Adventures in Cooking
A few weeks ago, A and I sat down and had a discussion about life. I tend to get really restless sometimes, and I've determined that it comes from not really having anything purposeful to do with life right now. My free time is spent reading and playing computer games. Which is fine; I enjoy both of those activities, but I've always lived life and planned my activities so as to have a purpose. Part of my problem is that every now and again, I have to look at my life and give myself permission to enjoy just reading, or just playing video games. I have a decent job, we're not really wanting for things, and life is okay.
One of the other things I realized is that I don't really have a good year-round hobby that doesn't involve anyone else. I love rock climbing, but that takes another person. I love hiking, but in the rain and such, unless I want to buy a new pair of boots just for that, it's a little mucky. I like war games like Warhammer 40K, but that takes more people and more money than I really want right now. So I had to come up with some more hobbies. Hobbies that don't take a whole lot of money, or hobbies in which the money can be more spread out.
I came up with woodworking first. I can buy things a board or two at a time and assemble things in parts. Then lately, I've noticed that I really enjoy cooking. I like making unusual things. I like cooking ethnic dishes and using exotic kitchen implements and strange spices. I loved my Tagine, till it cracked. Now I have my eye set on the Le Crueset Moroccan Tagine. Cast-iron and enameled, baby! It's a little spendier than I can really go right now, but in the mean time, I'm probably going to order a nice 13" Glazed Terra cotta Tagine. For $25, you just can't go wrong. Of course, a nice 14" Fossi Tagine wouldn't be bad either.
I love strange spices, like Garam Masala. It has a sweet, but peppery taste that's not soon forgotten. I'm working on my own blend of Garam Masala spice, one that's not as sweet as the Dean & Deluca brand that's my favorite so far.
Tonight, I'm going to play with my Wok for the first time since A and I got it for a wedding gift. It's nothing special, but I'm going to give home-cooked Chinese food a shot. We're going for Szechuan Chicken. I've had to modify the recipe a little, because 15 red chillies would make it way, way too hot for A's sensitive taste buds, but change out the chillies for some chili oil and we'll see how things go. It should be great fun.
We'll see what happens.
UPDATE: Okay, house is still intact, and dinner was actually pretty good. Just a couple things learned.
1) Wok oil and chili oil makes things taste good. Unfortunately, chili oil, when used in conjunction with wok oil to fry everything in turns into a mild form of mace...
2) Less salt, more sugar, more chili oil (in the marinade, not as cooking oil).
Other than that, it was actually really good. Score one for Chinese food!
One of the other things I realized is that I don't really have a good year-round hobby that doesn't involve anyone else. I love rock climbing, but that takes another person. I love hiking, but in the rain and such, unless I want to buy a new pair of boots just for that, it's a little mucky. I like war games like Warhammer 40K, but that takes more people and more money than I really want right now. So I had to come up with some more hobbies. Hobbies that don't take a whole lot of money, or hobbies in which the money can be more spread out.
I came up with woodworking first. I can buy things a board or two at a time and assemble things in parts. Then lately, I've noticed that I really enjoy cooking. I like making unusual things. I like cooking ethnic dishes and using exotic kitchen implements and strange spices. I loved my Tagine, till it cracked. Now I have my eye set on the Le Crueset Moroccan Tagine. Cast-iron and enameled, baby! It's a little spendier than I can really go right now, but in the mean time, I'm probably going to order a nice 13" Glazed Terra cotta Tagine. For $25, you just can't go wrong. Of course, a nice 14" Fossi Tagine wouldn't be bad either.
I love strange spices, like Garam Masala. It has a sweet, but peppery taste that's not soon forgotten. I'm working on my own blend of Garam Masala spice, one that's not as sweet as the Dean & Deluca brand that's my favorite so far.
Tonight, I'm going to play with my Wok for the first time since A and I got it for a wedding gift. It's nothing special, but I'm going to give home-cooked Chinese food a shot. We're going for Szechuan Chicken. I've had to modify the recipe a little, because 15 red chillies would make it way, way too hot for A's sensitive taste buds, but change out the chillies for some chili oil and we'll see how things go. It should be great fun.
We'll see what happens.
UPDATE: Okay, house is still intact, and dinner was actually pretty good. Just a couple things learned.
1) Wok oil and chili oil makes things taste good. Unfortunately, chili oil, when used in conjunction with wok oil to fry everything in turns into a mild form of mace...
2) Less salt, more sugar, more chili oil (in the marinade, not as cooking oil).
Other than that, it was actually really good. Score one for Chinese food!