Ate last night at Jai’s Contemporary Fusion Cuisine, a real foodie place. Great food.
Olives, paneer, pimento pepper, spicy aioli
Sweet & Salty Naan: pistachio caramel & mozzarella cheese
Pan Seared Duck Breast: cilantro chimichurri, orange-coriander glaze, black garlic oil
Tofu Kofta: cashew, potato, cardamon
Two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc.
We each ordered an appetizer and a main and shared everything. Great meal! The naan was strange but good.
Cold weather is when I always crave hearty soup. Gave Mrs. D her choice, she opted for the potato & leek soup with bacon & ham. Other option was Giada’s winter minestrone, which is wonderful, though I use bacon instead of pancetta. Nevertheless, fed us for the week, and was welcome in the frigid temps.
Think split pea soup with ham will end up on the menu tonight, and for the week.
I ended up making hot and sour soup, with ground pork added to it. Froze most of it, but there is enough in the fridge for dinner either tomorrow or Sunday.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup was yesterday’s dinner. I’m in the midst of covid rebound and have little energy or motivation to make anything complicated.
Gives me a reason to start to use up what’s in the pantry (what my daughter calls my WWIII stash).
Lunch. Richard and Lourdes at Gutside fed us well. They are a wonderful couple in their sixties who have a restaurant serving lunch only, on days they feel like working.
Stewed conchs, rice&peas, veggies, plantains.
Another whole snapper. Very good, but curious what the greens are under the fish. Richard is a practicing herbalist. I had some minor GI issues, but after have felt great. I assume he fed me what he thought I needed (he has before).
This isn’t what you’d call authentic, but pretty easy to make and we like it. And of course you can chuck whatever vegetables in it you want.
Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup
8 cups chicken broth, low- or no-sodium
1 pound ground pork
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
Fresh sage to taste (or use 1 tsp. dried)
1 or 2 TB butter (or use a little sesame oil if you prefer)
Portobello mushroom caps, sliced
Pepper to taste
1 small head green cabbage, cored and thinly shredded (use half if you have a larger one)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup Szechwan sauce
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
About 4 oz. fresh spinach, chopped.
Crumble ground pork into a large frying pan. Add the green onions and pepper (use no or very little salt at this stage) and cook until the pork is browned and the onions are soft. Add the garlic and the sage and stir until fragrant, one minute or so. Drain and set aside.
Add the butter to the same pan and allow to bubble. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute until cooked through. Set aside.
Pour chicken stock into a large pot and heat to simmering. Add the pork and cabbage; once the pot comes back to simmering, set timer for 20 minutes. Test the cabbage about halfway through – if the texture is getting close to desired, add the ginger, vinegar, and Szechwan sauce and stir to combine. When there’s about 5 minutes left in the cooking time, add the mushrooms, corn and sprouts. Finish with the spinach. When it is wilted and incorporated, take off the heat.
I don’t have the cabbage but I have the fresh ginger root. I don’t usually but I was making something else and it’s left over. I think I’ll have to try that, winter is when I eat soup the most.
Just the House of Tsang Spicy Szechuan Stir-Fry Sauce, which I think just about any grocery store has. The main ingredient in pretty much all of them is soy sauce.
I haven’t made my chili in ages and was a little nervous about whether I could remember the recipe or not, but I made a pot full and it was yummy. I shared with my daughter and her husband and they said it was very good. So yay me! Plus it fed me for 3 days so it helps me with my budget as well.
