316 replies to this topic

[Plantes Vertes]

Don't worry Huiray, you aren't the only one eating lunch around here.

 

- Asparagus from my mother's allotment

- Mushroom and asparagus salad

I ate those. I also made poached eggs with leeks for my mother.

 

Heh.  I was getting worried there. :-) 

 

Nice salad.  Hmm, poached eggs & leeks? Never tried that combination...but not far off from poached eggs with scallions, and pretty similar to doing it with negi or "big scallions", on reflection.

 

 

Eggs embedded in cooked vegetables is my mother's preferred dish for weekends. I chose leeks in an attempt to cure her cold. Then she gave it to me.

[huiray]

Lunch today:

 

• Walleye fillets – marinated in Shaohsing wine [Wei Chuan], sesame oil [Dragonfly], salt, fresh ground black pepper, a bit of “luscious soy sauce” [Kim Lan]; then pan-fried (with the marinade added in after the initial sear) and the sauces/juices reduced down as well. Garnished when plated w/ sliced normal scallion.

• Walleye skin “chips”.  No pic.  Crunch crunch. :-)

• Fresh spaghettini [Nicole-Taylor’s] tossed in the pan w/ fresh shiitake mushrooms,^§ fresh bunapi-shimeji (white beech) mushrooms, asparagus^§ and a large type of scallion,^¶ all sautéed (the scallion first) in EV olive oil.

 

^§ From today’s Farmers’ Market.

^¶A large type called “京蔥” (“Capital scallion”; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1), from my local Chinese grocery. They didn’t have as much white-bottom parts as normally expected, though. (They are not leeks, they have the typical hollow round green parts of the leaves of scallions/Allium fistulosum-type)  Still, “京蔥” are similar to Japanese ‘negi’ and according to the grocery’s proprietess about the same thing as “Tai Chung” (大蔥; Yale Cantonese: daai6 chung1)  Here’s one Chinese recipe which uses it in a stir-fry with baby octopus which might interest David Ross here on eG, heh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the stuff before cooking:

 

[huiray]

2013-0519

Lunch

• Fresh Pacific White Shrimp [Bedrock Springs Seafood Farm], head-on shell-on, simply steamed w/ julienned ginger & sliced scallions plus some salt.

• Watercress sautéed w/ garlic in vegetable oil.

• White rice (Basmati).

 

 

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2013-0520

Late lunch/early dinner

• Edible amaranth (Amaranthus dubius; 莧菜; green variety) in chicken stock w/ smashed garlic & softened dried shrimp (“Har Mai”).

• Thinly-sliced flank steak^¶ “stir-fried” w/ yellow chives and large-type scallions (京蔥).^§

• Steamed white rice (Basmati).

^¶Sliced very thinly against the grain; marinated w/ “yellow (cooking) wine” (黃酒)  [Julong], sesame oil [Dragonfly], light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior], corn starch [Clabber Girl], fish sauce [Red Boat], freshly ground white pepper.

^§ “Capital scallion”; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1.

 

 

 

 

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2013-0521

Lunch

• Fried rice – with sautéed garlic, Chinese long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis), a large-type scallion,^§ normal scallions, de-seeded long hot green chillies, eggs.

• Thai basil stir-fried w/ garlic, sliced pork & sliced flank steak.

^§ “Capital scallion”; 京蔥; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1.

 

 

[huiray]

2013-0522

Lunch

• Rice congee w/ ginger, shiitake mushrooms & pork spare ribs.

Very generous julienned ginger was sautéed in peanut oil until it was beginning to brown.  Short-cut (against the bone) pork spare ribs, cut into individual riblets, were added and sautéed.  Water was added (fond deglazed) plus sea salt and the mixture simmered for about 40+ minutes.  Sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms were added plus long-grain rice (Basmati) (rice : original water ~ 1 : 10 or so) and simmering continued till the desired consistency was reached.  (~ ½ - ¾ hour or so more)  Occasional stirring.  Eaten dressed w/ chopped scallions, coriander leaves, deep fried shallots & preserved Tianjin cabbage (“Tung Choy”).

 

 

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2013-0523

Lunch

• More of the congee left over from the previous day.

• Lotus root soup – with sliced beef flank steak, sautéed garlic, Chinese jujubes, peanuts, sea salt, a dried salted cuttlefish.

 

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2013-0524

Lunch

• Gulf shrimp in a spicy hot broth w/ vegetables.^¶

• Steamed white rice (Basmati).

^¶Chopped shallots & garlic were sautéed in peanut oil and crumbled belacan [North South brand] added in.  Sour shrimp paste [Golden Boy brand] plus cut-up hot long chillies (not deseeded) followed after a short while and was stirred/sautéed in, followed by halved shallots.  Water was added and the mix brought to a medium boil then simmered briefly.  Green (white-streaked) (halved) and white Thai eggplants (whole) were added, followed by roughly chopped de-seeded hot long green chillies, white beech mushrooms, sliced white button mushrooms, small Lady’s Fingers (okra) (whole), juice of two large limes, a dose of fish sauce [Red Boat], peeled de-veined shrimp^§ and finally trimmed Thai basil.  Cooked just a very brief bit more.  Oh, it was plenty hot.

^§ Deheaded Gulf shrimp were peeled and deveined then soaked for a short while in “Kan Sui” (Potassium carbonate + sodium bicarbonate) [Koon Chun brand] diluted w/ water, then flushed repeatedly with cold water before adding to the cooking broth.

 

 

 

Some of the stuff prepped:

 

[chefmd]

Steak tartar and Vesper martini (blue cheese stuffed olives instead of lemon peel).

Attached Images

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[huiray]

2013-0526

Lunch

Inspired by SobaAddict70’s proclivities and his current food blog on eG.

 

• Young & tender kale, fresh from the Farmers’ Market (FM) – de-ribbed, chopped up, simmered in chicken stock to wilt and just a little more to soften.  With a smashed chopped clove of garlic & a drizzle of EV olive oil added.

• Courgettes/Baby zucchini from yesterday’s FM, flowers intact, dredged in a batter of all-purpose flour & corn starch (~ 1:1), water, one egg, some sea salt and water; deep-fried till golden-brown.   Eaten as-is, clean flavor of the baby zucchini and flowers coming through.

• Morels, cleaned & halved; and asparagus, sliced diagonally – both from yesterday’s FM.  Simply sautéed in butter plus some sea salt, tossed in the pan w/ drained al dente fresh radiatore (from the FM) [Nicole-Taylor’s] cooked in salted water. 

 

 

 

 

[Dejah]

It's a cool dreary cloudy day but perfect for gardening. Congee in the slow cooker seemed to fit the bill while I spent time working outside.

 

I made the congee thicker than usual, with several chicken backs, necks, and thighs. I swear, I eat congee just for the fixings: century egg, pork floss, Old Mother Chili with peanuts, and a lovely grind of white peppercorns that I brought back from Malaysia. Missed the cilantro tho'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

Lovely Dejah - can you elaborate on the Old Mother Chili with peanuts?

[Dejah]

heidih: This is the chili oil I added to my congee:

 

 

 

It has a nice flavour and I love the crunchy bits from the chili peppers and the few peanuts.

 

huiray: THose baby zukes look lovely. Our FM doesn't start until June, and I imagine it'll be slim pickins' as we didn't get spring until this week!

[furzzy]

2013-0526
Lunch
Inspired by SobaAddict70’s proclivities and his current food blog on eG.
 
• Courgettes/Baby zucchini from yesterday’s FM, flowers intact, dredged in a batter of all-purpose flour & corn starch (~ 1:1), water, one egg, some sea salt and water; deep-fried till golden-brown.   Eaten as-is, clean flavor of the baby zucchini and flowers coming through.
 
DSCN8664b_800.jpg
 
DSCN8670b_1k.jpg

huiray-

Didn't you stuff the blossoms at all? They sort of look full-ish after frying. If you did, what did you use? -Thanks.

[huiray]

2013-0526
Lunch
Inspired by SobaAddict70’s proclivities and his current food blog on eG.
 
• Courgettes/Baby zucchini from yesterday’s FM, flowers intact, dredged in a batter of all-purpose flour & corn starch (~ 1:1), water, one egg, some sea salt and water; deep-fried till golden-brown.   Eaten as-is, clean flavor of the baby zucchini and flowers coming through.
 
DSCN8664b_800.jpg
 
DSCN8670b_1k.jpg

huiray-

Didn't you stuff the blossoms at all? They sort of look full-ish after frying. If you did, what did you use? -Thanks.

 

No, no stuffing was used.  I just let them be.  I supposed the air entrapped in the flowers just puffed out the flowers a bit after being "sealed in" by the batter coating.  I removed the pistils from the bigger ones, left the smaller ones intact - all were check for bugs.  :-) 

[huiray]

2013-0527

Lunch

• Red Wattle pork cutlets,^¶ simply pan-fried in oil + some butter, and with salt & pepper.

• Mushroom medley – with fresh morels, fresh wood-ear fungus [both collected in N. Indiana; bought from the Farmers’ Market] & rehydrated snow fungus.

• Bucatini [Garofalo] tossed in the pan w/ sliced garlic (mature cloves) & baby spring garlic sautéed in butter + olive oil.

• Fresh asparagus & broccoli briefly simmered in chicken stock.

 

^¶ Raised by Hood’s Heritage Hogs, processed by This Old Farm.  Not sure I liked all that liquid around the cutlets after defrosting.  There wasn’t much fat in these cutlets; definitely redder than “commercial” pork.  The cutlets had already been pre-bashed.  I overcooked them a bit, not used to cooking this cut; but I was curious about it and wanted to check what the flavor was like – which was pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[huiray]

2013-0528

Lunch

• Salmon fillets (de-skinned) simply steamed w/ sliced white button (common) mushrooms, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sliced scallions, sea salt & fresh ground pepper.

• “Kai Lan” sautéed w/ garlic in peanut oil & quenched w/ a mixture of “Luscious Soy Sauce” [Kim Lan], Drunken Chicken Marinade [Lee Kum Kee], sweet mirin [Honteri], ryori-shu [MRT] and Ponzu sauce [Kikkoman].

• Steamed white rice (Basmati).

 

I ate every bit.  :-)

 

 

 

[orangeong2]

heidih: This is the chili oil I added to my congee:

 

OldMotherChiliOil1205.jpg

 

ChiliOil1206.jpg

 

It has a nice flavour and I love the crunchy bits from the chili peppers and the few peanuts.

 

huiray: THose baby zukes look lovely. Our FM doesn't start until June, and I imagine it'll be slim pickins' as we didn't get spring until this week!

those chillies are bought from Malaysia?

[huiray]

2013-0530

Lunch at “MaMa’s House” Korean Restaurant in Indy.

• Banchan, 10 generous portions: Napa cabbage kimchi, lightly fried & tangy teensy baby anchovies, chillied garlic chives, tangy pickled button mushrooms, cold deep-fried hard tofu slices in a piquant sauce, lightly pickled beansprouts, baby bok choy dressed with a savory sauce, cucumber kimchi, lightly pickled daikon strips, cubed daikon kimchi.  (Gratis)

• Korean fried chicken wings, chillied; dressed w/ sweet-mildly hot thick sauce.  Pic of the leftover KFC brought home. :-)

• Tofu jjigae – a “stew” of small beef cubes, sliced onions, scallions, “Tong Ho” (edible Garland chrysanthemum), tofu slices, one BIG clam; simmered in a seasoned spicy broth.  With white rice.

 

[huiray]

Friday lunch:

 

Carrots, celery, French Breakfast Radishes, sliced chicken breast, chicken livers, shallots - in a chicken stock made from the second simmering of a shredded 5-lb chicken, with bones, celery, onions, carrots, sea salt.  Soba noodles.

 

[huiray]

• Simple soup of pork spare ribs, short-cut against the  bone, sautéed w/ garlic; quenched w/ water, sea salt added, simmered for ~ 1hr; then washed & trimmed “kau kee choy”  or “kau kei choy” (枸杞菜) (Wolfberry leaves; a different plant from the one that gives “wolfberry fruits”) (Baidu article; Google translation) added and the soup returned to a simmer for a few minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

• Cappelini tossed in the pan w/ sautéed morels, sliced baby zucchini & spring onions.

• Slices of Jamón Serrano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Head-on shell-on fresh farmed Pacific White Shrimp [Bedrock Springs Seafood Farm] stir-fried w/ scallions, Thai chillies, lots of pepper, sufficient sea salt, dash of fish sauce [Red Boat].

• “Wong Nga Pak” (Napa cabbage) stir-fried w/ fresh oyster mushrooms & white beech mushrooms, salted to taste.

• Steamed white rice (Basmati).

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Fried rice.  Chopped red-stemmed young spring onions, sliced young spring garlic, sea salt, stir-fried w/ veggie oil; four farm eggs, day-old steamed white rice.  Reserved.  Chopped Chinese celery sautéed w/ peanut oil & a dash of fish sauce [Red Boat].  Fried rice added back in, everything tossed and stirred together more.

• Sliced purple asparagus sautéed w/ chopped not-as-young green spring onion (this went into the oil first), sliced fresh oyster mushrooms & fresh shiitake mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Beef & green onion shui kow (or sui kow or sui gow) dumplings [Wei Chuan] and Pork, leek & shrimp shui kow dumplings [Wei Chuan].

• Skinny wonton egg noodles.

• Chicken stock simmered w/ a bit of oil and several whole ikan bilis (dried anchovies) [鴻昌隆 brand; English company name given as “Eastern Oceanic Enterprises”] plus a couple of dried far koo [紅葉 brand; “Red leaf”] plus some dried far koo stems.  Mushrooms & anchovies removed, the stems trimmed off the mushrooms and the caps returned to the stock.

• Chiffonaded young kale, simmered briefly in the stock above.

 

All served together as a bowl of shui kow tong mein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Pork, daikon & radish soup.

Short-cut pork spare ribs and a few chunks of thick-cut pork shoulder were sautéed with halved cloves of garlic in vegetable oil plus some sea salt.  Sufficient water was added, brought to a simmer, most of the foam skimmed off, two honey dates/jujubes^¶ added and simmering continued (covered) for about an hour.  Peeled daikon cut into large sticks were added, followed after ~10 min. by trimmed French breakfast radishes and fresh shiitake mushrooms (stems removed) and simmering continued for about half an hour or so.

• Spiced sautéed red-stemmed Swiss chard, purple asparagus, tomato & white wax potatoes.

Garam masala plus additional ground coriander was sutéed briefly in veggie oil, sliced white wax potatoes and sea salt added and the mix tossed around.  A large chopped-up ripe tomato (hoophouse) was added and the mix stirred till juices were released.  Trimmed sliced purple asparagus was added, the mix tossed; then chopped chard added and the mix stirred (partly covered) till the chard was wilted in.

 

^¶ I used Huizhou (region) honey dates (徽州蜜棗) [Golden Lion brand].  Honey dates/jujubes are Chinese jujubes (Ziziphus jujuba) preserved by soaking in honey then dried.

 

 

 

 

 

• Salad of red-leaf romaine & purple asparagus.  Dressed w/ Maussane-les-Alpilles olive oil [Moulin Jean-Marie Cornille, Fruité Noir], 8-year-old Modena balsamic, sea salt & fresh ground black pepper.

• Sockeye salmon fillet, de-skinned.  Steamed w/ some veggie oil, fresh lime juice, sweet mirin [Honteri], a bit of Shaohsing wine [Wei Chuan], sliced scallions, sea salt and white and black pepper.

• Mushroom medley.  White beech, oyster, Baby Bella mushrooms and trimmed scallions sautéed w/ julienned ginger in veggie oil; with sea salt & a dash of rice wine (廣東米料酒) [Twin Lantern brand].

• White rice (Basmati).

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Chioggia beets & greens.  Beet simply cooked in simmering water w/ salt.  The inner leaves/hearts of the greens blanched in oiled simmering water.  Plated, drizzled w/ 8-year-old Modena balsamic vinegar & Maussane-les-Alpilles olive oil, dusted w/ sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

• Pistachio gelato.  From Goose the Market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Linguine w/ lamb bacon, “Dodge City” salami, cippolini onions, broccoli florets, baby zucchini, Baby Bella  mushrooms and fried eggs.

Sliced-up lamb bacon and “Dodge City” salami [both from Goose the Market] were sautéed in veggie oil.  Sliced cippolini onions [Goose the Market] were added, the mix tossed/stirred; quartered baby zucchini [Steffen’s Quiet Springs Farm] were added followed after a few minutes by sliced Baby Bella mushrooms and then parboiled broccoli florets [Nading Farm].  After tossing a bit, al dente just-cooked (normal manner) linguine [Barilla] was added and everything tossed and mixed for a bit in the hot pan.  Served w/ fried farm eggs [Schacht Farm] sunny-side up on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Braised pork hocks.^¶

• Chinese long beans (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis) stir-fried w/ garlic.

• White rice (Basmati).

^¶Sliced ginger & smashed garlic were sautéed in veggie oil.  Pork hock slices were browned in that. A good dollop of mutenka shiro miso [Maruman] was added, plus sea salt. Sufficient water was added, the stuff brought to a simmer, generous rice vinegar [Maruchan], Shaohsing wine [Wei Chuan & Asian Taste] and light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior] were added in.  Rehydrated small “Far Koo” [flower-pattern thick-cap shiitake nushrooms] and two softened honey jujubes were added in.  A good pour of peanut oil [Oriental Mascot] was added and “sufficient” rock sugar was thrown in.  The mix was simmered for about 1½ hours with star anise (small handful) and cinnamon (2 sticks) added in about halfway through. Salting was adjusted.  Daikon (cut into sticks) was added and simmering continued for ½ hour or so.