Cooking...
Ok, the "Stir-Fry Pork with Ginger and Cabbage" was a success. Not bad for my first stir-fry! I will say this, however...I'll be picking up a few more things for next time. Not to mention, I'm sure I did some things wrong or backwards. Either way, it tastes good.
Now, the ginger was far too sharp. Either I didn't cut it thin enough or didn't cook it long enough. I'm inclined to think the former, since the pork came out fine. Also, for an entire lb of pork tenderloin (sliced appropriately thin, but should probably be thinner), 3/4 cup of Napa cabbage just isn't enough. I'll be throwing a bit more in next time. I also need a garlic press. Chopping up ginger real fine (no grater) and using 2 tablespoons to press it (again, no garlic press or cheese cloth) is fine, but when the ginger is frozen and the leverage with the two spoons is not as good as one would hope for, I'm sure I missed a good bit of juice AND I think I spent more time doing that than everything else combined. NOTE TAKEN!
Despite it being on my shopping list, I somehow managed to forget to buy the short-grain non-sticky Japanese rice. Standard long-grain rice is fine (and is what I ended up using), but I wanted to see if there was any difference with the other kind. I'll know for next time.
Over all, the pork came out thoroughly cooked and properly tender. The rice was a little dry, but that's because it sat out MUCH longer than anticipated. The lid was still on, but even so...
I'd comment on the cabbage, but I'm thinking most of it just evaporated or something...there's really not much left of what I put in. Perhaps what I read as 3/4 cups is really 3/4 lb. Who knows. I'll mix it up a little next time and see what I come up with. Everyone I've mentioned the recipe to has (assuming they cooked) given their own thoughts on what to add. I didn't bother taking notes since I was still really concentrated on what was already written in the book.
I was supposed to cook it last night, but by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Here's hoping next time I get the order of process right and get everything prepared in advance. One of my biggest bad habits (not including social habits) is that I tend to start doing before I've finished preparing. I seem to do it every time. Be it cooking, gaming, etc, it doesn't matter. I'll start getting everything prepared and the next thing I know, I'm half way through the process, realizing I "forgot" to get something I needed prepared. I lost a game of Risk rather decidedly because I forgot to place my new units before playing my cards because I was thinking strategy, but acted instead of just planned. Same here. I got all the way to the final step and realized I hadn't sliced up the ginger yet. D'OH!
Well, I was hoping to get more things done today, but just lunch has eaten up (no pun intended, I SWEAR) a good chunk of my afternoon, so I'll have to figure something out.
At least maintenance came by today to FINALLY seal up my den window and seal off whatever access the friggin roaches and big-ass spiders were using to get in from behind my dryer. Let's hope it worked!!!
Once again...could go on, but time's running short and I have a lot still to do today...not the least of which is cleaning up the kitchen. Ugh...
(btw...the song selection has nothing to do with my mood or situation...it's just what came up when I started Pandora)
Now, the ginger was far too sharp. Either I didn't cut it thin enough or didn't cook it long enough. I'm inclined to think the former, since the pork came out fine. Also, for an entire lb of pork tenderloin (sliced appropriately thin, but should probably be thinner), 3/4 cup of Napa cabbage just isn't enough. I'll be throwing a bit more in next time. I also need a garlic press. Chopping up ginger real fine (no grater) and using 2 tablespoons to press it (again, no garlic press or cheese cloth) is fine, but when the ginger is frozen and the leverage with the two spoons is not as good as one would hope for, I'm sure I missed a good bit of juice AND I think I spent more time doing that than everything else combined. NOTE TAKEN!
Despite it being on my shopping list, I somehow managed to forget to buy the short-grain non-sticky Japanese rice. Standard long-grain rice is fine (and is what I ended up using), but I wanted to see if there was any difference with the other kind. I'll know for next time.
Over all, the pork came out thoroughly cooked and properly tender. The rice was a little dry, but that's because it sat out MUCH longer than anticipated. The lid was still on, but even so...
I'd comment on the cabbage, but I'm thinking most of it just evaporated or something...there's really not much left of what I put in. Perhaps what I read as 3/4 cups is really 3/4 lb. Who knows. I'll mix it up a little next time and see what I come up with. Everyone I've mentioned the recipe to has (assuming they cooked) given their own thoughts on what to add. I didn't bother taking notes since I was still really concentrated on what was already written in the book.
I was supposed to cook it last night, but by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Here's hoping next time I get the order of process right and get everything prepared in advance. One of my biggest bad habits (not including social habits) is that I tend to start doing before I've finished preparing. I seem to do it every time. Be it cooking, gaming, etc, it doesn't matter. I'll start getting everything prepared and the next thing I know, I'm half way through the process, realizing I "forgot" to get something I needed prepared. I lost a game of Risk rather decidedly because I forgot to place my new units before playing my cards because I was thinking strategy, but acted instead of just planned. Same here. I got all the way to the final step and realized I hadn't sliced up the ginger yet. D'OH!
Well, I was hoping to get more things done today, but just lunch has eaten up (no pun intended, I SWEAR) a good chunk of my afternoon, so I'll have to figure something out.
At least maintenance came by today to FINALLY seal up my den window and seal off whatever access the friggin roaches and big-ass spiders were using to get in from behind my dryer. Let's hope it worked!!!
Once again...could go on, but time's running short and I have a lot still to do today...not the least of which is cleaning up the kitchen. Ugh...
(btw...the song selection has nothing to do with my mood or situation...it's just what came up when I started Pandora)