Life has been busy lately. Well, no: I shouldn’t put that so casually. I have been playing whack-a-mole for weeks now, but so far I’m winning. And for the most part I’m having a good time, there with my mallet, charging after every plasticene head that boings up out of the box.
But I’ve had to ensure that I have retained my overall sanity, that I have maintained my overall cool, that I have sustained my overall composure. To that end, I have a simple three-part method of relaxing that has been working wonders.
Part 1: I never let an evening go by without watching at least one episode (preferably a few more) of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Without a shadow of a doubt, my purchase of that shelf-busting set of the complete ST:TNG has proven itself to be a worthy investment. I’ve gotten lots of mileage out of those suckers. There’s just nothing like working your way through seven years of episodes. And this time around I’m even watching the Klingon-heavy episodes, which I usually skipped in the past. I’m not big on Klingon stuff.
Part 2: While I am indulging in my ST:TNG episode (or two) I am also playing at least one game of Scrabble against my iPad. I’ve never been much of a Scrabble player, but with continued practice I have definitely improved. At this point I would rate myself as merely mediocre, as opposed to my past status as pathetic puking pudknocker basket case.
Part 3: At least once a week (usually on the weekend) I am treating myself to a really nice home-cooked meal.
This week’s Part 3 took place last night, and in all due modesty I must say that I absolutely outdid myself. I was inspired. While waiting for a long animation to render (for use in one of my classes) I launched EyeTV on my Mac and watched most of an episode of Lidia Bastianich’s cooking show on PBS. I like Lidia; her recipes are wonderful and her technique is expert but not intimidating. And I dig Italian cooking. One of her dishes was a marvelous-looking chestnut and lentil soup; I decided to try it. So as soon as I had time to take a break, I headed over to the market. I had no luck finding the chestnuts, but I figured I could come up with a variation by making a Calabrese-style lentil-sausage soup instead.
My Lentil-Sausage Zuppa alla Calabrese came out incredibly well. So here’s how it works. You need:
3-4 cloves garlic
an onion
chicken stock (about one standard-size box of the good organic stuff)
a big can of Italian plum tomatoes
one package Saag’s Calabrese sausages, sliced
regular green lentils (enough for about a cup dried)
basil
oregano
red pepper flakes (dried chili pepper)
bay leaf
peccorino romano cheese (2-3 tablespoons or so)
A loaf of nice Italian bread—I used an organic Pugliese from a local bakery.
So. Coat the bottom of a sturdy cooking pan with olive oil (3 tablespoons should do it), and then throw in a chopped onion and the garlic (either chopped or run through a garlic press.) Let it boogie just a bit until the onion is fragrant. Toss in plenty of basil, oregano, the bay leaf, and a gentle shaking or two of red pepper flakes. Stir it around a bit; the herbs should come quickly to life. Salt for that much.
Toss in the sliced Calabrese sausage. Then dump in the entire can of tomatoes (we’re talking one of those big fat jobs) and mash them around a bit with your cooking spoon. Pour in the chicken stock. Taste for salt and add more if you need. (Depends mostly on the tomatoes.) What you should have at this point is a thin broth. Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes minimum, an hour probably better.
Rinse the lentils and stir them in. Raise the heat if necessary to keep the soup at a fine, brisk simmer. Let it go until the lentils cook — probably about 15 minutes. At that point your broth won’t be all that thin; the lentils will have absorbed some of the liquid, and the soup should be bright red.
Double-check the seasoning, adding more salt if you need. The soup is going to be very fiery; that Calabrese sausage packs quite a wallop. Once you’re satisfied, off heat stir in about 2-3 tablespoons of finely-grated peccorino romano.
That’s it; serve it with some nice bread and a robust red wine.
Nota bene: I’m sick, tired, fed up, at my wit’s end with, at the end of the line with, all the obnoxious spam that seems to infect comments on LiveJournal. So I’ve turned all of them off. Sorry, folks: no more comments. (For those of you who come this way via Facebook, that’s your comment area now.)
Nota even more bene: I just submitted my last paid writing assignment for the season—although a few CD liner notes might be added. I’m not sure how I feel about that. But at least it is nice to clear off the deadlines list for at least a few weeks.