It was such a pleasure to be home for a few days in a row; I got to settle in to the rhythms of the garden and kitchen, where the plants tell me what to eat and I can generate leftovers that inform and give depth to subsequent meals. It also meant that I could finally make another big crock of kimchi, since our Asian cabbages are getting huge. This batch was cabbage, carrots, chioggia…
Category: Asian
Well, not really, but Korean-inspired at least. To begin, I ground some local grass-fed beef stew meat with garlic, herbs, salt, and (after separating some for Milo) togarashi. I let it sit while I cut sweet potato fries and chopped pak choi, and while the fries were going cooked the meat and then sautéed the greens in the burger pan with a little lemon and soy sauce. Topped with homemade kimchi, these were damn fine…
We left Vermont a day early, since everyone felt crappy and we wanted to sleep in our beds. I did bring back some of the chicken broth and meat, figuring it would come in handy for dinner, and remembering the coconut milk in the cupboard. In addition to the coconut milk, I also added lime juice, a big smashed thumb of ginger, and a bit of green yuzu kosho (I keep meaning to order some…
Another variation on Ma Po tofu tonight, using a bit of the pâté mixture I made yesterday in place of ground pork and carrots as well as peas. The pâté has a lot of flavor, but I still added rice vinegar, lime juice, nama shoyu, wine, and sesame oil to round it out. After it was done, the green outer leaves of a head of pan di zucchero, braised with their own residual washing water,…
Another chilly wet day required soup, and this time I went for a Japanese-style dinner with a bunch of small dishes followed by a big bowl of soba. Clockwise from upper left: beet pickles, sorrel and nasturtium salad (sesame/ume shu dressing,) leftover braised pan di zucchero, and our own Japanese eggplant cooked with scallions in a serious sauce of garlic, rice vinegar, shoyu, agave syrup, and HP sauce that Christine bought me recently so I…
Some dishes are pretty sacrosanct; the lack of even one ingredient will cause me to change plans since it’s not worth it. Others are more malleable by nature, or I haven’t yet honed my understanding of the definitive version (relatively speaking, of course) and so I feel license to experiment. In this case, Ma Po Tofu, which we love, gets done differently every time as long as pork, tofu, and peas around- although I did…
A quick one tonight, but with some good flavors. First, shiitake caramelized in a spoon of the smoked chicken fat, then I threw in green beans and let them green and soften a bit, followed by a glug of Shao Xing rice wine and a drop of sesame oil. Then, in the same wok, I crisped up some tofu, added some red onion to soften, and deglazed with rice vinegar. To finish, a dollop of…
Many leftovers and not much time led to this variety of small treats; there’s nothing like having nori, and other wrappers around to turn random scraps into elegant bites. The goes-without-saying summer rolls, wontons made with a filling of leftover curried chick peas puréed with the last of the sweet potato salad fromm John’s birthday, and maki made from some brown rice remnants and filled with the purée, a bit of barramundi Milo had the…
This is a standby favorite, and when I went to buy tofu this afternoon there were fresh local snap peas at the store as if to underscore the wisdom of my choice (ours are only just flowering.) So half the ground pork I got on Saturday, plus the tofu, garlic, ginger, hot peppers, and a sauce made from the shrimp/miso broth, tamari, rice vinegar, a drop of agave and flour to thicken it went into…
It got humid, and I was in the woodshop all day so something light and quick was called for. The leftover brown rice (we always make too much, so there are easy options in the following days) and some wilted watercress became maki, and carrot “noodles” from the peeler tossed in a sauce of cider vinegar, tamari, mustard, and sesame oil with a garnish of black sesame seeds. A bit of ground beef mixed with…