chimerical
Another weekend has flown by. What is up with the speed of weekends? Still, no complaints. Two days of 60+ degree weather, one cloudy but one sunny - New England is finally getting the hang of spring. Having woken up bright and early at 7.30 on Sat'day morning, I decided to make the most of this and took my bike out. I thought I'd quaintly bike through the quaint suburban town that I live in - with its quaint down town area and quaint buildings and side walks. Of course, I also quaintly got lost. Well, I wanted to figure out the bike path to my office so I could try biking to work once in a while over the next few months. I decided to try out a route other than my usual car route in order to avoid the busy rotary (for my thoughts on rotaries in MA, please refer to the post named Plaudit)on the way. Long story short, 20 minutes after I took the alternate route, I found myself at the rotary, all in favor of taking my usual route. I made it to work and most of the way back when I was struck by the notion of riding my bike on this trail that I run on once in a while. It seemed like a good idea at that point and we all know how my "good ideas at that point" usually end up. By the time I got back home after ~ 14 miles of biking, the rear end did not think it was a good idea anymore. I must say that it was fun, though. It was still early by weekend standards so there weren't too many folks out and about. Also, I took the local roads and the trail so I got to listen to the happy spring morning noises - birds chirping, water gurgling, trees swaying, etc. Nice. Also, I slept like a baby log at the end of the day. Blissful.
This evening, when it was time to cook for the next few days, I decided that one of the dishes would be Okra - or ladies fingers, as I've always called it. Cooking LF is a complicated process. To make a really crisp LF fry, folks will tell you that the LFs should be very dry when you are cutting them. Considering that LFs are really sticky vegetables and that they get worse when you wash them, this is hard to achieve. Considering that I was too lazy to go to the Indian store and bought frozen Okra, this is impossible to achieve. Irregardless, I tried. I thought if I microwaved the Okra that I took out from the fridge, the moisture would evaporate and things would be fine. A minute later I found out that this is a bad idea. Apparently, whatever that sticky substance is that is inside Okra, oozes out of it when microwaved and makes things messier. I now washed the Okra and tried to dry it as best I could using paper towels. I finally managed to cut it up and put it in the pan. And now started the saga. It took forever to fry. Here's some steps you should follow if you are frying Okra or Ladies Finger with not too much oil:
1. Put Okra/LF in the pan with some oil.
2. Stand around and twiddle your thumbs.
3. Ponder on the imponderables. For eg:
1. When does the hair on our heads grow?
a. During the day or night?
b. Has it been captured on video?
c. Has it been youtubed?
d. If not, why not?
2. Life in the 1950s
3. When was the last time I flossed?
4. Stare at the pan.
5. Leave the scene of the crime. Take a relaxing shower.
6. Re-enter the kitchen, yelp and take corrective action.
If you strictly follow steps 1 through 6, I promise that you'll have Okra/LF that is charred on one side and decently fried on the other side and a strong scent of burnt carbon that will stay in your living room for many days in spite of the vent fan being on high for a looooong time and the balcony door open as well.
There. Now I feel that I've imparted enough weekend wisdom and can now turn in with an easy conscience. And so to bed.
This evening, when it was time to cook for the next few days, I decided that one of the dishes would be Okra - or ladies fingers, as I've always called it. Cooking LF is a complicated process. To make a really crisp LF fry, folks will tell you that the LFs should be very dry when you are cutting them. Considering that LFs are really sticky vegetables and that they get worse when you wash them, this is hard to achieve. Considering that I was too lazy to go to the Indian store and bought frozen Okra, this is impossible to achieve. Irregardless, I tried. I thought if I microwaved the Okra that I took out from the fridge, the moisture would evaporate and things would be fine. A minute later I found out that this is a bad idea. Apparently, whatever that sticky substance is that is inside Okra, oozes out of it when microwaved and makes things messier. I now washed the Okra and tried to dry it as best I could using paper towels. I finally managed to cut it up and put it in the pan. And now started the saga. It took forever to fry. Here's some steps you should follow if you are frying Okra or Ladies Finger with not too much oil:
1. Put Okra/LF in the pan with some oil.
2. Stand around and twiddle your thumbs.
3. Ponder on the imponderables. For eg:
1. When does the hair on our heads grow?
a. During the day or night?
b. Has it been captured on video?
c. Has it been youtubed?
d. If not, why not?
2. Life in the 1950s
3. When was the last time I flossed?
4. Stare at the pan.
5. Leave the scene of the crime. Take a relaxing shower.
6. Re-enter the kitchen, yelp and take corrective action.
If you strictly follow steps 1 through 6, I promise that you'll have Okra/LF that is charred on one side and decently fried on the other side and a strong scent of burnt carbon that will stay in your living room for many days in spite of the vent fan being on high for a looooong time and the balcony door open as well.
There. Now I feel that I've imparted enough weekend wisdom and can now turn in with an easy conscience. And so to bed.
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