Best thing I ate…

… in 2014: ribs from Franklin BBQ in Austin, TX

(My plate is in the foreground, with potato salad and beans. Chris W. and Chris M.’s plates are in the background… they wanted white bread with their BBQ, yuck!)

Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve raved about these ribs… in fact, I know I talked up the deliciousness of these ribs to at least one person daily for three solid months after I ate them in March 2014! Here’s a closer shot of my plate — you can also see a slab of fatty brisket:

Other things I have thoroughly enjoyed this year:

• everything from Marea
• ice cream from Salt & Straw
• panang curry from Ayada Thai
• margherita pizza from Lucali
• every sandwich I’ve had from Snarf’s
• house special banh mi from Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich House (one of my most missed places in NYC)

I was inspired by other “end of year” / “best of” lists, so I started thinking about other “top dishes” or “top meals” I’ve had each year. Below is my list!

Best thing I ate in 2013:

Tie: Uni handroll from Sushi Yasuda and “Fusilli: red wine braised octopus, bone marrow” from Marea

Best thing I ate in 2012:
Tie: A cemita (and of them, though I’m partial to the “Juancho”) from Cafe Ollin or a chocolate chip cookie from Levain Bakery (no picture… always eaten far too quickly! :))

Best thing I ate in 2011:

Tie: Shiitake pizza with caramelized onion-walnut puree, mushroom, olive oil, rosemary, sea salt from Co. and “Mizore Gake” from Yakitori Totto

Best thing I ate in 2010:

“Confit and Roasted Milk-Fed Pig’s Head (For Two)” from Craigie on Main

Best thing I ate in 2009:
All the ice creams at Toscanini’s (no pictures)… this was the year that I discovered Toscanini’s! Favorite/most memorable ice cream flavors to date:

• grapenut raisin (I typically default to this)
• lemon espresso
• B3 (brownies, browned butter, and brown sugar)
• cherry cilantro

Best thing I ate in 2008: 
Vegetarian tasting menu from Oleana (no picture)

Alas, my memory doesn’t really extend further back beyond 2008, especially since that goes into my Houston-era life — and while I can still recall places that I really liked (Madras Pavilion, Bombay Sweets, Fadi’s, etc.), I don’t really remember them well enough to rank them anymore. I’m excited about what gastronomical delights 2015 brings, though!

November 2014 in food

This is everything (of note) that I ate this month, including our Thanksgiving feast. I didn’t do very much cooking in the first half of November because Robin was visiting and was my “house bitch”… so I got several nice home-cooked meals without having to do any work. 🙂 There were also several dishes that I made multiple times and didn’t bother taking pictures of each time — e.g., I made the pork prik khing curry 2x, the sweet potato ice cream 2x, and variations of savory oatmeal 3+ times.

farrotto with acorn squash and kale
recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/10/farrotto-with-acorn-squash-and-red-russian-kale.html
notes/modifications: added about 1 cup of white wine to fhe farrotto (in addition to the 2 quarts of broth), used regular kale instead of red russian kale, and used olive oil instead of butter. I also used standard vegetable broth, not the from-scratch broth that is recommended with the recipe. This was pretty tasty, but was a lot of effort. I’d be interested in trying other farro/farrotto recipes, but probably won’t make this one again. I will happily make the acorn squash puree again though… that was super easy and super delicious!

baked eggs in avocado

recipe: http://lifehacker.com/5881942/bake-an-egg-in-an-avocado-for-a-fast-and-healthy-breakfast-treat

notes/modifications: I sprinkled the top with some salt/garlic/onion powder, then topped with a drizzle of sriracha after they came out of the oven. I baked them for 18 minutes, which was a little too long — the yolks were essentially done. When I opened up the oven at 15 minutes the eggs still looked a little too jiggly in their avocado cups… so maybe next time I’ll check at the 16 minute mark?

pasta bolognese, two ways 

recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pasta-bolognese—qfs
notes/modifications: pardon the rather silly picture… I was having fun playing around with my Diptic app. 🙂 Chris and I have been trying to do some “long distance cooking” — we pick a recipe, and then make it together over Skype. (We also did this last month with the bacon & pumpkin pasta recipe.) Mine is on the left — I roasted up a spaghetti squash to eat the bolognese with instead of pasta and I also subbed half and half for the heavy cream because I didn’t feel like buying some just for this recipe. Very tasty… but given the ingredients, how could it not be? Chris’s is on the right — he used actual pasta (spaghetti) and heavy cream in his.

coconut flour pumpkin bars
recipe: http://detoxinista.com/2013/11/coconut-flour-pumpkin-bars/
notes/modifications: This was just okay. The pumpkin part tasted pumpkin pie-like, but in a very boring and generic way. It wasn’t very sweet, and it was a little grainy because you don’t pass the pumpkin puree through a sieve or anything. I’m glad that I added the chocolate on top for extra sweetness and some contrast to the pumpkin flavor. Would not make these again.

vegetarian feast for two
restaurant: ras kassa’s ethiopian restaurant
notes: this was pretty good, but not anything to particularly rave about. I always seem to get the vegetarian combo plates, and I invariably only ever love one of the things on the plate! (It’s the red blob of lentils at the 12 o’clock position in the photo… I think it’s yemisir wot.) I thought this particular plate was a little heavy on the potatoes/beets/root vegetables, and a little light on the legume offerings. It was also a little strange to get a scoop of goat cheese with the dish — I’ve never had that before and am not sure if it’s a traditional accompaniment. I’ll go back, probably for the lunch buffet.

potato leek soup
recipe: none, Robin’s creation
notes: Really satisfying and surprisingly creamy without having dairy! The soup consisted of red potatoes, leek, carrot, rosemary, and some other spices. She garnished it with a touch of rice wine vinegar, greek yogurt, and parsley.


lemony cod with sauteed red onions and swiss chard
recipe: none, Robin’s creation
notes: the red onions were really nice in this… I don’t think I usually think to pair onions with fish. Will need to look for inspirational recipes that incorporate those two together…

egg tacos with salsa verde
recipe: none, Robin’s creation
notes: I love breakfast tacos!

smoked brisket sandwich with bbq and swiss
restaurant: Snarf’s 
notes: THIS WAS SO AMAZING! I’d heard of Snarf’s being really good, but I was always underwhelmed by their menu — I tend to like fancier, more gourmet sandwiches. But then when Robin was visiting she went to Snarf’s and raved about it so we went to go check it out. She got the vegetarian sandwich (avocado, sprouts, and provolone) and I got the smoked brisket. It was just a really well made, super delicious sandwich. I immediately signed up to join Snarfer Nation after my experience. 🙂

chocolate almond doughnut (vegan, gluten-free)

restaurant: Jet’s Espressoria 
notes: Robin also raved about this coffee shop/doughnut so she brought me one to try. Very delicious, and perfect with some tea. I’ve walked by Jet’s *so* many times — it’s right around the corner from BOCO FIT — but have never gone in before.

jasmine rice with bacon, kimchi, and a poached egg

recipe: my own

notes: cooked some sliced onions in bacon fat, then added jasmine rice and water and cooked until done. Added some peas, fish sauce and rice wine vinegar to the rice. Topped with sliced bacon, kimchi, and a poached egg, garnished with parsley and a dollop of gochujang.

savory miso oatmeal with kimchi, burdock floss, scallions, and a poached egg

recipe: my own

notes: Robin made me savory oatmeal during her visit and I was inspired. 🙂 I don’t like sweet oatmeal but am very happy with how savory oatmeal tastes! I sautéed half an onion in some sesame oil, then added oatmeal, water, some soy sauce, and chickpea miso.

quick coconut-saffron ice cream 

recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/09/quick-coconut-ice-cream-with-saf/

notes/modifications: I added several pinches of salt, because I love salty saffron ice creams. The texture is not the best — it’s a bit crumbly — but I love the flavor!

sweet potato ice cream with oatmeal praline 

sweet potato ice cream recipe: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home

oatmeal praline recipe: The Perfect Scoop

notes: I’ve been wanting to try Jeni’s ice cream techniques for a while — she uses cream cheese, corn/tapioca starch, and corn syrup in lieu of the standard egg custard ice cream base. She also calls for you to rapidly cool the ice cream base down by putting it in a ziplock bag and plunging it into an ice water bath, but I just put my base in the fridge and let it cool overnight, like I usually do. The ice cream is a really great texture — very smooth and creamy, and very scoopable.

modifications: I made this with an Okinawan purple sweet potato because I wanted to make purple ice cream. After I finished cooking/blending the sweet potatoes they were an awesome bright purple color. Unfortunately, I misjudged how much adding two tablespoons of molasses would change that and turn it into a mauve brown color… next time, I probably wouldn’t add molasses. I added vanilla extract and next time might put in a touch more salt. Jeni’s recipe calls for making marshmallows from scratch and torching them before mixing them into the ice cream. I thought about doing this (using store-bought marshmallows) but it was snowing and I didn’t feel like going out so I went with the oatmeal praline instead. I’m really happy with how the praline came out… I love the little crunchy nuggets in the ice cream. 🙂

sweet potato ice cream with oatmeal praline, version ii 

notes: same as above, but I made it with only one tablespoon of molasses instead of two and it stayed a much more vibrant purple. (I don’t think the photo really depicts the color accurately — the first ice cream photo was taken in natural lighting, while the second was taken in fluorescent.) Chris prefers the ice cream this way, because he felt 2 tablespoons of molasses was overwhelming. I also didn’t bring the mixture to a rolling boil again after adding the sugar/molasses/heavy cream — I just used my immersion blender to make it all homogeneous (I thought the mixture was warm enough anyway to dissolve the sugar) — and it came out perfectly fine.

pork prik khing with jasmine sticky rice 

recipe: my own

notes/modifications: This was a very inauthentic but also very delicious dish! I sautéed some curry paste in coconut oil, added ground pork and about a cup of water and continued to cook until done. Then I added two tablespoons each of sugar and fish sauce, and a whole bunch (I guesstimated) of frozen green beans. Stirred around until the beans were cooked. Made a cornstarch + water slurry and added to the curry to thicken it up a bit. Finished with two tablespoons of lime juice and some cilantro. I also didn’t steam the jasmine sticky rice because I don’t own a steamer — just cooked it in water with a little salt and a few spoonfuls of coconut oil.

chocolate mint melties 

recipe: http://viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/12/chocolate-mint-melties.html

notes: I discovered Dreena Burton’s cookie recipes when I first embarked on vegan baking. I’d always had really great success with them — after a friend tried one, she said that they were so good they made her feel like it was “okay to go vegan” because yummy vegan baked goods were possible! I haven’t made any vegan cookies (or any of Dreena’s recipes) in the last four years, but I wanted to show Chris what vegan baked goods could be like… because every time I brought up vegan sweets, he’d talk about a particularly awful vegan cookie experience from the Union Square Greenmarket. I was a little worried that these wouldn’t be as delicious as I’d remembered, or that maybe my taste buds were “off” when I was vegan but it was all good. Chris’s verdict on these: “This is a damn fine cookie.”

modifications: For a double batch, I doubled everything in this recipe except for the baking soda and the baking powder, which I kept at 1.5x of the single-batch size. Made these with Endangered Species chocolate-mint bars. Subbed corn syrup for the agave nectar because I didn’t have any agave, didn’t feel like using more maple, and wanted to keep these vegan so I didn’t want to use honey. Used a 1.5 tablespoon scoop to divvy out cookie dough.

pao de queijo

restaurant: Little Brazil

notes/modifications: We got pao de queijo, feijoada, Brazilian chicken stroganoff, and graviola juice. Little Brazil is a hole-in-the-wall place that I think might be the only Brazilian market/grocery in the Denver area. They stopped table seating at 6:30pm so we got take-out and ate in the car… the pao de queijo is the only think I managed to get a picture of because we ate everything else too quickly. The pao de queijo was also the best thing that we got — it was especially good dipped in a little bit of hot sauce. 🙂

prime rib & provolone sandwich 

restaurant: Snarf’s

notes/modifications: I’d talked up Snarf’s so much that I had to take Chris there during his visit. He approved. 🙂 All told, I went to Snarf’s three times this month!

apple cider doughnut muffins

recipe: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/apple-cider-doughnut-mini-muffins-draft.html

notes/modifications: I made these as regular sized muffins, not mini — baked for 15 minutes and came out perfectly! It tasted exactly as one would expect: slightly spiced, soft with a plushy muffin interior, finished with some cinnamon sugar crunch on top. They were definitely best straight out of the oven — they got a little dried out by the second day.

greek marinated chicken with lemony-garlic roasted potatoes and steamed asparagus 

recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/06/greek-marinated-chicken/

notes: This dish wasn’t very visually appealing, but it smelled and tasted great — we halved the marinade but kept the amount of garlic the same. For the asparagus I just rigged up my giant skillet with a trivet and plate and steamed the asparagus for about 5 minutes. The potatoes got tossed with olive oil + lemon zest + lemon juice + garlic + parsley and roasted at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

slow baked salmon with lemon and thyme, mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans  

recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Slow-Baked-Salmon-with-Lemon-and-Thyme-365151

notes: I was so pleased with MacGyvering my skillet into a steamer that I decided to steam some green beans as well! I used dried dill (1.5 teaspoons) instead of fresh thyme for the salmon recipe.

thanksgiving meal!

– lemon, garlic, and herb turkey (the dry brine was based on this recipe) 

– turkey gravy (based on this recipe) 

– roasted sweet potatoes (based on this recipe) 

– steamed green beans 

– box-mix stuffing 

– mashed potatoes (no recipe) 

– candied sweet potatoes

Notes: the only thing about this meal that I wish had come out better was the stuffing. We went with box-mix stuffing to save time — and it did save a lot of time and prep, but it was a little crumbly and dry. 😦 Turkey is always delicious, as are mashed potatoes, and I was quite pleased with how the gravy came out. I was a little disappointed in the roasted sweet potatoes, but I also didn’t really follow the recipe and par-cook the sweet potatoes before roasting — I just put them right into the oven raw. The runaway best part of the meal were the candied sweet potatoes, which really surprised me because I’m not usually big on them as a Thanksgiving side! We had an extra sweet potato though, and Chris wanted to try making them “his way.” (I think he saw me prepping the roasted sweet potatoes and was skeptical of the salt, pepper, and parsley I was sprinkling on top.) These candied yams were sooo addictive and good and wonderful!

Not shown in the picture: the store-bought pumpkin pie that we ate after some TV and napping.

Two chili recipes

My office recently had a chili competition, and these were the two best rated chilis — the pork green chili was #1, and the white chicken chili was #2. Just posting both recipes here for future reference!

Whole Hog Green Chili
2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
3 quarts chicken broth
48 oz. (3 each – 16 oz.) bottles of Salsa Verde (Med.)
4-5 pounds cooked pork shoulder brisket or whole hog coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons ground cumin
6 large cloves of garlic minced
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
6 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds & membranes) finely diced
5 fresh tomatillos cut to fine dice
1-2 large red onions (softball size about 2 c.) cut to fine dice
1/8 cup chipotle flavored hot sauce (about 25 shakes)
Kosher salt

Note: you will need to prepare or purchase cooked pork shoulder or whole hog

Roux: in a large stock pot or roasting pan, whisk together the oil and flour to make a roux and bring to a vigorous bubble over med-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly for 3-6 minutes. DON’T LET THIS BURN. Carefully and slowly add the chicken broth (watch out for splattering) while whisking, creating a slightly thickened sauce when done.

Chili: Return to a boil and stir in the first of the ingredients. Bring mixture to a simmer (350 degrees) and stir occasionally for 30-40 minutes. If you have a temperature controlled crock-pot or roasting pan you can then let the mixture slow-simmer at 200 degrees for 4-5 hours to meld the flavors. Kosher salt to taste.

 

White Chicken Chili Recipe
Burrito Seasoning Packet
½ lb. Great Northern White Beans (6 -15oz cans)
3 lb. Chicken breasts
4oz butter
2 Spanish Onions diced
2 Tbsp. Garlic minced
3 jalapenos diced
3 Tbsp. Chili Powder
2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
¼ cup flour
6 cups chicken stock
5 cups ½ & ½
2 Tbsp. Kosher Salt
2 Tbsp. Franks Hot Sauce
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1 ½ lb. Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1. Bake chicken seasoned with burrito seasoning. Shred.
2. Melt butter in pot and cook onions, garlic, and jalapenos until onions are translucent.
3. Add chili powder, cumin and flour and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes.
4. Add everything else except cheese.
5. When beans are cooked add cheese cooking and stirring only until cheese is melted. Best if served right away. If you are cooking ahead of time (like I did for the cook off) add cheese right before serving. It makes a huge amount, what was brought to the cook off was only about half of what it made!

October 2014 in food

I’m pretty pleased with how frequently I’ve cooked and baked in my kitchen this past month! I’ve been trying to not cook too much with pumpkin until November but just couldn’t resist one pasta dish.

As a side note: I’m starting to feel like I don’t make a lot of photogenic foods. Or maybe I just lack camera skills…

harissa hummus
recipe: my own

coconut bread with blueberries and chocolate chips
recipe: http://realfoodoutlaws.com/grain-free-blueberry-bread/
notes/modifications: my first gluten-free baking with coconut flour! This made for a very squat, dark, and unattractive bread but it was very moist and quite good. I added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips because I wanted something a little gooey in addition to the blueberries. Baked for 1 hr and 10 minutes.

kimchi bacon fried rice
recipe: very loosely adapted from http://momofukufor2.com/2010/03/bacon-kimchi-fried-rice-recipe/
notes/modifications: I basically halved everything (and still felt like I had plenty for three meals, which is what the original, unhalved proportions were supposed to yield). Left out the kimchi liquid since my jar didn’t have very much, and left out the onion since I didn’t have any around (subbed with green onions as a garnish instead). I also cooked the eggs in with the rice, as opposed to separately. Next time I might prefer a fried or poached egg on top instead. I added a tablespoon of fish sauce for extra saltiness, and a tablespoon of gochujang for extra spice.

jacked-up banana bread
recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/11/speckled-for-the-freckled/
notes/modifications: subbed applesauce for all of the melted butter, used white sugar instead of brown, subbed some cardamom and a dash of allspice for the nutmeg, added a heaping half-cup of chocolate chips, and baked for 1 hour in a 9×9 pyrex pan. Very moist and good! But there are so many more banana bread recipes out there to explore…

bacon & pumpkin pasta
recipe: http://pinchofyum.com/healthy-bacon-pumpkin-pasta
notes/modifications: I ended up making it not-so-healthy because I subbed half and half for the evaporated milk. I also added a dash of sage to the pumpkin sauce. I would definitely make this again, though I wish I had a more appropriately sized pot for cooking/saucing pasta.

refried bean and chorizo tostadas with green beans  
recipe: my own
notes: very satisfying to eat after a run. 🙂

paleo mug cake
recipe: http://paleoonabudget.com/2014/02/12/paleo-mug-cake-dairy-free/
notes/modifications: It doesn’t look like much, but I’ve been obsessed with this dessert — it’s so easy to make, tastes like a chocolate chip cookie, and makes one serving size. Chris was skeptical of this dessert at first but loved it as well once he gave it a taste. I don’t really keep almond flour around so I subbed in an extra tablespoon of coconut flour, and I definitely don’t use an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract (I just guesstimated a few dribbles). Microwave for about 1 minute 45 seconds for optimal gooeyness.

majestic and moist honey cake
recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/09/majestic-and-moist-honey-cake/
modifications: added 1 tablespoon of ground ginger and several grinds of black pepper, subbed 1/2 of the oil for applesauce, subbed apple cider for the orange juice, and rum for the whiskey. Baked in a 9×13″ pan for ~50 minutes.
notes: So majestic! So moist! I love this cake! I first made it four years ago (and put apples in it) and thought it was pretty good, but I wanted to embellish and improve on it. I was a little worried when the batter was all mixed up because it seemed very, very heavy on the ginger… I’m glad the final product is not too gingery, though it does veer away from being “honey cake” and more into “spice cake”/”gingerbread” territory. Next time I won’t add the extra ginger and black pepper, though I did really like using apple cider & applesauce in it — the cake is so incredibly moist and finely textured. I think the cake is delicious enough to eat on its own without any frosting, though I garnished it with a little powdered sugar to pretty it up.

chocolate sorbet and apricot pistachio ice cream
recipes: The Perfect Scoop
notes/modifications: I’ve made the chocolate sorbet before (over 3 years ago) and had really liked it, but I don’t think this batch came out quite as well. I used two Endangered Species 72% dark chocolate bars — next time will continue to play around with different brands of chocolate. (I think the first time I made the sorbet, I might have used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bittersweet.) David Lebovitz always makes a big deal about how you must use California apricots (and not Turkish!) so I sought those out to use. I normally prefer Turkish apricots for snacking because they’re plumper, sweeter, and have a more subtle apricot taste — but for this ice cream, I think that using the more intensely-flavored California apricots is the better choice. The ice cream mix was really, really tart and apricot-y before freezing, but after chilling in the freezer the flavors mellowed out. The white wine that I used was Starborough Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2012.

smokehouse chickpeas ‘n’ greens salad with (no longer) vegan cornbread
salad recipe: Salad Samurai
cornbread recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2007/10/vegan-cornbread/
notes/modifications: for the salad, I left out the carrots and subbed yellow onion for both the red onion and shallots. It came all came out pretty well. Unfortunately, the cornbread was really disappointing — I’ve made it in the past (completely vegan) and liked it but this time I made it with dairy milk instead of soy milk and it was oddly bland, barely rose in the pan, and the bread itself didn’t really get golden… it stayed a really unappetizing pale blonde shade. It was fine to eat, but I think I’m going to start looking for other cornbread recipes now. :-\

sunny side up eggs, bacon, and cornbread with guacamole
recipe: none
notes/modifications: Chris made this for brunch — nothing super fancy, but everything was just so nicely cooked and I love having breakfast made for me so I wanted to take a photo to remember it by. 🙂

special noodle bowl (bun) 
restaurant: chez thuy
notes: went with Kathy for lunch — this is supposed to be the best Vietnamese restaurant in Boulder. If that is indeed true… then it makes me a little sad. The food was good, but not necessarily rave-worthy or craveable to me. Kathy says that New Saigon in Denver is a step up from Chez Thuy, so I’m hoping to try that one out next. On a separate note, she also recommends Yak and Yeti for Indian, over Curry and Kebab in Boulder. Yak and Yeti has two locations — the Arvada location has better ambiance, but only serves their dinner buffet on Fridays and Saturdays. The Westminster location isn’t quite as nice, but the dinner buffet is served all week long.

sour cream cornbread
recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sour-cream-cornbread/
notes/modifications: Now, this is the shade that cornbread should be! I cut the sugar in half to 2/3 cup because I’m not fond of very sweet cornbread, upped the salt to 1.5 teaspoons, and used low-fat sour cream. I also used 1/2 medium grind cornmeal and 1/2 coarse grind (I think it was polenta) cornmeal because I like some texture in my cornbread. I made this for my office’s Halloween party — it was a chili/dessert potluck, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to bring chili or a dessert. Solution: bring cornbread, which serves both as an accompaniment to chili and also as a dessert with some honey! This was way better than the previous cornbread — I would definitely make this again. The cornbread is fine but unremarkable when it is room temperature… but once you warm it up (30 seconds in the microwave) it is so magical and moist!. The recipe did call for an awful lot of butter though (a full cup) so maybe next time I’ll cut back on the sugar even further to just a 1/2 cup and sub half of the butter with unsweetened applesauce to make it healthier. Baked for 34 minutes, but next time I might cut it back to about 32.

September 2014 in food

Just trying to keep track of what things I’ve eaten/made this month. My iPhone unfortunately got dropped in a toilet so I wasn’t able to take pictures of some of the latter dishes. 😦

smoky roasted corn soup with chipotle chili
recipe: The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook
notes/modifications: added anchovies, salmon, and a touch of fish sauce

harissa egg salad over spinach
recipe: my own

blueberry crumb bars
recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/07/blueberry-crumb-bars/
notes/modifications: used frozen blueberries, baked for 58 minutes total – cut back a little next time.

harissa chicken with green beans and brown rice
recipe: my own

panang chicken curry (no pictures)
recipe: my own… next time, stick with chaokoh coconut milk, it’s the best!

crackly banana bread (no pictures)
recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/09/crackly-banana-bread/
notes/modifications: baked for 50 (possibly 55?) minutes but the center still seemed a smidge mushy. Still good, though – the millet was a very nice and crunchy touch.

urad dal with panch phoron and okra (no pictures)
recipe: my own
notes/modifications: first time cooking with urad dal… perfectly edible, but not my favorite dal. Next time I’ll stick to masoor dal.

red bean soup (no pictures)
recipe: http://userealbutter.com/2010/07/15/chinese-sweet-red-bean-soup-recipe/
notes/modifications: added some lemon zest (should have added orange peel but had none on hand). Also added 2 additional tablespoons of tapioca. Next time: don’t use as much water for the tapioca or the beans — I ended up draining a lot out.

za jiang mian
restaurant: zoe ma ma
notes: was pretty good, but tasted like hippie Chinese food, not like authentic Chinese food. I think it needed more oil, and/or more cornstarch to thicken the sauce.