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Curried Seafood Soup

This is a super rich soup with a coconut milk base. I made it on the fly and it turned out AWESOME! I had a small bag of salad shrimp and a bag of Kroger frozen Cod in the freezer, so that’s what I used. Use whatever you’ve got. [Updated July 2018. This is the final recipe, it is really great. Enjoy!] This recipe is pescatarian if you use fish stock.

Curried Seafood Soup


Curried Seafood Soup
1# cod (or other dense white fish), 1″ cubes
8 oz small shrimp (or any kind of shrimp, cleaned)
1 med onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 pound mushrooms, diced
1 serrano or jalapeno chile, finely chopped (optional, I liked the zip of the serrano)
olive oil
1 Tbl all purpose red curry paste (Sub 2 Tbl curry powder, omit turmeric)
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbl Thai Spicy Sour Coconut paste (optional, find it at Asian markets)
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp white pepper
S/P
1.5 cups chicken stock or fish stock
1 lg can coconut milk (not sweetened)
3/4 cup red lentils
zest and juice of one lime
1/2 tsp garlic oil (optional, you can find in Asian stores)
1 Tbl soy sauce or memmi if you have it
1 Tbl Chinese cooking sherry (or regular dry or cooking sherry)
2 Tbl fish sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, cut thinly on bias
sour cream or greek yogurt for serving (optional)

Cover bottom of wide soup pot with olive oil over med hi heat and add onion, carrots, garlic, serrano and mushrooms to sweat. Watch heat, you don’t want the onions/garlic to burn or brown. Add pastes, dry spices and lime zest, stir. When veg have softened, add the seafood and stir for a couple of minutes. Add chicken stock, coconut milk and lentils, stir. Add garlic oil, soy sauce, sherry and fish sauce. Simmer soup for about 10 minutes to cook the fish, check seasonings. Before serving, stir in fresh cilantro and scallions (reserve a little of each for garnish) and the juice of the lime. Adjust salt as necessary.

Serve in large bowl with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and fresh cilantro/scallions.

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Further Contemplations

Update: welp, it’s 2017 and things are even worse. This country is in decline. I am ashamed to call myself American. It’s sad to watch a country spiral down. Hopefully I’ll be dead before it gets unbearable.

The mortgage info was such a bummer. It’s made me so ashamed of our country. The politicians and banks do NOT give a FUCK about anything but themselves. Hell, why should they? they are treated like royalty! Politicians make VERY good salaries, get free healthcare, free transportation, even free stamps fer chrissakes! They also get lots of money from banks and large corporations in payment for funneling the country’s money back to these coporations.

The TARP money was basically shunned by the banking industry and is sitting around waiting for them to use it. So what they did was work out a plan to “help” borrowers by allowing the borrowers to default, throwing them out on the street, then getting paid IN FULL for the loan from the TARP money. Um. ‘Scuse me, but I don’t think that was the intention of those funds? I’m pretty sure the intent was for TARP (and the myriad other programmes) to be used to RESTRUCTURE a borrower’s loan to more closely reflect the market value of the home. As in: CRAM DOWNS.

But, no, instead it’s basically more free money for the banks/mortgage industry to continue its annihilation of the American Dream™ and America’s neighborhoods, one foreclosure at a time. It is so completely defeating.

Why is this happening? Well, it’s because politicians are treated like royalty. They don’t have to play by the rules they lay out for the peasantry – you and me.

Corporations are the court jesters who entertain and collude with our royal government to keep the money flowing.

The only way to stop this collusion and destruction of our country is to VOTE THEM OUT. Not Obama, obviously, since having a Republican in office would be even worse (the candidates are nutbags), but the rest of them. We need to start local and work our way up to state legislature, then federal representation. Vote out every incumbent on the ticket. Don’t look at party, just look for INCUMBENT. Vote for the other one. County commissioners, state reps, governor, US senators and reps. ALL OF THEM. Vote out everyone you possibly can. This is our ONLY power against what is happening to our country.

So, for a change, can the citizens of America put aside partisanship and race? I doubt it. But it is so easy to just vote them all out. And keep voting them out until we get people who really represent US, the peasantry, rather than the royalty. If the French can pull up cobblestones to get their revolution, then I think Americans should be able to cast some votes. Right?

RIGHT?

To be outdone by the French is a sore point for lots of Americans. Well, we have been outdone. What happened to American Pride? What happened to participating? I just don’t know.

And it makes me sad that I live in a country that can’t even control its government. ;_;

Thomas Jefferson said: “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

I think we should ALL take this to heart. And read more Jefferson.

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Curried Chicken and Veg Soup

I updated this recipe [April 2017] to add more veg and to streamline the process. It has a nice curry spice that you can turn up or down to your taste. The raisins add a nice little pop of sweet to break up the spicy curry. You can find garlic and ginger pastes and curry paste at the Indian or Asian market. I strongly recommend seeking them out! The prepared garlic paste is great for soups and sauces where you want the flavor, but not the pieces of garlic.

4 Boneless skinless chicken thighs seasoned with S/P (or 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 head cauliflower cut up bite sized (or one bag frozen is fine)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery diced
1/2 small box of mushrooms, diced
3 scallions sliced on the bias (white and green, reserve some for garnish)
1 can garbanzos (chick peas) drained
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 Tbl curry powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dry ginger
2 Tbl garlic paste (or 5 cloves garlic minced to paste)
2 Tbl all purpose Curry paste (red Madras style; use less if you’re heat sensitive)
1 Tbl ginger paste
2 Tbl flour
2 Tbl mirin
1 small can coconut milk (or a full 14oz can if you want this creamier and less spicy)
3 cups chicken stock
Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 Tbl fresh basil, chiffonade, for garnish and toss the rest into the soup at the end

Dry the chicken and season with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides (med hi) in olive oil in the soup pot until you get a good golden sear. The chicken will not be fully cooked. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool. Once cooled, dice the chicken and set aside.

Mix together all the dry spices (not the flour) in a small bowl and the pastes in another.

Put the veg (except scallions) into the pot with the chicken drippings/fond over med heat and season with about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper (add a little more olive oil if needed). Cook the veg for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make a space in the middle of the pot and add about 2/3 of the powdered spices. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add in the pastes and stir with spices, cook for another couple of minutes. Stir all these spices into the veg thoroughly and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add in flour, stir thoroughly and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add in remaining spice mix, raisins, garbanzos, reserved chicken, coconut milk, mirin and stock. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes, with the lid ajar. Turn off heat, add in scallions and check seasoning. This soup tends to thicken after it cools, so you might need extra stock to loosen it up. This soup freezes well.

Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt, scallions and fresh basil. This would pair with a Riesling or Gewurtztraminer wine.

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Comments from the Bitter and Sad

**Updated 1/23/17 and reposted to show that in EIGHT YEARS, my opinion of E TN hillbillies has not changed and if anything, been PROVEN by the election results of Nov 2016. These people are bitter, sad, jealous and mostly AFRAID of anything or anyone who is not a backwards hillbilly like themselves. They are a pathetic lot. I leave my ass burning flame intact because I feel exactly the same today as I did then. I have gotten rid of 99% of the redneck hillbilly high school people on my FB feed and I am NOT sorry. I have nothing in common with those people or their moronic attitudes. This post STANDS just as well today as it did in 2009. Suck it, hillbillies. SUCK IT.**

I got a comment from some asshole in Johnson City TN who got his or her knickers in a knot about my post about Facebook and my ambivalence towards High School people. I said that I don’t feel that I have much in common with people from there anymore – which I don’t – and that I am fundamentally changed from living in an urban area for 20 years. Which I fucking AM. I tell you, this person picked the wrong fucking time to pester me. If you’re not into public humiliation, then you might want to surf elsewhere. However, if you enjoy humiliating the stupid, then by all means, JOIN IN. Snarky comments encouraged!! ;->

Here is the comment that I pulled from moderation to put it here so I can make fun of it properly:

redneck1984@gmail.com
72.236.80.13
Submitted on 2009/01/07 at 2:44pm

“Wow! Our little Angie has done growned up and gotten all citified and smart on us. Well gosh darn it! we can still reach out on that ole internet thing and see you on that there facebook thing. I only wish I knew how to read quicker so that I can keep up with how much different you are than those of us who stayed barefoot in Karns, got pregnant, and went to work at the Piggly Wiggly. We are so proud of you!”

Methinks the commenter is stung by recognition of his or her mindset and that recognition hit a nerve. If this is supposed to hurt me in any way, sorry, asshole, I left the hills of East TN years ago and I don’t regret it. Shall we surmise that your move to the burgeoning metropolis of Johnson City TN didn’t work out so well? The only thing I feel is pity for someone who is so sad and bitter that anonymous posts on a (presumably) fellow High School graduate’s site seems like a good idea. It’s not. 

In addition to his/her bons mots, here is his/her referral info for the first visit:

Domain Name (Unknown)
IP Address 72.236.80.# (Mountain States)
ISP TelCove
Country : United States
State : Tennessee
City : Johnson City
Operating System Microsoft WinXP
Browser Internet Explorer 7.0
Time of Visit Jan 7 2009 2:34:57 pm
Last Page View Jan 7 2009 3:20:32 pm
Visit Length 45 minutes 35 seconds
Page Views 15

Good to know that s/he took time out to read some posts before s/he made that comment. 15 pages in 45 minutes! Wow, guess the stupid hick did manage to learn some readin’ in school. Get far with that HS Diploma, did you?

And since my site and I are both so hateful, s/he made sure to come by again today to see if I’d released the comment:

IP Address 72.236.80.# (Mountain States)
ISP TelCove
State : Tennessee
City : Johnson City
Operating System Microsoft WinXP
Browser Internet Explorer 7.0
Time of Visit Jan 8 2009 11:59:57 am
Last Page View Jan 8 2009 12:01:16 pm
Visit Length 1 minute 19 seconds
Page Views 3
Visit Entry Page http://misangela.com/
Visit Exit Page http://misangela.com/?paged=3
Time Zone UTC-5:00
Visitor’s Time Jan 8 2009 11:59:57 am

Well, here ya go, asshole, on the front page and everything! W00t! Notice that s/he uses XP! How quaint!

Now, grow some bullocks and comment with your full name you dumbass knuckle dragger or get the FUCK off my site. The only thing worse than some stupid cunt trying to flame me on my own site is a stupid cunt who won’t take credit for his/her bullshit.

How are you liking your calling out so far, asshole? You think you got something to say? BRING IT. I’m in no mood for jealous, petty people who clearly have issues with their own lives so they try to make some sort of statement about how my life and choices reflects badly on theirs. You want to disabuse me of the narrow mindedness and rampant ignorance perpetuated in YOUR region (E TN)? Then speak up with something sensible instead of acting like a cowardly babbling baboon.

You give rednecks a bad name! You are more of an ignorant hillbilly type than a redneck because a redneck wouldn’t give a big SHIT what I think – but a narrow minded bumpkin will get offended every time.

Suck on THAT.

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Lenin is WHERE?

And I just checked: YES he is still laid out in 2017. GROSS. Here’s another article about how they keep him. ::shudder:: SO GROSS.

OMG, I just saw an article in the AJC today that totally grossed me out!

I had NO idea that Vladimir Lenin’s body is OUT FOR THE PUBLIC TO VIEW. Did everyone else know this? The man’s been dead since 1924 for fuck’s sake!

AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!

That has got to be the grossest thing I’ve heard lately! Here is the wiki with the gory details of how they keep the body intact! Eeeewwww!

They should have run this article at Halloween! Creeeepy!

AND here is a slideshow of the rest of the deceased heads of state that lie in state in perpetuity. Gross. :P