Moroccan Chicken

This is fast becoming a staple.  I've even made a chicken wing version that is significantly less healthy but equally good.

Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients:

2 Cup Brown Rice
4 Teaspoons Paprika
2 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric (or Saffron)
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
4+ Garlic Cloves (Minced)
1.5(sh) Pounds Chicken
1/2 Cup Red Onion (Chopped)
2 Cups Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Golden Raisins
1/4 Cilantro (Optional)

Instructions:

1.  Start the rice first.  With some luck it'll be done at the same time as everything else.

2.  While the rice is cooking, cut chicken into small pieces.  In a medium size bowls combine the chicken pieces with the spices (including the garlic).  Using your hands (or a spoon if you are afraid of raw chicken) mix everything together until the chicken is covered in delicious spices

3.  In a large skillet heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat.   Add onion.  When the onion is soft and mostly translucent add the chicken.  Brown the chicken for 8-10 minutes or until sufficiently cooked.  When the chicken is done, add broth and raisons.  Drop the heat to medium and let the liquid reduce for about 5 minutes.

4.  Combine the rice and the chicken/broth in the skillet.  Kill the heat and let the combine everything together.

5.  Serve with fresh cilantro.  This is an ideal leftovers meal as it tastes much better the second day (its very good on the first day too).

Moving Again

I found a new place to live.  If it works out, it'll be the nicest place so far.

For anyone who is curious, check out this map of where I've lived in the last year and a half.  To illustrate how ridiculous this whole situation has been, zoom out a few times.  There are seven blue points in all.

Click on the markers for a brief description of each place.

View Living On LI in a larger map

Fire

So if anyone is wondering why I haven't sent out my new address, its because I'll probably be moving again because my house caught fire.

Luckily nobody was hurt and the only damage is to the structure of the house and not to any of the things inside.  Still the insurance assessment has labeled the house as potentially unlivable for the next few months.  So... I'm scrambling to find a new place to live.

I wasn't home when it happened, but apparently the cause of the fire was a freak accident involving things in the basement.  Apparently the insurance company called it an "act of god."  I'll update this post if I get any details.

Let the fun that is house-hunting on long island begin again.

The New York Trilogy

I've been reading Phil Auster's The New York Trilogy lately and its a very interesting (and strange) take on detective fiction.  I'm not even really sure how to write about it, so instead just post an image from the graphic novel adaption of City of Glass drawn by the amazing David Mazzuchelli and give a summary.

The stories, as is probably obvious, all take place in New York City.  However, this is not the New York of Raymond Chandler-esque crime fiction.  This is a version of New York where identities are constantly gained, lost, and shifted.  A version of New York where everyone seems just 20 pages away from insanity.

I don't want to give too much away, and I probably wouldn't be able too even if I could, but the stories all seem to intersect.  Characters from the three stories may or may not interact with each other or may or may or may not assume each other's identities (its unclear).  In City of Glass, the narrator (who may or my not be Phil Auster) describes a meeting between the protagonist (who is pretending to be a investigator named Phil Auster) and a writer named Phil Auster (who is different than the actual Phil Auster).  Later, a character in The Locked Room assumes the identity of a fictional character introduced in City of Glass.

All and all, some very interesting reading.  Maybe not recommended for a week where everything conceivable goes haywire though.

I think its fair to say...

That the current lab playlist has reached new levels of eclectic pretentiousness.







Though not all of it is entirely unrelated to psychology.



Like I said, its a bit eclectic.  When our new student arrives, I'm guessing this insanity will be reigned in a little.