Bad blog habits.

Is it possible that another week has passed and I didn't post at all?  So sorry.  It seems a little tricky these days to find time in between work and wanting to fall asleep at 7pm because it's dark out already.  It's Saturday and this past week already feels like a blur.  The highlight of the week was having April and Will over for weeknight dinner party on Tuesday.

I was in the mood for Asian and we had some pork chops from our CSA so I decided to make our favorite pork stir fry.  It is loaded with fresh ginger and the combination of the snap of fresh green beans with the sweet and tender pork is perfectly matched with the salty soy/ garlic/ ginger sauce.

I wish you could smell this while looking at the photo.

Normally, we serve this stir fry with some brown basmati rice.  Speaking of, do you have a rice cooker?  If you don't, you really should.  We had contemplated getting a fancy electric rice cooker, but decided to try our luck with a microwavable one instead.

Nothin' fancy.

It isn't anything amazing to look at, but it does really make the rice cooking much easier.  Since April is a vegetarian and wouldn't be partaking in the pork stir fry, I decided I needed to make something other than plain rice for her.  So I made up a little extra rice and then made Shiitake (Portabello) Fried Rice.

Fried rice is the best.

For some reason when I went shopping this week I wrote down Shiitake mushrooms and read it before picking them up, but my hands went directly to the Portabello bin.  Weird brain stuff must have been going on, but it totally worked and was super yummy.

Since this was a weeknight dinner date and I wouldn't be getting home until about an hour before dinner was to be served, I did all the prepping the night before.  That meant chopping veggies, cooking rice, slicing pork, and grating ginger.  I have to admit that while I was doing the prepping I wasn't enjoying it.  However, it's really nice to follow a recipe the next day and feel like you're on a cooking show and prep cooks have done all the chopping and you can just add things as the recipe says.  

For dessert, April brought over some peanut butter and chocolate covered frozen banana slices.  So. Good.  We had a great time chatting with them, as always, and I think the food was a success.

In a strange turn of events, we realized after they left that we had a Groupon to our favorite ice cream place, Herrell's.  Herrell's is owned and run by Steve Herrell, who is a pretty big celebrity in the ice cream world.  I see him in the Northampton store sometimes and he also seems like a nice guy and a good person to work for.  He is also the true inventor of the mix-in concept, which was kind of stolen by Cold Stone Creamery (no link for them!).  Anyway, we totally didn't want to miss out on using our Groupon, so we went down to grab a quart of Burnt Sugar and Butter to bring home.  Once we were in there, we couldn't not get ice cream to eat right then and there.  I don't stray from Burnt Sugar and Butter unless they are out of it (which makes me sad), but since I knew we had a quart to bring home, I decided to be super adventurous and get New England Chocolate Chip, a slightly maple ice cream base with chocolate chips.  It tastes nearly identical to my old standby, but that's beside the point.  A very sweet end to the evening, indeed!

Pork and Green Beans with Ginger Sauce (from Stir-Fries Best Ever Wok & Pan Recipes, published by Bay Books)

**We make a half recipe and it works great for the two of us, but also stretched for three of us this week.

3/4 C soy sauce

4 tbsp white or rice wine vinegar (get the rice wine!!)

1 tsp sugar

pinch of dried chili flakes

3 tsp cornstarch

1 1/4 pounds pork fillet, trimmed into thin slices (put it back in the freezer for about 10 minutes after it's thawed for easy slicing)

2 tbsp peanut oil

11 oz fresh green beans

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1.  Place the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili flakes, cornstarch, and 1/3 C water into a bowl and mix well.  Add the pork and toss to coat well.  (I literally ALWAYS forget the water here.  It works out to being a thicker sauce and a little stronger in flavor, but definitely still works!)

2.  Heat a wok over high heat, add half the oil and swirl to coat the side.  Drain the pork, reserving the liquid, and add to the wok.  Stir-fry over high heat for 1-2 minutes, or until brown.  Remove the pork from the wok.

3.  Heat the remaining oil, add the beans and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until fragrant.  Return the pork and any juices to the pan and add the reserved marinade.  Bring to the boil and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Shiitake (or Portabello) Fried Rice (adapted from Vegetarian Cooking & Vegetable Classics, by Roz Denny and Christine Ingram)

2 eggs

3 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil and it was fine at this heat)

12 oz shiitake (or Portabello) mushrooms, chopped into small pieces

8 spring onions, sliced diagonally

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 oz butter

6-8oz long grain rice, cooked (definitely go with 8 oz.)

1 tbsp medium dry sherry (I forgot to pick this up, so I used a little white wine.  Whatever.)

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

salt

1.  Beat the eggs with 1 tbsp cold water and season with a little salt.  Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick skillet and pour the eggs, making a large omelet.  Lift the sides to allow all of it to be cooked (no flipped required).  Roll it up and turn it out of the pan onto a cutting board. 

2.  Heat another 1 tbsp of the oil and stir-fry the spring onions and garlic, until softened, but not browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Remove them to the cutting board with the omelet.

3.  Add the pepper to the pan, stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, add the butter and the remaining 1 tbsp of oil.  Add the mushrooms and stir-fry over a moderate heat for 3-4 minutes until softened and browned.

4.  Pour the sherry over the mushrooms and then stir in the rice.  Heat the rice over moderate heat, stirring to prevent sticking.  You can add a little more oil if it's getting really dried out, but I didn't have to.  Stir in the onions and garlic, sliced omelet, soy sauce, and cilantro.  Cook a few more minutes and serve while hot.

Today I am...

happy that:  I get to go see Shannon today!

less than happy that:  making my coffee seems like such a huge chore right now.

daydreaming about: getting my Christmas shopping started soon?  Will this be the year that I finish early?

 

Current reading:  Still going on Catching Fire, albeit a little slowly.  It's because it's getting dark so early.

Next up:  Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins 

Playing on the flute:  I blame it on the dog upstairs.