Every year at this time the cook goes down to LA for a conference. This annual trip is also eagerly anticipated by yours truly. It is a time I have the house to my lonesome, something I savor. I netflix selfishly, listen to the radio in the shower in the morning (a time the cook would be sleeping), lie around and read in the afternoons, and live by my own self-centered schedule.
Another thing I do is find recipes that I know the cook would be put off by, usually by the title, and that I would like to try. While buying gifts for others before christmas, I bought my self the wonderfully perfect Heidi Swanson's recent cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. To see just how wonderfully perfect Heidi Swanson is, I suggest her site: 101cookbooks.com. I had tagged her Millet Fried "Rice" and Golden -Crusted Brussels Sprouts.
I should preface this by saying I was getting over being quite sick, and my sense of taste was significantly diminished. I realized before I even started this project that the end result may be lost on me, and I would have no idea how this would actually taste, but I went ahead with it anyway. I made an evening out of it, which is required if something is going to turn out wonderfully perfect. So I set out on an evening of beer, the Office, my netflix, and being blissfully alone.
The brussels sprouts were quite easy: wash, cut in half, heat oil in skillet, put sprouts flat side down, salt, don't touch for a while, then flip them over. The only part that was going to mess me up was timing. Finesse and timing are two things I have a difficult time with, and the millet was going to test both. I cooked the millet as directed. I panicked a little when it was supposed to be done and looked kind of soupy, but I turned up the heat a touch and five minutes later the criss was averted.
I should mention that the ingredient list is not extensive, but it is by no means simple. You don't just add oil to the wok, you add clarified butter (recipe on page 199). You don't just slice carrots, you first peel slices with a vegetable peeler and then slice them into match sticks. You don't just use soy sauce, you use shoyu. Um . . . I am not quite cut out for this level of wonderful perfection. Though I admit I did do the carrot thing.
I also had to make a quick omelet in the wok, that would later be sliced and added to the millet. It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it was cooked and not burned. An accomplishment by my standards. I also had to pre-fry the tofu, one of the only things that I have become proficient at (yes, I know it's super easy).
Because it's a stir fry I made sure everything was ready before hand so I could do it all quick quick quick. So I followed the recipe, and viola! My arms got a definite workout when I added the millet, which was all sticky and made me think of the cook's assumed reaction to the recipe. Maybe he would have been right? Here's how my diner looked:
It was good! Granted, I wasn't quite sure it it was good or not due to my lack of smell. So just to be sure I had a friend, who can cook quite well by the way, over for lunch. And she even said it was good. She liked it so much she took some home with her. Good thing she liked it too, because I had a bit of left-overs:

Breaking a Blogging Fast for the New Year

For our first full day in our house in '08 I made a soup I found in the Vegetarian Times I bought in La Guardia Airport on our way home from our loooong holiday back east. According to the magazine Moroccan Harira is served during Ramadan to break the fast. Traditionally it has lamb, which of course was out, but the chickpeas (drained), green lentils (par boiled), onion (chopped), cilantro and parsley (chopped), ground ginger, cinnamon stick, tomatoes (separated from juice) and vermicelli. And look, every thing's all prepped and ready to go! What a fortuitous way to begin cooking in the new year.
I proceeded step by step and all went well. While the soup was simmering I began to make the tadouira, which sounds exciting and exotic but was only a little flour, chopped cilantro, lemon juice and tomato paste. This is how I realized that despite my newly acquired skill at preparation, I has screwed up. The little white spice packed that I assumed was full of ground ginger, was actually full of all purpose flour. Good thing the onions had sauteed in the rich aromatics of cinnamon and all-purpose flour. I'm sure the beans benefitedd from softening in the warming spice of all-purpose flour.
So I put the ginger, and waited five or so minutes before putting int he tadouira and vermicelli. It ended up tasting sweet and sour, especially with the lemon slices it was served with. I did tell the cook I screwed up. I also told him it was no big deal. The cook was not surprised that, despite the planned preparation, I had manged to mess it up somehow. I was surprised at how much the cook liked the soup. The only suggestion was more noodles. I can do that with out screwing it up (I think).