Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is a curry that "may" have been developed in the United Kingdom in the 1960s or early 1970s, but no firm history of the dish is available, and it is certainly similar to dishes from the Indian Subcontinent, namely Butter Chicken, a dish that originated in northwestern India, and one of the "stories" about the origination of Tikka Masala has it developed by a man in the UK from East Pakistan, a region that was then becoming the independent modern country of Bangladesh. I checked at least 20 recipes, and almost all included some amount of paprika, a spice and coloring agent not "commonly" found in recipes from the Subcontinent; so, that gives the possible UK origin of Tikka Masala a boost, but the dish is certainly heavily influenced by the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent. It consistently ranks as one of the most popular dishes of all in the United Kingdom. The chicken is traditionally cooked in tandoori ovens, at least in restaurants, giving it some blackened spots and a somewhat smoky flavor, but most of us are usually confined to using a regular oven, or a good skillet, something that shan't see you banned from the Indian restaurants nearest you.  

Serve with rice and naan bread.

Ingredients:

Seasoning and tenderizing the chicken:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons Greek or Indian yogurt
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

For frying the chicken:
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil 

Sauce:

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 to 2 teaspoons ground red pepper (if you have ground Kashmiri chili pepper, definitely use it, but cayenne is fine) 
1 1/2 cups pureed tomatoes (use a stick blender on some diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 to 1 cup heavy cream 
fresh coriander, also known as cilantro, chopped for garnish

To a bowl, add the chicken seasoning/tenderizing ingredients, mix together well, then mix in the bite size chicken pieces to coat them. Cover the bowl, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but 6 or 8 hours is better. Prior to cooking the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to warm a bit. Add the butter/oil to a skillet over medium heat. When the butter/oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and cook on both sides until the pieces are well browned, with some deep brown color on some pieces. Best to cook the chicken pieces on one side then use tongs to turn them to the other side. All together, this should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the chicken to a separate dish and set aside. Wipe the skillet of any dark residue, then add another 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger, stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground cardamom and ground red pepper, stir to mix well, then add the chicken pieces (with any of the juices collected while it's been sitting), the pureed tomatoes and 1/2 cup water, stir well again, let come to a simmer. Adjust the heat downward to just maintain a steady gentle simmer for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit. During this time, stir in the black pepper, then gradually stir in the heavy cream and the chopped coriander (cilantro). Let the mixture come back to a bare simmer, then remove it from the heat. Sprinkle each serving with a little chopped fresh coriander. Serve with rice and Indian naan bread.

     

WORD HISTORY:
Feral-This word is related to "fierce" and "ferocity," both words of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French, and to "ferocious," borrowed by English from Latin. It goes back to Indo European "gwher," which meant, "wild animal, wild beast." This gave Latin the adjective "ferus," meaning "wild, untamed, savage," from a "likely" Italic form of "feros" (wild, savage).^ This gave Latin "fera bestia," meaning, "wild animal." French took the word as "feral," meaning "wild," but why French added the "l" or "al" is unclear to me. "Perhaps" a mistaken notion that the Latin word "feralis" was a derivative of "fera" or "ferus?" But "feralis" was an adjective meaning, "having to do with death, fatal." Whatever the explanation, English borrowed the word from French circa 1600 with the meaning, "wild, untamed, undomesticated."      

^  Italic is a branch of the Indo European family of languages and includes Latin, Umbrian, Venetic, and others, most of which have died out. Latin's own limited use today is mainly because its dialects evolved into several modern languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Catalan, Sardinian, and several others.

Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

Just briefly, carrot cake is seen as having evolved out of carrot puddings of medieval times.* Recently I did a recipe article about "Brazilian Carrot Cake," which is considerably different from this recipe here on this page. Here is the link to that article:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/08/brazilian-carrot-cake-with-chocolate.html

Ingredients (1 round layer, 9 1/2 inch diameter):

1 large carrot, peeled and grated or use a food processor
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 350 F. I grated the carrot for some texture, but if you prefer really smooth cake, use a food processor. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well (I use a hand mixer). Lightly oil a 91/2 inch baking pan/dish, then dust it with a little flour. Pour the carrot cake batter into the dish and let it settle to even out before putting it into the oven. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean ("about" 45 minutes, but I want to emphasize, it could be a little shorter, but it could also take somewhat longer, up to 60 minutes). While your oven is hot, you can dry roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet or on some aluminum foil (about 12 to 15 minutes at 350 F). You can also dry roast them in a skillet on top of the stove (about 5 to 6 minutes over medium heat; shake the skillet about every 30 seconds so the hazelnuts don't burn). If you want the skins of the hazelnuts removed, after roasting, put the nuts on a dish towel and let them sit for 1 to 2 minutes, then rub the hazelnuts together with the towel.  

 Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (also called confectioner's sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 teaspoons milk
1/4 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts (also known as "filberts," to some) for topping

Add the cream cheese and butter to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the two ingredients together, then add the vanilla, 1 teaspoon milk and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar at a time (when mixing in the sugar, if the frosting is becoming too thick, you can add more milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time; the frosting should be smooth and spreadable). You can leave the cake in the baking dish, in which case you only need to spread on the frosting, or you can run a knife around the perimeter of the cake to loosen it, then gradually and carefully remove the cake to a serving dish to be frosted. Whichever way you prefer, after frosting the cake, chop the roasted hazelnuts and sprinkle them over the frosting. 
 
* For more on the history of carrot cake, here is a link to a great website: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcake.html
 

WORD HISTORY:
Cord-This word is distantly related to "yarn," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "hernia," a word borrowed by English from Latin. "Cord" goes back to Indo European "gher(e)," which meant, "gut, intestine." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "khordḗ," which meant "string made of animal intestine, catgut, intestine." This was borrowed by Latin as "chorda," meaning, "string, intestine, catgut," and this passed into Latin-based Old French as "corde," meaning, "string, cord." English borrowed the word in about 1300, initially as "corde," meaning, "rope made of strands of material twisted together, string on a musical instrument, executioner's rope for hanging." "Cord of wood" is from the 1600s, as rope was used to measure off the collected wood. The second half of the 1700s saw the additional meaning, "raised decoration on cloth material, often on military uniforms."  

Fried Green Tomatoes

While fried green tomatoes have a reputation for being a dish from the American South, Robert F. Moss, a food historian and author from South Carolina, has written that mentions of fried green tomatoes first appear in the northern and mid western part of the U.S., not in the South.* He also speculates that Jewish immigrants may have had some part in the beginnings of this dish which gained popularity with the release of the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" in the early 1990s. When I was kid and teenager, we had fried green tomatoes on occasion, and this was like from the late 1950s and through the 1960s. I don't ever recall hearing anyone say they were "southern," or for that matter, that they were "northern" or "mid western." I always liked them, and some people made/make them by simply tossing the green tomato slices in some seasoned flour and then frying them, while others coat the tomato slices in flour, then dip them into beaten egg and then coat them with breadcrumbs or cornmeal, but others, including me, prefer to dip them into a seasoned batter.

Give yourself an extra treat, and serve them with Louisiana remoulade sauce, here is the link to the remoulade recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/08/louisiana-remoulade-sauce.html

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings):

These amounts may need to be adjusted, as the size of the tomato slices will determine how much batter you'll need, but naturally, if you mix the batter and it is too thick, mix in a little more buttermilk, or even a little water. If, by chance, the batter is too thin, just add a little more flour or breadcrumbs. These are hardly decisions we'll need to summon Einstein to make for us, but if you do summon him, good luck with that one ... he's likely busy with E=CQ2, ah, E=TMSquare, ah, E=H2O, oh, whatever the hell it is!   

4 large green tomatoes
3 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (or the finely ground type)
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon (dry) adobo seasoning** or seasoned salt
oil for frying (rendered bacon fat added, see below)

Fried green tomatoes are often, but not always, fried in bacon fat, but you can skip this, or you can add some bacon fat to your oil. Rather than go with all bacon fat, first fry 5 or 6 slices of bacon (you can fry it for breakfast or perhaps for a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich for lunch) and keep the rendered bacon fat. When you get ready to make fried green tomatoes, add half the bacon fat to the oil you will use to fry the tomatoes (enough oil and bacon fat to make about 1/2 inch depth in your skillet; after you've fried some tomatoes you'll periodically need to add more oil, and you can add some of the remaining bacon fat each time). Cut tomatoes into slices of about 1/3 inch. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, buttermilk, flour, cornmeal, bread crumbs (I use panko, which are 'chunky' and coarse, but the finely ground type is certainly okay), black pepper and adobo seasoning or seasoned salt. Heat the oil (and bacon fat, if using) in a skillet over medium heat until a small piece of bread sizzles when dropped into the oil. Put individual tomato slices into the batter to coat, letting excess drip off before putting the slices into the skillet. Keep the tomatoes separated in the skillet. Fry the tomatoes on both sides until golden brown, removing the finished tomatoes to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat the process until all of the tomatoes are fried. Serve with Louisiana remoulade sauce. 

* You can read Robert Moss's complete article for yourself at this link: https://alforno.blogspot.com/2007/08/fried-green-tomato-swindle.html 

** Adobo can mean different things in different Latino or Spanish influenced cultures. The adobo for this recipe is the dry seasoning commonly used in Puerto Rico. It is very easily found in supermarkets or Latino grocery stores in the U.S., but it is also easy to make (it takes all of about 2 minutes). Here is the link to the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html 

Fried green tomatoes with Louisiana remoulade sauce on the side ...

WORD HISTORY:
Scot (as in "scot free")-This word is related to "shot," "shoot" and "sheet," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and it "likely" has nothing to do with the word of the same spelling, only capitalized, relating to the people of Scotland. It goes back to Indo European "skeut/skeud," which meant, "to throw, to shoot," seemingly with the underlying notion, "to propel outward;" also "to chase, to rush," which also show implications of "movement out from a given position." This gave Old Germanic "skeutanan/skutanan" meaning, "to shoot, to propel or move forward or away from." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceotan," a verb primarily meaning "to shoot, to throw," but secondarily "to pay out," and the nouns "sceot," literally, "(a) shot," but also "payment, contribution," and "gescot," meaning "payment, contribution." The Old Norse speakers who came to England brought along their word, "skot," which was related to the English forms, and this melded with the native English forms to produce "scot," which had come to be used for "a tax paid to landowners or nobles, including to the king." That's why we say, "scot-free," which originally meant "tax free" (it was written as one word centuries ago, "scotfreo." Of course the meaning of "scot free" has long since broadened to mean, "no payment or consequence for something." German, a close cousin of English, has the now archaic "Schoß" in this same sense, "tax, monetary contribution" (German has other words of this spelling still in use, but I'm referring to the form with this specific meaning).

Louisiana Remoulade Sauce

Remoulade is a dipping sauce, often used for fried foods like fish, seafood and batter fried vegetables, but it is also used as a spread for sandwiches. Remoulade sauce, also often shortened to just remoulade, is a French sauce based upon mayonnaise, but with added chopped ingredients: capers, cornichons and herbs. The sauce's history is tough to determine, as there were various sauces of similar content and use in France dating back to like the 1400s and 1500s, but by the 1700s the sauce most closely resembling the modern version seems to have come into it's own. "Tartar sauce" can really be considered a type of remoulade. While remoulade originated in France, it has numerous variations, including "Americanized" versions, with an especially spicy type from Louisiana perhaps being the best known. This is my version of the Louisiana style remoulade.

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise (low fat type is fine)
1 tablespoon smooth brown mustard
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in the palm of your hand
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed in the palm of your hand
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed in the palm of your hand
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or ground black pepper)
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper(or other ground hot red pepper)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon horseradish (freshly grated or from a jar)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon hot sauce (in the American South, especially in Louisiana, they "often" use Tabasco sauce)

Mix all ingredients together well in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours (or longer) before serving.

WORD HISTORY:
Scuttle-English has more than one word of this spelling. This is the noun meaning, in somewhat more modern times, "a type of bucket for carrying and holding coal." The ancient history of the word is shaky, but it likely goes back to Indo European "skei," which meant, "to split, to cut off." This produced Indo European "skouto/skoito," meaning, "flat piece of wood, shield." This gave Latin "scutra," meaning, "tray, platter," and this then produced the diminutive form "scutella," meaning, "small bowl or dish," also, "shallow drinking bowl, or leather pouch" (in the past both often used for alcoholic drinks). This was borrowed into West Germanic, but it's unclear to me which West Germanic dialect or dialects borrowed it first, but whatever the case, the term spread, with Old English having "scutel," meaning, "dish, platter," which then became "scuttel," along with the meaning, "dish or basket used to sift grain." The spelling then became "scuttle" and the "dish/basket" idea was used for such a device to carry coal, which in the mid 1800s had become a bucket type container. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schüssel" (bowl, dish),^ Low German has "Schötel" (dish), Dutch "schotel" (dish, saucer). Old Norse borrowed the word from English as "skutill" (dish, drinking vessel).

^ Long ago, a sound shift often changed many "t" sounds in certain circumstances in Germanic dialects to an "s" sound in many high dialects, which is the form that prevailed and thus continued into modern times in what is now standard German.

The Golden Girls Episode: Dorothy's New Friend

"The Golden Girls" was a comedy series set in Miami, Florida (it wasn't filmed in Miami) and originally telecast on NBC from 1985 through 1992. The basic gist of the show is that four women, 3 widowed and 1 divorced, share a house together and develop such a strong family-like friendship, they deal with and overcome their differing personality conflicts, as they support each other in life's challenges, including that of aging.  

This episode is from "Season Three" and it was first telecast in January 1988. Sometimes shiny new objects distract us from our long time reliable fixtures. Sometimes too the shininess obscures the flaws in the new object, some of which may be worse than just little blemishes. In this episode, Dorothy is captivated by a new friend and it takes her some time to see "the shiny new object" for what she really is, a person who feels that tolerating antisemitic discriminatory policies don't make her a bigot. 

Cast for this episode:

Dorothy Zbornak .......................... Bea Arthur
Blanche Devereaux ....................... Rue McClanahan
Rose Nylund .................................. Betty White
Sophia ............................................ Estelle Getty
Barbara Thorndyke ........................ Bonnie Bartlett
Murray Guttman ............................ Monty Ash

This episode opens with Sophia preparing some food for her new 84 year old flame and Rose and Blanche getting ready for the annual charity masquerade ball at the counseling center where Rose works. Rose has gotten a horse's outfit for herself and Dorothy, although she hasn't decided which of them will be the head and which will be the "behind." Dorothy comes in disgusted with life, but she is encouraged by the others to get active, so she decides to go listen to a lecture that evening featuring a local author named Barbara Thorndyke. We later learn from Dorothy that she introduced herself to Barbara after the lecture and the two discussed a variety of topics, much to Dorothy's delight. She invites Barbara to the house where the writer meets Blanche and Rose, who prove too unsophisticated for the condescending Barbara and she makes an excuse to leave. Blanche and Rose agree they don't care for Barbara.

The next day Rose and Blanche plan to go to a movie and they ask Dorothy to come too, but she tells them Barbara has invited her out. They tell Dorothy they think Barbara is snooty, but Dorothy tells them that is unfair, as they don't know Barbara. When Rose tells Dorothy she'd have more fun going to the movies with them, Dorothy turns patronizing, patting Rose on the hand and telling her two friends, "I promise, we'll do something together real soon. Okay?" Blanche and Rose feel they may have been too hasty in their judgment of Barbara after such a brief first meeting, so they decide they want to invite Barbara to dinner and give her another chance.

Barbara comes to dinner, but she continues to give her attention to Dorothy, while pretty much ignoring Blanche and Rose. Blanche grabs her attention with some criticism of one of Barbara's books. When Barbara snobbishly begins to explain what a metaphor is to Blanche, Blanche sets her straight, but Blanche has to explain it to the clueless Rose. hahaha When Barbara prepares to leave, she offers Dorothy a ticket she has to a writer's symposium, and Dorothy accepts. Barbara leaves without even saying goodbye to Rose and Blanche, and Rose tells Dorothy the symposium is the same night as the masquerade ball, but Dorothy makes it clear she will be joining Barbara and not going to the masquerade ball with Rose and Blanche, even though the masquerade ball is very important to Rose. Later Blanche and Rose let Dorothy know how they feel about Barbara, with Rose telling Dorothy that Barbara only pays attention to her, because Dorothy looks up to Barbara, and Blanche chimes in that Barbara likes to make others feel stupid, as when she used Latin to ask for someone to pass the salt at dinner. Dorothy gets very angry when Rose says that Dorothy has every right to have her friends, but that it also takes a good friend to point out another friend's mistakes, and that she feels Dorothy is making a mistake by befriending Barbara. Dorothy tells them they have no right to tell her who her friends should be, and she stomps off.

Dorothy meets Barbara for lunch at a restaurant with a "literary theme," where the menu is in the shape of a book, with "Chapter 5" being the lunch menu, featuring such dishes as, "The Crepes of Wrath," "The Old Man And The Seafood Salad," "Edgar Allen Poe-tatoes" and "George Bernard Slaw." Dorothy tells Barbara that their friendship has put a serious strain on her friendship with Rose and Blanche, who feel left out. In her often condescending way, Barbara makes it clear that she doesn't understand why Dorothy is so close to the other two women, but she tells Dorothy she wants to make an effort, so she wants to invite everyone, including Sophia, to dinner at the Mortimer Club, the most exclusive club in town. Dorothy still fails to grasp Barbara's attitude toward Blanche and Rose.

On the evening of the dinner, Barbara appears at the the house with her much younger date, a student from one of her writing classes. The bell rings and it is Sophia's date, Murray Guttman, the 84 year old, who is dressed in a flashy tuxedo. Barbara shakes Murray's hand and then asks to see Dorothy privately in the kitchen. She tells Dorothy they have a problem because of Murray Guttman. This is important, so I'll do the dialogue here:

Barbara: "He can't come to the club."
Dorothy: "Why not?"
Barbara: "Guttman."
Dorothy: "What are you talking about?"
Barbara: "Guttman, he's Jewish isn't he?"
Dorothy: "I don't know. What difference does it make?"
Barbara: "A big difference, the Mortimer Club is restricted."
Dorothy: "Barbara, why are you a member of a club like that?"
Barbara: "Because they serve a great breakfast and the parking is free. Besides, it's their policy, not mine."
Dorothy: "Yes, but you tolerate it."
Barbara: "Dorothy, I tolerate a lot of things; for instance, I'm tolerating this evening with Rose and Blanche because of my friendship with you."
... A little more dialogue ..... then:
Dorothy: "Boy did I misjudge you. You know, Blanche and Rose were right. You are not the kind of person I want as a friend. Why don't you go to the Mortimer Club by yourself?"
Barbara: "I don't understand."
Dorothy: "Let me spell it out for you: Go to hell!"
Barbara walks out.

When Blanche and Rose come into the kitchen to find out what happened, Dorothy apologizes for her behavior and her failure to see the real Barbara. Rose asks if this means Dorothy will be attending the masquerade ball, and Dorothy tells her she's had a lot of practice lately, so she'll be honored to be the "horse's behind" at the masquerade ball. The three REAL friends embrace.   


Photo is of the 2005 Buena Vista Home Entertainment Season 3 DVD set

WORD HISTORY:
Snare-This word is a distant relative of "narrow," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Snare" goes back to Indo European "(s)ner," with the notion, "to twist, to twist together, to wind (long 'i'), to constrict." This gave Old Germanic "snarh(o)," meaning, "string, rope, cord," "perhaps" with the additional meaning of "rope or cord tied to form a noose or ring." This gave Old English both "sner," meaning, "string for a harp or other musical instrument," and "snearu/sneare," meaning, "noose, snare for trapping animals." This was certainly reinforced in late Old English by the related Old Norse form "snara," which had that meaning, and which was from the same Germanic source. The original "string, rope, cord" meaning has essentially died out in English, as we have those separate words to use, but the "loop of string, rope or wire used for trapping" is still very much around. Musically, circa 1700, the strings or wires under tension on a drum were called "snares," thus by the 1800s giving that particular type of drum its name, "snare drum." The verb form was derived from the noun, and by the second half of the 1500s was usually rendered as "insnare," before the modern "ensnare." There is quite an array of relatives in the other Germanic languages, all in some way having to do with "string, rope, looped rope, snare." Here are just a few: German has "Schnur" (string, cord, electrical wiring/cable), Low German "Snoor" (band of string/cord), Dutch "snaar" (string, cord), Icelandic "snara" (snare trap, loop, noose), Swedish "snöre" (twine, cord), Danish "snor" (cord, string), Norwegian "snare" (?) (snare trap).   

Singaporean Chili Prawns/Shrimp

Singapore is a small island nation off the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It was once a British colony and naval base, but during World War Two British and Commonwealth forces there were defeated by the Japanese, bringing about a ruthless occupation of Singapore by Japan, particularly relating to people of Chinese ethnicity, which resulted in the deaths of "perhaps as many as 50,000" people of Chinese background in Singapore and Malaya. Later Singapore was part of Malaysia, before becoming an independent nation in the mid 1960s.     

The food of Singapore has strong influences from Chinese and Malay cuisine, as well as from the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. The word "prawns" is often used in English spoken outside of North America, as here in the United States especially, it is a word that is rarely heard. I'm not completely sure about its usage in Canada or on some of the Atlantic islands, but I would "guess" it is used a bit more than in the U.S. Here in the U.S., "shrimp" is the overwhelmingly used word, and it is also commonly used for both the singular and plural forms, where in England and the rest of Britain, "shrimps" is more commonly used for the plural. While not quite as starkly different, "chili," with one "l," is likely a little more common in U.S. spelling, while "chilli" is more common in the English elsewhere, but the double "l" spelling is not unseen in the U.S. In fact, over the years when I would prepare to write or type the word, I'd have to think about how we usually spell it.

Recipes for chili prawns call for raw, shell on prawns, but I've made them with both raw or peeled shrimp over the years. When I made them for this article, I used the raw shell on type.    

These chili prawns are great served with white rice.

Ingredients:

2 green onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
(optional) 1 tablespoon black bean garlic sauce*
3 tablespoons thick tomato ketchup (or tomato paste)
2 to 3 red chilies, seeded and finely chopped (if you don't have fresh chilies, you can use Sambal Oelek)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2/3 to 1 pound raw medium shrimp(s) in the shells
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1 egg, beaten
chopped green onion for garnish
chopped fresh cilantro (also known as coriander) for garnish

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the finely chopped green onion, then about 30 seconds later add the minced garlic and minced ginger. Saute for about 30 to 45 seconds, stirring the ingredients around, then remove the skillet from the heat briefly to add the brown sugar, ketchup, black bean garlic sauce (if using) and the red chilies; stir to mix, then return to the heat and cook for about a minute, then add the raw shrimp/prawns. Cook for about 30 seconds, then turn the prawns over. Stir in the vegetable or chicken stock and let the broth come to a simmer. (If you use already peeled cooked shrimp(s), add the broth to the skillet first and let it come to a simmer, then add the shrimps. Overcooked prawns/shrimps can become chewy or rubbery and I know. I once overcooked some shrimp, I dropped one, but it bounced right back up on my plate. Use some cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce, then gradually add the beaten egg, stirring as you add it. I mix the egg in completely, but some people just give it a light swirl to create ribbons of egg in the sauce. Top each serving with some chopped green onion and some freshly chopped cilantro (also known as coriander).

* Black bean garlic sauce is made with fermented black beans, soy sauce and some other ingredients. It is available in Asian grocery stores and in the Asian section of many supermarkets. The flavor is salty and somewhat sweet. It is more typical in Chinese cooking.

Served over white rice ...

WORD HISTORY:
Article-This word is related to quite a number of words, including, "arm" (limb of the upper body), a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "arm" (weapon), a Latin-derived word, borrowed by English via French and to "articulate," a word borrowed by English directly from Latin. "Article" goes back to Indo European "ar," which had the notion of "to fit together, to join," the extended form of which was the noun "ar(e)tus" meaning, "joint, junction, that which fits together." This gave Latin the noun "artus," which meant "anatomical joint" (the Latin adjective of the same spelling meant "well fitted, narrow). This produced the Latin noun "articulus," meaning "a knuckle, a joint, a finger, a member, a part, a grammatical part of speech." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "article," meaning, "joint," but also, "part or section of a document or law, part of religious belief." English borrowed the word in the early 1200s with the meaning relating to separate parts of laws or agreements, likely due to the fact that Norman French and Latin were used in legalistic matters in England after the Norman Conquest. The meaning was extended by circa 1700 to "a series of writings usually about the same overall topic," as in, "Jacqueline has written numerous articles about the stage stars of the 1930s." The grammatical use, as in "the definite article" and the "indefinite article," apparently came from Latin "articulus" in the 1500s (mid?). The meaning relating to personal objects (clothing or other personal property) seems to have developed among the jargon of thieves, but it then spread into every day usage by the early 1800s.     

Manchurian/Asian Chili Fish

Historically, this seems to be a dish of Manchurian Chinese origin, but which was taken by Chinese immigrants to India, where it is pretty well known in some regions. It is also known in other parts of southern Asia. You can certainly make this with more sauce, if you'd like. This is an easy dish to make. I used tilapia fish, but the second time I made it, I had tilapia, but I also had a small piece of salmon, so I used both, although recipes call for white fish. It was great!

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 pound boneless fish, cut into bite size pieces
1 medium onion (red or white), chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce (preferably dark soy sauce, but use what you have)
2 tablespoons Asian chili sauce*
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece of peeled ginger, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch (also called cornflour in some regions of the world)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil for frying
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green onions (also called scallions or spring onions), chopped with the green)
2 to 3 green chilies, chopped (serranos or jalapeños are good for this)
(optional) 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water to thicken the sauce
chopped green part from green onions (scallions) for garnish

Marinate the fish pieces for 20 minutes in salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and ground red pepper. Then add cornstarch, flour and ground black pepper. Mix to coat fish pieces. Heat vegetable oil in skillet over medium heat. Add coated fish, piece by piece, to the hot oil. Fry fish until golden (approximately 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes). Remove fish to a plate covered with a paper towel or two to drain excess oil, set the fish aside briefly. In a small bowl or cup mix together the soy sauce, chili sauce and ketchup, set aside. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons oil from the skillet (you can keep the rest of the oil for some other dish). Over medium heat, add the chopped green onions and the chopped garlic, saute for about a minute or two, then add the chopped green chilies and saute another 30 seconds before adding the chopped green and red bell peppers (or other mild green or red peppers) and the chopped red or white onion, turn heat to high, cook for 2 minutes, then add the fish pieces and the soy sauce, chili sauce and ketchup mixture to the skillet. Mix together well. If the sauce is too thin, thicken it with 1 part cornstarch mixed with 2 parts water. Sprinkle some chopped green from some scallions on top of each serving.

* In the United States we have a product marketed as "chili sauce," which is more of a tomato-based sauce flavored with sweet peppers and/or mild chili powder, along with some spices. Generally speaking, this "American" chili sauce is not hot, although there could well be brands that have some mild heat. In other parts of the world the "chili" part of "chili sauce" means just that, that chilies from mild to hot are the main ingredient. These sauces vary from somewhat thick to more of a free flowing liquid, with the latter often being called "hot sauces" in the United States. Asian chili sauce is often something of a sweet and sour, or sweet and hot sauce of moderate thickness made of chilies, spices and sugar, but Asian chili sauce typically does not contain tomatoes.

WORD HISTORY:

Bait-This word is closely related to "bite," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Bait" is something of a tough word, because it is so tied to "bite," and "bait's" Germanic ancestor simply meant "to cause to bite," which also gives it ties to "bit," meaning "a small portion of food," and also, "the part of a bridle for the horse's mouth." In other words, it's not easy to separate out these forms and meanings. "Bait" generally has two meanings, and while seemingly divergent, the meanings share "biting" in common, with the noun meaning, "food of some type put out to lure in an animal for trapping or hunting, or food put on a hook to lure a fish to bite it, thus snagging itself on the hook."^ The meaning, of course, broadened over time into "anything used to lure something or someone into a trap." The verb form follows that same meaning as, "to put food out as a lure for animals, or to put food onto a hook to lure fish," with another meaning being, "to let dogs loose to bite at and harass an animal for hunting purposes" (originally too it seems the word was used for "hunt, chase"). This meaning too expanded into "to harass something or someone to lure them into a fight or to get them to react," also further expanded to "to persecute."a "Bait" goes back to Indo European "bheid," which had the notion "to split." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bitanan," meaning "to bite," and the derived "baitjanan," which meant, "to make or cause to bite;" thus also, "to feed, to graze." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bætan," meaning, "to hunt by using dogs;" thus also, "to harass," but also, "to use a bridle on a horse." The Old Germanic form also gave Old Norse, a Germanic language from the North German branch of Germanic, the verb "beita," also meaning, "to make or cause to bite;" thus also, "to feed or graze on pastureland" (the related Norse noun "beit" actually meant "pasture")," and further, "to use dogs for hunting," and also, "to use a bridle on horses." The Old Norse word is cited in references as the source of the modern English word (dating from the 1200s), but what about our own word? Did the Old Norse word simply reinforce the existing English word (its cousin)? German, a close cousin to English, has modern "beizen," the ancestor of which meant much the same as the English word, now has the main meaning "to etch, treat or cauterize with acid;" that is, "to use acid to 'bite' into a hard surface." It can also still mean "to hunt using a falcon." 

^ It "seems" the idea of "food," "that which is bitten and eaten," is what truly lies behind "bait," with the idea of using it as a lure being added to the meaning, and in more modern times being the more prominent idea associated with the word.

Brazilian Carrot Cake With Chocolate Frosting

The popularity of this cake has spread the recipe to other parts of the world well beyond Brazil. My friend in Brazil, Gustavo, also known by his "secret name," "G," which is now NOT so secret, made me aware of this cake a few months ago, and I later came across recipes for it from places like Australia and Indonesia. Usually served along with a cup of coffee in Brazil, but hey, you can always have a glass of milk! 

Ingredients (1 single layer cake):

For the cake:
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into pieces
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour + 1 tablespoon baking powder, sifted together
1 1/4 cups sugar

For the frosting:
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter

Heat the oven to 350 F. Meanwhile, add the carrot pieces, eggs, oil and sugar to a food processor or a blender. Process until smooth. In a bowl, add the sifted flour, baking powder and sugar; mix the dry ingredients briefly with a spoon or a fork. Add the carrot mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well until smooth. Lightly oil/grease a cake pan, then lightly dust it with some flour. Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the preheated oven until a knife or a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Spread the frosting in a layer onto the top of the cake, or use a knife to go around the outside of the cake in the baking pan and then turn the cake out onto a dish, then take the dish you plan to use for the cake and turn the cake onto it, then add the frosting. One more thing... EAT! Frosting: To a heavy-bottomed pan add the sugar, cocoa powder, milk and butter. Over low heat, cook the mixture, stirring often (almost constantly, as these are ingredients that love to stick to the pan) until it comes to a boil for about a minute or so, then remove the pan from the heat.

WORD HISTORY:
Tenure-This word is related to a great number of words, including, "tenacity" and "tension," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English through French, and to "tendon," a word borrowed by English from Latin, which had gotten it from Greek, and to the "tain" part of both "sustain" and "abstain," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English via French. "Tenure" goes back to Indo European "ten," which had the notion "to stretch, to extend out, to draw out." This gave Latin "tenere," meaning "to hold, to have;" thus also, "to have control over, to keep in possession, to maintain a situation or status." This then became "tenire" in Vulgar Latin and passed into Latin-based Old French as "tenir," with the same general meanings, and then produced the Old French noun "tenure," meaning, "the legal possession or holding of land;" thus, "an estate in the time of feudalism," which also expanded secondarily to "legal holding, right of possession in a more general sense." English borrowed the word in the first part of the 1400s from the French still spoken in England at the time (Anglo-French, that had developed from the Norman dialect), and its application to "holding an employment position, or holding a particular status within a profession" was being used by the late 1500s. This later developed into the extended, "guarantee of employment status/position."