TURMERIC BUTTER CHICKEN RICE

WHEN YOU RELEASE THE CHICKEN-BAG WITH A SCISSOR OVER THE BED OF COCONUT RICE, ALMOST LIKE GOD-SENT, A STREAM OF PROMISED GOLDEN LIQUID WILL PERCOLATE FREELY INTO EVERY THIRSTY GRAIN OF HAPPINESS THAT YOU'LL ALMOST HEAR THEM PURR. [ezcol_1half] Hey, I own a shit load of cookbooks, I do.  And I'm not saying it isn't a problem.  Especially when it's become a very common first remark that people make when they visit our apartment, noticing from the ungoverned stacks that seem to occupy every flat surfaces of every able furnitures, evidently overrunning our shelving-space that is already working its double-layer capacity.  And my worst fear is that before long, Jason has to kindly ask Thomas Keller to scooch over before he can "relieve" himself, if you see what I mean.  So yeah, there is an issue there.  But you know, I guess it could be reasonably understood.  I mean, for someone like me and for what I sort of do, I guess, it makes sense.  What doesn't make sense, at all, is that for someone who owns this many cookbooks, I have almost never cooked a recipe from any one of them.  And I mean never, except maybe once but not really, ok?  Because I can't follow instructions.  Period.

THAI HERBS AND PORK SALAD

I'm determined to get a life during this Labour Day long weekend so let me quickly leave you with this.  Best.  Damn.  "Salad".  You'll.  Ever.  Have.  Period.  Period. HOW COULD IT BE?  OH WAIT, IT'S THE PORK. It's a recipe I developed for Food52's column "Half Way to Dinner", and initially I didn't write any measurements down because I wasn't sure how open you guys would be towards a "ground pork salad".  But it turned out, a few request for it came in and so I made it again the other night

ANDY WRECKER GREEN CURRY MEATBALLS

Let's all be honest here. Yes. Including those of us who say we love to cook, and would ferociously defend the legitimacy of home-making Turkish kofta platter, Taiwanese gua bao, or even Italian duck prosciutto, once in a blue moon at least, let's not kid ourselves. In practicality, the song and dance of travelling to exotic and exhilarating corners of the world through a dialogue in our own kitchen is, most of the time, only romantic in theory. At the end of the day, if you are any lucky, the flaming urge for such adventures mostly gets put out by a take-out menu amidst a stack of its own kind, that quietly settles in a kitchen drawer with can-openers and plumber-contacts. Authentic, or not authentic. Good, or no good. Doesn't matter. That's what normal people do. I used to be normal. Yes. I used to be normal in the sense that I too, raised healthy curiosity for all things exotic and delicious, which perhaps could even develop into a moderate ambition to dissect and tackle in my own kitchen. Perfectly normal and harmless because ultimately, just like any other sanity-abiding citizens,

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