It's been a while. I have a whole list of excuses, but really, we've just been a bit busy. I've spent almost two full work-weeks in Quebec City for work, Cody's had the flu and eye shingles, I ran a half-marathon, Rowsdower has been non-stop cuddling.
In other important life news, we started watching 30 Rock. How did we not watch this before? So many people recommended it. I watched an episode or two, but never got "into it." I started watching randomly about a week and a half ago, and well...we're already to season 4.
I promised some blogs on my cooking, but I've run into some slight obstacles.
Food blogging is actually really hard. I don't understand how people do it. See, when you're making a rather complicated recipe, timing is everything. Scratch that-- when I'm hungry, every second counts. I am a three-meals-a-day person that eats dinner by 7 p.m. at the very latest. So, it's a race against the clock before I become overcome by what Cody affectionately calls "hanger" and just start eating whatever is in front of me. (Looking at you, cheddar cheese.)
The problem is that when you are trying to make a recipe to showcase it on a blog, you have to stop and take pictures. As an avid food blog reader, pictures are what make food blogs sing. I want to see the perfect shot of all of the ingredients together, then when they are all cut up, and again in the pan, and through the various stages of cooking. Don't even get me started on the finished product. But when I'm hungry? The last thing I am going to do is stop and fret over lighting a picture.
So, because I am lazy, here is a list of recipes that we have tried lately, and a short review. You can click over to their blogs and sites for those snazzy photos.
The Good:
- Bo Ssam (New York Times)-- This is the $200 Momofoku meal. People go crazy for it. So when I saw pork shoulder on sale for $0.99 per lb, I felt like it was God himself telling us to make this. It's really, really good. The sauces are pretty hard to find (or you can just order the pre-made one from David Chang himself). The pork has a delicious crackly skin, and the different sauces/condiments are just plain addictive. Cody and I ate this for dinner for an entire week, no ragrats.
- Egg Yolk Pasta (Marc Vetri) and Tomato Sauce (Marcella Hazan)-- Cody and I started making our own pasta after coming back from our honeymoon. We cannot get enough of it. Seriously. This egg yolk pasta is my tried-and-true and leads to perfect noodles, both in texture and taste. I've tried about ten different recipes for basic pasta, and this wins hands-down. I found the other recipes to be too vague, which is fine for a normal recipe but not for something as delicate and precise as pasta, or without that egg-y flavor that we fell in love with in Rome. Paired with this tomato sauce, it's divine. After years of doing things like grating onions (my fingernails will never recover) for this ridiculous recipe, I was actually angry that this sauce tastes so good when it is also so simple.
- Sous vide pork chops (Anova)-- Sous vide is a fancy French word for "cooking food in a consistent temp water bath while it is vacuum-sealed." We did steak first, and don't get me wrong, but steak in the oven, on the grill, chicken-fried, whatever-- it's all pretty good. But the pork chops. I don't want to eat regular pork chops again. We haven't done anything too crazy besides pork chops and steak, but we're looking forward to trying chicken breast and beef short ribs in the next few weeks.
- Dhaba chicken curry (Food and Wine)-- This is our weird Valentine's tradition. For our first Valentine's, when the kitchen in my studio apartment included approximately 6 inches of countertop space, we made this together. We had only been dating for a little over 6 months, and I think cooking together in that kitchen really taught us how to work together (or just not kill each other, surprisingly easy when you are both chopping veggies in a small space). Do not assume my memories cloud my palate on this recipe. It's quite simple and delicious. It's a great "gateway drug" to curry and other Indian food.
- Broccoli and potato soup (Skinnytaste)-- After years of bringing my lunch to work, I cannot tell you how many salad recipes I've tried. I hate them. Even the ones I like, I hate. I didn't realize until a few months ago that it's that I hate eating really cold stuff for lunch. It feels clinical or something. So, I turned to soups, and soups with a lot of vegetables so I can still get my health kick! This recipe is one of the better Skinnytaste recipes. It's really flavorful, not overwhelmingly broccoli, and best of all, filling. I've found that most of the Skinnytaste veggie-heavy soups are the fast track to hanger.
The Meh:
- Garlic and ginger chicken drumsticks (Cooking Well)-- These were not memorable. I actually forgot that we ate them later that night. I made these for convenience mainly. Throw everything into the slow cooker, set for four hours! Easy peasy. I really shouldn't complain, but the sauce felt like flavored soy sauce. Meh to the max.
- Butternut squash soup with red pepper and corn (Food and Wine)-- Chock full of vegetables! My favorite squash! Corn! I thought I would love this, but 1) it's a lot of work 2) it's a bit bland. If I make this again, I am going to double the red pepper, add some onion, and add some oregano and rosemary. The fresh thyme sprigs just don't go far enough to flavor the soup. I'm also worried how well it's going to hold up over the next few days for lunches.
- Sous vide eggs (Anova) Ever since Starbucks announced those ridiculous egg bites, I feel like I have not stopped hearing about trying to sous vide eggs. I do want to try the Starbucks recipe but the "flan-like" texture is creeping me out. We tried just plain eggs first in the sous vide, and I really missed that frying pan taste and texture. Cody insists that if we just fry these in bacon fat when we are done, they will taste great! Wait until he posts his recipe for "The Schultz."
So, anyway, one day I will succeed at taking pictures of my food. For now, this picture of an empty plate after Chicken Dijon will suffice.
These are Gordon Ramsay for Royal Doulton plates. My mom loved Royal Doulton so much she bought 56 Royal Doulton butter plates because they were on sale.