When we were kids, our mother let us have snacks after school every day since like most kids we were "so hungry, right this minute!" when we got home. I didn't realize until many years later it was a rather idiosyncratic selection and definitely aimed for the filling, nutritious but still inexpensive. We ate a lot of baked potatoes with various toppings and a lot of toast--toast with peanut butter, toast with jam, toast with cinnamon sugar.
When I am feeling tired or under the weather, cinnamon toast is still so homey and comforting. However, now that I'm an adult, I want variety, and novelty! :-) I realized the other day that one could add other warm spices to sugar, not just cinnamon. The combination we came up with is wonderful on toast, but also great sprinkled on apples, or stirred into coffee or oatmeal.
And did I mention I saw pre-mix cinnamon sugar in the spice section the other day? $2.50 for about two ounces. Good heavens, are we really to the point of needing someone else to combine those two ingredients for us so as to save the inconvenience? Sigh . . . .
Spiced Sprinkling Sugar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
Combine all the above ingredients and put into a shaker or a nice air tight container. Keep handy for impulsive use.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Kim Chee!
For many years I've been a little skeptical about kim chee. I envisioned sitting down to a meal and spooning up a portion as a side dish and couldn't muster much enthusiasm. The few times I've tried it, I've thought it was interesting . . but certainly not anything that rocks my world. Recently, though, I've had one of those "aha" moments that's made me realize it's something I've underestimated.
Out with a group of co-workers, I found myself curious about a menu item in an Asian food court. "Kim Chee Fried Rice". Kim chee is practically the national dish of Korea and thousands of people feel passionate about it. Sure enough, with this meal it finally made its mark on my palate. I may not yet be sitting down to a bowl for a snack, but kim chee used as a an ingredient in stir fry or marinade is radically different from kim chee as a side dish. It's like the difference between that glass of wine you had with dinner and beef borguignon. Kim chee fried rice is now a firm part of my own home repertoir.
The other night, with friends to dinner, I made kim chee stir-fried green beans. They were amazing, and everyone was fascinated to know there was kim chee in the sauce. I think I'm finally getting it. I'm hoping soon I'll appreciate it all on it's own. The next step, home-made kim chee!
Kim Chee Fried Rice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
11/2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium-sized brown onion, finely diced
1 finely diced carrot or sweet red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced Chinese sausage (lup chong) or 8 oz. ground pork or 8 oz. tofu, drained and cubed
5 cups cooked medium-grain white rice
4-6 sliced green onions
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen green peas
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup light soy
1/4 kim chee, chopped fine
sliced green onions, sesame seeds, sliced fresh chilis and/or cilantro for garnish
Mix final six ingredients together in a bowl to make a good goop, set aside. Prepare everything else that needs to be sliced or diced and have it ready to go. Get the oil good and hot in your wok or large skillet. Add the ginger and garlic, stir with a spatula just a few times and add the onion. When the onion starts to become translucent, add your carrot or pepper, stir fry for a minute or two, add your protein. When your protein is starting to brown nicely, or in the case of the tofu, have a few browned spots, add your rice, and mix it all to combine. Pour your goop over the top, stir fry until your starting to seem some nicely browned rice here and there. Scoop out into a serving dish, top with your garnishes and enjoy.
Kim Chee Green Beans
The same six ingredient sauce from the recipe above can be added to stir-fried green beans with great results.
2 tbsps. veg. oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 pounds green beans, rinsed and destemmed
Heat oil in wok or skillet, add garlic and ginger, stir fry a few moments, add green beans, stirfry about three minutes, add sauce, stir fry another minute and then begin tasting beans. When they've reached a texture you like, turn out into a serving dish. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Out with a group of co-workers, I found myself curious about a menu item in an Asian food court. "Kim Chee Fried Rice". Kim chee is practically the national dish of Korea and thousands of people feel passionate about it. Sure enough, with this meal it finally made its mark on my palate. I may not yet be sitting down to a bowl for a snack, but kim chee used as a an ingredient in stir fry or marinade is radically different from kim chee as a side dish. It's like the difference between that glass of wine you had with dinner and beef borguignon. Kim chee fried rice is now a firm part of my own home repertoir.
The other night, with friends to dinner, I made kim chee stir-fried green beans. They were amazing, and everyone was fascinated to know there was kim chee in the sauce. I think I'm finally getting it. I'm hoping soon I'll appreciate it all on it's own. The next step, home-made kim chee!
Kim Chee Fried Rice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
11/2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium-sized brown onion, finely diced
1 finely diced carrot or sweet red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced Chinese sausage (lup chong) or 8 oz. ground pork or 8 oz. tofu, drained and cubed
5 cups cooked medium-grain white rice
4-6 sliced green onions
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen green peas
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup light soy
1/4 kim chee, chopped fine
sliced green onions, sesame seeds, sliced fresh chilis and/or cilantro for garnish
Mix final six ingredients together in a bowl to make a good goop, set aside. Prepare everything else that needs to be sliced or diced and have it ready to go. Get the oil good and hot in your wok or large skillet. Add the ginger and garlic, stir with a spatula just a few times and add the onion. When the onion starts to become translucent, add your carrot or pepper, stir fry for a minute or two, add your protein. When your protein is starting to brown nicely, or in the case of the tofu, have a few browned spots, add your rice, and mix it all to combine. Pour your goop over the top, stir fry until your starting to seem some nicely browned rice here and there. Scoop out into a serving dish, top with your garnishes and enjoy.
Kim Chee Green Beans
The same six ingredient sauce from the recipe above can be added to stir-fried green beans with great results.
2 tbsps. veg. oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 pounds green beans, rinsed and destemmed
Heat oil in wok or skillet, add garlic and ginger, stir fry a few moments, add green beans, stirfry about three minutes, add sauce, stir fry another minute and then begin tasting beans. When they've reached a texture you like, turn out into a serving dish. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Good Reads for 2011
So sorry to be gone so long, I finally sank without a trace beneath the onslaught of holidays, basement flooding, appliance death and minor plumbing disaster. I expect Agatha Christie would have sailed through writing page after page, in her hip waders, a pencil between her teeth and one behind each ear. Ah well. (One can't really argue it was great lit, but how in the world was that woman so prolific?!)
I have been reading a cookbook or two (or several) over the past year and just finished one that I especially liked so I figured an nice book post wouldn’t be out of order. So, to start with the most recent that really inspired me:
The Art of Eating In - http://theartofeatingin.com/
Cathy Erway writes passionately about food and the dilemma all working people have—the pull of take-out food convenience weighed against any reasonably good cooks certainty that they can often cook better and less expensive meals. I loved her sense of adventure, I loved having a peek into a single 20-something New Yorker’s life and the recipes look really good.
You can probably see a pattern at this point. I don’t like sterile cookbooks. I want as much of a sense of the person writing as I would get if I met them and got to talking about life and food. Molly Wizenberg writes about food and memory in a way that reminds me of a young M.F.K. Fisher. Ms Fisher once said ““When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one.” Molly’s book intertwines food and family and love just beautifully.
On a completely different note, David Chang’s Momofuku http://www.amazon.com/Momofuku-David-Chang/dp/030745195X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295115353&sr=1-1 gives a sense of one of the largest personalities in the food world today. Easily the most profane cookbook I’ve ever read, and a greatly entertaining read. Amazing recipes and ideas, although the amount of pork fat he strews round is not for the faint of heart. We’ve tried a few recipes and they are uniformly spectacular and unlike anything else you’ve ever eaten.
Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros http://www.amazon.com/Apples-Jam-Colorful-Tessa-Kiros/dp/0740769715/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295115473&sr=1-1 is the sort of cookbook I am just learning to like, it has a tremendous focus on the beautiful and wanders over into the sentimental for a lot of the commentary. The recipes, most unusually, are organized by color. The index is adequate enough to make up for any confusion for the more traditionally minded searcher and the recipes are friendly homey food that is heavily influenced by Tessa’s European roots and travels.
All of these were pretty easily available at the local library, and it is really a delight to curl up with a cookbook in bed on a rainy winter evening and plan meals. I would love to hear of anything you’ve read lately that has made you happy and/or inspired.
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