In stark contrast to the last post’s “nice” dessert, this post is about a wild, blow-your-mind-with-flavor main course. It’s only fitting that something so flavorful have a bit of prelude, so first, a bit of trivia. Did you know: Chicken tikka masala is not actually Indian food?
Hello, fall! Goodness, I really let this slide. It gives the impression that I didn’t cook anything, at least anything interesting, for the past 6 months. Sadly, this is true. Happily, it means that I spent the rest of my time having a wonderful summer which was full of travels, family, and driving. Lots of driving. Lots of this:
Simple greens, not Simple Green. Anyway. Greens have always been a staple in my family’s meals. More often than not, our meals would have three main components: rice, a meat dish, and greens. Mind you, these greens were never, ever raw (salad? What’s that?) unless already pickled, or used as a simple garnish.
So that was an awkward absence. But for good reasons (I think). In between the coconut thing and now, there was TAing, researching, thesis writing, thesis fiasco-ing, packing, last minute visiting, absolutely no cooking (shameful, and rather unappetizing by the end of it). And there was this:
Eyeing its impending doom...the mini-screwdriver.
So I picked this thing up at one of the undergraduate dining halls, which tends to have whole fruit and vegetables (tomorrow’s raw ingredients) hanging out in lovely displays. Usually I score a free orange or apple, but when I saw a coconut (tres exotique!), I had to grab one.
Have I got a surprise for you. It might look like just four jewel-bright cups…but WAIT! There’s more!
Most of my entries focus on food. Most of those entries focus on instruction, i.e., what one should do in the kitchen in order to achieve tasty, picture-worthy (hah.) results. However, despite the scads of time one funnels into instruction about how to cook, I believe that the bulk of my cooking education comes from the equally large scads of time that I funnel into learning how not to cook. Taking a cue from the wonderful macheesmo, one of the first bloggers I’ve seen who shares his culinary failures as well as successes, I’ve decided to share several of my failures with you, in the hopes that you’ll learn, and laugh a little, from my mistakes. So here goes…
