The one with Curry

Today I was in a mood for something spicy & comforting...my answer: Curry. Curry is a marvelous gift to the world in it's versatility, it can be as sweet or spicy as you want it to be, & can encompass any combination of red meats, poultry, legumes, and/or vegetables. I didn't have the foresight to grab jasmine rice in order to complete my meal, but it was still entirely satisfying.

I settled on a chickpea curry with a base of potatoes. I began by roasting carrots, onions, & cauliflower together with evoo, s&p. Simultaneously, I boiled the potatoes until tender.

Once I had drained the potatoes, I began to saute them in a deep pan along with a chopped onion & 2 tbs butter.

Once the potatoes began browning, I added the chickpeas along with 2 tsp curry powder & 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (for some added heat) & mixed that together for several minutes. The Potatoes began to become more of a base at this point than pieces. Next I threw in the roasted veggies.

After several minutes of letting the flavors cook together, I stirred in the greek yogurt & allowed the curry to cook together for an additional 5-6 minutes, the yogurt has an excellent way of deglazing the pot. Once the mixture is steaming & completely irresistible, mix in the sliced jalapenos & dish it out!

The potatoes melt into the curry mix to bond all the pieces together. One spoonful has a roasted carrot & chunk of jalapeno while the next has cauliflower & a chickpea: the yogurt adds a velvet-creaminess which melts into my tongue & carries me away to a warm land of bright music & vibrant colors....

The one with Snow

Although today is the 21st of January, it is the 1st day upon which I've awoken to snow.

There's something splendidly charming about a world dusted in snow. Everything seems more calm, slowed down, more fresh. There's a warmth to be found in fresh snow, it insulates you from the bitter cold. In college I would walk across a deserted campus (everyone skipped classes on snowy days) covered in 3 ft of snow: I languished in the simplicity of those walks, everything was beautiful. I now find myself in Hoboken, NJ, & things are quite different from Maine: for the first, they don't quite know how to properly remove snow...but we each have our specialties.

I remember as a child when there was fresh snow on the weekends, we would get all dressed in our snow suits & hats, & we would go for a walk as a family through a nearby forest trail. The road remained un-plowed with only the imprint of our boots to mark our way. Branches would bend inward over the path at the weight of the snow & some would fall like drops of water from overladen branches; the world was silent, save for falling snow & the swiching of our snowsuits. All was white, including the fog of our breath. I truly believed we had transported to a wondrous place....that is the sentiment which comes to me when I behold fresh snow.

The one where it's a warm winter day

January 2012 seems much closer to spring than it does winter. All week it's been in the 40's & 50's, leaving me terribly nostalgic for a cold wintery day for me to bundle up in & walk in the snow. Alas, that day has not yet come, perhaps in February? Regardless, today I found myself insistent upon enjoying the pleasures of winter. What is more wintery (yes, I've fabricated this word & intend on using it liberally) than a hearty meat & potatoes meal with a glass of red wine?

I set out to make a simple but sinfully delicious sausage based red sauce with which I will cover delicate little pillow of gnocchi. To start we'll need ingredients:

1 can cubed tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

3 sausage links

3 cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

2 small white onions

While the sausage began browning in a separate pan, I I diced the onion, crushed & diced the garlic & allowed them to caramelize in the bottom of a wide-deep pot. (I added one tbs butter to facilitate in the caramelization)

Once the sausage is browned on all sides, turn burner off, & set aside to cool. By this point, the onions & garlic should be caramelized. Season with salt, pepper, & a bit of basil.

Pour in the tomatoes which will deglaze the onions. Stir together, & add 1 tsp sugar (this cuts the harsh acidity of the tomatoes) & let simmer slowly.

After several minutes, stir in a small tsp of crushed red pepper -- a lovely little kick which will be well appreciated in cool wintery days.

I decided to slice the sausage into 1/4 inch thick slices. By allowing the sausage to cool, you lock in all those tasty juices!

Once all sliced, mix those into the red sauce also. Allow this to all simmer together for some time, it'll mix all it's wonderful flavors together on its own!

I always make big batches of gnocchi dough & usually freeze it for whenever the urge strikes me (unless of course I'm throwing some big dinner party -- which will occur soon). Being so, I let some of the dough I had thaw out, rolled it out, & cut it into tiny little gnocchi.

My favorite little quirk about gnocchi is that as they boil to perfection (only takes about 3 minutes), they sit at the bottom of the pot, when they're ready they suddenly pop to the surface & float. SO when you have a full pot of gnocchi, they all suddenly start pop, pop, popping to the surface. I can't explain why, but it amuses me & makes me giggle a little at their funny little dance.

I heaped a generous portion of sauce over my gnocchi & sat down with a delicious glass of Vino Nobile di Montepluciano -- very Tuscan & tannic -- all in all, satisfied my need for a cool wintery day :)

The one with Goyte

Over New Years I discovered my new obsession, two separate artist who come together to create one amazing song/video. Goyte is this man who seems tormented within, a depressed singer of ballads who I simply can't get enough of! One of his better known works is "Hearts a Mess". Kimbra, in contrast, is this beautiful, wild woman who sings & dances with free levity. A good example of her work is her song/video "Settle Down". What they do have in common is lovely voices which speak volumes more than the words they pronounce. The song "Somebody that I used to know" is sensational at the least! It's a story, a tragedy, a song which gets trapped in your head. I truly enjoy the Dubstep remix, but the official video is what really brings it all together.

His raw honesty conveyed through his eerily green eyes

Their stark disconnect yet union

There are so much delicious layers to it all!