Commute: Impossible

There were days in Buffalo where I would sit in the traffic of the 290, cursing my need for a car and wishing to return to the days of public transportation. Then I experience days like today, and I have no idea why I ever thought that way. Something must have occurred to back up the E train, because as I descended to the Queens-bound trains, I became a mere wave in a sea of people. As two D trains came and went, one E train came by packed to the gills. I decided to skip it and somehow found a niche in the next train that wasn't terrible. Each stop brought more passengers, making me considerably more irritable each time the train halted to a stop. Thank god for iPods loaded with time-sucking games.

I have two options once I get to my subway stop; I can either take a bus that drops me off pretty much in front of my building, or I can walk. The bus lines today (due to whatever the back up was) were atrocious. And so I walked. I always start out thinking, "Yeah! This isn't so bad! Hooray exercise!" And then I remember I'm wearing high heel boots and my feet start to scream. After finally making it to my apartment door, the last thing I wanted to do was cook. There was even a take out menu slipped under my door tempting me to order in.

And then my thrifty side kicked in and pointed my attention to my fully stocked fridge. Unfortunately what I was craving wasn't really doable, but I somehow made it work...

The above Chicken Marsala contains neither chicken, nor Marsala, discuss. That's right, I wanted one of my go-to orders at Italian restaurants, but I didn't defrost any chicken before leaving for work, and I didn't have any Marsala wine. Much like I did in my college kitchen, I made due.

I started by sauteing sliced mushrooms in some olive oil. Now that I've managed to get my garlic burning problem under control, I have a new one to fix. I always heat the oil too much. After the mushrooms cooled the pan, it heated up and again and started spitting like crazy, which will mean more cleaning for me later. Awesome. I cooked the mushrooms till then became golden and lost their moisture, then added some salt and pepper.

Next came my Marsala substitute: Merlot. I did some research online beforehand to make sure I wasn't committing some sort of heresy in making such a switch, and I guess it's fine! I boiled out the alcohol then added some chicken stock, letting it all reduce at a simmer. Last came the butter, which I melted into the sauce.

The sauce was poured over a plate of pasta, and topped with some cheese and parsley. Though it wasn't a dead ringer for Marsala sauce, I still enjoyed it. I could've used something to make it stick to the pasta a bit more (perhaps a thickening agent) or you know, a piece of chicken to absorb it....

We'll consider this one to improve for the future :)

One last musing: I've decided I could easily write and episode of Restaurant: Impossible without having an actual restaurant to discuss. Every episode is the same, and I still can't stop watching it (unless I see a restaurant on there that I've been to, then I'll be done). Robert finds restaurant, tears owners and employees and new one, clears out entire restaurant, cleans filthy kitchen, day one over. Day two starts, designers have not (and never will) done enough to appease Robert, the "we are NOT going to finish on time" moment, the miraculous finish, restaurant opens, everyone loves it.

That is all, enjoy your night!