All posts by epicureasian

a gardening gamer girl in search of good grub
Ye Olde Garden

Catalog days

It’s that time of year again when online and mail-order nurseries bombard the mailbox with their colorful harbingers of spring: the plant and seed catalogs. As usual, they are full of picture-perfect bouquets and irresistible plant collections, not to mention time-sensitive and money-saving offers, in an attempt to get gardeners to open their wallets. Nothing like a slew of full-color catalogs to get me started thinking about flower beds and landscaping.

This year DH and I are committed to restoring the backyard to some semblance of a grassy lawn. DH and drought had effectively killed off most of the Augustine, though some of it has eked out an existence hiding in the lea of our house and under the fence’s shadow. We hope to seed some bermuda, water restrictions permitting, this spring in order to spare ourselves from a mud-stained carpet. Three pups can track in a lot of dirt and mud, among other things.

The tulips and muscari I planted over November and December last year have sprouted, and thankfully, weekly showers have dampened the ground to sustain them. I haven’t determined if any of the alliums have burst through the ground. I hope to have some time this coming weekend to assess the flower beds.

Bites and Finds, Dining

Irresistible discoveries at Central Market

On the way home from work, Central Market‘s Cafe on the Run is a quick alternative to fixing a fancy meal at home. Earlier this week, I spied an interesting pasta salad on display. Normally, I’m not a cold pasta fan and quickly bypass the cold salads in favor of the tastier section, but the name of this salad caught my attention: Smoked Salmon Edamame Pasta salad. Loaded with the title ingredients edamame and smoked salmon, accompanied by cherry tomatoes and pasta shells, and accented with zucchini and a touch of dill, the pasta salad was a wonderful refreshing opener to dinner. It also tasted extremely well on its own as a quick snack/lunch–and because of the soybeans, it’s VERY healthy.

A second discovery at the Market however proved to be my undoing. While searching for a healthier snack chip, I decided to gamble on Terra Chips. My brother had recommended it previously, so I thought it was time to validate his high opinion of it. I picked out the Red Bliss Olive Oil, Roasted Garlic & Parmesan variety, took it home, proceeded to sample it…and suddenly found myself emptying the 5oz bag!! OMG, they’re THAT good! Go get yourself a bag and taste for yourself!

It’s been a great week so far for dining discoveries. Wonder what the weekend will bring?

Dining, Recipes

Leftover Turkey Fried Rice

In a sweep-the-kitchen mood, I set out to make some fried rice from the LAN party leftovers. I intended to make a simple Filipino-style fried rice, all garlicky goodness, yet threw in some unusual suspects, asparagus and roast turkey. The result was good ol’ fashioned comfort food.

1 cup day-old steamed rice (actually 5 days old)
1/2 lb leftover roast turkey
2-3 cloves peeled/chopped garlic
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
8oz package of mushrooms, sliced
peanut oil
medium sweet soy sauce
Lawry’s garlic salt
pepper

Starting with a drizzle of peanut oil in a pan at medium-high heat, toss in some chopped garlic and fry until golden brown. Next, dump the asparagus into the pan to soak up the flavors of oil and garlic…add a little more peanut oil to make sure all the stalks are coated evenly. Pan-broil them until tender-crisp, season with a dash of Lawry’s garlic salt, then remove from heat.

Drizzle more peanut oil into the pan and toss in the rest of the garlic. Mmmm, enjoy the aroma of garlic while it browns, then toss in the mushrooms. Add more peanut oil to coat, if necessary. To this mix add the cold turkey, which was mostly dark meat which I chopped and shredded off the bone beforehand. After sauteing for about five to ten minutes in medium-high heat, add the rice and start tossing. After everything was combined, I drizzled in soy sauce, just enough to color all the rice. Crack some pepper over the mix for seasoning, then remove from heat and serve. Yum!

Dining, Recipes

Holiday feasts Part 1

Feeding the troops for the New Year’s LAN party teaches you a few things: patience, planning ahead, and preparing more food for unexpected guests. And…last minute improvisation.

I went with a turkey (Kroger brand again), this time a 17-pounder. Luckily, it barely fit in the brining pot, but it displaced a lot more liquid than my Thanksgiving turkeys. Two things that I observed with the New Year turkey was the milder flavor and the white meat seemed less moist. The reasons were obvious: too much ice water diluted the brine, the turkey had only brined for 12 hours and the breast was not facing down while brining. Let that be a lesson!

Three of my recipes for the weekend worked out reasonably well. The first covered here today was a vegetarian dish of bok choy and chinese mushrooms.

1-2lbs green bok choy, halved and separated
dried chinese mushrooms, rehydrated and stemmed
chopped garlic
ginger
peanut oil
medium sweet soy sauce
corn starch

Normally I would choose the baby bok choy for being smaller and tender, but the asian market was out. Also, I didn’t measure how much mushrooms I put in the recipe, I simply plucked a handful of mushrooms from a pile that I had rinsed and de-stemmed.

In hot peanut oil, I lightly browned strips of ginger and chopped garlic, then added the mushrooms to absorb the flavors. I suppose if I had chopped the mushrooms into strips, they might’ve soaked up the flavors faster. The mixture sauteed for about 10 minutes before I added the bok choy leaves. I covered the pan to help steam the bok choy without turning it limp and watery. Finally, I mixed a tablespoon of cornstarch into a small bowl of soy sauce and water, then threw it into the pan to thicken slightly. When the sauce thickened, I added some more water. If it got diluted, I just added some more soy. Within 15-20 mins, I took it off the pan and served it in a glass dish. Tasty!

More adventures in cooking coming up!