Baked tortilla chips

Last night Joe and I drove through the most idyllic country south of Clarksville, Tenn., on our way to Emily and Rob Stahl's new home for Game Night 3. We didn't really get to the games, but we had some good eating and enjoyed the critters. (see previous posts) For more photos, click here.

So I usually don't prepare a new experiment for friends (I usually reserve those creative and often inedible bursts for Joe) But I decided that instead of running out to buy some expensive Terra Chips to serve with the white bean and caramelized onion dip I learned how to make at the superfoods class, I would make my own flour tortilla chips. Happily, it worked.

I took a stack of maybe 8 tortillas, brushed one side lightly with oil, stacked them, then used a pizza slicer to cut the stack into 6 wedges. I spread the wedges out onto 2 cookie sheets and dusted them with the Kentucky Sweet Rub spice mix we bought from Joe Wilson and some cayenne pepper. Into the oven for 8-10 minutes at 375. They were a hit :-)

Stahls' new home

Lucy follows Emily

Rob feeds Lucy

Torri's up to mischief. Twister is provoked. Lucy is unaware.

Torri pretends not to notice that he's the center of attention.

Joe made lunch!

Today Joe made lunch for me and for our coworker Alex and his girlfriend Sara. We had crusty bread, cavatapi with marinara and meatballs and a salad. He made the whole meal all by himself :-), using his mom's meatball recipe, of course.

Meatballs
2 lbs ground round
2 cups bread crumbs
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsely flakes
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle meat with garlic salt. Add bread crumbs mixed with cheese and seasonings. Sprinkle a few drops of water on mixture, add beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. Form into balls. Bake on cookie sheet 15-20 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Simmer in sauce at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Suko Thai

We were thinking to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel after we got back into Nashville last night, but then we spotted this quiet little Thai place. I was a little leary. Only a few cars in the parking lot. Dimly lit. And... the building was connected to a go-cart track. But when we got out of the car, my nose told me it was going to be good.

Joe ordered beef chow fun (I know, sounds cantonese. But it was thai style) and I had the Thai Pacific noodles with mixed veggies. The menu said it was the most exotic noodle dish. I think they just didn't know what else to write, because it seemed pretty much like stir fried Shanghai noodles to me... but it was tasty.

The atmosphere was also nice, but dark. I took this photo by placing my camera on the window ledge behind me and using my remote control and a several-second long shutter speed. Will someone please invent a tripod that lets you pivot your camera 360 degrees so I can take better restaurant food shots?

Airport food

Friday

was a very long day for me. I didn't sleep well in anticipation of the day ahead. Got out of bed at 5:30 and went to work at 6:30. All day, I had the most awful case of heartburn-- something I've only had maybe 2 other times. I got out of work a little before noon, then rushed home to tie up loose ends before driving to Nashville, where I eventually caught my plane. That flight was delayed several times. I was anxious to get up in the air because I had a connecting flight out of La Guardia, and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in New York all night. My stomach was growling, but I was scared to eat. American Airlines no longer gives any kind of food... not even pretzels. So by the time I got to New York I was ravenous. Nashville had a BBQ place and fast food. But New York had a kiosk with deli wraps and pad thai and vegan sandwiches. Despite the heartburn, I bought an Italian wrap. Though I had to exfoliate the dried out first layer of tortilla, this thing was pretty darn good. And even though it had tomatoes, roasted red pepper, pastrami, lettuce and provolone... my heartburn went away. How does that work?

Won tons at home

Thursday night, Joe had already gone to Cleveland, and I wasn't ready to be in an empty house. Blair and Chris from the newsroom were nice enough to come for a late dinner and help me finish the last bit of won ton mixture I had in the fridge. Blair even got her fingers into the meat a bit! :-)

Joe and I adored this little won ton shop down a nearby alley from our apartment in Taipei. Mmmm. The people who worked there knew us well. Growing up, with regular visits to my Chinese grandma's house in Chicago, I always thought won tons belonged only in a hot, clear-brothed soup with a few leaves of bok choi, some slivers of bamboo and maybe a shitake or two. In Taipei, I learned the joy of eating dumplings "dry" as they said, over a bed of lettuce or bean sprouts with a little spoonful of beef stew on top. At home in America, I recommend serving won tons --or anything in the dumpling-potsticker family-- with spicy dumpling sauce from wei chaun. It comes in a squarish glass bottle with a red cap. Most of the label is in chinese.

To make these won tons:
1 lb ground chicken
1 lb ground lean beef
4 green onions
1/2 regular onion
3 cloves garlic
1 cup or so shredded cabbage

Finely chop and pan fry the veggies in a little oil, then stir them into the meat. Dump soy sauce, oyster sauce, a little vinegar, garlic salt and pepper into the mix at your discretion. :-) I'm very sorry for the ambiguity of all my recipes. I don't like to measure.

Keep a stack of won ton wrappers covered by a damp towel. Wet two adjacent sides of the a wrapper, spoon a smaller than seems necessary bit of meat into the center and press shut, squishing out any air bubbles before fully sealing. Then take the ends of the triangle and fold them upwards and pinch together like a big tortellini.

Drop about 10-15 into boiling water at a time and remove after about 5 to 10 minutes. (again, I'm not really sure about the specifics. They'll float and look all shrively when they're done).

Men leading the charge, women eating s'mores

Wednesday night
Our husbands were at the men's Bible study, so I had Shirley, Jennifer and Deona over for tortilla pizzas (sorry no pics of this). The guys were also planning a camping trip sans wives for the weekend and so I thought I would make s'mores as dessert.
I was surprised to learn that two of our group had never enjoyed a toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate ooze out from between two graham crackers. SO we fixed that problem. :-)

I do not have a wood burning stove, a fireplace or a gas range. Nor fire pit outside. Nor large enough candles to get the true campfire effect of a roasted marshmallow. I've found that nuking an open-faced s'more for about 6 seconds gets everything hot and gooey, but doesn't add the burnt flavor. Sticking a marshmallow on a graham in the broiler of my toaster oven, and watching it vigilantly, makes for a good flavor, but the cracker might get a little scorched. Any tips?

Adopted by the Couchmans

As a lot of you know, Joe and I don't have any family here in Kentucky. The Parrinos and Giammos are all in Cleveland and North Carolina. The Tilsches and Wongs are in Illinois, Minnesota (Aunt Susan, Uncle Greg, have you moved yet?), Arizona and Afghanistan. Big family gatherings are few and far between for Joe and I. So it was really sweet when Brendan and Jennifer Couchman invited us over for Easter dinner with their families. :-) The house was filled with foods, kids and good fellowship.

Kitty Field

Many of my friends and coworkers in Hoptown have heard me talk about the field by our house, and how there is often a kitty sitting in it when we drive by on our way to work. This black cat is there so often, we began to suspect he's a ferral cat, living in the grassy open space bordered by Old Clarksville Pike and Hammond Drive. Yesterday as we drove home from work with a trunk-load of groceries, I saw him slinking up from the tributary to Little River. Joe said he'd take me back after we unloaded.

It has been bitterly cold here the last 3 days. There was even a dusting of snow yesterday afternoon. The wind has also been strong, and whipping through the tall grass, Field Kitty didn't hear me approaching him. His eyes, half closed because of the breeze, were tracing the flight of some redwing blackbirds. I got very close before he turned his head in surprise.

I snapped one photo before he bounded away like a puma. My regret: I wasn't fast enought to take a little video of him. He was truly athletic!

Pasta shapes

While Joe was in Cleveland this weekend I bummed some meals and movies off the Martins. Shirley made garlic bread and spaghetti, Jeremy made some very lime-y salsa. I don't know if you can tell from my photo, but the noodles were hollow and had little ridges in them. It made fork-swirling the noodles more of a challenge, but they had a nice chewy texture compared to their solid counterparts.

Last night after I picked Joe up from the airport we had a late dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill at Opry Mills Mall. I had the "make your own" pasta (it's like a high-class version of Za's for all you Champaigners). Whole-wheat penne with pesto, chicken, broccoli, artichokes and mushrooms. Joe had pesto pizza. (Looks like I need to hurry up and grow some basil, doesn't it?)
Joe likes wagon wheels, farfalle and penne. I've always been a fan of the more complex pasta shapes. Radiatorres and Cavatappi and Gemeli are my current favorites. As we drove home, we tried to imagine some new pasta shapes. What about a snail shell or some kind of coil? Honey comb? Bugles? Chex shaped?

Another garden discovery

The blueberry buds are opening-- Now I just need some pollinators. And like the oregano and the thyme, look what else decided to come back from the dead! It's the mint that survived the 8 hour car ride back from Cleveland last summer. We'll be having some nice vanilla mint tea in no time :-)

I finally got to make some pad thai this afternoon. I used the mi fun noodles instead of the thicker version and I used more sweet onion than usual. Also, I chopped some romaine to sub for the bean sprouts. I think it turned out pretty good except that the noodles congealed into one giant mass before I got the leftovers into the refrigerator.

My recipe for Pad Thai (adapted from the Viking Cooking School)
Soak for an hour in warm water: 1 package (about 10-12 oz) rice stick noodles, Mi fun take less time to soak, but make the dish less authentic... and may lead to the aforementioned congealing problem.
Heat on low:
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup tamarind juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
Pan fry:
1 block of extra firm tofu, cut into cubes, in 2 Tbs canola oil
Set it aside after it's browned on all sides
Meanwhile, chop:
2 chicken breast halves into big bite-sized pieces
4 or 5 cloves garlic and half a large yellow onion, coarsely
1 heart of romaine. (start from the base and cut rings about 1/2-inch thick)
1/3 cup preserved raddish (optional)
Stirfry: the onion, garlic, veggies and chicken in 3 Tbs oil with crushed red pepper flakes and paprika to taste (I like it hot) Once it smells good, add the sauce mixture.
When the chicken is cooked through, add the softened noodles and cook until the sample you scoop into your mouth with chopsticks has the desired tenderness. Stir in the tofu and small bunch of chopped green onions and transfer the pad thai to a serving dish.
Garnish: Chopped peanuts, more green onion, and fresh lime wedges

Biscotti: take 1

I followed a recipe in a "healthy" cookbook I bought at Caves bookstore in Taipei. Maybe I can blame it on the recipe... but these were THE most rock-hard biscotti of life. If you leave them soaking in a hot beverage for about 2 minutes, they become the consistency of pound cake. I did make some minor changes- the recipe called for cardamom, almonds and orange zest. I didn't have cardamon or zest, so I used vanilla and orange flower water. I don't think that would have made them any less like cement posing as a cookie. Will try again. Won't be posting said recipe.

Rachel-- I saw you sent me a savory cheese biscotti recipe, which I am eager to try.

A package on my doorstep!

Let me just take a few minutes to boast about how good the Lord is to give me such good friends who send me stuff!

And not just any stuff, mind you. Rachel Sawatzky, wo de hen hao peng you, sent me 2 boxes of Chocolate Chex!!! Hao che. I ate many boxes of this stuff when we lived in Taiwan. Now I'll have to ration it out... :-) Or hide it in my desk drawer....shhhh! don't tell Joe.

In addition to the cereal, Rachel shared some favorite recipes, the Sunshine Singer's recent CD, two bags of savory Asian snacks (which, incidentally, was going to be my next column topic) and a bunch of candy. This one is called "Crish" --- and I would say that's not, infact, because no one knew how to spell or pronounce "Crisp" --- but because they wanted to invent a new word hybrid between crisp and "delish." Which it was. Yum.

Green tea flavor. Tasty!

Nestiquette

I mentioned a few posts ago that we had some chickadees move into the bluebird box. They make a very green nest with moss and soft grasses.



This morning as I was getting ready I heard the soft, but indisputable churdling of a bluebird. Their call doesn't carry, so I knew he must be close. When I parted the mini blinds, this is what I saw.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. The male chickadee was squeeking and nattering up a storm... but from a safe distance on top of the herbie curbie (that's hopkinsville-speak for garbage can).

I left for work assuming that the blues would win this birdhouse battle, as the bigger bird. When we came home for lunch, we didn't see the bluebirds... so Joe decided to remove the chickadee nest. I'm rather torn, and spent much of the afternoon feeling bad about the poor defenseless chickadees. I'm trying to remember that the box is designed for bluebirds, and that they are the more endangered bird. But the chickadees made such pitiful noises when they returned to the empty box. I believe they've started to rebuild. No sign of the blues. Any thoughts?

Crouching kitty, hidden ...

Not exactly hidden. But stealth cat tries.

new friends

Joe and I went to Lowes on Saturday. He was returning a door mat, and I made a beeline for the nursery. "Don't make too many friends," he warned as we parted ways. So I did my best to be selective-- and chose a carton of tomato plants and a pot of dillweed. I planted them that evening. Happily, my oregano (also from Lowes) came back from the grave. Some second generation lemon thyme also seems to be coming up. And the Blueberry bush is budding with ample clusters of little white bells. Maybe I can actually have some fruit this time.
I also transfered my cilantro... but it doesn't know which way is up.

Indian food with friends

Friends

Our nextdoor neighbors left today for Texas ... we wanted to see them off, and I made the risky decision to cook them an Indian dinner yesterday. Happily it was edible!

Tandoori Chicken

Skin about 3 lbs of drumsticks and marinate them overnight in a mixture of tandoori spices (I cheated and used a pre-made spice mix) and yogurt. Then grill or roast them.

Aloo Gobi

My favorite indian veggie dish (above right, hiding under some cilantro) was made with a recipe from a book Ravi lent me. It's basically just potatoes and cauliflower in some spices and an onion garlic puree. Onion milkshake anyone?

That little pile of chickpeas, tomatoes, cilantro, potato and crisp puffed rice and chickpea crackers is served with mint chutney. It's called Bhel Puri. Ravi says it's Indian fast food.

New Tenants

This has been an interesting weekend -- Our friends Jeremy and Shirley Martin are moving into a duplex at the end of our street :-) Our friends and nextdoor neighbors Ravi, Pria and Akash are moving to Texas on Monday-- which is bitter sweet because we'll miss them, but think they will like it there. And it looks like we might have some new friends moving into the bluebird box. They're not blue. But we welcome them just the same. Chickadees are not too common, though their name is so familiar. Sparrows pretty much out compete most birds, so we're happy to have this little couple make a neat nest of moss and fine grasses, rather than the half-hearted pile of weeds the sparrows keep throwing together in there.

Joe-fried dumplings

This is something I should have posted back with the exploded brussels sprout, but I'm catching up now. Joe and I have different styles of frying frozen chinese dumplings. Mine, fried with minimal oil and about 2 cups frozen broccoli, come out kind of soggy. Joe uses a lot of oil (presumably, from what's left in the pan after he's done, but I haven't allowed myself to watch how much he uses) And he skips the broccoli. And his come out PERFECT-- crunchy and firm and tasty. With a few chunks of kim chee cucumbers, it makes a quicky lunch.

When others are craving chicken noodle

I get a hankering for fishball soup.
I was running a low fever this week, I think it was a sinus infection. Wednesday was the worst... achey, chills and hot sweats, sneezing etc. It was also a very busy day for Joe so I was left to make my own dinner (yeah, there was leftover pizza, stromboli, lentil soup, and homemade coleslaw in the frige, but I felt I deserved some soup.) So I dug into the depths of a freezer that's booby trapped with about 20 ice packs and maybe 100 frozen dumplings to find the last pack of fish cakes from my birthday shopping trip in Nashville. The contents, I found, were entirely new to me!

2 cotton-candy pink fishballs with a thin fried coating, which I found rather rubbery
1 giant square of very fluffy, spongey fish cake (bream?)It was like fish souffle. And it grew on me after I'd soaked it in my homemade dipping sauce.
2 tenpura patties-- a more meaty fish cake with little crunchy bits of veggie inside
2 tofu pouches, tied with some pale, crunchy vegetable. Cute, aren't they? The first one I ate was filled with mung bean noodles and veggies. The second surprised me with some very doughy gummy filling, probably a mix of tapioca and rice flour.

I cooked all of it in my fondue pot along with a heart of romaine, a handful of baby portabellas, a wedge of tomato, a few cauliflower florets and some frozen taro chunks.
To make dipping sauce:
2 T lite soy
2 T rice vinegar
1 T sugar
1-2 chopped green onions
1 clove chopped garlic

I've been wondering what it takes to make a fish ball. Anyone tried it?