Winter Beefshank Stew

I was a vegetarian for 10 years and fell off the bandwagon during the pandemic for, well..."ah fuck it" reasons. I cook almost every day of the week and when I use meat, it's as an ingredient like any other, not the star of the dish, which is common in a lot of Chinese cooking, which is what I learned from my mother at home. This last September I finished reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk and decided it may be time to revisit vegetarianism. G isn't picky and never been a steak kind of guy. I'd only really miss the ground pork in mapo dofu, but I did a decent shiitake version for years.

Anyway, here's a beef recipe for the winter. You'll need an instant pot or pressure cooker and 3 hours of your time.

Cottage Cauliflower Curry

• 1 large head of cauliflower (roasted)
• 1 large head of cauliflower, sliced 1in thick like bread
• 4 medium carrots, chopped into bite size pieces (roasted)
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1in ginger, minced
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 can of coconut milk (can use lite if you want but fat is nice since this is a vegan dish)

• Basmati Rice

Spices:

I roasted my veg for this with either Madras Curry Spice blend or Garam Masala (both Indian)

OR 

Ras El Hanout in a pinch, which is usually what I pre-mix to bring up to the cottage (a North African blend, same ingredients as the Indian ones PLUS all spice and ginger, recipe here:  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/150574/ras-el-hanout/)

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You can roast your veg ahead of time, I usually do. Toss your cauli and carrots lightly in oil and spice mix of choice from above for 40 min until soft. 425˚F

1. Start your rice.
2. Sweat your onions in a large pot with a tbsp olive oil. once translucent add minced ginger and garlic and cook for 1 min.
3. Add another tbsp of olive oil and add your spices to it. I eyeball these but about 2 tsps paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, 1 tsp black pepper. Bloom spices in the oil,  stir when they start to bubble (do not burn)
4. Add large can of diced tomatoes or four chopped tomatoes. 
5. 1Add  tbsp soy sauce, 1 bouillon cube of your choosing, and simmer for 10 min.
6. Rip  or chop up your roasted cauliflower into bite size pieces and throw them into the pot with the carrots
7. Add your frozen peas and can of coconut milk, bring back up to a simmer for a minute, but do not boil! (fats will separate, this is called ‘breaking’ a sauce, and it will not be creamy anymore)
8. Turn off heat, stir in 1 tbsp maple syrup and 1-2 tsps vinegar (preferably white) and taste for seasoning (add salt if you need it)
9. Serve with basmati rice.

the 2024 kimchi batch

summer of 2024

This is my third time in a row making summer kimchi at home. I stuff a 1 gallon container with bright red, pungent, sour, spicy cabbage, and after letting it ferment at room temp for 2 days on the counter, the lot of it goes in the back of our fridge where it lasts G and I all year. 

the goods

Over the months it becomes an assorted selection of dishes: midnight kimchi grilled cheese, bibimbap topper, kimchi mac and cheese, hang over soondubu kimchi jjigae, kimchi fried rice, bibim guksu, the list goes on and on. Kimchi is both a condiment and side dish, and the longer it ferments, the more sour it gets, which pairs wonderfully with anything fatty. 

This year I tried a kimchi experiment in a separate 2 pint jar, filled with kohlrabi and shiso leaves from the red hook CSA. The root vegetable is a fun cross between the cruciferousness of a napa cabbage and the bite of a korean radish, so I feel like it should turn out well.

cold creamy (vegan) soba noodles

cold noodles for the coldest summer of our lives 🙃

IT'S HOT, SO LET'S GET STRAIGHT TO IT. This recipe is an adaptation of Mandy Lee's genius summer noodle recipe but I change some ingredients to be more shelf-stable/pantry friendly. This meal is perfect for those (increasingly) hot stagnant days you just will not spend laboring at the stove top. Creamy and indulgent without any dairy, you just have to boil the noodles and the sauce comes together in less than 2 minutes with a blender.

Saucy Tomato Shrimp (for Dani)

This photo will be updated when I remake this recipe lol

We were staying with our friends in Seattle and high on edibles when I whipped this up. The star is the sauce, a tomato-based umami bomb, paired with a classic seared shrimp. Served with quinoa and a side salad, this meal took 20 min tops. G said it had cajun-like flavor. You decide.

Early Summer in Seattle

It's been some time, too much going on in the world to feel good talking about food or the privilege of much else. Like a lot of people, Palestine is on my mind. Sudan, Congo...what misery to live every day with the knowledge that the things we can actually enjoy here in the US come at great cost to others. I've been reading a lot, talking with my neighbors, getting active with our local mutual aid, and we opened a book pop up at the brewery. I have also been cooking, but not as imaginatively. There is not much else I feel I can do immediately besides involving myself in community, and building meaningful connections takes time.

Pizza & Movie Night #3: The Unknown Saint (2019)

 

Olives, pepperoni, yellow bell peppers, mushrooms and burrata

I have perfected the crust situation. The rack needs to go at the very top of the oven and the pizza goes in WITHOUT the cheese for seven minutes, then you take it out, put the cheese on, and in it goes for another seven or more depending on how well done you like your crust.

We watched a Moroccan/French movie this Sunday called The Unknown Saint, by Alaa Eddine Aljem. We loved it. 

Pizza & Movie Night #2: Saltburn (2023)

Ok, without giving away any spoilers, this movie was a letdown. It had many elements that were building up to a great movie: good cinematography, unsettling vibes, unhinged characters...but then after a first solid half, it took a nose dive, complete with a Wes Anderson-style reveal montage at the end. Talk about spoon feeding your audience. Where is the trust??

The pizza, however, was a great success this week.

No knead, no fuss, overnight sourdough bread

Hello baby.

There are a lot of sourdough recipes out there but this one is mine, cobbled together, and tested over and over to yield the most success I've had baking this notoriously demanding bread style. I love being rewarded with a gorgeous loaf made with little labor. No more waking up in the middle of the night to fold, or really worrying too much about the timing of things. This is as simple as sourdough gets, imo.

Pizza & Movie Night #1: The Holdovers (2023)

Hello hello from 2024, my first post this year, here's some pizza I made for our newest tradition where  G and I are planning to stay in on Fridays or Saturdays to do pizza and a movie. We have a shared Note app where we keep track of what we want to watch, or recommendations from others as we get them. I stole this idea from Austin Kleon, which seemed like a great way to chill at home in the winter even if we don't have kids. This week we watched The Holdovers, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.