Cambridge Cooks: Poached Chicken w/Peanuts Cambridge Cooks: Poached Chicken w/Peanuts

Photos: Debra Pearlman

When I traveled through southeast Asia, I fell in love with Thai and Indonesian cooking. I've tried to recreate some of the wonderful flavors in this dish.

Cold Poached Chicken Breasts in Peanuts with Curried Yogurt Sauce:

WHAT YOU NEED:

For the chicken:
6 skinless/boneless chicken breast halves
2 cups fresh coconut milk or 1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk

For the Peanut Coating:
3/4 cups chutney of choice - I like mango
3/4 cup lite mayo or plain low-fat yogurt - or combo of the two
2.5 cups finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Sliced mango, papaya or other garnish

For the Curried Yogurt Sauce:
2 tsp minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup raisins or currants
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
2 tsp. ground coriander
1.5 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsps. ground turmeric
ground salt and cayenne pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO:

Chicken: in a skillet
1. Bring coconut milk to boil over Medium heat and immediately reduce heat so coconut milk barely ripples.
2. Simmer breasts uncovered for approx. 12 minutes. Meat should be moist and opaque.
2. Remove from pan and reserve coconut milk. Cool chicken to room temperature

Peanut Coating:
1. Combine chutney and yayo/yogurt in food processor or blender.
2. Puree until smooth

Yogurt:
1. Over med-high heat, reduce coconut milk to about 1 cup
2. Remove from heat and add: ginger, garlic & raisins. Set aside to cool.
3. Combine cooled coconut milk, yogurt, lemon/lime juice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt and cayenne in food
processor or blender and blend well.
4. Refrigerate until just before serving.

How to Assemble for Serving:

1. 30 minutes before serving, dip chicken into chutney and cover well.
2. Roll in chopped peanuts, patting to cover chicken completely
3. Place on wire rack and chill until serving
4. Spoon yogurt sauce onto each plate and top with 1-2 pieces of chicken
5. Garnich with fresh fruit.

I know it looks like a lot to prepare, but you can make things ahead of time and put it all together just before serving. It's a wonderful dish to serve guests for lunch. In the summer (and summer will come, I promise) this makes a great dinner. Serve with a cold beer or nice white wine.

Enjoy!

Views From The Hil 14 Views From The Hil 14

With Super (Duper) Tuesday less than a week away, we urge all registered voters, no matter what candidate or party you support, to exercise your Constitutional right to vote!

Cartoonist Hilary Allison adores your comments and can also be reached at mailto:hilaryallison@activist.cc.

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

What's Left Behind
This is another of my “what is that?” photographs. Since I haven’t gotten out to shoot much lately I decided to dive into my archives for some fun. Winter doldrums, hmmm?

So, what is this?

A winter’s afternoon of golden sunlight, the Cambridge Valley’s back roads lined with fields of deep, freshly fallen snow. Everything is soft and still. Even the sunlight itself is eerily “quiet”. Then, like huge paint brush strokes upon the land there suddenly appears to my eyes the remnants of the previous evening’s modern enjoyments: snowmobile tracks, coursing over the pastures of virgin snow, cutting within the rows of corn stubble now golden in the afternoon sunlight. Patterns of revelry recalling rosy cheeks and watering eyes, full robust laughter and shouts echoing throughout the woodlands, hearts pounding in chests from exertion and excitement, and the stillness of the forests, pastures and fields being broken by the massive roaring and grinding of the “beasts of winter”, the snowmobiles.

All tracks in the snow give flight to my imagination, be they made by animals or humans. But I especially enjoy the broad swaths of snow mobile tracks curlicue-ing over hill and dale in the winters. I enjoy them all the more because of the further re-creations they sometimes represent to me in my artworks. This particular photograph, altered, resembles, to me, an alien terrain on a distant planet, or something embryonic. Either way, the shadows in the tracks caused by that bright golden sun create such sharp detail against the rich golden corn stubble. Perhaps this is a pizza thickly covered with mozzarella cheese or a cake with rich butter cream frosting swirled about for a lucky birthday boy or girl.

Whatever you care to imagine I hope this artwork gives you pleasure. -June Mohan
Photos: (Copyright Mohan 2006) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com.

Movement Meditations #3 Movement Meditations #3

(Photography by John Carlson c 2004)

“When moving backward is really moving forward.”

Not even the end of January and all ready I am nursing an injury! Its the usual place that I experience injury- my shoulders and neck. Our bodies seem to assign places, storage centers for the stresses of life. Lower back, knees, eyes, stomach, jaw, the list is endless and unfortunately all too familiar. Of course, there is the story of the injury- the original moment of strain and the inevitable insult to add on. Mine began this time with backing out of a particularly windy, ice-covered driveway. I further complicated things by shoveling massive amounts of snow, instead of letting my body recover. This was nearly 3 weeks ago and by last week the discomfort was enough for me to forgo my yoga and flow classes. Already my best-laid plans towards better health are falling apart and I am the one doing the sabotaging. I wonder should I throw in the towel, drop the classes, and accept my out-of-shape-grumpy-aging body as an inevitable reality?
.
Fortunately, it occurs to me that perhaps this injury is actually an opportunity to take care of myself in a different way. To say what I really need this day is a gentle walk, a hot shower, and an extra hour of sleep for a few days. What I really need is time to heal, to make an appointment with my chiropractor, slow way down, and do some surveying.

Surveying is a movement form that explores the surface of one’s body much like a surveyor might map a landscape. Pick a place on your body and moves from that place to another along paths suggested by the contact between body and floor, wandering over bumpy bones, along skeletal ridges, into smooth hollows. When I survey I often find myself in spots where it feels like I cannot move forward- to continue in the direction I have set out on will either hurt or is just not physically possible. But discovering a cliff edge at the end of a trail as I hike does not mean I must jump or consider my hike a failure. I have so many options to choose from- I can take out my thermos, drink some tea and enjoy the amazing lookout. I can change direction and explore the extent of the ridge. Or I can simply turn around retrace my steps back the way I came. The journey down is as interesting as the ascent-its is in fact a new trail to follow with a different start and a different end.

Homework: Walk as slowly as possible from one room in your house to another. At some point along the way, retrace your steps, let go of your sense of beginning and destination, all the time moving slower than you think you can. Remember- your body loves to move!


Playlist (Karuna (“Karuna”, “Tibet”) by Nawang Khechog

Symphony No. 3 Op. 36 (“III. Lento-Cantabile Semplice”) by Henryk Gorecki

Playlist (Movement Meditation Class 1/24/08)

Baraka by Michael Stearns

Four Phrases for Separated Clarinets by John Bertles

Cicada by Deuter

Views From The Hil 13 Views From The Hil 13

Cartoonist Hilary Allison adores your comments and can also be reached at mailto:hilaryallison@activist.cc.

Cambridge Life 1/21/08 Cambridge Life 1/21/08

It's a hardship, but somebody has to do it!

What can I say, January is starting off pretty nicely. I'm down in the Florida Keys, hangin' with my sister. From all accounts, I picked a good week to leave the north country. I'm sending you all warmer weather. I say warmer because it's pretty chilly, by Florida standards, down here. I'm not complaining...by Wednesday it's supposed to be around 80 degrees and sunny. But hey, How 'bout those Giants!

I know that a lot is going on in Cambridge, NY right now. Plans are in place for Ice Breaker Winterfest, soon the maple sap will be running and sugaring season will begin, and the Tour of the Battenkill will mark the beginning of spring. But before any of these festivities begin, I'll actually be watching the Super Bowl this year. I don't follow football that closely, but if asked, "Who's your team?" My answer is The Giants! So go Big Blue - Anyone planning a great Super Bowl party, let me know.

See you soon Cambridge!

Views From The Hil 12 Views From The Hil 12

Cartoonist Hilary Allison adores your comments and can also be reached at mailto:hilaryallison@activist.cc.

Cambridge Cooks: Black Bean Casserole Cambridge Cooks: Black Bean Casserole

Photos: Debra Pearlman

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 cups onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups green pepper, chopped
1 14 oz. can chopped tomato, liquid incuded
3/4 cup Picante sauce
2 cloved garlic, diced
2 tsp. cumin
2 15 oz. cans black beans
12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

WHAT YOU DO:

In a large skillet bring:

1. Onions, green pepper, canned tomato, Picante sauce, garlic, and cumin to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes
3. Add 2 cans of Black beans

In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish put:

4. 1/3 of the bean mixture, covering bottom of dish.
5. Cover with 6 corn tortillas (layer if necessary).
6. Cover with 1 cup shredded cheddar and another 1/3 of bean mixture.
7. Layer 6 more corn tortillas.
8. Add last 1/3 of bean mixture on top of tortillas.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese on top of finished casserole.
Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Easily adapted for Vegan diets by using soy-based substitutes for butter and cheese.

This dish tastes great after a day of snow shoeing or skiing (or snow shoveling).

Enjoy!

Movement Meditations # 2 Movement Meditations # 2

Tis’ the season of New Year’s Resolution Aerobics, Pilates, Yoga Classes, Gym Membership Workouts. All this vigorous activity feels good- defying the short gray days, taking back control of one’s health, penance for holiday debauchery. Yet my body senses that all this activity is some how off base, missing the point- my tendency is to hibernate, retreat, go dormant until the spring thaw.



My body feels cold often these days with the lack of sun, our efforts to save on heating oil, the ever-shifting damp January weather. The chill has sunk deep into my bones and I feel vulnerable as a result. Cups of tea, extra layers, thicker socks help to stave off winter’s freeze. The additional clothing creates interesting restrictions when it comes to movement. I am not inspired to lay on the floor- too much bulk between my body and the ground, which is drafty and uninviting at this point any way. So I am finding the upright, slow, often seated places and ways in my home to move in and from.

The Classic Chair Dance- Mine is one of a series- sweet explorations of my spine and shoulders against upholstered cushions. The Hibernations: cocooned little dances at 4 am before the inevitable alarm, still buried beneath the piles of blankets and quilts, true Sleeping-Waking-Dreaming dances.

Sleeping-Waking-Dreaming is exactly what is sounds like. It is a movement form that explores the space of shallow ‘almost asleep’. These are moments just before we let go of the day that has past and sink into dream. These are also the moments just before we decide its time to open our eyes and let in a new day. Sleeping-Waking-Dreaming inhabits that place where we have “almost dreams”. Luxurious, gentle, moving in this way reminds us that our bodies are not static. Even in stillness, there are subtle shifts of position, transfers of weight, expansions and contractions that follow our breath.

Here is the playlist from last week’s Meditative Movement class.
I’ve included links to sound clips.

Selections from “Glaciation” Patrick O’Hearn

“Six Marimbas” Steve Reich

Symphony #3: III Lento-Cantablile Semplice Henryk Gorecki

This week’s “homework” (to be done if the moment presents itself): Do a Sleeping- Waking-Dreaming dance while waiting – in the check out line, for your email to load, for your coffee to brew, the tea to steep.

Remember your body LOVES to move!

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

Remembering What Once Was
When I saw this old abandoned home a couple of years ago I was struck by it’s melancholy beauty. It seemed to be inviting me inside to share it’s memories of the golden times in its past. Times gone by but never forgotten - at least never forgotten by the house.

It pleases me to think our passing leaves footprints behind in the places of our lives. Places which remember us, good or bad. Places which would have no purpose for existence but for our presence in them.

This wonderful old building is another one of those which I pass frequently and photograph almost as frequently. But, this particular sundown caught the structure as I’d never seen it before. The setting sun glowing on the broken windows and worn siding gave me the sense I was being allowed to become privy to its inner thoughts and feelings. The light seemed to show me the glow of the fires and lights which once burned within the old house’s framework. For me the glow was a visual echo of the hopes and dreams, loves, dramas and growth of its families. I couldn’t help feeling compassion for this house’s losses, yet it also seem to reassuringly communicate to me its reassurance that it is not alone. No, it will forever have its memories to companion and warm it.

Since taking this photograph someone began rehabilitating the building. I don’t know how far they will take it. It would be wonderful to think they could one day return it to its lovely strength and quiet splendor. Would that they repopulate it with more kind memories for it to hold close to its now cold, idle, hearth. I hope others can see the love and story-filled past it once knew; see how it seems to wait for the restarting of its life again. Maybe it’s usefulness as a home is now over. Only time will tell.-June Mohan
Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2005) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com

NOT TO BE MISSED: Battle of the Bands NOT TO BE MISSED: Battle of the Bands

Poster design by Stephen Alcorn

Fabulous music, dancing and supporting Hubbard Hall...what's not to like?

Join us this Saturday night...

Views From The Hil 11 Views From The Hil 11

Cartoonist Hilary Allison adores your comments and can also be reached at mailto:hilaryallison@activist.cc.

Cambridge Life 1/8/08 Cambridge Life 1/8/08

It's winter and I don't get out that much, but last Friday I saw the inauguration of the Beacon Feed Studio at Hubbard Hall as a performance/presentation space. Local artists John Carlson, Kerri Countryman, Gabi Moore, John Oakley, mother and daughter Gail and Katy Schonbeck and Saratoga Springs resident Roger Wyatt presented their work in two public performances. Both nights had full audiences and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was a fabulous break from all the snow shoveling.

After the event, Janet McGhee, conductor of the Battenkill Chorale, hosted an after party. It was great to "get down" with my neighbors.I can't remember the last time I partied 'til dawn (well 2 am anyway). It was just what I needed in the middle of winter.

We in Cambridge, NY never let a good time pass us by and any excuse to dance is welcome. In fact, you can dance the night away this Saturday at Hubbard Hall's Battle of the Bands. Come out and vote for your favorite dancing music.

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

Something New

This photograph is not what it seems. It is not a vase filled with water and greens. It is a composite artwork made from obscure portions of photographs of trees.

Often, when I am perusing my stock of photographs I come across some nondescript shot which many would throw away, but speaks to me of it’s potential. I find myself suddenly pulled by the tender tendril of possibility within it which, until that moment. had been lost or hidden, yet was always on-duty crying out for the attention of my imagination to recognize it’s potency for new life. Swept up in discovery and creation something fascinating, lovely, meaningful in it’s own substance comes forth, usually unrecognizable from the parent photo. I saw crystal and water in a tree branch and it grew into this photograph.

The beginning of each new year reminds me very much of these photos I create. Every year (but actually every day) we awake with the opportunity to begin again; to take that in our lives which is common or even ruined and give it a whole new life, make it a new creation.

It is similar to making lemonade out of the lemons we are handed, but more so. Even the lemons have obvious beauty and use as we receive them.

No, I am talking about those things in our lives which seem to be laid to waste or are ugly beyond redemption, or seeming useless. These things which lay on our psychological and physical doorsteps every morning, like the daily newspaper. If we can approach them from a less fearful, defeated or hopeless mind-set, see them in a non-threatening manner, in the reality of their own actual absurd weakness, we can boldly let them touch our inner levels of resourcefulness. Then we can ask ourselves what in this “photo” is alive, real, capable of erupting into new being, with imaginative and willing guidance and attention.

I believe there is a potential for good to evolve from anything bad in life, but it has to be sought out and dealt with at the correct time. I knew the original photos from which this vase of greens were created were unglamorous, useless in themselves, but I knew the time would come when they would become a new creation, an “Ah!” from something, “Eew, ouch!”

With this new year I pray we will all be able to find the usefulness of, and even create beauty from, those things which we and others might have deemed useless or ruined in our lives.

To quote my scientific friends: energy (and therefore matter) can not be destroyed but it can be put into a new order - good or bad. I’ve seen this practiced daily by someone close in my life. So, here’s to positive creation for all of us! God bless us in our new year, our new today. --June Mohan
Photos: (Copyright Mohan 2007) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com.

Cambridge Cooks: Chicken Burritos Cambridge Cooks: Chicken Burritos

Photos: Debra Pearlman

New Year, new recipes to delight your taste buds.

To share your favorite recipe email me at debra@pearlproductionsllc.com


Chicken Burritos

What you need:

2 Tbls. butter
3/4 cup large onion, diced
1 lb. chicken meat, cubed
1-1 1/4 cups salsa
Tortillas
8 oz. Jack Cheese (more if you like it cheesy)

What you Do:

Saute onions in butter until translucent (approx. 6 minutes)
Add chicken & cook additional 6 minutes
Add salsa, cover and summer for 8 minutes

Spoon mixture into tortilla and top with cheese
Roll-up, you may leave ends open
Align rolls in a greased baking dish (close together)

Top burittos with more grated cheese

Bake @ 350 degrees until cheese melts.

Serve with salsa, sour cream, chives

Depending on how full you make your burritos, you should get 6-8 burritos

You can spice things up b y adding fresh diced chili's such as Serrano or Hablano

These freeze really well too.

The Door The Door

At this time of year, I always re-read Robert Creeley's poem The Door:

    Hard to begin
    always again and again,

    open that door
    on yet another year

    faces two ways
    but goes only one.

    Promises, promises...
    What stays true to us

    or to the other
    here waits for us.

To all the CambridgeBuzz blog readers, I hope the door opens on a happy, healthy, and productive year!


Photograph by Hilary McLellan

The FieldWork Group Show- Oakley & Countryman The FieldWork Group Show- Oakley & Countryman

Come, enjoy the free art show featuring, The Fieldwork Group at the Beacon Feed Studios behind Hubbard Hall on Thursday and Friday at 7:30, January 3rd and 4th 2008! Don't miss the Premier of John Oakley's new film, "To Russia with Love," Kerri Countryman's new dance piece, Untitled, as well as, drawings, photography, and performance art!

Here is more information about one of the artists you will meet during the show, and what they have to say about their work.


Janet McGhee conducts the Battenkill Chorale 2007 (Photo: John Oakley)

John Oakley - Filmmaker

John Oakley is a retired architect with a growing love of the visual world and music. Having retired several years ago he enjoys more time for photography, videography, travel and music among other things. John is documenting the activities of the Battenkill Chorale including the Chorale's adventuresome tour of Russia planned for the summer of 2008.


(Photo by Nikolai Rakhmanov)

"To Russia with Love, is a fifteen minute video about the Chorale's plans, hopes and dreams to sing in Moscow, St. Petersburgh, and Yarolslavl in June. The upcoming trip has been a dream of the Chorale's Artistic Director, Janet McGhee, since she founded the Chorale thirteen years ago. Janet took choruses from Boston to Russia four times in the 1980's. She is excited to finally take members of her Battenkill Chorale to Russia." --John Oakley


Janet McGhee on tour in Russia 1980's


Kerri Countryman - Choreographer



"I'm interested in the human body's relationship and/or reaction to space, music, rhythm and emotion."

"As I explore movement as a sensory experience, I strive for authenticity and an understanding of what brings us together and what separates us as human beings."

Views From The Hil 10 Views From The Hil 10

Visit Chasing Silver, (with good intentions!)
Wanna Fence? Sign up for a Class at Hubbard Hall.

Cartoonist Hilary Allison adores your comments and can also be reached at mailto:hilaryallison@activist.cc.

The FieldWork Group Show- Wyatt, Moore & Carlson The FieldWork Group Show- Wyatt, Moore & Carlson

Beat the winter blues, come to one of the art and performance evenings featuring The Fieldwork Group at the Beacon Feed Studios behind Hubbard Hall on Thursday and Friday at 7:30, January 3rd and 4th 2008!

Here is more information about some of the artists you will meet during the show, and what they have to say about their work.

Roger B. Wyatt- Photography

"He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." It’s the first sentence of Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche.
It seems to describe Roger Wyatt well.


Roger B. Wyatt is an interdisciplinary border crosser who examines questions regarding relationships between technology and culture, digital cinema, aesthetics, and history. His work often explores these themes, creating images based on them through meditations on the nature of virtual light. His work is influenced by Marshall McLuhan, Brian Eno, Duane Michals, Richard Lester, Ferdnand Braudel, and others.

Roger has an MFA in filmmaking from Columbia University and a doctorate in Information Technology from Teacher's College. He is a filmmaker, media artist, and information scientist.

Wyatt has been involved with filmmaking and digital media for over 20 years and co-authored the book, Photo Provocations. Roger produced the documentation of the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and has written extensively for Videomaker, Smart TV, and other publications. He produces streaming media, develops and implements virtual events, classes and workshops online for international audiences.

His degrees, B.A., M.F.A., and Ed.D, were earned at Columbia University.

Currently a partner in McLellan Wyatt Digital, a new media consulting firm, digital artist Roger Wyatt served for many years as Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Management of Emporia State University, Emporia, KS..


(From photo montage by: Roger Wyatt 2007)

“Existence is simultaneous. Linearity an illusion. Life engages on many levels all at once. Each image a glance - shards of a world in motion. There is no turn-taking. The images present themselves with an all at oneness. They are a field of meaning, not chapters in a narrative. Meaning lies in a resonating interval within the interaction between image and image and the viewer's gaze. Structure emerges out of self-organization, not by command. Chess mirrors a world of illusion. There is no board, all pieces are in motion at once. It has been said that beauty is a response to complexity. Good then that its found in the eye of the beholder. Look out and seek it where you can. Respond to complexity with your own beauty.” Roger Wyatt, 2008.

Roger can be reached at (518) 584-8907 or at rbwyatt39@yahoo.com.

Gabi Moore- Drawings and Watercolors

Gabi Moore lives with her family in Cambridge. Besides working in her studio, she has taught at Fordham University and students at several other venues including Hubbard Hall's Beacon Feed Studio. She also coaches a painter with Down's Syndrome who is currently preparing for his second show in Mount Kisco, New York.


Drawing by Gabi Moore

"I watch people. I remember the small gestures-the unconscious ones people make as they move from thought to action. I observe the expressiveness of the positions people take in relation to each other and to the space around them. I make images, which explore the inner lives of people made evident through body language, movements, and location in the scene."

"I work in traditional media. I often choose smaller formats in order to maintain a distance between the viewer and the scenes within the frame. When I work in large formats, the view of the figures is often cropped, so that the complete figure is not only unseen, but also only partly understood. My paintings convey the familiarity people have with other people while being simultaneously strangers."


Drawing by Gabi Moore

John Carlson- Photography and Film

John studied photography and film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He has been a photographer, independent producer, director, cameraman, and editor, working on educational and promotional films and videotaped productions since the late 1970’s.



He makes his home with his wife Katy and family in Cambridge where he owns and operates General Films, a film and video production company. He is also one of the originators of this blog.

He is showing a series of photographs (crossing over), as well as photo sculptures from a larger installation piece he and Katy Schonbeck are collaborating on entitled, "Weighted Words."


Photograph by John Carlson

"The images for "emergence: crossing over" were produced while I was working on a film with performance artist Katy Schonbeck, about chaos theory and how it relates to the love and loss of her father, Bennington College icon, Gunnar Schonbeck . The cinematic nature of the individual still photographs inspired me to mount them in context to one another, making the structure of the wall become “filmstrip like” as the images float in a single straight line depicting the movement of a life towards its final fiery finish."

Tomorrow we will be highlighting Filmmaker John Oakley and Choreographer / Performer, Kerri Countryman!

Wishing all our readers a wonderful 2008