Dappled Things

Inspiration/Ideas

2011-09-22T09:58:00.002-04:00

http://www.herbivoracious.com/2011/03/cold-carrot-soup-myhrvold-recipe.html

http://julesfood.blogspot.com/2010/06/pork-belly-slow-roasted-and-seared.html

http://www.foodmayhem.com/2010/02/abalone-and-oyster-amuse.html

need to come up with a new gelee for the oyster first course..what goes well with oysters in the fall

granola? crunchy nut component for fois torchon dish...

What I'm enjoying these days:

2011-08-10T22:30:00.009-04:00

Reading Material
-I finally finished reading Life, On the Line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. When I finally got to the latter section of the book where they get into Grant's stage 4 tongue cancer diagnosis and breaking the news to his entire staff, I began tearing up and sniffling in the booth I was sharing with a random girl at Diesel Cafe. She probably thought I was nuts, but it just really got to me reading about such a devastating diagnosis...especially to a young, world-reknown chef, 33 at the time. It's like Mozart going deaf. Who thinks that kind of shit will happen to you? His story is amazing and I was extremely touched by the lengths Nick (his business partner/friend) went to help him find a doctor who was willing to try chemotherapy to target the cancerous area in his tongue and neck instead of splitting his jaw in 2 to remove his entire tongue (and surrounding tissue, just in case), rebuilding a "tongue" for him out of his arm muscles that would mean he would no longer be able to swallow, taste, or talk, as was recommended by 3 other doctors they went to first.

He survived the treatment, gradually recovered his sense of taste and hasn't skipped a beat in running Alinea with 2 other restaurant developments in the works. My cousin Jess was lamenting the closing of Ferran Adria's El Bulli, and we both decided we have to make a list of restaurants to eventually go to...Alinea is on the list. I haven't experienced food that modern before, although under the new chef in charge I believe the cuisine at L'Espalier is becoming more modern bit by bit, and I'm not sure if it's my favorite style of cooking, but...I have endless respect for the sheer creativity, intelligence, discipline, and dedication it takes to innovate and create food that challenges our conceptions of how ingredients should be used and presented. You wouldn't necessarily want to eat food like this all the time, but it's good to know there are chefs out there who are pushing boundaries. Which is the whole point. Cooking can't continue to evolve without chefs doing things like this, no matter how much you want to hate on foams and gels and encapsulated liquids and so on.

-Vogue, Elle, Saveur. I love magazines...and food and fashion.

-This wonderful blog. This article especially resonated with me:

I have a beautiful niece who I can't help but praise for her cuteness, adorable-ness, cleverness, and general awesomeness. None of which is bad per se, but reading this blog entry made me seriously re-think how I address this lovely little girl who I hope will be as strong, confident, and discerning as she is beautiful and talented as she grows older. What kind of message am I sending her if the first thing that comes out of my mouth when I address her is praise for her outfits, hair, and physical looks? Societal beauty pressure will always exist, but I can certainly do my best to not add to that pressure and expectation and treat her as an interesting individual with more going for her than just her outward looks. I fwded the link to my entire extended family...and I hope we all take the inherent message to heart. I've often reflected that I have only managed to turn out confident due to the fact that my entire family (parents and aunts and uncles) have never twitted me about my looks or weight...even when I was at my most awkward. I always felt valued no matter what and when my looks were commented on, all I ever heard was that I was growing prettier every year...whether it was true or not. I do think it's okay to give that kind of praise judiciously...but it's a good reminder that there are many ways to break the ice when talking to a young girl besides complimenting her clothes or hairstyle.

-Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I skim through this periodically. I want to be freed from needing recipes all the time. Trying to get a better grasp of common, basic ratios for making vinaigrettes, aiolis, different batters, etc. The more I cook, the more I realize that nothing quite replaces good old fashioned repetition. I have to make blini batter fresh every day I go into work. The basic gist of it is 18-20 oz of cooked potato, 3 eggs, 2 yolks, 4 Tb creme fraiche, 2-4 Tb flour. There is probably a more exact science to this but sometimes I don't always weigh out the potato. I usually do just to make sure I know whether I'm a little over or under 18 oz, which then informs me that I may or may not need that last egg or egg yolk. Using the chef's freshly dug young yukon gold potatoes has also taught me that the batter turns out really grainy and shitty unless I throw in a russet, which is starchier and less waxy (I think that's the reason at least). Sometimes I need to add more flour, sometimes less. It depends on how moist the potatoes are. The first few times I made blini, the batter was often too runny and I would get reamed by the fish cook who has to cook them off for me on his steel plancha when I get in caviar orders. I now make them pretty much perfectly all the time. But it's a bit tricky sometimes. My partner's fucked it up a few times too. It just takes practice and knowing what to look for in the consistency of the batter...and using your judgment.

Clothes
Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, American Apparel, J. Crew. Wearing my hair in a low bun and looking polished on my days off : ) ...for a change! I bought my first A. Wang item. A very plain and boring looking heather gray tank top dress...on the hanger. On me, it comes to life, baby. Love simple clothing. Worth every penny.

Food
Sadly, I seem to only enjoy good food when I am cooking for others. I have a couple pictures I managed to take before my dying camera batteries gave out of the meals I made for Varun and me when he came to visit a couple weeks ago. Think lots of corn, tomatoes, ratatouille, watermelon. Also, blueberry buttermilk pancakes. I have to confess, the past 2 nights though I've been living off of Chinese take out. Mongolian beef...it hits the spot when you are starving at night at 2 am in the morning. And a tall frosty glass of Mountain Dew. $1 dollar taco tuesdays at La Verdad! I went yesterday for the first time. Awesome!

Drink
Italian reds. Beer. Of any brand. But favorite of the summer is Mayflower Golden Ale. I can't resist a nice, malty, crisp golden ale. Very strong coffee with lots of cream. Cafe Au Laits if I'm buying from a cafe.

SF, part 2

2011-06-14T08:40:00.013-04:00

Didn't take pictures of everything we made at the bbq on Sat. Once the real grilling got underway, the actual cooking and eating of everything took precedence. I managed to take a few pictures of the caprese salad and my unbaked nectarine and strawberry crisp and other prep shots.

young torpedo onion tops and shucked corn (to be charred on the grill)

spice-rubbed pork tenderloin, grilled to juicy pink perfection. thanks paul!

this is a measly, somewhat unattractive portion of the gigantic, 6-egg omelet i made for sunday breakfast with the leftovers from the previous night. filling: grilled zucchini, corn, onions, salmon, mozzarella cheese

berry salad with mint and basil. so fresh and perfectly ripe.

sunday night dinner before my departure: squid ink pasta with shrimp, garlic, salami, tons of fresh herbs: basil, mint, onion tops

cowgirl creamery burrata with heirloom tomatoes and basil, courtesy of ferry marketplace

San Francisco

2011-06-10T22:05:00.027-04:00

So, I was pretty overwhelmed last night at the thought of having to occupy myself for an entire day in a city I'm completely unfamiliar with, without a smartphone to aid me, while my brother and sister in law were at work. But then I spent some time looking up, studying maps, and drawing maps of all the fun places my friend from work recommended and realized it wouldn't be that bad. Everything was pretty much within walking distance and the grid system of streets was pretty easy to figure out. I drew out simple line maps so I could refer to my notebook to orient myself. It was important for me to have something to reference without fumbling around with maps or overrelying on my brother's Droid (which he decided would be best to lend to me. since I have no sense of direction). At the end of the day, I didn't need to use anything but my trusty notebook. I pretty much walked everywhere I needed to go except for taking the train from the SF MOMA down to the Mission.

I was a good citizen and did not take any surreptitious pictures at the SF MOMA. I went to the special exhibit they featured of the Stein's collection of Matisse, Picasso, and other Parisian avant-garde artists of their time. It was a wonderful exhibit! I was really glad I had spent time at the MOMA in New York looking at Picasso's cubist studies on guitars. At the SF exhibit, I got to see sketches, studies, and paintings that were precursors to that period. It was really nice that I could somewhat connect the dots and get a better understanding of how Picasso's style began evolving in the early 1900s as he began to experiment with cubism and more abstract representations of the subjects he painted.

After the museum, I took the train down to 24th and Mission and thus began my colorful wanderings in that neighborhood. Enjoy!

I decided I had to have a quick breakfast and a coffee before I hit up the museum. Breakfast bowl of chili over steam-scrambled (organic) eggs topped with sour cream and red onions at Soup Freak on Mission and 3rd Street around the corner from the SF MoMA. Only $5.25 and totally hit the spot.

Nacho Libre would approve

weird alien mural

2 scoops from Humphre Slocombe. Top: pale green Thai chili lime sorbet. Bottom: Pistachio Brittle. Delicious and intriguing! Loved it.

EAT THIS. LH: Beef Tongue taco RH: the best al pastor taco I've ever had in my life! (under $5)

GO HERE.

my favorite shot of the day

this window full of creepy doll figurines and chotchkes attracted my attention, especially the funny sign.

en route to Dolores Park

is it creepy that I snapped this? so adorable! little boy and girl sitting on ledge at Bi-Rite Creamery

Top: salted caramel (silky, heavenly) Bottom: Balsamic Strawberry (fresh, tart, creamy, delicious)

beautiful lemon cream tarts at the famous Tartine Bakery!

2 country loaves. fresh out of the oven.

It was a great day.

What I've been making:

2011-05-25T22:31:00.027-04:00

3 am Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

unflattering shot of very fragrant gorgeous strawberries (artificial light, dark kitchen, apologies!)

gorgeous peeled rhubarb masquerading as peppermint candy bites!]

Fungi for Oeufs en Cocotte

upclose shot of oyster mushrooms (left) and apricot colored hedgehog mushrooms (right)

Midday snack: Supremed minneola orange segments

Sick-Girl Beverage: Honey Lemon Tea

Sick-Girl Food: Poor-man's Soon Dubu (spicy Korean tofu stew)

Boyfriend's Peace Offering: Chocolates

(loved the key lime pie and strawberry one!)

Melange of Peppers

(long hot, orange bell, cubanelle, sweet hot)
Lunch I made for my boyfriend:

Parm-black pepper seasoned polenta, topped with melange of tangy/sweet/hot peppers, along with a fresh tomato and avocado salad dressed with lemon juice, cilantro, mint, topped with a sunny side up farm fresh egg. (There is probably a better way to describe this that is less wordy but I like to describe..in great detail.)

Breakfast I made for my boyfriend using leftovers from Lunch I made + Dinner leftovers from Toro

Lunch I made for myself using the same ingredients leftover from when I shopped for my boyfriend's visit: +

This is getting repetitious, I realize, but nonetheless a true and accurate reflection of what I was cooking at the time. Believe it or not, I made this dinner once more (in an effort to finish using my groceries) when I invited a friend over for dinner. I did not feel the need to take pictures that time -.-

Simple Pasta with a Fresh Tomato and Roasted Orange Bell Pepper Sauce

Something different! This meal hit the spot like none other. Sometimes there is nothing better than diving into a huge tangled bowl of pasta. I blanched, peeled, and pureed the tomatoes along with roasted orange bell peppers and long hot peppers that I charred on my gas burner. I also included a whisper of smoked paprika to give it a little smokiness.

Authentic Mexican Enchiladas (not of the Tex-Mex variety)

...with a Negra Modelo, no less. I go all out. I go all out. (I also purchased 4 liters of Mexican Coke...bc it's made with actual azucar and not high fructose corn syrup. Goya brand pineapple juice, coconut water, jasmine rice, and beans. For future mexican feasts. We only had enchiladas and beer.)

This. Was. Glorious.!!!!

I got the recipe from Saveur magazine. We made a red chile sauce out of toasted dried New Mexican chiles (gloriously fragrant, mild, fruity, and slightly smoky...barely spicy despite what its saturated color would seem to indicate), Mexican chocolate, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, garlic, salt to taste, and 1.5 cups of boiling hot water. Next, corn tortillas are lightly deep-fried to make them pliable for rolling. Then dip each tortilla in the sauce on both sides til coated, and sprinkle, thinly sliced raw yellow onion and queso fresco (supposed to be queso anejo, which is aged and i'm guessing sharper in flavor compared to the mild fresh cheese I used...couldn't find queso anejo), and this was my addition, diced up chicken breast that I cooked and marinated with garlic, salt, and tons of cilantro and mint. Roll them up and arrange seam-side down in a casserole dish. Garnish with more sauce, some cheese and more slices of raw onion + herbs. No need to bake in the oven after, but I stuck it in the oven for a few minutes for the purposes of reheating.

The red chile sauce was a tour de force. The chiles were unexpectedly fruity and fragrant...and combined with the dark Taza chocolate I put in, made for an astonishingly smooth, thick, rich, burnished vibrant brick red colored sauce. It was a little too intense and thick for our taste, however, even after thinning it out with some water, so I pureed a ripe red tomato and garlic to add to the sauce. That did the trick. Because a tomato is mostly water, it helped thin out the sauce to the right consistency and incorporate a fruity acidity to balance out the intense chile/chocolate flavor of the sauce.

Some Mise and Action Shots (courtesy of Joo-Hee's phone)

The End and To Be Continued.

Backlog

2011-05-20T12:09:00.004-04:00

My laptop died a month ago so I'm behind on posting. Have a backlog of entries and pictures I will post asap.

In the meantime, here are some new blogs I'm enjoying:

Bite Sized

Tigress in a Pickle

Food in Jars

Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

and of course, the ever wonderful Tastespotting

I recently re-read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I'm about to buy another flat of Ball jars so I have the supplies I need to do some canning and jamming this summer. I've always admired gardeners and growers but never been one myself but it's inspirational to read about them nonetheless.

Last night I made a delicious pasta dish with ramp pesto. Divine. I'm going to make cilantro-mint pesto later today and use up the last of my block of parmesan.

Posts and pictures to come.

Some Thoughts

2011-04-22T23:30:00.003-04:00

The Bad (the past 2 weeks)

Why is it so easy for some people and not for others. I hate being in this position yet again. I hate waiting for phone calls. I hate trying too hard. I hate feeling this way. I hate feeling alone. This fucking sucks. Fuck. When my mind is in turmoil I can't turn it off. I have trouble sleeping. And I really need more sleep right now. I hate how after working 11 days straight and sick for the last 4, I can only conditionally enjoy my 2 precious days off. I hate how when I needed him the most he wasn't there for me. I'm sick of short-term relationships that never seem to go anywhere for me. I hate that I cried at work for the first time in my life TWICE last week (work-related tears, not to do with this shitty love business although that certainly did not help). And now I hate how stupid this entire rant sounds and that I'm starting to sound like Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You.

The other day at work one of the servers asked me why I never smiled. Because I'm too busy trying to make sure I don't fuck up and give my boss more reasons to tear me new assholes during service. Oh yea, and I got kicked off the line last Saturday. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. It's always been my biggest fear. I guess it's "good" to have that one under the belt to motivate me to make sure as hard as I can never to let it happen again. A stretch, but that's as positive as I can be about it.

The Good
I have another month and a half-ish to go, but at the end of May/beginning of June I will be leaving this restaurant and going over to this restaurant. Working at the Boylston Sel has been amazing because we are right next to L'Espalier, our sister restaurant. Both kitchen crews mingle and mix as we rush about getting ready for service--our restaurants are joined together by a common prep kitchen (into which shoppers wandering through the Boylston Arcade of the Pru can peep into and stare at me while I'm slicing pancetta like a maniac on our commercial meat slicer -.-). While we fight over the same equipment frequently, overall, there is a pretty wonderful cameraderie between the restaurants. I'm super excited about this next step I'm making.

I was chatting with my brother today who congratulated me and encouraged me to stay focused on my goals. He reminded me that I'm finally starting to see the fruits of the hard work I've put into trying to become a professional cook. It was encouraging just having someone who I care about recognize this. I still have a long ways to go before I get to where I want to be (which is what? a sous chef? chef? owner? caterer?), but I do think that I can at least say that I'm gaining a little momentum in my career. And all I mean by that is that I feel like I'm going in the right direction despite the ups and downs. For now, that is sufficient.

The Gray
I get angry, pissed, lonely, sad, confused, jaded, cynical, mean...

but then I stop to think about how lucky I am to have a wonderful family who is proud of me even though they still don't understand what I'm doing with my life. Parents and a brother who are there to bail me out, help me, encourage me, love me, and stand by me when I'm feeling down...

and then I remember all the great girlfriends who have been there for me (and who I've been there for) through heartbreak, breakups, unrequited crushes, requited crushes, laughed and shaken their heads at me when I tell them my adventures and shenanigans, cooked for me, made me laugh, been happy for me when good things happen and sympathetic through the bad stuff, check in on me when they know I'm going through tough times, and kept in touch with me when I've been distant...

and then I read the news and am reminded that the problems in my life are problems that come with a life that's blessed. I don't have to survive through earthquakes, genocide, poverty, or endure not having basic civil rights...

and thinking about all these things, I try not to lose perspective.

Which is hard, because I'm realizing more and more how self-absorbed I am. I'm not the only person struggling with finding life purpose, gaining footing in a career, finding/losing love. I'm not the only person who feels alone.

It's really funny, recently I've been bumping into people who haven't seen me for a while (aka aunties and uncles from my old church...parents of my old church friends, etc), and everyone keeps on exclaiming in a surprised tone (in Chinese), "Zhang da la!" ("Aha! You're grown up!")

I would like to point out here, on this blog, that I am 28 and have in fact been "zhang da la" for several years now.

Also, for some reason a lot of my friends who haven't seen me in a while (my peers this time not middle aged Chinese parents) keep on asking me if I'm still living with my parents in Lexington.

I would like to point out here, on this blog, that I have not lived at home with my parents for the past 2 and a half years. I live in Somerville. In an apartment. With 2 other girls. So...no, I am not one of those cool late twenties girls on the verge of owning her own house or condo..nor will I be anytime soon on my lowly cooks' wage...

BUT I can say with pride that I do not live with my parents anymore.

I've grown up.

Sort of.

One Brunch to Rule Them All

2011-03-25T15:48:00.011-04:00

Best Brunch Ever

Oeufs en Cocotte (coddled eggs) with ~~spinach~~, ~~asparagus~~, bok choy ~~(fava beans?)~~, fresh spring peas, mushroom (cremini, oyster, hedgehogs), cream, thyme, roasted garlic
w. buttered wheat toast soldiers

Roasted Garlic (to spread on toast as well)

Biscuits (via reading my tea leaves)

Homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam

(Ina, you lied to me! My jam never jammed! I should probably use this recipe next time, since it calls for apples, which have a lot of natural pectin in it, whereas neither strawberries or rhubarb are high in pectin <= (what causes jams to jam and jellies to jell)

Bacon on the side (for the non vegetarians)

~~Cara cara orange fruit salad garnished with mint syrup~~
Mimosas
Coffee/Tea/Milk/Juice

So, armed with my trusty moleskine that I jot down ingredients and recipes that I fancy, I can go to the grocery store prepared with a checklist of the ingredients I need for my celebratory spring brunch. The asparagus didn't look that great and were not cheap so I decided to omit that. Didn't see any fava beans offered so I picked up a couple handfuls of spring peas to sprinkle some spring into the coddled eggs. We're not quite into all the good spring produce yet...most of the typical spring stuff is still not local or at its peak yet, but I wanted to shy away from the usual veg I gravitate towards. The rhubarb looked gorgeous, and decided that that would be a way to tart up the sweet strawberry jam that I'm going to make. I saw Ina do it, and it looked easy. Here's to hoping! I'm so excited about the coddled eggs. I've never had them but every picture I've ever seen of them, I've marvelled at how absolutely gorgeous they look with the bright golden yolks and the colorful vegetables juxtaposed against the egg whites and silky cream.

Recipe Inpiration: Saveur Magazine online

~~Pictures to come.~~

Gorgeous

2011-03-23T10:47:00.002-04:00

how beautiful is this

From: The Selby

2011-03-22T01:36:00.000-04:00

Biscuit

2011-03-19T12:58:00.004-04:00

I had all the ingredients except yogurt so I ran to the corner grocery store and rectified that problem. Delicious, light, buttery biscuits with seville orange marmalade (the rind is more bitter and complex, not as cloyingly sweet as regular marmalade, which I can't stand) and a strong cup of joe. I'm down to the last of my Rao's beans and I need to restock. The organic fairtrade coffee I picked up from Trader Joe's over a year ago is still around but tastes horrible.

Recipe Inspiration: reading my tea leaves

This Makes Me Happy: Lunch

2011-03-18T13:32:00.011-04:00

Most Asian of meals. 5 ingredients. 1 meal.

beautiful bok choy hearts

my favorite member of the alium family

finished bowl

another view from my living room coffee table

the life of a cook

2011-03-18T11:57:00.003-04:00

I usually just put up all my happy thoughts on this blog.

I wanted to take a moment and be fully honest.

I'm having a tough time right now. I work hard...which means that sometimes I want to play hard. Dec and Jan were not great months for me. They were professionally speaking but, personally, I was getting wasted many nights. Crazy hangovers up until I had to go to work at 2:30, 3 pm the next day. I was paying a lot of money for cabs several times a week. I'm still working on that one. Because I get lonely/need company after work/want to talk about my day with someone after work, and who better to listen to me than my coworkers--ppl who actually understand what I'm going through as well as the demands this industry makes on those who are crazy enough to be a part of it.

I love my job but let's be honest. The guys on the line drive me nuts sometimes. And I've been a miserable bitch at work because of it. I've hit my saturation point of listening to gross, dumb, boys' locker-room humor. Sometimes I wish everyone would just shut the fuck up so I can focus. I'm the only girl on main courses and I'm sandwiched between guys, and sometimes I can't bear it. And my boss had to yell at me about it and give me a talking-to. Because I needed it. Because no matter what, attitude does not belong on the line. Not when you have to be a team player and work well with the people around you. I don't want to be that negative person that drains all the positivity out of the people around them...but I've been that person. I'm trying to turn it around though. Because it makes me miserable, it definitely affects the people around me, and most importantly, it doesn't make doing a difficult job any easier.

I've been having long, horrible, protracted fights with my boyfriend everyday for the past 4 days. Every time I think we have things smoothed over, it begins all over again the next conversation we have with each other.

I haven't showered in over 2 days. (But I will today, promise.)

Because I've been too busy fighting with my boyfriend.

I don't eat enough food. I don't get enough sleep. I don't make enough money, so every attempt to have some quality of life (booze, dinner with friends, hanging coworkers...which sometimes leads to cab rides, retail therapy), results in making me poorer. I went over my daytime minutes by over 500 minutes because I need to talk with my long distance boyfriend during the day because it's harder for me to talk to him after I get off work...and am getting thoroughly charged for it.

I feel like I am barely making ends meet.

But I am trying to cultivate better habits. Because living like this is not sustainable. I've been cooking more meals, drinking less, going to bed earlier, taking less cabs, and trying to be more productive in my free time (aka reading books, journaling, cooking, or just relaxing before I go to work). I need to save more money...so I can indulge when my bf comes to visit me in April, and so I can visit him in India some time in the summer.

Heading for that shower...and then getting ready to work again.

Restaurant month couldn't be over faster. (Yes, my restaurant does it for a month, not just a week.) Oh yea, and if you bought a Groupon, that will be expiring some time in April.

Here's a tip. PLEASE...I implore you, to redeem your Groupon before the last week that it expires. It's hell for us, and quite possibly some of the busiest weeks I've spent at the restaurant. People always ask me when is a good time to come to the restaurant. Here's the answer....NOT on the busiest days of the week...aka Saturdays at 7 pm, major holidays, the week before Groupon expires, any prime times during Restaurant Week. If you go to any restaurant earlier on in the week when it's not dead but not too busy, you will get a much better experience. We'll have the time to take more care with your food. Service will be better. Come during the biggest clusterfuck moments, and I have no guarantees. We try our hardest but there's only so much you can do when you have 20 tickets fluttering on the board, 11 burgers, 4 steaks, along with everything else going up at the same time, limited number of backwaiters and servers, and 20 more tickets coming in. Think about it.

Picture TBA

2011-03-16T11:45:00.002-04:00

Stirfried napa cabbage, onions, zucchini, dried shiitake shrooms (umami bombs!), baby bokchoy, garlic, scallions

Flavored with soy, sugar, sesame oil, chiu chow chili oil, gochuflakes

On top of soba noodles

Topped with a sunny side up egg

Accompanied by the best sparkling refreshments ever: ginger beer and blueberry soda

For dessert, 2 crisp, juicy, fragrant asian pears

Picture to come.

Up next: This dish is tantalizing me. I must make it.
http://www.milkandmode.com/2011/03/roast-chicken-with-dijon-sauce.html

5 Things

2011-03-10T09:41:00.008-05:00

1
Stews! Here's the muqueca Jackie and I made together a few weeks back.

Recipe inspiration from: Simply Recipes

2
Reading: Life, on the Line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas

3
Missing this litte guy:

4
Guy crushing on...that Sikh guy from the Wes Anderson movies! hahaha

Waris Ahluwalia

5
Last but not least...

my real crush.

Currently Obsessed With

2011-03-03T09:20:00.013-05:00

1
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. This book is amazing, inspirational, practical, and I bought it because I couldn't stop reaching for it every time I went to the Coop for my weekly cafe stakeout. I recommend it for anyone who is trying it to achieve success in any creative field (painting, dancing, writing, (in my case) cooking, entrepreneurship, or any endeavor which requires the flexing of creative muscles/problem solving). I've fallen into the rut of showing up everyday at work and working hard but not necessarily doing anything valuable in my free time to hone my skills/craft. I'm trying to break out of it.

2
Girl-Crushing: Taylor Tomasi-Hill (seriously, how amazing..)

photo credit: Garance Dore

photo credit: because i'm addicted

photo credit: because I'm addicted

photo credit: the glamourai

photo credit: Jak & Jil

photo credit: Refinery 29

photo credit: Alex Donald's Multiuniverse

Ok, I think I've posted enough pictures of her...feel like Creepy McCreepster! I love her hair and her style...those bright pops of color and mix of tough and ladylike.

3
My moleskine notebook:

4
Rao's Coffee

5
Reading.
I'll leave you with this quote:

"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read."

~Mark Twain

Listen to Oprah, kids. Read. Read. Read.

Burger Battle @ KO Prime

2011-03-01T10:57:00.004-05:00

With very little space, a minimum of equipment and an extremely well prepared, stream-lined operation, Sel de la Terre placed effortlessly at 2nd place last night at the Burger Battle at KO Prime. Other restaurants had fois gras, fancy buns, fried oysters, wagyu beef, aged beef and all kinds of fancy set-ups. We had fresh baked slider buns, 300 sliders of fresh ground beef with nothing but fresh picked thyme whipped into them, spicy aioli with house cured pancetta bits, and cheddar. That's it and that's all folks.

I'm reblogging these images (and text) from someone else's blog..check it out:

(PS, I made that secret sauce!)

(I made like 6 huge containers of it and only needed 2 -.-...and hogged the robot coupe the entire time...3 cooks from L'espalier came up to me several times asking me when I'd be done, and I bitchily said I'd be done when I was done. Big thanks to my boss for not telling me that I didn't need to make gallons and gallons of it haha)

SDLT, please share with me the ingredients to the secret sauce!

Candid of Me at Work

2011-02-21T13:29:00.003-05:00

For the curious, this is what I look like on my station. I man the grill.

Photo credit to Ms. Evelyn Hsieh and her iPhone : )

Craving

2011-02-19T13:28:00.005-05:00

I've been craving white bean soup with dark greens and some form of smoked pork product

(unfortunately trader joe's only had turkey kielbasa...) it's not that turkey kielbasa tastes bad per se, it's that real kielbasa tastes so much better. and that is all i have to say about all meat facsimiles. even at their best tasting they cannot match the real thing in flavor, texture or satisfaction. the turkey kielbasa tasted fine immediately after scooping myself a bowl of the stew after it was done. however, on my 2nd bowl, i noticed the kielbasa was getting really dried out and flavorless. next time i'll use the real thing...or get some baked ham and cube that up and put it in.

recipe inspirations:

Milk and Mode

Cupcakes and Cashmere

I am obsessed with...

2011-02-10T09:50:00.004-05:00

this is a picture i took of a picture of don draper on the packaging of season 3

me wearing red flannel, lying on red flannel

during the superbowl, i ate oreos for the first time since i can't remember the last time i ate oreos. and then i came home and ate my roommate's oreos.

I cooked something other than ramen.

2010-11-24T12:20:00.007-05:00

colors are too gorgeous to resist a 2nd look

what a difference lighting makes. this is what the food looks like on my coffee table in my sunny living room

i made an omelette with scallions, garlic, s/p and then set it aside. meanwhile, i toasted up the israeli couscous in a small pot with some oil and then added water and cooked it to al dente. as the couscous cooked (..as the world turned..) i sauted the honshimeji mushrooms in olive oil and a little butter until it was nicely seared. seasoned it wiht salt and pepper, added a bit of butter into the pan, scallions, garlic and then added the cherry tomatoes, some leftover white whine i had kicking around and let the tomatoes break down some. lastly i added my julienned peppers plus more garlic and scallions and adjusted the seasoning once more by adding more salt, pepper, a touch of vinegar and honey. then i dumped it onto my plate with the omelette and squeezed a little lemon juice over the couscous.

it was deliciously peppery, crunchy, tangy, hot, and slightly sweet. perfect with the couscous which i left more on the blander side.

I love making breakfast for my friends

2010-09-24T14:16:00.009-04:00

Hmm, it looks all very brown but it tastes delicious, trust me.

Apple slices sauteed in butter, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, a drop of vanilla extract, and a healthy splash of jim beam...a great way to sex up your oatmeal.

2010-09-21T11:10:00.000-04:00

How cute are my grandparents

One Stack Farm and a little side trip to Shelburne Farm

2010-09-18T17:03:00.005-04:00

It wasn't very helpful to have rows with multiple apple varieties and no labels on any of the trees.

One Stack Farm is a really good place to go if you want a quieter, more streamlined apple picking experience. We were the only ppl there and it didn't take very long to fill our buckets, which was actually kind of nice for a change. But if you want to take your kids to have a more classic apple picking experience with more hoopla (pumpkin patch, straw maze, farm animals, cider donuts, farmstand icecream, a general store), go to Shelburne Farms which is just down the street. Jackie and I had to stop here for some of their famous cider donuts. This is where we went apple picking last year.

Really delicious and huge (that's a size small!) pumpkin ice cream. It had a clean pumpkin flavor with a subtle hint of pumpkin pie spice. Not overwhelmingly sweet or rich or pie-tasting which I found extremely refreshing.

Pumpkin spice coffee with cinnamon sugar cider donuts (unfortunately not fresh from the fryer, but still soft and delicious)

masterful alignment skills. original. haha. cops. eat your heart out.

Dainty bite of icecream and donut. What a lady.

Most likely I'll be making a lot of apple crisps..aka the lazy man's apple pie.

a day off with Nancy

2010-09-17T22:59:00.007-04:00

I had a nice day hanging out with my Mom. After our 60 min massage at Balance Health, a spa in Downtown Crossing area, we went to Cambridge and walked around and shopped and I got to take her to a few of my favorite spots. Nothing earth shattering, just at latte (unfortunately rather luke warm) at Crema Cafe with a little canneles (the only cafe I've ever seen them at..I've only read about these little pastries via food blogs). It's caramelized on the outside and custardy and pudding-ish on the inside with a yummy lemon basil syrup glaze. As you can see, we're both obsessed with reading about the '96 Everest disaster and are both reading diff copies of the same book (one is the one we own, the other is a library copy haha).

a closer look:

After walking around for a while, I took her to Burdick's for its famous hot chocolate. I always order 1 or 2 macarons when I come here. Pictured below is a minty green pistachio and pale buff colored ginger mac. The pistachio one had really good flavor and a nice chew in the middle.

Ta da!

Then we came home and ate chicken noodle soup with pork, black woodear mushrooms, bok choy, and my mom's homemade whole wheat noodles while watching Life is Beautiful. Then we had lotus seed with egg yolk and black bean mooncake with jasmine green tea.

Tomorrow, apple picking!

Sorellina, restaurant week

2010-08-20T12:26:00.009-04:00

(All the pix that are more blurry were taken by my cousin haha. Just thought I should note that.)

1st course: calamari with red pepper coulis, israeli couscous, and wilted frisee. This was delicious. Perfect temp, nicely spiced, ridiculously tender. Not to mention how much I love israeli couscous. I also thought the portion size was very generous..more than I expected. Loved it.

Side dish: the obligatory, famous truffled fries with shaved parm. Hot, crunchy, cheesy, and redolent with fragrant truffle oil. Always a hit. In retrospect, we could have done without the fries. I think it pushed us over the edge a bit.

Regular menu mid-course: "Little pillows" (can't remember the legit italian name for it) filled with lobter and marscapone. utterly delicious. The lobster filling was so sweet and tender. We mopped the plate clean with bread afterwards to finish up the delectable sauce.

My entree: Roasted duck ragu fettucine w. shaved goat cheese (divine!) This just smelled amazing when it was set before me. The gamy fragrance of the roasted duck and the slight funk of melting goat cheese. Powerfully flavored. I love digging into a bowl of noodles. The quantity looked a little small to me, but I coudn't even finish it bc I was getting super full. Great little bite of breakfast the next day though : )

Jess's entree: braised veal risotto. Very nice, full flavored tender fall-off-the-bone meat. Creamy risotto. I only tasted a small amount of this, so can't really analyze.

My dessert: summer berries, prosecco zabaglione. I know this is simple, with hardly any cooking involved, but I knew I'd be super full from the rich courses preceding this and that this would be the perfect way for me to end my meal. The blackberries were huge, squishy, ripe, and sweet. This completely refreshed me after the very rich duck ragu pasta.

Jess's dessert: chocolate panna cotta with almond toffee brittle. We had a lot of fun (too much) jiggling this around on the plate to demonstrate how it "quivered like the inner thigh of a courtesan" quoth Nigella Lawson. My assessment: this was tasty but a bit too sweet for Jess and not chocolatey enough for me (it was good..reminded me a bit of eating milk chocolate pudding, flavor wise, but would have preferred it to be a bit darker with more chocolate intensity). The almond toffee brittle provided a nice caramel crunch, but I feel like the dessert was one dimensional. Lacked an acid/fruit/or herbal component that could have made the flavors dance more. Sprig of mint as garnish not great..no one's going to chew on a big mint leaf. Maybe a mint syrup or some kind of fruit coulis would have made this a bit more special.

A conversation worthy of Tobias.

2010-08-12T11:04:00.002-04:00

Jessica: on sunday if we cook din we can swap

haha

mine's 8"

me: haha my knife's at work

Jessica: how long's yours?

me: i think i have a 7 inch

i thought i was 8

but it's seven

-.-

me: i'm going to try to bring my stones back home

they're at work

and everyone uses them it's kind of annoying

haha actually i don't mind but

i have a lot of other equipment in my box and i don't like that ppl just rummage through it now

to get to my stones

ok....this is all coming out funny

----
at work everytime ppl ask to borrow my whetstones, and I say "sure it's in my box" or "sure but remember to put it back in my box" I get snickers. what can you do. we're all perverted and immature.

-.-

Hits the spot.

2010-08-11T13:42:00.009-04:00

L to R: Fresh corn kernels, purple heirlooms, habanero pepper, lime, garlic, butter.

Green goodness: cilantro and mint.

Sadly, I had to cook this to well done--the steak has been hanging around my fridge since last Friday and it wasn't at its freshest. Still tasty though. Seasoned generously with salt, fresh pepper, and smoked paprika. Panfried in olive oil and butter.

Yes, I am Asian--I eat pasta with chopsticks. Glass of Crescent Ridge milk from Whole Foods. Comes in a fabulous gallon glass bottle. I couldn't resist. Reduced fat but totally tastes like whole...which may gross some people out, but I adore the fresh, sweet flavor of whole milk.

I had good intentions...but sleep and breakfast and lunch it is.

2010-08-11T10:36:00.004-04:00

The past 2 days I've been meaning to run or yoga and I've accomplished neither. I'm not going to feel bad about it. I've been exhausted all week and I think that I'd rather catch up on sleep and/or make myself a nice breakfast in the morning and lunch before I go to work bc sometimes those are the only meals I can manage in an entire day.

Still working my way through all the food I cooked on Sunday. Almost done with it. Here's what I've been having for a typical breakfast lately:

Egg omelet with cilantro, mint, and ricotta whipped into it, alongside roasted ratatouille veg, roasted potatoes, and roasted beets. In an effort to use up the quart container of ricotta I bought, I've been whipping ricotta with my eggs to fluff them up a bit when I'm making omelets or scrambled eggs. I really like how they've been coming out. I got the idea from my cousin's wife, Heather, who made our family delicious scrambled eggs with cream cheese and scallions whipped into them for our Christmas breakfast a couple of years ago...they tasted delicious. It's a good way to bump up the amt of egg if you're short on eggs. I only had 1 left when I made this.

Inventory of my fridge:

I've been working my way through all my fruit and dairy aka making milkshakes every morning. Now I still need to figure out what to do with a huge bag of black cherries I forgot I had, a flat of sour cherries I intended to bake with, and 4 fuzzy soft-as-a-baby's-butt apricots I bought on a whim last week at Russo's. Running low on milk and out of lowfat plain yogurt. Been using full fat maple flavored yogurt as a substitute. Out of eggs.

For lunch today I'm going to have seared sirloin steak with my sauteed corn and tomato salsa. I've been eating pretty vegetarian for the past 6 months, and really crave some good old fashioned protein in the form of beef.

I still have another round of ratatouille veg, beets, and potatoes left for me to roast. For leafy green veg and herbs, I have: baby bok choy, kong-xing tsai, mint, cilantro.

Should I be ambitious and try to make a sour cherry pie or tart on my day off? I've read so much about sour cherries but have yet to bake with them yet. When I saw them at Russo's last week, I couldn't resist. Stay tuned.

My haul from Russo's. I love summer.

2010-08-08T17:15:00.008-04:00

It does not get better than this. Well, maybe with the addition of perfectly seared midrare steak.

Whole wheat pasta topped with fresh sauce of corn, red onion, local tomatoes, orange sweets, lime, cilantro, mint, and butter.

Fresh cucumber and fennel pickles (marinade: white vinegar, brown sugar, salt, minced garlic, some fennel tops)

Roasted ratatouille vegetables: graffiti eggplant, zucchini, purple heirlooms and orange sweets

Still making: mayonnaise from scratch to dress my perfectly roasted yukon gold, red bliss, and purple potatoes.

At least I'll always know my mom loves me

2010-08-07T10:40:00.004-04:00

Nancy: mei, I adored your baby picture. so cute
me: hahah my baby picture?
are u looking at the albums?
Nancy: no, it is the one you posted on g-chat

me: HAHA mom u're ridiculous
i'm not a baby in that pic
i'm like
9 yrs old
and i don't look cute
i look really ugly!!

you and dad always just think i'm cute hahah
Nancy: okay, so dorky
me: rigiht
hahah
i guess tha'ts hwat parents are for
to love you even tho you look dorky
Nancy: to love you even thou you have bad temper, hahah

(yes, my temper is indeed quite foul)

below is the picture my mom is referring to (I'm the one on the left -.- to the right is a picture of a (male) college classmate whom I bore a striking resemblance to as a child...thanks to loren for pointing it out..."same skin tone, same face shape...same glasses" haha but different hair!)

Fast Food

2010-08-03T13:12:00.003-04:00

Local tomatoes and avocados sprinkled with salt and balsamic vinegar,, organic egg over-easy, wheat tortillas. Glass of soy milk.

Off to work I go.

Milkshake Genius (or, "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...")

2010-08-03T10:16:00.008-04:00

I have to give my boyfriend credit for this, because he is the mastermind behind this milkshake. He "invented" it, so he says. And I do have to admit that it is the best milkshake I've ever had in my life, and he makes it perfectly (except when he's teaching me how to make it--sabotage!) and the perfect amount every time. Now that he's gone I have to make them myself, and I think I've finally got it!

You can use any fruit or combination of fruit you have lying around.

Roughly, the proportions are thus:

for 1 serving...

1 cup milk
2 large heaping spoonfuls plain reduced fat yogurt
4 strawberries
1/2 banana
handful of blueberries (my friend picked them over the weekend! yum. super sweet)
2 spoons of brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp of ground cardamom
walnuts
pistachios

If necessary, add milk or yogurt to adjust consistency and blend again. Since I am not a milkshake genius, I often have to do this. And thus, I do not often make the perfect amount, so be forewarned, the above recipe will likely yield a little more than 1 serving.

The yogurt gives a wonderful tanginess and creaminess to this milkshake. The nuts also add protein and give the milkshake an amazing flavor and texture..as you will see from the green speckly goodness of the pistachios blended throughout. The cardamom is what really makes this drink a knockout. It's aroma and flavor transform this ordinary milkshake into something a bit more exotic and beautiful...like a non-Indian girl putting on a sari for the first time. Unexpectedly gorgeous. HAHA.

Anyway, this is a great way, if not the best way, to start my day...whether it's because I'm starving because I haven't had anything for lunch and dinner the day before after working the line all night. Or if I need a little boost but don't feel like eating anything before a heated yoga class...which, let's be honest, I haven't been to in over a month. : )

Enjoy!

Sunday, 7/25/10

2010-07-28T10:35:00.007-04:00

My go-to summer veggies of choice (it appears it's all I cook..)

Roasted ratatouille veggies with thyme scrambled eggs, and a spoonful of ricotta cheese sprinkled with smoked paprika. Strong coffee with a dash of pumpkin pie spice, soy milk, and a drizzle of honey.

Breakfast on our last full day together. It was a great way to start the day.

I didn't end up taking many pictures, but we went to Crane Beach in Ipswich and it was gorgeous. And then we took a really really really long walk on the beach (2 hours?) haha, during which time I collected these:

They really were not that pretty at all, but I just liked how they looked nesting like that. I had half a mind to use the large one as a soap dish. Varun made me leave them at the beach though.

Wearing and loving my new hat! The material only allows 1/50th of the sun's UV rays to penetrate the fabric. (You learn something new everyday...)

Finally, he smiles with me : )

After the beach, we drove 10 minutes to Chef Frank's Apple Street Farm in Essex, MA to attend my restaurant group's company party. During which we got extremely wasted. Coming full circle is a beautiful thing.

It's been a great ride the past 6 months!

7 hours on the Franconia Ridge Trail

2010-07-28T09:19:00.016-04:00

Franconia Notch State Park, 7/14/10

Falling Waters Trail, the 1st leg of our hike

View of Franconia Ridge from Little Haystack, the 1st summit out of 3

another view

Crossing the ridge..on the way to Mt. Lincoln

up close, little white alpine flowers

lichened rocks

These pictures don't really indicate how extremely hot and sweaty it was. I got incredibly sunburnt on my shoulders bc all of the sunscreen I applied, had basically melted off immediately.

cairns marking the trail on the ridge

the gorgeous valleys heading down Mt. Lafayette

I miss these little guys...

2010-06-14T23:35:00.001-04:00

I wanted to be a curly haired girl...

2010-06-08T08:38:00.004-04:00

And now I am. I'm still not used to it, and I'm not sure it was worth it to pay someone $$ to make my hair less shiny and silky than it used to be. I was imagining shinier loose, tousled waves, but it's okay. I like change...as anyone who's been around me the past 2 yrs knows...I like to switch up my hairstyles frequently bc I get bored very easily.

My new 'do:

Bad cam, can't help it.

I've been on a reading kick, and so far I've loved the books I've read. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is interested in these subjects but ignorant. Not only are they highly informative, they're extremly well written and riveting.

Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein
I LOVED this book. And a little in love with Warren Buffet as a result, haha. A fascinating man with extraordinary gifts.

Mr. China: A Memoir by Tim Clissold
I didn't like Mr. China as much. It was very informative but a bit harder for me to read. I got very frustrated as I read about all the obstacles the author faced and overcame in setting up joint partnerships with local businesses and factories in China. I had to take breaks in between chapters frequently bc I was a little overwhelmed by the information and sometimes had to revisit previously read chapters just to fully absorb and understand what I was reading. For anyone interested in entrepreneurial or business endeavors in China, I would highly recommend reading it.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Just started reading this. Reading about Billy Beane, the manager of the Oakland A's,and his unfortunate career as a player and conversely his success as a general manager, was reminiscent of a character in one of my top 2 favorite books of all time: the father in The Brothers K by David James Duncan (fiction). If you love to read about baseball or love the game, you'll love both of these books.

I don't know who reads this blog, but if any of my readers out there have any recommendations for good books that they love or have read recently, fiction or nonfiction, I'd love to get some suggestions for more books to read in the comments section. I haven't been reading about cooking as much as I used to, but I think it's good for me to learn more about other areas of life since cooking dominates my daily professional life so much.

As a final recommendation (hahah since i'm on a "highly recommending" role..-.-) I want to add that I have been practicing yoga semi-regularly since last August and I love it. It's not only an amazing, intense work out, it helps relieve all the stress, anger, and craziness (somewhat) that builds up from work and also just my own crazy personality. I highly recommend yoga for everyone...especially if you love going to a traditional gym. Yoga is perfect for cross training and building core strength and flexibility in ways you don't get by using machines or weights. I go to Baptiste studio in Cambridge, and I love it. http://www.baronbaptiste.com/

Singing Beach

2010-05-28T11:49:00.001-04:00

Apparently the only thing you can do at Singing Beach is be naked..haha

Beautiful blue water, wide expanse of sand.

First time wearing this fabulous dress I bought on sale from JCrew a few years ago before even the most basic dresses there became exorbitantly overpriced. Bold floral print, floaty silk. Perfect for a beach day.

Flavor of the Moment at Captain Dusty's, serving icecream in Manchester (by-the-Sea) for 350 years!
Wild Cat: butterscotch ice cream with oreo cookie swirled in. Divine.

I love it when ppl cook for me!

2010-05-06T10:25:00.003-04:00

My coworker came back home with me and we cooked the next day. Well, she cooked for me and I helped..a little. Thanks, Shari!

Thin white noodles with broiled steak marinated in teriyaki, with sauteed fresh shitakes and baby shitakes, spinach, shallots, garlic.

Spring green salad with tomatoes, chevre, croutons brushed with butter and rubbed with garlic, raspberry vinaigrette.

Sparkling grape cider.

Winter/Spring/Summer

2010-05-03T14:05:00.007-04:00

Flannel sheets/neon skirt

Enjoying my day off

My lovely roommate Kadian cooked an amazing birthday dinner for Tammy and let me tag along for the ride! Fresh clams from her coworkers in Cape Cod!!! Delicious.

Clams steamed in a broth made with pancetta, leeks, white wine, clam juice, cayenne pepper, fresh thyme, corn.

Baby arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and an olive oil/lemon juice dressing.

Things on my Spring Eating List!

2010-04-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

Strawberries
Rhubarb
Asparagus
Foraged mushrooms
Quinoa
Israeli couscous
Chinese eggplant
Basil
Ramps

I made a delicious strawberry rhubarb crisp the other day, but didn't figure it was postworthy. It's basically the only quick dessert I make, and I've decided it's high time for me to branch out a bit haha.

I like to cook the same things

2010-04-21T12:56:00.001-04:00

Sunday Dinner

Trust Me, It's Not a Glamorous Life.

2010-01-21T10:26:00.010-05:00

I'm a terrible, inconsistent, unfaithful blogger, but here is my story. I promised Vicki I'd write a blog entry on this because she wanted all the gory details. So sorry if you've heard this before, but this is going to be unmercifully long.

"Now, this is the story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became....(the fresh prince of a town called Bel-Air)"

Making the switch from working in an office setting to immersing myself in the intense world of a professional kitchen was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life. It was 9 months of intensity and 3 months of hell. My advice to people who are interested in going into the culinary world is this: before you quit your day job, contact a chef whose restaurant and work you admire and set up a stage, which is when you work at a restaurant for free for the experience (unless ofc they actually hire you, which is even better!) Do yourself a favor and do this before applying to culinary school. A lot of people who enroll in culinary school end up dropping out or not pursuing anything culinary after they've graduated. Why? Because working in a professional kitchen is intense, difficult, and requires long hours of standing on your feet and often doing very repetitive and physically strenuous work.   Guess what? You might not like it. That's information you want before dropping 45-60K on a culinary education.

For nine months I continued to work as a paralegal while dishwashing 3-4 nights a week at the restaurant. I was out the door everyday by 7:30 am, left work at 5 pm and immediately went to the restaurant to dishwash from 6 pm til close...anywhere between 1 am to after 2 am (sometimes 3 am) depending on how busy it was. I remember one time, trudging through the snow on the way to my car at three in the morning at the end of a long night, the wind biting my cheeks, smelling smelly, and wondering, "What the hell am I doing with my life?"

However, dishwashing was a good experience for me because I’d never seen the inside of a professional kitchen before, and I got to learn how the system worked in the back of the house and just get used to the rhythm and physicality of the job. Furthermore, dishwashers at the restaurant I was at were required to do a lot more than just wash dishes, pots, and pans all night. When we came in, we had to start clearing out the dishpit for the night, clean the kitchen before service, and stock up all the cooks’ stations with salt, pepper, and oils. In addition to nightly prep lists, we were also responsible for properly cooling, storing and putting away all stocks and cooked vegetables and proteins that had been sous vide-cooked during the day…and generally assisting all the line cooks in anyway possible throughout the night. I also had the opportunity to jump on gardemanger on slow nights and learn how to plate cold apps and desserts.

After nine months of dishwashing, I was “promoted” to the position of daytime prepcook, a position I held for all of three months. In those three months, however, I became proficient at prepping, seasoning, vacuum sealing (cryo-vaccing), and sous vide cooking a high volume and variety vegetables and protein. I learned more about how to make and take care of stocks (keep it at a simmer and skim skim skim!)…the foundation of all the sauces made in the restaurant. I learned how to make brines for chicken, duck, pork belly, pig head, beef tongue, sweetbreads, fish, and scallops. I helped confit chicken thighs, duck legs, beef tongue, duck chachas (testicles), and duck tongue. I put helped wash and put away the produce and maintain the walk-in along with checking in and putting away all the protein in the meat fridge. I learned a lot, and I gained invaluable experience.

Unfortunately, at the end of every day, I left feeling a little worse than I had the day before. At the time I couldn’t really put my finger on it, other than I seemed to get yelled at by everyone somehow no matter how well I completed my tasks that day. There was also a lot of miscommunication in the prep kitchen as we were still adjusting to the switch from a small restaurant that could only seat about 40 people to one that seated over 100. My direct manager often told me to prep incorrect amounts of things (12 bags of spinach, for example, when only 3-5 bags might be used) or prep the wrong things…which I would later get yelled at or reprimanded for from the more senior cooks or sous chefs.

I’m a tough girl. The most difficult part of dishwashing was simply the fact that I was working 70-80 hours a week. It was simply physically draining. But other than that, the experience was enjoyable. I got my hands on a lot of produce, learned how to work and move faster and the importance of making it happen. I also learned something about camaraderie and teamwork. I'm also proud to report that my arms and forearms in particular became ripped. (They have since gotten less muscular.)

Prepcooking was difficult in an entirely different way. I was only working 40+ hours a week. It was also less consistently strenuous…the only times I was physically worn out was on meat days when I had to haul 3-4 10 Liter buckets of 100 brined chicken breasts..or when I was putting away big meat orders. What made is so much more difficult was how emotionally and psychologically draining it was to feel like nothing I did was ever good enough. It got so bad for me that the week before I was laid off, I was convinced I was going to be fired. I knew a job posting had been put up for my exact position, although I wasn’t sure if they were just adding to the team or replacing me.   When my coworker and fellow prepcook finally said something to me at the end our day about how it seemed like everyone had a problem with me, I began to lose it. Because clearly this wasn’t just in my head…it was noticeable to other people. I left the work feeling like shit and was in tears on the T ride home. I’ve never done that before. I’ve never needed to cry at work before either. I’m a tough girl, but I had reached my limit.

Luckily, things weren’t quite as dire as I had thought. I wasn’t fired. I was laid off. And assured that I would receive a good reference from the chef.

After I was laid off, I was in shambles. I had quit my paralegal job at the law firm I had been working in for three years so I could pursue cooking full time and also so I could transition from dishwasher to daytime prepcook. I had been planning on leaving the law firm after two years to pursue my culinary dreams, but the chef told me not to do that just yet, so I ended up working an extra year as a paralegal while dishwashing.

What was I going to do now? I didn’t know if I wanted to continue working in a professional kitchen. I didn’t know if I even had what it took to hack it in this industry even if I wanted to. For the next year, I remained unemployed and confused about what direction to go in. I had a word document open with my resume with rough bullet points of what my responsibilities at the restaurant had been and an extremely rough draft of a cover letter where I began to tell my story of how I got from A to…B? I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t really sure about what I had gained from this experience or where it had taken me or would take me. For the next year, I avoided opening that word document as much as I could.

It took some time for me to rediscover my joy in cooking again…and to actually begin cooking again. I was so tired and drained that while I was working at the restaurant, I barely cooked. It took even more time for me to stop being afraid and paralyzed so I could take the plunge again and try my luck at another restaurant.

Ironically, the job posting that got me off my ass was a grill cook position at a busy café that only served breakfast and lunch. I thought to myself, “Hey, you actually have a chance of getting this job!” versus all the job postings for line cooks with 5 years of experience or culinary school degrees. I also applied to 5 other jobs in more high end restaurants. What the hell right! I was on a roll.   I was getting ready to send out applications everyday for as long as it took to get another job.

What actually happened was that a chef of a French restaurant replied to my coverletter and resume within one hour of my emailing it to him. I set up a stage to go in and trail a cook and work there through one dinner service 3 days later. At the end of service, the chef spoke with me and offered me the position.

I’m an entry level line cook on gardemanger station at a restaurant that I’m proud to work in. I’m still learning and have a lot of work to do before I master my station, but I’m getting better every day. The work environment is dramatically different than what I was used to from before. In the best possible way.

I now know that my experience at the first restaurant at my first job was not wasted. It was a critical step I had to make in order to experience further growth. It also gave me a strong work ethic and extremely high standards. I got my ass kicked working there but I also learned the importance of working cleanly, neatly, being physically and mentally organized, and the importance of keeping my knife sharp every day. I learned the importance of tasting everything. I learned how the importance of seasoning and using salt. I got to see the head chef execute his vision and how he ran his kitchen in order to achieve that vision. I got to eat some really fucking good food and watch amazingly talented cooks and chefs in action.

But, I’m glad that I can put that experience behind me and move forward. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

I can’t wait to see what the next few months and year brings.

(Also, taxpayers will be glad to know that I will no longer be receiving unemployment benefits. -.-)

Peace.

Thanksgiving Purist

2009-11-27T04:03:00.003-05:00

Because of my gluttonous tendencies, I actually can't say no to the Chinese side of the buffet. However, when it comes to my favorite holiday of the year, I really prefer to delve into the butter laden, creamy, richness of all the beloved side dishes that are indispensable alongside pieces of turkey drowned in gravy. This is the only time of the year that I eat this type of food and I want to eat as much of it as I can while it lasts.

I know that there are all sorts of fancy recipes for stuffing and mashed potatoes and exotically spiced turkey brines. At the end of the day, I like my mashed potatoes simple. Potatoes boiled and mashed to a perfect consistency with butter, hot milk, and salt. Hold the garlic, the cheese, the bacon, the spices, the herbs. As predictable as it is, I think I also prefer the boring, traditional savory, sage, onions, and celery stuffing over anything fancier. Candied sweet potatoes need nothing else but brown sugar, maple syrup (or molasses as my aunt uses with resounding success), and butter. They don't need to be whipped baked twiced, just sliced into wedges or discs and baked to a baked til soft all the way through to a burnished glossyness and cararmelized-edged perfection. The turkey can be more elaborately prepared or brined in a more interesting fashion...whatever it takes for the breast meat to be juicy and not overdone. Leave the turducken at home.

This year, I made jap chae noodles (at the request of my mother) and Alton Brown's recipe for green bean casserole from scratch.

It was actually super easy to make. I was surprised that I had some issues with his recipe. 2 medium onions wasn't enough to cover the beans satisfactorily while adding 1/4 of them to the mushroom bechamel sauce. Tossing the sliced onions in flour and panko crumbs was an ineffective method of coating the onions with breading. In fact, the flour barely stuck on. Roasting them at an insanely high 475 degrees for 30 minutes also achieved nothing but shrinking the onions next to nothing and burning the edges 10 minutes into the allotted roasting time. Next time I'll use my head and revise accordingly. I ended up salvaging 2/3 of the onions which I sprinkled in a sparse layer on top. I then sliced 2 more onions, coated them with flour, and deep fried them in small batches. The casserole was good but a little on the bland side. Next time I would add more salt to the mushroom sauce. The sauce needs to be highly seasoned so they can thinly coat the bland green beans. I might also salt the blanching water more heavily for the beans next time as well.

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

Pictures to come.

I have been cooking..

2009-11-26T16:56:00.004-05:00

..just forgetting to take accompanying pictures.

This is my 5th time making jap chae this month and I feel like
I finally have the flavor profile correct (at least I think. I'm going
to make it again for a friend of mine who is Korean so she can
give me some input on adjusting flavor.

Note: I took the picture using an old camera that has horrible
picture quality. Colors do not show through and everything
is dark and almost sepia toned. We can pretend it's a picture
from the 70's or something -.-

Upcoming..

2009-10-06T16:56:00.000-04:00

Tarte Tatin: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/10/tokaji-for-your-tarte-tatin.html

Farmer Market Mondays!

2009-09-22T17:12:00.004-04:00

I've been seriously craving white rice with tasty chinese/asian stir-fry recently. At the end of the day, I'm still a noodle-slurping, rice-shovelling, soy sauce lovin' girl at heart. Western dishes and pastas and big hunks of protein to carve on your plate are tasty but still not my favorite things to eat on a daily basis. So, even while loading up on late season heirlooms (50 cents/lb pricier this week than last!), I was inevitably seduced by the asian veg stand. Beautifully young, light green and glossy, not-too-bitter baby bitter melons and tender dark green leafy bunches of chinese broccoli were calling to me. In my bag they went. Along with a splotchy enormous bouquet of intensely aromatic basil.

Check it out:

(left) Sirloin Steak Stir-fry w. Bitter Melon, Orange Peppers, and a smattering of Habanero Pepper

(right) Chinese Eggplant w. Basil, Garlic, Soy Sauce/Sugar/Lime

I am a pro at making Chinese eggplant with basil. I perfected this when I was stirfrying enormous quantities of it for my friend, Monisha's wedding rehearsal dinner. The trick is, to saute on very high heat with just enough oil and tons of garlic..and then adding small amounts of water to aid the softening process. Cover with lid for a while, before taking it off so that it doesn't continue to steam. You want the eggplant so get cooked through and soft without adding tons and tons of oil for it to absorb into a greasy mess. Then 2 minutes b4 it's done cooking, add soy sauce, a spoonful of sugar, a tsp or so of lime juice and continue to adjust the flavor until it's balanced to your taste. The eggplant at this point should be pretty dry in the pan and caramelized in some places. Add a fistful of freshly picked basil for about a minute and turn off heat. Stir until fully wilted. The aroma of the dish should be knocking you dead.

(repeat) Israeli Couscous w. Roasted Grape and Orange Sweet Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Basil, Scallion. This was such a tasty dish I had to make it again. Esp while the tomatoes are still good.

In the very background, note the yellow and pink streaked sunset-y slices of heirloom resting on a small plate. this heirloom is called a "Pineapple." this tomato seriously tasted as sweet as candy. def more fruit than veggie tasting. My cousin, Jess, did not love it bc it wasn't tomato-y enough for her...which I took to mean not acidic enough. There is no tangy acidity to balance out the sugars. I enjoyed eating these sweet slices with a smattering of coarse sea salt sprinkled on top to sort of pique the flavor a bit.

Roasted Grape/Orange Sweets w. Garlic for our snacking pleasure.

Jess's Farmer's Market Birthday Dinner

2009-09-15T23:05:00.019-04:00

Nectarine Crisp
Equipment: 9x13 casserole dish (or baking pan)
Fruit: 3lbs+ nectarines and yellow peaches (1.5 lbs is ~4 large nectarines...we used 5 each, 10 total)
(1/2 pint raspberries)
(1 large crisp/sweet apple : Honey Crisp) <= we added extra fruit for color, variety of flavor and texture. optional.

Filling:
-1/4 cup sugar (I used half white/half brown sugar. you could use all white or all brown. I only used 1/4 cup bc the fruit itself was very sweet, and I prefer fruit desserts to be on the tangy side anyway. If you're using a more tart fruit, like say, grannysmith apples, you can up the amount to 1/3 or 1/2 depending on how sweet you'd like to go)
-3 Tbsp flour (I added 1.5 extra Tbsp on top of this + a bit more sugar bc I added the apples later and they needed to get tossed in some of the flour/sugar mixture too)
-1/8-1/4 tsp ground ginger (to taste..I used a few sparing sprinkles, probably could have used more..up to you how strong you want the spice to be..i mainly wanted to showcase the flavor of the fruit)
-pinch salt

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1.5 sticks unsalted butter (if cold from fridge, microwave for 10-12 seconds to soften the stick slightly)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cut/prep fruit to desired size. I kept them in big chunks. The apple I cut a little smaller bc the fruit is harder...that way the cooking time won't vary so much.
-In a med bowl, thoroughly mix the flour/sugar/spices
-Place all fruit in casserole dish and sprinkle/toss the flour/sugar/spice mixture, evenly coating all of the fruit. Just tumble in the raspberries after first tossing the sturdier fruit and toss them very gently so they don't get too crushed.
-Make the topping: in a bowl, thoroughly combine 1 cup each of the brown sugar, flour, and oats. Then add the slightly softened 1.5 sticks of butter and smash together, rubbing with fingers until you get crumbles. If the you've overworked it and the crumbles are too soft bc the butter is sort of melting, put the topping mixture back into the fridge for 10-15 min to chill a bit.
-Distribute crisp topping evenly over the fruit.
-Bake on middle rack of oven @ 350 for 45-50 min.
-To keep warm before serving, put crisp in oven on lowest oven setting 100-170 degrees.

Heirloom Tomato Salad
Jess and I were looking for a variety of flavors, colors, and sizes. The best way to cut the tomatoes is to showcase their size and distinguishing characteristics. For the smaller, striped tomatoes, little wedges showcase the seeds/flesh and also the skin. For huge tomatoes, you want to show off the size gorgeous red and patterns inside when you cut them into big round steak-like slices.

-Green and Red Zebra: for their beautiful colors and striped skin. these tomatoes are known for their lemony acidity
-yellow tomatoes (name unknown): they were really ripe and pretty. not the best flavor as it turns out, but still okay
-Aussie: the gargantuan deeply red tomato, with good old fashioned ripe tomato flavor. the sign said it has "good balance of sugars and acids"
-Orange Sweets: the orange cherry tomatoes that tasted like candy
-red grape tomatoes: these were from Russo's not the Central Sq. farmer market, still tasty

We bought enough for 2 slices of each of the smaller tomatoes + 1 large slice of the big red Aussie. All were bt $2-3/lb. We bought 1 pint of the orange sweets for the couscous salad and save a few for the red leaf lettuce salad.

Red Leaf Lettuce Salad
-washed, torn into bite size pieces, spun dry
-chopped herbs (parsely, mint, basil)
-halved cherry/grape tomatoes
-balsamic dressing: equal parts EVOO + balsamic vinegar, 1.5 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

Pearl Couscous Salad w. Roasted Tomatoes
Adapted from: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/pearly-whites/

-We doubled the recipe. Instead of using chicken broth to cook the couscous, Jess toasted the couscous in some oil first before adding water to cook them. I forgot to include the kalamata olives, although I am sure that would have been an extremely tasty addition.
-Decided to use cheaper grape tomatoes to make the pureed roasted tomato dressing. The other tomatoes that we mixed in with the couscous at the end were a combo of grape + orange sweets, roasted in the oven for 250 for 1 hour tossed lightly with olive oil, a few whole cloves of garlic, and generously salted.

Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb w/ herb/spiced/butter crust
boneless leg of lamb (I bought a huge 6 lb-er from McKinnon's in Davis Sq on Elm St)
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup mint
1 cup pitted green olives (Goya makes the cheapest. and there is no red pepper stuffed in)
1 stick butter (softened to room temp)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp ground fennel seed (optional. i love fennel though so i added it)
2 tsp paprika (i only had smoked paprika on hand, it's a more assertive flavor though)
1 tsp cayenne (if you want to add some spice)
1 Tbsp coarse kosher salt

-Put all the rub ingredients into a food processor and blend til it looks like a poopy pesto.
-Rinse and pat dry your leg of lamb. Place on platter. Generously salt and pepper both sides.
-Using your hands/spatula, slather the lamb all over with the spiced herb butter rub. Bc the leg of lamb I got was so huge, I cut slits into the fattiest side so I could stuff the rub in. I also ended up cutting the roast in half bc it was too huge.
-Place lamb into a large ziploc bag. Make as airtight as possible. Put into another bag or container in case of spillage/leakage.
-Marinate in fridge overnight or at least 6-8 hours.
-Remove from fridge 30 min roasting time.
-Roast on high heat @ 425 for 20 min
-Lower temperature to 350 and roast for another hour (maybe less...)

Note: I overcooked mine. I would consult this link (and others online) and/or invest in a meat thermometer if you want to get that perfect rosy red interior for a medium rare roast..which is what I was hoping for..(oops!):

http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001720roast_leg_of_lamb.php

I also was not hardcore enough to put the roast directly onto the oven rack...plus I think I had a much messier marinade to deal with.

Recipe loosely adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/olive-and-spice-rubbed-leg-of-lamb-recipe/index.html

Earl Grey Panna Cotta (4-6 servings: I doubled this recipe for 10 ppl and I had a lot of leftovers)
3 cups cream (I used half heavy cream/ half whole milk..to make it less rich, increase proportion of whole milk)
1 pkg (aka 2 tsp) of gelatin (the amount of gelatin per pkg varies. i always measure)
1 tsp v. extract (I used only 1/2 tsp bc I didn't want it to overpower the Earl Grey flavor)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
5 bags of Earl Grey tea

-1 cup cream in medium saucepan, sprinkle 1 pkg (2 tsp) gelatin, stirring constantly on low heat til completely dissolved
-Add remaining cups of cream+sugar+vanilla extract. Medium heat, stirring constantly til sugar dissolved. Put in 5 tea bags.
-Once mixture begins to steam, turn off heat, cover the saucepan with a lid and let steep for 15-30 min. Taste to make sure the tea flavor is strong/to your liking.
-Pour into small ramekins/cups/etc.
-Chill til panna cotta is set. Approx 4 hours...at least.

On the horizon..

2009-09-09T12:46:00.003-04:00

(1) Sunday Night Dinner and a Movie: Spaghetti Carbonara, Peach Cobbler, white wine?

(2) My cousin Jessica's 25th birthday dinner on Monday 9/14.
Theme: local, seasonal, famer market produce
Menu Ideas
Starters: salad or some sort
Main: ?
Sides: Israeli Couscous + Oven-dried Tomatoes and Basil
Dessert: Necatarine Crisp/Galette, Earl Grey Panna Cotta

Red Cooked Salmon

2009-07-22T16:25:00.003-04:00

Mise en Place
3-4 cloves garlic, large mince (I like lots of big chunks of garlic for this dish, it's up to you)
1.5-2 inch length chunk of ginger, thinly sliced 2-inch sticks
2 scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces (white and green parts)
2 thai chilis, thinly sliced rounds

soy sauce
white vinegar
sugar
water

2 fillets of salmon (usually boneless, skin on), scaled, rinsed, patted dry with paper towels (gently)

Directions:

Drizzle enough canola/olive oil to cover bottom of large wok. Heat on high til drop of water dances when flicked onto oil. Carefully place salmon fillets skin-side down. Sear on high-med high heat for 3-4 minutes until browned. Do not move the salmon around in the pan while its browning. Gently flip. Turn down heat a little. Now add all of the aromatics into the oil (spreading them around/bt the salmon fillets evenly.) Drizzle soy sauce over the aromatics. Add some water so that it's not overwhelmingly salty and to create more sauce. Pour a little vinegar. Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning/flavor. You want a balance between the saltiness of the soy, sweetness of the sugar, and acidity from the vinegar. Stir to make sure vin/sugar are incorporated into the soy sauce. Adjust heat so the sauce is simmering but not boiling furiously. Cover wok with lid and allow to gently cook and steam for another 4-6 minutes until fish is cooked through.

I make the same dish with shell-on shrimp. If you have some leftover red wine or a bottle of whiskey on hand, add a bit of that as well to the sauce as you're making it.

It's one of my favorite Chinese things to cook.

Summer Favorite

2009-07-20T22:09:00.008-04:00

Roasted Veg: 415 degrees, ~30 minutes

3 green zucchinis
3 summer squashes
3 chinese eggplants

Dice into 1 inch cubes, toss on 2 baking sheets with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika (optional)

Broiled Sirloin Tips: Broil 3-4 minutes per side for med rare

Spice Rub:
brown sugar 2 (Tbsp)
chipotle powder 1
smoked paprika 1
kosher salt 1

Allow meat to rest a few minutes before slicing. Pour juices from pan all over sliced meat.

Berry Tart

2009-07-16T14:21:00.005-04:00

Recipe: http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001993berry_tart.php

I love Elise's blog, Simply Recipes. Most of my best dinners for Rosie's Place came from her blog..great tex-mex foods from scratch (black bean sauce with chicken enchiladas, lime-cilantro marinated chicken, black bean and fresh corn salad, etc etc). Her recipes are tried and true and always reliable.

I've made many successful pie crusts and have got the hang of making pie dough, but sweet tart dough has eluded me for some time now. I've made a lot of tarts...and have never gotten the crust right...am sort of stubborn about making pastry by hand using nothing but a bowl and my handy pastry blender (or forks) as opposed to a food processor. I just think that if grandmas used to do it by hand 100s of years ago without the aid of electronic equipment, then we can do it too.

I gave in. Since I can't get the dough right by hand, I finally decided to use a the food processor...needed to get this right on the first try.

Good bakers need a light touch and cool hands, and I have very hot hands when I get going. I get nervous about getting it just right and start sweating. I have trouble cutting the butter into the flour quickly and efficiently without overprocessing the dough. The great thing about using food processors is that with a few pulses, the butter is broken up into small lumps and distributed throughout the flour very quickly. From there you add the cold water, pulse a few more times, and your dough is ready to roll into a ball and chill in the fridge to rest the glutens in the flour before rolling it out and draping it into your tart pan.

My tart crust looks nothing like the one in the blog, but I love the substitution of a 1/4 cup of almond meal + the addition of almond extract into the ice water. The dough was speckled and had a fabulous mild, almondy fragrance once it all came together and I couldn't resist a few tastes of the dough.

I used leftover lemon syrup I had made (instead of the marmalade mixture specified in the recipe) for glazing the berries before pouring them into the baked crust.

It's super easy to make and is beautiful to look at. Also very patriotic and perfect for a July 4th celebration : )

The crust came out crumbly and tender. Slightly sweet. Hint of almond.

Mayonnaise from Scratch

2009-07-14T09:08:00.002-04:00

1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp water
1 tsp lemon juice (i usually add a little more)
1 large yolk (fresh, organic)
1 cup canola oil

whisk salt, water, lemon juice. add yolk. dribble in the oil drop by drop to begin. whisk. continue drizzling oil in slowly while whisking continuously.

i'm still not totally used to homemade mayo vs. helmann's. from scratch, your mayo is going to have a lemony yellow color..different from the creamy off-white color you're used to from the jarred stuff. i was paranoid the first few times of making this that it would spoil very quickly (it keeps for 1 week), so I added more lemon juice to increase the acidity. i like the tang. i've used the homemade stuff to make the following:

(1)buttermilk ranch dressing (1 c buttermilk, 1/2 c mayo, 1 tsp lemon juice, mustard powder, paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, parsely, dill, freshly snipped chives)

(2) basil green goddess dressing (1 cup each mayo, sour cream, scallions, basil, 1/4 c lemon juice, 2 tsp garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper).

both were fabulous. i love that these dressings are not glunky like the bottled stuff but have a thinner, more liquidy texture. less overpoweringly creamy. i also like that i can make as much or as little as i want. i hate reaching into my fridge for old bottles of stuff.

Sneak Peek

2009-06-24T22:38:00.007-04:00

Next Thurs, catering my friend's wedding rehearsal dinner at her house. Stay tuned!

Drinks
Pineapple agua fresca

~~Watermelon agua fresca~~

Pimm's Cup cocktail (Pimm's No. 1 + lemon-lime soda/gingerale)

Salads/Sides
Roasted Sweet Potato Fries
Black bean and fresh corn salad (+ tomatoes, scallions, avocado, lime) ~~w. tortilla chips~~
Butter lettuce Salad w. Basil Green Goddess dressing

Main
BBQ'd Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
(pulled chix breast meat simmered in molasses-spiced bbq sauce on bulkie rolls)

Thai Crazy Noodles
(wide rice noodles, thai basil, chinese eggplant, orange peppers, seasoned w. fishsauce, soy, sugar, lime, thai chilies)

After Dinner
Berry Tart
Vanilla bean lemon straws

~~Moroccan mint tea~~

Inspirations/Copy-cat: Matt Bites, Ina Garten, Elise of Simply Recipes

Home cooking

2009-06-18T19:43:00.005-04:00

What experienced home cooks all know is that having a well stocked pantry and the right basic equipment are the most essential "ingredients" you need to increase the likelihood of trying out some fantastic recipe you saw online somewhere or throw together a quick meal when you get home from work exhausted. Without certain basics at your fingertips, you'll probably be forced to order in, go out, or throw on a pot of water for yet another bowl of ramen for lack of a better alternative.

Which is why I love the state of my current pantry. I never lack for the following:

Fridge
-garlic
-scallions
-lemon/lime
-whatever veggies are seasonal (currently: zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers)
-broccoli, carrots
-eggs

Freezer
-thai chilis
-habanero peppers
-basil (homegrown, stored in saran-wrapped rolls)
-sliced ginger
-chix breast
-(salmon, sometimes)

Condiments
-soy sauce
-fish sauce
-mirin
-sesame oil
-salt/sugar/peppercorns
-evergrowing collection of all manner of spices

With these, I can make feasts. Healthy, vegetable-based feasts. With a liiitle bit of protein. And I can further hone my Asian cooking skills since my pantry is so ideally stocked to make Chinese and Southeast Asian fare. I love these foods bc of the interplay bt sweet, salty, sour, hot in Southeast Asian cuisine. The flavors are vibrant and multidimensional, exciting the palate in surprising and complex ways.

So...I was about to make another boring (typical) Yang family chicken stirfry dish (albeit..quite delicious), when I realized I had everything on hand, except the string beans, to make one of my favorite Thai dishes, "Gai Pad Krapow," which consists of ground chicken stir fried in a ton of chopped garlic, chilis, ginger, seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and tons of basil. No way for that to not taste amazing.

Gai Pad Krapow (a very bastardized version, I'm sure. I need to find a real Thai mother/grandmother to teach me these things : )

-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 thai chilis, thinly sliced
-1/2 inch chunk of ginger, minced
-2 scallions, thinly sliced
-1 bunch basil (I used frozen bc that's what I had on hand, ideally)
-2 boneless chix breast, ground
-1 Tb nam pla (fish sauce) + 1 Tb lime juice + 2 tsp sugar (add a bit more to taste if necessary)

Here, take a look at my mise en place (minus the chicken):

Directions:
1) Heat oil in wok, on high. Throw in garlic/chilis/ginger til just getting a bit golden.
2) Add ground chicken + nam pla/lime/sugar. Break up meat with spatula.
3) I added 1 spoonful of cornstarch here bc there was way too much liquid bubbling up. Heresy? I don't know. But I liked how the cornstarch made the liquid go away and condense into a more reduced, glossy sauce to cling around the chicken.
4) Add scallions and basil til wilted.
5) Remove from heat.

Again, like I said, I have the shittiest most yellow dim lighting in my kitchen. This is as good as it's gonna get:

The Art to Roasting Chicken?

2009-03-24T13:03:00.004-04:00

The past few times I've roasted chicken, I've under roasted slightly. For fear of over roasting.

Another go at it today.

Seasoniong: 1 T salt, 1 T fennel seeds, 1 tsp cayenne, tons of fresh cracked black pepper
Cavity: small bunch of thyme
Surrounding veg: baby red potatoes, carrots, garlic cloves (not peeled)
Prep: (1) Liberally rain the spice/salt mixture all over the chicken, inside the cavity and out. (2) Tie the drumstick together with twine. Tuck the wings behind the chicken. (3) Place in roasting pan. Drizzle a little olive oil and toss potatoes and arrange around the bird. Season lightly with salt and pepper. (4) One final sprinkle of salt on top of the chicken and then into the oven.

Goal: A crisp, golden, salty skin. Tender, falling off the bone meat. Golden potatoes swimming in chicken jus, soft caramelized garlic encased in papery husks

Checking Done-ness: Bird should be golden. Cut off the twine. Wiggle the drumstick. If it is a bit loose, wiggles very freely, it's most likely done. Poke a chopstick into the deepest part of the thigh. Juices should run clear.

What I've discovered: Due to the quirks of my oven (heat streams out of the upper right stove top burner), I have learned that I need to keep my bird (usually about 3-3.5 lbs) in the oven at 425 for what seemed to me an unusually long time--approx 1 hour and 15 minutes--in order to achieve the desired falling-off-the-bone tenderness.

I've experimented putting lemons in the cavity, brushing melted butter on the skin (basting seems totally unnecessary as it ruins any chance of the skin becoming crispy if you're continually brush juices over it...plus, every time you open that oven, the temp lowers significantly), haven't rubbed herbed butter underneath the skin yet due to laziness but i'd like to try it just to see the difference.

I love asian food, but sometimes, there is nothing better than picking apart a roast chicken with your fingers. For me, the fennel seeds and potatoes are the clinchers.

(Also, love using the carcass to make a richly flavored chicken broth the next day to go with thin noodles or white rice.)

Creme Caramel (bc it's French and sounds prettier than just "flan")

2009-03-23T21:06:00.009-04:00

I forgot to take a shot before portioning it. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It was pretty, pale yellow with a glistening burnished top layer. Lighting is bad, plate is bad. And it's all cut up. Sorry! Use your imaginations.

So, I love desserts, but am not really a chocolate cake kind of gal. Creme brulee, cheesecake, fruit tarts/pies, ice creams, sorbet are more my speed. Every now and then I might want a chocolate molten cake (like at Finale's) but generally...I'm more into custard.

I think ideally, you're supposed to use a mix of heavy cream and whole milk...to get a more richness and a more luscious texture. But since I hardly ever find a way to use up all the leftover heavy cream, I just made do with using only whole milk. It's just as tasty but obviously lighter, not as rich.

This recipe is not difficult, but it can be time consuming if you don't plan ahead and make sure you have all your equipment ready. As with anything, read the recipe ahead of time and make sure you have all your bowls and saucepans and sieves and waterbath in readiness so that you're not wasting time trying to find stuff. Also, if you need to make a dessert for a dinner or event, you would have to make this either the day before or early on in the day to give it enough time to chill after the hour long bake.

Creme Caramel Recipe:

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rack in the middle of the oven.
-Make sure you have equipment for your waterbath in readiness: a baking pan or roasting pan and plenty of hot water to create a water bath.
-Have your loaf pan ready on the side for when you need it (or ramekins).

In a saucepan, heat til scalding hot:
-3 cups whole milk (or 2 parts heavy cream, 1 part whole milk)
-1 vanilla bean, split, scraped

In a medium bowl, slowly whisk until well combined
-3 yolks
-2 eggs
-1 cup granulated sugar
-pinch salt

Combining the milk and eggs to make the custard:
Once the milk/v.bean mixture is scalding hot (stick your finger in. should be too hot to the touch. you'll see small bubbles on edges of saucepan), pick up the saucepan with your left hand and slowly pour into the bowl with the yolk/sugar mixture while whisking continuously with your right hand. This is called tempering. If you pour the hot milk all in at once and/or do so without whisking continuously, the hot milk will scramble the eggs mixture.

Strain the custard through a sieve into another bowl. Set aside and allow to cool while making your caramel.

Making the Caramel:
-1/2 cup sugar, H20 to dissolve

In a small saucepan, pour in 1/2 cup of sugar and add a bit of water to dissolve some of the sugar. Cook on med high/high heat until the sugar has bubbled into a dark brown syrupy caramel. Need to keep your eye on it--it happens fast. Remove saucepan from stove top immediately once desired dark amber color is achieved.

To bake:
Pour the caramel into the loaf pan. Next, pour all of the custard in.

Make a waterbath:
Put the loaf pan into the roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water til it reaches halfway up the loaf pan. The waterbath allows the custard to cook evenly and gently in the oven without scrambling. Cover the entire roasting pan with aluminum foil. Carefully slide into the oven and cook for 55-60+ minutes. It takes less time when you bake them in ramekins. Around the 55-60 minute mark, check the creme caramel. Take a peek and jiggle very gently. It's probably not done at this point. But it's probably almost there. If it still looks liquidy and not fully set, cover back up with aluminum foil and set timer at 10 minute intervals. I ended up baking mine for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

When the custard looks set, test by sticking a knife in the middle of the flan. It should come out cleanly.

Remove the entire roasting pan from oven when custard is set. Take off the aluminum foil. Allow the creme caramel to cool in the waterbath. Then remove from the waterbath, cover with plastic wrap and put in your fridge for at least an hour or 2 to chill.

To serve:
Take a knife and run it around the edges of the loaf pan. Place a large plate on top of the loaf pan and quickly flip over. Do it quickly so that you don't get the caramel sauce running all over the place.

The texture came out like perfect young silken tofu. Very delicate. Next time I make this I may decrease slightly the amount of sugar used.

Recipe credit:
Joanne Chang's recipe as found here:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/creme_caramel.aspx

Showstopper: Citrus Salad with Vanilla Bean Syrup and Mint

2009-02-23T11:45:00.008-05:00

Hello. Simple, beautiful, palate-cleansing, delicate, sweet. This "dish" involves no real cooking, and has the added bonus of wowing people under protest (All I did was cut up some citrus fruit!)

I felt bad bringing this to Vivian's surprise bday potluck dinner last night because I really did not have anything in my house that I could cook an entree or appetizer with. Problem was that I didn't have a car. I had planned on doing a last minute run to buy ingredients. At the very least, I could do a simple but tasty stirfry. Without my car though, this was what I had on hand 2 hours before go-time:

-2 sweet potatoes
-a bag of yellow onions
-frozen chicken breasts in the freezer
-bag of old carrots
-carton of leftover chicken stock
-not enough time to make anything with any of the above
-half a head of napa
-head of bibb lettuce
-bananas
-1 ruby red grapefruit
-3 blood organes
-honey tangerines (for my grandparents)...2 of which I ended up using

...ergo, Citrus Salad. I made this for my belated bday dinner party last year and it was a wonderful palate cleanser...but this time I didn't have as much citrus fruit as before. Still, I had to bring *something right?

Without further ado, the recipe:

Citrus Salad with Vanilla Bean Syrup and Mint

Having great ingredients is half the battle. The other half of the battle is having a really really sharp knife. Without a sharp knife, you'll bruise the fruit, crush the cells of the citrus fruit, thus crushing out too much juice in the process, and end up with ugly, haggard, bedraggled citrus segments. You want clean, cute little slices...with minimal juice dripping from your hand as you go along.

Salad:
-1 ruby red grapefruit
-3 blood oranges
-2 honey tangerines

Sauce:
-1 vanilla bean, split, scraped
-1/2 cup granulated white sugar
-1/2 cup water
-1-2 tsp leftover blood orange+tangerine juices

Garnish:
-fresh mint

Equipment:
-REALLY SHARP KNIFE

Directions:

1) To make the simple syrup, in a small saucepan, add 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water. Take 1 vanilla bean, split, scrape out the gooey black seeds. Chuck the v. bean seeds in with the sugar/water mixture.

2) Stir on med or med-low heat til all sugar has dissolved and consistency of liquid is slightly thicker..syrupy. Then take off heat. Takes about 5 minutes tops.

3) Pour into a container and chill to room temp. I put it in a freezer and shook it up to help it cool down faster. If the vanilla beans are still clumped up and not dispersed in pretty black speckles all throughout the sauce, then take a whisk and whisk it a bit until the v. beans are well incorporated.

4) Set v.bean simple syrup aside til ready to serve.

5) With your really sharp knife, supreme (segment) each citrus fruit, working over a different bowl/plate for each type of citrus. Alot of juices will come out while you do this. Keep the plates/juices/diff citrus separate from each other at first, so you can decide later how much you want to use of each juice. Keep in mind that grapefruit will leak the most. Since grapefruit is the most bitter and stringent tasting citrus, you probably don't want very large quantities of the grapefruit juice mingling with the blood orange/tangerine juice. (Well, you might. But I didn't. Personal pref.)

Here's how:

-Cut off both ends of the citrus fruit so that the fruit sits flat on your cutting board. You want the fruit to be exposed on both ends. Make sure to cut enough off so that no membrane or pith is showing on either end. You want the meat of the citrus fruit to show.

-Take really sharp knife, and cut the pith off the fruit methodically, making sure to cut the pith off in slices thick enough so that no membrane is showing.

Doing this neatly, efficiently, and without wasting too much fruit in the process, takes a little practice. It's all in the motion of your knife.

6) Find a nice big serving platter: you don't want to pile the fruit on top of each other. Pick a plate with enough surface area to spread the fruit out a bit. White is a good contrast to the gorgeous colors.

After you're done segmenting the various citrus, using clean hands, gently transfer all of the fruit onto the serving platter, leaving the juices behind. Pour a bit of the blood orange and honey tangerine juice on top, using your best judgment. More juice will leech out while they rest. You don't want your citrus to be swimming in all the unnecessary juices.

Reserve 1-2 tsp of both orange juices to add to vanilla bean simple syrup if you want. I did. I don't like waste. I drank the rest. (Or save for other uses. Sorbet? Granita? Vinaigrette?)

7) When ready to serve, sprinkle fresh chopped mint all over the citrus. Drizzle vanilla bean simple syrup to taste. Keep it on the side for people to add more if they want.

8) Let the compliments roll.

Long and verbose for something simple, but when it comes to simple things, the little details add up. If the fruit isn't cut well, if there's too much liquid, if there's no mint, no v. bean, the subtle variations in flavor that make this so tasty to eat will be gone. The difference between good and great is the interplay between tart/sweet/bitter/herbal mintiness/mellow, round flavor of the vanilla. Oh yea. I didn't have any fresh mint in the house, so I asked Dave (my ride) if we could swing by a Shaw's on the way there. Problem solved.

Enjoy.

bad picture. the best i have.

To do:

2008-03-26T11:32:00.002-04:00

1) Buy vanilla beans in bulk
2) Make preserved lemons
3) Practice making gingerbread
4) Finish at least 2 books on my reading list before April 5

2007-04-10T08:37:00.000-04:00

Cooking as Therapy (4/3/07)

Mimosa Braised Chicken: http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/03/my-first-recipe.html

Braising liquid: 3/4 cup champagne, 1/4 cup fresh OJ, 1/4 cup Grand Marnier, 1 tsp soy sauce

Aromatics: 2 stalks sliced scallions, 2 crumbled hot dried red peppers

Seasoning: salt and fresh ground pepper on chicken

Frozen Dark Chocolate Mousse: http://orangette .blogspot.com/2005/07/on-misunderstood-mousse-and-girl-who.html

6 egg yolks, heavy cream, caramel, 7 oz of dark Scharffen Berger chocolate (70% cacao)

Penne w/ Zucchini Fennel Garlic Tomato Sauce

2007-03-22T15:39:00.000-04:00

No pictures. In an effort to utilize my produce before it begins sprouting in my fridge, I decided to use my extremely old bulb of fennel and a zucchini that'd been hanging around a bit too long to add to my pasta. I dribbled in some jammy beaujolais nouveau into my tomato sauce to give the sauce more depth and flavor, but I think I could have added more. I like drinking fruity soft wines like b.n. as an everyday wine. I recenltly bought a $6.50 pinot noir from this wine shop near my apt, so we'll see how that pans out. I've been reading from the bible lately...the wine bible, that is. I really want to try more Italian wines and compare notes on them (chianti, lambrusco, barolo, nebbiolo). Also, interested in learning more about French wines. Had a delicious Chateuneuf-du-Pape at Pigalle when I went there for restaurant week with my Mom, Jess and Steph. C-d-P had a distinct raspberry flavor, not sweet though, and a bit herbal and acidic.

Tonight, I'm going to make egg noodles with goat cheese cream sauce, basil and walnuts.

2007-03-02T06:35:00.001-05:00

The Orange Diet.

I've been subsisting on a strange diet of bananas, coffee yogurt, whole wheat pita + hummus, hot salsa + Lays chips, cranberry juice, grapefruit, lemon and various other yellow/orange/blush colored foods (butternut squash, orange bell peppers).

my favorite snack: (too bad freaking Shaw's @ Porter Sq charges $4.99/lb for orange bellpeppers! I am outraged! I paid $2.99/lb for 4 peppers last week and that was a SALE...I need to hit up MarketBasket)

On deck: yams, cantaloupe, pummelo. Last night I cooked up some rainbow chard (same as swiss chard but with vari-colored stems instead of just the usual scarlet) a dark leafy green whose magenta, bright fuschia, and yellow stems have enchanted me since I first spotted them on lexculinaria's blog.

I sauted the greens in olive oil, garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt. They tasted good, except next time, I'll probably chop off more of the stems which I neglected to do since I was completely seduced by their color.

Stems are rather tough, but, hey, at least I can skip the Metamucil.

Although none of these foods are unhealthy in and of themselves (except the chips), as a whole, I think they are wreaking havoc with my digestive system. Too acidic or something. I woke up at 5:30 am with an aching stomach. (Then again, could be the fact that after dinner I decided to eat a huge bowl of noodles tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, and scallions right before going to bed.)

---

Wednesday Night Cocktails: Coconut Rum Sunrises (OJ+cranberry juice+cocorum+a lil bubbly; the drink was much prettier in person! rosy and misty)

---

Curious about making chocolate pudding:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/230485
http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2006/12/10/the-often-maligned-chocolate-pudding/
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

Damn the weekly archiving of NYTimes articles (which includes recipes..specifically Mark Bittman's minimalist chocolate pudding recipe I'd been meaning to cut and paste onto a document for myself)

2007-02-22T19:00:00.001-05:00

This is America...so SPEAK ENGLISH: "I'd like a...

...Wiz Wit', please."

Translation: "Philly cheesesteak smothered in Cheese Wiz wit' onions"

You stand in a long line that wraps around the building. When it's your turn, you step up humbly to the window and order the cheesecake of your preference. To speed the order process up, you must use a sort of vernacular shorthand, aka you must "speak English." If you mess up, they get annoyed. (If this sounds familiar, you might be recalling the famous Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld.)

BEAST.

That's me (see above), one happy camper enjoying my wiz wit' in all its gooey orange synthetic cheese splattered glory.

My signature stirfry:

2007-02-21T19:23:00.000-05:00

Fennel, scallions, onions, butternut squash are your friends.

2007-02-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

Lemon Cream Pasta w/ Broccoli and Kielbasa

1/2 box of bowtie pasta
1 crown broccoli cut into florets
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/4 cup light cream
the zest of 2 lemons (I used juice of 1/2 of a lemon)
2 small yellow onions diced
1 rice bowlful of diced kielbasa
2 stalks scallions diced
2 cloves garlic minced finely
1/4 tsp (a little less actually) dijon mustard
1 cup grated parmesiano reggiano
salt, pepper to taste

I had been craving a rich creamy lemony white pasta dotted with bright green bites of broccoli and salty smokey tidbits of pink sausage.

Here we go.

Fill a large pot with water and salt generously. Boil pasta according to direcitons on box. (about 10-13 minutes) Keep an eye on your pasta while you prep everything else. When pasta is al dente, drain water reserving some of the starchy pasta water in case your cream pasta needs something to moisten it up later.

1) Fill small sauce pan with water and salt. Meanwhile, wash broccoli, cut into florets and set aside. When water starts boiling, add broccoli. Blanch for 1-2 minutes:broccoli should be brighti green and still a bit al dente. Drain water thoroughly from pot. Drizzle a little olive oil into pot, turn on high heat and throw in half of the minced scallions. Cook for 1 minute with scallions, turn off heat and set aside.
2) Dice onions, mince garlic, scallions.
4) Saute diced kielbasa on high heat til slightly burnished and set aside. Add additional olive oil to pork fat in saute pan. When pan is hot, throw in onions and saute til translucent, add garlic and saute til golden.
5) Pour in 1 cup chicken stock + 1.25 cup cream + lemon zest. Allow to bubble and reduce to low heat. Simmer cream sauce. Stir in 1 cup of grated parm.
6) Stir in kielbasa + broccoli + dijon mustard. Add salt and pepper. Start by adding 1/8 tsp salt and adjust to taste.
7) Pour cream sauce into pot of al dente pasta. Stir to coat pasta with sauce. (Cook for a little bit to reheat the pasta and combine all the flavors.) Grate additional parmesan on top.

Eat.

Lemon Yogurt Cake (courtesy of Ina Garten)

2007-02-13T15:03:00.000-05:00

Here is the recipe w/ some slight modifications:

(1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Set aside.

(2) Sift and whisk together into a medium sized bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt

(3) Whisk wet ingredients in large mixing bowl:
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (or low fat if you so desire)
3 extra large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon zest (2 lemon's worth)
1 generous squeeze of a lemon half (to make batter even more lemony)

(4) Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in increments and whisk slowly to combine. Do not overmix. Little lumps are fine.

(5) Pour 1/2 cup of vegetable oil--fold into batter with spatula/giant spoon until incorporated into batter. (I used less than 1/2 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil bc I didn't have veg oil on hand)

(6) Pour batter into loaf pan. Place on baking sheet (in case of spillage) into oven on the middle rack. Bake for 50 minutes (until cake tester comes out clean from middle of loaf).

(7)While cake is baking...make the glaze:
Cut the 2 zested lemons in half, and juice 1/3 cups of lemon juice (approx 3 lemon halves) into a small bowl. Strain out the seeds. Heat lemon juice w/ 1/3 cup sugar over low heat in a small sauce pan til mixture is clear/sugar has dissolved. Set aside

(8)When the cake is done baking:
Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Poke holes all over top of cake and pour the lemon/sugar glaze over the cake and let it soak in.

Enjoy!

Keeping It Real Simple (never tasted so good)

2007-02-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

Bastardized Bowties a la Vodka

reheat below described fresh tomato sauce and add tablespoons of light cream and vodka til desired level of pink creamy boozy goodness. simmer til reduced a bit. add leftover bowties cooked from last night and reheat.

be good to yourself

Bowties + Tomato Sauce

dice 4 vine-ripened tomatoes
dice 1/2 yellow onion
mince 3 cloves garlic
canned crushed tomatoes (to give it a more sauce-like consistency)
fresh grated parmesan (as much/as little as you want)

Oil in pan, add onions--cook til translucent. Add garlic. Season w/ 1/8 tsp coarse salt, ground black pepper to taste. Continue cooking til lightly golden (be careful not to let garlic burn). Add diced tomatoes. Simmer til tomatoes broken down, liquid slightly reduced. Stir in crushed canned tomatoes til mixture is a good saucelike consistency. Add handfuls of grated parmesan to desired level of cheesiness/saltiness.

Boil water while making sauce and cook pasta according to package instructions til al dente.

Toss bowties w/ sauce.

Keep it simple.

2007-02-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

Butternut Squash & Pork
Raw materials:
-1 pork chop, sliced into long strips: marinate w/ heaping 1/4 tsp of cornstarch, soy sauce to taste, ground pepper, a dash of garam masala. stir and set aside
-thinly slice 1/2 of a butternut squash
-stalk of scallion minced, 3 cloves garlic minced, chop generous handful of cilantro
-balsamic vinegar
-coarse gray sea salt (sounds expensive but it's cheap from trader joe's)

Stir-frying is easy:
Heat olive oil, add half the garlic, let fry til lightly golden, add pork, stir occasionally as it fries til slighly golden brown. Set aside.

Add more oil to pan, remaining garlic. Then add butternut squash. Stir occasionally til squash is slightly translucent. Add scallions, cilantro, a generous splash (or two) of balsamic vinegar, 1/8 tsp of coarse sea salt. Stir to combine all flavors. Add pork and combine, allow to reheat for a bit and then you're done.

Side note:
In awe of foodbloggers (I don't consider myself one..I don't approach this blogging business with enough--or any--focus) who constantly challenge themselves with new and often complicated recipes. Or expensive, unusual ingredients. The miserly side of me is content to just go on buying cheap russet potatoes, bags of yellow onions, and other extremely basic ingredients. That's the nice thing about cooking. With the proper technique, seasoning, and imagination, you can transform humble ingredients into something beautiful and interesting. Something I strive to do on an extremely low-key scale. I do think that trying out 1 new and/or challenging recipe per week is economically feasible, though. Still combing through recipes.

I resolve...

2007-02-02T13:09:00.000-05:00

To try 1 new recipe per week or perfect a recipe already tried.

And I will not post anything until I accomplish this 3 weeks in a row.

Something to think about in the meantime:

What would be the perfect Valentine's Day dinner/meal?

Palate Cleanser/App?:
-pummelo, grapefruit, tangerine salad w/ mint-sugar
-thinly sliced asian pear (or bartlett or bosc) w/ balsamic syrup and sea salt

Entree
-hmm...

Dessert:
-creme brulee napoleons (or maybe just plain creme brulee) w/ fruit
-vanilla bean pots de creme and chocolate cookies
-lemon curd tart

new blog

2007-01-17T10:04:00.000-05:00

After a quick unagonizing decision, I decided to start a blogspot blog. It took me a while to come up with a name I was happy with. Goodbye, keyigirl, for now.