Meal and a Movie: Bridget Jones's Diary

Photo credit: www.imbd.com

I wear my love of all things chick lit like a badge of honor, not a shameful scarlet letter. Bridget and I go way back. In the beginning, before she became a cinema darling, we had so much in common that it was impossible not to befriend her. We were both singletons in our thirties, desperately watching the scale, partying with friends, struggling to find a suitable career away from dead end desk jobs in the clerical ghetto (truth be told Bridget escaped her desk ghetto and I am still working on it), and if I had a euro for every Daniel Cleaver I dated...

Bridget faced her troubles with a terrific sense of humour and a bit of gumption. She became... well not really my role model but certainly someone I identified with. Bridget Jones (not Oprah as is commonly believed) is Every Woman. Bridget and Mark gave me perhaps the most important holiday gift of all: to like myself, just as I am.

My Mark Darcy appeared not in a reindeer jumpsuit, but in enormous glasses from a different decade (which he still wears on occasion). He is not a top barrister, instead thrills me with tales from his teacher's pulpit. Best, my Mark Darcy sits beside me every Christmas and abides another airing of Bridget Jones's Diary.

Tonight we'll watch again as Bridget painfully rises from her mistakes to finally succeed. We'll raise our cups to her and fancy a hot plate of Turkey Curry, a few gherkins (on toothpicks - the height of sophistication), hard boiled eggs, and the appropriate libation (I choose vodka. And Chaka Khan.). No blue soup, but the mango curry is slightly similar to orange marmalade. Afterwards we might go play around in the paddling pool.

This recipe for curry reminds me of the curry houses in Japan, where customers select a protein and it is ladled over lots of white rice with a rich gravy of sweet curry.

Obligatory Recipe Acknowledgement: my butcher was out of turkey breast and we had to substitute two large chicken breasts.

Turkey Curry
Serves 6
Olive oil
1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 thumb-sized bit of ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon red chili paste
2 tablespoons sweet curry powder (I used Penzey's)
2 cups chicken broth
1 - 14 ounce can coconut milk
3 to 4 cups cooked turkey, shredded
1 teaspoon cayenne

Heat large pan over medium high and add a tablespoon or two of oil. Saute onion, pepper, and ginger until vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic, paste, and powder; cook additional 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer; reduce about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add coconut milk and continue simmering additional 10 minutes. Add turkey and heat thoroughly. Add cayenne and adjust seasonings.

Serve over white rice with cilantro, jalapeno, lime, chutney, avocado, tzaziki, and naan.