Trailer Park Karma

Curry Pear Sauce

The kid's shuttled off to his dad's hangout. Someone "may or may not" come over later. You've done all the screen-staring your eyeballs can handle, and you have, among a handful of other food items, an already-cooked pork tenderloin in your fridge.

What do you do?

Rummaging through my cupboard, I found some rice and boxed chicken broth. That's an automatic done-deal right there. Still, it'd be nice to flavor it, so I pull out what remains of the cilantro from last weekend.

While reaching for that pinot grigio (also from last weekend -- and unbelievably, unopened still!), I also notice the leftover alcohol-free sparkling organic pear juice concoction. We killed two bottles of it at the 12-steppers' reunion party last Saturday, but since it was on sale for a buck a bottle, there's still plenty to spare. Bound to be something I can do with it...

Then I remembered the big dinner party that my Editor's ex-wife recently gave -- sure, it was a thousand miles from us, but thanks to Facebook, I got to be privy to some of the chatter that usually ensues when folks are fretting about hostess duties. That was last week, but tonight I remembered the topic of curry coming up.

Fair warning: curry isn't called for in The Republic too often -- well, not by natives, anyway. I'm sure there are more than a handful of restaurants (in that section of town that's been christened "Midtown" in the past decade, even though it's near the Greyhound station & grimiest McDonald's in the region) that toss curry into their nouveau dishes on a regular basis. Hey, what's good for Monica Pope just might be good for out here in the Park.

The only person who's definitely eating this stuff is me. The coast is clear. Commence t'cookin.

 The above photo has nothing to do with anything

other than demonstrating how not to store
a cut onion in the fridge,
that being without a lid on the container.

Cilantro Pork Rice

Cook rice in usual fashion using chicken broth instead of water.
Halfway through cooking, add a fistful of finely chopped fresh cilantro.
Just before all the liquid is absorbed (about 5 minutes before time is up for the rice), toss in diced cooked pork tenderloin. (This one was cooked in soy sauce, so for good measure I added to rice about 2 tablespoons of the juice that the leftovers had been hanging out in...)


Curry Pear Sauce

Melt 4 tablespoons of margarine in small sauce pan.
While it's melting, sprinkle in 1 tsp of curry powder. Whisk or stir in until smooth. Bring to bubble.

Whisk in 1/2 cup of sparkling organic pear juice drink, 1/4 cup at a time. You could probably use non-organic and survive.
(I'd like to try this with plain old pear juice, not the sparkling variety -- it may be even better. Let me know, if you try it.)

Cook over low-to-medium heat until liquid bubbles and thickens just a bit (it won't be like syrup yet...) When first quarter cup has boiled down, add second quarter and cook similarly. The end product should be like really thin syrup.

Dribble the sauce on the pork rice. You can also use it for plain, cooked acorn squash instead of butter and brown sugar.

And since I didn't manage to get a photo of the sauce, here's a lovely shot of me scooping steamed acorn squash out of its rind.

Blender-Killin Hummus for Margaret

Blender-Killin Hummus for Margaret

WARNING: You're on your own for measurements with this one. Let it be known to all who venture forth that I have killed *2* blenders with this recipe. It's THAT good.

small bag dry chickpeas (aka garbanzos in certain ethnically-enriched centers of town)

enough water to cover the chickpeas by about 2 inches

enough chicken broth to cover the chickpeas by about 2 inches

a whole bunch of garlic

one medium, soft, juicy lemon

sesame oil (or olive or veggie oil, in a pinch)

kosher salt

tahini out the jar


To make Hummus for Margaret:

Do whatever you do to soften beans i.e. 8-hour soak in room temp water or bring beans to boil & remove from heat for one-hour soak. I'd use a whole bag, but you can halve the recipe, too, especially since there are no measurements here anyway.

Drain the chickpeas. (Should I be calling them 'garbanzos'?) THEN pour the chickpeas back into the large pot and dump in the chicken broth until it's about an inch over the critters.

Chickenbroth: if you're clever and organized enough to have your own homemade stock on hand, use it. And bully for you, you smart and on-the-ball cook, You. Otherwise, I tend toward the boxed variety (because the nifty re-closeable spout let's you stick unused portions in the fridge easier than the canned kind.)

Boil the chickpeas (not rolling so much as low easy boil) along with peeled whole cloves of the garlic (I leave it up to you to decide how many cloves from one bunch -- I go crazy, depending on who I'm feeding) until everything is soft. Really soft.

Strain the chickpeas and garlic (but I'd reserve the broth for later use, in both this and other recipes).

Now you start the blending process -- see above for appropriate warning. You should be just fine if you (a) blend about 1/2 cup at a time or (b) have a food processor and know how to use it. (I use 'regular' blenders that I buy at garage and church rummage sales.)

Alternate in your blender / processor(you lucky dog!)

(a) drained chickpeas/garlic cloves with

(b) lemon juice squeezed from halved lemon and

(c) sesame oil (about a teaspoon at a time) until you have about a full cup or more of hummus blended.

Add about 1/4 cup tahini at this point, plus a teaspoon of kosher salt. Taste and adjust lemon, tahini, or salt to taste.

Once you have the taste right, scoop that batch out and start the next one in same manner.

Yes, you may worry -- "Is this 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) batch the exact same consistency as the 1st (or 2nd or 3rd)??"

Never mind. Combine the batches as you finish them. With a large wooden spoon, if possible. Taste as you go along, and you'll be just fine.

OH, you can also add parsley (I recommend fresh, but most often have only Dried In A Jar) to the blending/pulverizing process.

Other things you can add for fun:

turmeric
paprika
chili powder
comino
diced bell pepper (but NOT in the blender!)
onion (but NOT in the blender!)

ta dah!