We actually got to share

Had a couple friends, Phillip and Kristina, over tonight to share with. Went with some of the more tried and true recipes.
The menu:
-Hot curry sweet potato soup (slight tweek on the original)
-Black-eyed pea fritters
-Chicken in tomato sauce with honey and cinnamon (supposed to have almonds also but we ran out)
-basmati rice with fennel and caraway seeds
-tossed salad
Dessert:
-The snake or, M'Hanncha (it's Moroccan)

synopsis:
The snake is my new favorite dessert. You grind up some almonds. Fry up some more with butter. Grind those and add it to the others with more butter and a bunch of sugar to make a paste and chill. Then wrap the whole thing up in filo dough and link the tubes end to end to form a spiral. Brush some egg yolk over it and bake for 30 min at 350 F. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Most delicious thing ever. I might actually spend more time talking about recipes if people start reading this blog. I don't see it happening, but if anyone is interested in AMAZING recipes, just ask.
And by the way, Phillip and Kristina loved my sweet potato curry soup so, screw you Jake!

The Recipes

Hot Curry Sweet Potato Soup:
The recipe is the exact same as the Sweet potato curry soup from the 1st post. I actually made them at the same time cause I wasn't sure how it would turn out and wanted to try a slightly different version. I'm still not sure if I like one more than the other.
Basically, skip the step (it's noted in the recipe) where you add the spices. Nix the yellow curry, allspice, ginger, and garam masala. Instead, add some thai red curry paste to the onion/carrot mixture in the pot and fry for ~1 minute. The amount depends on how much heat you want. Somewhere in the ballpark of a tbsp should be good.
Add the potato/pepper mixture from the baking pan and fry for a couple minutes to mix the flavors.
This time, when you blend it, use coconut milk as your liquid. For 3 good sized potatoes I would probably only use 1/2 a can of coconut milk so as not to overpower the flavor. You may need to add vegetable stock or water to reach desired consistency. Do what you like.
Return to pot. Simmer. Season. Taste. Eat. Like.

Black-eyed pea fritters:
So it's midnight and I just typed this recipe up and the website crashed and lost my entry. Here we go again minus the hilarious and charming banter you love this blog for. damnit.
In short, these things are really way tastier than you would expect them to be.

You need:
~2 cups DRY black-eyed peas (canned ones are too wet and come apart when you fry them)
1 small-med onion (white/yellow, NOT red)
1 chili pepper (red or a small habanero works) optional
a little salt

Soak the peas overnight. Place in a large bowl with water and run your hands through them to separate the skins. Discard the skins as they float to the top.
Drain and place the peas in a food processor with the onion and pepper. Process until fine and able to form a paste. You may need to add a little water, not more than a tbsp or 2.
Add salt to the mixture and stir.
Heat frying oil (I use Canola) to ~ medium heat.
Fry spoonfuls of the mixture til golden-brown, ~5 minutes.
Let cool, then eat. They're hot!

Basmati Rice:
You need:
1 cup basmati rice
1 medium white/yello onion (chopped)
1-2 tsp caraway seeds
pinch of ground fennel
1 bay leaf

Fry up the onion in olive oil til translucent. Add the caraway seeds and bay leaf and fry ~30 seconds.
Add the ground fennel and fry for ~30 seconds.
Add the rice and stir fry, stirring constantly to keep from sticking, for about 2 minutes. This helps cook the flavor into the rice.
Add ~1.5 cups water and bring to a boil. You may want to add a little salt here.
Reduce heat to low and cover.
Simmer til done. This will depend on the type of rice and if you pay attention to the time. Mine is usually done in about 20 minutes.