Coconut, Tomato, Shrimp....its not summer

Hey All,

I'm trying my best to keep on top of things, but alas, life is exhausting.  Exhausting is a good thing, it means I'm busy, doing stuff I enjoy, and the Happy Homo Homestead isn't falling into too terrible of disrepair.  We're both working our guts out, and maybe, just maybe, I can send "the thing from day 1" to production.  We'll see.  I LOVE my users, in fact I love all laboratory personnel.  That said, if anybody can break a thing, the team I'm working with will do it.  They've sent me back to "The Cave" with copious notes TWICE!  If nothing else, this has taught me to give up trying anything fancy and stick to very basic coding that does what the user needs it to do.  I appreciate the nuance of privilege based code, but the thing I'm working on is something that only the specified users can access anyway....*outloud eyeroll*

A while back, this recipe, from Slender Kitchen, caught my eye.  I like the flavor profile and shrimp are delicious.  It is definitely on the Vietnamese/Thai side, but the tomato adds a European touch.  The flavor is all around unique and tasty!  If I had to make it again, I'd let the tomato and stuff reduce A LOT!  It was a bit runny, although still delicious.

So here's how I did it/will do it going forward:

1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup onion
3 garlic cloves (this level is right, but I wouldn't hesitate to add more, minced)
2 tbsp ginger, minced (original recipe called for 1tbslp, I found it lacking, maybe my ginger was weak from freezing....I buy ginger when it is on sale, run it through the food processor, freeze it, and use it for recipes like this)
2 tbsp. basil, chopped (I used 2tblsp dried from the garden)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional, to taste, the original recipe calls for 1/8, I think 1/4 is perfect)
2 cups tomatoes, chopped (or 32oz freezer container, I gave up trying to can tomatoes years ago and just freeze them instead)
1 1/3 cup or 1-10 oz can coconut milk
2 lb. shrimp

Part of what turned me off to this recipe originally were all the references to lo fat, paleo, etc.  Its just cooking, c'mon, a bit of sense and you can adjust this recipe to any dietary need, INCLUDING VEGAN (hello, vegan shrimp are delicious!).

GENTLY, Saute the onions and garlic in the oil.  Just as the onions lose their color add the ginger, red pepper, and half of the basil.  I SAID GENTLY!  Don't burn your pepper and basil, it will taste like dreck if you do!

Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for a good while, the sauce should be very thick (I skipped this part and paid the price with runny sauce).  We're talking hours here, not just one.  The sauce should be thicker than tomato sauce.

Reduce (or remove completely from) the heat and whisk in the coconut milk, again, gentle, because coconut milk can curdle.  Add the shrimp and cook until cooked through.  Shrimp are finicky, not enough heat, you risk food borne illnesses, too much, RUBBER!  There is plenty of heat left in that pan to cook even prawn(5-10ct) sized shrimp.

Sprinkle the remaining half of the basil over the top.  A drizzle of chili oil would be a nice touch!

I served it over RICE!

While I'm berating my own cooking let's talk about this horrible interface.  Google already rules the lives of those of us that hate Steve Jobs....remember when android was supposed to be Open Source....  Anyway, next time, I'm going to try linking images from Drive.  I might be catching on to this yet.

Rollout Muffins - Dried Cherry

Hey All,

Today was rollout day.  In my new gig, rollouts are that exciting and nerve wracking time when new code goes into the production environments.  We also have to be at the office and going by 6am, so it makes for an early day in order to minimize the impact on our users.

Because it can be such a drag getting up that early, I always like to do something nice for those days.  During my first rollout, I decided that it would be muffins to get us going in the morning.  To date we've had pineapple, cranberry orange, and blueberry.  This change order found me making Cherry Almond, as inspired by A Taste of Home.

It also gave me a good excuse to put my stand mixer to use.

These are super delicious, the dried cherries don't impart a lot of flavor, but add morsels of real cherry when you bite into one.  The cake is otherwise very nutty/almondy on account of the sparing use of almond extract.  They taste like nuts, not artificial cherry.  It makes for a wonderful flavor profile.

So here's how I did it:

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon shortening
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar, mix and let set until milk curdles, mix again before adding)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/2 cup whole almonds run through the food processor, divided

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line 12 muffin tin cups with liners or coat well with oil or shortening.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In the mixer bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.

Add about half the flour mixture and half the buttermilk and mix well.  Add the remaining half and mix until a muffin batter form.

Fold in the cherries and half of the almonds.

Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake at 350F 20-25 minutes (mine took 20) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

I hope you'll enjoy these to make a day brighter!

3Day

Hurry Curry

Hey All,

This one is sort of a funny story that goes back a million years.  I used to make this type of recipe relatively frequently, but somewhere along the lines I lost the recipe.  A while back I was having "Cook's Block" and my friend Kassandra reminded me how good Hurry Curry is.  I hadn't made it since then, but I happened to have a hankering, so Dr. Google to the rescue with this recipe from Simply Recipes.

I do things a bit differently by adding all the curry powder to the chicken.  This can be made with sour cream, greek yogurt, or a mix of the two.  Either way it always turns out great.

I hope you enjoy!

3day

Kooftah, Keftah, Morrocan Meatballs

Hey All,

I seem to be visiting this about once every year. I really need to fix that.

Today I made some Keftah and Lemon Rice, this is inspired by The Med. Its one of those that takes a bit, but is entirely worth it.

For the Meatballs:

1/2 cup cooked rice
Half a Large Onion chopped finely or run through the food processor
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork or hot Italian sausage (If you are using ground pork, add 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. If you use sausage, use HOT, the spices in regular Italian sausage don't work well for this recipe)
1 egg
8 dried apricots (I use dried nectaplums I dried from a friend's tree last summer. I dry things to crispy, to prevent mold, so I plumped them in 1/2 cup hot water, reheating in the microwave as necessary. It took about 2 hours.  Add the leftover soak water to the tomato sauce to enrich the flavor)

Mix that all except the apricots together in a bowl and let it set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

When its time to cook, heat the oven to 400F.

Wrap a good sized amount of the meat mixture around each apricot and place on a lightly greased (pan spray is handy here) baking sheet. Here's a picture of what that looks like.

Cook at 400F for 20-30 min until cooked through.

The Lemon rice was a new experiment, next time I'll use less turmeric (this recipe reflects that change). I add turmeric to give it color, the picture in the recipe that inspired this was dreadfully beige/bland, so I added some turmeric to bump up the color....it also adds an interesting flavor that I rather like.

Lemon Rice:

2 cups white rice
1 Tblsp chicken bullion
1 1/2 tsp turmeric Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of that lemon + enough water to make 2 1/2 cups
1 tsp salt

Put that all in an instant pot and cook on the normal rice cycle. Let pressure release naturally.

Lastly the tomato sauce. Most recipes make WAY too much sauce, unless I have a need for Morrocan tomato sauce later, I make a half batch like this:

Morrocan Tomato Sauce:

2 Tblsp tomato paste (optional, but it bumps up the tomato flavor)

1/2 teaspoon fennel or anise seeds
1/2 teaspoon grated orange or lemon rind (I use 3-4 drops of lemon essential oil when I don't have a lemon handy)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon or a dash of ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon or a dash of salt to taste
1 14-15oz can tomato sauce

Place that all in a saucepan and gently warm for several hours. I put it on the warmer burner on high to med-high, stirring once in a while. When everything else is ready, it is hot and flavorful.

For the final dish, make a bed of rice, desired number of meatballs, and pour sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh or dried parsley if you like.

I'll spare the stories that cooks so often skip over and just say its been a good year. I moved to a new position that pays handsomely, is challenging, but doesn't make me nutso.

Welcome to 2019, I hope its a great year for you all!

3Day

GNOCCHI!

Hey All,

So I do stuff and junk, but I finally made Gnocchi and it worked.  I literally threw it all in a food processor, spun it together in the food processor until it stuck together, and pressed it out over a fork.  11 min in salted boiling water.  I did it 3 times to make sure!

One dish went to Nancy, Nancy brought me her square pan past Burning Man full of delicious with the promise I'd return it, I did this weekend (probably later than she'd have liked) full of spinach and chicken and gnocchi...Nancy knew Angelica before she died.  Ang always used to give me a lot of shit about being so young but cooking like I was an old woman.....she was "young" too, she was an inspiration and in my mind I still see her sitting on that chaise lounge at the Circle lounge, cattily pawing while all the boys just stared in wanton amazement!  Her hair and makeup were always flawless, her secret, it wasn't in the product, it was the careless way she literally threw it on because she was that beautiful!  God I miss that girl and her spirit....I feel honored that I was able to cook for us again, at least in spirit.  I miss you girl, happy Birthday weekend!

What the Eff is a Fruckie

Hey All,

Culinary fun continues with my gym and recovery folks and here at home.  Last week we did a "Prepare" event using on sale items and the coordinators flare for world flavors.  It was an absolute blast, but I'll refrain from posting her great recipes, in hopes one day she makes it big and will write a book about it or have a TV show.  I haven't made much else that has been inventive or especially noteworthy;  just good cooking to keep us fed.

Last week, I hit the motherload on brie.  Every once in a great while, NPS get outdated or near outdated cheese and sells it at ridiculous prices.  Case in point, 7oz. baby bries for $0.50.  Brie is definitely more my thing, so I only bought 2, but I may have fixed that today.  I made a grilled cheese using the brie for Husbear, and I made a grilled brie and pears with rosemary for me.  YUM!  Husbear was delighted with his ooey gooey grilled cheese with a unique flavor.  I'm easy to please with brie, so it was a huge win.  I should note, I bumped up the flavor by using half bacon grease, half butter to lube the frying pan.

Afterward we had a Fruckie.  As I've heard many times before, WTF is a Fruckie?  It is a delicious thing made with leftover corn chips, peanut butter fudge, and chocolate.  Sweet, salty, and I use semisweet or even super dark chocolate to make a delicious treat.  Its really quite simple, and I line the pan with tin foil, so its super easy all around.  I usually use what's left of a bag of corn chips, so 1 part = 1/4 cup in a 9x9 pan.  The link before uses a full bag of chips, a much larger pan, and is a horrible waste of corn chips that could be better used with that brie ;)

Put the corn chips in the foil lined pan.  Melt equal parts corn syrup and sugar together, just when it starts to boil, add one part peanut butter, mix well, turn off the heat and pour that over corn chips. I usually cook it for about a minute so its sets up harder when cool. Next put chocolate chips, or broken bar bits or whatever on top, the heat will melt it and let it spread....easy peasy and delicious.

There will be some of the chip bits leftover in the bottom of the pan.  If you have more corn chip remnants, use them again, or put them on ice cream.....that little bit of salt with all the dripped in sugar and chocolate is an amazing ice cream topping.

I'll keep writing more as things pop up, in the meantime, keep it simple and make good food!

Lotsa Love,

3Day

Nearly a year, new us

Hey All,

Holy smokes its been a long time since I've written here.  Things are generally good.  I accepted a Chemist position with the Utah Department of Health in the CDC funded LRN-C program.  Its nice to be back in the lab.  I work with a small, but great team.

I also have come a long way with addiction, recovery, and getting us back on track.  I've had a couple of setbacks, but have been generally sober and clean since November 23, 2016.  I owe a ton of that to Fit to Recover.  Fit to Recover (FTR) is the gym I started going to when things got really bad.  I found a supportive environment that asked only that I be clean and sober and try my best.  It started with one clean and sober day, then a couple more, and now I'm doing very well.  It was a great adjunct to the bizarre mish mash of treatment I had to pursue.  I'm done with the hard parts of therapy and counseling, now its continuation to success.

FTR is built on "Four Pillars" of recovery.  The four pillars are:  Fitness, Food/Nutrition, Service to others, and Creative expression.  I've found a fondness for their food/nutrition program.  Monday I gave a talk about menu planning and shopping.  It was super empowering.  I've moved out of my shell with service, primarily reaching out more with the gym, being supportive of new folks, and building new friendships around that.  I think I'll do more with the blog as creative expression.  The really cool part is that I happened into a treatment adjunct that has been show to improve treatment outcomes by 450%.  I'll have to pull the references later if anyone needs me to.

So to food:

First up, here's the link to my menu organizer.  It is a live document that updates frequently.  So if you wonder what my food world is looking like, check it out.  I also post sales information in my shopping list.

Today I made Granola.  I did the ginger apricot with the addition of 2 cups of crisp rice cereal.  Cereal is a great addition to add crunch and flavors.  I still have a few cups of yogurt, so I'll use that, a spoonful of peach jam, and the granola for breakfasts this week.  After that I'll make some vanilla soy milk.

I also wanted to talk about vinaigrettes.  This week Food to Recover is talking about balanced meals.  I'll admit, I struggle with getting my vegetables, but have recently started incorporating salads again.  I'm not a fan of having tons of bottles of salad dressing laying around, so have started making small batch vinaigrettes in a jar.  Its a single jar, usually only lasts a meal or 2 and is super easy.  Just throw in the ingredients and shake.

I do things a couple of different ways, so let's start with the basic vinaigrette.

Basic Vinaigrette
2 parts sugar
2 parts vinegar
1 part oil

This is the basis for tons of things, poppy seed dressing (poppy seeds and onion), sesame dressing (use rice vinegar and add 1 part soy sauce, 1/4 part toasted sesame oil, and sesame seeds), and tons of other variations.  Adding muddled fruit will give you a fruit vinaigrette.

Savory Vinaigrette
1 part sugar (more or less to taste)
2 parts vinegar
1 part oil

I use this for things like Italian vinaigrette (garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, a bit of minced bell pepper) or ranch vinaigrette (onion powder and dill weed).

Creamy Vinaigrette
2 parts sugar
2 parts vinegar
Mayonnaise to make creamy to taste, it doesn't take much and helps everything emulsify.

This style works well for just about every variation I've mentioned above....adjust the sugar for the savory ones.

I hope you all are well and eating good food.  I look forward to writing up more soon!

Lotsa Love,

3day

Eff this!

Hey All,  YOU'VE BEEN WARNED, I SWEAR IN THIS ONE!

Its been a while and things are bumpy as they often are this time of year.  First things first, This delicious sounding recipe came from Bake at 350.  Its a pumpking beer donut hole recipe.  Husbear and I have recently reinstated "Workaholics Anonymous" on Fridays.  Wasatch Beers Beer Store recently remodeled part of their store and packaging room into a tap room and they have one of the best pumpkin beers in the land.  Its a great spot to go hang out after another rough week and have a couple...not a ton like I used to do, just a couple to take the edge off and help me slip into the weekend.

There has been a ton of activity in our world.  Most of it good, some of it terrible, and some of it was the hard break that needed to happen to get us both on track and back to appreciating our life together.

All kinds of weird things happened that really made us both feel terrible.  I'm not going to lie that its hard to look at someone that has hurt you and say, "You're all I've got....please...."  Yes, divorce came up, no, its not going to happen.  We've invested WAY too much into one another to walk away over a series of small events and small people.  I've dissolved some unhealthy friendships, but it wasn't that hard with a clear picture of just how badly taken advantage of I was.  So friends, fair warning, don't ask me for money.....we're adults, we know how to take care of ourselves, and if you don't, figure it out!

Please has morphed into helping each other, being communicative of expectations and feelings, and working really fucking hard to rebuild trust in each other.  I think we're doing well, but I won't lie, I have paranoid tendencies....those will ease up with time.  Also we started a "family calendar" so we know what's going on, who's working late, expected tasks, etc......that makes it sound way more complicated than it really is, it just helps us be clear in what's going on.

My work made another reduction-in-force, if that's what you call it.  I thought we were already running on empty.  Apparently we had 38% of disposable gasoline.  I've already become a department of one when my old boss left, so my operation wasn't affected other than watching some of my favorite colleagues get pissed away.  It sucks....I've been applying for just about anything that I'm even remotely qualified for.  Its draining, especially when you get turned down without even an interview.  I'm beginning to believe I'm a good employee and have the right stuff to offer.....especially when it comes to adaptability and knowing my shit.

Also, a dear friend was diagnosed with colon cancer just before Burning Man.  (pause, Above and Beyond ft. Oceanlab - Another Chance just came on....this song debuted in the US on my birthday 2 years ago, I think...it was the first time I heard it and I remember it being big shit with another dear friend, and I LOVE IT!).  Cancer, even kindergarten cancer, scares me to death after losing Angelica.  Her's was supposed to be "very treatable"....yeah, we see how that worked out.  I'm scared...she's 600 miles away and is already losing a ton of weight.  She needs a good bear to cook for her....if you're a queen that can't put down the butter in the bay area, let me know, I may have a mission for you.

I also started going back to the gym with another friend that happened to reach out at the right time.  My body is really unhappy with years of neglect, but if nothing else at least I'm staying fluid this winter.

So I'm exhausted....I'm having a very tough time at work after something I didn't even approve of went sideways and I get to figure it out.  Gee, thanks for thinking that one through guys!

I'm beyond emotional fatigue....if you really want to know how I feel, take a good look in a burn barrel after Burning Man.  We go back to the shrink on Nov 5th together....I hope I don't do too much damage between now and then.  I'm not known for being kind when I'm in this state.

I take comfort in cooking and bargain shopping.  $0.69/lb for some of the best drumsticks and thighs I've ever had...yes please.  And laughing with the meat counter guys while they portioned up more was great.  Training the gals at Rancho how to put my order together has been fun, but their sales haven't been that great.....soon, tho, we'll need some of their thin cut steak for meat birds/beef Wellington.  Using up one of the last two jars of grape sauce...with perfectly dry and crumbled feta over chicken and rice pilaf.....oh yes!  Rediscovering the joy of ravioli and tortellini..... Jeff Mauro's crock pot deep dish pizza is still on deck.....  And those are just the things I've been making.  Husbear has been kicking ass with other great bear food too!

Food has been great....  In case you missed it, the link for the google doc that helps us menu plan is still there.  We scored on Pork Leg a while back....yes, it shreds just like pork should and makes AMAZING chili!  We'll use some leftovers to make heuvos rancheros for breakfast tomorrow since the 1 hen we have left has been working overtime....she's been laying 2 eggs every 3 days.  We may try for a couple more hens in the spring to help with her workload.

I really want to make granola again.  I have had some amazing breakfast treats in recent memory, all homemade of course...but its time to make more granola.  I've also learned that store bought cereal can be worked in for added crunch and texture :)  Cripsy rice and frosted flakes have been especially good.  I'm eyeing lemon and ginger for this round.....

I think that's enough psycho babble for now....I'll leave you with this!

Lotsa Love,

3day

Correction - Gronola Recipe

Hey All,

Just a quick note to let you know of a recommended change to the granola recipe.

I strongly recommend using 3 cups of oats.  My first two batches tasted great, but the excess oil eventually settled out in the jar I use for storage and made a gross mess in the last bit.  Keep everything else the same. 

I've been having tons of fun with the recipe so far.  Here's some flavor ideas:

Orange Cranberry (use an orange syrup)
Toasted Coconut (use a vanilla syrup)
Apricot Ginger (1 part orange syrup, 2 parts each maple and vanilla syrups), half flax seed half sesame seed for the nuts, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cardamom, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper.  I used black sesame seeds to give some additional color.

I have been enjoying the granolas with yogurt in the mornings.  Its quick and packed with energy.  This past week, I switched it up to soy milk.  I have quite a few dried soybeans that need used up.

Hopefully this gives you some great ideas for mornings.

3Day

2 I've Been Meaning To Get Down

Hey All,

Does your kitchen and shopping binder look like it might explode?  Yeah...so I'm continuing to work towards a better all organized electronic system.  These two recipes need to be written down:

Pumpkin Curry Soup
2 T Red Curry Paste
4 Cups Broth
2 15oz. Cans Pumpking
1 3/4 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Large chili - sliced
Cilantro Garnish

Gnocchi
1 Cup mashed potato
2 cups flour
1 egg

3day

Spys everywhere.....

Hey All,

So an interesting note about today... When I logged in to update the sales and menu plan here, there were 4 people viewing the page.  I hope it is of use...

Much Love,

3day

23F and Chicken Spinach and Mushrooms

Hey All,

So the Chicken Spinach and Mushrooms recipe doesn't have a nice published website.  It came to me as a recipe on Facebook, so here goes a boil down:

6 thinly sliced chicken breasts
1 container chive n onion cream cheese
1 large container fresh mushrooms sliced
1 small bag (or bunch) spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
garlic seasoning and pepper
8 oz mozzarella

In 9x13 pan line chicken in single layer.  Top with spinach then mushrooms.

Sprinkle with seasonings.

Soften cream cheese and whish with oil and broth.  Pour over mixture in pan.

Cover lightly with foil.  Bake at 375F for 20 min.  Remove foil and cook uncovered another 25 min.  Add mozzarella and cook another 10 min uncovered.

Let set 10 min before enjoying.

Technology Day 2 and Thick Heavy Snow

Hey All,

Its a beautiful snowy Saturday here in the city of Salt.  These snow storms have been especially epic, dropping nearly a foot of thick heavy northern Utah snow each time.  Its beautiful, but the clean up this evening is going to be a pain in the ass.

Yesterday I wrote about embracing technology, in the form of a cloud based spreadsheet.  Today I put it to use with an interesting result.  I slowed the fuck down in the supermarket and took an extra minute to double check prices, saving myself an extra few cents....in time those few extra cents will be tens of dollars, on which to retire.

I still need to hit Sprouts and Global, but otherwise I've got me one heck of a week ahead.

3day

Making Technology Work

Hey All,

So its been a while since I've written.  I've decided to make technology work for me.  Instead of packing around a shopping/sale list, I've made technology work for me.

My Menu Planner

I've decided to make this public for viewing.  Its an active document, so for recipes, etc, you'll want to make sure and bookmark them.

3day

Getting back to my roots...more hippie, less business

Hey All,

So I didn't write much in 2015.  Its a shame, as we ate very well.  2016 is off to a bizarre start, but I'm feeling good about the year ahead.  I also had some leftovers from holiday cooking that got turned into granola.  Granola is one of those things that sounds like a giant pain the ass, when in reality its not that hard.  Also, I have leftover baking stuff, so why not...  This is an adaptation of "Granola in a Mug".  Yes, google that, people actually make granola a mug at a time...

Here's what I did with leftover cherry flavored dried cranberries (a leftover treat from Halloween that Hozilla and her minions have failed to touch), cherry simple syrup (1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 tsp cherry flavor), and sliced almonds:

Preheat oven to 300°F.

In a large bowl combine:
6 Tblsp syrup
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
3/4 tsp salt

Add:
2 cups oats
6 Tblsp nuts or seeds

Mix together until no liquid remains, but don't overmix or it'll turn to crud.  Spread on baking sheet or in shallow baking dish.  Bake for 10 minutes. Fluff, repeat until toasty, about 30-40 minutes.  My batch took 35 minutes.

Stir in:
6 Tblsp dried fruit

Granola will become crunchier as it cools.

This year I'm in the mood for much lighter fare.  In the week ahead I'm already eyeing black bean burgers, falafel with tatzeke, and beet and goat cheese salad with creamed balsamic dressing.  Leftover from the new year:  macaroni and cheese.  Also, sirloin and london broil and are sale this week so there will be a meal of that.  I'm especially eyeing this recipe.

I hope 2016 treats you well.  You know where I'll be found....

3day

Grape Sauce

Hey All,

Can you believe its been since May that I wrote?  My love affair with food has been ongoing, as has my love affair with canning and preserving all the wonders that our little parcel of land produces.  You all may remember the carbor.  A couple of the grape vines have started producing.  Unfortunately they aren't table worthy grapes....they are small and riddled with seeds.  Both the black and white varieties were tasty, but full of seeds.  Before anyone gets up in arms, one of the best grapes I ever had was a young catawba brought to me by a friend, the bunches were heavy with small berries, while full of seeds, they were delicious!  My grape were similar.....although I don't know if I'll find a grape that quite captures that grape jelly flavor like her's did.

I'm flush with jam for the winter months, so I need to get creative with my fruit.  Plum sauce is a personal favorite, but grape just doesn't seem like the proper fruit for that.  A quick search of the almighty google and I found a recipe for Grape Sauce.  In my mind, this should be sweet, fruity, and mildly creamy, with a hint of wood.  So off to the internet to find biryani masala recipes....  I came across this recipe, which sounded right for a masala since it contained everything but the kitchen sink.  I broke a lot of it down into useable portions and also used what I had... 

3/4 bay leaf
3/4 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp anise seed
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp caraway seed
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pandan extract
muddle that all together in mortar and pestle....you don't have to grind.

I substituted 1/4 tsp pandan extract for the stone flowers.....it added a lovely creamy flavor that was out of this world. Hint:  Pandan is what gives jasmine and basmati rice its unique flavor.

To make the sauce:

1/2 lb grapes
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp biryani masala
Juice of 1/2 lemon
 boil for 10 min.
Slurry through fine wire strainer.
To the juice, add slurry of 1tsp cornstarch, return to boil and can.

When all was said and done, 6 jars:  4 for my pantry, 1 without a sealable lid in the fridge, and 1 to go to a friend in Seattle, the leftovers went to the recipe below.

I roasted some chicken breasts with a quarter cup of the sauce, pulled it out ten minutes before finish and sliced it, poured remaining sauce over, sprinkled with blue cheese and put under a low broiler for 10 more minutes....served with rice and green beans....it was pretty fabu!

I'm ashamed to admit I don't know what a muscadine tastes like (I've smelled it, but only tasted the wine), but in my mind this captures it, a sweet, woody, slightly spicy flavor, with a hint of cinnamon....

Watermelon Memorial Day

Hey All,

Can you believe its been 2 months since I posted?  Where does the time go?  Oh that's right, a challenging job and traveling and having fun.....living life as it were!  I'm listening to a preview of #32 from Discopolis's podcast.  This podcast was released shortly after my first trip to San Fransisco since we last talked.  Disco had an extra ticket to see Above and Beyond....we did, and it was epic.  I wish we had had a bit more time.  I had a phenomenal trip!  I got to finally see Delores Park, did a full lap of Chinatown, including Chinese bakeries that had chocolate dipped macaroons the size of my fist....  After Disco and I parted company, I got to spend the rest of the weekend with Matt....Matt brings out a side of me that is crazy and fun;  I can't wait to see him again this Fall.

So let's get to the meat of the matter, or the rind of the matter as it is.  Let's talk about a great Memorial Day weekend and why it is.

Most of my readers are savvy enough to know that today is about remembering the deceased.  As I grew up, there was an extra emphasis on the military veterans that gave it all, but we remembered all our deceased family and friends.  In the morning, I'd play in the pep band during the parade, run home and change into something presentable, and then it was off to the cemetery to decorate the graves of deceased loved ones with flowers picked from the hillsides.  It was usually Trilliums and Dog Toothed Violets in Mason jars.....once in a blue moon we'd run across a higher elevation patch of shooting stars.  I think those usually went on Great Gramma's grave.

I'm a bit older now, and a bit more jaded.  I wish I were at home to put a bouquet of carnations on Gram's grave, a bouquet of shooting stars on Gramps' grave....  Memorial Day isn't quite the same excitable time as it used to be.  It used to mark the end of the school year, movement into summer, a life changing move to college....  Nowadays, its about remembering loved ones, missing them dearly, and realizing that I'm still in this life taking care of the veteran's of war and the issues they have as a result.  I guess its my lot in life, its just really hard to have it aggrandized.

We spent Sunday cleaning up the patio.  Its a great space, its just gotten slightly overrun from neglect and especially aggressive vinca.  The previous owner of our home was a stonemason, so we have lots of crazy bits of stone to put to use.  One re-purpose I'm especially proud of is taking the old "bench stone" and turning into a serving table.  We had to invert it to get it to set right on the table base we found in a back corner.....in doing so, the natural layering of the rock made for a perfect serving surface, you can tuck ice all around the food, it gets crazy cold.  It's really cool, here's a shot of today's brunch:

No worrying about coolers or anything....just YUM! for everyone!

Since watermelon was crazy on sale when I went shopping, we had quite a lot of it.  The menu was:  Sourdough Biscuits, Mulberry Jam (the bit that didn't fit in the jars and has been kept in the fridge), $0.99 fresh pineapple (no seriously, that's what I paid for the whole pineapple), Watermelon ($0.20/lb, I bought one in mind for weekday breakfasts, cost me a whole $0.59), Strawberries (a big spend, $1.59 for the pound), cucumbers (3 big ones for $0.99, I used half of one) and tomatoes (0.79/lb) drenched in Italian Dressing ($1.29 for the 20 oz big bottle, I used maybe an 1/8th), and in the very corner are the dregs of the 2nd to last jar of pickled mushrooms ($0.125/lb on the shrooms, probably $1.25 if I include the cost of the jar, they turned out so epic.  I'm pretty sure it was the baby dill, scored for $0.25 a bunch that made them so good).

I was left inspired by the watermelon.  I didn't realize until not too long ago, my Mom always used to have a Watermelon Rind Chutney recipe in the front of her recipe box.  I'm not sure how much of the stuff I ever ate, but I'm sure it was delicious.  I'm proud to say I've taken her pickling prowess to a new level!  I come from a long line of preservers and canners.....I'm so VERY proud to continue that tradition!

A few years ago, I worked with an Accountant named Lisa.  Initially, she terrified me as one of the "elite" that worked upstairs.  It took working together on one project to learn that she was a great, no-nonsense gal to work with and also that she loved preserving and canning.  I was just getting my orchard/gardens going, but we did get to exchange a few jars.  Among them was a Watermelon Relish (and I can't forget the jalepeno jelly).....gosh it was delicious!  I put that on every kind of sausage that summer and enjoyed it immensely.  Sadly, I no longer work with Lisa, but if LinkedIn isn't lying, she's still doing great!  I'm happy to see her succeed and keep on canning and preserving....it really is a life skill.

So here we are, at the start of summer, with a ready-to-go patio and watermelon.  I channeled my Aunt Pattie today.  I have fond memories of her sitting on the dock at Placid Lake, MT preparing fruit for pies and canning.  After brunch, I pulled out a bottle of wine (Clos Du Bois Calcaire chardonnay, only available at their vineyard) and started prepping while we chatted and enjoyed the sun....  In no time, I had the watermelon rind worked down and ready to go.

I found this recipe at food.com that sounded about right.  Its a bit more work that I'm used to, but why the heck not for delicious relish to go on dogs over the summer.  I only had 2 cups of shredded melon, so I cut it in 1/3.  Here's a cut and paste of the ingredients:

• 3 quarts water
• 6 cups shredded watermelon rind
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons ground ginger
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon celery seed

I boiled the chopped melon rind in the water for 3 minutes and strained.

While I was waiting for the initial water to boil, I mixed the sugar, vinegar, mustard, turmeric, ginger, salt, and celery seed and brought it to a boil and removed until the burner was cooled to simmer....I just let that devil simmer the whole time...it got crazy syrupie so I'm all kinds of excited.

Then into the brine went the boiled watermelon rind for 30min of simmering.....that's when I started writing this.....it looked like shredded paper in a Co-SO3 bath....LOL!

After that, I loaded it into a pint jar and realized I was just a hair short, so I topped it up with finely diced cucumber.  I've seen all kinds of crazy mixes of cucumber and watermelon rind, so I' figured 25% cucumber will be just fine.

Then into the water bath....normally around here, it would be 15 min, but with the raw cucumber I opted for 20min.

I was quite worried that it would turn out to be some kind of poorly colored brown mess....thankfully no, the turmeric has turned it into a beautiful and delicious looking sunset relish!

Here's to a great summer, everyone!  Enjoy!

3Day

Naan Ya Business!

Hey All,

So its been a while.  Winter was rough, no?  Late winter greeted us with lots of visitors, a renewed desire to leave the bear lair, and good healing and realizations on both our parts.  We also adopted a rescued pit bull puppy a few weeks ago.  We've learned he's surprisingly young for the shape he was rescued in, but will likely not get much larger.  He's been a bundle of fun and joy, albeit very destructive joy :)  His story is heartbreaking, I hope we can provide the happy and healthy home he needs to fully enjoy the rest of his time on the planet.

What does this all have to do with Naan?  Well, other than the circumstance, I'm not sure much.  About a week ago, I attended a local gathering of "those people".  Being a social gathering, of course, food was in order.  I had recently scored on cases (no, not just cases, 9 cases, and there were plenty more) of outdated yogurt.  I'm sure many of my readers just threw up a bit knowing that they ate cheese and naan made with outdated yogurt.  The funny thing about cultured milk products is that they are actually safer the longer they sit.  The increased acidity and "good" bacteria population overruns the "bad" bacteria and actually makes it safer.  The downside is that flavor goes out the window, depending on storage conditions, things may be sour, bitter, or otherwise funky....hence the reason well aged cheeses are aged in carefully controlled conditions, to make sure the flavor is going to be good after all that time.

 In this case the yogurt had turned into a cheesy mass that tasted like vinegar!  Why not turn it into cheese and naan.  Naan, as tricky and mysterious as it seems to the western world, is really a very simple bread made with yogurt or sour cream.  So here's the recipe that I've been asked for repeatedly, BTW, another batch is in the oven proofing right now!

So where does the pit bull come into play?  The night before I set out to make the naan, he devoured my prized sourdough starter, so I had to use regular yeast....I'll share both ways to do it:

Naan

1 pkg yeast (2 Tblsp starter if using sourdough)
1 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp salt (I prefer non-iodized since iodine can kill yeast)
1 cup hot water (I believe its 110°F, I just know its when my tap is running too hot to touch)
4 oz (1/4 cup) yogurt....the fancy greek varieties that are running around contain cheese cultures as well so they work very well)

Mix together and let set until able to touch.  It should start to get foamy on the top.  If you are worried about your starter messing things up, just the starter, sugar, and water in the bowl until it springs to life.

3 Cups flour

Mix for what seems like forever....it will form a ball, keep mixing until it starts sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto floured surface.  Flour the top, and knead, adding flour....eventually, despite how much flour you add it will stick...its now perfect.  Coat a bowl with oil, roll the ball into it, making sure it doesn't stick anywhere.  Cover!

Let rise....now this is the tricky part.  Rising, I've learned is a very sensitive process and requires an inordinate amount of heat.  Conventional wisdom says put it on the counter covered for a while....no, you need heat, not like 350°F heat, but much warmer than your kitchen.  I put it in the oven with the light on for 2 hours if using packaged yeast, 8+ hours if using sourdough.  It should double in size and have noticeable bubbles throughout.

No need to punch down, what you are going to do next is plenty violent, but not enough to require another rise....pinch the dough in half.  Then pinch each half into 3 pieces, giving a total of 6 pieces.  Pat, squeeze, and knead the dough into a respectable round, about 1/8" thick.

Gently fry on an ungreased skillet.  The heat is tricky to get the hang of...I've burned plenty of naan until I learned let the skillet warm up (again for what seems like forever) on medium heat.  Then place the patted out naan on the skillet and cover, a few minutes later it will start to look like bread and puff up....flip it over to brown the high spots and VIOLA!

A fun variation on this is to make peshwari naan.  Traditiona peshwari contains onions (very few, finely chopped), raisins to taste, and coconut.  I mix these in when kneading.  The last batch I made, the pit bull had consumed my dessicated coconut earlier on, so it was just raisins and onion....it was still really tasty!

I'm sure the possibilities are endless, I've got an old apple that should probably be shredded into some naan with cinnamon and a pinch of clove......just an idea.

I've been keeping my binder....there are lots of recipes to share, just been under the weather.

3Day

What a week....

Hey All,

So what a week.  The first full week of 2015 brought all kinds of crazy.  There was a RIF at work that was bittersweet.  While some of the paranoia inducing folks are gone, lots of hardworking good people were also taken out in the process.  Also, there was an officer involved shooting that affected one of the communities to which I belong.  My commentary is minimal about both happenings for two reasons:  1)  I'm not entirely sure what to say and find that letting my confusion be my guide usually works well, and 2) some of the initial reactions are entirely unpopular and liable to hurt feelings.  The whole thing has me a bit confused, looking for direction, and not entirely sure I like what my inner voice is telling me.  The inner voice is telling me to remain calm and stay the course.  So all of that aside, the kitchen continues to run smoothly!

Recap

Let's recap since the last installment:

Rice and Egg Bake, while creepy in appearance has been quite enjoyable both fresh and as leftovers.  I have misplaced the cook book and can't find anything similar on the web, but here's a picture:

If you search for Egg and Rice bake, there are lots of variants....in this one, you mix the yolks with powdered mustard and basically make upside down deviled eggs in the rice.  A note here, if you are using fresh eggs, conventional wisdom will tell you that your eggs won't hardboil.  That is hogwash, the trick is to shock the eggs in cold water immediately after cooking, causing the membrane to shrink from the shell.  Also, peeling under cold water helps keep the eggs from sticking.

The rest of last week was good eating!  I'm happy to report the steam bun dough made for delicious peirogi.  The bit of sweet and the hearty bite of over-risen dough was a delight.

The Week Ahead

So shopping this week was actually slightly impressive.  Pork loin was on sale for $2.49/lb;  $26 later we have 4 just right sized roasts.  Not bad at all.  I didn't hit NPS this week, so I paid a bit more for some stuff, but all told I was only into Smith's for $45.  My target is $50 a week and >30% savings....so I'm on target!

Beef stew and pork chili will be nice considering we are supposed to get weather again.  Hearty soups and stews are wonderful when its cold and dreary.

Tater Tot Taco Bake flew by my facebook feed.  My only gripe is that this recipe ends up costing more than most meals I make due to the specialty canned goods and cheese that is not on sale.

Chicken with plum sauce will be an experiment.  Last summer, PL brought me some early season plums from up north.  It wasn't enough for jam, and neither myself nor Husbear care for fresh plums, so I made a jar of plum sauce to store.  It came out last weekend as part of a Dim Sum tea party for his daughter who was returning to her Mother.  I think I'll just crock pot the mess and serve with rice and veggies.  The other option would be to fry up pre-bredded patties and pour it over that, but the sauce may be just a bit too heavy for that.

Since the sourdough starter refuses to die....and trust me, in the past two weeks its a wonder it hasn't, I'm going to give Kraut Bierok a shot.  This is one of those recipes that goes way back in my mining, German, blue collar heritage.  This will make a substantial quantity, so the leftovers will go into the freezer.  I'm also going to make a curry ketchup to go with these.  While ketchup in itself would be delightful, I think curried ketchup will be amazing.  To make curried ketchup, just mix curry powder into ketchup to taste....and remember the flavors will intensify greatly the longer it sits.

I'm also patiently waiting to see if my parents managed to get the German Strudle recipe down for sharing.  Its another high carb, high fat, poor people food, but has been a special recipe in my family for generations.  If they get it figured out, I'll be sure to share it.

Not quite as lengthy this week.  I hope 2015 is finding you healthy and well-adjusted.  So far, its off to a crazy start, so I'll keep cooking!

3Day

New year, same stuff....

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope 2015 has greeted you well.  As for me, the holidays were bittersweet....I worked hard, said the final goodbye to a co-worker who is moving on to new things, worked a crazy schedule, and got a ton of much needed rest.  I'm sad that the resting part is over and the year ahead will bring even bigger challenges than 2014.

The Holiday

The holidays themselves were wonderful.  I pretty much just pattered around the house, cooked, baked, enjoyed the occasional get together, and enjoyed a lot of booze.  I also received the 2 items on my Christmas list, lots of great edible goodies, gift certificates, and cash.  I'm still humbled at the gifts this time of year.  I've taken a rather utilitarian tact in that I don't gift unless expressly asked.  That's not to say during the year folks don't receive random things like a meal, a much coveted office supply, home canned goods, etc, its just that I often find the holiday stress of trying to find the perfect gift over the top....and well, folks who know me and are important in my life understand this.  We'll make the most of the time we do get to spend together and if a super special gift is needed/wanted, we work to make it happen.

That said, here's the things I wanted:

The Thug Kitchen cookbook is one of those trendy/kitschy things I simply couldn't live without.  It reads like a sailor's journal of swear words, and I love it.  The working kitchen is no place for polite words....  It is pretty no-nonsense, although there are a few things in there that make me turn my nose up as hipster.  Overall, though, it is a great read with great ideas, generally sensible, and vegetarian.  Now I'm not a devout veg, but I do like to try and work a veg meal or 2 into my weekly meals.  As they point out, we all eat too damned much meat as it is....and meat is expensive, so you see my thought process here.

The Alaska Airlines retrojet model holds a special place in my heart.  I love special liveries on aircraft.  I find the Alaska retrojet to be especially beautiful, the interior is no exception.  The gentle tip of the hat of an old school paint job on a new multimillion dollar machine makes me very happy.  This one in particular;  we flew this jet to our wedding in 2013.  Enjoying my first first-class flight on Alaska for our anniversary also reminded me that I should commemorate the good fortune that we got to fly on such a beautiful bird on such a special weekend.  This model plane now sits alongside my Southwest Airlines 737, commemorating my many long trips to Vancouver, WA in 2014, in my cubicle as a reminder of some of my favorite flights.

Entrees

So let's talk about some entrees that I've made recently that have been delicious:

First up is this Chicken and Mushrooms with Balsamic Cream Sauce from Centercut cook.  This was another that flew by my facebook feed that I bookmarked.  To make it simple, I deep fried prebredded chicken fillets, making the gravy ahead of time.  I served it with butter-herbed rotini and green beans.  Butter-herbed pasta is super easy, make the pasta, drain it, while it is still warm, add a tablespoon or 2 of butter, plenty of salt, and chopped fresh herbs.  If you are feeling especially adventurous, a shred of good Italian cheese adds a bit of depth.  Just toss that together and serve.  I had just a bit of leftover gravy, that will be served on pierogi this week.  Here's how it looked:

Orange Chicken was a quick throw together.  As mentioned, we scored a helluva deal on fritter chicken.  Fritter chicken isn't useful for much beyond a base for sauce.  So I made ahead this Orange Sauce from Rasamalaysia.  I steamed up a bowl of Normandy blend vegetables, deep fried some of the fritter chicken, and poured the sauce over the top and served it over crispy chow mien noodles.  I've found this is the best way to make good Chinese fare.  I mentioned it before, if you try to put it all together in a crock pot, it turns out like crud.

We also did a batter fried fish with Asian fruit compote.  A huge tip here, if you want your batter to be crispy when cooked, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for each cup of flour.  Batter frying often escapes me and makes one heck of a mess. 

First let me start with the compote....this was literally what was in the pantry and fruit bowl, a can of mangosteen (chop those tender seeds, they hold all the flavor), a can of loquat, and a fleshy, but oddly shaped kiwi.  I drained the canned fruits, scooped the kiwi out of its skin, and rough chopped.  It needed a dash of salt and a squirt of Sriracha to make a wonderful spicy compote for the fish.  Despite the mess and trouble getting the batter to set right until the oil was hot, I did find something useful to do with the leftover batter:  make hushpuppies....  I mixed in cornmeal until the batter would stick together and dropped that by spoonfuls into the hot oil.  I'd give the presentation on this a zero, but it sure tasted good....fruit compote on the fish and cocktails sauce on the hushpuppies.

Now let's talk dumplings!  I started a sourdough starter about 2 months ago, and its still going strong.  It has made some fantastic breads, such as rosemary fantans, plain white bread, lots of sweet rolls, Dutch Apple Bagels, Banana Nut Bagels, and Orange Sesame bagels.  One of them that I photographed are the Orange Sesame bagels just before baking:

Its also that time of year where I am having a love affair with hearty finger foods such as those typically served at Dim Sum.  We've only had one outing to our favorite dim sum place, but I did pick up some frozen dim sum and got inspired to see what it took to make these delights.  Interestingly, most dim sum is very labor intense, but beyond that quite easy.  Steam buns, in particular fascinate me....they are glossy on the outside, but light and flaky and absorb the flavor of whatever you put into them.  A bit of research and I found this recipe for steam bun dough:

1 pkg yeast
1/2 cup warm water
    mix together and let get frothy

  mix together:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (substitute 3/4 cup flour with 2 tablespoons cornstarch sifted together, so in this case you'd need 1 1/2 cups flour and 4 tablespoons cornstarch, measure to make the difference)
3 Tblsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Add 1/2 cup warm milk to the yeast and mix the mess together.  The trick here is the 10 minutes of kneading.  If you don't knead it long enough, it doesn't turn out so well.  Coat in oil and let rise until doubled (this takes a while if you use sourdough starter like I do).....then roll into a great big rope and cut off bun sized pieces and steam for 20 minutes (parchment is essential here!), keep in mind they will about double in the steamer.  I did a batch where I rolled fresh cut scallions into the rope (delicious! I may try a roti paratha using this dough as well)....if you want to do something fancier like a pork boa, just roll it out quite thin until it starts to break, cut to size, and put the filling in before steaming.  Remember to pinch the dough well or it will come undone!

As an example, here's a Barbacoa Bao....I had leftover beef barbacoa and green crud (cilantro and onion), so figured why not.  Here it is going into the steam:

Here's one with a bite out of it:

These were downright amazing!  I'm so glad I've found this recipe.

If you want to use the dough for wontons and the like, just let it rise overnight, it won't puff as much when you steam it and still be delicious!  I also found that frying over medium heat prevents it from puffing a whole bunch.

The Week Ahead

So with the chickens laying again, we need egg ideas.  If you have any, please send them over.  I inherited most of my Mom's cookbooks.  I was beside myself when she told me she was going to get rid of them.  The collection in question is totally retro chic and chock full of great recipes. 

Among this fortress of cooking was, "The Egg Cookbook".  Its a simple paperbound little book chock full of egg information (ask me about egg grading, and yes, half of our fresh ones are only A) and recipes.  One recipe that caught my eye was Rice and Egg Bake.  Its more or less deviled eggs baked in a tomato and pepper rice....I'll have to report back.

Pierogi with leftover balsamic cream sauce.....I'm using the steam bun dough well risen so it doesn't puff a bunch.  For the filling, I mashed 3 small potatoes with buttermilk, cream, salt, and shredded parmesan, and ran some onion, chicken, apple cider vinegar, thyme, and garlic through the chopper.  I'll put those together later tonight.  So far, it smells amazing and I'm having flashbacks to the delicious sour cream sauce on the pelmini at Anoush Deli in Vancouver, WA.  One of these days I should write about Anoush....what a weird hole in the wall but once folks recognized my face I was part of the family.  I'm pretty sure I met the Russian mafia there.....

Shepherd's Pie - Husbear will make this one, he has a distinct picture and flavor in his mind.  Interestingly, he was worried about needing corn, but I have a can in the pantry....  It was intended for salads, but thus far, I haven't been able to touch the canned goods I got for tiffin salads.

Fajitas - easy, duh!

General Tsao's Chicken - Similar to the orange chicken.  I need to find a good recipe for General sauce.

Bonus!  It Caused a Stir

Egg Fu Yung

6 eggs
1/2 onion, finely diced (a bunch of green onions, white and green parts works too)
1/2 cup finely sliced celery (cutting at a 45-degree angle is visually appealing)
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts (substitute finely shredded cabbage, bok choy, napa cabbage, or similar)

Mix altogether until the egg starts to froth.  Fry on medium heat by 1/4 cupfuls....make sure to mix well before each frying or you will get veggie patties and egg patties, not that either isn't delicious!

You can also add up to 1/2 lb of cooked, cooled, and finely chopped meat if you'd like.  When its on sale, I love Chinese sausage in this.

There are a handful of tricks to make it cripsier, if you'd like.  The easiest is to add 1 tsp. cornstarch per egg to the mix.  The other is to fry the fu yung, then aggressively steam it by adding a couple tablespoons of water to the skillet and covering.

I was shocked when I finally figured out my favorite brown sauce for Eggs Fu Yung.  My favorite Eggs Fu Yung, made by China Garden in Missoula, MT, always came slathered in a delicious starchy brown sauce, a recipe which I could never find.  The closest thing I've found is McCormick brown gravy mix.  Here's the picture that caused a stir:

So 2014 was a very strange and crazy year.  I'm hoping that the new adventures and thinking I'm trying to adopt in 2015 work to my advantage.  I hope you all will also have a fantastic new year and the years of the past are remembered fondly.

3Day