Food

Chili

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:37:19 -0800

Chili has long been a staple, especially for the winter, when I'll occasionally make a big pot and have leftovers for a week. But my chili recipe was pretty embarassing: basically some meat, some canned tomatoes, and a packet labeled "chili". I've been experimenting a bit with non-packet-based chili (both to seem cooler and to reduce unwanted things like sodium). This recipe also marks the return of beans to my chili after a 25+ year absence, after my father and I politely petitioned my mother to leave them out of her chili.

The Original Drive-In Burger

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:17:11 -0800

This is a recipe from Cook's Illustrated (July, 2008) for "the perfect drive-in burger". It's a great burger, very different from your typical grilled burger (which can also be great, of course). The only drawback is what a makes of the frying pan, spattering grease everywhere -- next time, we'll see if it cooks up as well in a nonstick pan as it does in a heavier pan. Anyway, I'm putting here because I'm reusing some of the techniques. For example, I'm reusing their ground beef idea (they freeze cubes of sirloin and boneless short ribs, pulse them in a food processor, then handle them very lightly to get the perfect flavor and texture) for chili (successful recipe to follow, I hope).

Golden Miso Chicken

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:46:07 -0800

I've been meaning for a while to experiment with miso as a glaze or other ingredient, and finally tried it in a modification of my golden hoisin chicken recipe. Basically, follow that same recipe, but do the brine with just water, salt, sugar, and molasses. Then for the glaze mix miso paste, honey, maple syrup, and water to a nice thick consistency. Otherwise follow the directions exactly. Result? Another beautiful golden-brown chicken, with a really nice salty-sweet flavor to it.

Thin, Crisp, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:05:05 -0800

I made these chocolate chip cookies again last night (on special request from E). Last time I made them, they came out thick and wrong, unaccountably. This time they were perfect. I did use the baking soda and salt this time. I also only let the butter cool for 20 minutes or so (in the past, I've been unsure how long to wait). And finally, I space them out better on the cookie sheet, which made it easier. And it definitely helps to let them sit for a few minutes after coming out before moving them to a cooling rack.

One realization: no eggs means you can eat as much of the dough as you want! it would be great for cookie dough ice cream.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:08:03 -0800

This is another recipe that isn't mine -- it comes from Rachel, many years ago. They're pretty much like the title says.

Molten Chocolate Cake

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:03:46 -0800

I haven't made this recipe yet myself, only tasted of its sweet sweet fruit. Well, not sweet; chocolatey. This is one I want to try.

Jack's Tapas Cafe (Mainly Chinese)

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:21:23 -0800

The strip of University Way between 50th and Ravenna has a surprising number of interesting-looking little restaurants along it. E and I tried one of the more amusing ones last night, Jack's Tapas Cafe. The sign helpfully adds "mainly Chinese", and in fact it's entirely Chinese. The tapas in question are basically appetizers. The menu, plus the extensive specials board, contains a lot of interesting-sounding things (with scant descriptions). We ended up with a dish of chives, fried tofu, and shredded pork, which was unusual and pretty good. We also had ginger and onion beef, which was good, though not a standout. Fair pot stickers. The place gets good reviews, and I'm willing to believe there are some gems on the menu, but we weren't too overwhelmed.

Golden Hoisin Chicken

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:56:13 -0800

I like chicken, since it's healthy and is a good blank canvas for flavors. But, as much as I like to grill beef and pork, I usually don't get much interesting out of grilling chicken. The best I've found is to grill bone-in breasts, since the bone keeps them moist and the skin can get charred and smoky, but I haven't had much luck adding much additional flavor, except just sort of on the surface. I decided to do a sort of asian hoisin-soy-sugar thing, because I figured the thick sauce would form sort of a glaze, and the sugar would caramel a bit. Add some garlic and ginger.. should be great! And I had the idea that stuffing it under the skin, as well as using it as a glaze, might help the flavor absorb more. Plus, of course, chicken always likes to be brined.

Thin, Crisp, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:32:25 -0800

I made this recipe. I couldn't find baking powder and skipped the salt, but it was otherwise the same, except that I baked them a couple minutes longer, and let them sit on the pan (silpat) for a couple minutes before taking them off with a spatula. I thought it was weird that the recipe has no eggs, and the consistency of the dough was strange at times during the process, but the final result was exactly as advertised: thin cookies that are crisp around the edges but chewy as well. really good.

Stir-fried Baby Bok Choy with Mushrooms

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 21:57:22 -0800

A simple vegetable dish, good with rice and accompanying some grilled meat. Starting with the shallots and garlic on medium and including some butter gives it a nice flavorful base, and including a little sugar and maple syrup gives it a nice hint of sweet.

Vietnamese Pork Salad with Carrot Relish

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:05:57 -0800

E and I were looking for a fairly simple and healthy meal to make for my parents that would show off some of our favorite flavors. We love Vietnamese food and are big fans of pork in all its incarnations, and eventually (after some debating in the aisles at the supermarket) devised this salad. Like good Vietnamese food, it's fairly simple and makes use of fresh ingredients (plus plenty of nuoc cham). Of course, not everyone takes to nuoc cham, so it's good to let people dress their own salads with more sauce and relish. We also accompanied the dish with some stir-fried vegetables and rice, as a nice contrast. It was a big success with my parents. And endless variations on the same basic themes will probably all be good, especially in warmer weather when a salad is extra welcome.

Vietnamese Carrot Relish

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:36:26 -0800

This recipe makes a simple relish which is good as a side with meat, or as part of a salad. I came up with the idea one day when I'd grilled some meat and wanted a side, and happened to have nuoc cham in the house. The flavors of the carrot and onion complement each other well, and by soaking in the nuoc cham for a while, they merge somewhat and the onion loses its edge. The peanuts complement the flavors and bind everything together.

Nuoc Cham

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:33:28 -0800

There are lots of recipes for nuoc cham, but this one worked pretty well for tonight's recipe.

Pho

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:11:51 -0800

My last attempt at pho was pretty good but, I thought, needed a bit more depth and complexity to the broth. I decided to look for other recipes, and think about simmering the broth overnight instead of just for 90 minutes. What I ended up trying this time was sort of a combination of that recipe, suggestions from E (roasting the bones first), and some other recipes: this one (esp. charring the onion and ginger, and parboiling the bones), this one (charring, and toasting the spices, though I didn't try that this time), this one (similar to the others), and this one (peppercorns, roasting the bones ahead of time).

Shrimp "Clay Pot"

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:03:46 -0800

Taking our Hoi An cooking school clay pot recipe as inspiration, I decided to do my own clay-pot-ish thing. My main idea was to use the idea from that recipe of simmering water with smashed lemongrass in it for flavor. It was snowing and I didn't want to go to the store, so the recipe was based on what I had in the house. In case you're wondering why I chose this combination of flavors. It was pretty good!