How to Make: Chicken Curry

This is hands-down JJ's favorite meal. So much so, that for my bridal shower, my friends asked JJ what my favorite meal was, and he said "chicken curry." (NO! Chocolate? Sushi?) So much so, that he frequently asks, "Why don't you make chicken curry any more?" Even though I make it probably once a week. I think maybe he would eat curry every day if possible. So, I've figured out a way to make pretty easy chicken curry.

The hardest thing about this meal is that it has some unique ingredients. You can certainly find them at the supermarket, although for a lower quality and a higher price than you would at an oriental supermarket. The two ingredients you should look for are: curry paste (NOT curry powder) and coconut milk (it comes in cans). At the regular grocery store, you can usually find these in the "International Foods" aisle, but they'll probably be the "Thai Kitchen" brand, which is very low quality. Really. You can spend a few bucks on a little tiny jar of curry paste and use almost the whole thing for one meal, or you can buy a big tub of it at the oriental supermarket, and have it for a few months! There are all kinds: red, yellow, green, panang, purple...you name it! My favorite is green and JJ loves red, so usually we have one of each on hand.

So now that you've braved the oriental supermarket, we're ready to get cookin'!

Ingredients

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup diced onion (or dried equivalent) 

Approximately 1/2 cup chicken stock

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 can coconut milk

Approx. 2 Tbsp. curry paste (read package directions...depends on how spicy you like it)

Your choice of veggies, chopped into bite sizes (my favorites are red bell pepper, green beans, and carrots)

Rice to serve it over

1. Brown chicken in a skillet. Make sure not to cook the chicken all the way through--it should still be a little pink in the middle. Remove chicken from skillet, making sure to leave the juices in the pan. Set chicken aside.
2. Mix onion, garlic, and curry paste into the chicken juices in the pan, until onion begins to get tender. You can pour in a little more chicken stock if you need to.
3. Once your onion is nice and tender, throw in your veggies. Pour in the chicken stock--you can use however much you need to give your veggies a nice little "bath." You don't need to cover the veggies all the way up though. Let veggies cook until they begin to get tender, stirring frequently.
4. Put the chicken back in the pan, and pour in the coconut milk. Stir everything really well, and turn down the heat. Your curry is done when the chicken is no longer pink in the middle and your veggies are done to your liking!

"Christmas curry"--green curry paste, red bell peppers, green beans, and potato

Just FYI, you might have to play around a little with the amount of curry paste you use. Back in Tucson, we bought a brand that required 5 Tbsp...and here in MA, I did that the first time with a different brand and we nearly burned our faces off. So that's why I say 2 Tbsp is a good "starting place." Make sure you taste the sauce to see if you need anything before serving...no surprises here people!

Happy cooking, and bon appetit!

Thanksgiving Meal!

Only a week late...but here is our update on how our Thanksgiving meal turned out!

We woke up Thanksgiving morning and were both pleasantly surprised that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade didn't start until 9 am...back in Arizona, it always started at 7 am because of the time difference, and honestly, who wants to wake up that early on the holiday? EWWWW. So we watched the parade in its entirety before we started cooking....oh, the joy that is only serving two people on Thanksgiving! No schedule to follow!

Anyway, first I baked the blueberry pie. In my whole life, I've only ever baked one kind of pie, and that it my grandmother's famous (well, famous to me, anyway) summer season strawberry jello pie. And that's easy. So needless to say, I was nervous to tackle my first ever blueberry pie! Luckily, it turned out pretty good.

Not confident enough to try the fancy lattice-work top...so I opted for a crumble topping with rolled oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon instead. Yuuuuuum.

After the pie was done, it was time to get those chickens in the oven! I've never made Cornish game hens before, and I have to say, I'm more than a little grossed out by raw chicken that is still chicken-shaped. Give me boneless, skinless chicken breasts any day and I'll handle those babies without flinching! There was some confusion about whether there were giblets or not in the hens, and so I spent a good five minutes "making sure" they weren't still frozen to the insides or something. All the while, JJ is of course, making lewd jokes and taking pictures. And then he tells me that there are no giblets and shows me the package. Um, thanks!

You can't see my "eww" face right now....how am  I ever going to tackle a real turkey?

Finally got the chickens prepped and stuffed with wild rice...ready to go into the oven!

Now we had only a couple of hours before feasting time...and with no other really complicated dishes (just crescent rolls, frozen green beans, mashed potatoes and canned cranberry jelly), we had some time to spare! So what to do we do? Harass the cat, of course. (And you thought you were going to read a no kitty-pic post!)

Hehehehe.

Anyway, after waiting patiently and whipping together those few last minute items, it was time to admire our beautiful feast and then eat!

Our finished chickens....yummmmmmy!

Our completed feast....so much food leftover! Didn't cook again until the following Monday =)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are now ramping up for Christmas! We decided to put the turkey taquito tradition on hold...because after all, we did have enough food after Thursday to last us a whole week, and I hate throwing perfectly good food away. So I think we are going to turn it into a New Year's tradition instead =D

And and update on the job thing...so my phone interview went really, really well. They invited me in for an in-person interview this past Wednesday. However, I got an email a few days before saying that one aspect of the clinical trial was found to be ineffective, and the whole project was put on hold and they couldn't hire anybody. WHAT A BUMMER! However, yesterday I got an email from another person at the same place (Fenway Health) asking if I was still interested in the position, but for a different clinical trial. UM, YES. So good news: I have another phone interview on Monday with two different project managers. Hopefully at least one of them likes me enough to bring me in for a real interview! Cross your fingers, folks!

Holiday inspiration

Last night, I had nightmares about our Thanksgiving dinner. Sure, sure, it's just the two of us, so if I mess it up, we can just laugh it off later as our first Thanksgiving disaster. Right after we're done being sad that I screwed up Thanksgiving though, which is a very big deal to both of us.

So all night, I tossed and turned, dreaming about blueberry pie that tasted too cinnamon-y, or the chicken being raw in the middle (remember we are having Cornish game hens), or not cleaning out the chicken right (never done it before) or the potatoes being to lumpy. UGH. It was terrible.

And then JJ found me this video, which I think might be helpful to all you other stressed out turkey-makers this year:

"Here's how you make your turkey taste good...gravy, cranberry, and Pinot Noir. Why do you think they put cranberry on turkey? To make it taste good! It doesn't taste good by itself."

After watching that, I'm good. Another rum and coke (we forgot to buy wine), I'm having fun, it's THANKSGIVING, and we are content.

Missing all of our Arizona family, love goes out to you all. Stop stressing!

More updates later on how our meal turned out =D

Pop-Opera?

JJ, listening to weird music on his computer: "Lindsay, why isn't opera more popular? I mean, I could see how the shows would be boring but the music is really good. How come they don't have like, opera-pop music?"

Lindsay: "You mean like that one scene in the Fifth Element?" ::does opera voice and flails like the lady in the Fifth Element::

JJ: ::stares in disbelief::

Lindsay: "You're right...that was like the best scene in the whole movie..."

JJ: "Making-fun-of-something FAIL."

We spent the next 20 minutes watching opera-esque videos on Youtube.

"That one scene in the Fifth Element"...you know, the only one anyone ever remembers.

My absolute FAVORITE singer/songwriter, Shara Worden, being her magical self. OMGILUVHER

Job Progress?

Well folks, I feel like my phone interview went so, so well this morning! It's such a relief to interview in what I term "the real fashion." That means, no predetermined list of questions, no panel of people judging you, with a person who is knowledgeable about the position you are interviewing for. It was so refreshing to be able to talk to someone in a professional manner and really be given an opportunity to talk about my strengths and passions. Furthermore, I think this more casual discourse puts both the interviewer and interviewee more at ease...and allows you both to really get to know the other! I've never experienced this type of interview before, but I can definitely say I'm a fan.

After she was done asking specific questions about my resume and experiences, she told me a TON about the job. I've done a lot of research on www.allnurses.com (love that site!) about what research nursing is all about, and I must say, it sounds sooooo cool! I've always been really interested in evidence-based practice (EBP) and being a research nurse, you get to know a study inside and out while still providing some patient care. She described the study and the team she works with and I'm so excited about the prospect of working at Fenway Health!

She is supposed to contact me next week about whether or not they would like to move forward in the hiring process by having me come in for a face-to-face interview. Keep your fingers crossed please!

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken with Diced Tomatoes

This is one of my favorite recipes to make...not sure if it's one of JJ's favorites to eat, but I always feel so gourmet when I cook it. (You know, instead of the typical cheapy hamburger-helper-esque dinners). It tastes especially good with a fresh green salad. I want to try it with asparagus, but JJ hates asparagus (all things green, really), so that's sorta out of the question. Here goes:

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or 1/4 cup of balsamic and 1/4 cup of chicken stock if you want a less vinegar-y taste)
-3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded thin)
-1 onion, thinly sliced (JJ and I use onion flake equivalent instead...neither of us are big on onions)
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 tsp rosemary
-1 tsp oregano
-1 tsp basil
-1/2 tsp thyme
-1 can diced tomatoes

Season chicken breast halves with ground black pepper. Brown in a large skillet in a few tablespoons of olive oil. (If using regular onions, you should throw them in with the chicken...the onion flakes burn so I wait a little). Throw in the garlic; let it stew a little. Mix rosemary, oregano, thyme, and basil with balsamic vinegar. Put that mixture and the can of diced tomatoes in the skillet, basting the chicken with the liquid. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.

We usually eat this over angel hair pasta, but it's good with rice too. And super easy! I love one-skillet meals =).  And no, I don't have any pictures of my own cooking, but I did find this one on the internet that is pretty close to what it looks like when it's done (except we try not to smother ours in cheese):

We are also starting to think about Thanksgiving dinner. Since it will be just us two, we want to make a meal that is both special and NOT TOO CRAZY. We are thinking:

-Cornish game hens, with rice stuffing

-Cranberry sauce (from the can, because that's how I like it, and JJ is ambivalent)

-Mashed taters and gravy

-Some sort of vegetable...green beans?

-Blueberry pie

I know, I know. Blueberry pie for Thanksgiving? Sounds weird, right? Well, my uncle Jim makes literally the BEST PUMPKIN PIE in the entire world. It's so good it makes me sad when I eat other pumpkin pies. Seriously. So I kind of don't want pumpkin pie because I think it would just remind me that I'm not in Arizona...so instead we are going to make blueberry pie! Yummy!

Any other ideas for Thanksgiving dinner for two?

Back in the swing!

Not going to lie...it's been incredibly frustrating and difficult to have to look for a job again. I get all jumpy and heart palpitation-y when I think about interviewing...again.....soooooo nerve-wracking! I've been using the past few months to look for another "dream job" in Massachusetts. And folks, we've got good news: I finally have a phone interview! I know talking about it may just jinx my success, but I'm hoping that positive energy from our readers will help me instead.

Check out the awesome dream-jobby environment I am hoping to land myself in soon: http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FCHC_abt_about_home Does this not sound like me, people? An HIV/AIDS clinic, support and research center that is associated with Harvard, Beth Israel, AND the National Institutes of Health? Pinch me! =P The job I'm interviewing for is a research nurse position. Cross your fingers for me please!