Thanksgiving 2015: Casse-rolled Over

My execution was usurped by casseroles!

MaPo Tofu

I've started school - so as a result, I want to focus on everything but school. Really, I've been meaning to write up a lot like usual, but school is gradually taking over my life. I've been meaning to do a special on eating well and cheap since I've had to revert to my lower cost diet, but since that can go on indefinitely, I'm going for a recipe that's been on my mind - before I forget it.

I've been severely limiting my pork intake for reasons I don't remember. I'd imagine it's the healthier route to go though. As a result, I can't get Mapo Tofu in restaurants anymore and that makes me sad.

I decided to start making my own variation with lamb (I completely stopped eating beef also). The not fun part is the fact that ground lamb is about $7 a pound. Other than that - it has a pretty good flavor. I started with Foodie Ling's recipe as the basis from there and then started modifying. I follow the same basic procedure, I just added more things.

Mapo Tofu Recipe

1/3 lb (150 g) ground lamb (1/4 lb works too if you really want to stretch your money)
3-5 garlic cloves - minced

60 mL water
1 1/2 Tbsp Broad Bean chili paste (doubanjiang)
2 Tbsp Lao Gan Ma black bean chili sauce
2 packs soft tofu - medium firm works well too. Cubed
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp potato starch + 2 Tbsp water (corn starch would work too)

1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp Shao Xing wine
chopped spring onion

Chicken Adobo: The Family Exchange

I got to see my uncle/godfather for the first time in 17 years. One thing that I found interesting was how similar I am to my uncle. The common interests were very apparent.

I've been cooking adobo for almost a decade and only now do I honestly feel that there's little to no need for experimentation. Once I tried my uncle's adobo, I realized why my adobo always seemed off and I learned to trust that you don't need an extensive amount of ingredients to make something good. Lastly, mistakes are not always a bad thing.

Okonomiyaki - 16 years in the making

I have this odd tendency to crave things on the basis of seeing other people enjoy them. When I crave things, that's when they taste the best - that's what happened when I was so eager to try Vegemite when it was hard to find around this neck of the woods. I enjoy salty and yeasty. From a more recent blog posting, the jajangmyun I made, I saw on a TV show and it just looked good. After researching about it, I decided I was going to like it.

Chinese Dumplings Expanded

The year of the Horse was ushered in on the 31st of January, so clearly, I'm behind on my posts. I made the Sweet Potato Dumplings last year, and this year, I've expanded my dumpling experimentation.

Yes. I decided to try out the recipe with Okinawan sweet potatoes and Japanese white flesh sweet potatoes.

JJajangmyeon

Finally, a post not about cream sauce.

Sauce on noodles? Yes. But at least it's not cream sauce on pasta. I'm going to run through my trials and tribulations with jjajangmyeon.

Oy vey, Cream Sauce

I honestly and truly want to focus on things other than cream sauce, but I made one that my sister liked a lot. It combined well with the spinach tagliatelle that I used so I'm putting up a recipe - measurements and everything - because she wants me to teach it to her.

Ingredients:
4 white button mushrooms (sliced)
1 shallot chopped (makes about 2 tablespoons)
80 mL sherry
tablespoon oil
240 mL chicken stock
80 mL evaporated milk
2 tsp parmesan bellafoglia (I know, they're in shavings)

Alright, while my pasta is boiling, I heat the oil and add the mushroom, toss for about 1 minute, than add the chopped shallot and saute both together until they're aromatic (2-3 minutes) - make sure they don't burn. Add sherry. Once that reduces, add chicken stock. Allow it to reduce (5-10 mins, it should look a little thicker) then add the evaporated milk. Let the mixture simmer then add the cheese and mix to combine.
Remove from heat and add cooked pasta to mix.

Ok, I added too much broth - so I'd recommend halving the broth amount, then adding as needed. The reason why the cheese was added to the sauce instead of the pasta separately was because I realized too late that the sauce was not thickening and I hope the cheese could do something for the sauce. Well, it tasted good.

I need a sabbatical from posting about cream sauce.