I am really impressed with these.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 large potato ( or 2 medium ones )
~ 2 Tbl oil ( I use olive )
1 Tbl butter (unsalted REAL butter)
salt
pepper

Procedure:

This may be pretty basic for you culinary prodigies out there, but some of us have taken the easy route for a while thus we are playing catch up. 

Hash Browns

Eggs Frying

This should all finish before the yolk can set.  Nothing on this Earth is worse than a fried egg with a set yolk.  This is why I like my eggs sunny.

Finally, put your browned hash down on the plate and put the fried egg down right on top.  You can garnish with sprouts, avocado, and salsa if you really want a knock out breakfast!  I have probably over complicated something that most of you do regularly without thinking twice about it, but hopefully it may whet you appetite to try it from a new angle.  Let me know how it goes or how you do it differently.

Ingredients:

Chicken Tikka Masala

Masala:
1 Tbl Butter
1 Clove Garlic
1 Chopped Jalapeno
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Salt
8 oz Tomato Sauce
1 Cup Whole Milk
Cilantro to garnish

In a bowl mix the chicken marinade ingredients and allow to rest in the fridge from 45 minutes to 12 hours. Longer the better. { NOTE: If you can’t get your hands on Greek yogurt don’t despair. Take a typical plain yogurt and spoon a cup of it into a strainer or sieve lined with layered cheese cloth or paper towels and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. Obviously, you should put a bowl under the strainer to catch the dripping moisture. }

Two options here: Grill or broil. Of course, I say grill. But in case you don’t have that ability or desire I will give you instructions for both. Fire up the grill or place your broiler pan in the oven (which can be set to broil at 500 degrees or so. HOT!) Once the cooking apparatus is heated, remove the chicken from its rest in the fridge and prepare to move to the cooking surface. If grilling, I suggest kababing those little fellows. If broiling, you can just drop the chicken on your sizzling hot pan and return to the oven. Turn the chicken pieces over after about 5 or 6 minutes of grilling or broiling. { NOTE: I think you should probably start your rice about now, but I will leave that to you. } Either way they don’t take long to cook, so quickly get the next step working.

In a large saucepan, saute the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, and salt in butter ( you can use olive oil ) for about a minute over pretty high heat. You can add the leftover marinade now if you didn’t throw it out. Also, at this point you can spice things up by adding cayenne and/or red pepper flakes to the saute. More the merrier. Add tomato sauce. Stir a bit. Now add milk. These additions will cool the pan a bit which is good. Lower the heat to medium and let the sauce catch up and simmer so that it will render down for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Sometime during the sauce creation, your chicken will be ready to pull off the grill or out of the oven. Immediately drop the chicken in the sauce and allow to simmer for about 15 to 30 minutes over lowish heat. Your sauce may be thickened up properly pretty early depending on the speed at which your chicken gets done. If it finishes early just cover it and reduce the heat. If you have to wait a while do so with the lid off until you think it looks right.

Serve the masala over rice with a side of your choosing. We eat naan bread and lentil soup. Garnish with rough chopped cilantro. The hot masala releases the flavors in the cilantro and should be eaten with the dish. If you hate cilantro, ditch it. In addition, a Malbec wine (Crios, Mataverde, etc) or strong ale (Arrogant Bastard, Dogfish Head 120, etc) are great with this spicy dish. Let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

French Toast Materials

Toast:
3 eggs
3/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 loaf French bread
2 Tbl butter
pinch of kosher salt

Syrup:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl whole milk
pinch of kosher salt

Optional filling:
2 oz cream cheese
1 Tbl powder sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Be prepared to mix again between soaking slices because the dry ingredients will tend to separate and float to the surface.

If you plan to make your own syrup (and I hope you do), now is a great time to get that started. In a small sauce pan, combine brown sugar, butter, milk, and salt. Heat to a low boil and keep it there for about 3 or 4 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.

In yet another bowl, mix the cream cheese, powder sugar, and vanilla until all the sugar lumps are gone and mixture is spreadable. Set aside.

Heat a large pan or griddle lubed with the two tablespoons of butter. As this heats up, slice the French loaf diagonally into 2 inch slices. Cutting diagonally will lend more surface area for noms, make the toast a bit easier to eat, and tends to be more aesthetically pleasing. Soak each piece in the egg mixture one at a time, for about 30 seconds per side. Once the slice is soaked drop it into the heated pan, flipping occasionally and pinch a VERY small bit of salt onto each slice. If you are making a lot of toast you can hold finished slices in an oven set to the lowest possible temperature.

After toast is finished, stack the slices as high as you want spreading a thin layer of cream cheese between them. Drizzle with a small bit of syrup and enjoy with a tall, hot cup of Brown Coffee Company joe. You did remember the coffee, right?

Sometimes, we are called to act and move in great arching swathes.  In those times, weeks pass like days and there never seems to be enough time finish every project.  One sleeps only a few hours, because the midnight oil burns very easily and there is so very much to do.  I like working in those times.  It resonates very well with me.  But we have been called to the other mode of progress, currently.  The dreaded “take-it-a-day-at-a-time” method of travel.  In these times, days pass like years and one must sit around with plans made and projects designed, but no resources or no methods with which to complete anything.  One still sleeps only a few hours, but this is because the insomnia and over zealous mind will not subside until one can put one’s hand to something.  I hate not working in these times.  It makes me feel worthless and lazy.  But sometimes secret truth is found in that which seems worthless.  Occasionally, secret work is the yield of that which seems like laziness.  (how freaking zen is that?)  What I am trying to say is simply this:  Once the labor of growing, reaping, and crushing the grapes is complete, the real work begins.  That is the waiting.  Dreams are like a very heady wine.   They age and mature until they are prepared for opening.  Then once you finally get to pop them open, they get you drunk.

I was reading about giving to the poor this morning (more on that at a later date) in Proverbs 19 when I remembered the classic “proverb-a-day” thing where you read whatever chapter in Proverbs that corresponds with the date.  Today is the 10th so I flipped to Proverbs 10 and saw that the first verse reads “The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son [is] the heaviness of his mother.”  I am not sure why Solomon affiliated his father with gladness and his mother with heaviness, but I know what that resonates with in my life.  As a man I remember that making the men in my life proud was always forefront and typically very difficult (if not impossible) to achieve.  Now, in reality they were likely quite proud of me, but I rarely new it because I rarely heard it from them.  It is as if the default with a man is presumed status quo and occasionally when something particularly noteworthy takes place they take notice (or get “glad”) and I get congratulated.  My Mother on the other hand was different.  She frequently sang my praises and told my that I was special and would do great things.  She raised me and my siblings on her own for several years after my Father died when I was still quite young.  During these years, my Mom kept her head up around us all day, every day.  She was almost always optimistic and upbeat and frequently emphasized what we were good at.  However, when we got selfish and acted out there crept in the heaviness that accompanied her disapproval.  At the time I did not understand the complexities of losing the life you hold most dear and having to continue the fight alone.  I did not understand any loss but my own.  Now however I understand that much of the heaviness of those moments grew from the tremendous weight that she carried.

Mom, I am proud of you!  You fought hard and look at where you got us!  I love you and hope that I helped give you the honor due on your day!

See this is probably not at all what was Solomon had on his mind when he wrote that.  God breathed special meaning as I read it and gave me deliverance from a burden I was unnecessarily carrying all these years!  Praise God! He frees me every day.

Numark TT-1700

After getting stirred up about the old vinyls, I mentioned my interest at work and a coworker told me that he was getting rid of his old turntable.  I let him know that I would gladly take it off his hands, so he brought it in.  Turns out that he was an amateur DJ, playing some weddings and such and that that turntable is a pretty good player.  It is a Numark TT1700 with a Stanton 500 cartridge and stylus on it and he took amazing care of it.

Turntable Setup

While I could do without the purple, but it plays records and I didn’t have to pay a dime for it.  In case you are uninitiated, this is a bit better than entry-level DJ gear and he also gave me his old Gemini crossfader which I use purely as a phono-amp.  I spent the day today finalizing my setup so we will be able to listen without a huge ordeal.  And feel pretty confidant that I succeeded.

I finally got to bring my old speakers out of retirement (against Hannah’s wishes) and discovered that our little storage bedside thing stores lp’s like a charm.  We got to pick up a couple of new ones today (lp’s that is).  Hannah got an America record with “Muskrat Love” and I found Daniel Amos’ Horrendous Disc which has “Hound of Heaven” among several other great tracks.  We spent most of the afternoon reading the liners and looking at the art (both of which are totally visible on vinyl) and wondering what we have been spending all this money on for 10 years of buying CD’s.  Depressing really.  In closing, I am adding a series of record images that we have been listening to recently.  Hopefully, I can write again soon with some suggestions and notes on records I have come across.  Please drop me a note or comment if you have any suggestions.

Introducing the Beatles (front)

Introducing the Beatles (back)

Introducing the Beatles (disc)

imagine (front)

imagine (back)

John Locke will do what John Locke has to.

So season 5 begins and Phillip for one is NOT disappointed.  The producers made a statement at the end of season 4 that more questions would be answered than asked in season 5.  So far they appear to be keeping their word.  I will not spoil anything for you if you are behind, but I have to say that John Locke is the ruler of the Universe and is likely in league with the Chuck Norris.  Thus he will do whatever he has to do to win.  Winning in this case means protecting the island and if you have to die to make that a reality…       so be it.  This guy gets so much stronger as he gets older he makes Benjamin Button look like a second rate Forrest Gump clone…   wait Button was already a second rate Gump clone.  More on that later, but for now if you have a pulse and are not caught up to current episodes then heed my warning:

JOHN LOCKE WILL DO WHAT JOHN LOCK HAS TO.

And that may include destroying you and the ones you love if you do not get onboard.

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

A few months ago, a coworker of mine returned from a visit out of state with his family and in his possession was a pile of music suggestions and samples.  In that pile lay hidden the gem that is Band of Horses.  I have not been able to dig out good music in the last couple of years as I should, so when I find good stuff I get pretty excited.

Mostly minimal in terms of instruments, this record is delicate and feathery.  The vocals are somewhat childlike and endearing even when the lyrics seem ominous and dark.  Drums are tasteful and subdued with a solid bass and driving rhythm, but the shining lure for my is the remarkable melodies.  Sometimes strange and unsettled they always hook and nag your memory for hours on end.  Though based in Seattle, I would swear that they are European based purelyon the similarity of their melodies and vibes to that of Sigur Rós.  Completely otherworldly, yet somehow heavily grounded.

Another tip of the hat to SubPop.  And a thank you to Jeff for the suggestion.

Fleet Foxes

This afternoon my boss, Fran, suggested that I give this record a listen.  I knew I was in for good things when I saw Subpop was the label as they have rarely failed me in the past.  Also, I noticed that they are signed to Bella Union which carries the likes of Andrew Bird.  Fleet Foxes are considered Baroque Harmonic pop.   Three tracks in and I was convinced.  I absolutely love it.  Some tracks haunting and gossamer harmonies that place it well off of the beaten path.  Thick flat drums and big live room sounds give it a realism and roughness that appeal to me and my distaste for polish.  I am reminded of Beirut minus the anthems and can’t help but to feel swept away in those golden tones which is a feeling I not experienced in a long long time.   All in all, I strongly suggest you pick it up.