Remember when Friday nights were spent getting drunk at after work drinks? Tequila shots, inappropriate pashing and queues to use stinky blocked toilets? Aaaahhhh, the good old days.
These days I generally find myself spending Friday nights at home and Facebooking about wine. Gosh what an alco I must seem like (truly, I’m not, it’s just that by the end of the week, I am often very THIRSTY). Happily for a few months I can fill my nights with a Masterchef Masterclass and watch George and Gary make pretty piles of edible flowers, but with that gone, and Collectors a bit tainted after the whole kiddie-porn allegations, I find myself watching Better Homes and Gardens.
I can, of course, watch food being cooked until the cows come home, but all the other happy, cheery segments about making boat shaped bunk beds and fixing gout in canaries have glided over my head which is slightly addled after two glasses of wine. Last Friday night, however, there was a segment that had me all at attention… lawncare, that most riveting of subjects. But you see, for the first time, I have a lawn, and I was suddenly obsessively paying attention to the finer details of aeration and top dressing. You’ll be pleased to know that on Sunday morning I spent a good 10 minutes raking vigilantly until I got bored and wandered off for a cup of tea.
And who said the suburbs were dull?
Anyway, back to cooking and Karen Martini whipped up some chicken skewers that only required 47 ingredients and took 24 hours to prepare. They looked delicious. Although I think I’ll stick to my yakitori skewers, which (of course) include vegies. Serve them over a nice rice salad (you can find the recipe for that in the new Vegie Smugglers 2 cookbook – which is now on sale here) and voila!
Anyway, must dash, off to make a sensational chandelier out of corks and long-forgotten kitchen utensils. Thanks Friday night TV.
Yakitori skewers
500g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp minced ginger
1 small red onion, halved, quartered
1 red capsicum, seeded, cut into 2–3cm squares
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise, cut into 1–2cm half-moons
Soak 10 bamboo skewers in cold water for at least 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into small, even pieces. Place in a bowl with the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger. Mix well.
Add the onion, capsicum and zucchini to the chicken and mix (hands work best). Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (if you have time).
Thread the chicken and vegies alternately onto the skewers. Break the onion up a little so that it will cook through.
Heat a large frying pan (or barbecue hot plate) over low–medium heat. Cook the skewers for 15–20 minutes, turning regularly to cook on all sides. The low heat allows the chicken to cook through without burning.
Stacey said,
September 13, 2011 @ 8:15 am
This sounds delish. I have tonights dish ready to go so tomorrow night it is 🙂
Nicola Wright said,
September 13, 2011 @ 4:25 pm
Looks yummy. I am 3 out of 4 of our household would eat it. Master two is now in dire need of smuggling veg into each meal. Miss five however is saintly in comparison. She’s a veritable taste tester to the stars!
susie venkat said,
September 14, 2011 @ 11:00 am
Raking and getting bored; wandering off for a cuppa; Karen Martini and her 47 ingredients! Too funny. Definitely we are kin!
Meegan Harvey said,
October 3, 2011 @ 2:50 pm
LOL!!! I can’t get over some of the ummm ‘interesting’ things for your home that Tara comes up with! It’s like she went a bit silly in a $2 shop sometimes (ok, most of the time!).. 🙂
Please find (some) comfort in the fact that you aren’t the only one who finds herself watching BH&G on a Friday night.. Sometimes I go one further and then watch Escape to The Country!
Oh yeah, the ‘burbs rock! 🙂
wendyblume said,
October 3, 2011 @ 2:56 pm
ha! yes, there was quite a discussion on facebook about how frustrating escape to the country is – they never end up buying anything and we’ve wasted 45 minutes of our lives watching them…. I did exactly that last night and I didn’t even have the excuse of it being Friday night! sigh. more wine.