Recent Culinary Forays...

We haven't been doing too much in the way of fancy cooking lately. Our daughters left for Montana and California recently, and we've just kind of heaved a big sigh and rested.

We had French toast and bacon earlier this week...always a fav of ours.

Last night was bacon sandwiches and coleslaw. Along with nice, thick bacon, we had seared Walla Walla sweet onions and tomatoes, sharp cheddar cheese, and for me, pepperoncinis, all between slices of grilled English muffin bread.

Tonight. Tonight was dinner cooked outdoors. We had a salad of tender romaine lettuce fresh out of the garden; chicken breast rubbed with ground Ancho chile, ras el hanout, and onion powder, then grilled; dried Mission figs; grilled sweet onions; and crumbled feta cheese. The dressing was a mix of extra-virgin olive oil, figs, white balsamic vinegar, orange blossom water and fresh ginger. We grilled up some corn-on-the-cob and ciabatta bread that we had brushed with some of the Lebanese olive oil-lemon juice-garlic mix. OMG. Dinner was sweetspicysaltysoursavory...and we are very pleasantly full.

Mexican Soul Food...

Today, we harvested the second item from our garden - three large plants of Goldgelber purslane, an improved version of the well-known and common weed, and an excellent source of Omega 3 oil. With them, I cooked up a pot of Verdolagas con Carne de Puerco, or pork and purslane stew, a popular Mexican dish. Again, none of us were sure how it would go...but it turned out very tasty indeed. Its a stew of cubed pork, pureed onions, garlic (lots!) and tomatillos, mild green chilies and handfuls of purslane, seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, Mexican oregano and cumin. For a personal touch, I added some chicken stock and a little golden tequila. It really was a sort of Mexican approach to the universal soul food...braised pork and greens. Good stuff, and I've got more purslane growing. We'll be having this again...

A Humble Weed...

We've made tacos with greens, caramelized onions and queso seco cheese for a few years now. The recipe, tacos de quelites, comes from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, and we've really enjoyed them. Even our autistic son likes them (he of the hot dogs, canned chili and ketchup...lol). Tonight, however, was the first time that we've made them with the greens they use down in Toluca, Mexico...quelites, the unprepossessing lambs' quarters(Chenopodium berlandieri), a weed common to sidewalk cracks, empty lots and the edges of roads and fields all across America. Rick Bayless recommended Swiss chard if lambs' quarters are unavailable, but considers it inferior to them. Still, there was some trepidation in my home as I prepared them. They are good! Gina and I agree with him. They are the better choice. The next step for authenticity would be to get some blue corn tortillas...

We had a couple of plants growing in our garden plot. The majority were growing wild in the untended portions of the community garden, so I just picked the larger plants, 'til I had enough for dinner. Thankfully, I kinda' overshot the mark, so we have a healthy batch of leftovers!

Some quick nutritional facts about lambs' quarters: a 180g serving of boiled and drained lambs' quarters contained 281% of the USRDA for Vitamin A, 111% of the USRDA for Vitamin C, 46% of the USRDA for calcium, 6g of protein and 4g of fiber, its inflammation factor is 351 (strongly anti-inflammatory) and its estimated glycemic load is a whopping...5. They are also a good source of Vitamin E, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. A serving has a whopping 58 calories. Instead of spraying these weeds with Roundup, we should all be gathering them and eating them...they're a damn superfood!

Oh...and here is a good guide to Mexican herbs...

Recent Dinners...

Yesterday, I put some glowing hardwood charcoal in the bbq, tossed a double batch of water-soaked hickory chips and dried yerba santa leaves on top, and put an 8lb. pork shoulder (coated in a rub of ancho chile, paprika, onion and garlic powders, Mexican oregano, marjoram, thyme, and a little allspice) in there for a couple of hours to smoke.

For some reason (coals too close together? wood chips too wet/numerous? or...?), the coals stalled and failed to completely burn, so the pork hadn't developed quite as planned. Luckily, when I poked at the coals and spread 'em out, they proved to still have a lot of heat at their core, and immediately started smoking again. Another 45 minutes or so in there really helped the pork. After that, I took it out, wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven to finish. When it was done, and tender, I removed it, broke it up and let it cool enough to handle (barely) and pulled it.

We had the pork in taco, with cheese, shredded cabbage, pickled onions and hot sauce. YUM! I had made a fresh pot of beans earlier in the day, and cooked up some long grain rice and fideo (the really short Mexican vermicelli) with extra-virgin olive oil, chicken broth and garlic. A very tasty dinner.

A few days ago, we had a late lunch/early supper of Lebanese-style grilled, spiced chicken with garlic sauce, grilled ciabatta bread (brushed with the lemony garlic sauce too), and cucumber-onion-tomato salad. Also a very tasty meal!

A Warm Sunday...

I kinda' burned out on cooking anything elaborate for awhile. I'm starting to get back into it. After a morning working in our new community garden plot, I came back and fixed lunch.

Philly has its cheesesteak, Boston has chowder, Cincinnati its own unique chili. The Northwest, in my mind, goes for pizza, subs and teriyaki chicken (...besides the ubiquitous coffee). Teriyaki is probably the big one of that trio. I've seen an intersection in the Seattle area where there were three different teriyaki joints. I decided to try my hand at it, so I cooked up some homemade teriyaki sauce (fairly traditional - just sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar, w/a little cornstarch to thicken it) and marinated some chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on) overnight. For lunch, I grilled it over oak charcoal and served it with some short-grain rice, homemade coleslaw and watermelon. It came out quite nice. Smoky, moist and tender, good flavor from the marinade (soy & mirin, garlic & ginger, scallions, sesame oil, some fresh ground pepper & seven-spice powder, etc), a mellow, molasses-y sweetness (not as strong as actual molasses) probably offset by the winey flavor of the sake and mirin. All-in-all, very successful.

Dinner was just some simple bacon, egg & cheese burritos, a few (leftover from Friday) spicy chips, and for the warmth, a refreshing drink called es timun, an Indonesian drink of fresh squeezed lime juice, sugar, peeled and seeded cucumbers and ice, all put through the blender. Very nice.

Next Weekend!...

May 16th-17th will be the dates for the 5th annual Seattle Cheese Festival at Pike Place Market. Over 200 local and international cheeses are supposed to be on hand! Yum! I'd love to go...but I don't know that we can make it this year. We do have some tentative plans the 15th and 17th...so I don't know if we want to try for a triple play weekend...lol.

Its sooo tempting, though.......... . ... . . . . . . .. . .

Oh yeah. And coming soon, there should be details on Portland's Cheese Festival, the Wedge!

Not Much...

...going on in Sun Bear's kitchen, lately. I've been busy with a lot of other things, and haven't had much time for the cutting board and food processor, spice mill and skillet.

We've been eating a lot of breakfast burritos (bean, egg & cheese or bacon, egg & cheese), sandwiches, and the like...simple food. I did break down last night and make a Burmese curry of pork & pineapple, along with akyaw (a simple stir-fry of...in this case...green beans, onions, garlic a little turmeric, and sesame oil), and lots of rice. The curry was standard Burmese fare...browned cubes of pork cooked 'til tender in a puree of onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric (fresh...yum!), and (mostly mild) chilies. I tweaked it with a couple of seasonings, added some petite diced tomatoes, and in the last ten minutes of cooking, half of a fresh pineapple I'd cut up. Good, good food...really savory and filling, but with the occasional burst of sweetness from the fruit. I'll be making it again.

A Good Dinner...

We had good enough weather today that I felt confident we could grill. I went through a book called Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine and picked out some grilled chicken (djej meshwi), a baked spinach dish, and a tabbouleh recipe. I changed the seasoning in the chicken recipe a little bit, substituting thyme and Turkish-style baharat for the za'atar and ground coriander in the original. We marinated chicken tenders in a mix of buttermilk, grated onions, garlic, a little honey, lemon rind, herbs and spices. The spinach dish had two layers: the bottom layer was spinach, fresh dill and a little bit of potato to bind it a bit, while the top layer was a mix of seasoned eggs, feta and romano cheeses. The tabbouleh came out pretty much how I remember from Iraq...lemony, full of herbs, very fresh tasting.

The chicken skewers cooked quickly, using the breast tenders, and came out moist, very flavorful, and golden, with nice grill marks. We agreed that it was one of the best grilled chicken recipes I've made. And the other two dishes were good as well. Thankfully, there's enough for all of us to have lunch tomorrow!

Lately...

Not too much serious cooking of late.

Made Penang, Mussaman and Yellow Curry Pastes, along with the Red and Green ones earlier this month. Made a Penang Chicken Curry one night. It was good.

For Easter we had a piece of boneless pork tenderloin coated with a simple rub - paprika, smoked paprika, black pepper, cumin, allspice and rosemary - and cooked in the rotisserie, basting it with the peach tea and beer bbq sauce I made awhile back. We had a bunch of the sauce left over in the freezer. Then I took some canned pork & beans, drained them, and added chopped onions, peaches, raisins, the peach bbq sauce, a bit more ginger beer, hot sauce, and some spices. Baked these for a few hours. They are yummy! Took a second dish of 'em in to my work for an Easter potluck. We rounded the meal out with coleslaw and some leftover garlic bread. It was a pretty good dinner. Not too heavy.

Gina made some caramel popcorn and peanuts that is miles better than Cracker Jacks, or even the caramel corn from Harry & Davids'. Addictive and evil.

I'll make something good tomorrow.

Yesterday was Easy Stuff...

Gina had a craving yesterday morning for a sausage biscuit. By chance, we had a pound of bulk maple sausage in the house so I made sausage patties and whipped up some biscuits, served 'em with my cheesey hashbrowns. It took us years before we learned to make hashbrowns we were happy with. We tried all kinds of things. Nothing came out right. Finally, after giving up at some point, something sparked an idea in my mind (can't remember specifics though). Now we get consistently crunchy hashbrowns. Here's how we do it (this is more a guide than a strict recipe):

Vance Family Hash Browns

You'll need...

Potatoes, washed well (I find a couple medium ones, per person, works well if you want a BIG helping - otherwise one per...)

Onions, peeled and cut to fit in a food processor (probably one small-medium onion per every three or four potatoes is good)

Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Seasoning salt (I like to use a couple of different ones...yesterday was typical -Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Zatarain's Creole Seasoning...you could use whatever appeals to you...I've also added dried parsley - its full of trace minerals that are good for you...Mrs Dash works well, too)

Vegetable oil

Cheddar cheese, grated (optional, but very tasty)

Chili ketchup (ketchup with a little Sriracha, or other kinda' neutral hot sauce added, to taste)(also optional)

• Grate the potatoes and onions in your food processor - you need a coarse grate for this to work right. Toss to mix well, in a large bowl.
• If you've got the hand strength, take a big handful at a time and squeeze out the excess moisture over the sink, until you've done this with all of the potato-onion mixture. If you don't have the hand strength use a towel, twisting both ends until you get the same result, repeating until finished. Return to the bowl.
• Season liberally with pepper and the seasonings of your choice. Toss to distribute the seasonings throughout.
• Heat oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Use one that has slanted sides...suitable for omelets and tossing pancakes.
• Add the potato-onion mixture to the pan. If doing large servings, its probably best to do one serving at a time, for ease of cooking. Flatten the potatoes out with your spatula to a large round pancake. Cook until browned on one side.
• If you have the inclination and skills, you can flip the potato round just like you would a pancake. Otherwise, use a spatula. Add oil, if needed. Brown the other side.
• You can add the cheese 1) all over the top of the hashbrown cake 2) just on half, a bit heavy, than fold over to enclose the cheese 3) fold over, then add the cheese on top. Allow to melt.
• Remove to paper towels, to drain off excess oil. Serve, with chili ketchup if desired.
• Makes as many servings as feel like cooking.

Last night was simple, too - the grandkids had some little friends over, and the weather was gorgeous - so we barbecued hot dogs (for them) and cheddarwursts (for us). Today we'll heat up the barbecue again, this time for some pork satay (with peanut sauce, of course...lol).

More Thai Food...

Tonight was easy stuff...the Thai noodle dish Rad Na, noodles and pork in gravy. I wanted to make something I knew the kids would enjoy. I improvised with a couple of ingredients...I didn't have any taucho (yellow bean paste), so I substituted Japanese shiro miso. Gina doesn't care for fish sauce, so I have taken to substituting vegetable stock concentrate (the stuff that comes in jars at the store) with good results. I discovered I didn't have any wide rice noodles, so I substituted some imported Italian mafalda we'd gotten awhile back at Big Lots (for $0.59!), which came out well. And, of course, I had my homemade kecap manis, instead of the flat store-bought variety. It came out a little sweet, but mostly savory. And there were NO leftovers. Which is nice, for a change.

THAI-STYLE RICE NOODLES AND PORK WITH GRAVY
(Rad Na)

¼ cup vegetable oil
1 pound boneless pork tenderloin, thinly sliced across the grain
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
¼ cup yellow bean sauce (taucho) or yellow miso paste (shiro miso)
¼ cup sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate or fish sauce
2 cups chicken or pork stock
6 cups broccoli florets or Chinese broccoli, chopped (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca flour dissolved in ¼ cup cold water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8-12 ounce fresh or dried broad rice noodles, or other broad wheat noodles
Salted water, for cooking the noodles

• Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Swirl around to coat the pan. Put a stockpot of salted water on to boil over high heat.
• When the water is boiling, cook noodles according to package directions (so judge when to put the noodles in the water accordingly)
• Add the pork and cook until the meat has started to brown, stirring frequently, 3-5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and stir well. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
• Add the bean sauce or miso paste, sweet soy sauce and vegetable stock concentrate. Stir until they are mixed, form a thick sauce, and reach the boil.
• Add the stock and stir to mix. Bring to the boil.
• Add the broccoli and cook until it turns bright green.
• Add the cornstarch mixture and stir well. When the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and season, to taste, with salt and pepper (I didn't need to add any salt...there's a lot in the various soy products and stock).
• Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Toss well. Serve.
• Makes about six servings.

This weekend I need to finish making curry pastes - Panang, Mussaman, maybe Yellow. We're supposed to have good weather this weekend, with 60+ degree weather, so I intend to barbecue. I want to make some pork satay with my hybrid peanut sauce - I use both kecap manis (for Indonesian peanut sauce) and red curry paste (for Thai peanut sauce), and we feel it can stand in for Thai, Indonesian and Malay dishes. And I think I shall make some Panang Chicken Curry.

Thai Food...

The weather has been a little warmer, and I've been wanting SE Asian food. So tonight I fixed Thai dishes...

Northern-style Red Curry of Beef and Green Beans

Southern-style Green Curry of Chicken and Greens

Spicy Shrimp Salad

Quick-pickled Cucumbers

White Rice

The curries were yummy, but it was the Shrimp Salad that was the star of the night! And I have lots of yummy food when I go to work tomorrow.