I'm Not Mad at You I'm Mad at the Dirt!

So last Friday I did end up going to the Nats game. The evening cleared up beautifully, but the Nats sucked. They only gained 1 point by walking. It was so painful to watch Sean and I left before the 7^th inning was over. But they did a great job on the new stadium! It’s so weird to think what used to be there, and how different it looks now.

Sean is frustrating me lately; I know it’s not his fault, I knew when I started dating a chef that out schedules would be very different. But it seems like it will be several weeks before we have a weekend off together again. Actually, we rarely even have a whole weekend together. Maybe it seems childish to complain about it, but it’s hard for us to see eachother during the week, and I’m getting frustrated with seeing him once or twice a week.

The Mommy Dearest Mother’s Day was a lot of fun, despite a lingering cold on my part, and the dreary rain. Fernando came with Joan-red lips, and Phillip brought the fur hat and wire hangers! Other friends came as well, there was food (see tagine recipe below) and wine, and I can’t help it – no matter how many times I watch it I still crack up when Joan dragged Christina into the bathroom “Does this look clean to you???” There’re some people I wouldn’t mind beating with a can of Ajax.

I almost went to sHOwtunes last night at my “favorite” bar with F & P, but I stayed home to get the hell over my cough and rest (by the way, I highly recommend the Aveda mud masks – I guess you could say I had a Mommy Dearest evening of my own). I almost wish I’d gone – I hear “S” was there – another source of frustration lately as I’m not sure how to handle that. I want to be friends but there’s those moments when we catch ourselves being too close. Don’t fear – I have the other witches keeping me in check.

The cold, wet weather lately has made me cook more than I usually do, so here are two recent recipes I think are worth sharing.

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
20 oz fresh or canned pineapple bits
1 cup shrimp
1 tsp sugar
1tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 Thai chillies, chopped
Handful of Thai basil leaves
Handful of cilantro leaves
2 cloves garlic
1.2 chopped onion (opt)
Cook the jasmine rice per directions, set aside. In a wok with 1 tbsp vegetable oil, stir-fry shrimp until done, set aside. Add 1tbsp oil and stir fry garlic, onions and chilies until browned, then add rice. Add sauce (sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce) and cook several minutes, adding pineapple, basil and cilantro last.

After our experience at Marrakesh Palace, I am dubbing this hybrid recipe “Surly Apricot Olive Chicken Tagine”
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 dried apricots
8-10 kalamata olives
Pinch of saffron
Spanish smoked paprika
Sea salt / fresh ground pepper
Pinch dried parsley
Dash red pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp per pound meat, Morocco Road spice blend (available at Whole Foods) or individually:
Cumin, Corriander, Dried Mint, Tumeric blended to be added at 2 tbsp per pound meat.
1 cup chicken stock (NOT broth)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp honey.
Mix honey, red wine vinegar, lime juice, chicken stock together, set aside. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt, pepper and paprika. In tagine (or slow cooker) heat 1 tbsp olive oil, cook onions and garlic. Before they brown, add chicken and cook until done. Add liquid stock, and Moroccan spices, saffron, red pepper, parsley. If using a tagine make sure it is on LOW setting and cover for 1 ¼ hour to slow cook. Add dried apricots and olives in last 20 minutes of cooking. Serve with a surly attitude and don’t refill anyone’s drinks. ;)