bits and pieces

I want to try making something new, but I’m having a hard time finding a recipe that seems appealing to me. I feel like a lot of what I’ve made recently has been too similar, but I’m not sure what direction to go in. For now, more repeats and some lazy recipes.

On Friday, Fred and I made Asian Salmon-and-Rice Soup as planned (sorry, no photos), and with the right proportions of everything this time. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like how it turned out, and later my stomach agreed with that sentiment (ugh). I think it’s due to the different dashi I used, which didn’t have MSG, but called for adding soy sauce.

When everything was mixed up, the broth was a lot heavier than last time, like greasier somehow. Maybe I used too much oil on the salmon, but I think the soy sauce didn’t help. I think I may try making my own dashi in future, so I can make it just how I want it. Apparently, it’s rather easy to do, based on a few recipes I looked up, so there is that.

On Sunday morning, I made a variation on the Poached Eggs with Smoked Trout and Potato Hash recipe again, taking out the lemon juice, dill, and trout this time. I didn’t feel really like picking out tiny bones from the trout again, so I chopped up a sausage patty and used that instead. Definitely not a direct substitute, but oh well. I was also feeling lazy about the prep work, so I skipped the dill, but I don’t think it was a huge loss. I really like the potato hash a lot, but I need to keep working on my egg-poaching technique. It’s edible as it is, but I want to make sure I’m doing it right.

Tonight, I was feeling a bit lazy, so I tried a recipe from Real Simple magazine that I found online, for Fish Tacos. It’s not so much something you make as it is something you assemble, since all the parts are just used as is. Make fish, put fish in tortilla with lettuce, onions, and sauce, and then eat!

I didn’t use the exact brand of fish they called for in the recipe, but I chose a similar variety of frozen cod at Whole Foods. The combined taste was all right, but I think the tartar sauce was a bit much for me. It’s just too heavy of a sauce for me, and it sort of negated the fresh lettuce and red onion. I think if I make this again, I think I’ll try something else. Maybe salsa cruda (bought ready-made at Whole Foods) or even cheese or something like that.

I ventured out to Whole Foods today, to pick up some items for cooking tomorrow. It was packed inside the store, with nearly wall-to-wall people throughout, making it a bit hard to navigate. I managed ok, just having to be a bit assertive in where I directed my cart, though waiting in line to check out took awhile. My only trouble was in the parking lot, where people were fighting over parking and not being very nice about it.

Marukai Market, the nearest Japanese market down the street, was quite calm, in contrast. Quiet and not at all crowded. I’m sure it’ll be busier come New Year’s though.

After returning home, I set out some butter to let it sit and warm up a bit, so I could make chocolate chip cookies (so-called Whole Foods Market Chocolate Chip Cookies). I measured out all the other ingredients, so they’d be ready, and started preheating the oven. Once the butter had been sitting for an hour, I cut it into smaller pieces, and started mixing everything together by hand.

Despite the lack of an electric mixer, I don’t think it was too bad mixing it by spoon. It did take a bit of work, but I eventually got everything blended just fine. The mixture was a bit wet, but turned out ok, though I do wonder if there too many chocolate chips in the batch. I spooned out blobs of the dough onto my two cookie sheets, and popped them into the oven.

The first batch didn’t seem done after 10 minutes, but I ended up leaving them in a little too long. I adjusted for the other batches, which were spaced out a bit since I had to let the cookie sheets cool. When I filled the last full tray, I just used up what was left and made a large cookie.

In terms of taste, I would say that they’re pretty close to the chocolate chip cookies that Whole Foods used to have. I think there’s some little thing that might be different, like the ones at Whole Foods seemed chewier. But it’s hard to say if part of it came from my inexperience with making cookies or the recipe itself. I think they turned out ok though.

My only problem is that I missed the part of the recipe that says “serves 60.” I did make them bigger than the recipe said, so I doubt I have 60, but it’s still way too much for one or two people. I need to find someone to pawn these off on ;)

And here’s the full recipe:

Whole Foods Market Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 60 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks), room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 16 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, using electric beaters, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.
3. Add the eggs one at a time; add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the salt and baking soda, and then add the flour 1 cup at a time.
5. Using a spoon, stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop dough by the tablespoon onto cookie sheets, allowing 2 to 3 inches between each cookie.
7. Bake about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool slightly on pan and then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Two more repeated recipes for this week.

Last night I made Poached Eggs with Smoked Trout, which I first made back in March, with mixed results. I left out the lemon juice this time, but still had difficulty with the poached egg. I just don’t make them that way, so I need more practice. I also need more practice with removing bones from fish (fun!).

Tonight, I went for Spicy Asian Noodles with Chicken, which I’ve made a few times since my first try in late September. This time I cooked the chicken myself, starting with a frozen chicken breast put directly in a baking dish. I had to keep an eye on it after hearing some minor “explosions” in the oven (just oil and water spitting a bit), but it worked out ok.

Besides the chicken explosions, I had one hitch with the other ingredients. I ran out of soy sauce while measuring it out, so I just used up what I had (just under 2 tbsp instead of 3) and went with it. Everything else was the same, and it turned out well. I think I liked the chicken better this time too.

I think I want to try something new soon, but right now, the only plan is to make the Asian Salmon and Rice Soup with Fred on Friday. It’s either that or go out for Chinese food, but right now, the soup sounds more appealing. And then I won’t have to go out! :)

I’m also thinking about putting together a binder with the recipes I’ve tried and would make again. I keep referring to the clippings and books, and then they get splatters on them. I don’t mind with my books as much as with the magazine clippings; the latter don’t really stand up to such abuse. I did consider a scrapbook-type thing as well, but I know that would take some effort.

Sometimes a recipe takes a lot of preparation and effort to try out, but the end result is well worth it. Unfortunately, Pasta with Lentils and Arugula is not one of those recipes. It took a lot of chopping and dicing and stirring and boiling, and then, in the end, the dish just tasted ok. Not even worth making again, as far as I’m concerned.

I wanted to make something new tonight, so I turned to this recipe from the Everyday Food cookbook, which has mostly been good to me so far. I read through the whole thing several times, so I knew it would take some effort, but I went for it.

The preparation was not extensive, but I have learned that coring and dicing plum tomatoes is not my idea of fun. I can deal with the tears induced by chopping an onion — which I did for this recipe — but what a pain to remove the guts from tiny tomatoes. I usually like raw tomatoes, so, to me, that’s removing the best part! But I squirted out the seeds and guts of the poor things.

Then there was all the multi-tasking and coordination. Three pots were required, one for the onions, one for the pasta, and another for the lentils, and they all had their own heats and schedules and whatever else. I managed ok, but it was not my idea of fun, especially when there was a lot of standing and waiting and stirring.

And then, after all of that, when everything that needs cooking is cooked, you basically mix it all up into a sort of warm, sloppy salad. At that point, I worried that it would all be a bit ruined, mainly because of the smell of the lentils in this all. It’s sort of like working with paint, where the colors are lovely on their own, and if you mix them right, it can work, but if you mix them wrong, you get a blob of grayish brown.

Well, this wasn’t quite the grayish brown blob I feared I’d get, but it was very strange. It’s like a warm pasta and green salad, but then there are the lentils, so it’s a bit weird. I got a bit of everything in each bite, and it wasn’t that it tasted badly together. It was just a weird combination of textures and tastes, and not quite what I expected. And it wasn’t all that filling, even though I ate what seemed like enough in my bowl.

There were some good parts though, at least in what I learned. I think the onions turned out quite nicely, all brown and soft, but with plenty of flavor. I could see blending them with a different kind of pasta (spaghetti?) and some spices as a quick dinner. And I managed to cook the lentils to about the right consistency, though I’ve not cooked them before. So at least there was that.

Here’s the recipe in full detail:

Pasta with Lentils and Arugula
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced (4 cups)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 12 ounces plum tomatoes, cored and diced (about 2 cups)
• 3/4 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 12 ounces orecchiette pasta
• 1 bunch (8 ounces) arugula, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cover, and cook until onions wilt, about 20 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until onions are dark brown, 20 to 25 minutes more.
2. Add 1/4 cup water; stir to loosen any browned bits from pan. Stir in tomatoes; remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover lentils with water by 1 inch. Bring to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender but still holding their shape, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain; stir into onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cook pasta in a pot of salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot.
5. Add lentil mixture, arugula, cheese, and reserved pasta water; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with more cheese, if desired.

Orecchiette are small ear-shaped pasta shells; fusilli or farfalle can be used instead. You can also replace the arugula with two cups whole fresh Italian parsley leaves.

Note: Before using arugula, always wash it well in several changes of cold water, until you no longer see any grit in the bottom of the bowl.

My plan to cook my way through some more recipes was interrupted last week, after I had some bad food-related experiences. I won’t get into details, but let’s just say that my digestive system was not behaving nicely for a number of days, so I’ve had to watch what I’ve been eating.

I’m back on fairly normal foods again, though still watching how things go, but I’m going to start with some dishes I’ve made and liked before. Tonight’s dinner was cashew chicken, which I first made in February, and it turned out as well as the last two times. It’s not that difficult to make, and it has a nice flavor, so there we are.

When I went grocery shopping for the ingredients, I also picked up the ingredients for Spicy Asian Noodles with Chicken, Poached Eggs with Smoked Trout and Potato Hash, and a new-to-me, vegetarian recipe with lentils and orchiette pasta, so those are going to be coming up in the next few days. The guy at the meat counter gave me a bit too much chicken, so I’ll need to figure out what to do with an extra chicken breast.

I’m also thinking of making the Asian Salmon and Rice Soup again, possibly for when the stores are mostly closed for Christmas, or maybe even New Year’s. I haven’t decided yet though. And maybe some chocolate chip cookies mixed in somewhere.