Chicken Curry with Vegetables

Curry is the quintessential guy recipe. It's fast, relatively easy to make, and yields disproportionately high benefits: it's delicious, and it impresses women. When I lived in my first post-college apartment in Boston years ago, curry was the first thing I learned how to cook. This recipe has been refined through experimentation, and remains a work in progress.

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot, chopped
1 Yukon Gold potato, chopped
1/4-1/2 pound chicken, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tbsp. curry powder
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
1 apple, cut into slices
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tbsp. peanut butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp. oil and 1/2 tbsp. butter over medium high heat in saute pan. Add onion and cook until yellowed, stirring occasionally with spatula, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add curry powder and stir with spatula; reduce heat to medium. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes or so, less if you're using leftover or precooked chicken.

Meanwhile, you should be preparing the stock, heating to a boil. At the same time, peel the apple and cut into slices. Drop it into a blender, add a small amount of water, and puree for a few seconds. Once the stock has begun to boil, add a tbsp. of flour, a little at a time, and beat with a whisk to avoid clumping. Add 1/2 tbsp peanut butter and beat into mixture. Add apple slurry to mixture, and stir together.

Add stock-slurry mixture to saute pan; add vegetables. Begin heating water and beating in additional flour; add as much flour as desired to achieve desired thickness. Cover pan and cook for approximately 30-45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice, and with fresh chopped cilantro (optional). Serves 2-3.

Feel free to substitute vegetables and meat with whatever is on hand. Beets are especially fun, because they turn the entire mixture red and then you have BLOOD CURRY.

Britney Spears, Child Abuser

Why hasn't Britney been charged with child abuse?

I'm glad I don't practice in California, where celebrities are clearly held to a different set of laws than us common folk. Last week, Spears instigated a standoff with police when she refused to turn over her children, doubtlessly while under the influence of alcohol and other illicit substances. Such conduct in Arizona could be considered child abuse, and I've seen people charged under our statute under far less flagrant circumstances.

EDIT: People reports that she tested negative for drugs and alcohol during her stay at Cedars Sinai. Looks like you win this round, Britney. Just hope they don't test the kids' hair for drugs.

The Darjeeling Limited

I loved this movie! I finally saw it on Thursday. Going in, I was highly skeptical. I'm no Wes Anderson fanboy. His movies leave me either completely disappointed (Rushmore) or nonplussed (The Life Aquatic), or casually amused (Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums). None of them have changed my life or connected with me in some deep way. But in Darjeeling, Anderson seemed more restrained then usual.

Like the twisted ensemble in The Royal Tenenbaums, Darjeeling's three central protagonists harbor layers of deep resentment for one another buried under layers of personality quirks. Here, though, Anderson has a much smaller volume of characters in his stable, so he can focus more intensely on them. And it's a short movie, too (not counting Hotel Chevalier), which I always appreciate.

Also, I have a major case of travel envy right now. That may explain why I liked it so much.

Pumpkin Risotto (thanks to Tucson CSA for inspiration)

I know it's late for pumpkin recipes, but I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit. I thought I'd record it for posterity. You can substitute other types of squash if you want.

The First Thing You Got To Do

Cut a hole in the top and pull out all the seeds. You can do this however you want. Get a bunch of kids together and rip out the guts, if that's fun for you. Once you've done that you can save the seeds and toast them, but again, that's your business. Cut the pumpkin into halves or quarters and stick it in the oven for, like, 30 minutes at 375 degrees, flipping once or twice. Don't take it out until it's mushy.

Once it's done, take it out and scoop out the soft stuff with a fork, spoon, or ice cream scoop. Set aside about two cups worth. Save the rest for a pie, maybe.

The Next Thing

Next up, you've got to get your mise en place set up. Get out some butter, rice, dried sage, onion, white wine, grated Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Mince up the onions nice and fine. Make sure to get all your ingredients together before you start cooking, 'cause that's real important.

Start Cooking

Heat up about 4 cups of broth to a boil. Keep it at a slow boil until ready.

Get out a decent sized stock pot and turn the heat up to medium. Heat a couple of tablespoons of butter or oil. Throw in the onions and watch them carefully, sauteeing them until they turn yellow and fragrant, it should take a couple of minutes. Add the pumpkin and about a cup of rice. If you want more risotto you'll need to adjust your broth and pumpkin proportions accordingly. Stir everything together, then add 2 teaspoons of sage and a good size splash of white wine. Use your discretion on this one.

Here comes the fun part. Start adding broth, about two cups at a time. Watch the mix carefully as the rice absorbs the liquid. You may need to dilute your broth with water if it's a salty mixture, or if you're planning on making a lot of risotto. Stir the mixture as you go, adding more and more broth as it gets absorbed. All told you'll be adding anywhere from 6-10 cups of water/broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook till al dente. Add cheese once finished (if desired).

This recipe should be vegan friendly, so long as you use vegetable broth, oil, and omit the cheese. I used vegetable broth last year and it worked great.

Kumari Fulbright

Former Beauty Queen and UA Law Student Suspected of Torturing Ex-Boyfriend

When I first learned of this story and heard that Larry Hammond was involved, I was flabbergasted. But then it turned out to be another Larry Hammond, not the esteemed civil rights lawyer and leader of the Arizona Justice Project. I don't think there's any relation.

This has been a really strange year for the law school. First the suicide earlier in the year, and now this. I know the pressure at law school is pretty intense, but I don't remember it being this bad. Maybe it's because of the construction forcing people into those temporary buildings? I can confirm that whenever I use the temporary law library for more than a few hours, I feel ready to snap.

Douchebag

What a wonderful word. And it's a word I employ frequently. Yes, I seem to be beset with douchebags at every turn these days. As John Mayer writes, there's just something extra satisfying about the sound of the word. That long "ooo" sound connotes "fool", yet the word is so much funnier and more savage.

A thousand curses upon YouTube for not having the Buck Henry "Lord and Lady Doooochebag" sketch from SNL (though I suspect NBC may be to blame).

Happy New Year!

I had a blast. In celebration, please enjoy one of the greatest pop/rock songs ever written: