Cooking In My Kennel

September 30, 2010

It is common for a journalist to be compared to a dog.

After all, what do we do? We sniff. We poke our noses into everything, especially things that aren’t ours to touch.

We like to dig, paw, and unearth, barking triumphantly when we find a stinky bone, something most people find dirty and would rather not see.

Whenever something moves, we leap to our feet, growling, ears pricking and nose ready to sniff out some juicy new scoop.

Yup, we journalists are dogs. But you know what? There is something very admirable about dogs.

You see, they’re resilient and tenacious. You can kick them away, but they’ll still come back again and again to sneak a bite off your steak. Dogs have skin thicker than the walls of a highly protected safe. And they aren’t called man’s best friend for nothing. Dogs may be a nuisance sometimes, but when they’re loyal, they can be the best companion and watchman. Plus, you don’t want to cross them off.

A lot of times, I question myself whether I made the right choice to study journalism. There are times when I want to drop all my journalism classes, thumb my nose at my editors at the Daily Trojan, and just gallop away howling into the blue moon.

But…I guess I can never be a lone wolf. Like a dog, I find myself yelping in pain whenever I get kicked, but then slowly skunking back to where I belong. No matter what, I feel happy slinking in between people and interacting with them, even if they made me wait hours for an interview before standing me up. No matter how disconcerted I feel when my editors point out blunders in my writing or assign ghastly deadlines, I do as they ask, and wag my tail proudly when they thank me.

Yup, I guess I’m a dog too. A very novice one, but a stubborn, officious, and shamelessly thick-skinned dog all the same.

Still, a dog needs its kennel to take refuge in and gnaw its bone in privacy. And my kennel is the kitchen. It’s the one place where I can just let down my guard, and instead of actively pursuing something, be vulnerable and open to inspirations to come find me.

But somehow, my ambitious stamina had encroached my safe haven.

You see, I’d been stressing a bit over what to do with my free loaf of Nature’s Pride bread. Foodbuzz publishers will probably know that they sent a free coupon to anyone who asked, so that you can create a winning recipe that will earn you an all-expense paid trip to the Foodbuzz Festival.

Obviously, this is too good an opportunity to be missed. If my recipe got picked, I could save at least $300. That’s 150 Supersize McDonald’s french fries.

But I had cook’s block. No matter how much I tried to tap into my chef’s hat, I just hit myself over the head on the chopping block. I was trying too hard, and I was failing. Considering that the recipe and blog post is due on October 3rd and I only just received my coupon yesterday, I was all ready to just give up on entering.

Thank god for sleep deprivation.

After a sleepless night and a long day in school, I found myself really needing to unwind myself this late afternoon. As I stood there in the middle of the kitchen, munching on a white peach, the inspiration finally struck.

Savory Indian Bread Pudding Muffins

about 5 cups of Nature’s Pride sandwich bread, cubed

1 1/2 cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 large eggs

1/4 cup tomato sauce (or ketchup)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

pinch cayenne pepper

handful raisins

handful chopped cashews

1/2 lb block of paneer, or other white, firm cheese

In a small bowl, mix the bread and coconut milk together. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.

In a frying pan, sauté the garlic and onion together in soy sauce until softened and fragrant.
Set aside, let cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, tomato sauce, curry powder, cumin powder, and cayenne pepper until combined. Add in the soaked bread, then mix together with the raisins and cashews.

Cube the paneer into blocks at least an inch wide.
Spray a muffin pan well. Half-fill each opening with the bread pudding mixture. Plop a piece of cheese into each of them, then cover with the rest of the bread pudding.
Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes until you can’t keep away from the wonderful smell anymore.

For me, I must have poked my head into the oven at least 5 times; I was so antsy and impatient to dig in. It’s a completely new recipe, and I was anxious to see if they turned out firm and spongy like bread pudding, while staying compact like a muffin.
They were!! I knew I was in for a treat the moment I pulled the pan out of the oven!
If I were a cat, I would be purring like a rumbling motorcycle. But I wagged my tail and woofed in self-satisfaction instead, praising myself for being so goddamn wonderful.
There was no one to pat me and reconfirm my wonderfulness, but I consoled myself by tucking my nose close to one and just breathing in the sweet, spicy fragrance of the curry spices and baking bread.
Oh god, they were precious little dumplings. Take the best of Indian cuisine, and the best of English bread-and-butter pudding, and you’ve got this dish.
There was a subtle, yet distinctive curry flavor injected into each eggy bite, with the sweet, plump raisins saturated in coconut milk curry, the crunchy mild cashews.
But you know the best part is the ooey, gooey cheese in the middle of course. By the way, I lied. I didn’t use paneer, because I didn’t have any when the inspiration struck and I had no time or energy to go trucking out to the Indian store. Instead, I used the closest thing I had, which is this pale, creamy, mellow Mexican cheese called Queso Fresco.
What I love about these “muffins” is that they’re so portable, too. See? Easy to carry in the hand. And I’ll bet they’ll taste even better the next day slightly warmed up in the microwave.
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