On Sunday I promised I would write up the proceedings from the Caribbean-themed dinner I made. I started with a recipe from the Food Network for Mojito Chicken, which I modified ever so slightly: I added a habanero pepper to the marinade, and I grilled it instead of searing on the stove and finishing in the oven. I still think it was tasty, so here you go:

Mojito Chicken (courtesy of Guy Fieri @ foodnetwork.com)

1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chicken: Note, I used two packages of leg-thigh combos for a total of about 6 chicken leg quarters.

Spice Rub:
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Marinade:
1 cup orange juice
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sliced garlic
1/4 cup dark rum
1 habanero pepper, seeds removed, diced

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mojito Glaze:
Mojito Glaze:
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In medium sauce pan, place rum, chicken broth and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/3 over high heat. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. When rum mixture is reduced, add cornstarch mixture slowly to simmering liquid and whisk for 3 minutes, until 50 percent thicker. When glaze is at desired thickness, add mint leaves and transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

The process:
Prepare the spice rub. Rub all over chicken, including under the skin. Place in a ziplock back in the fridge for 30 minutes. While this is chilling in the fridge, prepare the marinade. Add the marinade to the bag and return to the refridgerator for at least 1 hour (I let it go for about 3).

Preheat your grill to low and remove your chicken from the bag. Drain off most of the marinade so the meat does not burn on the grill. Cook over low/somewhat indirect heat for 45 minutes, turning once mid-way through cooking. If you use smaller pieces or boneless breasts, you will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly (i.e. shorten it). I used a meat thermometer to make sure everything was safe when I pulled it off.

Once the chicken is on the grill, prepare the glaze as directed above. When the chicken is nearly done, brush each side with the glaze and allow it to simply warm. Remove from the heat and serve.

Our second dish was Coconut Rice. I took a basic recipe from a Caribbean cookbook I have and modified it a bit because I didn’t have enough coconut milk on hand.

Ingredients:
approx. 3/4 cup long grain rice (I used Jasmine)
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk - not coconut cream or coco lopez. You want the stuff they sell for making Thai curries and the like.
1/2 can of chicken broth (the recipe called for 3 cans of coconut milk and slightly more rice; I modified it by adding this broth I had opened to make the chicken glaze and it turned out fine).
1 T kosher salt
1 T butter/margarine

Bring the coconut milk and broth to a boil in a pot with a good lid. Allow to simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid reduces a bit. Add the rice and cover, stirring occasionally for about 5-8 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally, but not so much you let out all of the steam (once every 5 minutes is enough). Turn off heat and leave covered until ready to serve, about 10 minutes.

The side dish was Fried Plantains.
2 ripe plantains, cut in half and then chunks
canola oil

In a heavy pan, heat about 1″ of canola oil. Once hot, add your pieces of plantain. Turn as they begin to turn golden brown. When both sides look done, remove and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with a little salt to taste.

Finally, we served up the meal with a couple of rummy drinks. This is my best recollection of the recipe:

1 part Bacardi
1 part Malibu
1/2 part Myers’s Dark Rum
1/3 part Creme de Banana
splash of grenadine
Fill with equal parts orange juice and pineapple juice (about 2 oz each)

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and pour all contents into a tall glass. Sip and enjoy!

Are you looking for something to spend time on, but ran out of internets to read?

Check out these four awesome free fantasy novels online. They have everything:

• magic
• sword-fighting
• gods
• programming
• zombies
• detectives
• curses

Seriously, go read! And show some support by chipping in to the author’s Paypal link, so he’ll write new stuff

Lifehack, that vile source of productivity-enhancing, get-off-your-duff-and-Get-Stuff-Done nuggets, has finally figured out the Power of Procrastination.

I give you Seven Ways to Procrastinate for Better Results. Which we would have written here, but, well, you know…

I put together this concoction for dinner last night and it was pretty good. I want to remember it for another time.

Ingredients:
1-2 c. brown rice - note, we used a 2-serving size packet of Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice. You could also prepare some in a rice cooker, but you’ll need to start that first since it will take longer than the rest of the dish.
1-1.5 lb ground turkey
2/3 bag Trader Joe’s “Brittany Blend” frozen veggies, with green beans, wax beans, baby carrots
1 medium onion
2 T. dijon mustard
1/2-3/4 c. dry white wine (I used Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc)
2 t. dried tarragon
2-3 T. flour
olive oil
salt
pepper

The Process:
Heat about 2T. of olive oil in a large skillet. Add turkey and brown most of the way through. Drain fat, remove turkey to separate dish and set aside.

Defrost vegetables in a microwavable dish for 1-1 1/2 minutes, until mostly thawed.

Slice onion. In same skillet, add about 1 T. olive oil and saute onions until golden. Salt and pepper to taste.

Push onions to the side and add about 2 more T. olive oil and the flour. Combine, stirring in with onions until you have everything coated with flour. Start adding some of the wine and stir. The flour will thicken this sauce as it finishes.

Add vegetables and turkey back to pan. Stir in dijon mustard and remaining wine. Add dried tarragon, additional salt and pepper to taste. Incorporate all ingredients and continue cooking over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, until flour has time to cook and the everything is lightly coated with the mustard-wine sauce.

Spoon rice onto each dish, then add turkey and vegetables on top. Enjoy!

I made up this dish for dinner last night, and it turned out pretty well. We enjoyed it with a semi-sweet German Auslesse white wine (a $5 bargain at Trader Joes!), which I also recommend

Baked Chicken with Apple Raisin Dressing

Ingredients:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used 6 pieces from a bag of frozen tenders for 2 people.
1 stick of butter or margarine
4 slices of bread - I used the wheat sandwich loaf I had on hand
1 small or 1/2 of a medium red onion
2 apples (I believe mine were golden delicious)
1/4 cup golden raisins
4 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
water

Preheat the oven to 375. Prepare a 13″x9″ or other baking dish.

Heat a small mug or bowl of water in the microwave, approximately 1 minute. Add your raisins to the hot water so they will plump a bit during the prep.

Core and slice the apple into segments, then chop into 1/2-1″ chunks. Next, peel and slice the onion. Add apples and onions to the pan.

Dice bread into 1/2″ cubes. Melt about 3/4 of the stick of butter/margarine in a microwave-safe dish. Toss the bread cubes in with the melted butter until all are coated.

Layer the ingredients in the pan as follows:

Apples and onions on bottom.
Drain the raisins and sprinkle throughout the pan. Add about 2 T. of water, just enough to moisten the bottom of the pan.
Salt this layer, then add some ginger and nutmeg. Dot the apples and onions with remaining (non-melted) 1/4 stick of margarine or butter.
Next, lay the chicken breasts across the top. Season this layer with salt, pepper, ginger and nutmeg.
Finally, place all the bread cubes all over the dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and a bit of salt.

Cover dish with foil, and place in pre-heated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked and the apples reach desired softness. I recommend starting the pan uncovered or finishing it uncovered at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes in order to crisp the top layer of croutons.

Notes: Since this was the first time I made this, the recipe could use some tweaking. For example, it might be best to start the dish covered, and then remove the foil, stir contents, and turn it up to 400 for the last 10-12 minutes in order to crisp the croutons on top. Feel free to try it and let me know if you have any suggestions

n. frozen fruit that comes in bags in the grocery store, and may not be identifiable any longer as a fruit

-ferrix

Ingredients:
5-6 pound beef brisket
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 onions, large, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 cups total)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine
1 pound baby carrots

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a dutch oven or heavy baking pan large enough to hold the brisket, heat one tbsp of oil in oven for 10 minutes. Pat brisket dry and season with salt and pepper. Do NOT remove any fat! Roast brisket in pan, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

While brisket is roasting, in a large heavy skillet cook onions in remaining 2 tbsp. oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened and beginning to turn golden brown. Reduce heat and cook onions, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if necessary, until deep golden brown. This can take 20 minutes or more. Stir in garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook 1 minute. Stir in beef broth and red wine and bring to a boil.

Spoon onion mixture over brisket and bake, covered, with cover 1/2 inch ajar, for 2 hours. After 2 hours add carrots to brisket mixture, recover, and cook for an additional 1.5 hours, or until brisket is tender and cooked all the way through. Check pan about every hour and add more water if necessary. Remove brisket from oven and let cool in onion mixture for 1 hour (covered).

Remove brisket from pan, scraping onion mixture back into pan, wrap in foil, and chill over night. Spoon onion mixture into a container and chill overnight as well. You’ll find that a lot of fat rises to the top of the onion mixture container.

On the day you will serve the brisket, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Discard layer of fat from onion mixture and add enough water to the mixture to measure 3 cups total. Remove baby carrots and set aside for the moment. Blend mixture in a food processor or blender until it is smooth. Slice brisket against the grain and trim off excess fat. In a large pan, heat gravy in oven until hot, add brisket and baby carrots, and heat in oven for 30 minutes or so.

Notes:
This is Melissa’s mom’s recipe, and serves 8-10 people. You’ll have to set aside about 5 hours to make this on the day that you actually cook the brisket, and maybe 45 minutes to an hour the day you serve it. Note that the brisket should be made at least one day ahead so the flavors can mix!

This is Melissa’s Kugel recipe. Very easy, and delicious!

Ingredients:
8 oz. egg noodles, medium width
8 oz. cottage cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup raisins
small amount of milk
butter or margarine

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8×8 inch baking pan or casserole dish. Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Pour into prepared pan. Dot with butter. Bake in oven for 45-60 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes and then serve!

vlogger zefrank made a special show the other day on a topic near and dear to our hearts at procrastinators.org. If you haven’t checked him out before he has a strange mix of comedy, newsiness, and every so-often, SONG! He recently got a real job so he’ll be going offline soon, so make sure to check him out if you haven’t.

zefrank on procrastination

As you probably know, once cats discover what fun it is to unroll a roll of toilet paper, they will seek out and gleefully dispense entire rolls in one sitting. Some cats even go to the trouble of shredding the ever loving holy jeebus out of the downed paper, thereby rendering it unsuitable even for its original, rather modest purpose.
(more…)

Researchers have formulated a motivation formula called Temporal Motivational Theory.  But I hereby rename it The P function, because it determines how likely we are to procrastinate.

The Law of Inverse Airport Quality states that the niceness of any airport is inversely proportional to the niceness of the city (or cities) that it services.

Examples:

• The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is absolutely gorgeous. Detroit is an utter wreck.
• The Albuquerque International Sunport is a pretty nice airport, and even has free wireless Internet. Unfortunately, it is located in Albuquerque, the name of which translates roughly to “Middle of Absolutely Nowhere” in an ancient Native American tongue. The stupidity of the name “Sunport” is merely incidental, and is not affected by the Law.
• Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport are both crowded, busy, and dumpy. The city itself is tons of fun and full of culture and excitement. The only nice airport in Chicago, Meigs Field, was demolished in 2003 - thus proving that deviations from the Law are only temporary.

I got this e-mail from the astronomy graduate student listserv…most amusing:

-Matthew

During this time of the holidays, I thought I would share with the grads a warm and heartening letter from one of our finest former grad student and a personal mentor - Eric. This letter was written by Eric near the holidays in response to a young student’s astronomy questions. She obviously had a homework assignment and was being very lazy.

It just tingles the heart strings. Enjoy!

Hi, my name is Laura and I have a few questions about the planets. Would you be able to answer them for me? If so, the following questions need answering.

1]How were the planets formed?

2]How were the stars formed? and

3]what is the mass and density of the nine planets in our solar system?

If you could answer them you’d be doing me a HUGE favour.

Thank you for your time,

Laura.

This sounds like a homework assignment, due ASAP. I recommend that read some text first, but I’ll give you some short answers — but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read your textbook on the material:

(more…)

A dolphin with extra fins has been discovered (by which I mean captured). Scientists assume this mutation is an evolutionary throwback to before cetaceans lost their back legs.

To me it seems clear that this is just a new body mod fad for bottlenose adolescents.

n.

1. The condition of being unable to rise from a sitting position because a cat is purring or sleeping in your lap.

v.

1. To protect your computer session when you go away so that your cat cannot affect it by walking on / sleeping on / eating parts of the keyboard.

-greg

1 large tall sided SOUP bowl.

Add 2 cups quick cook oatmeal.

Add 1 scope egg protein powder.

Fill bowl with water, stir.

Add sugar and salt to taste.

Microwave for 2 minutes.

Now you have a solid loaf of oatmeal.

Never lose a throw for shotgun again.  These handy strategies for outmaneuvering your opponent can give you the edge to master the most epic and time-honored battle of wills ever invented: rock paper scissors.

I just got a brand new spiffy toy helicopter from ThinkGeek. If, like me, you have a long unfulfilled childhood yearning to own a remote control toy helicopter, this guy is really your ticket. (more…)

This is a recipe I found in a cooking magazine. Melissa and I really like it. It’s kind of spicy and really easy to make (takes about 1/2 hour to prep, maybe 10 minutes to cook on the grill).

Spice rub:

1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1.5 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Skirt steak:
1.25 lbs skirt steak, cut into 6″ strips
3 tbsp plus 1.5 tsp moroccan spice rub (from above)
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 tbsp jalapeno
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

To make spice rub, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Rub steaks w/3 tbsp spice rub and let stand 5 minutes.

In medium bowl, combine yogurt, scallions, garlic, jalapenos and remaining spice rub. Stir in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Brush steaks lightly with olive oil and grill over high heat until desired doneness.

Serve over pita bread and lettuce.

I found this recipe on a cooking forum I read; I’m going to give it a try this weekend. I’ll let you all know how it turns out!

Beef with Chimichurri Sauce

Grilled beef is the only correct answer when it comes to Brazilian/Argentinian, South American style
BBQ. Grill some skewered skirt or flank steak and make a chimichurri
sauce to go with, should keep warm fine in a disposable aluminum pan.

Chimichurri Sauce:

6 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons minced garlic (8 cloves)
1 bay leaf, broken in half
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Stir together vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaf, salt, red pepper
flakes, and black pepper until salt is dissolved.

Whisk in oil until combined, then whisk in parsley. Let stand for 30
mintues at room temperature. Discard bay leaf halves and stir sauce
before serving. Makes a cup and a half of sauce.