yup...
doin' another one in quick order...
pork... what is not to like about pork? i love pork in all it's forms.
the only protein in my book better than pork?
duck.
duck is infinitely better than pork...
why?
because foi gras is better than bacon...
and confit duck anything is better than pork anything.
even bacon wrapped pork belly, ok?
ok, i'll admit marginally so? but still better...
but pork, is still pretty awesome...
here are two recipes we've culled from others that take the humble pork shoulder and make it something worth feeding to your friends in ginormous quantities...
Slow Cooker Carnitas-
(best served with homemade Pico de Gallo and homemade Guacamole)
Carnitas Rub -
good for about 4-5 lbs shoulder
3 tablespoons of Kosher salt
4-6 cloves of garlic (smashed)
5 tablespoons cumin
3 tablespoons of dried oregano
3 tablespoons of ground coriander
1 tablespoons of cinammon
1 tablespoon of paprika
3 bay leaves
Braising Liquid -
2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of white wine
mix together dry ingredients and use enough to coat the roast. you should have a little more than 1/2 left for later.
carefully place the roast in the crock pot (fat side up) and add the liquid, bay leaves and garlic. try not to wash off too much of the rub if possible.
cook on high for 4 hours and then low for up to 10 hours.
once done and remove from the crock pot and shred in a roasting pan.
lightly cover the meat with leftover rub and extra paprika.
pre-heat your oven to it's highest setting and place the carnitas in the oven for 10-20 minutes to render the fat and crisp up.
i've added lime juice and zest to both braising liquid and in the roasting period to add flavor. i've found i like adding it at the end before roasting the best.
Pulled Pork Sandwiches -
served best with homemade coleslaw and sauces
i took a slow cooker recipe and a standard rub for slow cooking and slapped them together... voila! piggy goodness!
Rub -
good for a 4-5 lbs roast
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
3 tablespoons hot paprika
6 tablespoons of kosher salt
4 tablespoons of fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
6 teaspoons of dry mustard
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Braising Liquid-
depending on the size of your crockpot and roast...
equal parts root beer and chicken or beef stock to cover 1/2 way up the sides of the pot.
follow the same instructions for cooking as the carnitas. you can skip the roasting in the oven portion though.
have also added a bit of tomatoes to the braising liquid. not sure if i like it or not.
Sauce 1:
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
combine in a bottle and refrigerate before serving.
Sauce 2:
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, or more to taste
5 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
4 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
combine in a bottle and refrigerate before serving.
Sauce 3:
2 cups cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons molasses
1 Tablespoon ground dry mustard
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
over medium heat, mix cider vinegar, molasses, dry mustard, butter, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire and brown sugar. slowly bring to a boil. Mix 3 teaspoons cornstarch with 4 teaspoons cold water and slowly add to the sauce; simmer 1 minute. strain before pouring into a squeezable bottle.
and there you have it!
eat more PORK!!!!!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tuesday Nite Supper Club Part I - An Old Standby
so...
we've been having tuesday night dinners at the house for a few months now which has allowed us to try a and work through the kinks of a few recipes. it's been a blast! mostly it's friends of ours who are single and like to hang out with us for a meal...or two... or three...
most of these have worked out pretty well...
some, well they need a bit more "tweaking".
the best part of this is just that we can have people over and in a not so intentional way develop some community with these friends who really come from different circles of our lives. boot so much a small group in the "Church" sense but a community... um fellowship in a "Life" sense.
it's not that we don't want that. far from it. one of our goals is to eventually have a small group in our home. it's just that this would just be much more informal, non-intentional group. i hate to use the word "organic" but in a sense, that's what we wanted. our desire for this group is for it to develop on it's own. it's direction conversationally and relationally dictated by those who show up each week. the subject of discussions changing week to week.
most importantly, this would become a safe place for these friends of ours to be able share of themselves. a place where they can receive support and affirmation. to be able to receive constructive criticism... but never judgement.
but i digress... let's talk food...
like i said, we've tried a few new items but have also pulled out some tried and true recipes as well.
below find a teriyaki recipe (slightly modified of course!) that i got from an old Hawaiian guy i used to work with at Safeway. it's more of a marinade and basting sauce less of of a finishing or dipping sauce but you can make it work w/ some tinkering.
modify the recipe for the amount of meat that you will be preparing. the following makes enough for about 1 chicken cut into frying pieces.
2 cups of soy sauce
1 cup of sake
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar (if you can find Chinese brown sugar, even better)
1 cup of pineapple juice
1 medium hand of ginger sliced
2 teaspoons of crushed garlic
2 green onions sliced
all ingredients go into a pot and brought to boil over medium heat. let simmer on low for about 20mins and then remove to cool. add 2 table spoons of sesame oil before using.
marinate your meat in the sauce overnight for grilling or use as you would any other marinade for stir frying.
i've used this for chicken, beef and salmon with good results. have also added chili oil and chillies or chili sauce for a bit of a kick. this is pretty tasty with chicken wings.
by grating the ginger (use only at most 2 medium fingers) and slowly reducing the sauce to a ketchup texture it can be used as a dipping or brushing sauce.
well, there you have it. have at it and enjoy! play with it, modify it, add to it and let me know what did and didn't work!
one side note... i made this for a Japanese foreign exchange student friend of mine in college. he smiled and said it was good just like his grandmother used to make!
he then said his grandmother was Korean... pah dum dump...
we've been having tuesday night dinners at the house for a few months now which has allowed us to try a and work through the kinks of a few recipes. it's been a blast! mostly it's friends of ours who are single and like to hang out with us for a meal...or two... or three...
most of these have worked out pretty well...
some, well they need a bit more "tweaking".
the best part of this is just that we can have people over and in a not so intentional way develop some community with these friends who really come from different circles of our lives. boot so much a small group in the "Church" sense but a community... um fellowship in a "Life" sense.
it's not that we don't want that. far from it. one of our goals is to eventually have a small group in our home. it's just that this would just be much more informal, non-intentional group. i hate to use the word "organic" but in a sense, that's what we wanted. our desire for this group is for it to develop on it's own. it's direction conversationally and relationally dictated by those who show up each week. the subject of discussions changing week to week.
most importantly, this would become a safe place for these friends of ours to be able share of themselves. a place where they can receive support and affirmation. to be able to receive constructive criticism... but never judgement.
but i digress... let's talk food...
like i said, we've tried a few new items but have also pulled out some tried and true recipes as well.
below find a teriyaki recipe (slightly modified of course!) that i got from an old Hawaiian guy i used to work with at Safeway. it's more of a marinade and basting sauce less of of a finishing or dipping sauce but you can make it work w/ some tinkering.
modify the recipe for the amount of meat that you will be preparing. the following makes enough for about 1 chicken cut into frying pieces.
2 cups of soy sauce
1 cup of sake
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar (if you can find Chinese brown sugar, even better)
1 cup of pineapple juice
1 medium hand of ginger sliced
2 teaspoons of crushed garlic
2 green onions sliced
all ingredients go into a pot and brought to boil over medium heat. let simmer on low for about 20mins and then remove to cool. add 2 table spoons of sesame oil before using.
marinate your meat in the sauce overnight for grilling or use as you would any other marinade for stir frying.
i've used this for chicken, beef and salmon with good results. have also added chili oil and chillies or chili sauce for a bit of a kick. this is pretty tasty with chicken wings.
by grating the ginger (use only at most 2 medium fingers) and slowly reducing the sauce to a ketchup texture it can be used as a dipping or brushing sauce.
well, there you have it. have at it and enjoy! play with it, modify it, add to it and let me know what did and didn't work!
one side note... i made this for a Japanese foreign exchange student friend of mine in college. he smiled and said it was good just like his grandmother used to make!
he then said his grandmother was Korean... pah dum dump...
Friday, November 25, 2011
Mom's Roast Chicken and why I can't make it...
it's been forever since i've had time to post on this little project... over a year!
over the last year, we've cooked and eaten lots of things since and have been trying to eat and cook from home or at least close to home. we no longer get the Farm Fresh delivery but we do have a nice garden that we'll start growing herbs, fruit and vegetables in and we'll supplement from the local farmer's market when we can.
one of the things we decided to try more last year was roasting poultry. i've done this a lot before, especially chicken breasts for sandwich meat but this last year we really tried to do it more often since it's a good way to get a really tasty meal that's relatively in-expensive and... i finally decided to experiment a bit to get the best chicken possible. my mom used to make a great roast chicken that i tried to replicate with very little success...which bugged me because it seemed so simple. i think mostly because i didn't brown it correctly. i can make it just fine if i quarter the chicken, but not if i try to do a whole chicken like she did.
here's the basic recipe from what i could remember and you'll see why it bugs me that i can't do it with a whole chicken...
this is all you need:
1 whole roasting chicken
soy sauce
2-3 onions sliced
chinese seasoning salt
white pepper
you rub down the chicken with a bit of the soy sauce, white pepper and seasoning salt let sit for a bit (i let it sit a couple hours)
brown the chicken slightly in a wok with peanut oil
cover the bottom of a roasting pan with the sliced onions and place the chicken on top
add a small bit of water to the pan
roast the chicken in a over pre-heated to 350F for about an hour, hour and 10 minutes or until cooked through (about 180F internal).
and that's it... and yet i can't seem tho get the right skin texture that my mom got... eeerrrrrggghhhh!
here's what we've done fairly consistently well. we've also started to consistently brine our poultry to keep it moist and flavorful throughout.
brining liquid:
white wine
1/4 a cup of coarse salt dissolved in 5 cups of water
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
any herbs you like (we use rosemary, thyme, sage and if we have any, juniper berries
i quarter my chicken and brine the pieces in zip-loc bags starting in the morning or in the refrigerator overnite and take them out in the morning. before roasting, make sure you dry your chicken a bit so the skin gets crispy and let the meat get to room temperature.
in a roasting pan, add sliced onions, carrots, celery and the fresh herbs from the brine.
rub the chicken with butter and and a little fresh herbs and roast at 375F for about 45mins or until the skin is crispy and the meat done.
it's pretty easy and works 98% of the time. of course, like anything i do... i tinker a bit each time i make it so be brave and try other things to make it taste the way you like! just be willing to eat your mistakes!
over the last year, we've cooked and eaten lots of things since and have been trying to eat and cook from home or at least close to home. we no longer get the Farm Fresh delivery but we do have a nice garden that we'll start growing herbs, fruit and vegetables in and we'll supplement from the local farmer's market when we can.
one of the things we decided to try more last year was roasting poultry. i've done this a lot before, especially chicken breasts for sandwich meat but this last year we really tried to do it more often since it's a good way to get a really tasty meal that's relatively in-expensive and... i finally decided to experiment a bit to get the best chicken possible. my mom used to make a great roast chicken that i tried to replicate with very little success...which bugged me because it seemed so simple. i think mostly because i didn't brown it correctly. i can make it just fine if i quarter the chicken, but not if i try to do a whole chicken like she did.
here's the basic recipe from what i could remember and you'll see why it bugs me that i can't do it with a whole chicken...
this is all you need:
1 whole roasting chicken
soy sauce
2-3 onions sliced
chinese seasoning salt
white pepper
you rub down the chicken with a bit of the soy sauce, white pepper and seasoning salt let sit for a bit (i let it sit a couple hours)
brown the chicken slightly in a wok with peanut oil
cover the bottom of a roasting pan with the sliced onions and place the chicken on top
add a small bit of water to the pan
roast the chicken in a over pre-heated to 350F for about an hour, hour and 10 minutes or until cooked through (about 180F internal).
and that's it... and yet i can't seem tho get the right skin texture that my mom got... eeerrrrrggghhhh!
here's what we've done fairly consistently well. we've also started to consistently brine our poultry to keep it moist and flavorful throughout.
brining liquid:
white wine
1/4 a cup of coarse salt dissolved in 5 cups of water
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
any herbs you like (we use rosemary, thyme, sage and if we have any, juniper berries
i quarter my chicken and brine the pieces in zip-loc bags starting in the morning or in the refrigerator overnite and take them out in the morning. before roasting, make sure you dry your chicken a bit so the skin gets crispy and let the meat get to room temperature.
in a roasting pan, add sliced onions, carrots, celery and the fresh herbs from the brine.
rub the chicken with butter and and a little fresh herbs and roast at 375F for about 45mins or until the skin is crispy and the meat done.
it's pretty easy and works 98% of the time. of course, like anything i do... i tinker a bit each time i make it so be brave and try other things to make it taste the way you like! just be willing to eat your mistakes!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Campy Food...or the Wonders of Hot Charcoal and Cast Iron...
we recently went car camping with about nine other families... pretty fun...
it's been awhile since i did any camp cooking. prolly at least 10 years or more? and the things i cooked then were pretty basic or at least, mostly somewhat pre-prepared or packaged foods. not that there's anything wrong with that...just wanted to try my hand at a bit more...difficult? challenging? i duuno. i settled for the middle ground.
the most challenging thing i think we tried was using the dutch oven. i am 150% glad we bought that! it was totally awesome! we used it three times for biscuits which came out excellent 2 of the three times. we left 'em in a bit long once and the bottoms were a bit black...but it was still fine. i would continue to take that along just for the biscuits alone. oh what a few hot briquets and some dough will do...awesome!
jane (user of the dutch oven) also made a apple/pineapple dump cake. this consisted of 2 boxes of yellow cake mix, a can of pineapple chunks and a can of apple pie filling....oh, and a few pats of butter. it didn't turn out to her expectations but still tasted pretty damn good. instead of a cake-like top we got more of a crumble like top. this is one we'll experiment with since the basic premise was easy and with so few ingredients...it is ripe recipe for jane to experiment with. i'm looking forward to sampling the future permutations of this one...oh yes i am...
we did the basic hobo stew for dinner the first nite. potatoes, ground meat, carrots, onions. wrap it in tin foil and throw it in the fire. ok, some of these burned. but they still tasted pretty stinkin' good. here's the changes for the next time for this one...
ground beef (or turkey)
ground sausage (the calabrese seems best but i think chorizo would work just as well)
chopped onions
chopped bell peppers
baby carrots
sliced mushrooms
sliced bacon
season w/ salt, pepper, garlic powder, worcester and steak sauce
instead of throwing directly in the fire...i'll place it on hot coals instead and check after 15mins rather than 20.
breakfasts were the best. besides the biscuits, we made skillet potatoes as well as scrambled eggs and sausages. i placed the cast iron skillet on the grate while i was building the fire and cooked the morning bacon in it. all that bacon fat rendered was put to good use with sliced potatoes roasted in foil from the previous nite. add onions, thyme, rosemary and some more diced bacon and it's ready to go. the last morning i added some cheddar cheese...yeah, beat that Denny's...
dinner the 2nd nite was chicken skewers...meh and all my fault that it was meh. the chicken pieces were way too small. i marinated them in white wine, olive oil and lemon juice w/ just a bit of soy sauce. i think bigger chunks would've cooked better and tasted better. again, my lack of foresight and it will be corrected next time around. i did also bbq a tri-tip. easy peasy and oh soooo good. i'll remember that as well.
the ahn's also provided kimchee jigae...camp style, which i guess means kimchee jigae w/ leftover meats. you know what? excellent!!! spicey-salty goodness! however, you gotta eat it w/ rice...otherwise the experience isn't the same. not sure i'd like it w/ vienna sausages but Spam is a winner as well as i would think would be regular hot dogs. i think that's one i'll put down as one to learn to make...
next time?
well... i think main dish-wise, i'd stick to roasting or bbqing larger portions of meat. those seem to be the best for campfire cooking. tri-tip, leg of lamb, beef or pork ribs, short ribs all would be easy to prep beforehand and cook. i would prolly just use the camp stove for cooking vegetables if not roasted. the cast iron skillet is awesome...i may get another one...a bigger one since it's so awesome!!!
stews...
we talked about doing more stews. i may want to get another dutch oven just for that....or at least a cast iron pot. something i can throw on the fire, add meat and vegetables to with a bit of water and just let simmer until done. the other dutch oven could be used for bread or dessert...
speaking of the dutch oven...
yeah...me like...
a friend gave me a pasta recipe that i'd like to try. lasagna in a dutch oven. sounds easy and delicious. there are also the bread possibilities and dessert possibilities that i'm dreaming of tasting. that's jane's territory... i can't bake to save my life.
hash of some sort is another possibility. roasting beets and potatoes to make hash would be awesome...hmmmm....yeah...
all in all, a good experience with lessons learned to be corrected the next go around...hopefully sooner rather than later...
...and oh yeah, grabbing logs in the pit are best done with gloves on or using utensils. bare hands no matter how careful leave lasting impressions...
it's been awhile since i did any camp cooking. prolly at least 10 years or more? and the things i cooked then were pretty basic or at least, mostly somewhat pre-prepared or packaged foods. not that there's anything wrong with that...just wanted to try my hand at a bit more...difficult? challenging? i duuno. i settled for the middle ground.
the most challenging thing i think we tried was using the dutch oven. i am 150% glad we bought that! it was totally awesome! we used it three times for biscuits which came out excellent 2 of the three times. we left 'em in a bit long once and the bottoms were a bit black...but it was still fine. i would continue to take that along just for the biscuits alone. oh what a few hot briquets and some dough will do...awesome!
jane (user of the dutch oven) also made a apple/pineapple dump cake. this consisted of 2 boxes of yellow cake mix, a can of pineapple chunks and a can of apple pie filling....oh, and a few pats of butter. it didn't turn out to her expectations but still tasted pretty damn good. instead of a cake-like top we got more of a crumble like top. this is one we'll experiment with since the basic premise was easy and with so few ingredients...it is ripe recipe for jane to experiment with. i'm looking forward to sampling the future permutations of this one...oh yes i am...
we did the basic hobo stew for dinner the first nite. potatoes, ground meat, carrots, onions. wrap it in tin foil and throw it in the fire. ok, some of these burned. but they still tasted pretty stinkin' good. here's the changes for the next time for this one...
ground beef (or turkey)
ground sausage (the calabrese seems best but i think chorizo would work just as well)
chopped onions
chopped bell peppers
baby carrots
sliced mushrooms
sliced bacon
season w/ salt, pepper, garlic powder, worcester and steak sauce
instead of throwing directly in the fire...i'll place it on hot coals instead and check after 15mins rather than 20.
breakfasts were the best. besides the biscuits, we made skillet potatoes as well as scrambled eggs and sausages. i placed the cast iron skillet on the grate while i was building the fire and cooked the morning bacon in it. all that bacon fat rendered was put to good use with sliced potatoes roasted in foil from the previous nite. add onions, thyme, rosemary and some more diced bacon and it's ready to go. the last morning i added some cheddar cheese...yeah, beat that Denny's...
dinner the 2nd nite was chicken skewers...meh and all my fault that it was meh. the chicken pieces were way too small. i marinated them in white wine, olive oil and lemon juice w/ just a bit of soy sauce. i think bigger chunks would've cooked better and tasted better. again, my lack of foresight and it will be corrected next time around. i did also bbq a tri-tip. easy peasy and oh soooo good. i'll remember that as well.
the ahn's also provided kimchee jigae...camp style, which i guess means kimchee jigae w/ leftover meats. you know what? excellent!!! spicey-salty goodness! however, you gotta eat it w/ rice...otherwise the experience isn't the same. not sure i'd like it w/ vienna sausages but Spam is a winner as well as i would think would be regular hot dogs. i think that's one i'll put down as one to learn to make...
next time?
well... i think main dish-wise, i'd stick to roasting or bbqing larger portions of meat. those seem to be the best for campfire cooking. tri-tip, leg of lamb, beef or pork ribs, short ribs all would be easy to prep beforehand and cook. i would prolly just use the camp stove for cooking vegetables if not roasted. the cast iron skillet is awesome...i may get another one...a bigger one since it's so awesome!!!
stews...
we talked about doing more stews. i may want to get another dutch oven just for that....or at least a cast iron pot. something i can throw on the fire, add meat and vegetables to with a bit of water and just let simmer until done. the other dutch oven could be used for bread or dessert...
speaking of the dutch oven...
yeah...me like...
a friend gave me a pasta recipe that i'd like to try. lasagna in a dutch oven. sounds easy and delicious. there are also the bread possibilities and dessert possibilities that i'm dreaming of tasting. that's jane's territory... i can't bake to save my life.
hash of some sort is another possibility. roasting beets and potatoes to make hash would be awesome...hmmmm....yeah...
all in all, a good experience with lessons learned to be corrected the next go around...hopefully sooner rather than later...
...and oh yeah, grabbing logs in the pit are best done with gloves on or using utensils. bare hands no matter how careful leave lasting impressions...
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Scream Sorbet
ok...
just a reference to this establishment because i saw them recently @ the Pleasanton Farmer's Market. i know this doesn't fit in the category i created this blog for but seeing them made me want to write...
i'm not a huge sorbet fan...prolly because i like that creamier texture of ice cream...or even frozen yogurt...
but this stuff is better than any ice cream i've ever had save a super vanilla bean vanilla i had a few years ago...and it's been my daughters weekly treat @ the San Leandro Farmer's Market.
there's that scene in Willy Wonka where Gene Wilder is extolling the flavors of his wallpaper?
"The strawberries taste like strawberries, and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries..."
that's what i feel like saying after tasting each one. whatever the pairing, you get the most intense flavor essence of that ingredient. sweet corn, dark chocolate, strawberry, bartlett pear, pistachio, cashew, persimmon...you get the picture...
i can't wait until they have their own shop...which i hear is coming soon.
so if you see 'em at your local farmer's market or @the ferry building in SF? give 'em a try...pretty awesome
just a reference to this establishment because i saw them recently @ the Pleasanton Farmer's Market. i know this doesn't fit in the category i created this blog for but seeing them made me want to write...
i'm not a huge sorbet fan...prolly because i like that creamier texture of ice cream...or even frozen yogurt...
but this stuff is better than any ice cream i've ever had save a super vanilla bean vanilla i had a few years ago...and it's been my daughters weekly treat @ the San Leandro Farmer's Market.
there's that scene in Willy Wonka where Gene Wilder is extolling the flavors of his wallpaper?
"The strawberries taste like strawberries, and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries..."
that's what i feel like saying after tasting each one. whatever the pairing, you get the most intense flavor essence of that ingredient. sweet corn, dark chocolate, strawberry, bartlett pear, pistachio, cashew, persimmon...you get the picture...
i can't wait until they have their own shop...which i hear is coming soon.
so if you see 'em at your local farmer's market or @the ferry building in SF? give 'em a try...pretty awesome
Sunday, March 7, 2010
i got nothing...part deux...
so once again i found myself scratching my head as to what to make for a get together. this time, mostly my fault as i prolly could've spent more time thinking about what to make and not put certain restrictions on myself...
#1 it had to be a side
#2 it needed to be something that i could bring easily and not require reheating
#3 and prolly the most difficult, i needed to use something from my farm fresh delivery
so this was for an after church gathering for our asian connection group with an asian new year theme... oh, let's make that #4...
dang it!
so i cheated...and went easy...because i had nothing and by the time i really needed to decide there was no time to run to the store. ok...what do i have in the fridge... frozen shelled edamame and frozen corn....hmmmm...
in the pantry? i have some shallots and some cilantro from farm fresh and some soy, sesame, ginger dressing from trader joe's...
done.
2 packs of frozen edamame
1 small pack of frozen corn
2 large shallots, diced
1 small hand-full of cilantro, rough chopped
trader joe's soy-vay dressing
white wine vinegar
sugar
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
i pickled the diced shallots over night in a mixture of white wine vinegar (in hindsight red wine vinegar better for the color), sugar and kosher salt.
the edamame and corn i let defrost overnight in cold water and then heated in the morning before adding into a mixing bowl with the sesame ginger dressing, shallots and cilantro. kosher salt and ground pepper to taste and done!
we'll see how it goes. it tastes...ok to me. nothing spectacular...actually, rather ordinary...maybe under-whelming... we'll see...
i'll prolly write more about the asian group at church another time? i just wanted to get this one down before i forgot...
happy eating!
#1 it had to be a side
#2 it needed to be something that i could bring easily and not require reheating
#3 and prolly the most difficult, i needed to use something from my farm fresh delivery
so this was for an after church gathering for our asian connection group with an asian new year theme... oh, let's make that #4...
dang it!
so i cheated...and went easy...because i had nothing and by the time i really needed to decide there was no time to run to the store. ok...what do i have in the fridge... frozen shelled edamame and frozen corn....hmmmm...
in the pantry? i have some shallots and some cilantro from farm fresh and some soy, sesame, ginger dressing from trader joe's...
done.
2 packs of frozen edamame
1 small pack of frozen corn
2 large shallots, diced
1 small hand-full of cilantro, rough chopped
trader joe's soy-vay dressing
white wine vinegar
sugar
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
i pickled the diced shallots over night in a mixture of white wine vinegar (in hindsight red wine vinegar better for the color), sugar and kosher salt.
the edamame and corn i let defrost overnight in cold water and then heated in the morning before adding into a mixing bowl with the sesame ginger dressing, shallots and cilantro. kosher salt and ground pepper to taste and done!
we'll see how it goes. it tastes...ok to me. nothing spectacular...actually, rather ordinary...maybe under-whelming... we'll see...
i'll prolly write more about the asian group at church another time? i just wanted to get this one down before i forgot...
happy eating!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
i got nothing...really...
so i get together semi-regularly with a couple other families for brunch. these are friends from college and...how in teh world did i meet the kim's? oh yeah...softball. well, every couple of moths we get together on a saturday at someone's house to cook for each other, catch up...hang out let the kids play. it's usually a pretty good time all around...
usually, i'll just help cook eggs and make some sort of potato dish. i'm kinda picky about scrambled eggs which is why i offer to help cook them and taters...well, they're just super easy. hash browns? add some rosemary, thyme, parmesan and bacon fat and it's killer. some spanish chorizo makes roasted potatoes taste pretty awesome.
well...this time there was another family coming...no worries. found out last minute they were bringing potatoes. i got worries. everything else was pretty much covered. the fong's were making a breakfast egg and sausage bake (turned out to have taters in it as well). the kim's were bringing mini-cinabons and fruit. i had no time and no ideas. i went to the supermarket that night and figured toast, eggs and mushrooms? ok...i'll settle for that. i can make something with that...right? now what i made sisn't taste teh way i wanted but i was able to re-create it later and make it taste much better. here's what i ended up doing...
scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms in cream on toast...
eggs
crimini mushrooms
french baguette
parmesan cheese
cognac
heavy whipping cream
shallots
fresh rosemary, thyme and chives
salt & pepper
fresh lemon juice
the mushrooms were sauteed in butter and olive oil with the the shallots rosemary and thyme. i added cognac and when almost finished...along with the slightest squeeze of lemon juice. added a bit of the heavy whipping cream . set aside for later.
baguette was toasted in a pan with a bit of olive oil.
eggs are beaten and scrambled soft. cook over med/low heat. fold constantly and pull off heat when still the slightest bit runny. add salt pepper.
put a small amount of the egg on top of a slice of toast and spoon the creamed mushroom mixture on top. garnish with shaved or grated parmesan and some finely chopped chive.
it came out ok. not sure if it's worth trying again but it was fun to steal this idea from someone. :)
happy communing!
usually, i'll just help cook eggs and make some sort of potato dish. i'm kinda picky about scrambled eggs which is why i offer to help cook them and taters...well, they're just super easy. hash browns? add some rosemary, thyme, parmesan and bacon fat and it's killer. some spanish chorizo makes roasted potatoes taste pretty awesome.
well...this time there was another family coming...no worries. found out last minute they were bringing potatoes. i got worries. everything else was pretty much covered. the fong's were making a breakfast egg and sausage bake (turned out to have taters in it as well). the kim's were bringing mini-cinabons and fruit. i had no time and no ideas. i went to the supermarket that night and figured toast, eggs and mushrooms? ok...i'll settle for that. i can make something with that...right? now what i made sisn't taste teh way i wanted but i was able to re-create it later and make it taste much better. here's what i ended up doing...
scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms in cream on toast...
eggs
crimini mushrooms
french baguette
parmesan cheese
cognac
heavy whipping cream
shallots
fresh rosemary, thyme and chives
salt & pepper
fresh lemon juice
the mushrooms were sauteed in butter and olive oil with the the shallots rosemary and thyme. i added cognac and when almost finished...along with the slightest squeeze of lemon juice. added a bit of the heavy whipping cream . set aside for later.
baguette was toasted in a pan with a bit of olive oil.
eggs are beaten and scrambled soft. cook over med/low heat. fold constantly and pull off heat when still the slightest bit runny. add salt pepper.
put a small amount of the egg on top of a slice of toast and spoon the creamed mushroom mixture on top. garnish with shaved or grated parmesan and some finely chopped chive.
it came out ok. not sure if it's worth trying again but it was fun to steal this idea from someone. :)
happy communing!
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