Creamed Corn

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of frozen sweet corn

1 1/2 tbs minced onion

2 tbs butter or Smart Balance spread

approx 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk, or half and half, or cream

1 tsp all purpose seasoning (I like Paul Prudhomme's Vegetable Magic)

3-4 tsps corn starch

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Melt butter in a pot and saute the onions until transluscent.

2.  Once the onion is translucent, add in the frozen corn and cook for a few minutes until all excess water is evaporated..

3.  Add in enough cream/milk/half and half to cover the corn completely. Bring to a boil.

4.  Add in the Vegetable Magic/all purpose seasoning. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Dissolve the corn starch into milk and add it slowly into the corn. Be sure to watch the thickness of the creamed corn. Too much corn starch will cause the milk/cream to clump up and become too tight. No one likes gloppy corn.

6.  The cream should be thick enough to coat the corn but should not look like library paste either.

Properly made creamed corn should be sweet, well seasoned, and luscious. I recommend real butter, half and half, and the Vegetable Magic to achieve that, but as always, to each his own.

Of Trees and Towns

In the Mojave desert one often comes across the notorious ghost towns: constructed near gold mines, they were abandoned once all the gold had been extracted from the earth. They played their part and it made no sense to continue to inhabit them.

When we walk through a forest, we also see trees which, once they have played their part, fall down. But unlike the ghost towns, what has happened? They have opened up space for light to penetrate, fertilize the soil, and their trunks are covered with new vegetation.

Our old age will depend on the way in which we live. We can end up like a ghost town. Or like a generous tree, which continues to be important, even after it has fallen to the ground.

excerpt from Warrior of the Light

by Paulo Coelho

found for free at Feedbooks

*****

You reap what you sow.

Haven't we all heard that before? If you spread good will and kindness, then good will and kindness will make its way back to your heart. But if you spread nastiness and evil around you, then that too will be what winds up on your doorstep.

Coelho suggests in this story that we have a choice as to what sort of life we will build during our time on earth. We can build a structure that is designed only to last for the moment, to serve our immediate needs and desires, and that will wither away through disuse once that transient need has been satisfied. Or, we can build a structure that serves a purpose far greater than our own, a purpose that not only meets our needs, but the needs of those around us. I suppose you could say that the difference is between choosing to be selfish and choosing to belong to something larger than yourself.

Which choice is the right one? Contrary to what most people would say, I don't believe that there is a right choice, there is simply a choice. You can choose to devote your life to doing things for yourself, meeting your own needs and desires, and having a blast all the while. I see nothing wrong with that. However, there are those who choose to devote their lives to doing things for others, helping others to meet their needs, and also having a grand time all the while. There is nothing that says to help meet the needs of others, you must suppress and ignore your own needs and desires. You can have both, you know.

That is the choice made by a Warrior of the Light. Help yourself. Help others. Leaving a legacy behind you such as a large corporation or larger bank account would be nice, but more to the point, why not do things in the present that help people now. No one suggested that we have to leave behind a marble palace for everyone to marvel at; no one said that we each must have our profiles carved on stone. What about simply doing your best in all things, giving others around you a hand up when they need one. Their success becomes your success. Finally, when we are gone from this world, there will still be others who were propped up by our example, and so it goes. Our actions today will continue to resound in the future, not because we did something amazing, but because we lived well.

Or you can leave a shell of a town behind that no longer serves any purpose.

The choice is yours.

The Warrior of Light

I have not been posting much lately, or at least, posting much of anything that is remotely interesting, or novel, or original. I fear that fear has taken over my mind and I am quite unable to focus on much of anything other than my uncertain future, one that could very well end up with my life, such as it is, coming to an abrupt end. No, I don't mean that I will be killed off in some dramatic vein, like some cheap and tawdry soap opera character, but rather, my future being dictated to me by agencies and offices, my own plans and desires no longer being of any matter whatsoever.

I have been trying to gather my own inner strength by focusing on what I know I have accomplished in my life before now, on the many people I have helped, and the fact that many many untrue things have been said about me, all of which has been of little practical help, to be honest, but there you are. (Holy crap, that is one insanely long sentence; I will let it stand, though.) I have also taken refuge in my strong faith, some of which I have shared here in previous posts, faith that has no relationship to religion, please recall, but even that seems of limited value in the face of what I am having to contend with at the moment. By the way, I apologize for not going into detail about what those problems are, but my two (expensive) lawyers have instructed me to say nothing to anyone about the matter. Let that be a suggestion of what I am going through.

In previous posts, I have shared with you messages that I believe have been from the Divine. Call it what you will: God, Allah, Yahweh, the Cosmic Consciousness, Mother Nature, or Zeus. It doesn't really matter to me in the least. Some of the messages came from a book titled God Calling, edited by RJ Russell. Some of the messages were given to me directly through a friend of mind who has always had contact with spirits. During the time she spent with me, I would see her grab a pencil and begin to scribble down words on a page that were directed to me, words that I know could not have come from her.

The book that I have been reading lately, and which is helping me to wrestle with my own fear and worry is titled Warrior of Light, by Paulo Coelho. Prior to my current problems, I had already discovered Coelho's writings through books such as The Alchemist and The Devil and Miss Prym. I have recently discovered a book that is a collection of anecdotes and tales that he has previously published through his blog, his Facebook, and his MySpace, titled Warrior of the Light. I have found, if not inspiration, at least words of strength in its pages.

The book is partly an account of his travels through the world in search for enlightenment and partly retold stories he has collected along the way that illustrate what he learned. The book was available for free through Feedbooks, so I am assuming there is no problem with my reposting portions of the book here, with suitable credit.

So, for the next few days, there will be an anecdote posted here with a message behind it, a message that is meant as an object lesson for those seeking something beyond themselves. Call it wisdom, call it insight, call it truth. I am certainly not qualified to tell you what it is. I only know that the stories have struck a chord within me, as being, if not a path to become a warrior of the light, to at least finding a path to understanding and personal strength.

I hope you enjoy them. I hope you get something out of them. And if not, feel free to move along to the gay porn blogs. You won't hurt my feelings.

We Are All Responsible

A group of men came along the street; heavily armed soldiers leading a condemned man to the gallows.

"That man is no good," said a disciple to Nasrudin. "I once gave him a silver coin in order to help him start his life afresh, and he did nothing important."

"He may be no good, but perhaps he is now on his way to the gallows because of you," argued the master. "Perhaps he used the alms in order to buy a dagger, which he then used in committing his crime-because instead of helping him with love and care, you chose to give him alms in order to release yourself from your obligation."

an excerpt from Warrior of the Light

by Paulo Coelho

found as a free download through Stanza

*****

Mullah Nasrudin, Coelho explains, is the central figure in many of the anecdotal stories told in the Sufi ( the mystical sect of Islam) tradition. Much like the figure of Socrates in the Platonic Dialogues, Nasrudin delivers wisdom to his pupils, or disciples, through stories and cautionary tales.

I happen to like this particular story because giving money as a means of assuaging my need to help others was very much my modus operandi during the days I actually had money to give away. You name a charity, and I gave to it. Come the annual United Way campaign, I was the first one to fill out the gift form and turn it in, proudly wearing my stupid little plastic pin that proclaimed, "Look at me! I am generous and caring towards those less fortunate than myself!"

Every Christmas, when it was time to sign up to purchase gifts to donate to a child in need, my name was first and last on the list. To paraphrase the orphan kid from Pee Wee's Big Adventure who had just been adopted, "I want to give, sister!" And after turning in my tastefully wrapped and overly priced packages, promptly forgot about the families I had just donated to and wandered off to the mall to buy a gift for me.

Church raffles, church donations, Girl Scouts, candy bar sales, I did it all, patting myself on the back for "helping".

But was I really?

Were money and expensive items really going to help anyone? Sure, you could argue that the governing bodies that I had donated to would make sure the money did some good for the right people. But I think Nasrudin is suggesting that we each have an obligation. Not a monetary obligation, or a legal obligation, but rather, a moral one. A human one.

If a person who is in need appears in our lives, Nasrudin is saying that we need to care about them, love them, help them in a real sense. This very much goes against what we in our Western Civilization believe. Our culture says that each man is responsible for himself. If a man is struggling, it's because he isn't working hard enough. It's his own fault that his needs aren't being met, so tough luck. I have mine, and it's not my problem that you don't have yours. Move along.

The Sufi mystics have a far different philosophy. Each of us has the ability to make a difference in lives around us. So, what will each of us do?

Flick a coin at them and declare, "Hit the road," a la Bugs Bunny? Or be a channel for love and concern?

Fanboy Geekout

I have to admit that for several days now, I have been looking forward to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Major Announcement scheduled for today. Everyone was speculating that he would be unveiling the, heretofore shrouded in secrecy, Apple iPad. And he did! Yay!

Of course, due to my horrible insomnia, I didn't fall asleep last "night" until 6:15 AM today, and so, slept through the live announcement which was being carried live by Gizmodo. Oh well......

As soon as I arose from my crypt, I hopped online to see what was out there and immediately upon seeing the iPad, decided that I needed one in my life. Not want one, mind you, but need one, as in all of the mitochondria in my body would stop functioning simultaneously, causing me to drop immediately into a coma and pass away unless I have one in my hand. Not that that would be a bad thing, mind you.

 

 Once I managed to shrug off the fuzziness brought on by several days of sleep deprivation, however, my fanboy reaction was tempered by the fact that I was just looking at a big iPhone. It does the same things that an iPhone does, it doesn't do anything that an iPhone cannot do, and costs at a minimum, $500.

To make sure that I wasn't just bagging on the iPad as a result of dementia, depression, or a case of bad gas (phfffffft........pardon me...) I surfed around to see what other people were saying. I found a well done article that had a pros/cons list which summarized my initial impressions succinctly. And so, I thought I would share it. The excerpt came from here.

*****

Pros:

• Interface is extremely similar to the iPhone/iPod Touch.  This means that most of the 50 million odd owners of one of these devices should be able to pick it up and go.
• The App Store is the iPad’s single biggest strength.  No company has a finer base of programs (or nearly as many) available to its end users.  Apparently 140,000 or so of those App Store programs will be able to be loaded up right away on the upcoming iPad.
• Large screen.  In fact, its 10 inches makes it larger than most netbook screens, portable DVD players and mobile video game players
• 10 hour battery life is pretty decent.
• Big developer buy-in – It was good to see both Gameloft and EA demo their stuff during today’s presentation
• Ability to read books, newspapers and magazines in a simple format.
• Built in speaker and microphone

Cons:

• No multitasking.  In fact, its Safari browser seemingly doesn’t support multiple websites being pulled up
• No flash.  Flash is a major part of the web.  Without it being included, you will likely be missing a lot.
• No removable battery.  When it dies completely, so does the iPad.
• It’s too big to easily carry in one hand.  1.5 pounds can weigh you down after an hour or so of reading.
• Questionable endurance.  How long can a device that only weighs 1.5 pounds take abuse?  One of its selling points is that kids could use this for their textbooks in school.  I don’t think I am going to allow Little Bobby Butterfingers near this $500 piece of technology.
• No HDMI port, no camera, no built in phone
• Screen does not use 16:9 aspect ratio (as many videos now are) resulting in a black box on each side when they are  played.

*****

So, what does all this say? Though I have been really looking forward to the iPad, the fact that it seems to be a bigger version of a piece of equipment that I already own means I don't need it. Well, and to be honest, after being out of a job since April '08, my available monies are practically exhausted. Food or an iPad....hmmmmm......

Exactly. iPad, here I come!

Dinner With the Doc

Back to the healthy meals.

Sigh.....

I am trying to eat chicken 3 times a week, sweet potatoes 4 times a week, more avacado, more almonds as snacks, etc. Alcohol is out of the question (sniff, sniff) as is bread, desserts, sugar, etc. Red meat is down to once a week, though I tend to bend that one a bit. Well, I mean come on, I do live in Texas!

The plan also calls for oily fish 3 times a week, but I can't do that. The only way I can eat fish is if it has been deep fried, and I don't think that is in the spirit of eating healthy. So, I just throw in more chicken.

This particular dinner is roasted chicken (rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with house seasoning), roasted sweet potato (with Smart Balance instead of butter), and fresh corn sliced off of the cob (cooked with a small amount of cream [I'm trying, dammit!], garlic, salt, and pepper).

No, it's not absolutely healthy, what with the corn, cream, and chicken skin, but it's a heck of a lot better than I had been eating. Baby steps.......

Fajita Friday

Seeing as how I have been trying to eat a bit more healthily lately, I decided to treat myself to a Tex Mex dinner. Part of the meal was a freshly made pot of pinto beans, the recipe for which follows. Now, I know what you are thinking. "Dr. Mandragora, why do I need to know your recipe for beans? They are easy to make."

No. No, they are not. I cannot even begin to tell you how many home-cooked beans I've had at barbeques, get togethers, etc. that royally sucked. So please, give these a try. You won't be sorry.

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 small onion, chopped

3 slices of smoked bacon, chopped

1 jalepeno pepper (though today I used bell pepper instead)

5 cups water

salt/pepper to taste

Add all of the ingredients into a pot and cover. Simmer on medium low heat for around 3 hours, or until the beans are soft and the cooking liquid creamy. Keep an eye on the pot, by the way; if the water level gets too low, add in some extra. You should never be able to see exposed beans, they should always be covered with cooking liquid.

Now, if that isn't a recipe that any goofball can follow, then I don't know what is.

Please note, by the way, that I didn't specify how much salt or pepper to use. I tend to salt and pepper food fairly liberally, so I do not want to tell anyone how much salt to use.

My very delicious beans were a part of my Tex Mex feast which had fajitas, rice, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, and (not homemade) tortillas.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Public Service Announcement

If you have a cat, I can only suggest that you stay alert and wary at all times. Ever since their fall from power after the Egyptian pharaohs were overthrown, cats have been working to retake the world.

Questions Raised by Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I did not write this, but rather came across this bit of silliness a few years back. I suspect everyone here has seen it already, but I am compelled to repost it here.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Sixteen Serious Questions Raised By

"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"

1. WHY IS SANTA SUCH A COMPLETE BASTARD?

I'm going to say he has a chemical disorder, probably Bipolar. The elves sing him a very nice song and he's a total jerk about it, leaving the desperately co-dependent Mrs. Clause to patch things up. He has some sort of eating disorder that causes his weight to fluctuate wildly. He tells Dasher he should be ashamed for presenting Rudolph to the community simply because the child has some sort of nose disorder. He only changes his mind about Rudolph once he figures out a way to exploit him. Plus, this guy is absolutely ITCHING to cancel Christmas. Hey Santa. It's not your call. Christmas is the day Jesus was born. God will let you know if Christmas is cancelled. Until then, get your ass in the damn sleigh.






2. WHAT'S UP WITH CLARICE?

A generation of men my age is all screwed up because Rankin/Bass decided to make Clarice disturbingly attractive. She's a little forward, a little coy, and those eyelashes! I swear to God, we should all organize a class action suit to pay for our therapy.

3. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE ELVES?

Why are they such fascists? Like the head elf isn't way different than all the others? And what about the tall elf? Is he an engineer? Is he from MIT? Why is he tall? And how come the head elf and the tall elf don't get any shit but Hermy does?

4. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE REINDEER?

Okay, Rudolph's glowing, squealing nose is weird as shit, but why do the other reindeer find it terrifying? What about a glowing, squealing nose makes other reindeers pupils shrink and their bodies convulse? And why does it mean the poor bastard can't  play in any reindeer games'? He's the best at flying, especially once Provocative, Jailbait Clarice comes onto him. Is this like back when Negroes weren't allowed to play football?

5. IS IT HERMY OR HERBIE?

I swear, he gets called both over the course of less than an hour.


6. IS HERMY GAY?

Yes. Forty years ago you couldn't talk about homosexuality among puppets on TV, so they used the word 'dentist' instead of 'fag'.

7. IS YUKON CORNELIUS GAY?

No. Yukon Cornelius, like 7% of the population, is asexual.

8. WHAT'S THE DEALIO ON THAT FRIGGIN' TALKING SNOWMAN?

Forty years ago, Burl Ives, who lent his voice and a lot more of his image than you'd think to the Talking Snowman was a big star. Now nobody remembers hits like "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (a song that is actually about Hobos dying of malnutrition, exposure and alcoholism) or "The Ugly Bug Ball" (which is actually about unattractive bugs gathering to dance) or his Oscar winning turn as "Big Daddy" in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". All anyone remembers about Burl Ives is that he is the talking snowman and they don't even know he was really Burl Ives. I imagine this makes the ghost of Burl Ives just about as mad as fuck.

9. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH TIME AT THE NORTH POLE?

Okay, follow me here. Rudolph runs away from home right after Reindeer practice. He has adventures with Herbie and Yukon Cornelius and visits the Island of Misfit Toys. Then he leaves them behind and is off on his own long enough to enter puberty and grow antlers. Meanwhile, his Dad went to look for him right after he ran away, followed almost immediately by his mom and that Little Tart Clarice. The near adult Rudolph returns home to be informed by Santa that everyone's gone looking for him. We know it's been less than a year because Santa says he can't fly the team without Rudolph's dad, but it sure as hell has been a while. Rudolph goes directly to the Abominable snowman's cave JUST IN TIME TO STOP HIM FROM EATING THE ODDLY PROVOCATIVE CLARICE!

How are we supposed to view this sequence of events? Where Mom, dad and Clarice looking for Rudolph for almost a year before the Abominable caught them? It's just a coincidence Rudolph stumbles upon them moments after that?

I think this stretches credulity. I'm forced to assume that somewhere in the vicinity of the Island of Misfit Toys there's an object of immense mass, perhaps a Fallen White Dwarf Star, and that proximity to this mass causes relativity in time so that Rudolph has aged nearly a year while only having left the Pole for about a day.

10. DO CLARICE'S PARENTS JUST NOT GIVE A SHIT?

Rudolph runs away and his folks go after him. Clarice disappears and her parents don't appear in the special. Is she an orphan? Is that why she's always on the make, looking for the love she never got? Or maybe she's got that smokin' hot thing going on chicks get when Daddy can't be bothered.

Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about here. You want her as much as I do and you don't give a damn that she's a reindeer.

11. WHY IS KING MOON RACER SO DAMN COOL?


Aside from the fact that a Lion with wings is pretty cool to begin with, no one knows. I mean what does he do? He's king of an Island of Misfit Toys and all he wants is for Santa to take them off his paws. Then what would he be king of? A lot of Permafrost, that's what. But he's still cool as hell and anyone who says he isn't can meet me out back for a serious beating.

12. IS THE BUMBLE RETARDED OR WHAT?

Ten minutes before Herbie yanks his teeth out, this hulking brute snapped a damn stalactite of the roof of his cave and beat Rudolph unconscious with it. Now he's harmless cause he doesn't have teeth?

HELLO!

You still have huge friggin' claws! You're still a friggin' GIANT! Get another stalactite and beat Yukon Cornelius to prospector paste instead of letting him push you off a damn cliff!

13. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE DOLL ON THE ‘ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS'?

She looks fine, right? She isn't. She wouldn't be on the ‘Island if Misfit Toys' if she was. Check it out. Rudy tells King Moon Racer that if he ever gets back to the North Pole he'll give Santa the 411 on the Misfits. Christmas Eve, when the doll thinks Santa isn't going to show, she goes on a crying jag and accuses Rudolph of having promised to help them.

Okay, A.) he never made any damn promise and B.) Rudolph doesn't run Christmas, Santa does and he's a complete, manic depressive bipolar bastard.

I'll tell you why the doll is a misfit. She's a lying little bitch.

14. WHY DOESN'T CHARLIE IN THE BOX CHANGE HIS NAME?

You can do that, you know. Have your name changed.



15. WHY DOESN'T THE JELLY SQUIRTING WATER PISTOL EMPTY OUT THE JELLY AND PUT IN WATER?

I mean, it's not brain surgery. Stop looking for Santa to solve your problems. He's a bastard.

16. WHY DOES RUDOLPH AGREE TO LEAD SANTA'S SLEIGH?

I mean, when someone treats you that way, all they deserve is a swift hoof in the nuts. I'm serious. Guide your own damn sleigh. Then when you crash in the Andes you can eat your Reindeer to survive.

After all, nobody likes a skinny Santa.

Apple and Pear Popovers

My brother and his son came by today for lunch. I wasn't expecting company, but luckily, I had been simmering a pot of carne guisada that I had originally intended for dinner. So, I just cranked up the heat to finish it sooner, made some rice, and had a decent lunch set up in no time.

Since I was still in a cooking mood, I then made us some popovers with apple, pear, and cranberries as a dessert. The good thing about these popovers is that they are not overly sweet and are airy, so your brain thinks you are eating something big, but you really aren't.

Ingredients


2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons plus 6 tablespoons butter
1 Red Delicious apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pear, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries


Directions


Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Whisk the eggs and milk together in a medium bowl. Add the flour, salt, and sugar and whisk until blended. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk it into the batter.

In each cup of a regular sized 12 muffin muffin tin, divide cold butter, apple pieces, pear pieces, and cranberries. Place the muffin tin in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the butter and cook the fruit slightly.

Remove the tins from the oven and pour the batter into each cup filling them half way up. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until puffed and golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes more.

Serve hot.

Damnit Jim, I'm a Cooker Guy, Not a Caterer!

Tomorrow evening, my sister is hosting a dinner party on behalf of my niece. Since she will be cleaning and decorating the house (and can't cook her way out of a paper sack), she asked me to provide the food for the evening.

She said she wanted a meat lasagna, a side salad, and something sweet for dessert. After thinking about it, though, I don't think a greasy slab of meat lasagna is appropriate dinner party fare. Instead, I am going to make a ricotta/parmesan/spinach filled rolled lasagna instead. I think it will be more elegant and tastier.

Since I haven't made it in a while, I made it this evening as a dry run. And I took pictures to share! Yay!





Ingredients

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg


Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach thawed (obviously) and squeezed dry (obvs part 2)
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
8 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella


Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it is thick and smooth. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the white sauce. Pour the bechamel into a 9x12 inch cake pan.

Mix the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to a large pot of boiling and salted water. The noodles need to be cooked until just tender but still a bit firm since they will continue to be cooked in the oven. Drain them. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking. Lay out each noodle on a work surface, then spread some of the ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle.

Starting at the narrow end, roll each noodle tightly. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the cake pan. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta and spinach filling.

Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the lasagna rolls.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 450 degrees until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve as a plate sauce.

Mexican Rice

I received a couple of emails asking me what I meant by Mexican Rice. To be honest, I'm not sure what I meant by the term because rice in Mexico is not like this! Lol! This style of rice is fairly typical of what South Texas cooks churn out of their kitchens, featuring a lot of spice and fresh produce.

I will walk you through the steps that I go through to make it, but understand that every cook has their own ingredients and believes theirs is the best. For example,in my opinion, my family's way is much tastier than what I find in most other kitchens and even local restaurants.  Ha! (Oh, hold on, my cap has become a bit tight on my head. How odd.......It's almost as if the cap shrank...)

Ingredients
1/2 cup of long grain rice
canola oil to cover the bottom of a pot
1/2 roma tomato, diced small
1/4 small onion, diced small
1 cup chicken stock (I prefer Kitchen Basics. The Swanson broth is all salt and no flavor.)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
handful cilantro, chopped
salt/pepper to taste

Makes 4 1/4 cup servings

1. Cover the bottom of a small pot with canola oil and place on medium heat.

2. Once the oil is hot, put in the rice and allow to cook until brown. The oil should not be over the rice, as if deep frying, but each grain of rice should wind up coated at least. (Warning: If you have too much oil, the rice will come out shiny and greasy. Blech!)

3.  Once the rice is browned, add in the onion and tomato. Let them saute for about 2 minutes.

4. Add the chicken stock, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Stir once to incorporate all the spices and cover the pot with a lid. (Warning: Don't stir any more than that or the rice will come out sticky and gummy. I prefer individual grains of cooked rice.)

5. Turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer until all of the liquid is gone.

6. Turn the heat off and let the covered rice sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes. The rice will continue to cook with the residual steam and will fluff up.

I generally make a whole cup of rice at a time and, therefore, double all of the ingredients. I just made a half cup today, though, to have photos for this post.

Variations:

A. Instead of cilantro, you can put 1/4 of a bell pepper or a whole jalapeno. Just be sure to put in one of them for flavor.

B. Some cooks like to put ground cumin instead of the paprika.

C. Some cooks will use canned tomato sauce in place of the fresh tomato. One friend of mine actually roasts whole tomatoes and then blends them with onion and puts the resulting tomato sauce in her rice.

An illustration of the amount of tomato and onion.

Browned rice.

(Btw, I actually have too much oil here. You can see it. I drained the extra before

going to my next step. Hey, sorry for the screw up! Who do I look like, Martha Stewart? Sheesh!)

Rice with slightly cooked tomato and onion.

Water has evaporated, but rice is still slightly hard.

Flowered rice in an unfocused photo

F-ing auto focus....

Cinnamony Goodness

I was in the mood for something sweet this evening, so decided to whip up some cinnamon rolls.

Here is the dough rolled out after being allowed to rise for an hour beforehand. I like to add a bit of  spice to my doughs, be they pie crusts or sweet breads, especially if there is going to be fruit and such added in. Whatever spice is in the filling is what I put in the dough. In this case, the dough has a bit of cinnamon and cardamom.

I then spread a stick of melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar/cardamom mixture.

Finally, a generous portion of pecans.

I let the cut rolls proof again until they have filled up the baking pan.

Brown and hot from the oven!

Yum.

Finito!

Covered in a brown sugar and orange glaze.

Mm mm mm mm mm!

Dinner With the Doc: Monday Edition

So, today I decided to make a Mexican salpicon (shredded beef with onion, bell pepper, tomato, jalapeno pepper, and seasonings), a lettuce, tomato, and cilantro salad, pinto beans (not pictured), and Mexican style rice. Mmm mm!

Who's in?