Opium

I'm a finalist for Opium Magazine's 500 word or less memoir contest. My piece is called High Life. You can guess that this is a double entendre. It has the beer High Life in it, which I drink regularly.

Here's all the finalists:


From 26 to 32, the Only Years that Matter by Sean Beaudoin
Total Care by Kathline Carr
The Question of Spoons by Rebecca Collins
Lamb Brain by Kate Duva
High Life by Jamie Iredell
Sacred Bodies by Davin Malasarn
Farewell Bend by Nathaniel Missildine
Crossing Styx by Peter Gajdics
Nothing But The Truth by Geoff Kronik
Fifty-Eight Years Later by Helen Phillips
Thief by F.S. Symons
Family Stew by Sean Toner
Dale by Rob Tourtelot
A Merry Sort of Life by Jim Windolf
Creatures by Rachel Yoder


Here's how I make this kick-ass Indian lamb curry:

1.5-2 lbs bone-in lamb shanks
2 cloves garlic, minced
.25 cup flour
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 tbl veg oil, or ghee
1 onion, finely chopped
tsp turmeric
tsp cardamom
tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp salt (divided)
1.5 tsp black pepper (divided)
tsp cumin
1 tsp mint leaves, minced (or a drop of peppermint extract)
1 inch stick of cinamon
pinch saffron (I use Turkish powdered saffron)
.75 cup fat free sour cream (or fat free greek yogurt)
About 6 whole green cardamoms
About 6 whole cloves
1 black cardamom
.25 cup golden raisins
a little bit of water

I get these bone-in shanks because that's all they sell at the Publix that's within walking-distance. But I think the meat being so close to the bone is partly what makes it so tender.

Heat the oil in a skillet or a wok, and add the garlic. You can use more than one tablespoon for a richer taste and texture, but if you're watching fat calories, then tone it down a bit. Cook it until it's just browning. Meantime, mix the flour with .25 tsp each of salt and pepper. Dredge the bone-in lamb shanks in the flour then add them to the pan. You want to sear the meat, sealing in the juices (about three minutes on each side). After searing, remove the shanks from the pan and set them aside to cool.

I made this one night while Dockins and I were drinking and literature talk was dripping from our longues like the gravy from this recipe, once we'd finished it, that is. Sarah came home and when we ate she all like, oh goddamn, babe, that is good. I remember soaking up everything with bread and cleaning the plate, and Dockins tossed his napkin on his and pushed back and drank from his Pabst.

Add the onion to the pan and cook until it's just getting translucent, then add all the spices, down to the saffron, and stir so that the spices coat all the onion.

While the spiced onions cook, the lamb should've cooled enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones and cut into one-inch chunks, then add them to the pan, stirring to coat the meat with the onion-spice mixture. Add the sour cream (or yogurt). I use the sour cream because when it cooks it comes out smooth and creamy, while the yogurt will curdle a little bit, breaking into tiny dots. The taste is the same; it's just about texture. A purist would probably give me a bunch of shit for not using yogurt, but oh well.

After mixing the meat and sour cream or yogurt up with everything else, let the mixture come to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occassionally to keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. During this time you'll probably add the little bit of water to keep the mixture as a thick fluid, and to keep it from sticking. The texture should be that of a thick soup, maybe a little more watery.

Add the whole spices (green and black caradamom, cloves) and the raisins, ans stir them in. Increase the heat to reduce the mixture so that it resembles a thick goulash, or stew.

If you like your food really hot (like me), but other people don't, you can cut up, very finely, a habanero pepper (without seeds) and add it to your own serving, mixing it in.

Serve this with rice or naan.

I swear to god, I know how to Indian food from recipes, but I just made this one up one night when I was drinking with Dockins, and it was awesome. It's not wholly original or anything; many Indian recipes use the same ingredients.