Jul 24 - Blogging is Hard, But Wontons Aren't

Blogging is hard. It's hard to judge what people will find interesting and absolutely inane. Often the line between the two is rather thin, and distorted at the edges.

Cooking on the other hand, is relatively simple, in my opinion. There isn't much you can do to render a meal un-salvageable or inedible. At the end, your hard work is generally proportional to how tasty your meal is. It's a nice payoff, and as living organisms that require a daily influx of calories, quite necessary.

A friend shared this quote from The World According to Garp, which says:

'If you are careful,' Garp wrote, 'if you use good ingredients, and you don't take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good. Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day: what you make to eat. With writing, I find, you can have all the right ingredients, give plenty of time and care, and still get nothing. Also true of love. Cooking, therefore, can keep a person who tries hard sane.'

It's seldom that you find a quote that well encapsulates so many facets of your present life, but this one works quite well for me. I'm definitely keeping this one handy. Kudos, AH.

July 15 to 18: The British Don't Eat A Lot Of Vegetables

In order to celebrate our childhoods, we continued our Harry Potter Marathon this weekend, truncated by a short trip to the local morning farmer's market to stock up on some fresh produce.

I was really proud of the poached/steamed fish thing I made. As usual, there is no recipe, but it involved sandwiching the whole, cleaned fish between a massive pile of veggies (including spinach, carrot, yellow squash, potato, onion, capers), season liberally, splash some oil onto the fish to help heat conduction get to the meat. For liquid I used half of a beer (neither of us drink beer) and some water just to touch the underside of the fish. Once you get a nice boil on the liquid, cover and steam for 10-15 minutes. This also makes a very rich, delicious broth/sauce.

We're going to see the final Harry Potter sometime this week. After watching these movies again, several years after they've come out, and even longer since the book was published, I have a new perspective on the content of these movies. They're really confusing. For the first 3 or so films, if you haven't read the books, you'll be totally lost. So much is not explained, so many conclusions are jumped to. At times it can be pretty incomprehensible. I think the later movies are little more focused and coherent, but only just. In the end, they are designed as a visual accompaniment to the books, but not stand alone films.

But still, as a child who adored the books, and faced the disappointment on my 11th birthday when my owl didn't come, I get a kick out of these movies. I'm excited to put a wrap on this Harry Potter experience, and bring it to its nice, logical conclusion. But it isn't all over. There is still the Harry Potter theme park, after all.

July 14 - Eat Them Before They Fall Down!

I made something rather precariously assembled in honor of the first day of our Harry Potter movie marathon. In searching for British/Harry Potter themed fare, it seems the only substantial food they eat is Shepherds Pie, that lovely concoction of a meaty stew topped off with a crust of mashed potatoes. I've also come to the conclusion that since J.K. Rowling only ever describes characters in HP eating meat or candy, that there must be special weight management magicking going on at that school.

Anywho, I made a pulled pork stew with onions and carrots. Seasoned with rosemary and thyme (those classic medieval flavors). Standard mashed potatoes. The funky part is that I put the stew in ice cream cones and piped out the mashed potatoes on top like savory soft-serve ice cream. Unfortunately, ice cream cones are not designed to withstand the moisture content of stew, so they slowly began to sink, and we had to eat quickly.

Stay tuned for part 2, where we dine and watch Chamber of Secrets. I'm thinking a good old fashioned English breakfast is in order.

July 10: Let's Go to the Mall! (Today!)

Yeah yeah, we know that Angela is delinquent and uploads things slowly because she's all busy and everything. Angela has long days in lab. Like right now, as I am waiting for an NMR, I am still in lab! Yay!

But here's a video of our adventures on Sunday. After visiting my cousin in her fancy summer program, Kelsey and I went to...THE MALL! Turn your speakers up for this one, because for some reason, the audio is a little on the soft side...



By the way, if you don't watch How I Met Your Mother and don't know Robin Sparkles,

July 11 - Okara, Pad Thai, Watermelon

I have to admit, that I used to hate melons. All melons, indiscriminately. Watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, the whole lot. However, as Benedict says in Much Ado About Nothing, "A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his old age". I really like watermelon now (and all melons, in fact).

My love of this fruit extends so far that I can easily eat half a watermelon by myself in a single sitting. As such, I have bought many watermelons this summer, which are cheap and tasty this season.

I have also experimented with other applications of watermelons (no, not blowing them up, a la Mail Call with R. Lee Ermey. Hooah!) I tried pickling watermelon rind to great success, but found myself with a lot of it in my fridge. Most recently, I've juiced and frozen some, and made fun blendy drinks with them!

Jolly Rancher Slush:
3 parts ice
2 parts frozen watermelon juice
1 part frozen limeade concentrate
1 part triple sec mixer (or something citrus-y)

Blend it up like nobody's business.

It tastes like a frozen watermelon jolly rancher.

Other recipes from dinner tonight:

Pad Thai (or something like that):
Dried rice noodles
Onion
Bamboo shoot
Soy beans (edamame)
Ginko nut
Minced garlic
Grated ginger
Egg

Seasoning Sauce:
Shoyu (soy sauce)
Oyster sauce (fish sauce would be more authentic)
Ginger Syrup (or some sugar)
Sesame oil
Pepper
Chili pepper sauce (for heat)

Scramble an egg, and set aside. Stir fry onion, garlic, and ginger until onion is translucent. Meanwhile, soak the dried rice noodle in hot water until soft and pliable. Slice gingko nuts in half, add to pan along with soy beans and sliced bamboo shoot. Stir fry until heated through. Add rice noodles, and cut them with kitchen shears so noodles are about 2 inches on average. Season with seasoning sauce (ratios are up to you. Generally listed in order from most abundant to least). Add egg.

Okara:

Okara (or dofu za, as Angela informs me)
Onion
Aburaage (fried tofu)
Bamboo shoot
Shoyu
Honey

Stir fry a diced onion. Add sliced aburaage and bamboo shoot. Season with shoyu and quickly cook for 30 sec. Add okara. Mix and gently stir fry. Add shoyu and a touch of honey to taste. This is kind of a mild dish, in general.

July 8: What Does Stuff Taste Like?

It was a slow news day. As such, here's a lot of footage of my face playing "What does stuff taste like?"

July 6: Cooking with Angela!

I get the feeling that sometimes, people think I can't do things. Like cook things that don't use soy sauce. Or integrate left overs into dinner in new and surprising ways. But I can. This pasta sauce, adapted from Alton Brown's pantry-friendly recipe, turned out really well, especially considering I added no extra salt! [extra because the eggplant had salt on it already] Like...surprisingly yummy.



Ingredients
1 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled plum tomatoes
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 dried bay leaf
1 onion
1 carrot
Leftover eggplant
oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
Tequila, for deglazing
Black pepper

Directions
In a sieve over a medium non-reactive saucepot, strain the tomatoes of their juice into the sauce pot. Add the vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and basil to the tomato juice. Stir and cook over high heat. Once bubbles begin to form on the surface, reduce to a simmer. Allow liquid to reduce by 1/2 or until liquid has thickened to a loose syrup consistency.

Cut carrot and onion into uniform sizes and combine with olive oil and garlic in pan over medium heat. Once everything is tender, add capers (chopped) and tomatoes and eggplant (sliced). When things are browned and stuff has started to stick to the pan with caramelizy goodness, add tequila to deglaze.

Once things are loose again, add sauce mixture and some black pepper. Done!

July 4: Real Men Own a Grill

It's weird. In preparation for our nation's birthday, I decided to listen to some John Philip Sousa, as any good America-loving band geek would. I felt reminiscent, to say the least. But not because of any fond memories of 4th of July picnics of the past, or patriotic military parades, or out of any profound sense of nationalism. It moved me because it reminded me of walking down Main Street U.S.A. of Disneyland.

I'll be the first to admit this is a little messed up. My strong emotional sentiments, which ought to be reserved towards 236 years of courage and sacrifice of my fellow countrymen, is instead inextricably tied to a theme park in California.

I can't help it. I have many good memories tied to Disneyland. Yes, the rides are fun, and it's quite a spectacle, magical even, but that's not quite it. Disneyland was my family's family vacation of choice, and for me it meant a couple weeks where we could just be together, spending the sunlit hours frolicking in the Park, and retiring in the evening to gobble down meatloaf and potato soup at Millie's restaurant in front of the Fairfield Marriott. Yes, there was a lot of screaming and fighting, as National Lampoon has led us to believe vacations should entail. But now that I'm away from home and rarely see my family,I can't help but feel a little fuzzy inside remembering that first magical promenade down Main Street as marches from ages past ensured that visitors kept a even, brisk walking pace, beholding all that was right with America.

But should I feel bad that my love for my country is only a transitive association to my love of a corporation? No, I don't think so. I've always held that the US, like any government, is simple a collection of people, constantly shifting and changing, that come together to agree on a few basic things. It is not an entity in itself, worth the reverence of the European monarchy, nor the idolatry of Asian Imperial courts. It's a set of ideas, which I think Disneyland happens to embody pretty well. It's a clean, safe place built upon the idea that families, parents and children alike, ought to be able to play together. To me, America has always been about establishing an environment where I can live, love, and laugh with my friends and family.

What about the Capitalism? Yes, that's a undeniable part of Disney's motto, emblazoned, if not literally, on the receipt for your $3.00 churro. But I've rarely had a problem with capitalism, and think more often than not it is a force for good. A nice and well placed example are the fireworks we watched this July 4th. The city's pretty poor, and was planning on cancelling the annual display. But Ikea stepped in to finance a large portion of the firework show. Was it necessary? No. Could the money have been put back into the community to provide social welfare, etc.? I suppose. But what good is all this work if we can't enjoy it once in a while? To simply persist and survive this workaday world, to trudge home with your half-price, day old, discount bread to gnaw on the stale butt pieces of the loaf as you ponder how you'll get through tomorrow is un-American.

So for this 4th of July, we bought the fancy hamburger buns, watched Netflix, danced the night away, and celebrated our America.

Saturday, July 2: Savory Saturday

Hola! It's been a while since I've been on the blog, I know! My fault. Tired, sleepy, physically exhausted. I gave 2 tours this week, and went socializing with the lab several times because Post-Docs were leaving and with no real weekends the past couple of weeks, I just needed some time to crash. After sleeping all day yesterday, I finally was awake enough not to burn myself while cooking so here is dinner!




Recipes:

Zucchini:
1 medium sized onion
3 small to medium zucchinis
Salt/Soy Sauce to taste

Onions go in first, saute for a couple minutes, add zucchini, add seasonings.
Review: This was yummy. :)

Potatoes:
3 medium potatoes
Soy sauce
Sugar
Water

Cube potatoes and saute in some oil for a little while. Add plenty o' soy sauce and about 2 tablespoon sugar. Add water and cover. Steam until potatoes soft and water all gone
Review: Needed to cook a little while longer. Perhaps need a little more water.

Eggplant:
1 humongor eggplant
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp oil
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Oregano
Cheese of your choice

Salt the eggplant to draw out the water. Make sure to rub salt off afterwards, otherwise it becomes super salty. Combine rest of ingredients minus cheese into bowl and whisk together well. Lightly coat both sides of eggplant with sauce and pan sear until soft. Add cheese on top until melted and serve
Review: Came out a bit salty. The Jack Cheese I used was super salty and the residual salt on the eggplant didn't help. May use for sandwiches.

Toodles!
Angela

June 27 to 30: Breakfast for Dinner

Figuring you had been seeing too much of me lately, we figured Angela ought to take care of blogging and uploading things for this week. However, true to form, her die hard work ethic left her exhausted every day. She's currently napping, sprawled out in front of her computer in the middle of watching "Cats 101" on Youtube. Oops, she woke up.

Here's a snip from this week. I promise these things will come more regularly in the future.



Happy Saturday!