What was that rarely seen color that surrounded the bright orb throughout most of the day?
What is this warmth that has been nonexistent during the past month or so, except in fleeting teases?
Both colors and the warmth usually mean summer. Is this an alternate reality? I don’t know, but I’ll take it.
Dinner should have been something “grilly” but I hadn’t takem anything out - so it was BJ’s Mandarin Orange chicken (sauce augmented with some blood orange juice, hoisin sauce, and grated fresh ginger) served on top of basmati rice with peas. It worked. And there was wine.
Had a package of hamburger to use and a spice craving, so I made qeema (aka Indian “taco meat”). It’s a house favorite. Normally I serve it with raita and/or a sautéed vegetable, like red cabbage or broccoli, but I was feeling lazy tonight so I just added extra bell peppers to the dish itself and called it good enough!
Dinner was a pork chop seasoned with salt and pepper and pan-fried in hot oil and butter with onions and garlic. Added some chopped tomatoes and white wine, and then simmered, covered, until the chop was done.
A couple of slices were leaned against steamed and mashed white sweet potatoes - buttah, cream salt, pepper, dried thyme, and Aleppo pepper - with steamed green beans alongside and a glass of wine with dinner.
Pasta with marinara . It’s cooking at the moment . Using the rest for eggplant Parmesan for tomorrow .Sauteed crook neck and zucchini . Wine to drink . It’s so good to cook my own food again . Cheers .
Last few days have been a bluurrrrrr…
we realized that Din Tai Fung was right next to our hotel in Shanghai!! Went there one night with a group of eight of us including my vegetarian coworker and a few locals who were in charge of ordering. Absolutely the best dumplings of my life!! Not pictured below the mushroom dumplings were the showstopper, paper thin skins and intense concemtrated mushroom flavor- i swear i tasted black truffle but the price didn’t reflect that. Various XLB for the omnis. A great cucumber sesame side dish, eggplant in a rice wine vinegar style sauce, fried rice with veggies and mushrooms that wasn’t the slightest bit oily… and more stuff I’m forgetting!
The dumpling makers are really intense and behind a glassed in wall
Our last nightwe returned from a marathon work day too late for anything to be open. We had a fancy cocktail in the lobby bar to celebrate the end of the crazy travel work marathon and my coworker ordered this one where they light the sage on fire and put a glass dome over it
On our return flight i was smart and asked they disregard my vegetarian meal request (flight out the meal was really sad flavor free fake grilled vegetables and plain yellow flavor free rice), so they just kept the beef off the bibimbap which is really delicious. Fabric assortment of veggies, the little bowl of white rice that you mix in is outside the photo. This beautiful chilled soup came next to it, as well as these condiments and a tiny dish of spicy peppers and really tiny crispy fish/shrimp that also missed the photo.
Gochujang in a tube! I won’t be seeing that and eating Bibimbap flying with Turkish Airline! Korean Air business class meal looks nice. I did eat at DTF in Shanghai. Long queue.
for one person, filet mignon marinaded with splash of soy sauce, shaoxing rice wine, , sesame oil, small amount of fine sweet potato starch ( to bind the marinade to the beef, sauteed in peanut oil with smashed ginger, garlic ,spring onions ), then added Lee Kum Kee szechuan sauce , ( did not taste hot enough for me), so I added a tablespoon of pixian chili sauce. When beef was almost cooked, sweet red pepper and asparagus was added on top for a minute or two, tossed for a minute, so the veggies were just crunchy, and a tablespoon of roasted szechuan red peppercorn, coarsely smashed. There is more beef than what shows in the picture. The beef was hidden under the vege. I had enough for 2 meals for myself.
I have never used or heard of eating Mulberry leaves! Very cool. How do they compare texture wise to grape leaves? I sometimes find that when the grape leaves are wrapped with a lot of layers the texture is too tough/stringy. I wonder if anyone at the FM will bring me Mulberry leaves if I ask.
They have more body than the jarred grape leaves. Mulberry trees were common trees in Aleppo Syria where my Grandmother was raised as a young girl. The leaves were used for rolling
She had a tree in Tampa as well. Once cooked they are quite tender. Not stringy not all.
Lucky you! Pretty sure when my Mom and Sister picked these in Atlanta years ago they blanched, dried and stacked them then rolled and tied the stacks before freezing for later use. They obviously keep well in the freezer.
They have a kinda tea flavor compared to grape leaves but I’ve only had jarred grape leaves and they were brined and treated for jar storage so we’re a tad tart
Sugar snap peas, carrots, red bell peppers, and onions sauteed in olive oil and butter, then s/p’d chicken chunks added until all was cooked.
Farfalle pasta was cooked and drained.
Sauce was Presidente garlic-herb pub cheese, milk, pasta water, and lots of extra dried herbs and spices like garlic powder, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Tossed it all together to heat up, then grated Parm-Reg on top.
Wine was the lone side. Some movie on the flat screen tonight.
Made spaghetti sauce yesterday for dinner tonight as I had a busy day driving to Dulles airport in Va to pick up my son.
Stopped to buy some groceries at Lotte, purchased some Dim Sum for lunch, got carried away as they offered buy 4 get 5th free.
Who can resist?
The sticky rice deep fried dumpling with savory filling was excellent as usual. Outside is slightly crunchy, inside is chewy and the savory filling was good.
The taro puffs were disappointing although the dough was very crispy, the filling was scanty, no mushroom or other veg just a small amount of pork.
I also purchased a pound of Cha Sio ( BBQ pork), but did not eat but a few pieces for lunch while on the road. So, the Cha Sio complimented the taro puff .
What really shined was the BBQ quail. 3 for $11. It is very crispy, well spiced with a touch of honey . EXCELLENT!
So, that was dinner too and still with left over! Spaghetti can wait !
After finally sleeping enough (thank you unisom) i’m back on east coast time and feel more like a human. Yesterday afternoon i made a loaf of the world’s best “bread” - basically a super dense brick of mostly nuts and seeds. For dinner last night i tossted up two slices (which gives a great toasty flavor to all those nuts) and topped them with mashed avocado, some sliced smoked tofu, and thin radish slices with smoked salt. Side of cherry tomatoes and a few more radishes. https://food52.com/recipes/28886-my-new-roots-life-changing-loaf-of-bread
Managed to cut it right in half with a cleaver. Roasted the half with roe in the oven yesterday. The second half was cooked on the Weber today. It rained shortly after I put it on the grill but the rain didn’t last long.
The temps declare it’s officially Summer, so that means it’s officially Vodka & Lemonade Season. So that’s the libation for the evening.
Meanwhile, some baby back ribs were seasoned with a dry pork rub last night, then wrapped this afternoon in heavy-duty foil and baked on low heat (about 275°) for about 3 hours, adding some apple cider to the wrapped ribs during the last hour and a half. Turned the heat up to 350°, unwrapped the foil, and slathered with some homemade Apple Bourbon BBQ Sauce (based on a recipe from Curtis Stone). Yes, I know - heating up the oven on a 90° day makes no sense - but when you don’t have a grill, and you are craving ribs, you do what you can to scratch that itch.
Sides were Corn & Snap Pea Salad with a Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette, Red Cabbage Slaw, and Deviled Eggs with Aleppo Pepper & Chives.
It’s so good to cook my own food again . Cheers .
