Weekend Plans Post: Lime Cilantro Rice (Illustrated)

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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16 Responses

  1. fillyjonk says:

    I have another BlackBoard exam to fight my way through writing (it is much more arduous in the system and takes about three times as long) but I am also Taking A Risk! this weekend and venturing (masked and trying to stay 10′ from all other people) out first thing Saturday to the JoAnn Fabrics after having not done “unnecessary” shopping anywhere in-person for six months plus. But I need to go to the Kroger, which is in the same town – there are a few items I need that I’m running low on, and the small local grocery I’ve been using doesn’t have them.

    I need it, but I’m also apprehensive: am I being irresponsible? Should I even do this? Friends of mine (granted, much older, and with more serious health concerns) have literally not left their house (or car, to pick up groceries from the “curbside” service) since March….and I can’t do that any longer.

    Also, I suspect if I get exposed, it will be in the classroom. Even though all the students and I are masked I also get that masks aren’t 100% at ensuring protection. However, I was really close to “the edge” stuck at home over the summer….I am not sure I could have lasted many more months without even the minimal interpersonal interactions teaching 3/4 of my classes in person is giving me.

    I am really ready for this to be over. When I am second-guessing myself for planning to go to a craft store NOT because “I shouldn’t spend the money” but because “there’s a remote chance I will contract a disease that could kill me” – something is very wrong and broken.

    I almost commissioned a small piece of art in early 2020, theme being “I survived 2019” (There was a lot of personal loss for me that year) but I never got around to it, now I’m glad I did not, I am never crowing over having “survived” something again because it feels like the universe then just sits back on its haunches, chuckles, and goes, “o rly? wait til you see what’s next….”Report

    • Jaybird in reply to fillyjonk says:

      Wear a mask (and gloves?) and don’t start up conversations with strangers and throw your clothes into the hamper as soon as you get home and then shower…

      That’s how I do it. I don’t *FEEL* irresponsible.

      My boss double-masks it. Paper mask inside, cloth mask outside.

      This strikes me as excessive.Report

      • fillyjonk in reply to Jaybird says:

        Yeah, one of my colleagues mentioned double-masking in the classroom but I already sound like Darth Vader enough when I inhale as it is. I count on the fact that I’m a bit over 6′ from the nearest student and they all have masks on too.

        I’ve got a purse-sized hand sanitizer. I don’t like using it (prefer to use soap and water) but you do what you have to do. Probably makes more sense to squirt alcohol on my hands than wander into some public loo where the person before did who-knows-what (places around here aren’t good about cleaning – at least not to the standards I would require. Except for my campus building, our custodian is incredible and deserves a huge raise)Report

  2. DensityDuck says:

    I managed to go this long into life without learning that coriander was cilantro seeds.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to DensityDuck says:

      Oh, is that what those are?

      This is one of those things where I want to go back in time and visit the Meijer’s where we shopped when I was a kid.

      I know we had coriander in the spice rack when I was a kid… did the supermarket in Plymouth, Michigan have cilantro, though?

      I mean, I don’t remember it being there but it’s not like I would have known to differentiate between green leafys in the 70’s.Report

  3. Brandon Berg says:

    That’s a lot of steps. For the lazier among us, I’ve recently come up with a ridiculously simple and surprisingly delicious recipe. Here’s what you want to do:

    1. Steam up some potatoes. Or boil them. Doesn’t really matter. I suppose frying them would work, too, but I haven’t tried. Not too many, because potatoes are stupidly filling. I cut them in big chunks because I’m lazy, and I leave the skin on because I’m not five years old, but it’s your dinner, so you do what you want.

    2. Throw the potatoes in a saucepan with some fish. How much fish? Depends on how much fish you want to eat. The first time I used canned fish (Pacific saury, lightly salted, canned in its own oil), but I also tried it with fresh salmon, and that worked, too. You really can’t go wrong here.

    3. Add some plain yogurt. Not enough to completely bury the potatoes and fish—a cup or so should do for one person. I use whole-milk yogurt, but it’s your call.

    4. Heat it up, seasoning to taste as you go. I used black pepper, Sichuan pepper, and cumin seeds, but you do you. If you used raw fish, heat it until the fish is cooked. Or don’t. I really can’t stress enough that you’re the one who has to live with the results.

    And that’s about it. The end result is a reasonable facsimile of chowder, but the yogurt gives it a nice tang. It may be possible to cook the potatoes in the yogurt, but I haven’t tried it yet because I’m worried the yogurt might burn. I think I’ll try adding some mushrooms sometime, or some other root vegetables like carrot or turnip. Bacon makes everything better, of course. Yogurt’s pretty watery when hot, so some may like it better with a bit of thickener. You could also saute some garlic and/or onions for flavor.

    But even the basic version above came out far better than I expected. Yogurt, potatoes, and fish go really well together. This has the best effort-to-result ratio of anything I’ve ever cooked. Takes about five minutes of hands-on time and 15-20 minutes of clock time.Report

  4. Marchmaine says:

    My Superpower: I can taste Bay.

    I have many fanciful plot lines where this comes into play… but mostly it has only taught me life lessons.

    The broilers have fattened about as fat as they’re gonna get (without another trip to the feed store)… so looks like we’re processing on Monday.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Marchmaine says:

      I really can’t tell the difference. I’m mostly including it because of the dozens of tweets people tweet at Chipotle where they’re freaking out about finding “A LEAF!” in their food.

      So I know, okay… if I’m making Chipotle rice, I gotta put a bay leaf in there.Report

      • Marchmaine in reply to Jaybird says:

        Yeah, it’s for background structure…a food tannin; it adds a tea like pull (tannin) with slight earthy mint (if the leaves are good). It’s also a useful descriptor in some Red Wines.Report

  5. Thanks for this. Many, many years ago, I tried to make “lime rice” (I don’t think I was adventurous enough to use cilantro….this was in the “prehistory of my cooking days). All I did was add lime juice. It….didn’t work. I might try your recipe.

    I will say that when I need to zest citrus, I use a cheese grate (the fine grating). I find it easier than the way you do it, which is probably the right way. (I do take care to wear cut-resistant gloves. Cheese graters have been a site for many an annoying accident in the kitchen for me.)Report

  6. LeeEsq says:

    I’m introducing a woman to her first Shakespeare play via the online presentation of King Lear by the San Francisco Shakespeare Company.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to LeeEsq says:

      Lear is an awesome one to start with.

      It’s the best one, but it gives you opportunity to argue about it afterwards and have *INTERESTING* arguments. Argue about the Jester, argue about Glouster, and just point out the rant that is interrupted halfway with “that way madness lies” is a better speech than Hamlet’s one about suicide because you can use Lear’s speech whenever you feel yourself getting maudlin and Hamlet’s speech is a speech that you never get to use outside of parody anymore.

      Fingers crossed!Report