Kabsat al Dajaj (Chicken with Rice and Tomatoes)

Do you love Christmas?

I f-ing love Christmas. Not as much as I used to - not because of age, but rather the absence of my parents - but I still get giddy about it. Only September, you say? Yes, but Saturday was September 25th and I can hear my mom smiling and yelling out, "Only three months 'til Christmas!" She would start this countdown in July, the broaching of the year's halfway point making it appropriate to look forward to a holiday five months away. It wasn't about commercialism, though both my parents did love giving gifts (because they enjoyed making people happy). Mom loved the spirit, the general joy in the air; the anticipations; preparations; and the music. Definitely the music. When we were young she would play Christmas tapes in the car all year long, but as we (and she) got older she mainly kept it to the six week holiday period. I don't do the countdown anymore, but when I cook something that smells and tastes like Christmas, it's like I inadvertently have.

Oh, Hi There!

You surprised me.

Or perhaps I have surprised you, finally posting after a week's absence - and I haven't even been on vacation. What I have been doing is nesting. No! Not pregnant! Just when I ovulate I get the urge to cook and bake and bake and bake, while the actual thought of eating any of it nauseates me. I do have new recipes to post, which I will get to tomorrow, but I warn you: my lack of appetite apparently affects my budding photography skills, so the pictures may not due the food justice. Then again, while I obviously love Indian food, much of it does tend to be monochromatic. It's not completely my fault if I can't make subtle shades of brown look spectacular in florescent lighting!

Ok, sure, I was planning on posting a Kuwaiti recipe today; I even got as far as opening a new post on blogger. But I am currently reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Have you? It's a wonderful and fascinating book, able to keep me from doing almost anything today other than read. I love books like that. However, I promise to be back tomorrow with something to fill your belly instead of your mind.

Oh, and what is up with the new way to post pictures? Why is blogger flipping my vertical pictures?

Musakhan (Chicken with Sumac)

Musakhan. Mousakhan. Sumac. Sumak. I don't care how you spell it, this is my favorite Middle Eastern dish. See, I felt so horrible for posting a recipe I didn't even like that I had to make it up to you. And you'll come back. Plus, sumac is a fantastically delicious and aromatic herb (spice?) and every time I open my jar I wonder why I don't use it more. It's a ground berry from a plant related to the deadly sumac and is available from Middle Eastern specialty stores, or possibly Whole Foods and other related co-op-like places. Of course, I'm guessing (as usual) because I didn't begin using it until I moved here, where I can buy it cheaply and in bulk. That means sumac probably costs a bit more than dried parsley back in the States and considering this recipe calls for 6 tablespoons, you might think I'm a jerk for making you use so much for one dish.  Oh, it so worth it.

Gajar Matar (Peas and Carrots, Northern India Style)

 I am consistently amazed at the way Seth's off-days become time warps that require an additional day of recovery. What did we do for the past week? I recall sleeping (a lot), watching some UFC, the first season of United States of Tara, daydreaming about GSP - oh yeah, and making what turned out to be the most uninteresting, muddled dish of peas and carrots my Indian cookbook had to offer.