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)

Cucumber Salad with Red Wine Vinegar

I wanted to make a cucumber salad that didn't involve having to salt and wait and squeeze out the water from the cucumbers, and decided to give this one a try.

Notes:

• I didn't read the directions and just mixed everything together right away and it tasted fine.
• Served with Stuck Pot Rice and Lentils, Spiced Beef Meatballs, and garlic-lemon yogurt and it was fantastic.
  

Verdict: Simple and clean flavors, and I think it would go well with lots of things. Definitely keeping it around for another time.

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RECIPE: Cucumber Salad (Marcia Kiesel/Food & Wine Magazine)

Corn Salad with Chile and Lime

This was one of those recipes that caught me in the right place at the right time. I saw it and immediately went out to buy the ingredients to make it.

Notes:

• I used my broiler to char the corn and it took maybe 7-10 minutes.
• I used feta cheese since I couldn't find cotija.
  
• I served it with marinated grilled/pan fried chicken.
  

Verdict: This was INCREDIBLY GOOD and I will absolutely be making it again, especially in August when the corn here is at its best.

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RECIPE: Corn Salad with Chile and Lime (Smitten Kitchen)

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Recording this so that I remember that I tried it.

I had been wanting to try this recipe for a very long time, and finally got around to it. I was really underwhelmed though, and not just because I'd been waiting forever to try it. Maybe with premium ingredients it would have been better since it's so simple, but I'm not sure I'll go to the trouble again. Even Smitten Kitchen has a few duds I guess.

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RECIPE: Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (Smitten Kitchen)

Basic Brownies

Wanted brownies very suddenly and decided to make these on account of how quickly they are supposed to come together.

Notes:

• Threw a splash of clear imitation vanilla extract in there to really get them to taste like box mix brownies (this is the ONE thing about brownies from a mix that I just really love even if I know it's kinda trashy).
  

Verdict: A nice basic brownie that's very easy to make, and really similar to ones I've been missing. Next time I want to try them with chocolate icing and chopped walnuts on top for an exact copycat of the ones I can't buy anymore.

Edit 5/5/23: I made these again and loved them just as much as the first time. I also used them as the base of a brownie sundae (with vanilla ice cream, homemade hot fudge sauce, bourbon soaked cocktail cherries). God tier snacking.

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RECIPE: My Favorite Brownies (Smitten Kitchen)

Brown Soda Bread Scones

I read Smitten Kitchen's Castle Breakfast post and *had* to try these.

Notes:

• I could not find a coarse wholemeal flour in my store so I used the whole wheat flour/wheat germ/wheat bran mix she suggests. She says it should come out to 145 g but unfortunately she didn't include weights for each individual ingredient in the mix, so I weighed them myself:
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour = 75g
• 3/4 cup wheat germ = 55g
• 1/4 cup wheat bran = 15g
• I have used coarsely ground oatmeal to make up part of the wholemeal flour substitute mixture when I didn't have enough of everything and it worked all right. I think as long as it's not the majority of the mixture it should be OK.
• I made a buttermilk substitute. (To make 1 cup, put 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, fill with milk to 1 cup, and let stand for about 10 minutes to thicken a bit.) I did not need to add extra. I also used Greek yogurt thinned with water a couple of times but the dough ended up a lot thicker and the breads were not quite done in the middle so you may want to cook it for longer, or make sure the consistency of the thinned yogurt is fairly liquid.
  

Verdict: Quick, easy, and delicious, and the absolute perfect vehicle for jam, especially a homemade jam. They reminded me of the oatmeal soda bread I've made before. I will be making these again, both because I like them and because I now have big bags of all three of the components for the wholemeal flour substitute.

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RECIPE: Brown Soda Bread Scones (Smitten Kitchen)

Chicken Andouille Sausage and Rice Skillet

I bought andouille chicken sausage and then remembered I didn't actually know what it tastes like, so I went looking for a recipe that sounded good and landed on this.

Notes/changes:

• Used fresh chopped tomato instead of bell peppers and basmati rice instead of regular long grain white rice.
• I didn't have tomato paste so I used tomato salsa (weird I know, but it was the closest thing I had with similar flavors to the final thing)
  
• Added 1 tsp more cajun seasoning (Penzeys makes a nice blend), and 1 extra cup of broth because it did not seem like enough liquid to cook the rice. (The ratio was 1 rice:1 liquid in this recipe and the overwhelming majority of rice recipes use 1:1.5 or 1:2).
  
• The rice was not cooked after 4-5 minutes (more cooked than I expected it to be, but definitely not done). I ended up cooking it for a total of 13-15 minutes.

Verdict: It was decent (I really liked the flavors) but I kind of want to try it again with tomato paste to see if that intensifies the flavor a little bit.

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RECIPE: One Pot Andouille Sausage & Rice Skillet (Gilbert's Craft Sausages)