and back again

somehow food just got away from me this summer. I was in China then Sacramento and then came back to Portland in time to start a new Job. Somewhere in the middle of this I just stopped cooking. I have been grabbing meals where ever I can: eating terrible frozen entrees at the office, Burgers at the local bar, and tacos from the late night roach coach on the corner .
this week I declared it at an end. I went to farmers market and two grocery stores. I peeled, chopped, piled, roasted and fried. The results were terrible. Rubbery chicken, a terrifying beet concoction and undercooked potatoes. Luckily the Brussels sprouts were delicious.
All this is a reminder.
Cooking is an art and art takes practice, lots of practice.

Passover

In my family we love a holiday. We do them all: Chanakkah, Christams and Easter, we are equal opportunity celebrators. One of my all time favorites is Passover. For me this holiday has it all tradition, great food, good history and copious amounts of wine, plus they way we celebrate it is long on the food and wine and short on the rest. In the years since I moved to Oregon, the annual Seder has fallen to the wayside and if I dont happen to be visiting family I am unlikely to celebrate at all. This year I am feeling a little nostalgic about the whole thing so I decided that I could at least make a little matzo ball soup and a simple Seder dessert so when I saw Ken from Hungry Rabbit's recipe for marbled meringue on Rasa Malaysia I just new I had to make it. Though I wasn't entirely sure at first they came out lovely and I intend to use the marbling technique to make make the large meringues I usually make even more festive.

Marbled Meringue Cookies
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
2 egg whites, large at room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 200

Melt chocolate chips.

Add egg whites to a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar. In crease speed to medium high and beat to soft peaks, about 2-3 minutes.

Slowly add sugar. Add vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes until the whites are stiff and shiny. Sift cornstarch over the meringue and gently fold in..

Drizzle parallel lines of melted chocolate over the surface of the meringue. Using a spoon, scraped across the surface of the mixture, perpendicular to the chocolate lines, to get a rounded mound of striped meringue. Use a second spoon to push mound onto prepared baking sheets, 1-1/2 inches apart.

Continue scooping until you need to drizzle more chocolate. You may not use all the chocolate.

Bake meringue for 1 hour. Turn off oven and, leaving the door closed let the meringues set for another 60 minutes

adapted form the recipe by Hungry Rabbit

Except for When I do

I don't really eat leftovers. This poses something of a problem for the single eater who is buying things from a grocery store which only offers large portions of may of the things I eat. I have learned to adapt. Organic chicken breasts only come in packages of four or more so I buy the package and then figure out ways to eat them over a week that do not offend my sensibilities.
This week it was turkey breast tenderloins: two to a pack 2-3 servings per piece.
Hmmm
I started by brineing both tenderloins is a simple solution of kosher salt, sugar and water (I have never had turkey that was not improved by at least a short immersion). When it was time to make dinner I remove both pieces, rinsed them well and dried them thoroughly. I covered with finely chopped garlic and rosemary and the other got a liberal dusting of red chili powder. I covered them in plastic and then used a mallet to pound them to an even 1/2 inch thick then threw them both on the grill. I accompanied them with fake gravy and roasted vegetables. The real challenge came today. What to do with the leftovers.
For lunch I took the left over veggies and sauteed them over high heat until they were nice and hot then I added chunks of the rosemary turkey and cooked it just until the chill was taken off which prevented it form acquiring that twice cooked turkey flavor. I grated parmigiana on top and voila.
Tomorrow for lunch it will be spicy turkey tacos.

Wrap It Up

I have this fear that to be the size I wish to be I can never eat anything I crave again. This fear often leads to derailment within the first few hours of any new diet, if I have nothing delicious to look forward to I might as well order the pizza and be happy is pretty much the theory I have operated under.
This time I want to make things different. I am not only trying to make low fat/low carb meals but I am going to make them delicious. This brings me to the second diet downfall. . . over complication. So plan two is to plan ahead and make meals that can serve multiple purposes.
All of this brings us to tonight's dinner: Lettuce Wraps with Chicken.
This year I have been spending a good amount of time exploring Asian cuisines and these hand-held delights come from China and are well worth the chopping involved. Even better they are perfectly delicious eaten cold for a quick lunch or you can add the chicken mixture to greens, broccoli slaw, cucumbers and tomatoes and throw on some light Asian dressing for a delicious and surprisingly filling Chinese Chop Salad.

Lettuce Wraps with Chinese Chicken
1 lb ground white meat chicken
3-6 dried Shiitaki mushrooms depending on size
8 water chestnuts, drained
3 scallions + l for garnish
4 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp cornstarch
1⁄2 tsp sugar
3 clove of garlic
1 tbs sesame oil

iceberg lettuce
Asian style sweet hot chili sauce

Soak mushrooms in warm water until they become pliable, remove the stems. Finely chop mushrooms, chestnuts and the white and pale green part of the scallions mix with the ground chicken. In a small separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Once the cornstarch is fully incorporated mix the sauce with the chicken and allow to marinate for 15 minutes or longer.
Finely chop garlic. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pan or wok. When the oil is hot add the garlic and cook for a few seconds. Before the garlic begins to burn and the chicken mixture. Cook over high heat stirring often to break mixture up for 3 to 5 minutes.
serve over individual iceberg lettuce leaves, garnish with scallion greens and serve with chili sauce.

Adapted from Chinese Minced Chicken Wraps by rasamalaysia.com

My Bags are Packed

well not really but I am preparing to go on a trip. In just over two months from now I will be headed to China for an unanticipated but much needed two week vacation from everyday life. Luckily I have had a few grand adventures over the last few years which means I have been inoculated for everything so I can skip the shots and jump right to getting a visa. I will need a new pair of good walking shoes. Oh and I guess I ought to shed a few pounds while I am at it.
That is of course the crux of the matter: I want to be wearing smaller pants when I go to China. I am a tall woman with pale skin and curly red hair, I stand out enough for that, I don't want to be the big one too.
So I am going on a diet.
I am going to try and do it right. Be healthy and still make delicious food. This is the goal. So hold on its going to be a bumpy ride.

Dessert

I have a wild sweet tooth that I have followed to bad ends since I was a child lying to my mother and saying I was drinking hot carob when really my mouth was full of the powdery sweetness of hot chocolate from an envelope.
I am a sugar junkie and I have a problem. As I have gotten older I have for the most part had to give up baking because I cannot be trusted with trays of cookies, cakes or pies. The German deli on NE Sandy and Roses deli are places I have to steer around and don't get me started on the pastries and candies at my local market Ira's.
But I refuse to give up because there is joy in dessert. So I have found another path, a grownup path.
Tonight's dessert: a chunk of delicious and nutty hard cheese, several small pieces from a dark chocolate bar, ripe strawberries and a glass of wine. A far cry from the lardy frosting of grocery store sheet cake I enjoyed in my more indulgent youth, it feels decadent and oddly sexy to have this late night treat.

Today

I read somewhere that when you write a blog you have to find your point of view. I thought about this for some time. It seems that I want to write about food and my love of it. I don't want to write about cooking for children I don't have or a husband that doesn't exist I want to write about what cooking is to me. And me, I am single.
Single isn't a dirty word. I like being single and the freedoms it affords me, I am not actively trying to change my status. I hear my stomach growling not my biological clock ticking. I am hungry and the whole world seems bent on me feeding a non existent family or a bevy of friends who have their own lives and meal plans.
So this is my blog: its about eating good food and cooking wonderful meals. Its about feeding yourself well even if you are single.
because I am.