It’s hard to believe it has almost been a year since the twins graduated from college! It feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago we were making our mad dash from Nashville to Houston to make both graduations! And yet I know it has been a while because I miss both cities and feel like I should be planning a trip back to each one. I might just have to do that.
A friend asked me for dining recommendations in Nashville. Looking back I realize I missed a couple of spots that were definite favorites on our visits to the Music City.
Stroll down Broadway both during the day and the night. It’s the tale of two cities. Noisy, honky-tonk vibe by night, historic walking friendly district by day. During the day, take a stroll on the riverfront, visit Ryman Auditorium or the Johnny Cash Museum. By night, enjoy live music and shenanigans at the many bars on the street. It’s lively and a lot of fun.
Close to Vandy, you would invariably find us stopping at these 3 places at least once during a trip. Friendly, noisy, always a good time.
My cookbook addiction continues unabated. One of my new favorites is A Common Tableby Cynthia Chen McTernan. It’s a beautiful cookbook filled with not only mouthwatering photographs of her food but wonderful stories about her family and friends. Her recipes are approachable and her writing inviting. In contrast to the cookbooks of yesteryear, today’s cookbooks, like A Common Table, breathe life, warmth, and a personal connection into each recipe. It makes me want to call my Mom, my kids, my aunties and uncles and say, “Hey, come on over we gonna cook, eat, and talk story”.
Have You Eaten Yet? (code for I ❤️ you)
This is not a cookbook that strives to teach one to cook, it’s more like a series of love letters, first and foremost to her family and friends, and then to all of us. Her soulful, homey food reflects her southern upbringing, her Chinese heritage, her hubby’s Hawaiian-Korean-Irish roots, and their lives together. These are recipes I imagine are passed down from grandmother to mother and mother to daughter. Each generation adding its own personal stamp.
Two Red Bowls is Cynthia’s blog, ground zero for her food and family tales. She has managed to juggle a toddler, a newborn, a blog, and a book, no small feat. Wow!
Onto her delicious food. Needing a gluten-free dessert to bring to a potluck, I instantly thought of the peanut butter mochi in her book. Mochi, made of glutinous rice flour, is chewy, dense, and all the craze right now. Imagine a marshmallow but dense, chewy, and only slightly sweet. Mallows on roids. To top it off, soooo easy to make. Literally, one bowl plus a wooden spoon. The addition of peanut butter brings a familiar flavor and texture to the mochi, a great intro for the uninitiated. Did I mention GLUTEN FREE?
The gold standard for rice flour and readily available is Koda Farms Blue Star Mochiko. Ground into a fine powder, it blends quickly and is easy to work with. Throw the flour, sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl. Stir, don’t worry about overmixing (no gluten), pour, and bake. The batter will resemble a thick, elastic pancake batter.
Plop the peanut butter evenly into the batter so that everyone gets a bite of peanut butter, and then it’s oven time. Midway through baking, sprinkle crushed peanuts on top. Next time I am thinking of using honey-roasted peanuts, to really accentuate the play on sweet and salty. The batter will puff while baking, not to worry, it will flatten as the mochi is cooling.
Once it has cooled a bit, dig in, warm mochi is yummy. I cut mine into squares and then further divided half of the squares into rectangular bars. Just so delicious, the combo of chewy mochi, pockets of oozy soft peanut butter, and the crunchy peanut topping-the trifecta of yum. It’s hard to resist and eat just one. It’s dense in texture and calories but so worth it!
I think you could make this milk-free by using coconut milk in place of milk. I have yet to try it. Andrea Nguyen, Asian cookbook author extraordinaire created a riff by adding black sesame paste, Black Sesame Peanut Butter Mochi, which looks delish, I am so going to make her version soon.
1TbspBrown sugarOptional, to be added to plain roasted peanuts,
Instructions
For the peanut butter filling, whisk together the peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, letting the paper go up the sides so you can easily lift the cake out later on.
In a medium bowl, combine the sweet rice flour, sugar, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla, whisk until smooth. Don’t worry about overworking the batter when making the cake, sweet rice flour is GLUTEN FREE.
Pour half the batter into the prepared baking dish. Used 2 small spoons or small teaspoon ice cream scoop to drop spoonfuls of the filling evenly across the batter, then pour the remaining batter over the filling. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
While the mochi is baking, place the peanuts in a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped. Remove the mochi cake from the oven, sprinkle of the crushed peanuts across the top. The cake maybe puffy so spread nuts as evenly as you can. The cake will fall as it cools.
Return the cake to the oven and bake until the center bounces back when pressed, an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool about 20 minutes before trying to lift the parchment paper to remove the cake from the pan.
Enjoy warm or at room temperature. The mochi slices cleanly when cool, but is delish warm.
Store in an airtight container and keep at room temp if cool, or refrigerate. Microwave pieces on high with 15-second blasts to refresh.
Weekend at Jamie’s (Eat, Walk, Laugh in Minneapolis)
I headed out to Minneapolis last weekend to see my girl. MISSED her so much I dropped everything I was doing, hopped on a plane and got out there. Really, what a good mom…through wet and snow and chilly temps, I went to visit my girl.
Did I mention she had tickets to Ali Wong?
Not a factor AT ALL. Nope, not at all.
I am still laughing a week later. She was HILARIOUS. For those wondering who is Ali Wong? She is a comedian, writes for Fresh Off the Boat, and has a couple of Netflix specials under her belt. A little rude, sometimes crude (ok, more than sometimes) but so damn funny. Ironic she is from the Bay Area but I went all the way to Minneapolis to see her, go figure.
I arrived in the afternoon so I had a couple of hours to kill before Jamie got home from work. Luckily, Minneapolis is a very easy city to get around. I took the light rail from the airport to Jamie’s house, 20 minutes to the US Bank Stadium which is right across the street from her AND less than 3 dollars for the ride!
How did I fill the hours pre and post Ali Wong? Lucky for me the weather was warm and balmy on the Minneapolis winter scale, about 30 degrees, perfect. I raided Jamie’s fridge, found a delicious chicken and mushroom soup and then headed out to walk the neighborhood.
If you ever get the chance to visit Minneapolis. Go. It’s a great city, very walkable, great art, awesome food, and a friendly Midwest vibe. A five-minute walk from her apartment took me to the river path and the Mill City Museum. My favorite for all things flour.
Worked up an appetite on my walk (just an excuse) and as soon as Jamie arrived home, we headed out for dinner.
Spoon and Stable, walking distance, delicious food. We started with a cheese plate (of course) and ended with dessert. In between? Squid Ink Pasta, Grilled Octopus, Creamed Spinach with those infamous Cheese Curds-I’m in dairy heaven…needless to say, we decided we needed to walk home too.
Ended with a delicious Buttermilk Panna Cotta.
Saturday found us hunting for a pop-up event at Lowry’s Meat Co. Two Guys, Chris and Yia, of Union Kitchen Mn, making delicious Hmong food in the Twin Cities. Today’s menu featured Khoa Poon, a Laotian bowl of comfort made with chicken, curry, coconut milk, lemongrass and a bunch of herbs-cilantro, mint, and basil. On top of the noodles sits an array of veggies-cabbage, radishes, sprouts and fried shallots. OMG, freakin’ delicious! Their second offering, Duck Pho, the slices of duck literally melted in my mouth, so good. It was so delicious I didn’t want to share with Jamie! Chris and Yia are cooking, sharing, and teaching folks all about Hmong food and culture. They’ll be “poppin up” @ #sociableciderwerks every week, check them out.
I love Minneapolis, just like Houston, it has become a melting pot of people and cultures. This is the America I envision, people from everywhere working hard, exchanging ideas, sharing their lives, food, culture, putting their unique stamp on America. I had the best bowl of pho ever and the most amazing bbq all in one day in Houston. Yep, that Houston-Houston, TEXAS. My next trip to Minneapolis we are going for Somali food. I can’t wait.
I still dream about this bowl of Khao Poon…so good.
Great Lakes = Lotsa Duck dishes. Damn good duck, that’s for sure.
Yia, one half of the Union Kitchen Team! I’m a noodle nerd groupie, what can I say. Addendum: I’m really excited for them, they are featured on Episode 3 of United Shades of America on CNN with W. Kama Bell ( I plan to watch when I get home from Japan).
Needing desperately to walk off lunch, we headed to The Minneapolis Institute of Art A wondrous exhibit “Sunken Treasures of Egypt” had us mesmerized.
This tablet stands at least 3 feet high. So impressive…until I found out it was a tax bill! Great art scene in Minneapolis, don’t miss it. Somethings stand the test of time…convoluted, BIG tax codes.
Our walk home from the Ali Wong Show gave us an excuse to cruise for food so we stopped at a Japanese joint right down the block from Jamie’s, Zen Box Izakaya. Their Kimchi Ramen is off the hook as is their grilled yellowtail collar.
Sunday morning: Study time
With a Korean language test looming on Monday when I return home, Jamie and I headed to her favorite bagel joint Rise for a breakfast bagel and coffee (lots of it) and study time.
On the way to Rise, the walk wouldn’t be complete without passing MTM. I know, many of you are thinking what? (Check it out on You-Tube) But, for those of you old enough to remember, I’m sure you are smiling right now, The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Who can turn the world on with her smile…Go, visit Minneapolis, you’ll have a great time.
Tryin’ to Squash A Cold! (Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup)
How does that old adage go? Feed a cold, starve a fever? The thought crossed my mind as I was miserably lying in bed, achy, congested, and generally feeling like crap. Thank goodness for laptops and search engines…I found a Scientific America article that addressed this very proverb and whaddya know, going all Mythbuster, Scientific America, not only debunked it, but concluded it really should be “Feed a cold, FEED a fever”. Yeah baby, I love science.
What is the perfect antidote when it is cold, when you are sick, when you crave comfort, but you are too tired to fuss? SOUP. Am I right? Yep, bowl therapy to the rescue. It didn’t take long to find a soup that fit the bill. From the blog Creative Bites, Pressure Cooker Creamy Butternut Squash Soup. Lucky for me I had bought a butternut squash at the market and had all of the ingredients handy. “Kold karma” pointed me to this quick (thanks to my Instant Pot) and easy, delicious soup.
Here’s the HARD part. The PREP. Yeah, no getting around peeling that butternut squash and dicing ALL THOSE vegetables. Well, I suppose you could buy pre-cut squash, diced onions and minced garlic, but that’s your call. It’s part of cooking therapy for me.
NOW, the EASY part. Prep was 90% of the game. You’re now sitting pretty on 3rd base ready to score, just a mere minutes from homebowl. Get it? I love the apples and red bell pepper, they add a nice sweetness. Saute the veggies in your Instant Pot. It’s important when you add the stock, really stir the bottom of pot to release all those bits of saute goodness. The pot is very sensitive to bits stuck on the bottom and will turn off as a safety precaution if the bottom isn’t clean. Add the stock, seal the pot, and then set the timer for 5 MINUTES. Yep, five minutes and quick release at the end. With the time it takes to come to pressure, you’re still only looking at 15 minutes of cooking time. Not bad.
I used an immersion blender in the pot to puree the soup. There are a lot of comments online about how it doesn’t work as well as a blender. BUTTERNUTS. Not creamy enough? Throw the immersion stick back in and blend some more. I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of creaminess (though I don’t think I am) to do this, as oppose to pouring HOT soup, in batches, into my blender. I’m saving my blender for smoothies and Margaritas.
Go ahead and play around with this soup recipe. It’s very forgiving. Got thyme? Substitute for sage. Got time? Skip the Instant Pot, roast the vegetables instead. See the prepped veggies above? Throw it all in a roasting pan, give it a good swig of olive oil, toss, salt and pepper and roast at 425 for about an hour). The vegetables caramelize in the oven and add a sweetness to the soup that’s “souper” yummy. Creative bites calls for goat cheese or cream cheese. I like cream cheese because it adds a whole lot of mouth feel and just a slight tanginess. You could probably use sour cream, creme fraiche or even just a touch of heavy whipping cream instead. This would lighten the soup but you might lose that creaminess.
FINISH WITH TOPPING MADNESS. Once your soup is done, garnish with ANYTHING your little heart desires. Toasted nuts or pepitas, bacon, sliced apples, or more BACON, croutons. Did I mention bacon? I was sent a mix of nuts as a soup topping by my Food52 Holiday Gift Swap buddy- it was perfect.
Turn on the Saute function on Instant Pot. Add the olive oil, onions and bell pepper. Saute on high for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the cubed squash, apple, sage, chili powder, sea salt and chicken stock.
Place the lid on your Instant Pot and move the knob to seal. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes and do a quick release of the pressure.
Using an immersion blender in the Instant Pot, puree the mixture. Add the cream cheese and Parmesan, stir to melt and continue to puree until very smooth.
Well, this is embarrassing. I was supposed to post this during the holidays but instead, it has been languishing in my drafts file. What better day than Pi Day to post it.
Desserts for the holidays are a no-brainer. Pies or tarts are the order of the holi-DAY. The only sticky wicket in our house is what kind of pie will grace the table. Hubster is a traditionalist; he votes for Apple Pie every time. Jorge loves Pumpkin Pie. Jamie loves Peach Pie, and Jeffrey would like cheesecake to be added to the pie category. Me? I dream about the Key Lime Pie at Poorhouse Pies or Tartine’s Lemon Cream Tart (still a pie, right?).
But the one holiday pie we all agree on is Pecan Pie. There is some wiggle room though, sometimes it shows up as a traditional pie or more often than not, it shows up as bite-sized tartlets. I love the little tartlets–I don’t have to share.
But the tartlets will have to wait for another day. This is all about pie, baby–pecan pie.
My favorite recipe comes from way back in the day from Michael Bauer’s book “Recipe for Success”. It’s a collection of recipes from his Chronicle column. The Butter Pecan Pie from Restaurant Chow in the City is a winner. You can call this post “a tip of my cap” to Mr. Bauer, who recently retired as the restaurant reviewer for the Chronicle.
Unlike most Pecan Pie recipes, there is an extra step in this one. The filling requires cooking on the stove before baking. This helps to make the filling smooth
I included the original crust recipe, but I normally use my tried and true. Your choice, but you are reading MY blog so….. 😛 Make sure to freeze the crust for 10-15 minutes before adding the filling and baking. The warmth of the filling can melt the crust before it properly bakes so don’t skip this step.
Though the recipe calls for pecan halves, I chop the nuts into pieces. Why? There is less smooshing of the pie as you cut into it with the smaller pieces. I opted for function over form. The recipe calls for light corn syrup, but I have used a mix of light and Lyle’s Golden Syrup or all Golden Syrup. The knock on pecan pie is it can be pretty sweet. The amount of butter in this recipe helps temper the sweetness. The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon vanilla, but you can add up to 1 tablespoon. That also helps cut the sweetness. Another option is 1 tablespoon of bourbon if you’re feeling boozy.
Try not to overbake it. I know…what the heck does that mean?! The will pie continue to cook after it is taken out of the oven so try to remove the pie when it is set but the center still has a little jiggle left.
-- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all- purpose flour + additional flour for rolling pastry
-- 1 teaspoon sea salt
-- 3/4 cup6 ounces chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
-- 1/4 cup ice water
The Filling
-- 1 1/2 cups pecanshalves and pieces
-- 1 cup C & H golden brown sugar
-- 1 scant cup light corn syrupor substitute Lyle's Golden Syrup
-- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
-- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
-- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
-- 3 eggslightly beaten
-- 1 teaspoon vanillacan use up 1 tablespoon, or add 1 tablespoon bourbon
-- Vanilla ice cream or lightly whipped cream
Instructions
To make the crust:
Combine the 1 1/2 cups flour and the salt in a food processor and mix briefly. Gradually add the butter to the flour mixture while pulsing the processor on and off, until the butter is cut into pieces the size of small peas. With the processor running, gradually add the ice water and process until large clumps form.
Remove the dough from the processor, shape into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch round. Carefully transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Trim any dough hanging over the edge. Crimp the edges decoratively. Freeze for 10 minutes.
To make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place rack in lowest position possible in oven.
Combine the pecans, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, flour and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool 15 minutes.
Whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Stir about 1/2 cup of the hot sugar mixture into the eggs to temper them, then stir this mixture into the hot sugar mixture.
Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until the custard has set and the nuts rise to the top, about 30 to 40 minutes. If the crust browns too quickly, cover with foil. Transfer to a rack and let cool.
Home Alooooone. The boys headed out to Minneapolis to visit Jamie and take in the Sharks-Wild game so it was me and Sammy hanging out at home. I decided to pamper myself and make a nice dinner for one. A nice piece of salmon, some brown rice, pickled veggies, and pea sprouts I bought at the Farmer’s Market. Love, love, pea sprouts, especially when prepared Chinese-style, stir-fried with ginger and garlic over high heat. Quick, easy, and delicious.
Eat Your Greens
Pea sprouts can be found in Asian markets, and often at farmer’s markets. Two varieties are available, one looks like small tendrils and the other looks a bit larger and resembles spinach. In fact, you could substitute baby spinach for this dish and it wouldn’t miss a beat.
The key is don’t overcook the pea sprouts. Have all the ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. It will only take a couple of minutes to stir-fry. It’s all about the prep. If you get the larger pea sprouts or use spinach, increase the cooking time by 1-2 minutes or just until the greens wilt and are tender.
The aromatics include garlic and ginger. Like more punch? Increase the ginger or garlic or add a dash of chili flakes to spice it up. I like finely chopping garlic and ginger as opposed to mincing. You get a hit of toasty garlic or ginger which I love. Paradoxically, The flavors seem brighter when you chop the aromatics as oppose to putting either through a garlic press, Don’t ask me why.
Salt can be used in place of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Start with 1/2 tsp salt and season to taste.
Kid factor, by the way, my kids LOVE this dish. Yep, kid-tested, kid-approved.
Another cold and rainy day in normally sunny California. To combat the soggy blues I pulled out my favorite therapy tools. A pot, a bowl, and a package of NOODLES. When you think comfort food, don’t tell me a fork, a knife, and a plate pop up in your mind. Me? A bowl, a big spoon, and a pair of chopsticks, that’s what I reach for.
The plan was to make a bowl of yummylicious noodles, curl up on the sofa and watch the new episode of Romance is a Bonus Book on Netflix. Yes, my current favorite Korean series.
I had a hankering for Zha Jiang Mian for my “TV dinner” which got me thinking why not a mash-up of the Korean & Chinese versions of Zha Jiang Mian? I started with my recipe for Zha Jiang Mian, I didn’t want to re-invent the wheel, I just wanted to tweak it. The sauce for my original recipe contains pork, aromatics, and the bean pastes. Veggies are julienned and added to the finished dish. I love the play on textures, the crunch of the cucumbers and carrots with the soft noodles and flavor-packed sauce filled with chunks of ground pork, it’s delicious.
Contrast this with the Korean version 짜장면where a variety of veggies are cooked in the sauce. The play on textures is much more subtle but just as yummy. A variety of veggies went into my K-bowl version. I used diced zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. The carrots added some bite, the zucchini added moisture and that characteristic melt-y center and crispness from the skin. But my favorite addition is the diced potatoes (Yukon, don’t use Russets, too starchy). Potatoes have a characteristic dense, yet creamy feel, so good-like the center of perfectly cooked potato wedges. I used ground pork in my K-version, but often the pork is diced like the vegetables. Your choice.
Try both versions and tell me which one you like best although I think you’ll find both are equally delicious!
Zha Jiang Mian Korean style and Chinese Style, both delicious!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword Zha Jiang Mian
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Ingredients
6oz.ground pork
¼teaspoonsalt
1teaspooncornstarch
½teaspoonoilplus 1 tablespoon
⅛teaspoonwhite pepper
3slicesgingerminced finely
4clovesgarlicminced
2tablespoonssweet bean sauceI used 2 T Hoisin/1 T Sweet Ben Sauce
3tablespoonsground bean pasteReduce to 2 T
1tablespoondark soy sauce
1cupwater
8oz.fresh noodles flour-based noodle. Fresh or dry. I've used udon and a combination of spinach and plain
Additional Chinese Ingredients
4-6fresh shiitake mushrooms*finely chopped
1cupjulienned carrots
1cupjulienned cucumbers
½cupjulienned scallionsgarnish
Additional Korean Ingredients
3fresh shiitake mushroomsdiced
1mediumYukon Gold Potato*1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1smallzucchini1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2cupcarrots1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2small yellow oniondiced
1/4 headcabbageshredded, optional
1/2cupgreen onionschopped
1/2cupcucumbersdiced
Instructions
Marinade the pork with the following for 15 minutes: ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon oil, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper.
Heat a tablespoon oil in your wok over medium heat, add the marinated ground pork to the wok. Cook for a minute to brown it, and then add the ginger, garlic, and mushrooms* Stir fry everything together for another 2-3 minutes.
**Add the Hoisin, sweet bean sauce, bean paste, dark soy sauce, and water, stirring everything together well. Lower the heat and cover the wok. Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions.
Top noodles with the sauce and garnish with the julienned carrots, cucumbers, and scallions.
Korean Style*
Stir fry pork, ginger, and garlic for 30 seconds add diced vegetables. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Continue with recipe**
If you like, add shredded cabbage in the last couple of minutes of cooking.
Place a mound of noodles in your bowl, top with sauce and garnish with cucumber and green onions. Plop yourself down in front of the telly and enjoy!
Egga-licious Down Home Cooking (Steamed Egg with Shiitake Mushrooms)
There are dishes that with the first bite I am instantly transported back to the dinner table of my childhood. My dad clanging pots and pans, putting the finishing touches on our meal. Me or my brother setting the table and my mom cleaning up in my dad’s “kitchen wake” (big job, trust me). A typical meal would be corn soup, stir-fried greens with oyster sauce and ginger, soy sauce chicken from our favorite Chinese deli, and a steamed dish. The steamed dish might be minced pork patty with salted duck eggs or steamed eggs with clams. These are the dishes of my childhood, my soul food.
Asian Soul Food
So, this past month, Food 52 featured Fuscia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice in their cookbook club. Listed is a recipe for steamed eggs. Bam, I’m 10 years old again watching my dad cook, hoping he will give me a morsel to “taste-test”. I flipped to the page with the recipe and hmmm, honestly, her egg dish didn’t look that great. (In her defense I tried a couple of the other recipes in the book and they are delicious). It looked a bit overcooked and bubbly on the top. My dad’s steamed eggs were silky smooth and soft, kind of like silken tofu or Japanese Chawan Mushi. Both are savory custards with tidbits of shrimp, bbq pork, or clams, indescribably delicious.
Guess what, I have never made this simple, homey, delightful dish and I’m not sure why. I love it. My kids love it. My niece Marisa REALLY loves it. Hello, what was I waiting for? I reached out to my bro for tips on how to make dad’s steamed eggs, he’s smart, he makes it all the time.
There is some wiggle room to the ratio of egg to liquid in this dish. Four eggs to one and a quarter to one-half cups of water. I replaced the water with low sodium chicken stock to amp up the flavor. The TRICK to mind-boggling silky, smooth custard is to steam the eggs over very low heat. Low and slow so you don’t get bubbles or overcooked eggs.
Add-Ins
Following Fuscia’s recipe, I added shiitake mushrooms and opted for diced Chinese sausage (lop cheung) instead of ground pork. The mushrooms add a nice earthiness and the sweet & salty sausage provides both flavor and texture. My dad liked dried shrimp or bbq pork. Ham or ground chicken or pork would work well. I mixed the ‘shrooms and sausage into the egg mixture before pouring it into the bowl. Next time I will scatter them on the bottom of the steaming bowl and pour the eggs over so they don’t float to the top as much. But really, NBD it will still be delicious.
Remember LOW AND SLOW, the key to a silky, smooth, damn that’s delish, egg custard. WORD.
The dish is done when the center is just set and does not jiggle too much. Garnish with green onions (mandatory) and cilantro (optional). Heat the peanut or vegetable oil until you see wisps of smoke, then immediately pour it over the green onions. This brings out the flavor of the aromatics and gives the eggs a nice sheen. Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce on top. Ready, set, EAT.
Get out the bowls of rice and then follow my kids’ lead. Stir the eggs into your rice so it’s all smooshed together and goopy, grab a spoon and start shoveling.
Microwave Magic
Now you can make steamed eggs in the microwave! I recently bought Cook Anyday microwave cookware and whaddya know, the microwave works well for dishes that are steamed!!!
Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don’t eat it all….toss the bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.
1.5cupswarm watersubstitute all or part with chicken stock. Liquid should be lukewarm
2dried shiitake mushroomssoften in warm water and diced
1lop cheung (Chinese sausage)diced, substitutions include ham, little clams, fresh or dried shrimp
2tsprice wine
1/4tspsalt
1pinch of each white pepper and sugar
Optional (for garnish)
2tbsppeanut or vegetable oil
1green onionfinely chopped
cilantrofor garnish
2teaspoonslight soy sauce
2drops toasted sesame oiloptional
2 tspoyster sauceoptional
Instructions
Heat water in a wok or large saute pan with a steamer insert. Combine eggs, water or stock, salt, rice wine, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add mushrooms and Chinese sausage to egg mixture. Pour mixture into a shallow heatproof bowl or pyrex pie plate. Place in steamer and cover. Steam over low heat for 20-25 minutes. The eggs should look set and not jiggle in the middle but not look dry. Heat peanut oil in a small saucepan until wisps of smoke form. Garnish eggs with green onions and pour hot oil over the green onions and egg.Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce over top.Serve immediately with rice.
MIcrowave Cook It!
Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don't eat it all....toss the covered bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.
NO Bake Peanut Butter Cookies, Pssst….You Got 5 Minutes?
This past weekend we had a retreat for our political action group. I know what you are thinking. This is a fun, food, foto, blog. You promised NO politics Deb. Not to worry. I only mention it because I was once again tasked with bringing desserts including a vegan one to the retreat.
First, I made the butter, sugar, and flour dessert, a delicious Tunisian Orange Cake (next post) from Zingerman’s. Which did not leave me with much time to crank out a vegan dessert. What to do, what to do. I went straight to the blog site Minimalist Baker, an amazing site filled with simple, quick, plant-based food to find a recipe . The last time I looked there, I found a yummy Banana Pecan Shortbread that knocked my socks off.
Second, I found another gem. 3 Ingredient-No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies. 5-10 minutes is all you need to put these bad boys together. Yep, from the pantry to your mouth, 5-10 minutes. In fact, it will probably take you longer to read this post than to make these cookies. You will find this recipe in the STUPID EASY category. I almost feel like creating a new tag, INCREDIBLY STUPID EASY or STUPID SQUARED-stupid easy and stupid delicious.
The first step, whirl the oatmeal in your food processor or blender until it resembles coarse flour. Add (PITTED-ya never know) dates, make sure your dates are soft and moist. It will help keep the cookies together. Pulse to combine, add the peanut butter and let her rip.
Scoop up approximately 2 tablespoons of dough and form into balls. Press with a fork, just like classic peanut butter cookies, and…DUNZO. That’s it. Well, not quite done, take it to the next level. Melt chocolate chips and dip these babies into it to cover half the cookie. Then you’re done. Too much work to melt chocolate? Add 1/4-1/3 cup mini chocolate chips to the dough right before shaping the cookies.
Chill the cookies and serve to everyone…not just your Vegan friends. Think of these as a cross between peanut butter cups and an oatmeal cookie. Delish.
Delicious peanut butter cookies made with just 3 ingredients! No baking required, stupid easy to make, cross between a cookie and a peanut butter cup! Vegan!
Course cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword NO Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 12cookies
Author Adapted from Minimalist Baker
Ingredients
1cuprolled oatsold fashioned gluten-free
1Pinchsea saltoptional
3/4cupmedjool datespitted // measured after pitting
1/2cupnatural salted peanut buttercreamy or crunchy
CHOCOLATE GLAZE optional
1/2cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips"accidental" vegan chips
1tspvegetable oil
Instructions
Add oats and salt (optional) to a food processor and blend into a flour. Add dates and blend for 30 seconds more or until finely chopped.
Add peanut butter and blend until a dough forms.
Scoop out 2-Tbsp amounts of dough and carefully form into mounds. Place on a parchment-lined pan or tray.
Use the back of a fork to create a cross hatch on the top of the cookies
Place chips and oil in a heatproof bowl. Melt chocolate chips in microwave at 50% power, stirring occasionally until it is melted and has a sauce-like consistency
Dip the cookies in (about halfway), let excess drip off, and place on a parchment-lined pan or tray. Freeze 10 minutes or place in fridge until chocolate hardens,
Cookies can be kept in the refrigerator up to 1 week or in the freezer up to 1 month.
Optional: Instead of glaze, add 1/4-1/3 cup mini-chocolate chips to dough right before shaping.
