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Sara Cammeresi

Pizza to protect your oesophagus! —

Mmmmmm tomatoes.

posted by Sid at 10.41 / 695     [ Comments: 1 ]

Clinton weighs in on uranium row —

Former President Clinton has stepped up in support of the Bush administration in regard to the row over Bush's uranium statement saying `Everybody makes mistakes when they are president.' No further comment needed.

posted by Sid at 09.43 / 655     [ Comments: 0 ]

Poor Mr Dalton —

Look at what Mr Dalton gets for having his blog on Blogspot.

posted by Sid at 14.08 / 839     [ Comments: 1 ]

McCartney and PETA v KFC —

Sir Paul McCartney has managed quite a lot of humour by joining up with PETA, where KFC are apparently next in the queue to receive the wrath of the enviro-vegan complex.

`I am a vegetarian because I realise that even little chickens suffer pain and fear' [wrote he]. `These remarkable animals are deserving of at least a little kindness.'

To his silliness, KFC have responded in a most deserving manner:

`While PETA would prefer a world of vegetarians, most people disagree, so we think PETA should follow one of Sir Paul's songs, and just "Let it be."'

posted by Sid at 13.24 / 808     [ Comments: 0 ]

Chicken tagine —

Tonight, I employed my experience from my first shot at Middle Eastern cooking to make another tagine (a stew-like concoction flavoured with various spices), but this time with chicken and using a different recipe in my book. I departed from the recipe in a few ways, much to its benefit. The tagine recipes in this book call for stewing the meat, but I found that method to leave the meat rather bland. I decided to try boosting the flavour by frying the meat initially. Straightaway, this resulted in a big difference with a much greater infusion of spices into the meat. My way might not be authentic, but I care about taste, not authenticity.

For the benefit of those interested, here is the recipe, as I performed it.

2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 c potatoes, diced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3-5 pieces), cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
salt
1 c chopped parsley
1 c chopped cilantro

Into a dutch oven, add olive oil, spices, and garlic, and fry over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add chicken and fry until the outsides of the pieces are done, tossing regularly to avoid burning the spices (about 3-4 minutes). Add onions and sauté until softened (3-4 minutes). Pour over water to barely cover, bring to the boil, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes.

Add herbs, potatoes, and tomatoes, and cook, covered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are done. If sauce is thin, uncover and boil until sufficiently reduced. Adjust seasoning if needed, and serve hot over rice or couscous with bread and hummus.

I actually used 1/2 tsp black pepper because that's what the recipe said to use, but I found the pepper a bit overpowering at that strength, so I'd cut the quantity in half if I made this again. You could substitute dried parsley and cilantro, but if you haven't cooked with fresh spices, you owe it to yourself to try it once and observe the difference. For a more rustic look, you could also substitute (per the original recipe) a whole chicken cut into pieces in place of chicken breasts.

posted by Sid at 22.12 / 175 in Recipes     [ Comments: 0 ]