Coconut Milk and Birch Beer

By far, my strangest trip to the grocery store to date.

I know that after a while... after several hundred average trips to the store... once in a while a person is bound to enter with a mental list of two items and exit with a bag full of oddities. Odd as in a small jar of curry powder, a can of coconut milk, and a 12-pack of Pennsylvania Dutch birch beer. Don't get me wrong, all of these items have specific purposes. They are destined to either aid in the creation of my newest recipe or at least satisfy my craving for carbonation, but some how seeing 10 very different items on one receipt just makes you laugh.

I set out tonight to try a recipe I found in a cookbook I received as a gift. From my guacamole adventure this past weekend, I have a significant amount of cilantro left to use up and I thought it might be interesting to try Coconut Curry Chicken, which features a teaspoon of said green leaves. Not too involved, but definitely different than anything I've made before. Only problem was I had no coconut and no curry. Got the chicken, though.

This led me to my amusing mid-week trip to Pathmark -- not a bad time to go, mind you. I found my two items and then of course had to pick up two oranges, garlic powder, and bagels. Oh, and a pint of Turkey Hill ice cream, because (a) it's a favorite from the homeland and (b) I was out. With $20 less in my checking account and a case of birch beer in my arm, I was off.

I made the dish pretty quickly and served it over white rice, but the curry wasn't as thick as I have seen in the past. It wasn't as spicy as the indian food I've had either, but that was okay by me. I think if I could make the sauce just a little heavier, I would definitely make it again. Of course, now I have two thirds of can of coconut milk to use up...

Special Day Scallops

Chocolate. Balloons. Flowers. Lingerie.

Scallops. That's what I purchased this Valentine's Day and all for me! I'm not a current proponent of this holiday, but I'm also not the cliche "woe is me," bitter, single girl who despises an innocent Saturday. I decided to treat February 14th, 2009 as a special day indeed, but minus the red and pink (I wear those colors enough on a daily basis). I wanted to do some exploring - to really try out my "beyond the recipe" adventure. I wanted to go where the wind took me and really just get lost in my city... well, as lost as a New Yorker can get when there are fourteen subway trains with weekend service advisories. I mean, you have to plan a little bit, right?

I ended up at a few of my old favorite (and new favorite) places. I made an important purchase at Pearl River Mart... my first sushi mat. I've been playing with the idea of making my own rolls, but since I have yet to try anything besides a roll bearing the name of a US city or state, I'm guessing I should expand my palate a bit more. I got a new card case for all my printed recipes at Pearl Paint and then made my way to Chelsea Market on 15th and 9th. I can't say exactly what I thought I would find, but somehow it wasn't quite that. I liked the variety and quality of the shops and the atmosphere is definitely worth taking visitors to, but for someone who normally shops from the Pathmark circular, the Market is a bit pricey.

Still, I managed to set aside my hesitations and put some of the fresh paper in my wallet to good use. After receiving my free chocolate sample (see, it's not such a bad day), I found the Manhattan Fruit Exchange. I picked up some tomatoes, a cucumber and an unripened avocado. I realized when I got home that I don't know if an avocado should be in the fridge. It's not, thank you Google.

I then found a few items in Buon Italia, including my first orb of mozzarella di bufala. Should go nicely with the tomatoes from MFE and a little basil and olive oil (which I'll probably be buying at Pathmark on Monday... on sale). I also got a fantastic mini loaf of rosemary bread at Amy's Bread, which is definitely a place to go back to.

Finally, I made my way to the Lobster Place. I took my time looking at all the fresh fish, lobster, and incredibly expensive crab meat. I also noticed some chefs and cooks passing through, clearly picking up their "Catch of the Day" for tonight's dinner crowd. It was almost like what you see on the Food Network... which is upstairs at Chelsea Market by the way. No luck seeing any famous faces yet. I picked up five large dry scallops and a small container of fresh lobster bisque for lunch.

My own "special day" dinner was pretty great and actually came about without a recipe for once. I went into the kitchen at about 6:00 with some pasta and some scallops and ended up wanting to finish the leftovers except that I want to save it for another meal! I figured I would wait to give the scallops my undivided attention since I have never really cooked with seafood before, so on with the pasta. I boiled some linguine and made a packet of Knorr garlic and herb sauce (seriously, if you live in a city and understand the difficulty of carrying groceries eleven stops on the train, then two blocks to your apartment, these $1.00 packets of dry sauce mix beat the hell out of glass jars of Ragu). After that, I sauteed those little buggers in what was probably a bit too much butter (Paula Deen would disagree) and served myself a nice plate complete with a slice of rosemary bread. All in all, I'm pretty proud of my special day travels and treasures.

And I only rolled my eyes at a couple on the street once!

Breakfast is the most important meal...

My dad does french toast. It's his thing. He's made it for as long as I can remember, whether the family was spending the weekend at my Grandma's place in the mountains or my brother and I just happened to wake up at an acceptable hour on a Saturday. He once told me that he made breakfast because he wanted to have the first opportunity to make someone smile in the morning.

I don't do french toast. In fact, there are few things I actually do when it comes to food besides boil, defrost, and heat up. My dad's theory about smiles has traveled with me to New York, however, and I've been known to cook up omelettes for friends spending the weekend. I'm not yet sure if omelettes are "my thing" but I really enjoy finding new recipes and trying my hand with different ingredients. I like the feeling of gathering individual pieces and building them into something new, which I can in turn share it with others (at least a photograph).

I plan to spend most of my blogging time on the various recipes I tackle as well as perhaps the occasional account of my trips to Pathmark. Who knows, I may veer off the path once in a while, but for the most part, I love food and I think I'm going to love writing about it.

Oh, and even though I do omelettes, it wasn't until just last month that I managed to fry an egg. Where I come from, it's called a dippy egg, so I thought that was a logical place to start. And so begins my Life Beyond the Recipe.