Neither here nor there ... Chicken on Chickpeas ... Randomly

And the Oscar goes to ...
How am I supposed to know. After all I have probably seen only two of the films that have anything to do with this years Academy Awards taking place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, U.S.A. I guess in a few more hours we will be richer of a bit more knowledge that won't be of any use for us.
No worries, in the end it will make all sense. It's like a puzzle. There are thousand pieces that relate someway to each other, but in the beginning you have no clue. However, as time goes on you put piece next to piece. First you get a frame and in the end you have a full picture.
Let's do it slightly different this time ... or not. Here you get a full picture at least.

Sometimes I do things and I don't do that on purpose, but somehow it all fits together.
Back to this years Oscars. Will an Australian playing a French person in a British movie win? Who knows?
For Best picture we find the nomination of Les Misérables. I already made a connection somehow in my last post.
At least this is one of the two movies I saw. It was only in between my last post and this post. Now I'm not all good as to these things as some might know from school like ... What was it that Shakespeare wanted to tell us with Macbeth apart from that he wanted to make some money and apart from "Fair is foul and foul is fair"?
I managed school anyway. Fine, don't mention what has become of me ...
Les Miserablés. Consequently I'm not filling you in to what was Victor Hugo's intend in that direction. Some people - either in the theater or in the cinema - go on crying most of the time. I find it easier to do so while watching an episode of MASH.
Well, some might claim, men have no feelings. I do not know nothing about such phrases or generalisations in general.
Anyway, most stories are fabricated in such a way, that the reader, listener, watcher etc. can identify with certain characters or at least relate to them in a certain way.
Now, as it comes to Les Miserablés it can get quite deep and complicated. I can relate to almost any of the characters portrayed.
Jean Valjean slaving most of his life and being on the run and not really finding peace in his life.
Fantine, her live going down the drain and seeing only misery.
The students crying out for justice.
Cosette being afraid to go alone in the dark into the wood to fetch some water.
The unrequited love of Eponine.
Finally also Javert, who sees his life not making any sense anymore, when all he was fighting for didn't work out in the end.
Marius sitting alone in the ABC cafe grieving all his friends that are gone now ...

Fine, what to say? For a change it was possible to go and see a movie in the right language. At times I really feel like being in the wrong place. Then again I don't want to be neither here nor there. In the end it will make all sense. But then again, who knows?

 

Let us go towards a subject we know a little bit more about: food!
This month, in Belleau Kitchen's Random Recipe challenge, the theme is 'the choice is yours'. 

At least a little bit of choice. Was it really a choice? Well, I simply took the book without thinking too much. This as well implies that I didn't make it all up, but in the end it makes all sense.
I'm not sure, though, whether that would be the place to be, but as the book I choose Jamie's America. Now the random part of this challenge brought me to the recipe Chicken on Chickpeas as you have seen on the picture above already.
Funny enough, the recipe is under the section Los Angeles. Some years ago I checked out this place myself and had a look at the Hollywood sign as well.
A friend of mine was driving the car and I had the duty to read the map. He was only a bit afraid we could end up dead if we take a wrong turn. So I better be reading the map properly. Obviously I did just that or ... it isn't that bad to end up in the wrong neighbourhood.
Chicken on chickpeas then is what we are having this time. Can we go wrong with that?
Pieces of chicken marinated in garlic, parsley, lemon and olive oil.
Chickpeas stewed up with onions, yet more garlic, peppers, tomatoes and green chillies. Just look at them going ...

I was supposed to put in red any yellow tomatoes, but I didn't bother to visit more than one shop. 
At least I had plenty of green chillies.
As to the chicken pieces, I didn't bother putting them into the oven, but just fried and cooked them in my special pot and it turned out fine and juicy and not dry and everything.
With the chicken arranged on the chickpea stew and finished off with some fresh basil leaves, it was just beautiful and delicious.
Taken everything together it didn't even take one hour and I still have some food for tomorrow. How good is that!?
Once more it has been a pleasure to take part in random recipes, although I know that the day will come when luck evades me in this department as well and I will end up with a totally painful cooking and eating experience.
However, not today, not yet. But why worry about the things not here, when there is plenty to do with worrying about the things already being present.

Little did I know that the 85th Academy Awards will be taking place in February 2013 while I was having the Bloggers Around the World challenge making a stop in the U.S.A. 
Why not then kill two birds with one stone and make this stop in Los Angeles and have this Chicken on Chickpeas for Bloggers Around the World as well.

Finally, remember one thing: "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise." ... but where? Neither here nor there?

Or simply dig in ... and don't relate the food now to Les Misérables and the 'Master of the House' part!

"Empty chairs at empty tables" ... Beef wrap and beyond

Here comes another strange beginning of a post ... after a few days of silence. Don't be disappointed, if you are not able to grasp the full meaning of what I'm going to say. I try not to stir up too much confusion ...

"There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone."

Well, to clear things up right away: no one of my friends died. I simply didn't want to tear the strophe apart.
While it may be of advantage to have it quiet and enjoy some peace, under other circumstances the same situation could be a cause for grieving. When all the chairs at the tables in a restaurant would be empty for a long time that would be very disadvantageous.
Fine, I don't have a restaurant, no worries! There might be empty chairs at empty tables, but no one pays me for my food anyway.
It's only I have to manage to eat up all the amounts of food by myself. 
Along that line it happened to be the case there were still some unused wheat tortillas left that needed attention. Therefore it was only natural to have some wraps. I went to buy some minced beef and then the story begins to unfold ...

Beef wrap:
A bit of oil
300 g minced beef
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbs tabasco ... or more (?)
1 tbs tomato puree
300 g kidney beans
Salt and flaked chili
Some wheat tortillas
Red onion, in rings
Iceberg lettuce
Grated cheese (hopefully)

Go for it:

Start frying the beef in a bit of oil until it takes on colour. Then add the tomato puree and tabasco and stir.
It's time for the beans to join. Just do it! Let it warm through and season with salt, chili and the crushed fennel seeds.
A bit more on the fire and the meat is ready.
Now heat up the wheat tortillas somehow. After that it's time to wrap it up.
Take some of the beef, a bit chopped iceberg lettuce, a few onion rings and some grated cheese. If you like you can add a bit of your favourite sauce.
Sadly I forgot to add the cheese, but originally I wanted to use it.

As you see, though, such an amount of beef and bean mixture would be just too much for one person in one go. So I had to come up with something else.
No worries! Have some pizza, I thought. While preparing the dough I got confronted with other ideas. I prepared too much dough anyway ... good for two pizzas.

A not so cleverly taken photo doesn't reveal, what happened to the beef and bean mixture, but you simply have to belief me that it is inside.
What about the other half of the dough?

Bacon and egg pizza. Can you imagine to eat those two alone? Or what about pizza for breakfast ...

... you wouldn't do that, would you?

Back now to were we began our journey of this post. For those of you who have a bit of interest in music or musicals, to be a bit more precise, may have already noticed those lines at the beginning ...

While roaming the streets of London on my own, suddenly I had the idea to go and see it. I wasn't disappointed.
Afterwards, it wasn't too late, I still needed some food. Nearby I found an empty table with empty cairs at the Cafe España. Altough the food wasn't looking too fancy, I enjoyed some good tapas.

Some patatas bravas, bread with garlic cream and some aubergine. There was also some chicken with a lemony sauce. However, that was last year and I didn't manage to take some nicer photos.
Now it happened to be the case that they managed to make a musical movie of Les Misérables behind my back. Nevertheless, I noticed it finally. So I have no chance, but to see it on it's own and see how it is.
At least, the music is already in my head and ... "Empty chairs at empty tables" ...