fooooood

I haven't posted food pics on here in awhile, but that doesn't mean we haven't been eating. Quite the opposite.

So, for your consideration, two recipes:



Fried Salmon with Avocado Spread

1. Clean and dry the fish and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Coat the fish in beaten egg and dip in flour (or maseca -- for some nice corn flavor).

2. Heat oil in a pan. Should be very hot. Then, fry your fish!

3. For the avocado sauce: Mash avocado, finely chopped onions, and a little garlic. (D. used egg in this as well, but add raw egg at your own risk!)

Very simple, but suuuuuper delicious!





Sweet Potato Mash with Bacon and Onions

1. Boil sweet potatoes. As they boil, finely chop onions and a little garlic. Cut the bacon into very small pieces and fry it (it may be easier to fry bacon first, then cut it).
2. Mash the sweet potatoes with onions, garlic, bacon -- and a little maple syrup and butter if desired. Do this while it's still hot, so the onions and garlic will cook a little.

Another super easy recipe, but it is devilishly delicious!

cooking ideas: turkey chili

This weekend, chewing was not on the agenda. D. had an infection in his tooth and spent his time alternately moaning and drifting in and out of a Vicodin-induced slumber.

He was also extremely hungry but not able to chew very well.

So, on Saturday, I made goulash (which has been written about in this space before -- and which I will not elaborate on, partly because I ate so much goulash that I can't even think about it at this moment).

On Sunday, D. requested more goulash. I laughed in his face and offered a compromise: turkey chili.

Did you know how awesome turkey chili is? It's so awesome! And I'm fairly certain it's healthy too, which is a bonus. It's also, the way I made it at least, super easy to make.

Here you go:

Turkey Chili

a pound of ground turkey
a big onion
5 cloves of garlic (or less if you are a wimp!)
a can of black beans
a can of kidney beans
a can of stewed tomatoes with diced chiles
a can of corn
a small can of tomato sauce
paprika
pepper
Tabasco sauce

1. Brown the turkey with chopped up onions and garlic.
2. Add the beans, tomatoes, corn and tomato sauce. Sprinkle in paprika, pepper and Tabasco to taste.
3. Simmer for a good hour or so!

This is not unhealthy, right? And for any lazy readers (or those with toothaches), not only is it simple to make, it also requires minimal chewing effort.

cooking ideas: sad mouth pudding

"Sandwiches?! Why would anyone need -- OUCH!"

D. is flipping through a cookbook, on the verge of asking a question about sandwiches that will never be answered. His head is in his hands and he's gasping in pain.

He has an abscess; his tooth is filled with pus. I know this because I spoke to his dentist on the phone about it (at almost 11 pm on a Saturday night -- nice service, doc!). When the dentist informed me that D. was in such intense pain due to the aforementioned pus putting pressure on his tooth, I acted on instinct, replying, "Eew, that's gross." The dentist paused before continuing to advise me on how to treat his patient (my patient). I felt a smidgen of judgment in his pause, but come on, that *is* pretty gross. There are places that pus is acceptable (just barely), and there are places it should never be. Your mouth is one of those places.

So, D.'s sentences have been punctuated with pain, spite and confusion these past couple of days (the confusion being a side effect of Vicodin, apparently). He is also drowsy and not able to chew effectively.

I'd like to note here that it feels like autumn today, maybe for the first time this year. I think I'd forgotten about California's fall; it's so calm as it creeps in (unlike in New York or Japan where it crashes upon you with rain showers and evenings that get dark absurdly early). The combo of the changing seasons and D.'s near inability to chew means that it has made a lot of sense to spend the weekend preparing and eating stew.

But that's another post.

After consuming stew, D. still appeared forlorn. He clutched his mouth and moaned. I wanted to make something delicious for him.

And I am happy to report, using just three ingredients, I succeeded!


Sad Mouth Pudding

one banana
one individual pack of Kozy Shack Tapioca pudding
two shakes of cinnamon




Mash the banana. Add Kozy Shack and sprinkle on cinnamon in two healthy shakes. Mix thoroughly. Will make a sad mouth slightly happier, if only temporarily.

D.'s root canal is scheduled for Tuesday.

cooking ideas: sesame green beans

This one is super easy to make and whenever I eat it, I think, "Wow, I should be eating this more often!" And then I proceed to forget all about it until the next time I suddenly have an impromptu green bean flash (which usually happens in Chinatown when I spot a bag of beans for an absurdly low price).

I don't know the technical term for this dish, but I know it's popular in Japan and pops up in bentos all the time. It's also very easy to make, although I can't be completely sure I'm making it correctly. Although, I guess "correct" doesn't really matter in cooking as long as it tastes good.


Sesame Green Beans

Green beans
Sesame seeds
Mirin
Soy sauce
Sugar

1. Snap the ends off the beans and put them in some boiling water for about 5 minutes.

2. Saute some sesame seeds in hot oil until they are brown. If you have a mortar and pestle, smash them. If you do not, bash them uselessly with a spoon until they seem mashed or you lose patience.

3. Mix the mashed seeds with equal parts mirin, soy sauce and sugar (altered as you wish, to taste, usually with a bit more soy sauce). Add the green beans and mix thoroughly.

4. After they cool down enough, put them in the refrigerator. If you can resist, wait a day before eating.

cooking ideas: goulash

I must begin this post with a disclaimer. This recipe is not mine. D. is the goulash captain; I was merely a sous chef who swept in with a wooden spoon and some paprika when things got hectic. I know what I saw and what I felt as the goulash process took place, but, alas, cannot claim responsibility for the deliciousness that ensued.

(Satisfied, D.?)

Okay, here's the scoop:

Chicken and Beef Goulash

Ingredients:
cabbage
onion
zucchini
garlic
a can of tomato sauce
vinegar
paprika
salt
pepper
chicken drumsticks
beef, cut into bite size chunks ("meat for stewing" -- I don't know specifics)
milk / cream
egg noodles

1. Pan fry chicken, beef, onion and garlic. Transfer into a pot and add water to the pot and boil it for awhile to create a soup stock.
2. Lightly pan fry cabbage, zucchini and more onions. Add them to the pot with the stewing meat.
3. Add a can of tomato sauce and some vinegar, to taste. Add a bunch of paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Add some milk or cream to taste. Let this stew for as long as you can wait until the scent drives you mad with hunger.
4. Boil egg noodles. Serve goulash on top of egg noodles.

This is a truly fantastic meal. The chicken falls off the bone, the cabbage is delightfully sour and the soup is tomatoey, creamy and warm with paprika. Love it!

birthday weekend gluttony

I baked a cake for D's birthday using this recipe. I frosted it with store-bought frosting (chocolate) and layered it with slices of strawberry. However, it came out lumpy! Not totally sure why, but I think it has to do with my lack of an electric mixer (which was also the reason for buying, not making, the frosting). We've been slowly working away at it despite the lumps, though at two layers and probably about 7 pounds, it's not a task for the faint of heart (or those who cower at lumps). Wish I could send some to my Mom, whose birthday was today!

Cake is not our only indulgence, not by far! We ate Dim Sum yesterday at Gold Mountain (the best place we've found for it here, though it doesn't hold a candle to Jade Asian in Flushing... sigh...). And for dinner? Crab! I bought two crabs from a stand at Fisherman's Wharf and we proceeded to terrorize their lifeless limbs with gusto that would have been inappropriate in public (hence, the decision to eat at home).

And... just now I had another little indulgence, pictured below.



These are peaches soaked in a fruity, sweet white wine, an inspiration from Orangette.

One word: Wow.

Another two words: Make this.

I want to eat and drink this every day, and dream about it when I am asleep.

Hope everyone had as succulent a weekend as we did, and hope 24 Hour Fitness is ready for me!

cooking ideas: pizza

I've been baking a lot of pizza lately and it's led me to swear off delivery pizza forever. I doubt this decision will stick (delivery pizza, after all, is pretty much unbeatable on some occasions). But that's how good homemade pizza is. It's so much better and less oily than pizza that someone would bring to your door, and there's the benefit of getting to customize exactly what you want on it and in what amount. So, if at all possible, pizza I consume from here on out will be made by my hands.

My plan is to keep some pizza dough frozen at all times and stewed tomatoes stocked in the cupboard. If those two items are on hand, then it's just silly not to make a pizza.

Here's the basic idea:

Pizza dough (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 to 1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, flour, and salt, then add 1 cup of water and oil.
2. Mix, adding more water until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky.
3. Form into a smooth round ball. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in size (1-2 hours). At this point, I divide the dough into two pieces (one piece is enough for a medium pizza) and freeze them or bake one and freeze one as needed. If you freeze it, wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Oil a circular pan and spread the dough out. Spread more oil thinly on top of the dough.
5. Add tomato sauce (see below), toppings and cheese.
6. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes (or until the bottom of the crust is nice and brown).


Casual tomato sauce

1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 small onion
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
oregano, salt, pepper to taste
a spoonful of sugar
a bit of red wine (if available)
Tabasco sauce to taste (if available and enjoyable to you)
fresh basil (if available)
ground beef, browned in a separate skillet (if desired)

1. Sautee diced onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add other ingredients.
2. Simmer on stove -- the longer the better!

The pizza pictured above has meat sauce and four (that's right, four!) types of cheese that just happened to be on hand: ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and queso fresco. It was fantastic. And since all I had to do was defrost the dough, chop some veggies, boil the sauce and then throw the whole thing together, it took next to no time.

cooking ideas: cranberry nut bread

I made cranberry nut bread using this recipe yesterday. I added about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and maybe a quarter cup of honey. It was good, but not quite as moist as I had hoped. Hmm...

Next, I'm going to hunt down a recipe for olive and cheese bread, as per D.'s request.

cooking ideas: banana bread

I've always liked baking and cooking, but these days I've had an even greater appreciation for it. There is a very specific feeling of accomplishment when you make something with your hands, taking a diverse group of random things (powdery white dust, a few sticky yellow and white blobs, a puff of brown powder) and, in an hour or so, ending up with a very tangible, very delicious product that was not there before. Instant gratification (well, nearly).

This time I made banana bread. I used a recipe from Orangette (which was tough because she seems to have an infinite number of banana bread recipes and they all sound dazzling) and added walnuts. It's moist and nutty and perfect.

Even the cat liked it.

cooking ideas: loco moco

Tonight I attempted a dish I've long loved: Loco Moco!

It's a Hawaiian dish (apparently), but I've only ever eaten it in Japan. I googled a recipe, but then went with my gut instinct, skipping the gravy, since I'm not a huge fan.

My LM consisted of a layer of rice, sprinkled with pieces of scallions and avocado, then layered with a hamburger and topped with a sunny-side up egg. I fluffed the outsides with tufts of salad leaves, and then swirled some mayonnaise (Kewpie, of course) and ketchup on top.

I tend to mash it all together when I eat it making an unattractive but extraordinarily tasty (and colorful!) mush that goes down like any yummy comfort food. D., a first time LM eater, approached the dish in what he described as a "more gentlemanly" way, but seemed to enjoy it just as much, so I guess there is something to be said for refinement.

I served pumpkin salad on the side, which is made by mashing potato and kabocha, adding onions, scallions, salt, pepper, soy sauce and a good amount of my dear friend Mr. Kewpie. This stuff is so yummy it makes my brain hurt.

cooking ideas: fish tacos

I've been using my days of unemployment to try and learn new things, reading books I've been intrigued by but haven't gotten around to picking up, watching countless Hayao Miyazaki films, taking long strolls, teaching myself HTML code... and, most awesome of all, doing more cooking.

I've always enjoyed cooking, but have, in recent days, been testing new recipes and flavor combinations, with quite pleasant results. Marinating beef in pineapple juice and soy sauce? It works. Substituting miso broth for chicken stock in risotto? Yum!

My favorite recent meal has been salmon soft tacos with homemade salsa. I'm not a stickler for following recipes, but here is my attempt to note the things that I randomly mixed together.

Salsa:
two tomatoes
an onion
the juice of two limes
garlic to taste (a lot, in my case)
scallions
cilantro to taste (again, a lot)
little Thai peppers cut up very small (not small enough sometimes, oops)
Tabasco to taste (some like it hot!)

Mix it all in a bowl and let this chill. Eat it after a couple of hours and wonder why you've not been doing so every day for your entire life.

Tacos:
Salmon
Cheddar cheese
Flour tortillas, soft taco size
Scallions
Avocado (yesss!)
Non-fat sour cream

Get some salmon, put a little salt and pepper on it, and grill it with the lid on. (I am not an expert at this and mine was too raw.) Put a couple of tortillas in your toaster oven until warm. Layer salmon wedges with avocado wedges and sprinkle with cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Add as much salsa as you can fit on top of all that without bursting it.

This is such a simple, healthy meal with so many lovely colors and flavors. You feel like you are being decadent without actually being too bad, which is a bonus.

This salsa is so fabulously delicious that I'm making it again tonight, only four days later. (And not only because I still have all the ingredients remaining and need to use them up!)

My next challenge will be homemade bread.

salad weekend

This was a very salad-happy weekend. Yesterday, D. made salad with garlic shrimp and lots of tomatoes. Not to be outdone, I prepared a salad this evening with somen noodles, thinly sliced kielbasa and avocado (it was the more photogenic of the two, so it's pictured at left).

So... which salad was the winner?

I won't presume to judge. Both salads were fantastic in their own ways.

The salad, like the sandwich, is quite a versatile creature. I'm inspired to pursue further experimentation. Tuna, goat cheese, olives, various pastas... I have a lot to contemplate!