I'm giving a presentation at work tomorrow. It is an exercise on public speaking, which I'm terrible at by the way. One on one or small groups don't intimidate me, but somehow putting me behind a podium with bright lights and a 15 pound adding camera makes me feel like I'm in an interrogation room. Suddenly I'm an idiot on stage. The other day, I watched myself on camera (another exercise in public speaking) and it was utterly terrible. Definitely cringe-worthy. I was smiling so wide that you could see my molars. And my bangs kept falling in my eyes. BIG sigh!
Well, tomorrow I get to give a five minute presentation on a topic of my choice. They asked us to choose something we were passionate about, so that our natural personalities and enthusiasm would shine through. Of course, we're suppose to be "experts" on the topic. At first, I was going to present on my favorite kitchen tool, my tamis, but then I thought jamming might be a more interesting topic for my audience. Then I thought I should talk about fund raising. The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I toggled between the ideas. Last night, I had my presentation epiphany... why don't I give a presentation on food blogging? I love blogging and I LOVE food. It would be perfect, though I would still have to tackle the presenting part of it. What do you guys think? I'm still in the brainstorming phase of it all so I'd love to hear what you guys think. What is your favorite part of blogging? Why do you blog? What would you present on?
Sorry for the non-food post and for listening to me rant. Here's a pic to tide you over until our next meal together:
Congee, commonly known as rice porridge or jook (that's what I grew up calling it), is my idea of the ultimate comfort food. This is a common Chinese breakfast that is like the Tiger Balm of the food world. If you're having digestive issues... eat jook. If you have a common cold... eat jook. If you're poor and have no money to buy food... eat jook. A little rice goes a long way. If your teeth hurt... that's right, eat jook. I lived off this stuff when I had my wisdom teeth pulled so I can attest to its effectiveness. I stayed full AND didn't have to chew.
I made this batch with the standard chicken stock, dried scallops, salted duck eggs and yuba (bean curd sheets). Garnish with chopped scallions and a good dose of white pepper. Since this makes a giant potful, invite your friends over for a yummy Chinese brunch. Here's a close-up view (watch out for the steam!):
Happy birthday, Mer! Hope it's the best. Sorry for the absence of candles, I just could fit ALL those candles on top (hehe). ;)
Do try this banana bread recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It might just be the most perfect banana bread I've ever had.
"Hey Julie... You should be expecting a 22 lbs package on Tuesday."
I was flying home for the holidays, so she had been thoughtful enough to remember my disdain for checking luggage. I'll do anything to avoid it. My impatience. Get me in and out. Chop chop. But if you write "David Hasselhoff" all over your luggage you get it quicker. There's a story related to "the Hoff", but that's for another time and another blog. Back to the email. What could it be I wondered? 22 lbs? Quite a hefty load. I had been talking about lining the oven with terra cotta stones. An inversion machine, perhaps? After much thought, I emailed back, "Is it a bulldog puppy?" Fingers crossed. An apartment dweller can dream can't she? :)
Needless to say, it wasn't a bulldog. Not even close. Tuesday night came around and before my door appeared the said package. Removing the first brown box revealed a white Crate & Barrel box. Getting interesting now. I ripped the tape off to reveal (Hooray) a kitchen appliance. Cheer. Drum roll please... a 5-quart Crock Pot!!! How much more perfect can you get? I love kitchen appliances with a passion.
Crock pots are perfect for cooking all things low and slow. I had to think long and hard about what to make in my new toy. Vegetarian-wise, I could only think of beans and that just wasn't doing it for me. I wanted to be excited. And it was hard to be excited about beans when all I could think of was juicy, flavor infused, fork-tender, falling off the bone meat. There was my internal turmoil that lasted two seconds before I made up my mind and grabbed my bison short ribs out of the refrigerator. I browned them in my cast iron and braised them in a mixture of coffee, chicken broth, onions, garlic and maple syrup for six hours. I also threw in a few marrow bones for good measure. Think osso buco. A scoop of marrow on the meat, crunch of fleur de sel. Oh la la. C'est bon! That's heaven for me.
After much deliberation at the farmers' market, I purchased some Jerusalem artichokes, aka sunchokes. I've passed by them numerous times, but have never taken the bait. They're the knobby, gnarly roots of a wild sunflower. Honestly, they looked like a bitch to peel and that's why I had been avoiding them. See for yourself:
Good things: crock pots(and the sister that got it for you, duh)//meat on the bone//sunchokes//EATING
Tomatoes and capers are a classic combination. Here, I've freshened it up with the addition of lemon zest, parsley and scallions. Red pepper flakes add just the right amount of heat. Olives would be nice too, but for these improv dinners, we just work with what we have on hand.
Once B got home, I salt and peppered the fillets and cooked them in the sauce for about 15 minutes or so (time will depend on the thickness of your fillet). I knew it was ready when the halibut began to flake ever so slightly. I take it out at that point since the residual heat continues to cook the fish. I paired it with a simple green salad dressed with a spritz of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. I don't know when dressings got so complicated (damn you Hidden Valley Ranch, Wish-bone Spray Dressing, etc). Let's bring it back down a few notches. One calorie a spray... no thank you. Excuse the digression. My deeply hidden aggression for bottled dressings is something I'm just coming to terms with myself. Admitting I have a problem is the first step, isn't it? :)
I've got a little surprise brewing in my crock pot. Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint. It started with the French press.
If you've ever been to Mammoth Lakes, than you've surely passed by the infamous Schat's Bakkery in Bishop, CA. Whenever I head out this way, I look forward to the excellent snow conditions and, of course, lunch at Schat's. They have great fresh baked breads and other goodies. A carboholics paradise.
On my way back from snowboarding, I picked up a loaf of their signature "Original Chili Cheeze Bread". It was a tough decision, but you can't go wrong with cheese, right? Thank goodness my episode of lactose intolerance has passed.... phew! I don't know what I'd do without cheese. The bread, once reheated briefly in the oven, went perfectly with our mugs of comforting cheddar potato soup. What a great dipping bread with its toasty crust, gooey jack cheese spiral and slight chili kick. Simple post-snowboarding meal for a girl that's ready for some serious couch potato time.
BTW, do you love the monogrammed mugs or what? I'm J, he's B. Compliments of Jamie. Thanks honey.
Avocado is no stranger to the sweet side of the culinary world. I've seen this fruit popping up in ice creams and mousses lending its silky smooth consistency (think back to Top Chef's ice cream challenge). They, like bacon, make everything just a bit more special! Tacos, chips, sandwiches and (drum roll, please) now smoothies.
These breakfast smoothies were inspired by the urgency of quickly ripening fruit, but turned out to be quite a lovely surprise. Creamy avocados, sweetly acidic blood oranges and fresh blueberries all brought together with a splash of soy milk. Perfect wake up call with a slight twist. Enjoy.
Yet another way to get your 5 a day!
If I make potsicker wrappers from scratch, then my potstickers will be infinitely better than potstickers made with store bought wrappers (how do you like that "if.. then" statement? See I do remember something from high school science class).
The Experiment:
I made potsticker/gyoza wrappers from scratch just to see if there would be a noted difference between homemade and the 50 for $0.99 kind you can get from the Asian market. I found a simple recipe that called for three parts flour to one part water. Sounded easy enough. After a simple kneading and a half hour rest in the refrigerator, I was ready to make some vegetarian potstickers. Instead of flattening individual balls of dough as suggested by the recipe, I used my pasta maker to get sheets of dough and cut out circles using a round cutter. A much more efficient way IMO. I've also heard of using a tortilla press as a short cut. I formed, cooked and ate my potstickers and here are my findings.
The Conclusion: Taste-wise... surprisingly, the texture and flavor were not discernible. But if you're a nerd like me and get immense satisfaction out of making a dish start to finish, then it's a task worth taking on. :)
Another upside to making the dough was its versatility, which I found out inadvertently. With my leftover dough, I made the above pan-fried dumplings. These required a thicker wrapper (a number 4 if you're using a pasta maker. I used a 6 for the potstickers).
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