An attempt at maja blanca

December 13, 2011 epicureasian

I had a bag of frozen corn in the freezer, a can of coconut milk in the pantry, and a box of rice flour. I strived to make some maja blanca maiz this weekend but ended up with a cold dessert with the consistency of pudding. The maja blanca of my childhood possessed the firmness of gelatin or flan rather than the softness of champurado, or a standard rice pudding.

Maja blanca is typically referred to as a coconut pudding or rice-coconut pudding. But in my experience, it typically sets or hardens after cooking. My experimental dessert sat in the fridge overnight and remained in a semi-liquid state. Luckily I didn’t go so far as to produce latik, or fried coconut curd, to accompany it. So, after much review of the original recipe, I resolve to retry the dessert again with cornstarch.

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Shredded Lamb with Brussel Sprouts and Red Onions

December 9, 2011 epicureasian

I made a fabulous dish out of some raw food that had been aging in my fridge. Glad I finally got around to it; the brussel sprouts had begun to yellow, and the lamb had been defrosting for nearly a week. I stir-fried all of the ingredients for this yummy good dish.

1.5 lb sliced lamb
1 lb brussel sprouts
chopped garlic
quarter cup of olive oil
salt
cracked black pepper
garlic powder
dried basil flakes
medium red onion, sliced
sweet soy sauce

First, create a marinade of olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, chopped garlic, dried basil and heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. To this marinade, add sliced lamb until it is incorporated. Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Quarter the brussel and slice a red onion. Brown some of the chopped garlic, then add the lamb to the pan and cook until brown. Thinly sliced lamb will shred while cooking. At this point, there may be extra liquid in the pan; add brussel sprouts and continue to stir-cook until the sprouts are tender. Meanwhile, drizzle sweet soy sauce over the mixture and season with a little more salt. Turn off the heat then add the onions, and ensure that they don’t overcook–you want the spicy-sweet red onions to also tame the lamb. Eat alone or serve with rice and enjoy!

Ye Olde Garden

The pre-winter graveyard

December 9, 2011 epicureasian

It’s been a good two weeks since my last post. The climate has turned to rain to freezing temps back to chilly. Since we experienced a solid week of sub-freezing wind chills and temps, it’s natural that the annuals have succumbed to the frost. Where certain parts aren’t buried in leaves, my garden transformed into a graveyard in a matter of days. I hope to clear out the debris when the weather turns mild. Thankfully, the man started with pruning the Midnight Blue rose.

Goners: basils, vincas, marigolds, cosmos, ornamental peppers, salvia coccinea.

Dead top growth: caladiums, sweet potato ornamental vines (not sure if these Illusion potatoes will come back next year), callas, Sinaloa salvia, the purple oxalis in the blue bed, most of the asters.

Subject to change: foxtail ferns, Mexican heather.

Surprises: a few of the petunias are still green, all of the coreopsis have green foliage and appear to have grown, the larkspur seedlings appear unaffected by the freeze, one of the Autumn Embers azaleas actually had a (wilted) bloom on it, succulent planter looking pretty.

Annoyances: the yarrow continues to spread, weeds have invaded my lily bed!

Warning: images of dead plants ahead. On my Xmas wishlist: a compost bin from the city’s Park & Recreation dept.

Flash, Furkids

New cat tree

December 8, 2011 epicureasian

Flash received his Xmas gift early this year, to my relief. It was finally time to evict him from my dinette set.

It’s the New Cat Condos Playstation, over 6 feet tall and stable as a rock. I got it on sale on Overstock.com, with free shipping to boot. For the first couple of days, Flash was apprehensive about it. But soon after, he fell in love with it. He loves leaping off and on, up and down the tree…climbing, tearing, rolling, scratching, rubbing and scrambling all over it. Some days, I wish I could be a cat so I can have the wild, crazy fun he’s having.

Ye Olde Garden

Freeze alert

November 29, 2011 epicureasian

After deceptively mild weather for the Thanksgiving, it was evident that we were experiencing our last patches of warm weather before the cold front hit this weekend. My holiday shopping weekend was cut short by sudden drops in temperature, and I knew I would have to bring in my plants for the last time this year.

I missed the opportunity to bring in the eggplant yesterday, so I had to rush it into the bathroom greenhouse to see if it could be rescued. I’m not sure if the fruit will make it. It’s pretty short for what I’m used to in Chinese eggplants.

Outdoors, the damage from the overnight frosts has manifested into dead/wilted potato and basil plants. The traditional large leaf basils like Red Rubin and Genovese experienced the most damage. The lime, Pesto Perpetuo and Thai basil display browning less so. One of the Thai basil specimens appears to be laughing off the cold; but sooner or later, all the basils will be done.

The succulent planter seems to be hanging on. Whereas the petunia/caladium planter bowl shows signs of receding.

I found a surprise greeting me at one of the asters in the blue bed. A few blooms hid at the base of the plant, near the mulch line. I believe this one was Aster novi-belgii Believer.

Pansies, violas, ornamental kale, petunias, miscellaneous herbs, foxtail ferns, loropetalum, are all still hanging in there. The dusty millers must be enjoying their new location and this cool weather; they have doubled in size since I moved them from the front flower bed. I guess they prefer the protection. I expected the lemon verbena to die back down since it’s considered an annual, but it seems to enduring in the mixed planter box along with the chives, golden oregano, and aster cuttings. (Those are the remaining vincas hanging over from a neighboring planter. And a Red Rubin basil hiding out as well!)