Chinese Style Tomato and Egg Stir Fry

A coworker who came to study in the U.S. from China sometimes brings this to work for lunch, and she made it sound so comforting and tasty that I wanted to try it for myself. It's apparently a very popular home cooked dish in China, and can be eaten for any meal of the day.

Notes:

• I ended up using garlic chives from my garden because I didn't have any scallions in the house at the time I had all the other ingredients.
• I used freshly picked summer tomatoes and I imagine that's what this tastes best with.
• I do not have a wok so I used a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.
  

Verdict: It was quick, easy, and satisfying. It strikes me as a late summer version of Niratama Donburi, which I love. I would happily make and eat this again.

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RECIPE: Chinese Tomato Egg Stir Fry (The Woks of Life)

Crispy Rice and Egg Bowl with Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette

Another recipe I saw a picture of, thought it looked and sounded really good, and realized I had everything I needed to make it so I got right on it.

Notes:

• I used brown rice instead of white and shredded cabbage instead of cucumber because it's what I had on hand.
  

Verdict: Absolutely wonderful. The ginger scallion sauce reminds me of a condiment at a restaurant I have been sorely missing. I would love to make this again the next time I find myself with fresh ginger.

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RECIPE: Crispy Rice and Egg Bowl with Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette (Smitten Kitchen)

French Toast Casserole

I watched this Basics With Babish video recently and got really hungry for French toast, plus realized I'd never had French toast bake before. We were also needing to get groceries, so we got all the ingredients to make it the very next day.

Notes:

• I used a mix of 2% milk and half-and-half instead of whole milk in the custard.
  

Verdict: Absolutely loved it. It's not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but my goodness it is magical, and smells as good as it tastes. Any morning you'd make this would feel like Christmas morning, presents or not.

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RECIPE: French Toast Casserole (Binging With Babish)

Egg Drop Soup

I felt like having an Asian style soup and remembered that my host mother in Japan would occasionally make egg drop soup. I had never felt like trying the stuff in Chinese restaurants because it looked too unnaturally yellow and I was always a little skeeved out by all the wispy bits, and who knows how long it had been sitting there. My host mom's soup had wakame seaweed and green onions in it, and the colors looked normal. It was delicious. Since living in her home I had tried to make it several times and it didn't turn out that well -- the texture of the eggs can be difficult to get right. I know you can buy just-add-water packets of egg soup at the Asian grocery store, but that's not going to have the correct egg texture either. Fast forward to now, where I was feeling like trying again, and I got it right!

Notes:

• Green onion/scallion, wakame, and shiitake mushrooms are common additions but feel free to add others or subtract to your liking.
• I used powdered dried ginger instead of fresh (about 1/4 tsp).
• The recipe calls for chicken broth but you can use dashi broth instead for a more Japanese twist, or a mild tasting vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian.
• I served it with rice.
• The directions for cooking the eggs were really helpful in getting the correct texture. You want the soup to BARELY be moving. Stir it and then wait for the circular motion to slow down a bit before you pour the eggs in.

Verdict: It was satisfying, healthy, quick, and easy to make. I will definitely be keeping this one around for future use!

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RECIPE: Egg Drop Soup

Tea Parties Vol. 4: The Prosecco Party

It had been nearly 2 years since my last tea party and I sorely needed to change that. For this party I went for an English high tea structure to the meal but with some fancy twists. Cucumber sandwiches, but Korean inspired. Chickpea salad instead of chicken or egg (bonus: vegetarians can eat it). Smoked salmon with lots of fresh vegetables. Plain scones, something of a rarity in America. Tiny desserts that taste as great as they look.

This was my first time having the party on Saturday instead of Sunday, and I normally work weekdays, so that meant preparing most of the food Friday evening after a full day of work plus Saturday morning. I am hashtag blessed to have awesome friends who came to help at both times. I significantly underestimated the amount of work this would involve, and I could not have gotten all this food made in time alone. Previously I asked people to arrive at noon but I quickly discovered I'm never actually ready to start then. Starting the party an hour later made a LOT of difference.

The schedule stars finally aligned for my sister to make it to one of these parties, and she let me dress her up! I have the same dress in two different colors and I put together matching outfits for us that didn't require a ton of hair/makeup preparation. It made me extra happy and I think she had fun.

We had 9 people this time, our largest group ever. Despite my best intentions, no actual tea was served (!) We started with sparkling wine and just never switched. Therefore, it was a prosecco party and not a tea party. We went through wayyy more than I thought we would but all the people I asked to bring sparkling wine did, and even some that I didn't ask! ha.

My husband threw on a city pop livestream neither of us had heard before, and it ended up being an incredible gem! It's good background music for frantic cooking working and we decided to just keep it on for the party too. Have a listen if you're into jazz, funk, disco, pop, and reggae from the 70s and 80s! He also took some fun photos to remember the afternoon.

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RECIPES

• SAVORIES
• Focaccia Sandwiches for a Crowd (Smitten Kitchen) -- I used this as the bread for all the sandwiches because I really, really wanted to try it ever since I found it several months ago. It was pretty easy to make and tasted quite good too! I did the quickest rising option, and it took a little more than 25 minutes to bake in my oven. I'd definitely consider making it again if I need to make a large amount of sandwiches where I also want to make my own bread and have enough advance time to make it.
• Korean Style Cucumber Sandwiches with Gochujang Mayo (Gather and Dine) -- we made a chicken version and vegetarian version with dry fried tofu (marinated after dry frying), and I think I like the tofu one a little better since it stayed together better and was a little more salty. The gochujang mayo was really tasty but some found it a little too spicy, so maybe I will dial it back next time. They fall apart easily so maybe keeping the chicken in larger pieces would work better if I made them again.
• Smoked Salmon Sandwiches -- Sarah made these completely differently from how I would have but they did taste pretty good. She blended the cream cheese and salmon and dill with some lemon juice, spread it on a big piece of the focaccia, cut it into squares and then we garnished each with a slice of radish and cucumber.
• Curried Chickpea Salad (She Likes Food) -- Paula made this so I don't have any notes other than that I might have chopped the celery and apple a little smaller than she did, but it significantly exceeded my expectations and I am looking forward to making it again! It's a good balance of curry flavor, creaminess, and sweetness, and it stays together nicely if you mash some of the beans really thoroughly but keep others in large pieces. A keeper for sure.
• Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs -- for something without bread. This is my personal recipe, so of course I love it. Andrea and Paula prepared the eggs and filling the night before. Caroline stuffed the eggs in the morning and arranged them beautifully with some butter lettuce and sweet peppers from my work colleague's farm share.
• SCONES
• English Style Scones -- Sarah made these the morning of the tea party while I was asleep. She was not impressed with the recipe, and she makes a lot of scones, but I personally liked them. I served them with clotted cream (the Whole Foods in my city sells it), homemade strawberry freezer jam (pick yourself some strawberries and follow the recipe in the Sure-Jell Reduced Sugar Pectin box), and homemade lemon curd (from a frozen batch I made a couple of years ago so I don't remember which recipe I used). Oddly I feel like they tasted better (less bitter) the next day. I'd love to try making them myself.
• SWEETS
• Persian Love Cake (Broma Bakery) -- HOLY CRAP this was delicious. I have a separate entry on it since I did 95% of the preparation and have a lot of (happy) thoughts on it. I absolutely want to make this again.
• Chocolate Ganache Mini Tarts (Bon Appetit) -- I decorated them with edible gold glitter and fresh raspberries instead of the halvah and sesame salt. I will look for a different ganache recipe next time. My ganache did not fully set even after being refrigerated for many hours. The tart shells rolled out and baked nicely but tasted kind of bitter, though they did taste better the next day. I think if they were a little sweeter they'd have been perfect. It made 21 tart shells.
• Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies -- a favorite of mine but with a new challenge: we rolled out the dough and cut them into large (2.5-3 inch) hearts, and were sparing with the filling so they wouldn't slide apart. It made about 4.5 dozen (54) hearts, enough for 27 sandwiches, with extra filling left over. I put about 1 cup more powdered sugar in the filling than the recipe called for and I think between that and the small amount of filling inside the cookies it actually set somewhat after being chilled in the refrigerator. I like these better as small, thick cookies with more filling. If I do make them heart shaped again, I will get a smaller cutter. I also think a firmer filling is the way to go and will continue to work on adjusting the recipe so it is firm but still has enough bright, fresh lemon flavor.

Other things we served that were not made from scratch:

• Sparkling wine (mostly prosecco, some rose)

THE TEA PARTIES

• Vol. 3: An End of Summer Feast
• Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up
• Vol. 1: A Birthday Party, and Being Unapologetically Yourself

Baked Spanish Tortilla

Today's adventure in cooking is brought to you by A Clean Bake and leftover roasted thyme and onion potatoes.

Spanish tortilla (tortilla española, a potato and onion omelet) is something I grew into liking. My first experience with it was parties in my high school Spanish classes. It was not made in a particularly traditional way (the onions were barely cooked and they used frozen hash brown potatoes) and maybe that's why I wasn't into it. To be fair, it would have been difficult to cook it properly in a classroom, and I think it can be difficult even with the proper equipment.

I think I finally started making it for myself when I made a vegetarian friend and wanted to cook things for her, and decided to try this out because I had all the ingredients on hand. Sometimes I doubt that it will taste good, and every time it manages to prove me wrong. Spanish tortilla may be simple, but it is most definitely good.

Notes/changes:

• Grease the baking dish well. I had trouble removing it and washing the dish afterward.
• It might sound like a lot of olive oil to you but do not be afraid. It gives a rich, satisfying flavor to the entire dish.
• I like to cook the onions until they're pretty soft rather than just translucent, because I like how sweet they get.
• I started with cooked potatoes so I didn't cook those on the stove before putting them into the oven.
• I like to sprinkle some smoked paprika on the top of the finished dish just before serving. Probably not traditional, but it's pretty and tasty.
• This goes really well with green salad for a meal.

Verdict: Baking it was a nice change, even if I had trouble getting it out of the pan. If I'm making a small serving of it I'll probably continue to cook it on the stove but this is a good way to cook a lot of it.

RECIPE: Baked Spanish Tortilla

Quiche, Infinitely Adaptable

My mother-in-law does not cook from scratch very often but even she has influenced my cooking. She got me into making quiche. She made one on a Sunday morning while she was visiting. My attempts up to the point I had hers were really time consuming and didn't taste all that great, so I was convinced I didn't like quiche. Turns out I was just making it a lot harder than it needed to be. While she used store bought pie crust, hers didn't have boatloads of cream as I assumed quiche needed to have (a pleasant surprise since I don't like adding milk or cream to my scrambled eggs), and it came together quickly and tasted great, especially for how little time was spent on it.

Sure enough, a few weeks after her visit, I got a hankering for quiche. I still wanted to make my own crust but didn't want to make my standard pie crust. I found this quick one with ingredients I already had that you press into the pan instead of rolling it out, and added some ham, vegetables, and cheese I had kicking around my fridge. Again, it was easy and tasty. I make these regularly now because they're so adaptable and great for a meal any time of the day, and they're a great meal to clean out the fridge (especially during CSA season, haha). My recipe is below.

The quiche pictured above contains (cooked) bacon, chopped spinach  (frozen, thawed and drained well), sauteed yellow onion, scallions, and goat cheese.

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RECIPE:

Quiche, Infinitely Adaptable

Crust:
1 cup (115g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup (50g) olive oil or canola oil
1/4 cup (53g) very cold water

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place flour and salt in a bowl and mix briefly with a fork to combine. Make a well in the center of the flour. Pour oil and water into the well. Mix the oil and the water briefly, then gradually incorporate the flour and salt. Press into a 9-inch (23 cm) diameter pie plate. Bake for about 5-7 minutes until the surface begins to dry out a bit. Let cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
7-8 large eggs
A total of 4-5 cups fillings of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces*
Salt and black pepper to taste

*Suggested fillings: ham, cooked bacon, sausage, spinach, kale, broccoli, mushrooms, sauteed onions, scallions, bell peppers, tomatoes, grated/crumbled/cubed cheese that melts and isn't too strongly flavored (Swiss, cheddar, chevre, Gouda, feta), fresh herbs (parsley, chives), red pepper flakes. If you would usually cook the ingredient before adding it to your eggs, cook it before adding to the quiche filling mixture. If using frozen vegetables, thaw and squeeze as much water as you can out of them first (especially important with leafy vegetables like spinach). If the ingredients are especially salty (like feta cheese), you may not need to add any salt to the filling mixture. If using grated cheese, save some to sprinkle over the top of the filling so that it gets browned and crunchy, yum.

Crack eggs into a bowl and beat lightly, until just mixed. Add fillings, salt, and pepper to the bowl and mix gently to combine. Pour filling mixture into the parbaked crust and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is no longer wobbly and almost no liquid comes out when a knife is inserted and removed from the center. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm, with a shake or two of hot sauce if desired. Leftovers can be refrigerated.

Niratama Donburi (Garlic Chive Omelet Over Rice)

I spent a school year studying abroad in Japan in college, and one of the most profound impacts it had on my life was expanding my food horizons. Between the wildly different food culture and watching my host mother while she cooked meals, I learned a lot about Japanese food but also other kinds of Asian food. Donburi (a bowl of rice with a topping, usually a protein and vegetables) quickly became a favorite of mine. They are served both in restaurants and at home, and the variations are endless.

I began growing garlic chives (nira) in my garden in 2010, and as they proliferated I began to wonder what I could do with them besides chop small amounts to garnish dishes with. I tried a few recipes but they were all kind of labor intensive for what the end result was. I gave up for a while and the chives continued to grow.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, when I was browsing Namiko Chen's Just One Cookbook, when I found her Niratama Donburi recipe. I really like eating eggs and rice together, and it would use up a significant amount of my chives at once, and be relatively quick and easy, so I gave it a try.

It is quick, filling, and satisfying. The savory flavors work really nicely together. I am so pleased. It is one of my go-to recipes for a quick meal when I have chives in the garden.

To make this recipe work the best it can, use a bowl-shaped/wok like pan rather than one with a wide/flat bottom, be sure your pan is hot enough before you try to cook the egg mixture, and do not try to reduce the amount of oil. The puffy texture of the egg you want is from it cooking in enough oil to essentially deep fry.

Some substitutions/variations/additions I have tried:

• Brown short grain rice, and white or brown jasmine rice. I personally have come to love the texture of brown rices, so if you like it in other applications, you'll probably like it here too.
• Sauteed leek instead of garlic chives when I was really desperate. It's a little sweeter and less visually appealing, not quite as good but scratched the itch. Green onions or regular chives would probably be too sharp unless you significantly reduced the amount.
• Drizzling sesame oil and/or soy sauce over the top of the finished dish.

RECIPE: Niratama Donburi

Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs

I did not warm up to deviled eggs until I was an adult because I was grossed out by mayonnaise until my teens, and too much mayonnaise can ruin food for me so I needed time to learn how much was too much for me, but I love them now. They are a great picnic food, and people get really excited about them at parties!

Deviled eggs are one of those things that everyone has their own way of making and thinks theirs is the best, probably because anyone who makes them regularly tailors their recipe to how they personally like to eat them. It's not necessarily a contest, it's about finding what you like! I love their versatility. I've developed my own recipe emphasizing what I love in a deviled egg:

• Simple: so as to let the egg flavor shine, and also because I am lazy. Gudetama would approve.
• Minimal mayonnaise: just enough to stick everything together. This makes the filling quite thick as deviled eggs go, and not necessarily pretty or easy to pipe (unless you make a lot of them at once) but it tastes good and has a nice deep yellow color. Quality is important here. I like to use Kewpie mayonnaise because I keep it on hand and I love its rich, eggy flavor. You can get it at bigger Asian grocery stores.
• Dijon mustard instead of yellow: I do not like yellow mustard so I use a mild Dijon mustard instead. Maille is my very favorite but it can be hard to find where I live; Grey Poupon or Emeril's brand works well too.
• Smoky flavor: Paprika is a common topping for deviled eggs. I love smoky flavor with my deviled eggs so I use Spanish smoked paprika. Evokes bacon without the work of cooking bacon or excluding vegetarians from eating delicious deviled eggs.
• A little spicy: If you like smoky AND spicy food, you can use dried ground chipotle (chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeño peppers!) instead of or in addition to the smoked paprika for an extra kick; Penzey's sells a nice one for my mild-end-of-medium spicy tolerance.

One of my former coworkers, Maria, served deviled eggs in a simple but absolutely beautiful fashion for a work potluck once, and I will include some instructions for it here because I am normally terrible at presentation but this is something I can handle.

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RECIPE:

Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs
By The Matcha Chronicles
Makes 12; serves 3-4 people as an appetizer

6 eggs, the best quality you can find, refrigerator temperature
2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried parsley
A sprinkle of onion powder (the tiniest bit, so you can taste it but it doesn't make everything taste like onion)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
Smoked paprika and/or ground dried chipotle pepper, for garnish

For serving, if you're feeling fancy and/or want vegetables to eat with the eggs:
Green leaf lettuce or butter lettuce leaves
Fresh sweet peppers (red/orange/yellow), either cut into strips or finely diced


Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Add enough cold tap water to cover eggs. Place pan on burner and set heat to high. Heat to almost-rolling boil. Take pan off heat and let sit 18 minutes. Meanwhile, fill bowl with cold water and ice. Transfer eggs to the bowl of ice water after 18 minutes to halt cooking.

Once eggs are cooled to room temperature (about 10-15 minutes), peel them under cold running water. Cut each boiled egg in half lengthwise and gently push the underside of each half to pop out the yolks into a small bowl. Place egg whites on a plate or leave on the cutting board. Add mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mash everything together, breaking up the yolks with a fork, then switching to a spoon after the mixture is fairly smooth. Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the indent of each egg white. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and/or chipotle powder.

For serving: Place the lettuce leaves on a plate. If you cut your peppers in strips: scatter them over the lettuce. Arrange the deviled eggs between the pepper strips. If you diced them finely: Arrange the deviled eggs on top of the lettuce, then top the deviled eggs with a little bit of the diced peppers.