Another Split Dinner: Beefy/Beefless Stir Fry on the Fly

Knowing that I had about an hour to make dinner and eat it before rushing off to another activity, tonight I made steak stir-fry with a little baby bok choy, garlic, ginger, and green onions and a side of steamed carrots. I also fried some Trader Joe’s Thai Vegetable potstickers and made a bit of steamed brown rice. The thing was, is that I actually made two stir frys. I used my trusty pyrex ingredient bowls and precut all of my ingredients, arranging my miniature mise-en-place before getting the pans started and beginning the process. I’ll be honest when I say that I thought this was going to be a total cakewalk (no food writing pun intended).

Anyone who makes meatless meats will know that starting them at even similar times was a bad idea as while my grass-fed beef was still closer to red than pink, Brendan’s steak-less strips were beginning to stick to the pan and burn. What a mess. On top of that, the fact that I was going for authentico-ness meant that I had oil in both pans, and well, you just can’t stir both well at the same time, meaning that one was going to be popping/splattering/etc. I’ll also put forward that rice, no matter what type, never seems to want to get done on time.

At this point, I’ll point out that the meal came out well. Nothing was too well done, nothing stuck to the pan too much, and both the meaty and meatless entrees were enjoyed by their consumers. Still, I was just struck by the idea of making two “identical” dishes and being surprised that they weren’t going to turn out the same way. Perhaps it was my recent success with the taco meats, but I sort of thought I had this one in the bag.

I don’t mean this to be a ranty post, but just more of a “hey I just woke up and noticed this” sort of thing. It’s interesting to me that the more I cook, the more it remains a process and journey of sorts, and while some things get easier, it doesn’t mean that things will be easy all the time. Writing every day (or at least trying to) has been similar. While I feel like the quality of my writing has been improving, the difficulty of getting to the computer each day to post something that seems vaguely relevant or meaningful has remained.

All the while, I’ve been really happy to see my number of post climbing and climbing and knowing that I am accomplishing something. I am becoming a part of a community, and someone, at least, seems to be reading what I have to say. While maybe I can get a little whiny (see above), really, this whole project is celebrating my love of food – and my love of eating it. So to end on a positive note, here’s a photo of me as I currently write this, pin curls and all, listening to the delightful sounds of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and plotting my next meal. Speaking of eating, I could totally go for some sweets right now. Ah, well, tomorrow is another day. Ciao!

Avec l'orange

Yes, More Chips Please

One of the things I have yet to mention with all of my foodiness is that my husband, while a lover of good food, is vegetarian.

This can make things a little difficult sometimes when I am planning meals (or dreaming of giant beef roasts). At first, I was pretty terrible with the fake meats. Mostly the fake meats would just make me angry. I sort of had to learn the hard way that there was nothing to actually cook in the meat substitutes. You just had to defrost and/or heat. At this point, I’m fairly well versent in the varietals of fake meat brands and flavors and have (mostly) given up on trying to cook them.

Tonight, I was making organic meat n’ potatoes burritos and so I decided to try something a little different. I made a little onion, garlic, oregano, chile, and cilantro collection in some vegetable oil and then let that cook until thick. At that point, I split off some of the batch and put it into a different pan. Into the primary pan, I put some more of the delicious grass fed beef and let that begin to cook. In the other pan, I threw in some meatless ground and mixed it up, sort of letting it sit and hopefully soak in some of the juices.

While these were cooking, I cut the mixed (red, white, purple, yellow?) fingerling potatoes from McClendons and threw them in some hot oil with a dash of California Pepper from Penzey’s and a pinch of salt. I grated some cheese, cut an avocado and a little more roasted green chile as garnishes.

As the meats finished (essentially at the same time), I set things out, all prepped for yumminess.

I had stopped at Mango’s on Main Street and splurged and some fresh tortillas and chips and salsa. Despite it being burro night, I was more interested in the chips, and slathering a fresh tortilla in butter, my meat and potatoes carefully arranged on the side of the plate.

I feel like making the onion/garlic mix first was really useful in helping to make me feel like I was actually cooking my husband’s meal. I’ve often felt that the fake meats were just sort of a cheat. He tells me that the flavor was essentially the same (last time I had actually cheated and used *gasp* Trader Joe’s taco spice mix to flavor his meatless ground.) Still, though, while more time consuming, I feel like the added step was worth it in that it helped me to better judge how to make the fake meat seem like part of a dish rather than a weird vegetable condiment.

The more I cook, the more I like making more dishes, and that has gone a long way in making extra entrees fun. As I’m still battling my sinuses and hiding from the unusual cold and wind outside, it’s time to say goodnight as my day and my dinner is done. Have a good night and a fabulous bowl of chips of your own.

Old Town Farmers Market en Photo – January 22, 2011

Farmers Market, Landscape, 2011

 

Grass Fed Beef

Fries and Crepes for Breakfast, what could be more French?

Fried in Duck Fat!

At this moment, I was regretting my decision not to get one.

Mmmmm…Crepes!

These guys were super cool - and their food was awesome!

Now you know what to look for...

What more you you ask for than this?

Now go get yer own.

Untapped Bounty

Vegetables, how do they work?

This weekend, my mom came over with a box of vegetables for me to have (and split up with my friends). When she told me there were lots of vegetables, she may have understated it a bit. So now I have some eggplants, banana squash, zucchini, corn, chile, and tomatoes. I was pretty ready to make calabacitas, but it struck me that I ALWAYS make calabacitas. So here it is internet, the question: what should I do with these vegetables? I’m looking for ideas, recipes, plans, anything new or different. Not everything has to go together, of course, and having things separate would stretch them over the week…but right now I can’t think of much other than sauteeing them with butter.

I know that I have recipe books full of ideas, but I guess I’m sort of interested in seeing what you think. I’m almost done with my current food book (a surprise until I review it) and after that, though I have a couple more non-fiction food books, I was thinking of digging into a cookbook as my nighttime reading. While I’m talking books here (and asking for advice) I’m a little interested in knowing where you keep your cookbooks. I already have too many (and not enough space) for the kitchen, and I know they’d just get immediately spilled on there anyway, but where should one keep them? Right now, they are in a book shelf in the garage (door entry just off the kitchen). They’re out of the way, but maybe a little too much. Ideas?

On a small note, I made killer tacos for dinner tonight with some grass-fed local beef I got from the farmer’s market. Add in some local organic lettuce, menudo mix for spice (a staple in my kitchen), colby jack cheese, corn torillas, and Herdez Salsa Verde. Delish!