Random Thoughts On Cooking, Bike Riding, and The Sacred Journey of Everyday Life
It was such a beautiful day and evening today; it felt more like spring than it did autumn. It was warm (freakishly warm)…70F/21C. Anyhow, I was at the intersection of Summer and Elmwood Streets, looking west, when I saw the scene pictured above. I thought I’d share.
To see more views from my handlebars, click here.
This is yet another variation of my Lebanese chicken-and-rice recipe. The reason I say “sort of” in the title of this post is that I didn’t use ground lamb–which is in the original recipe–and I color/slightly flavor the dish with turmeric (along with the other spices), which is not normally in this recipe. In addition, in the recipe pictured I used a whole split chicken (which I poached in chicken broth before using the broth and the chicken in the recipe); the recipe listed below utilizes just the chicken breast. Anyhow, if you’d like more Lebanese inspired recipes, or to see this one being made, click here.
Heat the olive oil over high heat in a heavy-bottomed pan. Sauté the chicken on both sides until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the onion and vermicelli to the pan and cook until golden, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the cinnamon, cumin, allspice, and salt; sauté two minutes while stirring. Add the onions and pasta back to the pan along with the rice, stirring to fully coat it with with the oil and spices. Then add the chicken breasts to the pan, pushing them gently into the rice. Pour in the broth and cover the pot with a lid. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. Remove the pot from the stove and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with minced parsley.
I had mentioned in recent posts on how I am in a particularly stressful period right now at work. Crazy busy. Just one lunch and dinner after another. Today, at one point, I think I was making five different recipes simultaneously while I was also directing my staff. I’m not mentioning this to be a braggart–on the contrary–but just to illustrate the difference between cooking at work to cooking at home. At work I have to cook things simultaneously and in large batches…sauces by the gallon, soups in 20-30 gallon batches, entrees by the hundreds. And all the while barking out orders to the cooks. It’s a wonder I make it through the day sometimes. Really. Okay…sorry for being so whiny. My point is what a juxtaposition it is then to come home and cook dinner for myself. My son was not home this evening so it was just myself and my pugs. So after I fed the dogs I poured myself a glass of wine, put a pot of water on the stove to boil (for pasta), tuned into NPR on the radio, sat on a stool and waited for the water to boil while I sipped my wine. Quite a difference from the frantic cooking I did earlier in the day; without looking I knew the water was ready because I could hear it boiling. After I boiled and drained the pasta I made the following recipe. It’s one of my favorites and I have posted many variations of it on this blog. The recipe below uses spaghetti but tonight I made it with penne. Use whichever type of pasta you like and whichever vegetable you like. (For many other variations with better photos, click here.) And as I ate and listened to the radio I thought about how much I still love to cook–at home and at work (but not when it’s so busy)–and how good food tastes when you make it yourself. When I was almost done eating but had a little left on my plate, I fed it to my dogs (who had been sitting patiently and staring at me the entire while I cooked and ate), then I poured myself another glass of wine and turned up the radio a bit while I washed the dishes.
“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”
“Many people die at twenty five and aren’t buried until they are seventy five.”
“Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.”
“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”
“When you are finished changing, you’re finished.”
Yes, I said five…but here’s two more.
“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.”
“While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.”
To read more in the five quotes series, click here.
Urban Simplicity
I had a crazy day at work today (I’ve been saying this a lot lately)…rushing around for most of the morning and afternoon, and then just before the workday was done a planning committee informed me of everything they have not liked for the past yearly quarter…which was pretty much everything. Needless to say, between the stress of a hot and bustling kitchen and trying to please a board of directors, when I left work it felt so good to hop on a bike and get out into the crisp open air of autumn. There really is nothing like it (and if you ride a bike you know what I am talking about). Anyhow, the above photo was taken as I waited for the light to change at my favorite intersection in the city, Allen and Elmwood, in the heart of Allentown; the neighborhood in which I both work and live. And on the bike below (#405) are two slices of pizza and a bottle of red wine…tonight’s dinner.
Kibbeh and Kafta are two Lebanese meat recipes that are somewhat similar yet at the same time a bit different. While they are both often made with lamb they are equally good when made with beef (as the recipe pictured is). And the recipe can take on many forms, this is just one example. I made this for staff lunch today. If you’d like to read more about what Kibbeh and Kafta are, and how they relate to me, read this post (which contains more photos, a variation on this recipe, and links). At any rate, this is really easy to make a super delicious.
I took this photo on the corner of our street four years ago on the date of our president’s historic first election. November 5, 2008.
Welcome to to your second term Mr. President. I still believe in hope!
Hokey as these may seem, I stumbled upon them independently a day apart and they really resonated with me. Hmmm…is something trying to nudge me a long? These, I think, can be targeted at anyone…and taken literally or metaphorically. So how about you? What about now….
It has been magnificently autumnal these past few days. Crisp and chilly air, and great weather to ride a bike in (you don’t sweat). Anyhow these photos were taken yesterday and today; all while I was out doing errands. They were also taken with my little $99 point-and-shoot camera which fits so nicely in my jacket pocket. Anyhow, the above photo was taken yesterday as I skirted Hoyt Lake on my way to the Curly Pedestrian Bridge. The bottom two were taken this evening. Both are looking west as the sun sets. In the bottom photo you can see Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
For a few previous views in this series, click here.
A couple things…
Firstly, this photo was taken during a heavy rain…the beginnings of Sandy, no doubt. It’s a burning bush and looks beautiful–I think–glistening and dripping in the rain. What’s interesting–I also think–is that if you zoom in on the droplet you can see a reflection of me taking the photo. Hmmm…
Anyhow–and another thing–is that I wanted to mention that I will not be posting for the next seven days. I have a lot of things going on this next week–too many things–and the only way I feel I’ll keep my stress level bearable and make it through is by simplifying. Thus I am taking a sort of seven day fast from the Internet (egad!). Okay, not entirely…I’ll be checking my emails (and sending emails) but I won’t be posting at either of the Urban Simplicity blogs or at the Facebook page. I’m “fasting” for a couple reasons actually. For the busyness in my week ahead, but also for a brief respite from cyber-everything. I plan on spending more time this week in prayer and meditation. I feel that I and the world around me could really use it (everything is connected, after all).
At any rate, I wanted to say thank you to those who visit regularly and take the time to comment and email. I hope you’ll stick with me in his short absence. I’ll be back in a week, à bientôt.
Until then, Peace.
.
Anyhow, as mentioned, the dough recipe is below; if you’d like other ideas for pizza, to see them being made, or a couple other recipe for the dough (one made with white flour and one made with brown rice), click here.
Makes 2 loaves
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
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4 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups water
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1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
3 teaspoons instant yeast
3 teaspoons kosher salt
In one bowl make a preferment by combining 2 cups of whole wheat flour with 2/3 cups water and 2 teaspoons of instant yeast. Begin the autolyse in another bowl by combining 4 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 1⁄2 cups water. Stir each bowl just enough to combine the ingredients, taking care not to get yeast into the bowl with the autolyse. If the contents in either of the bowls need more water, add a small amount. Cover both bowls and allow to rest and ferment for 30-90 minutes, during which time the preferment will begin it’s job multiplying yeast and fermenting flour, and the autolyse will soak the grain, swelling the gluten.
After an hour or so, combine the ingredients from both bowls into the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the honey, olive oil, salt, and 3 teaspoons of yeast (add the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl). Knead the dough on medium speed for about 8 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled container, cover it loosely, and allow to ferment for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Deflate the dough and allow it to ferment an additional 30 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into 2 or 3 pieces. Shape into loaves and place into lightly oiled pans. Loosely cover the loaves with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 30-60 minutes, or until double in size and when gently touched with a fingertip an indentation remains.
Bake the breads for about 30-40 minutes, adding steam to the oven a few times (either with ice cubes or a spray bottle) and rotating the breads every ten minutes. The breads are done when they are dark brown and sound hollow when tapped upon. Remove the breads from their pans and allow them to cook on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
I took these photos just out my front door as I left for work today…droplets and small pools of rain rolling off two Brussels sprout plants in my front yard. It was raining pretty hard and it has rained all day; according to the weather forecast it is supposed to rain for the next four or five days. I’ve mentioned multiple times in the past that I have been car-lite for years and car-free for just a few months (six, to be exact). So hopping in a vehicle is no longer an option in foul weather. But so far I have not minded it (for short distances). If I arrive at work totally soaked there is a dryer in the basement where I can dry my clothes. And for longer trips I can use a car share or take a bus. And in certain instances, such as tomorrow morning when I will not want to be totally soaked when I sit in a pew at church, I’ll actually bring a change of clothes in a plastic bag on the bike and change when I arrive (if necessary); I’ve done this before. I’ve also said in the past how when you are on bike or on foot it makes one more keenly aware of the weather; I still believe this to be true. It also makes me more appreciative of it…yes, I like “nice” weather like the next person but I also like all of her facets. And this is what I was thinking as I stood for a few moments in the pouring rain snapping these photos, just before I hopped on my bike and pedaled the short distance to work.
There is, I believe, nothing more satisfying than a good bowl of soup and homemade bread. Okay…so maybe there is, but you’ve got to admit the combination is really good. Anyhow, believe-it-or-not, I am still harvesting vegetables from the garden in the rear of my house (yes, in October and in Western NY). I made this yesterday and ate it with a few slices of whole wheat bread (click here for multiple recipes and pics on how to make whole wheat bread). The unseasonably warm temperatures yesterday plummeted by about 30 degrees in 2 hours, and the house sure felt–and smelled–cozy with a pot of curried vegetable soup on the stove. There’s a really basic recipe below; use it more as a guide…add or subtract whatever vegetables and spices you like (or add meat as well). Some of the vegetables that I harvested and used in this recipe are pictured below as well.
Dusk and dawn…my two favorite times of the day. It was unseasonably warm today…79F/26C…and it was such a lovely night to be on a bicycle and use it as transportation. This photo was taken about 6:30pm looking east.
To see other views, click here.
Urban Simplicty