Aftermath: May Day, mayday

Kathy - Please turn to chapter 7 for tact. ;)

WARNING: I am not really a cook. I'm a photographer who happens to like cooking. :)

ATTENDEES: Krisette & Hrbs, Marcelle, Clair & JM, Fai, Mom, Dad, Tito Henry, Oz (Carnivore compactor ;) ) and myself. Photos up soon.

Aside from a few social hiccups. It looks like Capybara night was a major success. Not only did I get to sit down and have dinner, I got my friends to stand up and cook!!!

We voted against the risotto in favor of mashed potatoes. Marcelle's logic... "I live in the Philippines and eat rice everyday." True enough. So we had baked mash potatoes with garlic and butter. Here's the recipe of the stuff according to what I can remember.
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Pumpkin-curry soup
makes 10, to make one roughly divide ingredients

Saute in a soup pot
2 white onions minced or chopped - doesn't matter, it's going in the blender
1 head of garlic, minced (more if you're Filipino)
4-5 inches of ginger

When onions are translucent add
Half a pumpkin/ squash (you can use potatos, or zucchini) cut into 1 inch cubes or less. When slightly brown... (so it's sweeter)

Add
3 chicken broth cubes
1 Tbsp or so of curry (to taste)
a bit of garam masala (only because it sounds cool!)
salt and pepper, your choice
4-5 cups of water (not sure, just added enough to almost cover squash/pumpkin)

Cover. When everything goes all soft, strain (and save!) the liquid and return to soup pot. Put everything else in the blender, one batch at a time, add a bit of liquid to make blending easier. Make sure the blender is in secure position, just to be safe, watch it so it doesn't crash on your foot. Believe me hot, mushy gunk is really hot. I got attacked by a potato once and couldn't walk for a week. ;) (pointer 2, wear shoes in the kitchen)

Now where was I? Oh yeah, dump all the stuff in a strainer above the soup pot with reserved liquid. The idea here is to just remove the chunks that didn't get blended. Heat some more. Just before serving, add a bit of evaporated milk. Soup should still be thick. Ladle into bowls, top with a tablespoon or so of sour cream and chopped chives (optional)

Serve with Pappadams. You can get this at the indian store. drop in hot oil until it expands. fish out quickly and put on colander. Excess oil not good.

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Mashed potatoes

You get a potato, peel and quarter. Boil in water with a bit of salt. When done fish it out. Throw in kitchen aid (mixer) with paddle. While mixing add a bit of milk, salt, pepper, garlic cooked in a bit of butter. Put on pyrex and top with even more garlic cooked in butter. Bake until you're finished with the chicken, so everything is nice and hot. Serve.
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Jamie's Chicken (serves 1)

I can't remember what it's called really and couldn't find the recipe. It was the episode where he had an aussie bloke over and they were making funky scrambled eggs with mint and goat cheese in the market, moved back to his kitchen to make this... Chicken X.

1 chicken breast, cut so that it looks like it has 3 fingers (still attached)
rock salt and freshly bashed pepper. (ground, cracked...)
3 strips of bacon
4-5 cherry tomatos cut in half
a small bunch of asparagus (cut off the woody end, not the end that makes it look like an asparagus, that's the yummy part)
a few olives 3-5 pieces
Fresh basil (chiffonade)
Beer/ Wine

Season chicken breast with salt and pepper. Throw in pan with a bit of olive oil. Put bacon strips ON TOP of chicken. When the chicken browns on one side. Remove bacon from chicken and put beside it in the pan. Bacon should still be cooking. Flip chicken over. Add cherry tomatoes, asparagus. Cover. When asparagus is almost done, throw in a bit of beer or wine (maybe 1/4 cup so you still have something to drink ;). Cook until everything is done. Add a the black olives, and basil. Remove/ plate chicken, bacon, asparagus and some of the cherry tomatoes. Crush the rest of the tomatos and olives into the sauce. Simmer until it thickens slightly. Pour over chicken.