Cooking: Pancit Luglug

I used to be embarrassed by the reduplication in Filipino words. A son named Bongbong? What the hell with such a weird sound and why? And yet, I'm calling my dog Sa(y)Sa(y) instead of Sadie, and now my husband even knows the Filipino word for underarm, which is kilikili. Lately, I've been longing to cook Luglug, a Kapampangan dish, which means to rinse or wash--I think specifically to shake and shake again so that the cornstarch noodles shed all the water that you've soaked and boiled them in so that they separate before topping it with the pork and annatto gravy and shrimp and hardboiled egg, sprinkled with crushed chicharrones and chopped scallions and fried garlic bits and then squeezing calamansi, a Philippine lime or lemon before chowing down.

I had trekked a couple weekends ago to Seafood City to pick up ground pork and the specialty noodles and annatto. And found the annatto as well as a spice packet (I bought both just in case my first attempt to make the dish from scratch was a fail) for the dish and Calamansi citrus. And laid it all out into a mise en place when I was ready to cook along with chopped scallions, poached shrimp, and some hardboiled heirloom eggs.

I saw online that the recipe called for fried garlic as a garnish. I already had declined to buy the tinapa or smoked fish as an additional garnish for the dish. But I suppose I had to if I was gonna try to recreate the flavors. I had also asked a grocery clerk where the shrimp bouillon was and told they were out, and so I asked, well if I boiled shrimp shells, that would be the same thing right? "Oh that would be the best mam!" He even walked me to the seafood aisle of shrimp pastes and dried fish to assist me with the gathering of ingredients for my pancit luglug. And so I had to fry my minced garlic. And make shrimp stock from the shrimp shells of the shellfish that I just poached. I also thought I should chop an onion to sauté with the ground pork. Flavor after all is key. I also took out my fish sauce to add to the pork.

And then as I was heating a pan to sauté the onions and the pork, after I had browned the garlic and crushed the chicharrones, I remembered the noodles. Oh wow. The noodles need to soak for 10 minutes (I probably went 3 minutes longer) and then boil for 10 minutes.

And I might have boiled the noodles longer than 10 minutes because I didn't boil them like Italian pasta where I plunge the dry pasta into boiling water, but brought them to boil in the same water in which they soaked.

And I noticed too that yeah you need to shake shake shake shake the noodles a lot as well as break them up with your fingers in order to separate them and not be a sticky mass.

I assembled my neighbor, Cecilia's dish first, hurriedly slicing hard boiled eggs and calamansi limes. And then laid the noodles down on my own dish for my dinner.

I tasted my gravy and was surprised by the smoky fish flavor. I guess there's tinapa already dehydrated and ground up into the spice packet. I debated adding more annatto to the sauce to make it more orangey. But no time. After the pork, the shrimp. And then removed the shrimp because I needed to sprinkle chicharrones and scallions first.

And then artfully as possible arranged quartered longwise slices of hardboiled egg and halved Calamansi.

If you use a spice packet like I did this first time around, you don't need to do the extra step of flaking and garnishing your dish with tinapa. I also am okay without the smoked fish flavor.

Filipinos eat, if not scooping rice into their hands, with a fork and spoon, and so that's how I laid out my utensils. Again I'm not sure if I like the smoked fish flavor. I'll have to cook it again and discover my palate for this dish because it didn't seem to taste like my mom's.

Salt Crocks and Food Porn

I’ve been on kick in the ceramic studio, making crocks.                          

A crock for Sichuan peppercorns made from Electric brown.

                                     
I have also been cooking my usual rotation, but am longing to make some old favorites like a breakfast burrito and crostini.

         

Only I’d swap out the bacon for chorizo and omit the potato hash and of course, lots of hot sauce, either Valentina’s or Cholula.

And instead of my usual cool prosciutto and an arugula salad tossed with lemon juice atop a white pizza, I'd have the Italian ham and citrusy dressed peppery greens atop goat cheese with a sweet drizzle of balsamic glaze. Staying attuned for these food ambitions.

Cooking: Christmas Dinner

Like this past Thanksgiving, I had to cook a Christmas dinner for just two. The smallest ham I could find was 10 pounds. Holey moley is that a lot of pork for two people because I'm used to figuring out how to cook enough protein 1 pound per person for a big holiday meal. I also had these Parker House rolls in my freezer that I wanted especially for a ham dinner of sliders. I took out a half dozen to thaw in my fridge the night before, so there would be time for them to rise and double in size the next day before baking. And a bag of broccoli (because I have to have some sort of green vegetable as much as possible at dinner) as well as leftover mac 'n cheese in my fridge. And a husband who just recently complained that I waste too much food.

I rarely cook a ham for a holiday dinner, and so I read up on the how-to. I learned that I bought a boneless city ham (precooked) as opposed to a country ham (usually with a bone as well as uncooked). And so I covered it with foil for the first half of heating so as not to dry out. 

Oh boy. I blanched the broccoli before pan roasting and then almost burned them. Note to self, just pan roast and then cover to steam like I usually do with Brussels sprouts. The ham, however, was tender and not dry and not too salty. And I liked the brown sugar glaze I made. Worried that I would have to toss my Parker House rolls, which I did except for the two the hubs ate, I also steamed green peas for a starchy side, forgetting that I already was serving the leftover mac 'n cheese.

Like I said, 10 pounds of ham is a lot. I figure I can serve ham for dinner another night along with scalloped and au gratin potatoes. And I do love ham and Swiss sandwiches. I can also do grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner next week. There are also a couple friends I could give a slab of ham too. It's all good.

Cooking: Self-indulgent and Not Sad Lunches

Yesterday, hubs cleaned out the refrigerator and commented that he hated waste as I tossed out hot dogs and baked beans that spoiled. And further commented that I had too many opened condiments in the fridge. But really I'm trying not to waste food by cooking smaller dinners and eating leftovers for lunch. 

I had labneh and cucumbers in the fridge and a strip of gyro in the freezer and leftover Kalamata olives, and it had been a while since I had made hummus for a mezze meal--loved it. I've dolmas too in my pantry, and so I'll eat them with the now leftover labneh dip and Greek salad I made. I'm already out of the hummus, and so I'll be making more. I forgot how much I enjoy Lebanese food.

I cooked the most delicious grilled salmon for dinner the other night and had a leftover hardboiled egg in the fridge. And so a seafood lunch the next day. I crafted my own Louis dressing which I'm renaming Neptune: mayo, ketchup, relish, capers, dill, horseradish, lemon juice.

I had a tub of grated gruyere in the fridge as well as avocado leftover from Mexican the other night and a tub of unopened crab meat. I love a pescaterian meal, more so than the hubs, and would eat seafood more often if I could. And so enter my favorite crab melt or a sandwich I used to enjoy at my favorite seafood shack in my hometown called the Sardine Can. I mixed the crab meat with a little bit of my Neptune dressing, melted the cheese first on the sourdough bread in the microwave before sandwiching the avocado and crab salad and slathering the outside with butter before browning and toasting in my cast iron.

I forgot the Dijon mustard until almost the end and slathered it atop the melted cheese. Oh my. My sandwich was messier than what I used to eat at the Sardine Can, but I think a lot more luxurious and yummier.

Cooking: Red Beans and Rice

In Cajun country, Monday is usually laundry day and therefore a day to boil a ham hock with red beans that soaked the night before for an easy dinner after washing was done. I read that lore somewhere, but I love the dish because it's delicious and comforting too and still an ease for me because I hate doing laundry and save that chore until I've run out of underwear. For this particular craving, I had smoked turkey wings instead of a pork knuckle though I did remember to soak the small kidney beans the night before. And had andouille sausage on hand.

Alas I forgot to add a bit of sage and thyme to my stew of the smoked turkey wing and red beans and holy trinity (onion, celery, and green bell pepper) and some chopped Roma tomato and a bay leaf or two. That's okay, I did use Creole seasoning which might have contained some of those herbs.

I also thought it needed a bit of green and so sprinkled chopped scallions on to my meal with some liberal dashes of hot sauce. T'was a fine dinner.

    

Crafting, Cooking, Cleaning Continued

I set the goal of cleaning and organizing before I tackle my mermaid quilt. I also had to clear all the Christmas gift wrapping and crafting and decorating on my dining room table, and so I finally finished this parol which I started a year ago. Last year, my friend Julie and I went to a Pilipino popup of Undiscovered SF, ate chicken adobo and shopped independent Filipino-owned businesses, and crafted parols.  

Only I never started and instead took the materials home to make and did not finish. Until now. I only had the center panel to put in tissue paper and had lights to install in it. Never underestimate the power of a glue gun.              

This is such a fun craft activity that I want to do again next year with the grandnieces and grandnephew. And just like my rustic wreath, I aim to make one with just white tissue paper for an Asian Scandi look. And maybe next year if I don't get to it before the end of this year, some colorful tissue paper tails to represent a shooting star.

Quilting: Heather Ross's Mendocino Line and Gentle Waves

While organizing my fabrics, I came upon the "swimming mermaids, seahorses, octopi both large and small, kelp and schools of fish" in Heather Ross's whimsical collection of fabrics called "Mendocino," inspired by her growing up along the rugged coast of Northern California. I love this line and likewise wanted to sew the fabrics into an ocean-inspired blanket. But it had to be minimalist in order to highlight the patterns in the fabric, so no blocks, not even a giant sailboat block surrounded by swimming mermaids. Nothing geometric or abstract, I decided. I also wanted to cut up the least amount of fabric, but plain, broad, straight strips just weren't gonna cut it either for me. The quilt needed to look organic and graceful like the shapes you'd find in nature. I looked at all kinds of quilts using Ross's fabrics and most just weren't to my liking though I was drawn to a giant block of them surrounded by turquoise fabric. But no. And while looking for quilts reminiscent of the ocean, I found a quilter's blog where she cuts and sews improvised free hand curves. Perfect. I plan on cutting the strips as wide as possible, maybe just in half long-side and still look curvy and sinuous, and I've solid fabric in the analogous colors of pink and orange and mustard brown to add additional skinny strips. And I think there is enough yardage to make the back and practice more improvised, free hand curves as well.

Cooking: Keeping a Seafood Supper Simple

I got my second shipment of oysters from Hog Island. I was going to cook Oysters Rockefeller for the last dozen, but they’re so delicious when raw and on the half shell. And so we ate them just naked with a mignonette and horseradish and lemon as an appetizer.                  

And I was going to cook Tuscan Salmon for our entree, but grilled the salmon as well as the Brussels sprouts alongside the rice pilaf.
                   

         

Wreath Decorating: As Minimalist As I Can

Below is the theme for pretty much everybody in 2020, that is home confined to your immediate shelter in this pandemic. I impulsively decorated wreaths for my immediate closest family to the nines--balls, berries and branches, bells or whatever inventory was left of Christmas decorations in these last couple weeks before the actual day. I was craft obsessed until I got to my last wreath for my own door.

I like the rustic simplicity of it very much though.

And now to clear Santa's workshop aka my dining table to make room for the SEWING STUDIO this winter break.

Quarantine Cooking: Fried Chicken Dinner

I used to love the Fried Chicken Dinner at a restaurant called Paul Martin's Bar & Grill in my city. It starts with a green salad with buttermilk and chive dressing, followed by really crispy but juicy fried chicken and creamy mashed potatoes, and then dessert of a bowl of ice cream served with two shortbread cookies. But it's a pandemic, and so we don't go out for dinner. My fried chicken at home dinner started with a bag of 3 chicken thighs that I defrosted and marinated.

I decided to boil some just harvested wax beans and frozen green beans too.

Lots of fried spicy breading on the human dinner, none on the dog's supper.

Messy but lovely.

Summer squash at the ready for another meal.

And dinner is served.

Fried chicken, tomato salad with just salt and fresh basil, and mashed potatoes--makes me happy.