Another 5 Second Post: What I'm Digging On (Presently)

1. Podcasts.

Yup! I'm a talk radio listener. Most of my travel time (car/train/shuttle/walking) is spent on the following: The Nerdist, WTF with Marc Maron, RadioLab, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff Mom Never Told You, the Dinner Party Download, the Pop Culture Happy Hour, How to Do Everything - and of course, NPR staples Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! and This American Life.

BHE and I even had a chance to meet one of our podcast heroes, Mr. Ira Glass. (Apparently, he's originally from Baltimore and came down for a fundraising/speaking gig.)

2. Music.

I don't know about you, but I'm winning Grammy's in my car. In my head anyway. The following are the artists whose work I'm currently butchering while on I95 or 83S...

Adele. (LURVE her! And finally got to see her perform in DC. Good show! Made a bunch of new friends, too.)

April Smith and the Great Picture Show.

 

Fitz and the Tantrums. 

And, of course, The Outdoors.

3. Summer Weddings/Travel

We've had 2 weddings and at least one drive South so far with another 3 weddings upcoming. There are also a few more trips to Chicago, Pittsburgh, and a few locations yet to be determined. 

Now, I won't sugar coat - driving is a pain in the ass. There's only so much of interstate you can admire while your crawling along in traffic while trying to get your dog to just SIT DOWN QUIETLY ALREADY. If you have any upcoming travels I suggest grabbing a copy of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for the drive. It's surprisingly entertaining if you like your drama on the Neil Gaiman side of things. 

Still, the destination is almost always worth it. BHE gets to pal around with some of his buddies from back in the Cub Scout days, which is always worth the mileage. 

At the most recent wedding, these two came back to the hotel with 3 cases of alcohol for us to take home. Craziness...

Summer travel also includes trips to ball games. And while televised baseball is often neck and neck with C-SPAN in terms of entertainment value, nothing encompasses the season like a day at the ball park.

I still can't stand the Phillies, though. 

On one last note, if you're in the B'more area and are looking for a quick thrill this fall, might I recommend the Run for Your Lives 5K in October? It's basically an obstacle course where you dodge "actual" zombies. I haven't made up my mind about it just yet (I may just volunteer instead), but who wouldn't want to take part in an event where the FAQs include questions like:

WILL THE ZOMBIES BE CHASING ME SLOWLY OR QUICKLY? ARE THEY THE WALKING DEAD, OR THE RUNNING DEAD?

If we told you every detail, this wouldn't be fun at all. Our best advice: be prepared to run, duck, dive, and dodge.

I HAVE TRAINED MY DOG/CAT/BIRD/YOUNG CHILD TO DEFEND ME IN CASE OF A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, CAN THEY RACE WITH ME?

No. Only registered participants meeting the age requirements will be allowed to navigate the course. Please do not bring any pets to race or to party; they will be eaten by zombies.

WHAT WILL I WALK AWAY WITH?

• Warwear performance tee
• Racing bib (we know you always wanted one)
• Medals to signify your survival (or zombie transformation)
• Admittance to the Apocalypse Party
• Advanced training for the actual Zombie Apocalypse
• One less appendage

AWESOME.

The Warrior Dash (or, Would you like mud with your run?)

So last Saturday I womaned-up and made the 2hr trek to the Eastern Shore to take place in the 2011 Maryland Warrior Dash.

The Dash is essentially a 5K bred with a butt-busting obstacle course. The result is 3.1 miles of organized chaos. Mud and fire are main components of the course. You have to agree to things on the consent form like:

• I understand that the Warrior Dash is a hazardous activity.


• I assume the risk of wild animals and insects that may be present on the course.


• I understand the Dash presents extreme obstacles including, but not limited to fire, mud pits, cargo climbs, junk cars, and steep hills.

So, of course, I talked about 4 of my friends into it- Two of whom I missed on the course entirely (Lauren, Muffie - I'll see you in Frederick!) and another who wasn't spotted until the post-race hose off and was greeted with a big muddy bear hug.

I spent the race with my buddy, Carla, who graciously walked the course with me after I gave my ankle a slight turn coming down from the hay bale tower. Which was fine, really, since it took the focus off the mud-covered gash on my leg (which happened either during the wooded trail run or during the wall climb).

The mud itself came courtesy of the course designers and Mother Nature, who poured inches of rain on the area in the days leading up to the race. This made the trail run portion of the course a little more interesting since (1) the mud was deep enough that a few people (myself included) lost shoes on the course, and (2) given the smell of the mud, which we had to crawl through for one the obstacles, I'm pretty sure there were considerably less pleasant things than dirt and water in the mix. The rain also flooded parts of the trail, eliciting "Parkour!" proclamations while runners tried to bob and weave through the woods.

Still, I had a great time! And while it looks like I'm the only one out of my friends who would run it again, I'm sure we can all agree that with the free beer and crazy Flintstones Order of the Water Buffalo-like hat it was totally worth it.

I managed to snag pics of some of the course obstacles:

Damn hay bale tower. It looks so innocuous, but hay is deceptively tall. I turned my ankle a bit when I jumped down the second half.

The scene post-race. The inflatable warrior hat tent housed race results. Beer and giant turkey legs were available in the back.

Ah, the rope tower. This one wasn't too bad, really!

The super slide. I was really looking forward to this until I started down and realized the rock pile underneath the plastic basically made the thing into giant cheese grater and my ass was cheddar. I lost a bit of my hand trying to slow down.


The warning before the last obstacle.

The final obstacle: The mud pit! It was actually quite cozy and didn't smell as bad as the mud on the wooded trail.

The fire hurdle!

A (slightly less than legal) screenshot of my taking down the fire hurdle!

This is how you clean up post-race. Volunteers hose you down with freezing cold water.

A happy camper.

See you in 2012?

Here's hoping you all have a kick-butt holiday weekend! I'll be driving down to South Carolina with BHE and Donald to attend a family wedding and to work on my tan poolside. Until next time, Enjoy!

Title FAIL

An interesting if somewhat (very) poorly titled piece on marathon running posted by NPR today.

Just because more people complete them doesn't make them less special. That's like saying too many college grads deems the value of a university degree...

To recap:

Cramming an a super-sized fried fast food fest into your gob in one setting: COMMON

Managing to complete 26.2 miles in a single outing: DECIDEDLY UNCOMMON SUPER-ACHIEVEMENT

The text of the article is included below. What's your take on the matter?

Marathons, Once Special, Are Now Crowded

by ASMA KHALID

April 15, 2011

The Boston Marathon requires participants to qualify in order to enter — a barrier that once kept the nation's oldest and most elite marathon from filling up. But this year, spots in the race were gone in just over 8 hours.

So, what has changed?

Across the country, a record number of Americans are running marathons. And that popularity is actually a bit of a pain for the sport.

Legend has it that the Greek messenger Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens — and then collapsed and died. That was the original marathon. But what was once an act of rare heroism is now sort of common.

At 25, Rachel Couchenour is training for her first marathon — the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn.

"I only started running a little over a year ago," she says. "I couldn't even run for, like, 5 minutes straight."

After a sorority sister was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Couchenour decided to join the charity running group Team in Training. The organization raises money for leukemia and lymphoma research.

On a recent day, Couchenour is running 20 miles — the longest distance she'll run before the marathon itself.

"I feel like the last six will be mainly mental," she says. "I'm like, what's another hour of running after this? Can't be too bad, right?"

Explosive Growth In Running Marathons

The belief that anyone can run a marathon is a mantra in running circles. And it seems that almost everyone is.

Last year, more than a half-million Americans ran marathons — an all-time record. And that's partly because of groups like Team in Training.

"These training programs are the pipeline for this growth," says Ryan Lampa of the research group Running USA.

"They can take that new runner from unfit to finish a marathon in 3 to 6 months," he says. "They opened up the sport to mainstream America."

Couchenour knows that firsthand. As she crosses the chalk finish line on her training run, she is rewarded with purple Mardi Gras beads and chicken nuggets.

"There's no way I could have ever done this on my own," she says. "I wouldn't know about fueling myself during runs, I wouldn't know about any of that, or pacing. I feel like I would have just been going out blind."

And without that help, Couchenour says, she probably would not make it to the finish line.

In addition to the record number of runners these days, there are a record number of marathon races — more than 625 last year alone.

Take the Country Music Marathon Couchenour is running. The race features live local bands at every mile, and themed water stations.

And as more novices like Couchenour start running, "They are drawn to go out and see how fast they can go," says Tom Grilk, who heads the Boston Athletic Association. The group hosts the annual Boston Marathon.

"Then, people get more excited about how fast they're going, and that's when you see them start aiming to qualify for Boston, as a kind of badge of accomplishment within the sport."

Boston is the pinnacle of all marathons.

Ben Beach is running his 44th consecutive Boston Marathon. When he first started running Boston, no women ran in the race. He says he was one of perhaps 1,000 runners — all men. Now, more than 40 percent of the marathon's participants are women.

Beach says he thinks the current marathon mania is healthy — a sign that more people are thinking about fitness.

And while the folks who host the Boston Marathon are also happy that more people are running, they worry that as mainstream American joins the race, amateurs will dilute Boston's prestige — especially if the fastest runners are locked out because they miss the sign-up.

So, new rules are on the way: Starting next year, the folks with the fastest times can sign up first. That means not everyone who technically qualifies for Boston will get to run. There are just too many marathon runners.

5-Second Post

Laziness, you are my #1 enemy!

I swear, I've been meaning to blog. Really! But life activities and a general refusal to go near a computer after work hours has lent itself to some record slacker blogging.

And now, I'm about to run out of the office (again) in order to tend to some pre-conference activities, which means I STILL don't have time to do a proper entry.

So I'm doing a 5-second recap instead:

(1) Good Idea/Bad Idea: Banana Bread Beer Taste Test Results
In short, it tastes like banana. Not banana BREAD, mind you, but there's a definite banana flavor. Granted, it's nothing you couldn't likely replicate with a shot of 99 Bananas, but given that 99B and I had a very, very, very bad break up following late night while at university, I can't say I recommend attempting it.

(2) Racing Fool
I'm registered to date for the Maryland Warrior Dash (May), the Baltimore Half-Marathon (October), and the Walt Disney World Marathon (January 2012). I had originally planned to run the 2012 Goofy (a half marathon followed the next day by a full marathon through the park), but BHE politely asked that I reconsider. Actually, he said that he didn't want me to die, which I think was a tad melodramatic, but it's hard him down when he begs - he has puppy eyes. Anyway, I need a new training program and mileage tracker, so if you have any suggestions by all means send them my way! I'll make you a cookie if you do :)

(3) Twitterfied
A good friend and I were exchanges stories about married life when we decided that we ought to share (and give others a chance to share) those special moments where it's all you can do to not slap your partner/spouse/loved one. The result is My Ball and Chain. Head on over and feel free to share your story there, in person or anonymously.

Ok, that's longer than 5 seconds. I do have a recipe or two to post, including a tofu dish my sisters and I undertook during a 2 1/2 day cleaning spree in South Carolina.

But that will have to wait until I've finished with my 3 day conference on population research in DC. Try not to be jealous.

For now, I'll leave you with my 2 current musical obsessions: Adele, who I'll be seeing live next month (oh hells yeah!) and Fitz & the Tantrums, whose album I still need to get but I've been wearing out their Facebook site something awful.






Enjoy!

A New Year/A New Touch of Crazy

The next one's in 2012. Who's game??

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge

Saturday, January 8, 2011 and Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sign up for Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge with 7500 of your closest friends!

Are you looking for the ultimate test of endurance? Then compete in Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge where you will run the Half Marathon on Saturday and then the Marathon on Sunday. If you finish both races in the time limit you will be awarded the coveted Goofy medal.

You must register for Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge to receive the Goofy medal upon completion of both races within the pacing requirements.

Each participant's $310 registration in Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge will include:

• Race Registration for both the Half Marathon and Marathon
• Official Race Handbook
• Commemorative Champion® Race Tech Shirt for Marathon, Half Marathon and Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge
• Goody Bag
• Disney's Health & Fitness Expo including our world-class Speaker Series
• Event Weekend Transportation for ALL WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort Hotels
• Special Goofy Personalized Bibs (Register by 11/1/10)
• On Course Refreshments
• On Course Disney Entertainment
• Post-Race Refreshments
• Family Reunion Area with live entertainment and characters
• Post-Race web site with direct access to your race photos, results and custom finisher certificate
• All runners who complete both the Half Marathon and Marathon will receive the special Goofy medal in addition to the Mickey and Donald medals from the individual events!
• Disney magic you won't find anywhere else!

**Dates, times and prices subject to change. All races are subject to capacity limits and may close at any time.**

SQUEE!!!

Corn Maze & Relay Success: Asian-Style Carb Loading and Earl Grey Tea Cookies

This past weekend saw Baltimore host its 10th Running Festival, an annual event that tests the skills of some of the world's top athletes as well as the patience of drivers and local residents trying to navigate around various closed sections of the city.

Last year, I had the "pleasure" of taking part in the half-marathon. Having taken a prolonged break from running since January's marathon, I opted to take it down a notch and run the anchor leg of the team relay - a mere 7.3 miles.

Now, those of you who have seen me know that I am a notoriously slow runner, but I somehow managed to finish in a decent time frame, averaging 12minutes a mile - probably due to the fact that I managed to finish uninjured this year. The only draw back was that I had to take the Light Rail - which was CRAMMED with loads of fellow, stinky, sweaty racers - to the nearest stop to my house. Which is added another mile or so to my race day activities. Still, I had a great time, and somehow managed to score a $500 gift card to Red Star World Wear. SWEET.

Friday night I was able to indulge in my favorite pre-race ritual: carb loading. The trick is to find something pasta-esque that isn't loaded down with things that will sit like lead in your stomach the next day (i.e., cheese, cream, a bottle of wine, etc.). It just so happened that Friday we were also celebrating my good friend Margi's birthday at a local sushi joint. Admittedly, it was a little difficult to refrain from stuffing my face with rolls and sashimi, but my udon entree suited me just fine.

Plus, I got some green tea ice cream out of the meal - not too shabby!

Post-race I hung up my snazzy new medal, showered, napped hard, and then headed out to Frederick to meet up with some peeps at Summers Farm to check out their corn maze, which is shaped like the Washington Redskin's logo. Seriously.

The Farm proved a bit more entertaining than the previous week's orchard trip, with opportunities to snack on just-out-the-fryer apple cider donuts, kettle corn, and hot drinks; bonfire spots available for rental; a petting zoo/live barn (home to the largest sow I have ever and likely will ever lay eyes on); and surprisingly steep and wedgie-inducing slides scattered among the grounds.

Wee!

As for the maze, Tony and I were the first to successfully navigate our way out. I still think they're creepy ( *thank you for THOSE residual nightmares, Mr. Stephen King*), but we had a good time nonetheless.

And now for the recipe:

Earl Gray Tea Cookies (or biscuits, for my UK/NZ buddies) are my go-to recipe when I need to bring a crowd-pleasing dessert to a personal or public function. Seriously - strangers have hugged me after eating these things. The trick, I've found, is to (1) use room temperature butter and (2) try adding already steeped earl grey tea instead of water to the recipe. The only other advice I can add is to line your baking sheet with parchment paper to keep the little rounds from sticking.

Feel free to try out other tea varieties to suit your needs. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm betting chamomile would make a bangin' biscuit.

DO NOT use a slip mat. The bottoms will brown but the rest of the cookie

will take for friggin ever to bake through.

Yum!

Tonight I'm visiting my friend and new momma Monica to introduce her little one to the joys of pumpkin carving. Or the joys of watching adults coo over you while you simply sit there and look adorable. Either way, I'm having pizza and a good laugh before the weekend.

Enjoy!

****************************************************************
Earl Grey Tea Cookies

(Adapted from Real Simple)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.
2. Add the vanilla, 1 teaspoon water/prepared tea, and the butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed. Add more water/tea (1 tsp at a time) if the dough is not forming.
3. Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a sheet of wax paper and roll into a log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap each log. Slice each log into disks, 1/3 inch thick.
5. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes.
6. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Apple Picking. Sort of: Savory Kale with Apples and My 1st Trip to an Orchard

One of the perks of living in Baltimore is you have access to the fall time harvest activities. Which I generally avoid like the plague. It's not that I have anything against vegetable patches or orchards, I just never had the overwhelming urge to visit them. I'm allergic to hay and corn mazes kind of freak me out. Plus, the idea of an entire famly fun outing centered on picking fruit seems a tad too Walton-esque.

But I found myself heading out to the Catoctin Mountain Orchard on Saturday anyway. Organized by my buddies Matt and Meredith (of Ex-Boyfriend fame. Friend 'em, people! You'll be happy you did.), I was assured that apple picking would be fun-fun and not church-"fun", as I intially feared. After a lengthy ride through Frederick, MD which included, among other things, a zebra siting (I kid you not), we finally arrived at the orchard...

...where we were soon informed that visitors were NOT allowed to pick their own produce. Nope! While you are welcome to walk amongst the apple trees, you are not to touch the bounty therein. Produce could instead be purchased at the store.

WTF, indeed, fine reader! If I wanted to go somewhere where we weren't allowed to touch anything, we could have gone to a museum. Any thoughts of freshly picked produce and hot cider went up like a dry leaf on fire. It was just as well, really: At 80 degrees and sunny, the day wasn't really apple-picking appropriate. Plus, I made a rookie picker mistake and wore flip flops to the orchard. M & M were in thick jeans.

Rather than mourn missed opportunities, we decided to take a quick walk through the orchard. Two other friends had joined us by this point, so we had a nice group as we walked amongst the trees, which were friggin LITTERED with apples. I had a rebel moment and left the trail to touch one just to see what would happen. (Answer: a whole lotta nothing.)

After some shopping at the orchard store (which was actually pretty nice) and gorging on cookies and such, we decided to explore the area a little further. We headed to Catoctin Mountain Park and went on a quick trail walk to check out the Blue Blazes Still, left over from the days of Prohibition. And totally haunted. Nah, just kidding!

Then it was off to find lunch. We settled on Cafe Nola in Frederick. Charming, good drinks (I recommend the Peach Palmer)- waaaaay to long on service, unfortunately. Still, the food was tasty. And, I was able to catch a glimpse of the local art scene available:

That night Tony and I got together with M & M for some apple-based goodness. Meredith whipped up an apple crisp that is still making my mouty water, along with some 10-minute apple sauce. Oh, and beer. Delicious, seasonal beer. Grab the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale if you can. Hand to god, it's like drinking pumpkin pie.

Later in the week I decided to have a go at drumming up my own recipe using the apples and kale I purchased at the orchard. The results were actually pretty satisfying - Tony even had seconds (and he can be hard pressed to eat greens). Add some vegan mac n' cheese on the side and we had one of our first full on vegan-friendly menus. Hoo-rah!

Tonight I will be doing the carb-loading thing at Sushi Hana here in the city, because tomorrow yours truly is taking part in the 2010 Baltimore Running Festival!

Yup! I'm back on the wagon. Or running behind it anyway. This year I'll be the anchor leg of the marathon relay, running as part of Team Kiwi, which I didn't name but can totally get behind. Following the run, I'm going to have another go at the fruit picking thing at the Summers Farm in Frederick (again) with some DC-based peeps. Apparently there's a Redskins-shaped corn maze....

See you post-race!

********************************************************
Savory Kale with Apples and Caramelized Shallots

1 large bunch kale, stemmed with ribs removed

3 medium sized apples (such as Empire or Fuji), cored, peeled and diced

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp apple cider or apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil or butter**
pinch of salt & pepper

(**Note: If you're going to use butter, cut it with the olive oil so it doesn't burn. I'd also suggest waiting to add it with the apples.)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the kale. Blanch it for 10 - 15 seconds and then immediately remove the leaves and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Strain the kale and roughly chop the leaves. Put to the side.

2. Heat a large skillet or sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, go ahead and add the onion slices. Stir to make sure they are covered with oil and then add a pinch of salt. Continue to stir for 10 -15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium as the onions begin to take own a caramel-brown color. (Add a little bit of water if the onions start to stick to the pan.)

3. Add the apples, sugar, vinegar/cider to the pan. (Add butter here if you're using it.) Continue to stir the mix over medium heat for approximately 8 - 10 minutes, until the apples are fully sautéed.

4. Add the chopped kale. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and plate to serve.

Attempt at Lent #1: Thai-Style Chicken with Basil

I should explain that while there are a few dishes I do well, I am for the most part a baker. And while I have some mad baking skills (that's right- mad), my other kitchen skills are occasionally lacking. I've seriously jacked up some hard boiled eggs in the past. Twice.

So it took a few days, but last night I finally put on my big-girl pants/apron and made dinner. On this occasion I chose a recipe from the Jan/Feb '10 issue of Cooks Illustrated: Thai-style chicken with basil. Unlike Chinese-style stir fries, Thai stir fries are done over a considerably lower heat, with herbs and aromatics cooked at the beginning of the dish rather than the end. (I'm quoting Christopher Kimball here - I couldn't tell you the difference between stir fries and fried rice before this issue.)


Anywho, the recipe turned out to be a success. The only drawback is (1) chicken breasts are a tad gross. I can handle a full-sized roaster (chicken with 40 cloves of garlic - one of my best dishes), but run of the mill breasts are a tad...icky. Also, this recipe made use of my food processor, which is great because, let's be honest: how often do I really use the thing? The cleanup can be a bit of a pain and I have done some bodily harm handling the blade, but it made ingredient prep worlds easier.

I should mention that - minus the rice that I served this over - the dish is pretty low in gluten. I point this out after a conversation I had with my older sister while cooking, where she explained that she's developed a slight gluten intolerance. Being the supportive sibling that I am, I replied that I could still eat anything I want. This little Hallmark moment will likely come back to bite me in the ass in future, I'm sure.

Now, I failed to take photos of my culinary output (this photo comes courtesy of CI), but the results were fairly similar. And tasty. And friggin spicy. Which we tamed with a nice little Riesling Tony picked up at the bottle shop (he didn't realize how sweet his choice would be, but it actually matched the dish's heat pretty well.)


Attempt at Lent #1: Success!!


Here's the recipe below:


Serves 4. Published January 1, 2010. From Cook's Illustrated.

This version of the recipe is relatively mild. For a very mild version of the dish, remove the seeds and ribs from the chiles. If fresh Thai chiles are unavailable, substitute 2 serranos or 1 medium jalapeño. In Thailand, crushed red pepper and sugar are passed at the table, along with extra fish sauce and white vinegar, so the dish can be adjusted to suit individual taste. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables, if desired.

Ingredients

2	cups fresh basil leaves , tightly packed
3	medium garlic cloves , peeled
6	green or red Thai chiles , stemmed (see note)
2	tablespoons fish sauce , plus extra for serving (see note)
1	tablespoon oyster sauce
1	teaspoon white vinegar , plus extra for serving (see note)
1	tablespoon sugar , plus extra for serving (see note)
1	pound boneless, skinless chicken breast , cut into 2-inch pieces
3	medium shallots , peeled and thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
	Red pepper flakes , for serving (see note)

Instructions

1. Process 1 cup basil leaves, garlic, and chiles in food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 one-second pulses, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once during processing. Transfer 1 tablespoon basil mixture to small bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar; set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12-inch heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet. Do not wash food processor bowl.
   
   
2. Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into -approximate 1/4-inch pieces, six to eight 1-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes.
   
   
3. Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat over medium-low heat (mixture should start to sizzle after about 11/2 minutes; if it doesn’t, adjust heat accordingly), stirring constantly, until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
   
   
4. Add chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up chicken with potato masher or rubber spatula, until only traces of pink remain, 2 to 4 minutes. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining cup basil leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, 30 to 60 seconds. Serve immediately, passing extra fish sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and vinegar separately.

Let me know if it works for you. Also, if you're in the Baltimore area and know of any running trails that aren't currently buried under several inches of snow, feel free to share. I've got a 10-miler for which to train :)