It's amazing how fast time flies. I finally managed to catch up with a girlfriend whom I haven't seen in over 6 months - and got to meet her son for the first time.
Persian food
Such a treat - I got to taste my first Persian food after a lovely fig and manchego salad with a really nice walnut oil dressing.
They threw an elegant dinner party while getting their little son to bed and entertaining company.
There was a lamb stew made with dried limes, basmati rice (and the yummy crunchy bottom layer - centre photo), a Shirazhi salad (tomatoes and cucumbers), then a really nice dessert. CT wasn't happy with her dessert but I finished the whole thing, a record for me since I'm not huge on desserts. The stewed plums were particularly good with the heavy cream. What is is about cream which makes dessert so delicious?
(Almost) Vegetarian but delicious
Both CT and KN are huge foodies so they were a bit horrified when I told them I occasionally make 2-minute noodles. A chest infection sent me home for a few days on antibiotics which you have to take with food - but cooking when you're sick isn't that much fun. CT, as horrified as she was by my 2-minute noodles, wasn't too horrified by my 4-minute noodles (that's how long it takes the noodles to cook). Lest ye all be completely against vegetarian dishes, this had fresh tofu in the soup rather than meat. Easier on the stomach and the fresh herbs really pick up the flavours.
I was torn between being completely vegetarian and the old remedy of chicken soup - compromise by using chicken stock but vegetarian ingredients. It was a variation of the chicken long rice broth from a few weeks ago:
Ingredients
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarians);
a few pieces of tofu;
2 - 4 leaves of bok choy;
1/2 zucchini, sliced;
1-in piece of ginger, grated;
1 garlic clove, grated;
sliced spring onions (green onions if you live in the US);
a few leaves of coriander (cilantro) for garnish.
Method
Bring stock, ginger, garlic to a simmer. Add tofu and simmer another 5 minutes (until warm). Add bok choy and simmer for 4 more minutes.
Pour over steamed rice and sprinkle with spring onions and coriander to serve.
Perfect for a cold night when you need a little soup.
Happy eating!
Not your stereotypical chicken noodle soup
There's something about comfort food when it's cold and dark outside or when you're not feeling your best...or sometimes, just because. In this case, it was a combination of nostalgia, laziness and a photo on Facebook. A classmate of mine had made chicken long rice for her sick husband. Chicken long rice is basically chicken stock, some seasoning (ginger, garlic and onion) and bean thread noodles - they say just enough stock to make the noodles float. I didn't have bean thread noodles but I had everything else.
It's hard to get motivated when you're cooking just for yourself. I have no problem making things for other people but somehow I often can't be bothered to do the same for myself - probably because it's always more impressive when someone else does it so it's hard to impress yourself. Anyway - this is easy, tastes good and has a fast clean up! No shiitake mushrooms so not quite as delicious looking as the one my high school classmate made, but good enough to inspire several rounds of the same over the next week or so.
Eating with family and friends
And then of course there's the obligatory cooking for family and friends because sometimes you just feel like it. Or they request it. Or someone knows how to make something you've always wanted to learn. Or you go out somewhere and everyone has favorites they want to have...lucky for me, we happen to know who's quite good at documenting our foodie forays - when she manages to get the photos before people all dig, anyway! A sample of a Friday night out with the girls (and B). I think the pesto pasta was a bit of a disappointment because we had all expected there to be more pesto (can you see it in the photo? I can't) - we were kind of looking for the pesto in the midst of all the cream.
For instance, the same friend who is so good at the food documentation also happens to be an excellent cook. She made things which I never learned (sometimes you just have to learn these things from your Mom and this isn't what mine makes, although my Mom makes excellent roasts). So we actually had a Sunday night in which we both contributed - some more (her) than others (me). The result was very satisfactory though and we were all very, very full at the end of the meal. I'd like to say it was an "elegant sufficiency" as my Mom and grandmother say, but there was nothing elegant about how we felt at the end of this dinner.
By request...
Despite having studied French cooking, the most requested item when I come home is beef chili. I got the recipe from a cooking classmate - see the link below for her recipe - http://thefeastingfoodie.com/2012/11/07/let-it-snow/.
My parents are gluten free so instead of beer I use red wine (about 1//3 bottle or 250ml per 4 lbs / 2 kgs of beef) and no beans. My sister and I don't like beans so we just make up the difference in weight with more meat, although I suggest 1 small can of tomato paste per 4 lbs / 2 kgs of beef. We have yet to take a photo of the chili in its many incarnations as it always gets eaten before anyone manages to run for a camera.
The rest of the time we tend to do easy things for family meals because when you're cooking for kids and they have a bedtime, you can't fuss around too much. We needed something a little more substantial than chicken noodle soup but the flavoring is very similar to the Chinese cold ginger chicken so I just did a quick stir fry instead. Broccoli with the same flavorings and of course, evidence of some snacking also made their way onto this plate. I didn't happen to have the bread or the cheese because I had been cooking at the time but I am told it was very good. French bread from a bakery run by Japanese people - might sound weird but it's some of the best bread I've had outside of France. And any time babies and little children like the chicken and broccoli is a cause for celebration since they can be such picky little eaters.
They say better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. We had a very happy and contented dinner, complete with laughter and finishing with hugs and kisses. So until next time, happy eating with family and friends.
Such a treat - I got to taste my first Persian food after a lovely fig and manchego salad with a really nice walnut oil dressing.
Both CT and KN are huge foodies so they were a bit horrified when I told them I occasionally make 2-minute noodles. A chest infection sent me home for a few days on antibiotics which you have to take with food - but cooking when you're sick isn't that much fun. CT, as horrified as she was by my 2-minute noodles, wasn't too horrified by my 4-minute noodles (that's how long it takes the noodles to cook). Lest ye all be completely against vegetarian dishes, this had fresh tofu in the soup rather than meat. Easier on the stomach and the fresh herbs really pick up the flavours.
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarians);
