Kitties and Kabobs

Not to be confused with Kittie Kabobs or even "Kat"bobs...Regardless, I would never contemplate serving such a thing and I am reasonably certain a dish such as that would be illegal in all 50 states...well, maybe most of them.  :-)

It is Thursday, in case you were confused, or forgot, or quite frankly didn't care, but...it is my one day of the week where I have an opportunity to spend time with some precious kitties.  It was lots of fun and they are so sweet!  I managed to not bang any body part off of a cage, squish any cats with my man hands, or put any cat in the wrong cage....well, I haven't gotten a call YET...so we'll see :-)

Here are a few of the seven cats currently up for adoption.  Photographing them was more challenging than I had anticipated.  They seem to be more fond of my camera string than the lens...

"Hey, there!  My name is Miles.  I love long walks on the beach, bubble baths and, in my spare time, playing Uno!"

"Hello...my name is Gretel...and have a brother, Hansel.  I love macrame, crossword puzzles and ping pong!"

"Hi, I'm Chiquita..I enjoy lying in my bed reading trashy romance novels, eating tuna bon-bons and watching Jerry Springer, but who wouldn't?!?!?  Shhhhh...it's a secret!"

They're all impressive cats and I had a great evening, itchiness aside.  Are you aware of the amount of cat hair seven cats can yield?!?  Where are those tissues!?!?!?! *Achoo*

Shall we move onto this evening's meal?!?!?  I will mention that another valuable cooking lesson has been leared.  "Please be aware"....daylight is your friend, especially when it comes to photographing food.  I may need to work something out for Thursday nights, as eating after 8pm is not advantageous to snapping remotely appealing food photographs.

Allow me to introduce...kabobs and rice!  I know...those three little words hardly made you jump up and down for joy but does anything scream summer more than a kabob??

I made two separate kabobs.  The first one being beef chunks (rubbed with a dry rub mixture of cayenne, garlic and onion powder, paprika and pepper...all little pinches of each since it was a meal for one.  If you were cooking for two or more, I'd use 1/4 tsp of each, but a little less cayenne unless you wanted to melt the lips right off of your face.  I like heat, but all things in moderation...unless you don't really care for your lips, or having them.  It's totally your call).  Alright....on the beef kabob, I also included my onion slices.  On the veggie kabob I used two chunks each of red and yellow pepper, two crimini mushrooms (minus the stem...I just can't do mushroom stems...not sure why), and the rest of my yellow squash.  Once they were "kabobed," so to speak, I marinated them in 1/8 cup olive oil, 2 tsp each soy and worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp sherry vinegar, pepper, dried oregano and a dash of cayenne.  Again, seasonings can be adusted to suit your palate.

Assembled Kabobs

I felt rice would be the precise accompaniment to my kabobs.  I was somewhat nervous, because anyone that has eaten my cooking is well aware that I have issues with rice.  It frightens me. I have great difficulty in cooking rice properly.  It goes on my "I'm a Failure List" along with poaching eggs and crimping the edges of a pie crust.  No matter what I do...it never seems to work out.  The last time I tried to make a poached egg was a couple of months ago.  Seven disasters/seven poor eggs later I gave up.  But this evening was an anomaly.  I don't know if it was because I was only making one serving, or if luck was on my side, but my rice was a success.  I did a happy dance in the kitchen, with the blinds drawn, of course.  It is necessary to maintain what little dignity remains :-)

Rice For One

Four T of rice (white or brown), 1.5 T minced carrots, 1 T minced onion, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 T butter, 1/2 C chicken stock (or vegetable) and minced herbs (whatever is on hand).  I melted the butter and browned carrots, onions and garlic, then adding the rice and the chicken stock, bringing to a boil.  I reduced the heat to very low, covered and simmered for about 25 minutes or so.  Half way through I did need to add a splash more stock...so just keep an eye on things.

After all of this..I am proud to admit, folks, the work did happily result in a scrumptious and healthy meal!  I have two separate plating versions because I was on the fence regarding the plating of the meal.   My favorite was the first plating, but I ate the second plating version, as it was ultimately more convenient.  Again, matter of preference....you be the judge!

Again, I will apologize for the lighting.  I really do learn something new each day!  I also would like to mention that I did sprinkle parmesan cheese atop the rice and served with the other half of my corn on the cob from last evening.  So there it is...another lone meal for less than $3!

My "late evening" kitchen activity did arouse suspicions in the household.  E.V. was loving the tranquil setting on the porch and was relatively leery to return into the house...

Mmmmmm...what is my mama doing in there?!?!?!

That is, until some jerk-face down the street decided to set off some left-over fireworks.  Might I add, that is soooo lame.  Seriously.  It's been TEN days.  Get over it. 

In fear of sounding like a broken record...I so do appreciate each and every one of you for taking a few moments out of your day to join E.V. and I in our lone cooking adventures (and I do use the term adventure quite loosely).  Have a great evening, and get out and Kabob...it is something you will not regret!