ReaderWriterVille

Blog in progress

Category: recipes

February 25, 2020

SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge for February: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

I’ve decided to take advantage of the flexibility of the TBR Challenge and read books that aren’t necessarily romances. I’m still sticking to the prompts, though, and this month’s theme is “friends.” As I said in my last Weeknotes post, I’ve somehow never read any Tolkien and this seemed like the perfect time to rectify that gaping hole in my reading, especially since we have the print copy on our bookshelf and every library I belong to has an ebook version. And if there’s one message in the Lord of the Rings trilogy that carries through the film adaptations, it’s that friendship is necessary to human flourishing.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

How can you not love a story that begins with these sentences? I don’t know what I was expecting: probably something with lots of almost-too-precious depictions of Greene Olde England and elves everywhere. But what I got was so much more and better than that. This is very much a book that children can read and love, but it’s also a book that adults can appreciate and enjoy (and even love). I’m not a Young Adult reader at all in terms of contemporary literature, but this is classic for-all-ages literature and that is something I do like. The voice is charming and doesn’t talk down to the reader at all.

On to the story. Bilbo Baggins is a young hobbit of fifty or thereabouts, who lives in a very nice home at Bag End. Thanks to the machinations of family friend Gandalf the Wizard, he finds himself hosting a party of 14 dwarves for an impromptu and unconventional tea party. He is persuaded to join them on their journey to defeat the terrifying dragon, Smaug, who destroyed their home and dwarf community and took all their treasures. Smaug lives far away, past the Lonely Mountain, and to get there the dwarves and Bilbo will have to overcome many dangers. Bilbo is reluctant, but the non-Baggins part of him (which comes from the Took side of the family) decides to take the chance and accompany Thorin, Balin, Kili, Fili, and the rest of the rhyming crew.

As you have undoubtedly realized, this is a quest/coming-of-age story. Bilbo learns a great deal about himself and the world beyond Hobbiton and The Shire. They encounter elves, trolls, goblins, more elves, eagles, and other non-human beings on their way to confront Smaug, and Bilbo discovers unknown reserves of courage and resourcefulness that help his friends on their journey. He also finds a ring, courtesy of a goblin battle and the carelessness of Gollum, which renders him invisible and able to get everyone out of some very tight spots.

Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments
August 3, 2019

Recipe: Spicy Korean Grilled Chicken

I haven’t posted a recipe in ages. Thanks to TheH, we have been having some delicious Korean food this spring and summer. Gochujang makes all the difference, it turns out.

Since it’s summer and we’re grilling regularly, we decided to see if we could come close to the kinds of grilled chicken we’ve had in Southeast Asia. I found a couple of recipes that I combined (from here and here) for our attempt.

  • 2 lbs. Chicken wings and drumsticks (cut up wings into drummettes)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 T. dried rosemary
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. ground black pepper
  • 3 T. Gochujang sauce
  • 1 T. red chili flakes (less if you don’t want it quite hot)
  • 1 T. smoked paprika (regular if you don’t have smoked)
  • 3 T. soy sauce
  • 2 T. rice wine (I used 1 T. white wine and 1 T. rice vinegar)
  • 1 T. brown sugar
  • 2 T. honey
  • 2 T. fruit juice (apple, orange, something sweet)
  • 1 T. sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 2 T. minced or pressed garlic
  • 2 T. minced or grated ginger
  • 1/2 t. salt

In a large bowl, combine chicken, rosemary, salt, pepper, and milk. Let chicken soak for 20 minutes to an hour.

While chicken is soaking, thoroughly combine all the other ingredients in a small bowl.

The list is long and looks intimidating, but you’ll have most of the ingredients in your cupboard if you cook and/or bake regularly. The Gochujang sauce, which is non-substitutable, is available at Asian groceries and some large non-specialty groceries in areas with Asian residents. The red chili flakes and paprika are a substitute for Korean chili powder (Gochugaru). If you acquire the real thing, use 3 T. of it instead of my substitutes.

Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments
December 10, 2015

Coronation Chicken

Whoa, I haven’t been here in a while. It’s been busy and the month slipped away from me.

I don’t have a proper recipe to post, but I wanted to write this down before I forgot it, so I figured I’d share it with you. I really wanted to make Coronation Chicken, one version of which is basically curried chicken salad. I had about half of a leftover roast chicken to use up, so I read a bunch of recipes and then mashed them together as follows:

Cut up cooked chicken into small chunks. You can shred it too, but I like having the chunky bits of chicken. Some of the pieces wind up shredded anyway, depending on where they came off the chicken. As you can see, this is not an exact science. You can use rotisserie chicken if you have it on hand, or poached or baked chicken. I had about 2 cups total.

The key to the spice part is to cook the spices. Traditional Coronation Chicken calls for curry powder, because it’s a British dish, not an Indian one. If you have curry powder in your spice rack, this is the time to pull it out. I don’t, so I put together individual spices and garam masala.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 10, 2015

Lemon chicken with orzo

This is an adaptation of a recipe by Regina Schrambling. I’ve made it different ways: exactly as written, with halibut instead of chicken, and now with different herbs, added capers, and no olives. It stands up well to tinkering, obviously! So feel free to change things around.

INGREDIENTS:

4 whole chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks) or 4-6 thighs
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole lemon cut into quarters
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp Herbs de Provence
1 Tbsp capers
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
3 cups chicken broth

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil to almost smoking in a sauté pan or dutch oven. Lower heat to medium-high and brown chicken on both sides, about 5-7 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and deglaze pan with wine.

Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon, bay leaf, capers, and Herbs de Provence and stir to combine. Add the orzo and stir until the pasta is coated and has absorbed some of the liquid. Add the chicken broth and salt. Return the chicken to the pan, bring to a boil, and then turn heat down so that the liquid is simmering gently. Cover and cook for 30-35 minutes or until the orzo has absorbed most or all of the liquid.

Serve with a green salad or vegetable. Carrots, brussels sprouts, and broccoli all go well with this dish.

 

November 5, 2015

Yogurt rice with spices

I’m reposting recipes from my old blog so that I have them all in one place; this is one of them.

Indian restaurants rarely offer the kinds of dishes we cook at home, especially the vegetarian ones. This is a standard way of using up cooked rice. It is delicious served as a side dish with grilled meat, fish, or vegetables. Or just eat it on its own …

2 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1/2 cup plain lowfat or nonfat yogurt
1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. turmeric
pinch asafoetida
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 green serrano chile, seeded and minced
12 kari leaves
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp. canola oil

Heat oil in skillet, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, turn heat to low and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Wait 30 seconds, then turn heat to medium-low and add onions and chile, sauté until onions are transparent and browned at the edges. Add turmeric, salt and kari leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add rice and stir to incorporate all ingredients. Add yogurt, 2 Tbsp at a time, and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, sprinkle cilantro over the rice and serve.