It’s 4pm and I’m still just as excited about my afternoon off as I was this morning! I’ve haven’t been quite as productive as I’d like, but I’ve gotten far more done than I would have if I’d gotten home at 2pm. It’s a bit hard to focus when the dog is doing THIS –
Studying got a little easier when he settled onto the couch and was no longer traipsing about on the table.
And my focus got an exponential boost when he settled in my lap for a nap, making it impossible for me to hop out of the chair and get distracted by something across the room.
Plus, I turned off the heat when I got home and it’s 64* in the house so a warm puppy in my lap felt heavenly.
On the food front I’ve been far more successful. Dinner is half prepped and look at what I made myself for lunch –
Channa Masala! Apparently we really are on an Indian kick.
I used Jenna’s (Eat, Live, Run) recipe and tried to follow it closely except for a few changes –
- I didn’t have most of the spices so I used went with 1 tsp garam marsala, 1 tsp sweet curry, and 1/4 tsp chili powder
- I used an extra Tbsp of butter
- I skipped the ginger
- I used extra tomato paste
- I doubled the lemon juice
Oh, and I burnt the daylights out of the sauce instead of pincing. Frick! But I trudged forward with my blackened tomato paste and the end dish turned out pretty tasty, if not carcinogenic.
I topped my serving with fat-free plain yogurt and some mango chutney.
Delish. I’d like to try the “real” dish at India Gate soon to see how my version compares.
I also snacked on a serving of kettle chips while I cooked.
Is there anything better than chip foldsies?
Eating Chalk 
You call me (more than once) to find out how to make a hard-boiled egg, but yet you do some kind of cooking called “pincing?” What is that??
never mind…A French term used to describe the browning of a food ingredient in the fat content contained within the ingredient prior to adding any other items, such as liquids. Typically the purpose of this procedure, pronounced “pin-sahr” in French, is to enhance and deepen the flavor of the ingredient as the sugars within begin to caramelize. Commonly used to describe the cooking of tomato paste, Pincer is also used for a variety of other cooking ingredients such as to make stewed or braised foods, various meat and brown stocks, or for making flavorful sauces and vegetable dishes. The process will often create a deeper and richer flavor with a somewhat smoky overtone.
Look at you, using the internet!