Death & Curry

Tragically, my camera, the workhorsy Canon PowerShot A620, died a slow, quiet death this past week with no one in attendance. This demise couldn't come at a worse time, as I've been happily fêting all over town and unabled to half-assedly memorialize the deliciousness here. Ah well...

I'm still on a curry bender. Friday I met up with some friends at Bangalore, a British curry pub (if there's a better amalgam of 3 words in the English language, I can't think of any) in Palermo Hollywood, where we sampled the vegetarian thalis platter containing vegetable korma, pumpkin curry, butter mutter paneer, and warm pillowy naan.

Then Saturday, I went with a group of gals to Sudestada for their now-27-peso lunch set, still a steal considering the inflation, where--quelle surprise--I had the Thai vegetable curry.

Then this morning I awoke with Indonesian food on the brain for a mysterious reason, so I ambled on over to the kitchen to concoct a variation of beef rendang. It didn't come out too shabby, considering, and even better, the boy loved it. (A big thanks to my mom who left behind some lemon grass paste from her visit.)

So let's see...that's curry of the Indian, Thai, and Indonesian persuasion--all in one week! What's left?

The boy claims his favorite curry hands down is Japanese--ick--so my next project will be to simply open up a package of House brand sauce (they carry it here in Barrio Chino) and ceremoniously dump it into a bowl. Frankly I think he just misses our weekly trek to the Curry House in West LA, because no sane person can possibly prefer Japanese-style curry over all the others, claro?

When in BA

I made the most killer supper last night: Thai green curry with tofu and glass noodles. In keeping with the ongoing Argentine fusion theme, my curry actually had palmito cubes as the veg, arugula as the herb, and some queso crema to round off the heat. I know it sounds a tad touched, but it turned out divine. The iced coffee delivery was also nice to bring the heat factor down a couple notches.



In other news, I need a new camera.

Omelette a la Provenzal

I like to buy prepackaged stuff from the supermarches here, such as precut veggies for sopas or chop sueys--not that I've ever been inspired to chop any sueys. My favorite convenience packet hands down is the mixed herbs a la provenzal, containing about a quarter cup of chopped fresh garlic and a quarter cup of chopped fresh parsley. This morning I groggily threw together this packet with four beaten eggs and ta da, I present the frockin' Omelette a la Provenzal! Be sure to have a tub of breath mints nearby.

And since we're talking about Argentinizing the old standbys, I've also taken a liking to adding a spoonful or two (who am I kidding, three) of dulce de leche into my espresso every morning for a more stylized version of Cuban coffee. Fawesome.

Casa Mom

My mom made vermicelli with imperial rolls for dinner tonight, a classic Vietnamese dish. You take lettuce leaf, drop in some rice noodles, fresh veg (bean sprouts, cilantro and mint, shredded carrot, spring onion), an imperial roll (made with chewy, sour rice paperskin, muy rico), wrap it all up, then dip in a sweet/sour, fish-sauce based dressing. mmm...

w00t!

You know you've been waiting for this list so here it is: What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving 2007.

- less than a year until we elect a new president in the US--w00t!
- my son's relatively good adjustment to living in a new country, year 2
- my beautiful, healthy extended family, visiting and non
- that I can still fit a size L in the Forever 21 clothing line
- health and optimism
- my gorgeous home and the nearby cafe
- my students, who remind me minutely how much pleasure there is in learning and growing
- my friends, who persist despite me being me
- the upcoming cruise to Cabo San Lucas
- Nannette's Feast (coming soon to a theatre near you...)
- Argentina, for reaffirming that no matter where you are, people just want the same things in life

Now I might as well have another slice of sweet potato pie and OD on the touchy feely. And for Sarah, my fave Cambodian Martha Stewart, I post our dinner pictures thusly.

Pictured: ginger batata with burnt marshmallow topping, backyard dining, temperature pin that came with the bird (pops up when the turkey's cooked), roasted turkey (basted in white chablis and though originally frozen was the moistest evah) pictured with egg noodles, mashed papas with oodles of manteca, scratch stuffing with Argentine chorizo and fresh provencal herbs, sweet potato pie

Sunday Is Bake Day

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, newly emerged from the oven