Perfect pancit

I had three breasts remaining from that bag and had run out of "creativity."  Pancit was my only solution so I went to H-Mart to get noodles and tamari.  While I was there I picked up some rice bran oil and knew it was a good choice when the lady in line in front of me pointed at it and gave me a nod and a smile of approval.  I was excited by the prospect of a heart healthy oil with a high smoke point; lately I've been apprehensive about using canola oil...not for any reason in particular, but using it seems so fatty.

I was so excited as I drizzled the oil in the pan...added onions, garlic, scallions...then the chicken breasts...carrots, celery, and finally frozen peas...I decided to do a garlic ginger eggplant sauteed in sesame oil on the side.  We stopped ourselves from overeating and topped it off with a Melona (Korean honey dew creamsicle).   

Quick meals

Over the past few weeks I've only made a few quick meals.  The chicken and dumplings were a bit too modern for my taste...one of these days I'll learn how to make it the way the old timers do. The chicken, pepper, and tomato dish was fantastic - reminiscent of cacciatore but far more flavorful.  The following week, I hit the jackpot with frozen whiting fillets with onions, peppers, and a pseudo-jerk marinade. Each of those dishes were conceived at dinner time, didn't take a lot of effort, and were quite yummy.  I finished up that week with a simmer - chicken zigni. 

I have no idea what we've been eating for the past week.  Boy was I happy when my mom invited us over for Easter Dinner.  I had been making chicken cheesesteaks for dinner (onions, peppers, cooper sharp, and no rolls) and doing salads for lunch (romaine, tomatoes, beets, jalapeno cheese, turkey breast).  I made turkey burgers one evening (no rolls - I think I'm tired of the complicated process of buying bread, and the fact that the rolls stay soft in the bread box well past their sell by date gives me the creeps).  Sweet potatoes have become a staple side - just toss in the oven while you figure out the main dish.

This week I announced that I would make spaghetti and meat sauce.  Why did I need a proclamation?  Because although I make all kinds of pasta dishes - it's rare that I make spaghetti and meat sauce.  Growing up, I preferred marinara. 

This time I cut a corner by starting with a jar of Wegman's old fashioned pomodoro sauce.  I sauteed a sweet onion, a head of garlic, and some orange peppers, added ground turkey thigh, then let that simmer in the sauce.  Utterly delicious. 

Tea time

I miss my friends.  I just found "Coffee Talk:  A Celebration of Good Coffee and Great Fiends" - a little book I purchased probably 5 years ago, with the intention of giving it to them.  We've shared Au Bon Pain's Urban Blend and La Colombe's Corsica.  Now, one of them is in California, one in West Virginia, and one in Delaware.  Occasionally I will meet a friend at Starbucks, drink a Caramel Macchiato, and share a slice of lemon pound cake....but it's not the same.

The Saloon, Third Places, Happy Hours - are all places that friends gather for fellowship and a nice beverage.  There are tea houses and coffee shops all over the world that serve the human need for social drinking.  But I'm "Bowling Alone."  I've been brewing lots of good coffee - Allegro, La Columbe, One Village, but there's no one to share it with.  Even my Teavana blends go unappreciated. 

Someone recently asked about the different ways women relax around the world.  Frankly, I think it's having a great conversation with a couple of good friends and a nice cup of tea.  In the Emirates, every majlis has a fawla (dates, coffee, fruit, tea, fruits) that greets visitors - and you must oblige the host.  I miss that kind of hospitality.

A few weeks ago, I asked Abay to make timtimo...my first authentic tasting - cooked down to almost a paste.  After lunch, I asked my friend to make her tea - a tea bag brewed with cardamon pods and cinnamon sticks, sweetened with agave.  We sat around chitchatting and drinking tea.  Abay perked up and said, this is like being back home.

Fabulous fire

I've been a bit frustrated lately.  Being sick was a bit of a setback.  I'm behind in everything and the house is a total mess.  The kids were on spring break for two weeks; everyone seems to be in vacation mode; and my daughter is talking about male domination. 

I've lost my umph for cooking...we've been basically eating to survive - which may actually be a better relationship with food. 

Last week there were only two cooked meals, featuring those ginormous chicken breasts.  Sunday I walked my daughter through a chicken and broccoli stir-fry and Thursday I made a chicken, pepper, and tomato dish that was very good.

Yesterday my husband and I were both thinking about grilling, so I figured that would be on the menu tonight...I planned to make the mustard sauce. After Girl Scouts I went to Whole Foods and chose chicken leg quarters ($1.39/lb) over beef ($8.99-24.99/lb), grabbed some frozen broccoli and headed home. 

I think I became overwhelmed by the clutter and decided against the mustard sauce and opted for a quick marinade instead - bizaara, everyday seasoning, and garlic expressions.  At 430pm I put the sweet potatoes in the oven and made the false assumption that my husband would take care of the rest.  At 6pm, the chicken was still in the refrigerator because apparently I never said if I wanted to do gas or charcoal. 

Based on the fact that both grills were still covered, needed to be cleaned, and then heated, the best course of action was convection.  No one was thrilled with that idea so it was clear that dinner would not be served until after 8pm. 

Lo and behold the charcoal was soaked so the only option was gas.

As we sat eating dinner in the backyard around the outdoor fire pit, I took in the outdoor space we designed almost 10 years ago.  We are doing a little bit of overhaul this season, replacing one area of flowers with a raised bed of veggies. 

It was soothing to sit in front of the fire with my family.

Fit-jera

The berebere depletion began when we moved beyond zigni.  G'at and then fit-fit rapidly depleted the supply.  We embraced dhilik and began thinking about ways to procure more berbere other than taking a plane to Eritrea.  We have learned that the Ethiopians have the best berebere and the Yeminis have the worst.  We now know that Abay gets 7 spices ground to make the berbere that she brings but of course we have no idea what they are.  We planned to go to the Indian spice store so that we could make dhilik - desperate times call for desperate measures.  But fortunately on April 15th, the Ethiopian store will receive a new shipment of bebere...so we just have to hold out two more weeks.

In the intereim we're making it stretch.

I've been sick for the last 10 days...have I rested as I should...of course not, that's why it's been 10 days and counting.  I haven't cooked much but I was too tickled with the kitcha fit-fit (1/2 teff, 1/2 barley) I made last week; now that my friend has had injera fit-fit, she's no longer interested in the other stuff.  She can't believe that her mother never made this stuff as she was growing up.  Because Abay is older, she has been eating a lot more traditional foods, but now we're really additcted. 

Abay says she'll show me how to make injera.  I hope so, because I made some qulwah and the bread I bought was not exactly fresh so the next day the injera was not going to work.  My friend suggested that I mix it into the qulwah and although that's essentially how I like the bread, I didn't want to start off that way, so I made a mock fit-fit. 

I sauteed onions, added a tiny bit of dhilik and rejuvenated the bread...I served it alongside the qulwah and it was delicious.

My daughter has been asking for shiro for ages...now that I have a little berbere, I was able to make some using the besam.  Abay has also suggested that we can make shiro by cooking chick peas with onions and berbere, then smashing.  I made the shiro and then did the same thing with the injera (which has been in the refrigerator since Monday)...that's when my daughter called it "fit-jera."