(no subject)

[hakujinjoe]

• I must have been tired because I fell asleep really early yesterday.  I think I was sleeping around 9pm.  After that I intermittently awoke and watched some videos on youtube and fell back asleep.  I feel well rested today so I guess it wasn't all for naught.

• Sometime next month I'm finally going to be doing special effects work for that photo shoot I mentioned months ago.  I wasn't sure what was happening with it since I never got a time frame despite asking a bunch of times.  Apparently it's going down in a few weeks.  I guess I should start making the stuff for it.  My guess Is that I can do most of it in a week or so and spend another week working on details and techniques.  Hopefully everything comes out well.

• I need to learn how to make some more Mexican food.  I'm in the mood for Mexican but I have no ideas beyond that.  The normal things I know how to make already (tacos, burritos, enchiladas) aren't cutting it.  Maybe I'll break down and find a cookbook.  Rick Bayless maybe?  He was good enough to win Top Chef Masters, he should be good enough to fulfill my Mexican cravings.

• Speaking of Top Chef, the new season is in effect.  Already there are a few standouts, though mostly they are standouts for being horrible or being total douchebags.  Once those people are eliminated I'll be excited to see what happens.  My guess is fat, bearded, teddy bear guy wins it!

• I have been really lax on finding things to read as of late.  I think I'm going to start finding scans of books online and reading them while I'm at work so that I can kill time more effectively.  The problem there is that I only want to download books that I wouldn't actually want to pay for.  Maybe it's going to be a slew of science related stuff.

Comments

[leapfrog2747.livejournal.com]

I have a great recipe for mole sauce. I'll dig it out for you.

[hakujinjoe.livejournal.com]

I'm excited for it! I need Mexican food that is tasty. There is a severe lack of Mexican food here in Tokyo.

[leapfrog2747.livejournal.com]

Here you go:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons hot chili powder
4 1/2 cups chicken broth (I use vegetable)
1/2 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high high heat. Saute onion until tender. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin and cinnamon; saute for a few minutes.
Stir in flour and chili powder, stirring until sauce thickens. Slowly whisk in broth; reduce until sauce reaches desired consistency. Stir in chocolate until melted and well blended.

I love to make enchiladas with this, and also spanish rice. For the rice, I "toast" it first in a mixture of butter and olive oil (does everyone do this? I don't know, but it makes for very tasty rice). Do you have a good spanish rice recipe?

[hakujinjoe.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Thanks, hopefully I'll have time to make it over the weekend!

I don't think I've ever made spanish rice before but toasting it sounds good.

[leapfrog2747.livejournal.com]

Ok, I just reread that recipe. I don't use 5T of chili powder. I'm not much of a measurer, honestly; I mostly cook by taste. So whatever you do, don't start by dumping in the full 5T!

Here is how I make spanish rice:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups broth (I use vegetable; it's more authentic if you use chicken broth)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender.
Stir in broth and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.