Last night, Pollo Sudado.
It’s a Columbian dish. And it’s apparently – according to the spud, who takes Spanish – pronounced “Poyo”, not (as the pedestrian amongst us might attempt to pronounce it) “Paul-o.” I wasn’t witness to the Spanish pronunciation lecture the spud gave Fred, but apparently it’s pronounced that way because it has two ls… or something. He wasn’t real clear on the whole thing.
Having never made it before, I had no idea what it was supposed to look like when done. It ended up being somewhat watery, and Fred and I discussed whether it was supposed to be watery, or whether the broth was supposed to thicken, or what. Finally, when the chicken had been cooked through and was so tender it could be shredded easily (though you’ll note in the picture that I didn’t actually shred it) Fred put forth the idea that we could add some cornstarch to the broth to thicken it a little. I told him that would be a good idea and told him to do it (that way I could blame it all on him for not putting the cornstarch in correctly) and went to make the honey-mustard dressing for my salad. When the dressing was done, I turned around and I swear to god, he’d dumped at least half a cup of cornstarch directly into the pan.
I couldn’t help myself; I gasped.
“Oh!” he said guiltily. “Is that too much?”
“Well, I – no, maybe not!” I said, my eyes big as saucers.
He began scooping out as much cornstarch as he could, dumped spoonfuls of lumpy cornstarch into the sink.
“Perhaps next time,” I said judiciously, “We could stir the cornstarch into a small amount of water to prevent lumps.”
When he’d removed about a third of the cornstarch he’d added, he stirred the rest of the cornstarch in the best he could. And in the end, it worked out pretty well. The broth thickened nicely, and there were only a few small lumps of cornstarch left.
There were two thumbs way WAY up to the Pollo Sudado, and we’re actually going to have it again later this week instead of Curry-Cajun Chicken, because we both liked it so much. I don’t like cooked tomato in… well, anything, but I was okay with it in this dish.
The kittens liked it, too.
(There was only a small amount of the broth left in the bottom of the bowl, and they came running from all corners of the house and fell upon the drippings as if we’d been starving them to death for weeks. When they were done, that bowl was spotless. I could have put it back in the cupboard (NO, I didn’t) and no one would have been the wiser. Well, except maybe for that little whisker someone left as a calling card.)
Yesterday we (by “we”, I mean Fred and the spud, because I can no longer stand the taste of taco seasonings) had
Taco Burgers. They had Taco Burgers, I had regular burgers, and we were all happy. Fred declared the Taco Burgers to be a keeper, too. That’s
two new recipes in
one week.
Did you feel the earth shake too?
* * *
You know how I mentioned last week that we talk about disgusting things at the dinner table (ie: cat poop and the consistency thereof) and it doesn’t bother any of us at all?
Well, last week we were eating meatloaf for dinner, and Fred said “How about that E. Coli story, huh?”, referring to a story he’d read online about how some bagged salads were recalled due to some of them having E. Coli contamination in them.
As soon as he said the words “E. Coli”, I couldn’t eat any more. I came thisclose to gagging. Just the THOUGHT of E. Coli absolutely grosses me out, and I don’t know why I’m okay with poop discussion, but E. Coli discussion absolutely takes away my appetite.
Yeah, I’m a freak.
* * *
I played a major game of phone tag yesterday. I was sitting in the dining room playing with the kittens when the phone rang. I let it go to voicemail, knowing that I could just check caller ID when I was done playing with the kittens and call whoever it was back. Fifteen minutes later, I checked caller ID and saw that it was my brother. I settled on the couch and called him back, but there was no answer. I thought for a moment, then decided to call my sister and see what she was up to. There was no answer at her house, but while I was trying to decide whether to leave a message (“Hi, just called to see what you were up to, nothing important!”), my call waiting beeped, and I looked at the caller ID to see that it was my brother, so I clicked over to that call.
I talked to him for a while, and at some point the call waiting beeped. I glanced at the caller ID to see that it was my sister, and let the call go to voicemail, figuring I’d call her back after I was done talking to my brother. When I was done talking to my brother, I checked my voicemail, and found a message from my sister. I decided to call her back after dinner.
And promptly forgot.
Around 6:30, my mother called and said “You need to call your sister, because it’s raining outside and she can’t stand out there and talk to you on her cell phone, and she was wondering why you called her.”
“Oh,” I said. “I was just calling to see what she was up to.”
I hung up and called my sister and we gabbed about everything under the sun for like half an hour.
After all that time on the phone, I think I need to take to my bed for a day just to recover. Heh.
* * *
The kittens are going to the pet store this afternoon. I am going to miss them SO MUCH. They’ve been so sweet and cuddly lately (well, ever since we got them, really) and I’ve really enjoyed always having a kitten climbing up into my lap.
Mostly I’m going to miss Sugarbutt, noxious gas and all.
Y’all, hope and pray they get adopted this weekend. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand it, going in there Monday and seeing them still there.
When does this get easier, again?
It’ll probably take me through the end of the week to get all the pictures I’ve taken of them up, so y’all will still be able to see them for the next few days.
Sugarbutt in the sun.
Sugarbutt in motion.
Smitty in the sun.
Climbin’ kitten.
Smitty snoozes in the box of giveaway stuff.
Callie, up close.
Callie, in the box top.
“Mooooom! My toy mouse went under the fridge, and I can’t REACH IT, and Smitty keeps TOUCHING ME with his TAIL!”
All of today’s uploaded kitten pics are
here.
* * *
Previously
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: My breasts are strawberry scented.
1999: I was ambitious today.]]>
The two l’s sound like Y. I mean, you don’t say tortiLLa, do you? Please say no, otherwise I will mock you silently in my head.
Also, I think a lot about the kitten thing and if it would ever get easier, I don’t know about that one. So far my favorite group has been the first group followed very closely by the second group. I really loved that Jodie. Now the third group are my third favorites.
Is Callie over her obsession with her brothers’ private parts???
I forgot to ask: Are you watching Breaking Bonaduce?
It’s a good thing you’re doing–I don’t think I could handle raising the kittens and then giving them up.
Catie: I do not say tortiLLa, no. But my mother pronounces “fajita” like “fadgitta”, and I want to poke a fork through her eyes every time she does it. 🙂
Shelly: She still attempts to do it if she’s getting tired, but she’s not trying to do it as often, and she’ll let me distract her from it. She’s going to be in a cage by herself at the petstore, though, so she doesn’t put on a show. Poor baby.
I AM watching Breaking Bonaduce, but I haven’t watched this week’s episode yet. This show, I can’t stop watching it. It’s like a slow-motion train-wreck. I can’t look away!
Sudado means sweaty, so…you ate sweaty chicken!!
I bet you say jalapeeeno.
I was recipe hunting on your site the oyher night for the Vietnamese Chicken with the sesame oil and lime and honey. Couldn’t find it using the search feature. I made it up and it tasted basically right. Be a pal and add it to your recipe page (it came from someone else’s journal as I remember). I need it again because Jamie biffed the raggedy ass copy I had on the fridge when we moved- assuming that I had a copy saved somewhere on the computer. Heh. Yeah, on the old laptop which is now a doorstop.
Definitely a train wreck!! It is both sad & bizarre to actually be watching someone self-destruct. I find Gretchen to be quite beautiful and I wonder why she’s put up with him for so long. This week’s episode is another doozy… Although at that house I’m not sure there is any other “normal”.
Oh my gosh, I make that Vietnamese chicken that Robyn posted all the time. It is sooooo good.
I’m too lazy to run downstairs and pull out the recipe card, but if Robyn doesn’t respond, just e-mail me.
Robyn, please to be coughing up the Vietnamese chicken recipe! I need to make it.
I seem to have misplaced my copy of the recipe, but thanks to the wonderful Angie who sent it to me, I’ll have it up shortly!
Annnd, here it is, Vietnamese Honey Roasted Chicken.
Thanks again, Angie!
At least you have a reason for wanting to poke a fork through her eyes….I want to do it all the time, even when she just BREATHES!
I used corn starch once. No one explained that it doesn’t thicken immediately. So of course I got frustrated and began to dump corn starch into the beef stew I was making, it turned into beef jello. My husband, bless his heart actually ate a bowl of this and said it wasn’t that bad, but when I asked if I should save it for left-overs he said one bowl had been enough.
That Pollo Sudado looks tasty!!
It’s funny to hear that y’all were discussing Spanish like it’s some exotic language.
TWO new recipes in one week?! I usually try to introduce them more slowly. Usually two new recipes a YEAR is my speed 😉
Tracey: Heh. For us, it is! 🙂
When I was in high school Spanish, there was a guy in our class named Lloyd. That poor guy – I always felt sorry for him cuz the Spanish teacher always pronounced his name “Yoyd” because of the whole “2 L’s are pronounced like a Y” thing. We used to give him a lot of shit. 🙂
Just a tip on the corn starch. Mix it with a small amount of COLD water in a cup or something before adding it to the recipe. You won’t have any lumps.
Hey gorgeous!
Just popping in to say that “sugarbutt in the sun” is perhaps one of the best photos I’ve ever seen! You ought to submit that to a photo contest. I love the contrast in shadows and light!
Yay! Thanks Angie and Robyn. It’s known as “The Bitchypoo Chicken” in our house. And when I’m looking for something I need for it when we’re in the grocery store, I have to catch myself. “Dear, grab me a couple of limes- I need them for the Bi…Robyn’s chicken.” Heh. Thanks Babes.
Yum, that Pollo Sudado looks great.
Drool.
Thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it.