Another throwback recipe that I am only… *checks watch, then calendar* … three years overdue in posting. I have made this pie two more times since I photographed this specific one because I loved it that much! Since watching the Great British Bake Off episode where all the contestants had to make a wild game pie with hot water crust, I became obsessed with the idea of doing the same: but with a Chinese twist.
Why not fill a savory pie with my favorite Chinese mains and sides? Why not?
Summers are hot. Summers in a house with no air conditioning are even hotter. To keep temperatures inside from rising past Real Sweaty and straight into Living on the Sun, I try to keep my stove time as short as possible when cooking anything. So when my friend Katie found a recipe for a quick pasta dinner that incorporated two of my favorite things — (1) tinned fish and (2) not being on fire — I immediately knew this was something I’d have to break out every summer.
All the things that go into the pasta are thrown into one bowl, and get this: it is “cooked” by placing that bowl on top of the pot of water while the pasta boils. The heat from the boiling water is enough to warm everything through so that you only need to use one stove burner and the stove only needs to be on as long as it takes to cook your spaghetti.
This is hardly a recipe, but I do love a good sardine sandwich. Sardines?!, you say, barely able to disguise the look of utter revulsion on your face. The oily fish that comes in a tin, complete with spines???
Yes, sardines! I respond. And don’t you dare say a single thing against tinned fish, you mook! Then we breakdance battle, and after I completely wreck you with my triple-headspin-windmill combo and you weep a little, I’ll invite you over for a sardine sandwich so that you will truly understand just how wrong you were to ever doubt the majesty of the humble tinned fish.
Happy 2017, everyone! Welcome to a new year, a symbolic time that promises many things but that in reality probably won’t differ much from December 31st of this past weekend, aside from the fact that we’ll all be scratching out the inevitable “2016”s on our rent checks to hastily scrawl in “2017” instead. Turning an accidental 6 into a deliberate 7 will be messy, but by god we’ll do it.
But despite the unceasing and apathetic forward march of time, let’s all embrace the wise words of Bill and Ted and be excellent to ourselves and to each other. Imagine me embracing you in a hug right now— and imagine it being very awkward for added realism, if you will.
No, I don’t mean baking hobbits. I mean a bake inspired by the merry little Halflings. If you know me at all (or in the very least, follow my silly little posts on Instagram), you know that I read Lord of the Rings every year. And every time I read it, I’m tickled anew by Samwise Gamgee’s fixation on procuring a good ale and some hearty fare. I mean, he even whips up some lean rabbit stew out in the middle of a field after growing weary of their monotonous diet of lembas bread. A hobbit after my own heart, that Sam.
So I got to thinking, what would Sam make if he did have the provisions? Probably something a lot like this dish: assorted vegetables and sausage tossed with fresh and dried herbs, a bit of butter, and all roasted until golden brown and fragrant. And seeing as how Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday is later this week (September 22nd!), it seemed as good a time as any to make it.
I sometimes become incredibly homesick. I don’t know if it’s so much that I miss Texas, but rather that I just miss all the things that were a given back home. I knew where to go to get my favorite broccoli pasta, where to go to get a good banh mi, where to go to get the perfect fajitas, and so on. All the things I miss are decidedly food-related; even the people I miss have some kind of food memory attached to them — Niko Niko’s with Jessica, sushi with Meredith, dim sum with my siblings, and you get the idea.
The ultimate food memories, of course, are linked to my mom. I was one of those lucky kids who always had a homecooked dinner every night, something I definitely did not appreciate enough back then. That’s a major perk to having restauranteurs as parents, I tell you what.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that this past weekend, I made an entire armada of dumplings. A flotilla of delicious morsels. A squadron of alright, I’ll stop with the naval analogies. The point is, whenever you decide to make something like dumplings, you have to commit to it. You can’t just make a dumpling or five, just like how you can’t just eat a potato chip or a family-sized pizza.
The good news is, making these things is kind of therapeutic. I usually just set up my station: bowl of dumpling filling to my right, a baking sheet to my left, dumpling wrappers and a bowl of water somewhat in the middle, and a damp kitchen towel in front of me. Then I turn on some Mythbusters reruns or maybe Adventures in Babysitting and get to work. Once you get the hang of things, it’s almost zen.
Another plus: dumplings freeze beautifully. Just line them up on a baking sheet covered in parchment or foil (making sure the dumplings aren’t touching one another), pop them in the freezer for an hour or two, and then transfer them all into a freezer bag until you want to eat them. Your future hungry self will thank you for the foresight.
This past weekend was blazingly hot, like the departing summer sun was leaning in to give Seattle a big ol’ hug before it inevitably ignores us for the fall and winter. As a result, the ambient temperature of my apartment reached levels that were previously only recorded inside of active volcanoes.
And that’s where I ran into this little dilemma — the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my stove, but the only thing in the world I wanted to eat was pasta. That’s how my mind works, folks, like the time I decided to walk in a blizzard because I wanted ice cream. Sigh. Simmering a nice red sauce on the stove was out of the question, but what can be done instead? This can be done instead.
I found this recipe on Epicurious years ago, and it’s something I find myself making over and over again. It’s so simple and easy, and best of all, requires minimal stove time. Just long enough to boil whatever pasta suits your fancy plus a minute more for the broccoli to get all nice and soft, et voilà — dinner is served.
This isn’t something you’d likely find on the menu at a Chinese restaurant. It’s too simple, too rustic, too every day. It’s the sort of thing families cook at home, but not the sort of thing they’d whip up to impress paying guests because it’s decidedly not all that impressive.
All the more pity because then fewer people would think of making this when it comes to cooking Chinese food at home, and it’s so easy. This dish doesn’t even involve a wok or a clay pot, and there’s only one potentially “weird” ingredient that you may have trouble finding at a regular grocery store (and even that ingredient is optional, though you really should try to find it. Like, really.)
(REALLY.)
I make this for dinner myself on the regular. Though this is poached in soy sauce, which sounds like it’d be a salt bomb, the soy sauce is actually pretty watered down and further tempered with a bit of sugar. It just infuses the otherwise plain boiled eggs with a savory, salty flavor, and let’s face it, boiled chicken runs the risk of being blander than packing foam, so the soy sauce simmering gives it a much-needed flavor boost.
