Chinese Herbal Soups: Chicken soup with Red Dates

The Great Delegator: Thanksgiving & Christmas 2015

As usual, the posts are a little sparse. When I'm not busy, I'm just tired. There have been a lot of new and exciting developments in life and in my world of cooking. One of my more recent developments is delegating out meal chores on the big days: Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving went pretty well. The table was not as crowded with vegetables (as I usually prefer), but it also was not crowded with casseroles. I let my little cousin also take over desserts since - like I've said - I've been tired. He contributed a fresh fruit tart and also a red velvet cake in place of a previously promised ube cake. The lack of an ube cake was quite the let down. A lot of the menu of previous years was present at this years table:

Roasted Root Vegetables
Mushroom Stuffing
Kikiam
Roasted Cauliflower
...etc

There is something nice about knowing exactly what you're doing, but I find myself just getting a little bored. 2016 I'll be aiming to expand my Thanksgiving horizons.

Christmas Eve, my delegation worked out even less than before. The little cousin is starting to take orders for his baking skills and once again failed to show an ube cake, this was also in addition to failing to make pancit. I'm not trying to rag too hard on it, but seriously - don't offer to make something if there's a chance you can't. He's only 20 though, he still has a lot of impractical optimism. The table looked a little sparse until my mom took out some Chinese food. The newcomer to this table was creamed spinach. I utilized a Cooks Illustrated recipe and...I'm not sure I even like creamed spinach. It was ok. I think one thing that really affected my planning and cooking experience for Christmas Eve was that fact that I'm still getting over a cold and couldn't really smell things. I finally got to try out my sweet potato buttermilk pie recipe with garnet sweet potatoes and lemon zest - maybe it's because I didn't mash the potatoes as well as I had previously but garnet sweet potatoes seemed a little more fibrous and not as sweet. I'm sticking with jewel sweet potatoes for my pie, the texture seems smoother. Also, the lemon zest was a nice touch, I don't have any strong inclinations towards with or without. Lastly, the pie tastes better after it's been refrigerated overnight. 

Overall, pretty good turn out this year. I'll need to make a mental note to have some back up side dishes, 

Unholy Union Salad: White Anchovy and Blue Cheese Salad

This is a salad that I would like to call: The Unholy Union because it combines

Wild Planet White Anchovies:

A small oily fish in a tin that tastes like a more mild version of sardines.

Fourme d'Ambert:

A blue cheese that my boyfriend describes as tasting like the smell of a barn in Wisconsin. The cheesiest state in the union. Is that really a bad thing? I think not.

The result is this:

Perhaps the most awesome salad ever.

Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie

I beta tested sweet potato pies for Thanksgiving. One was just a sweet potato pie and the other was a sweet potato buttermilk pie. Originally, both of the pies were going to be featured at this years Thanksgiving, but they were too similar and one was clearly better.

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.