ugly food

I have embarked on an odyssey of making ugly delicious food for a little while(stay tuned for green smoothies!) Sunday I had made crockpot split-pea soup.  I was a bit disappointed in it, so I didn't post about it.  I saved the leftovers for another day.  Today was the day, it was cold and rainy(finally!) so I busted out the leftovers and thought...well, I definitely need to make it better this time around.
Sunday I didn't have any carrots when I threw the soup into the slow cooker, so I committed a cardinal sin of aromatic omission.  I correct this by added some cubed sautéed carrots, heavy cream and a healthy fingerful of extra sharp cheddar cheese at the end.  The result was astounding.
Serve with toast rye bread(Jewish style, not Russian)
this can be made dairy free by substituting non-dairy sour cream and non-dairy cheese and omitting the butter.  Forego the bread for a gluten free meal!



Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
1lb. dried split peas

ugly lookin thing...

6cups chicken stock
6 slices of bacon cut small and fried crispy, set aside
one red onion diced
two stalks of celery chopped
three garlic cloves minced
one large carrot or two normal, diced
half of a fuji apple chopped

Aussie Cheddar I use all the time

in the bacon grease, saute the onion, celery and carrots until soft, then add the garlic for about 2min
add all the ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
When it's ready to eat, stir in some salt, pepper and two tablespoons or so of heavy cream or sour cream and a tablespoon of butter.
serve with shredded cheddar cheese and rye bread

this week in food

so this Sunday I made an AMAZING Cheddar Ale soup with Irish Soda Bread....but I totally forgot to take pictures....I know sorry.  But I included the recipe at the end...because I did remember to take photos of some other foods I ate and made this week!

seriously...how can you resist locally grown perfectly ripe strawberries in February!!! 

 I went to the wet market on Wednesday and visited a fruit stand that I often go to, and the proprietor offered me a strawberry.  It was heaven.  The best strawberry I have had since I did U-Pick when I was thirteen years old.  I bought not a few, and took them home to serve to my friends Domé and Susie(and Susie's boy Jared) that came over that evening to visit me.  I whipped up some slightly sweetened cream and added some Belgian caramelized biscuits to the fray. MMMmm!

Pomelos are like fortresses

At the market I also bought two Pomelos.  Pomelos seem to be in season because they are crazy cheap and sweet right now.  I took my beauties home and began to hack away at the rind and pith of one.  I think I understand what it is like to try and lay siege to a U-Boat now.  Getting to the fruit in these tanks is no easy task, and then you are confronted by the worlds biggest pips! The pith and skin in Pomelos cannot be eaten or tolerated like in an orange, it is far more bitter, so you have to extract the citrus from within the membrane area, it's a lot of work - but such a lovely reward.

So Today I invited some friends over to play Wii and relax.  I decided that, like all my guests I wanted to treat them.  So I scanned the internet for inspiration.  I have to admit...I'm not an amazing baker.  But I did want to see what the big fuss back home was all about.  So I dipped my toe into the swimming pool of Cupcake-dom.
Cherry Coke Cupcakes

The Players

 So I used the core of my recipe from here, but inspiration and ideas from a few different recipes.  One recipe recommended using Kool Kola extract, I wish I could get my hands on some easily, but I couldn't. So I used vanilla extract instead.
1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 granulated sugar
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2 buttermilk
3/4 cup coke(not diet)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract(if you can substitute Kool Kola extract, you can find it online)
3 cups of coke
one can of cherry pie filling
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
maraschino cherries for garnish
Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together, set aside.
combine the buttermilk, coke and vanilla - set aside - don't worry if it looks curdled
cream butter and sugar, add the egg
alternately add the flour mixture and coke mixture - in four turns.
scoop into cupcake liners - bake 18-20min at 350F or 175C.
take out and cool
While the cupcakes are baking take 3 cups of coke and slowly reduce it to 1 cup of coke.
after the cupcakes are cool, use a paring knife to cut cone shaped holes in the tops of the cup cakes
then prick the tops with a toothpick around their edges
gently spoon some of the boiled down coke into the holes tilting and pouring a little at a time(note, don't soak the cupcakes, just moisten and give them more of a coke flavor, then with a tiny spoon fit 1-3 cherries in the wells that you cut with the paring knife, however many will fit
make a glaze by taking 2 Tablespoons of the remaining reduced coke mixture and add it to 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, let it sit to thicken a few minutes - then drizzle on top of the cupcakes.
add the 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar to the whipping cream and whip with an electric mixer until stiff
count out how many maraschino cherries are needed and rinse them well with clean water(otherwise they will drizzle red all over your whipped cream)
with a piping bag or a plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner pipe the whipped cream onto the cupcakes, top with a lovely maraschino cherry and enjoy.
They were moist, and kinda crazy delicious.  I would have liked a stronger coke flavor, but I didn't have that lovely Kola extract.  These are pretty, but a lot of work.  I think I will stick to dinners, and sloppy desserts.

Cheddar Ale Soup
I modified this recipe, with ideas and inspiration I gathered from the internet, Food Network and my own tastes.  I found that the bitey richness of the soup was complimented extremely well with the light sweetness of the soda bread.  This is a great winter meal, and let me say, that if by some miracle you have leftovers, both taste even better the next day!

6 slices of thick cut bacon cut small and cooked till crispy
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large leeks, halved sliced thin
1 large fat carrot, or two normal ones, diced
2 healthy sized celery stalks, diced
3 cloves of garlic smashed and roughly chopped
2 large par-boiled potatoes
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups of pale ale
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
375g shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese - I used Beqa Strong&Bitey(a lovely Australian brand)
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

retain a few tablespoons of the bacon to cook the veggies, melt the butter with the bacon fat and toss in the leeks, carrot, and celery; cook until tender
add the garlic, cook for another minute or so
add the flour, make a creamy roux
add one cup of the ale, reduce out the alcohol
when the roux begins to thicken add the other cup of ale
reduce just enough to see the base thicken a tiny bit
add the chicken stock
heat through until it begins to simmer
add the milk and cream, heat through until simmering
add the potatoes
one handful at a time add the cheddar, otherwise it will clump
once all the cheese is incorporated I added the remaining 1/2 cup of ale at the bottom of the bottle
season with salt and pepper
serve with the bacon sprinkled on top, and Irish Soda Bread on the side

I am sorry but in my late Sunday hunger I completely forgot to photograph this meal.  Next time I guess.
But it was seriously a beautiful meal, very photogenic.

year of the dragon

singing K and dancing to Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry"

so for those of you that don't know....I live in Shenzhen, the 4th largest city in China, it is in Guangdong Province and my apartment overlooks Shenzhen Bay and across the water is Hong Kong SAR.

more Sorry, Sorry dancing

On the second day of Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year I found myself in Hong Kong visiting friends, singing karaoke, meeting new friends and eating Filipino food.  PS I did sing some AWESOME k-pop songs. Then I watched fireworks....now I have actually been on the Mall in DC for Fourth of July and these Fireworks in Hong Kong definitely gave them a run for their money...they were not as beautifully coordinated, but they sheer number and length of the show was impressive.  That being said, I will be completely satisfied if I don't see or hear another firework excluding a few short hours on the Fourth of July for the rest of my life.  My apartments rest on what used to be water, that's right I'm living seven stories up from landfill.  With waterfronts on either side, it makes for fireworks on both sides for about three weeks, before during and after Chinese New Year.  And these aren't the piddling little things your older cousin would drive to the Indian Reservation or Wyoming to buy.  These things are serious business, I am pretty sure that there is a huge factory for weapons grade fireworks in my province and everyone knows someone that works there - and they all come to my water front area with ample concrete embankments to launch it all over the water on.  Needless to say we haven't been sleeping well lately.
The Chinese Zodiac follows a twelve year rotation, you probably learned what year you were when you were in your early teens by going to a Chinese restaurant and reading the education paper placemat that told you which years were which.  If you were like me, you were teased mercilessly by your younger brothers for being the year of the Rat, or Mouse in Chinese(even though Rats and Mice are from completely different genus, in standard Chinese speech they are the same...so I prefer Mouse, because mice aren't ever known for cannibalism...unlike Rats) something about Mice: it is the most prominent and first position in the Chinese zodiac, mice are clever, inquisitive, witty, imaginative, talkative, charming, and motivated by challenge.  Mice can be aggressive and honest to a fault(my family definitely knows about this).  Mice are known for good health(definitely not true for me). Mice get along well with Ox, Dragon, Monkey, and Snake, can also be alright with Tiger, Dog, Boar or another Mouse - don't get along or avoid Horse, Rooster and Sheep.  I am a Wood Mouse, so I am not as confident on the surface as I appear and I have a perpetual fear of failing, and I enjoy being surrounded by friends and family, and luckily the feeling is mutual(this seems especially true, although I know I can annoy family.) According to the calendar, Water Dragon is supposed to be a good year for weak Wood Rats - but for my personal weak Wood(yang) Rat status, I won't actually see luck completely in my favor until my mid 40s or so.  
Enough about me though, this year is the year of the Water Dragon, a very auspicious year to be born.  Dragon is the mightiest sign and characterized by ambition and dominance.  Hence many, many Chinese people are trying to have children this year, a baby boom means the price of natal and post-natal care is on average double or triple the price for a normal year.  In Chinese culture, women don't leave home or do much for a month after the birth(limited showering, exercising, stress in general), so the use of "post-natal" nurses for in-home care is very common and this year, in high demand, so the price goes up.  My friend Doménica has Chinese roommates that are a married couple and they are pregnant for the Dragon year.  Anyways, this year is a big deal in the zodiac calendar.
It's kind of a big deal for me too, finish my Chinese program, travel with my sister, get a job in China hopefully that doesn't involve teaching English.  Here's to the year of the Water Dragon!