered ginger.

So, what is Your Thing when it comes to cooking? Something that you go the extra step to prepare because it is important to you.

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Today's recipe is the result of a Labor of Love.  Kai Kratiam (Garlic Pepper Chicken) is one of my husband's favorite dishes at our favorite Thai restaurant here in Kansas City - the Thai Place.  I searched long and hard for a recipe, but just couldn't find one that replicated the restaurant's version.  Then, I had a Lightbulb moment while going through some Rick Bayless recipes - he mentioned that chicken breast is a great substitute for pork and I realized that I needed to re-examine ALL of my cookbooks (Frankly, my eyes immediately glaze over when pork is mentioned in a cookbook since the extent of our pork consumption is the occasional slice of bacon and pepperoni on our pizza.)  So, there it was all along in my copy of Simply Thai Cooking- Moo Kratium, the pork version of the the dish I'd been looking for.  I still had to modify it a bit - adding cabbage at the end and some fish sauce in the beginning.  But it is about as close as I can get to The Thai Place's version, I guess.

Also, this recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, but I have to admit I put in half a bulb of garlic.

Mmmmm.... GARLIC.

Kai Kratiam (Thai Garlic Pepper Chicken)

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced strips, 2 inches long
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced strips
5 tbsp vegetable oil

Optional Garnishes:
Lettuce leaves
Strips of red bell pepper
Fresh coriander leaves
Sweet and Sour sauce

Preparation:
1. In a bowl, marinate the chicken, fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper and garlic for 5 minutes (up to 30 minutes is fine).

2. On medium-high, heat oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the chicken mixture and spread it out evenly. Fry the chicken until it is brown on one side, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the chicken over and add the sliced cabbage. Fry the other side of the chicken another 3-5 minutes while letting the cabbage sit on top.

3. Either serve this with white rice or serve it on top of a bed of lettuce. No, really!

Childhood's End

Pink Floyd, Obscured by Clouds 1972

This weekend, I am heading to Indianapolis to say goodbye to my friend.  The past few weeks have been a flurry of wrapping some things up, getting travel reservations finalized, etc.  All this while hoping that Manoj's relaxed standards toward Food Safety and Storage kick in and that while I am gone, he finishes all the leftovers in the fridge.  One of the many, many benefits to my Indian husband is his Intestines Forged of Iron.

Added to my list lately has been what I like to call Spoiled White Girl Problems, I've Got 'Em

Spoiled White Girl Problems, I've Got 'Em

Exhibit A: The toaster broke. WOE IS ME, I have to buy a new goddamned toast because without toast, our house falls APART.

Exhibit B: The DVD player broke. WOE IS ME, not only did I have to wait an extra day to finish Dexter: Season One, but I also had to pay more MONEY.  And in the category of Mo' Money, Mo' Problems, I had to agonize over whether to upgrade to a Blu-Ray player. Agony,  I tell you.  Because I am a Spoiled White Girl and Made of Money.  Lots of MONEY.

Exhibit C: The Dishwasher broker.  WOE IS ME, we have to buy a part for it now with all that Money I was just bragging about. While I have freely admitted in the past that I enjoy washing dishes by hand, what I do not particularly relish is a marathon episode of washing an entire load of dishes that had been languishing impatiently for several days in the aforementioned, traitorous DishNotWasher.

Exhibit D: The clothes washer was leaking for a day . WOE IS ME.  Fortunately, it was leaking inside the tub thingie.  And while we have established that I clothe myself in MONEY, I still smacked that bastard around until it had the good sense to get its act together and stop the hell with The Leaking.

Exhibit E: Meanwhile, my fancy pants car has gotten wind of the recent unrest and is on the brink of revolt.  The air conditioner seems to be in cahoots and at times, I find myself sitting in traffic sweating.  Folks, SWEATING.  Gentle Reader, have I already not mentioned the Spoiled and White part?    WOE IS ME. Seriously, sweat is just not My Thing.  Trust me, I have other Things that are My Thing.  I cannot think of what those other Things might possibly be, but whatever, I have Things, I assure you.

And yet, despite all this recent mutiny, our 20+ year old grease-spattered oven that melts kitchen timers survives. Speaking of the wretched Kitchen Timer, I need to add that to the shopping list.  Also?  Add MONEY. I am in want of more of it.

The final tick on my To Do list that I had hoped to have wrapped up was a myriad of outside projects getting fixed on our house after a crazy hailstorm in April.  Our contractor comes out, fixes one thing, then leaves.  Or, even better, tries to fix the WRONG THING.  Then, he leaves.  Every single day, my To Do list includes the item "Call Stan."

With that, I am going to throw out some cute things my kiddos have said and slap up some Simian Snappage.

And then, I am going to call Stan.

Of course.

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Anjali: All the elephants in India wear COSTUME clothes!

I don't know where she gets that idea.

Source: Rajesh Kakkanatt, courtesy Suresh Babu, Wikipedia

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Arun: Anju why were you crying during musical chairs at school today?
Anju: Because I was missing Mama.
Me: Anju, but I thought you didn't like me.
Anju: Yes, but I miss you while I am at SCHOOL.

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The other day, Anjali asked for something and yet, I did not rise immediately to meet Her Royal Highness' latest whim.

Anju: Mama, you aren't getting my milk! You have to do things you don't WANT to do.  That's what grownups are FOR, helping CHILDREN. 

Damned straight,  I am one Spoiled White Girl.

Scream Thy Last Scream

Pink Floyd, 1967

Sleeping With Daddy, Take 4,327,843,212

For 5.5  years, this has been such a common sight in our house. While I cannot give him too much credit for Anjali, our little narcoleptic, Manoj does deserve full marks for still being able to get Arun to sleep.

My husband, the Indian Cesar Milan of Simians.

Tomorrow is our 8 year wedding anniversary and I have been teasing Manoj that we need to celebrate the union of our love.  After all, there is so much to celebrate.

We are so very, very lucky.

Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude: Stirring Things Up

Note: Fridays of Intestinal Fortitude is a weekly feature about food, food and more FOOD. No, I do not necessarily want to be a food blogger, but I do LOVE to talk about food prep, cooking food, eating food and making sweet love to food. Okay, maybe not the "sweet love" part. This is not meant to be some homage to 9 1/2 Weeks.

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I believe that every cook needs a handful of stir fry recipes to go on those busy days when you just need to whip up something fast for lunch or dinner.  I have four recipes that I rotate in and out so that we don't get tired of them -- a South Indian (Keralite?) chicken stir-fry called piralen, a garlic pepper chicken Thai stir fry called kai kratium (recipe for next week!), PF Chang's Kung Pao chicken recipe and a Pakistani stir-fry called karahi chicken.  A karahi is a wok-like pan and I don't actually own one - I just use a regular frying pan.

I jokingly call karahi chicken a "backwards" curry - most curries follow a predictable pattern - caramelize the onions, add the garlic/ginger, add the spices for a quick "bhunifying", then finish with meat, veggies and tomatoes/yogurt.  Karahi chicken completely mixes up all the usual steps and the results are quite tasty.

This recipe was given to me by a lovely Pakistani lady who damned near became my mother-in-law.  While I am perfectly happy with who eventually became my husband, it still makes me sad that I missed out on what would been the best in-laws EVER.  Seriously, they were such lovely, truly nice people, I would have been proud to call them my Baba and Ami.

Ah well, at least I ended up with some kickass recipes.  Oh, if you have a karahi chicken recipe or another stir fry recipe that you would like to share, and/or if you have suggestions on how I can improve this karahi chicken recipe, please feel free to link to your own post in the comments.  I am always on the hunt for new recipes.

Karahi Chicken

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tbsp garlic, chopped

2 tsp ground ginger

1 onion,. thinly sliced

2 cups diced tomato
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you prefer mild)
salt to taste (about 1 tsp)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder

Preparation:
1. Coat the bottom of a frying pan or wok with cooking oil and heat on medium-high.  Brown the chicken, stirring frequently.  After about 7 minutes, add the garlic and ginger.

2. When the chicken is pretty much done, add the salt, cayenne pepper, tomatoes and onions.  Fry for about 5 minutes or so, until the tomatoes break apart.

3. In another small frying pan, coat the bottom with a very small amount of cooking oil and heat on medium-high.   Add the cumin and coriander, stir constantly (add a teaspoon of water if it becomes sticky).  Cook for about 3 minutes, until the spices become aromatic.

4. Add the cumin/coriander mixture to the chicken and stir thoroughly.  Taste for salt, garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro.

Keep Talking

Pink Floyd, The Division Bell 1994

This spring, I came up with a few goals for myself to achieve this summer:

1. Relearn at least one Clementi sonatina on the piano.
2. Remove the wallpaper in the dining room under the chair rail and repaint it to see if that tones down the floral motif.  I might repaint the kitchen as well (decision is still pending based upon the outcome of the dining room.)  
3. Rejoin a local mom's group.  Previously, when I was a member, I was either sick, pregnant and sick, dealing with dual nap schedules or working.  It was always something.  This past spring, I put my foot down with myself and promised that I would not only rejoin the club, but that I would actively participate.  Oh my.  I am SO kicking myself for not getting involved all these past years!  The group is comprised of a really nice group of gals who just want to hang out and do fun, relaxing things with their kids.  No gossip, no politics, they are just a low-key group.
4. Participate in the summer reading program with my kids.  Oh sure, I am always reading something, but I picked up one of the lists for myself - I am going to read a certain number of poems and short stories, just to stretch myself a bit (any recommendations on your favorite short stories or poems?)
5. Finally, I promised myself that I was going to SCHEDULE things.  All too easily, I let our days go by willy-nilly.  In particular, the few hours that I have free while Team Chaos languishes in school.  This summer, I am scheduling lunches with friends, art museum outings, special exhibit outings (e.g. The Princess Diana exhibit was awesome!) and movies.  Their summer session ends mid-July and I am determined to not waste any of these precious kid-free hours.
6. By the end of August, I want to add 5 new recipes to my repertoire.  I have already added one that I am in LOVE with - it's Thai Chicken in a red chili sauce.  I also have a stack of cookbooks from the library that I am poring over.

Honestly?  Life is pretty damned good right now.  I recently read Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, one of the best books I have read in a long time.  I then read Shanghai Girls and Memories of Joy by Lisa See - both were VERY good reads.  Now, I've moved on to the 19th Wife - I am getting used to the different pace after having read three back-to-back books with Chinese immigrant themes.

Also, I joined a Facebook group that I affectionately refer to as the site about "Brown Boys and the White Girls Who Love Them".  Honestly, I am surprised at how much it has meant to me to have a group that understands some of the things that go with being married to a desi.  So far, the group is getting along with no drama (that I have seen anyway!)  and it is really nice to have a place to go to.  Lately, I've been spending more time on the group page than even on blogging!  Huh.

Flower Power

Help!  I am ripping out the wallpaper under the chair rail and am thinking of going with either a forest green or a dark, dark red.  I prefer a red, but what do you think?

Cousins!

Anjali is INSANE over her cousin Alaina.  They are simply too precious when they get together.  They disappear during the entire visit, off in their own little world of make-believe.

Recently, we went to Leavenworth to visit my grandma.  It was such a lovely visit - had a picnic by the river, then visited the Carousel Museum.  Afterward, we went back to her house where she showed the kids her piano, guitar, bongos, etc. (she is a music teacher and is so talented!)  It was so sweet to watch Arun and Anjali's eyes light up as she went from instrument to instrument. 

1850 Hand-Cranked Carousel

So Much Fun!  This is the oldest operating carousel in the United States!

1913 Carousel

Simian Snap!