Garlic eggplants, Indian curry

A year ago, beer bike with alumni was heated with familiar faces and nostalgia. Perhaps the novelty of being just-graduated and the feeling of still-an-undergrad had faded, but the beer bike festivities this year didn't ring as loudly as it once did. It could also be chronic fatigue of waking up at 4AM. Or the faces that weren't there. In summary, I'm getting old. Ha!

After finishing my rotation at Congenital Heart Surgery -- which was badass by the way -- I dropped $50 at Trader Joe's by buying Clif bars. They are soo goood. And they help me get through a good 4 hours before my tummy starts to grumble again.

Some new and old ventures captured a la Samsung Galaxy:

The perks of working at a children's hospital: free bunn-ays! 

 Killer benedicts at Le Peep

It's been a while that I've posted a recipe, so I'm going to post two that I've been digging recently, withstanding the lackluster phone pics.

Restaurant-style Garlic Eggplant (no-frying)
So this is something I always order at a Chinese restaurant simply because it is delicious and I could never recreate it despite its simplicity. But I got close, and I hope you enjoy it with me :)
Estimated time: 15 min.

Ingredients
1. 2 Japanese eggplants, cut into 2 inch pieces
2. 2 tbsp soy sauce
3. 2 tbsp sugar
4. Vinegar or rice vinegar
5. 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
6. Cornstarch, 1 tbsp
7. Chicken stock, 1 cup

Instructions
1. Steam the eggplants. If you don't have a steamer, heat a skillet/wok to medium-high, add the eggplant and about 1/2 cup water. Cover it with a lid and let it steam for 5 min-8 min. Turn occasionally to prevent burning. Set them aside.
2. In a wok heated to medium, add oil and minced garlic. Let it sizzle for 1-2 min. The point here is to not let the garlic burn, so turn down the heat if you have to.
3. Add eggplants. Stir.
4. In a bowl, prepare the sauce. chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, cornstach and a dash of vinegar. I don't like mine too tangy, so I usually put just a dollop..Stir, stir, stir and add to the eggplants
5. Stir until the color darkens and the sauce congeals.

Garnish with green onions.

---

Chicken curry
I didn't follow any particular recipe, and I didn't seek out any particular brand of curry. How can curry go wrong? The yellow curry powder I used was located at my local Chinese grocer as "Indian Curry Powder". I checked the ingredients to make sure it was all spices and no MSG or artificial flavors.

Ingredients
1. Coconut milk, 2 cups (mine's from Trader Joe's and it is thinner, so I used 2 cups)
2. Greek yogurt, 1 serving cup
3. 1 chicken breast
4. Potatoes, cubed
5. Carrots, cubed
6. 1 red onion
7. 3 gloves of garlic
8. Soy sauce, sugar, white/black pepper powder
9. Indian curry powder
10. Lime (optional)

Instructions
1. Marinate the chicken with: 1 tbsp of soysauce and sugar, a dash of white and black pepper, juice of 1 lime, and some oil.
2. In a medium-heated wok, add oil to stir-fry red onions and garlic until onions become translucent.
3. Add the chicken, cook through.
4. Add 1-2 tbsp of curry powder. Mix well.
5. Add the coconut milk and 1 serving of greek yogurt. Stir, stir. Thin it out with water or chicken stock to your liking.
6. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover lid, and let it simmer until soft.
7. Salt to taste.