Amy the Mom

There's a party in my mouth!

I love having friends from different cultures.  Honestly, it's the only way that I ever get to try different foods.  My family is not courageous when it comes to trying new cuisine, and if spices are involved they better be no stronger than garlic. 

Shortly after my marriage ended I became friends with Ken, who is of Puerto Rican descent.  He knows every hole in the wall restaurant in the Twin Cities.  I remember one night sitting on his front porch eating tacos that were filled with rich meat, an abundance of fresh cilantro and the most incredible red sauce.  When I asked the name of the restaurant they came from, he dismissed me and told me it didn't have a name, and it wasn't in a part of town that I should be going into alone anyway.   I think he just didn't want me to tell anyone else about it.  He operates on a theory that as soon as native Minnesotans find a good Mexican restaurant, it immediately turns to shit because they stop making the food so spicy.  He probably has a point. 

Another night he introduced me to a Pakastani restaurant where we sat on huge foor pillows and spent a large chunk of change.  I must have recently earned a large commission, because I kept sampling different appetizers, each more delicious than the last and paid no heed to the cost that evening.  We ended the night with robust Turkish coffee which left black grounds stuck in our teeth.  Sadly, that establishment closed not long after September 11th. 

Earlier today, my friend Marisha asked me to accompany her to a vacant house that she was about to list in St. Paul.  I agreed when she threw in an offer to buy lunch for me.  I'm glad I made that a condition since I didn't bother to wear a coat today and I was forced to walk through hard piles of icy snow in slingbacks ill suited for the task.  I thought we'd be lunching on Grand Avenue, and I had Cafe Latte at the top of my list.  That would have involved a lovely soup and some sublime dessert.  But Marisha had other plans. 

We arrived at India Cafe in Bloomington.  The restaurant is in a strip mall, unfortunately situated behind a column that completely obscures the entrance and signage from view.  I'm sure that the only reason anyone knows about it is because it's two doors down from an Indian grocery.  The tables and chairs are ancient and in poor condition, and the entire sitting area is about 15x15.  Marisha's parents are loud advocates of the food there, so I knew what it lacked in atmosphere would be made up for in quality. We ordered the lunch buffet for $6.99.  There were only eight selections on the line, but each and every one was incredible. 

I had the tastiest green beans I've ever eaten in my life.  They were tossed with fiery, whole red chili peppers, flaky coconut, turmeric and fresh cilantro.  I think they even used frozen green beans, but people, I did not care.  Yummy.  The lamb curry was wonderful.  The rice was peppered with mustard seed and more fresh cilantro.  The chole was so spicy, even Marisha was wiping her runny nose with frequency.  We had to wait a little for the chicken masala, but it was so worth it.  Even the color of the spices on the chicken was gorgeous, nothing that vividly hued could be tame on your tongue.      

One of my lifelong dreams is to take a lengthy vacation to India.  Marisha has hopes to take her daughters there sometime in the next couple years with her parents, and I've begged them to let me come along.  This desire took hold after reading The Far Pavilions and was fueled more recently while watching Anthony Bourdain's two part tour of the continent on the Travel Channel.  (My dear friend Mrs. G, I would catfight you to the death over this sexy man who cooks.)  I can just imagine taking thousands of pictures,  like this

and this

and this

For now, the closest I'll come to India is a cooking lesson with Marisha's mom.

Buffalo chicken cheese dip

During the Christmas potlucks, I picked up an awesome recipe that I had on hand New Year's Eve.  It wasn't as big a hit with the teens, but I can see it being a winner at Super Bowl parties.  The lady who made it at the office potluck was kind enough to print out the recipe, and when I followed that up with a Google search, I found a website full of spicy, zesty recipes that had my mouth watering. 

Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip (courtesy of Frank's Red Hot Sauces.)

8  oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2  cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2  cup Frank's® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce 
1/2  cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (I used shredded Monterey Jack)
2  cups shredded cooked chicken (I used one of the store bought rotisserie chickens, and just picked apart the breast meat.)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Microwave 1 min. to soften.
2.  Whisk in salad dressing, Buffalo Wing Sauce and cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken.
3.  BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.  (I wouldn't dream of serving this with vegetables-stick to crackers, cocktail bread or nachos.)

I am not a fan of buffalo wings because they're so fatty and gristly.  This is an addictive dip, though.  Every time I see it brought into a party it's one of the first dishes to go.

 

Geek Squad

Do you know what your children did last night?

Drew hosted a LAN party, attended by five of his friends.  The older guys were kind enough to let Alex, a lowly freshman, in on the World of Warcraft action.  As I type this, it's 11:40 in the morning and they're still going at it.  None of the teenagers have slept.  Steve just threw down the gauntlet and announced that if they go six more hours they'll have played for an entire day.  Thanks, Honey.

Even the Grim Reaper's foreboding specter doesn't phase them. 

Know what fuels the life of teenage boys?  Red Bull, Mountain Dew, nachos, Doritos, Cheetos, homemade eggrolls and several pizzas.  Because we're still going, breakfast was forty-two sausage links, two loaves of Hawaiian Bread French toast, and a gallon of milk.   I don't know what I'm going to do about lunch, I'm running out of food.  The groceries are open today, aren't they?