Spicy Maple Acorn Squash

I have pretty low level of patience.  The other day I was facilitating a customer audit.  The customer representative kept pronouncing “metrics” as “matrix”.   It took a mass amount of self-willpower to not correct him.  It drove me nuts.  Unfortunately, we had to discuss several metrics through the day and by the end of it all, my will power was wearing thin.  Again, me and patience aren't really a pair.  

That’s only one example of my less than saintly patience.  Ben could tell you many, many more, including my ability to wait patiently for a surprise birthday gift.  I go nuts.  I beg.  I badger.  I may even nag.   Accordingly, Ben’s patience is continually tested and tried true.

So the night I made this acorn squash, tried it and didn't immediately love it, I therefore also immediately wrote them off.  My thinking was somewhere along the lines of something that used that much of my precious pure maple syrup had better be amazing its first time at bat.   Straight from the oven, this was not.  Tasty, fine, just not jaw dropping.  

But then came the leftovers.  I must admit that I, the queen of not wasting food, almost tossed these.  It was a lot of squash to tackle solo, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  So they came to work with me the next day.  And they were some much better!  The spiced had mellowed out a little bit and mingled much more with the maple.  It jived, it worked.  So, if you're not yet tired of squash and you're ok gambling with your pure maple syrup, give this a go.

Spicy Maple Acorn Squash

Inspired by HealthAhead

1 large acorn squash

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. Sriracha

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Coat lightly in oilive oil.

Slice acorn squash in half and using a large spoon, scrape and remove seeds from squash.  Slice into half moons about 1/2 thick.  Season with salt and pepper

Lay squash sliced side down on prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove and flip slices, return to oven and continue to roast another 15 minute.  Meanwhile, whisk together remaining ingredients and toss with squash slices until well coated.  Return to oven and roast until squash is fork tender, about 10 minutes more.  

Maxine's Turkey Dressing

I'm going to have to ask for your forgiveness here for two reasons. But then hopefully I can give you a recipe that should more than make up for my blogging transgressions.

The first thing I need forgiveness for is these photos.  They are not appetizing.  The reason behind this is also two-fold.  Stuffing/Dressing, very much like chocolate dough, is not an appetizing thing to photograph, at least not for an mature photographer like myself.  It either ends like it came out of the back end of a donkey or the front end of a dog.  In other words, not pretty.  Secondly, these pictures were taken with my good, old, trust Sony Cybershot, which has since given up it's life.  (It will always be loved, never forgotten).  Good little camera, but luckily I do have better now.  And this leads me to the second reason I am apologizing.

This recipe is just short of a year old.  Eek.  I'm sorry, I really am.  But really, who wants a dressing recipe after Thanksgiving?  Especially one that involves giblets...  If it makes you feel any better, it's been driving me nuts that I haven't been able to share this with you for almost a year.  But, finally, the magically, wonderful time that is known as Thanksgiving is here.  And here is the dressing that you should make.  And should you feel the need to thank me afterwards, well, I won't turn it down.

It has been a year since I've tasted this dish, but I do remember some things.  To start out with, it is delicious.  I am not a fan of Stove Top, and if you aren't either, than this is the dressing for you.  Also, this will take some time, not much, but enough to stress you if you're reading the recipe for the first time on Thanksgiving day.  Read the recipe once or twice before the grand day; it will help a lot.  Then just make sure you budget your time as needed.  Last thing, it is totally ok to be afraid of giblets.  I was and I'm pretty sure I still am.  Hopefully, you have a wonderful mother like mine to walk you through handling them and tell you not to freak out because they look funny and you have to stick you hand up a bird's yoohoo to get them.  And hopefully that wonderful mother makes you do it too, because that's a girl-turned-woman kind of moment right there.

Don't wuss out.  Stick your hand up the bird and grab the damn giblets.

(That is by far my favorite sentence ever on this blog).

This has been pasted in the BGCB since last November.  It is tried, it is true, and if you still need a dressing for your table this Thursday, well, this is it.  Enjoy!  And good luck with the giblets.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Maxine's Turkey Dressing
From BA November 2011 issue

I normally type each recipe, especially the directions, in my own words, to show you how I interrupted them, what I did, etc.  Since it's been about a year since I've made it, I don't really remember any of the specifics.  Therefore, below is Bon Appetit's recipe, word for word, from their website.  The link is below the title.  Therefore, all credit goes to them.


1 bag turkey giblets
1 turkey neck
4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped, divided
1/2 cup celery leaves
3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, plus 1/3 cup leaves
8 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, plus more
1 pound breakfast sausage, casing removed
1 12-oz. bag Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine giblets (reserve liver), neck, 1 chopped celery stalk, celery leaves, parsley sprigs, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a saucepan. Add 6 cups of water; bring to a boil. Lower heat; simmer for 30 minutes. Add liver; simmer until broth measures 4 cups, about 30 minutes longer. Strain; reserve broth. Pick meat from neck and chop giblets; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 2-qt. baking dish. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Chop parsley leaves and remaining celery in a processor. Add neck meat, giblets, and sausage; pulse just to combine. Transfer to a large bowl; add stuffing mix. Add turkey broth by 1/2 cupfuls, mixing until moist but not wet. Season with salt and pepper; transfer to prepared baking dish.

Cover dish with foil. Bake until heated through, about 40 mintues. Uncover dot with butter and bake until browned, about 20 minutes longer.

Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Pears

Can I tell you a secret?  As a warning, you may think I'm strange after I tell you.  People usually don't get it when I tell them.  What is usual is that I get weird stares and people try to convince me otherwise.  Apparently, this secret makes me quite the strange specimen.  Ok, enough build up, let's just get it off my chest.

I'm not a fan of Halloween.

I will pause for gasping, disbelieving stares and that weird laugh that some people do when they don't understand things.  It's cool, I get it a lot.

So, now that that is over, instead of you trying to convince me that I am wrong and that I do in fact like Halloween, let me tell you why I don't.  Once the great years of getting free candy were over,  so was the magic of Halloween.  I'm not the most creative person and having to come up with a new costume ever year is much more stressful then it should be.  Because heaven forbid you repeat a costume once a year!  And then we hit college, and on top of having to think of new costumes every year, now they had to be sexy.  And not just sexy, but if you consider 92% of the female college population, they apparently had to be a little slutty too.  Because, if you couldn't be slutty on Halloween, when could you?  (Um, never?  That's an ok answer, right?)  All in all, it's just too much pressure.

So instead of wondering how low cut my nurse's outfit needs to be next Wednesday, I am taking the less popular route and treating the last week of October as it should be treated: as a preparation of all things fall. The air is crisp, apple cider is every where, squash, sweet potatoes and apples are cheap and plentiful.  This is Thanksgiving season, bread baking season, cinnamon rolls for every Sunday morning breakfast season.  And these roasted sweet potatoes and pears are a good way to start the preparation.  There are only 25 days until the greatest holiday ever...

Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Pears
From Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods says this will serve 6-8.  As part of a much bigger meal, it probably would.  Ben and I took down a batch between dinner one night and the resulting leftover lunches the next day.  I served them with the spiced honey glazed chicken thighs.  A good weeknight dinner with good leftovers.

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled
1/4 c. sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves
2 pears, Bosc (or d'Anjou)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut sweet potatoes into equal 1 inch sized chunks and put in large bowl.  In smaller bowl, whisk together the vinegar and all spices.  Pour vinegar mixture over potatoes and toss to coat.  Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer potatoes to prepared baking sheet, reserving the remaining vinegar mixture to use with the pears.  Move baking sheet to oven and roast potatoes 30 minutes, tossing a few times.

While potatoes are roasting, core pears and cut into 1 inch chunks similar in size to the potatoes.  Toss with remaining vinegar and spice mixture.  Add to sweet potatoes and continue to roast 20-25 minutes until both are fork tender and pears have become golden.

Spicy Sautéed Cabbage with Chickpeas and Parmesan

Before I say anything else, I need to apologize for the general horridness of these pictures.  And the fact that there are only three in the entire post.  You see, cabbage really isn't the prettiest thing to be snapping photos of.  Most especially when I haven't even seen natural day light since I've been back from Arizona (sighhh...) and the light in my kitchen isn't even bright enough to scoop my oatmeal out of the pot in the morning.  But I'm not going to be too hard on myself because even the official Bon Appetit picture doesn't look all that appetizing.  And they're professionals.  The fact of the matter is, cabbage just isn't sexy.  And if cabbage is ok with that, then really who are we to try to make it something it isn't?

This was the side to our Valentine's day steak dinner.  Again, cabbage doesn't really fall into the sexy, romantic category, but luckily Ben will eat anything I put in front of his face and doesn't get too annoyed when my reasoning boils down to: "I picked this recipe because then I can blog about it!"  He's pretty cool that way.  He even ate a full serving.

Now, I am a cabbage fan and a recent initiate into the "woohoo! Chickpeas!" club, so my outcome was always going to be a little bias.  But I liked this, although the cabbage didn't crisp up as much as I was thinking it would.  That may have been my faulty assumption or the fact that there was a lot of cabbage in the pan.  Also, It didn't have enough heat for me and I did a heaping quarter teaspoon of the red pepper flakes.  And it makes a lot.  A lot, a lot.  Normally not a big deal, except, as leftovers, it is less than stellar. I have been gussying it up with random combinations of extra Parmesan, fried eggs, sunflower seeds and/or sriracha.  On the first go round, right out of the pan, I was a fan.  Ben was ok with it, and when forced on the issue said he would be fine with eating it again, but would never request it or be particularly excited about it.  And I'm ok with that, because after 3 servings of leftovers, I so understand where he is coming from.  Eventually I want to try it again and work out the few kinks, but only when I have some left over cabbage to rid myself of or something.

So, the moral of the story is, if you randomly have an extra head of cabbage rolling around your produce drawer, this isn't a bad use for it at all.  Just only make as much as you're going to eat and avoid leftovers...

Spicy Sautéed Cabbage with Chickpeas and Parmesan
From Bon Appetit Online, February 2012

I'm giving you the proportions from Bon Appetit, but as referenced above, I would figure out how much you are going to eat and adjust accordingly.

1 head of cabbage, shredded, about 6 cups
2  Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, for seasoning
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 15-oz can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 lemon

Toppings:  (BA suggests only Parmesan, any sort of combination of these would be tasty)
Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
Sunflower Seeds
Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Fried Egg

In very large skillet, or wok, over medium heat, heat oil.  Add cabbage, season with salt and cook.  Stir occasionally, just as needed, until cabbage becomes "crisp-tender", about 8 minutes.  Don't stir too frequently, you want the cabbage to get some color from caramelizing in the pan.  Add garlic and toss, cook a minute longer.  Season with salt.  Add well rinsed chickpeas and 2 tablespoons of water, season with salt, and toss, cooking until water is absorbed and chickpeas are heated through, about 2-3 more minutes.  Season with pepper, red pepper flakes and additional salt if needed, toss and let warm through again 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat, squeeze lemon juice all over and finish with whatever combination of toppings is speaking to you.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing

I have always loved sweet potatoes.  The affair began when I was young, during every Thanksgiving when mom would make her candied yams.  While I'm sure six-year-old Liz only really loved the gooey marshmallow and toasted coconut topping, I now do love the mushy, bright orange underneath too.  I love them mushed, roasted, baked and made into fries.  And I do remember one pop-up video (remember pop up video?) that boasted that eating sweet potatoes increased your chance of having twins.  I've always wanted twins...

Anyways, when I lived in McAllen, I made another sweet potato salad about once a week for over a month.  That recipe, roasted sweet potatoes with black beans and chili dressing, came from a NYT article and has been safely pasted in my big green cookbook for awhile.  And now it is not as lonely on the page, as I wasted no time snipping this recipe out of my October issue of Cooking Light and into my cookbook.

And you know what is truly awesome?  And I really just realized it as I was looking up a link for the sweet potato and black bean salad.  They're both came from the same person.  No shit.  I wouldn't make something like that up.  Both recipes accompanied articles aimed at easing the transistion from lovely and bright summer salads to meaty, yet equally bright, fall salads.  Both written by Mark Bittman, the New York Times famed Minimalist columnist, and a man who obviously likes his sweet potato salads roasted and delicious.  And some how, even though they were published 2 years apart in 2 very different places, these recipes have ended up co-inhabiting the same page of my big green cookbook.  It's a little crazy, and a whole lot of awesome.  

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing
Adapted from October 2011 Cooking Light

2.5 lbs sweet potatoes
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
3/4 c. fresh cranberries
1/4 c. water
2 tsp. honey
1 Tbsp. minced chipotle in adobo sauce
1/4 c. cashews, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Peel and chop sweet potatoes into 2-inch pieces.

On jelly roll plan, spread out sweet potatoes.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 30 minutes, turning potatoes every 10 minutes.

While sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare dressing.  In small sauce pan over medium low heat, combine remaining tablespoon of olive oil, cranberries, water, honey and chipotle chilies.  Mix together and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cranberries pop. Remove from heat and stir until all cranberries have popped and sauce is right consistency.

In large bowl, combine roasted potatoes, chopped cashews, onions and cilantro.  Pour dressing over top and toss gently to coat.  Serve warm.

Note:  Mr. Bittman suggested toasted and chopped pumpkin seeds instead of cashews.  Since I was fresh out of those buggers, I decided to go with cashews over pecans or almonds.  I thought the saltiness would substitute well for pumpkin seeds.  I was a fan!

Garlicky Baked Fries

I kind of love having things to blog about during the week without the stress of trying to orchestrate exciting dinners, take pictures before the sun disappears, be witty and blog and still eat at a decent hour.  All this while trying to maintain an early than the average bear bedtime.  I know cooking dinner isn't supposed to be stressful, but, you know, the opposite.  But unfortunately, these last few weeks, it has been, for whatever reason.  And while I'm trying to get out of my slump, there can't be too much harm in enjoying the non-cooking for one more day, right?

Or, you know, there's always cheating.  Writing bits and pieces of entries whenever I am feeling particularly articulate and clever.  Cooking a new dinner tonight, but not even bothering to think about when I will actually blog about it, although I did smartly take pictures.  Trying to see this more as an enjoyment of my post-work free time rather than a chore.

Isn't it crazy how all of a sudden things become a chore, simply because you have to do them?  I think that's what happened with this here, already, only 40 some-odd posts in.  But now that I actually have two, count it 1-2!, recipes stored up in my backlog, it's as if the weight of the blogosphere has been lifted from my shoulders.  Ok, maybe I exaggerate just a teensy bit, but maybe you also kinda know how I feel too.  When you don't have to cook a new meal each night, suddenly you can't think of wanting to do anything more. 

Anywho, I greatly digress.  But be proud of me.  I only told you about these fries on Sunday and I am already talking about them (sort of...) on Tuesday night!  The fries were good, but as my fair warning, you must love garlic to like these fries.  If you don't mind garlic odors seeping from your pores all night and into the next morning, as Ben so kindly pointed out to me on Saturday morning, you may need to steer clear.  Or at least warn your significant other.  But I liked them.  They hit that spot in your stomach that only a warm potato, be it mashed, fried or baked, can hit.  Being oven fries, they did lack the crispiness that their deep fried cousins sport, but you'll only miss it a little.  And they truly were wonderfully garlicky, a bit spiced from the added cayenne and the leftovers made a wonderful hash brown sort of deal when fried up for Sunday morning breakfast.  All in all, not a bad deal.  But don't say I didn't warn you if your dearest tries his best to leave in the morning and not to kiss you good bye!

Garlicky Baked Fries
Inspired by Bon Appetit August 2011's San Francisco Garlic Fries

2-3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
3 1/2 Tbsp. Canola Oil, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper (depending on your heat level)
4 cloves garlic, minced well

Preheat oven to 450°. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet or casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Slice Potatoes into fry length, being consistant with size.  A mandolin will help with this, just, as always, be careful around the sharp blade.  Toss potato slices with 2 and 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl and season with salt and cayenne. Arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheet/dish.

 

Roast potatoes, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes, until fork tendered and brown. Set oven to broil.  Broil potatoes for 2-3 minutes, turn potatoes than broil a few minutes more.  Combine remaining tablespoon of oil and garlic in large bowl.  Add hot fries and toss to coat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Corn Bread with Dried Cranberries

Hey.  Drop that.  And drop that.  No, seriously, drop everything and get your sweet little butt into the kitchen.  You need to make this.  Make this immediately.  And eat it warm.  And then even try to tell me you aren't in love with it.  I bet you can't.

It all started innocently enough.  I was reading the cookbook I bought for myself in my end-of-tax-season celebration and I saw something that would use some of the leftover buttermilk I had in my fridge.  And sure, it called for dried blueberries, but why couldn't I use the handful of dried cranberries I still had in my pantry, purchased on my very first Greenville Costco trip.



If all I needed to buy was a bag of good yellow corn meal, I was in.  And lucky for you, it all came about. 

This cornbread is delicious.  It came out of the oven and I really tried to imagine not cutting it and eating it immediately.  See, it's traveling with me to Terre Haute, IN this weekend, and I figured it'd be sweet to bring it whole.  But then I realized, in the name of food blogs everywhere, it was my duty and my honor to taste it if I was going to blog about it.  And that's my defense.  Granted, there are no excuses for the second and third I went back for.  But no one has to know about those. 

 
It was by the sheer grace of God that I managed to wrap the rest of it up in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  I did double layers to discourage any trickle of an idea that I could just unwrap it for another slice.  My second choice was to hide it somewhere.  Which may explain why it's already packed into my suitcase.

Ben was trying to guess what it was that I'm bringing this weekend.  Spoil the boy as I have, he is no longer surprised that I bring something homecooked, something usually sweet.  Not telling him what I'm bringing is the only element of surprise I have left.  The only hints I gave him was that in contained both butter and deliciousness.  And really, what else do you really need to know?

Two quick notes: when the butter is melting in the pan in the oven, watch it like a hawk.  It'll go from sizzling to burnt quick.  Also, when you pour the batter into the pan, some of that melted butter will come up the sides and on to the top.  I was worried about it, but as far as I can tell, didn't effect the beauty or pure deliciousness of the corn bread.  Guten Appetit! 

Corn Bread with Dried Cranberries

Adapted from The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook

4 Tbsp. (60 g.) unsalted butter
2/3 c. (105 g.) yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
2/3 c. (105 g.) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (250 ml )buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 c. (60 g.) dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (190 degree C).

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt 2 Tbsp. of butter and set aside.  Cut up the remaining 2 tbsp. butter into a 9-inch round cake pan.  Place pan in oven until it is hot and the butter is melted and sizzling, about 3 minutes (Watch!)  Using oven mitts, rotate the pan as need to coat bottom evenly with melted butter.  Remove from oven. 

In large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Make a well in the center.  Pour in buttermilk, melted butter and beaten egg.  Using a wooden spoon, mix the batter just until it comes together, it's ok to have some lumps.  Do a quick chop of the cranberries and stir them in.  Spread batter evenly into the hot pan. 

Bake at 375 until "the top springs back when pressed gently in the center", about 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.  Best served warm.

German Potato Salad

Oh, what to do on a sunny, cloudless 80 degree day in Southern Carolina?  With a sky super blue and a whole afternoon full of nothing to do?  Why, silly, you bar-b-que!  I do love it when I accidentally rhyme.  Ok, I admit, that last one was somewhat forced.  I just couldn't resist.

Speaking of not being able to resist, may I introduce you German Potato Salad?  After volunteering at an outside work event this morning, us in the younger crowd decided to host our own celebratory cookout with a significantly smaller beer line and a few games of cornhole.

And what this event afforded me was the first opportunity of the summer to make a recipe that's been in my big green cookbook since the very first day.  A recipe that I love to bring to cookouts and picnics.  That is great because just when you think it looks and will taste just like normal potato salad, that is when the vinegar and the mustard hit you.  That's right, a potato salad with no mayonnaise.  Another reason why it's perfect for cookouts and picnics.

I discovered this the summer I lived in Providence and made it for a fourth of July party, where might I say, it was devoured with rave reviews.  And it really isn't that much of a hassle, probably because I cheat in several places.  The recipe calls for brown mustard seeds and I'm too lazy to do a special shopping trip for another new bottle of spice.  The recipe calls to peel the potatoes after you boil them, I cut them up and if the skins fall off, they fall off.  And if not, they go into the bowl.  I tell myself they add some much needed color.  And today, laziness of all lazinesses, I used Costco bacon bits instead of making crumbles from fresh bacon.  In my defense, they are shockingly yummy and are made from "100% Real Bacon" that's been "Naturally Smoked".  Can you blame me?

It was a cookout with some amazing burgers (thank you Mark), corn on the cob, German Potato Salad and lots of sun.  And all that equals a full, happy stomach and a nice little tan.  Happy Summer Ya'll!

German Potato Salad

From My Big Green Cookbook

2 1/2 lbs. red potatoes
1/4 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces (I used a little less than a cup of my crumbled goodness...)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1 tsp. mustard (I just doubled this and dumped the seeds)
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped (opps, I dumped this too!!)
Paprika, to taste

Place potatoes in large saucepan.  If some are much larger, cut so all are similarly sized.  Add enough water to boil.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce hear and simmer, uncovered, 20 to 30 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender (don't over cook).  Drain completely and let potatoes cool.  Peel potatoes (hehe...) and cut into 1/4-inch pieces.

While potatoes are cooking, cook bacon in medium skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Remove from pan with slotted spoon.  Crumble and set aside.

In same pan, add onion and cook in bacon drippings until tender.

Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, mustard seeds and mustard and whisk together.  Put potatoes, bacon, onion in large bowl.  Pour dressing over and toss until well coated.  Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with paprika.  Serve hot or cold (yum... warm...)

Broccoli with Garlic and Ginger

Today was one of those days at work where I had a lot of free mental ability to day dream about my supper all day long.  Yesterday, I spent some time walking around Trader Joe’s to see what new things I could find.  Among scoring a red wine named Cocobon (that promised strong hints of mocha) for only $6.99, I also got a bag of frozen pot stickers.  I remembered hearing that Trader Joe’s version was especially delicious; I just couldn’t remember who told me….  I can now agree though, they are especially delicious.

To go with my pot stickers, I decided to finally break into the Chinese cookbook I got for Christmas, Quick & Easy Chinese, by Nancie McDermott.  I went with an easy vegetable recipe for a side, aptly named Broccoli with garlic and ginger.  I had broccoli and it was already cut up and I cooked it in the same pan as the pot stickers.  (My life is much happier now that I’ve gotten into the habit of prepping/cutting up my fruits and veggies when I get home from shopping).

It started with some ginger and garlic sautéing in oil, to which you add the broccoli and cook it until it’s pretty and green. Soon after that, I threw in 2 tablespoons of chicken stock and had to back away for a second as smoke billowed.  If you do make this, make sure your oven vent is up and working.  The last step is to toss it all with a little bit of sesame oil.  It ends up vibrant and green and still a little bit crunchy.  And the ginger was fresh and almost lemony.  Is ginger lemony?  Anyways, it went perfect with the pot stickers and a little bit of korean bbq sauce I got at the Asian supermarket down the street.  The whole dinner took 20 minutes.  And it was good.  Even with all the anticipation that had built up over the work day. 

Here's the recipe, slightly different than the print (from quick & easy chinese, by Nancie McDermott):

BROCCOLI with garlic and ginger
Adapted from Quick & Easy Chinese, by Nancie McDermott

2 tbsp. canola oil

1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. salt (which I just realized I forgot!  opps...)
2 medium heads of broccoli
2 tbsp. chicken broth (says you could also use water)
Small drizzle of sesame oil

Heat wok or large deep skillet over high heat.  Add oil and swirl to coat pan.

Add ginger, garlic and salt (if you haven't forgotten it yet).  Saute for 30 seconds and then add broccoli.  Toss, and keep tossing, until broccoli is vivid and green, just starting to wilt.  (~1 min)

Add water/broth, pouring in around sides of the pan.  Cook 2-3 minutes more, tossing every now and them until broccoli is "brilliant green and tender but still pleasingly crisp".

Add sesame oil, toss well and then serve hot/warm!