Nesting

Is it strange that I'd rather hang out in the kitchen cooking and trying new recipes than be outside having a last hoorah with summer? The beginning of September brought some unusually cool couple of days and today as the clouds hang steadfast, I am trying to figure out what to do with some late summer peaches I picked up in Ukrop's in Richmond and trying a turkey burger recipe. Ukrop's is a Richmond grocery store and institution known for their prepared foods, their friendly staff who carries your groceries to your car (even when you feel you shouldn't let this guy who is old enough to be your great grandfather carry anything, much less walk) and their stubborn hold on the old Virginia Blue Laws. They have their "own" beef and their "own" peaches. I never knew what that meant exactly, but I remember standing over the kitchen sink in my Fan District apartment, eating a Ukrop's peach with juice running down my arm. That's when I started referring to especially juicy fruits as kitchen sink fruit.

Anyone who knows me knows that baking is not my thing. I do it a lot, but my forte is extemporaneous, improv stuff, the influence of acting classes from college probably and where I feel the most comfortable. It's always a challenge for folks in my classes because I don't look at the recipe and sometimes fail to follow it exactly. Frustration abounds when engineers, physicians and accountants ask me, "how much of that did you put in there?" I usually pause and look at them quizically more often because I don't even remember what I just did, let alone the amount: "Uh, a dash? A couple of shakes? Maybe a tad or a smidgen? How about a scant?"

The point people, is that it really doesn't matter because everyone is different and everyone puts priority or value on ingredients, accuracy and results. All you have to do is read the reviews of recipes on epicurious or listen to the comments of people leaving a restaurant. What I mean is, one person's idea of "too much" cilantro is another's idea of an ingredient that cannot be left out of, say salsa.

When I was visiting my Dad in Virginia Beach, we went into one of my favorite little wine/gourmet/lunch shops and I got all worked up for curry chicken salad. I LOVE curry chicken salad and make a pretty mean one myself. The first time I had it was at Strawberry St. Cafe in Richmond and I couldn't get enough of it. So here I am, all excited about it salivating, practically ripping the wrapping paper off the sandwich. Oh. Huhn. Hmm. Doesn't look right. The color of the stuff was off: not yellow enough, in fact, just barely yellow. It was wet. Really wet. Too much mayonnaise. And no crunch, no variety in texture and the chicken was all wrong. It was chunks, not shredded. What a disappointment. I like a lot of curry and I put grapes and cashews and mango and celery in mine and I boil the chicken in chicken broth and then shred it, which makes it easier to eat for one, and also complements the shapes of the other stuff in it. SO, some people might like less curry and more mayonnaise and would be fine with it. Some might not even know the difference if it's all they've known. We see this all the time with regional dishes like Brunswick Stew or Chicken and Dumplings. So, my thing is always add a scant amount (of what the recipe calls for) and you can always add more, but you can't take away. No matter how much sugar, apple juice or whatever you add to chili, if it's too much hot pepper, it's too much hot pepper and that's that. My husband likes stuff spicy, and I like it a little less spicy. I love lots of garlic and some people have a hard time with it, it makes their heartburn flare or whatever. I'm making salsa verde, using a recipe and I decided to put a little more garlic in it. I might even add some cumin, who knows?

That's the beauty of cooking compared to baking. Unless you're making a trifle or using a mix, there's not a lot of room for fudging (pun intended) when baking.

The good news for all of you folks that want to know EXACTLY how much, is that there are some guidelines with dash, smidgen and pinch. Unfortunately though, I don't follow those measurements either!

The breakdown: a dash is about an 1/8th of a tsp.; a pinch is smaller, about 1/16th of a tsp.; a smidgen is less scientific, but about 1/32tsp. and a scant means "no more than", so less of the measurement (cup, tsp., whatever) would be preferable over one bit more than what the measurement is.

Okay, so I'm marinating peaches in some white ginger simple syrup and am trying to figure out how to bake them into something spectacular. I'd like to incorporate some of that flax flour I never use into it. Or whole wheat flour or maybe I should just use Bisquick and call it a cobbler and be done with it. There's always vanilla ice cream... I could make my own. I think I'll just focus on the turkey burger and put the peaches in my yogurt tomorrow.

Here's my curry chicken recipe, just in case you're salivating for it now.

• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 lb skinless boneless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (use light optionally)
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 5 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium red onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 firm-ripe mango (3/4 pound), peeled, pitted, and chopped
• 1 cup red seedless grapes (5 ounces), halved
• 1/2 cup salted roasted cashews, coarsely chopped

Bring 4 cups water to a simmer with chicken broth in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Add chicken and simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cover, then let stand until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and cool 10 minutes. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces.

While chicken is cooling, whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, curry, lime juice, honey, ginger, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken, onion, mango, grapes, and cashews and stir gently to combine.