Currying Flavor

It's rare that I make up recipes in my head and follow through to executing them in the kitchen. It's rarer still that I do so and feel compelled to share the results. I just don't have that kind of gift for cooking. Most of the time these great ideas I have all add up to meh. An ok meal, but loaded with woulda, shouldas. I'm an expert Monday morning quarterback of meal preparation. But last weekend, things came together differently--call it divine intervention or plain old dumb luck, but I made a really delicious curry without a recipe to follow.

I think it was pretty healthy, but I'll defer to my better qualified nutritionist friends to critique that. Except for the chicken bullion cube, which could be easily replaced by a vegetable broth option, it was vegetarian. Since I was throwing things together mad-scientist style, the measurements I'm providing are approximate. I have no picture since I had no expectation of success and we ate it all before I could think of photographing it. The mayor and the boy both liked it despite the obvious inclusion of tofu. Chicken could be substituted, but what's the sense in that unless you can't tolerate soy? This was tasty and hearty enough that I think that you could leave the tofu out altogether and put in a bit more potato. Anyway, I'll leave it to you to tweak to your heart's content.

Tofu Curry

2 tbsp. olive oil                                1 really large vidalia onion coarsely chopped

6 Baby carrots sliced thin                2 medium red potatoes diced

1 box firm tofu, drained & cubed    2 teaspoons curry powder

6 white mushrooms sliced               1 large green pepper cut in 1/2 inch pieces

1 can of petite diced tomatoes         1 cup chicken or veg broth hot                    

1 tbsp garam masala                        1/2 packet Bartender's pina colada mix (hey, don't judge)

1 tsp corn starch                               red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to taste

In a large skillet, toss in the onions, carrots and olive oil. Heat until onions start getting translucent. Throw in potatoes  and 1 tsp of curry powder keeping the heat high to medium. Let cook for a few minutes stirring often. Push all ingredients to one end of pan and put the tofu in in a single layer so that it browns. Turn tofu with spatula and try to brown on the other side. Add mushrooms, tomatoes and green peppers. Stir in red pepper flakes if using, cover and cook over medium heat while you prepare the sauce. To a cup of very hot bullion/broth add the remaining tsp of curry powder, the garam masala and the pina colada mix. Pour mixture over everything, boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix cornstarch in a little water and add to thicken. Serve with rice.

Take your time with each stage of this recipe. This amount served three with a tiny little bowl of leftovers. If anything was wrong, the amount of tofu was too much in proportion to the rest. Next time I'd cut it to half or 3/4ths. If you put this curry away and use it the next day, it will taste even better. I hope it comes out right for you if you try it!

The Newest National Holiday--SuperBowl Monday

The kids at the boy's school are all clamoring for a day off Monday so that they can sleep in after the Super Bowl festivities. As a mom, I kind of like this idea. Every year people get the choice to make their school-age football fans go to bed at half-time or let them stay up and be exhausted for school the next day. It's not fun, not fair and not necessary since everyone in every time zone could make a day of it if the game were played and aired four hours earlier than it is. Frankly, it isn't just the kids that suffer. I know a few adult Giants fans who are planning to "work" from home on Monday. But despite the inconvenience to so many, somebody who profits by it has declared Sunday night to be Super Bowl time and we all just suck it up.

I started thinking about the idea of Super Bowl Monday as a national holiday and after much consideration, I think it makes a lot of sense. The Superbowl, and all of the facts and frivolity that surround it, is a perfect microcosmic picture of America as it exists today.

On the positive side, just like our vast, majestic country, the Super Bowl is larger than life. Enormous people in gear that makes them look even more enormous clash in a huge arena in front of thousands of people. The game of football itself provides a platform upon which some of America's best qualities can be exhibited. It's an exciting, hard-driving game that requires teamwork and individual talent--neither being more essential than the other. To appear in the Super Bowl means that you've played fair and come out on top--you are being all that you can be--living the dream. Most football teams are a multi-cultural melting pot and their supporters just as diverse. You've got heroes like Manning, Nicks and Cruz (and ok, maybe Brady). You have villians like Vick, Roethlisberger and Rodgers (can't stand the arrogance there). Fans exude loyalty and spirit--qualities Americans never tire of displaying. Above all, it's fun and Americans like fun. A close, heart-in-your-mouth football game like XLVI promises to be, is a quintessentially American experience.

Let's not overlook the food aspect of the game celebrations because for the partying fans, the repast is nearly as key an element as the size of the TV screen. Both need to be, of course, big. From grocery stores to local pizzarias, everyone is offering to cater. Recipes abound online and every talk show with a food segment is getting you ready for the Sunday night feasting. There is possibly nothing more American about the Super Bowl than the emphasis on chowing down and drinking beer except maybe the lack of emphasis on diet and health. But what the hell, it's one night. Personally, I plan to save up all my weight-watchers points so I can indulge in whatever pig-out we manage to put together.

Less savory, but no less all-American are the gargantuan sums of money that are dedicated to this event without a thought to perspective. Much more all tolled, I'd venture to guess, than is put out on the Fourth of July. Superstars are on hand and nearly all media outlets contribute to the hype for weeks leading up to the game. Last time you saw anything like that for July 4th was in 1976. Football for all of its good qualities is a showcase for capitalism run amok. The value of profit overshadowing any and all other things ethical, moral or even sensible. The idea that people can get unimaginably wealthy for just playing a game or owning a team evinces the games that are played on Wall Street and K Street except for the fact that football doesn't suck up money without delivering on its promises, however shallow. That shallowness, the fact that we can rally so intensely around a sport while failing to expend even the slightest energy or interest on injustices that abound here is also indicative of where we are as a country. Without killing the the pre-Super Bowl mood altogether, suffice it to say that just like our Nation, football has a seamy side that gets a pass (drug use, criminality, head-injuries) because we don't feel like thinking about it and for too many people it pays (quite literally) not to.

But good and bad, this is who we are and where we are in America. The Super Bowl is a swash-buckling celebration of all of our realities good, bad and ugly. And I think that calls for a new national holiday. A day-off to recover from the in-your-face American extravaganza that the Super Bowl has become. Let's do it for the kids (wink, wink)! Oh and by the way, GO BIG BLUE!!!!!