When so much time passes, I struggle to find a way to slip back into writing when writing was once as easy—if not easier—as breathing is to me. Writing is now one of the hardest things I do. SIGH.
What I am determined to do before another day passes is to post about the most magical, magnificent meal I've cooked thus far. Truly, it was magical and magnificent because I had the blessing of cooking with my friends Becky and Celia.
These were our dishes: Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Shawarma, Lemon Basil Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Toum, Labneh, Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips, and Naan. We also polished off a bottle of moscato, too! It was my goal to also serve Basmati rice (but I forgot) and a saag (but I never settled on a recipe and wasn't prepared other than to have spinach on hand).
Even without those two dishes, the meal was so very tasty. For me, what I enjoyed best was making up little bites of different combinations of dishes atop a piece of naan. For example, paring the labneh and the baba ganoush was rather refreshing. I also, oddly, like the chicken tikka masala together with the labneh. That, sadly, would have perfectly paired with a saag (spinach dish). I moaned and groaned and threw a culinary bliss fit with just about every bite that I took.
What was best, though, about the evening, as I have said many times now, was being able to cook with Celia and Becky. I wanted with my entire being for Mary to be there, too. This was, I believe, my one shot to have a party, to have my three friends together. But it did not work out to have Mary there. She would have loved cooking with us, though. I just know it!
I marinated the chicken for both chicken dishes the night before. I also made the toum and labneh ahead of time. The chicken tikka masala freezes and reheats beautifully, so if you wanted to have lots of middle eastern dishes together like this, that would be a good dish to cook ahead of time. Finally, I also made the naan dough ahead of time.
I will admit that I forgot about how ... fluffy and odd ... that dough is, so I was freaking out over it in front of Celia and Becky. I also forgot how to handle it (handle it as if a piece of fragile expensive glass, use lots of flour, roll it thin, and cook over a hot griddle pan). So, my first couple of naan pieces were not all that good. However, the dough freezes beautifully, too, in the short term, so I have enjoyed the naan, and other leftovers, for the past month.
I tasked Becky to make the lemon basil hummus and Celia the baba ganoush (because she likes eggplant and Becky doesn't). Celia also helped finish off the (mock) chicken shawarma. I do not really remember exactly who all did what as far as the rest goes, but Becky and Celia did a lot of prep for me, including the GAZILLION cloves of garlic that we used. Dozens of them!
The thing is that all of us prepping and cooking together was BLOODY AWESOME. I have absolutely no rhythm and cannot dance at all. But this was like a dance. A magical and magnificent dance. I was downright giddy having my friends there, and having them cook with me just made my cup runneth over with joy.
They are the best people. So loving and gentle and kind and accepting and laid back. They take me and all my ... challenges ... in stride. With them, I am normal. It was BLISS.
As I have chowed my way through the leftovers, I have been awash in that bliss again and again, so very thankful for my friends and the mercy they show me. And, of course, for all that tasty food!
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