Quarantine Cooking: Sushi Saturday & Sichuan Sunday (And Amping up the Vegetables in Meals)

My husband hasn't been able to run, and his doctor thinks it's gout of which he begs to differ, but I've been on a mission anyway to make our meals less meat-centric. I had grand plans of cooking ahead for the week and tackling sewing projects. Nope. Again. And. That. Is. Okay. Saturday was a Sushi lunch and leftovers for dinner.

I did manage a little prep for meals in the coming week by chopping onion, mincing garlic and chopping tomatoes--which are still glorious. Those are going into my refried beans, and maybe I'll stuff the Anaheims in my pantry for chile rellenos. 

I did a lot of quilting of a pillow sandwich on Saturday of which I didn't post a pic. But Sunday was a major cooking project of Sichuan Eggplant and Mapo Tofu. It all started with the Sichuan peppercorns and every jar and bottle of Asian condiments in my refrigerator and cupboard.

I followed a recipe online for the eggplant which I noticed called for all the same ingredients as my pork and tofu dish.

I thought I was accommodating an anti-gout eater, and so I decided to keep the proteins separate from vegetables and make the same sauce for both.

I set up a DIY Sichuan buffet after all that cooking.

Aargh, it didn't matter. It could have all been cooked in the wok because the hubs said he was going to eat the proteins too though I did use just 8 ounces of the pork rather than the usual 16 ounces.

Then said goodbye to my Asian ingredients until next month when it's their turn in the meal rotation. Oh and I embroidered a lot too and will post that sewing project along with the pillow.

Labor Day Weekend after a Laborious Week

I gravitate between moments of what fresh hell is this?!? to I got this!!! while back at work in this pandemic. As before shelter in place, I look forward to coming home and unwinding. Earlier in the week I resorted to crab cakes in my freezer for dinner and shopped my pantry in order not to go to the grocery store. Oh pasta how I love you. And the reason I don't skimp on butter and cream and cheese?

I try as much as possible to make meals vegetable-centric. Spinach, parsley, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and lemon went into a dish I call, Pasta Verano as it utilizes the bounty of our garden before fall hits. And so I feel less guilty including with the fat, a glass of Chardonnay.

I kept the zucchini and yellow squash separate from the pasta by sauteing with garlic.

Pasta was the star of this meal. 

I had invited a neighbor over for dinner, and she declared the food as delicious as one would find in a restaurant. I was chuffed.

The next night I really wanted a BLT, inspired by IG.

Hubs however wanted burger night which was okay....

...but really what's great about a BLT compared to a hamburger is how you just need a little bit of fatty and salty meat to highlight the starring attraction of heirloom tomatoes which are presently the height of perfection. 

And then it was Thursday, and I had made an appointment to pick up my tools and bags of clay from the community studio and was pleasantly surprised by my greenware on the shelf. I wrapped in bubble wrap and placed carefully in a padded bag the greenware I had forgotten all about and brought to it to school where I had asked my ceramics teacher colleague if I could fire in the kiln at school...

and woot woot, I was told yeah put them in the red kiln. Again I'm chuffed.

And back to dinner...Friyay! Feliz de la fin de semana, and I wanted sushi which hubs does not like for dinner and I feel so deceived because he seemed to like sushi on our first date and was a vice president of operations for a Japanese company. Sigh. I had ground beef set aside from the hamburgers and and removed pork chorizo from the freezer. Hubs had just came home with peppers and tomatoes from the garden. I had just soaked and boiled pinto beans the day before. Forget tacos. Forget refried beans (well just use half the beans for frijoles de la olla). Chili!

Chili for the hubs done. Sushi pour moi...I had bought a poke bowl, a crunchy spicy tuna roll, and salmon nigiri. Extravagant I know, but I spend 10 more bucks than what I spent at te Five Dollar Friday supermarket sushi specials at my favorite sushi restaurant. Add a miso dressing and wasabi sauce. Sprinkle some chopped scallions and cilantro. 

Bam!

Saturyay. Extended my four bean salad with more green beans from the garden and ate leftover sushi and drank the last of the Chardonnay for lunch.

And then prepped at home to do a DIY pizza activity with the 4-year-old grandniece and 6-year-old grandnephew in a social distance setting. I bought spinach and shredded rotisserie chicken. Cooked bacon and Italian sausage. Packed pizza sauce, Alfredo sauce, cans of artichoke hearts and sliced black olives, and premade pizza crusts into my grocery bag. Remembered to pack the box of pancake mix and a mini waffle maker and a bottle of fruit syrup for another DIY activity. Brought out my cast iron pizza pan and cookie sheets and bag of charcoal to the car. Made sure my back to school presents of a Hello Kitty and Star Wars lunch bags and school supplies were boxed and ready to go. Prepped zucchini from the inspiration below from IG (I like things pretty and knew grilled summer squash would go well with pizza) and before I knew it the morning and early afternoon were gone, and it was time to drive an hour away.

And it was loud, chaotic and fun to hang out with the elementary school nieces and nephews. And to see my brother and his wife and my niece and her husband in a non-Zoom setting even while masking and at a distance.

Sunyay was infernally hot, and the heat enervating enough that I did nothing in the way of sewing in the morning. The dog and I found refuge in the afternoon by going into air conditioned Joann's and Diddam's toy store to look for fabric and crafts and a 2-year-old's birthday book as well as treasure chest treats for the elementary school kiddos zooming to school. And still too hot as Hades to cook for dinner, and so to another air conditioned supermarket for a rotisserie chicken and Cobb salad makings for dinner as well as lots of ice cream for dessert. And drat! forgot to buy Cointreau for my margarita and made a blackberry Margarita instead.

And it's Monday. Sigh. But at least no going into work :) I spent the day shopping and gifting for a 2-year-old birthday girl and back-to-school for a kindergartner and first grader. 

And used a 60% off coupon for a set of 3 Micron pens--I've no excuse now to not resume my drawing practice.

I lead a very small life of family and friends and creative activity, but they're so meaningful to me that I won't have regretted that I didn't do bigger or more ambitious things.

Weekend Quarantining: Sinigang

Growing up, my mom cooked sinigang, which my siblings and I called soup bone, every week. Every. week. Usually beef bones, sometimes pork bones, and sometimes fish. I think I remember my mother buying frozen tamarind in the small Filipino grocery stores of towns in order to stew the meat bones in a sour and acidic broth. For my grownup cooking, I trekked to Seafood City, a Filipino chain grocery store, in South San Francisco to buy the ingredients for my sinigang. Of course I got distracted. I didn't buy this staple of Okoy from my growing up, but that's next for a family gathering after this pandemic.

Luckily I had tomatoes in the blender already. And got an onion from our outdoor larder.

I pureed the tomatoes, and it was kind of a lot. And chopped the onion, not too finely.

The recipe I found on line called for browning the meat in oil, and since the stew pork and pork bones I got were pretty fatty, I used just a little bit of pork lard.

And then I added the onions and tomato puree and boiled the bones and pork meat in enough added water for 8 quarts for probably 90 minutes. I added light soy sauce and fish sauce for salt.

Last weekend I found this seasoning packet with a base of tamarind and cheated with that instead of real sour fruit. Luckily, I hadn't added extra salt to my broth since salt was the main ingredient of the spice sachet.

While in the garden that morning walking the dog, I also picked single blooms and a posy to adorn my kitchen.

The stewing meat and onion and tomatoes broth smelled (and tasted) fantastic, and I hadn't even added the tamarind packet.  The tomatoes had added to the acid of the soup. I also threw in a can of banana blossoms.

I had also bought vegetables (to the annoyance of the hubs because we already grow vegetables, but I said my sinigang called for these veggies) at Seafood City: bok choy, Thai eggplant (and the hubs had just harvested a couple of Japanese eggplant), and green peppers. We grew lots of purple and green beans which I also rinsed to put into the sinigang. And prepackaged into bags for Cecilia and Roseanne, my Filipino neighbors with whom I was sharing our dish of nostalgia.

I forgot the taro nubs I had in my root drawer and forgot to buy okra! I did end up boiling the taro in some of the sinigang broth and made a mental note to get some okra because I was going to not eat the sinigang that night but instead cook the vegetables in it for weeknight meals. Me and the hubs were still consuming leftovers in the fridge, and I made a mojito to sip before. I did end up using some of leftover cilantro lime rice to taste a bit of the sinigang. Fantastico.