I wanted a soup to go with my Uzbek samsa. I had originally thought about a white bean soup, but I have been cooking a lot with beans lately and I thought Jan would object. I noticed that the chive in our garden has come back from the winter and we had some sour cream in the refrigerator (this is not a staple in our house—too high fat). These ingredients started me thinking about baked potatoes. Could I make a soup version of a baked potato? Yes, I could.
Karl’s Baked Potato Soup
Filed under Main Dishes, Soups, Vegetarian MD
Some assembly required. Many cultures have a festival dish that is something wrapped in dough that can be stored and then cooked quickly (so the moms can enjoy the festivals). The Hispanic countries have tamales, the Asians have jiaozi (pork dumplings) and the Eastern Europeans have perogi. However the price for this festival freedom is sometimes days of preparation. Making the dough, the filling(s) and assembling the final product are painstaking tasks. Usually this is made easier by making it a group activity. In China we would be treated to jiaozi parties. Our host would bring over the prepared meat and dough and then everyone would pitch in to make (and eat) the jiaozi. For a fun idea of how the Mexican culture does this, I recommend the children’s book Too Many Tamales! (for the hearing impared.)
Jan and I were watching Triple D and one of the featured restaurants was a Mexican place that always has 15 different moles. Jan loves mole and the show expanded my mind on what was possible in the way of mole and how to use it. One of their signature dishes was tamales with mole.
Karl’s Pork Tamales with Mole Poblano
Karl’s Green Mole Rice
Karl’s Refried Beans II
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
I am planning to make Pork Tamales with Mole Negro this Sunday, but I have used all of the roast pork I had in my freezer. As a result, I need to roast some pork this week. If I am going to spend hours, if not days, making roast pork I see no reason to cook only a pound or two for the one meal. Go big, there are lots of things you can do with left over roast pork. It is a sad task, but someone will have to eat it.
Karl’s Slow Roasted Pork
Pulled Pork
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
Fun question: I was watching A Taste of History and I found out a bit of American history.
Who introduced tofu to America?
(hint: It was not Thomas Jefferson. Answer below the recipe.)
This dish is not what I went to the store to prepare. As I was sitting and thinking about dinner I remembered the stir-fried lettuce stem I was served in Chengdu. When I got to Lion Market, I found that they did not have it. I had seen it there before, so I guess it simply is not in season. What was in season was Chinese broccoli (gai-lan in Mandarin). What I normally do with this vegetable is make Spice Chicken and Noodles, but that is a real production number and takes hours to prepare. I wanted something simpler for a week day meal.
Twice-Cooked Tofu
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegetarian MD
Adapted from CHICHI’S CHINESE
When we lived in Chengdu, Sichuan, this was one of my favorite dishes. My Chinese friends would ask, “Why do you want to order THAT? It’s a peasant’s dish!” One of my first culture shocks in China was when one of my students proudly announced, “My father was a peasant. My mother was a peasant. I am a worker.” Because there are no peasants in America, we tend to forget that many other countries still have them.
One thing that I have learned since that time is that it is not just twice cooked pork that I like, but the way that dish was prepared by the old cook at the Panda House Restaurant. Many of the recipes that I have found, since I came back from China, call for fatty pork belly and cabbage. The cook at the Panda House used a very lean cut of pork and lots of green onions. The other recipes are nice, but his was spectacular.
Twice Cooked Pork (on the left) and
Spicy Giant Bamboo and Daikon Stir-fry
(on the right)
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
Jan asked for some comforting, warm Italian Wedding Soup. After a brief warm spell, winter just came back to San Jose with a vengeance and there is snow on the brown hills. San Jose is in the south of the Bay Area with hills on both sides, there is a reason they call it Silicon Valley. Locals orient themselves by the color of the hills. The green hills, the coastal range, are always green and west. The brown hills, the Diablo Range, are higher, dryer and east. If there is any snow near San Jose it will be at the top of Mount Diablo.
Karl’s Itallian Wedding Soup
I did not like any of the recipes on-line; they were either too simple or too complex. Although I generally avoid recipes that are “add can of A” to “can of B,” I am not a food-Nazi. I will use some shortcuts, especially if it is a weekday meal. I looked up what defines Italian Wedding Soup on Wikipedia. The basic ingredients are green vegetables, meat (usually meatballs), chicken broth, and usually some kind of small pasta. I decided to be creative.
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Soups
Adapted from *Parsley* (Food.com)
This week’s challenge started when Jan and I were watching “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.” One of the featured dishes was Lebanese Za’atar Pizza. I made this for dinner the next night and it was such a hit that Jan wanted a Lebanese meal built around it for Sunday.
Lebanese Chicken and Potatoes
Filed under Main Dishes, Poultry
Jan and I were watching “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives” one night. One of the featured dishes was Lebanese Za’atar Pizza. Za’atar is a ubiquitous Middle Eastern spice blend with no clear set of ingredients. The word usually translated as “thyme” on the packages can be from a wide variety of related herbs depending on the locality. The Za’atar blend usually has “thyme,” sesame seeds, salt, and “other spices.” Sumac is a common addition, but any other additions and amounts are the closely held secrets of the blenders. This is not a blend that you are going to mix yourself and come anywhere even close to the commercial blends, so find a blend that you like by trying different producers.
Lebanese Za’atar Pizza
Filed under Breakfast, Main Dishes, Vegetarian MD
Day Three of the sick girls comfort food meals. Today Jan wanted chili, as something she could actually taste.
Filed under Beef, Main Dishes, Stews
The girl’s are still sick so I am still making comfort soups. Bean today, for variety.
I wanted something a bit more than U.S. Senate Navy Bean Soup (beans, onion, butter, ham hock and water), but not the many ingredient soups I found on the internet. Bean soup should always be about the beans. Any addition to the basic recipe should enhance the bean flavor not drown it out.
Karl’s Navy Bean Soup
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Soups
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 