Love In The Asylum

Three Things (The Seriously, Only Tuesday? Edition):

1. Pretty sure I passed some kind of ridiculous foodie threshold today, by making my own mustard. I didn't even use a food processor - my mini-chopper didn't do anything to the mustard seeds, so I MacGyvered a rig with a rice bowl and the handle of a bread knife instead (I really need to suck it up and buy a mortar and pestle. It would save me from crushing peppercorns with a frying pan, too).

Setting aside the potential maiming, though, it really was about convenience more than anything! I've already had to make an extra trip to the store this week after an entire bag of carrots mysteriously vanished out of my fridge, and whole-grain mustard is expensive, and for reasons I no longer remember I had a bag of mustard seeds in my pantry...it seemed a lot less trouble making mustard from scratch in my kitchen than biking to the Sunflower Market after work, especially since it is approximately ten million degrees here. I'm just not sure that's the thought process going through everyone's head when they consider the state of their mustard shelf.

Anyway, the pork in whole-grain mustard yogurt sauce was delicious, although my forays into whole-wheat pasta continue to be sorely disappointing. I may have to give up entirely and go back to normal, vaguely unhealthy, actually tasty pasta. Alas.

2. Obsessively watching the Euros, of course. Luckily, I work in an office full of a surprising number of football fans, so not only is my manager sympathetic to me keeping the live feed open on my computer while I'm working, but he and Manager S have taken charge of the TVs in the newsroom so the matches are always on (with the sound off, but still). The break room has been staked out as neutral ground, although we'll see how long that lasts, between my Spain fangirling, Manager J's diehard German loyalty, and Manager S's inexplicable support of Italy. I always hate the moment where I have to stop wanting my German bbs to play well so my Spanish bbs can go through, but it's going to be even harder now that I am surrounded by so many German fans (and Spain haters). At least the whole office can unite in our loathing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

3. My week in summation: Cannot stop singing Les Mis songs in the shower (and I am plotting out an epic Javert-centric crossover crackfic I will post about in more detail later). In my RPG group, my character is currently sneaking into a secret military base while invisible, tied with rope to a drug-addicted psychic and a pansexual starship pilot, and carrying a bag of sentient democratic-socialist cockroaches. I have named my bicycle Sleipnir and I feel that I was one of the better life choices I have made. I think that tells you everything about my life you really need to know. And my week, as well.

I have been very remiss in posting recipes lately! I haven't given up on my cooking project, but because of my work schedule, I've doing less exciting cooking lately - my dad and I trade off days in the kitchen, and I'm not trying as many new recipes because I don't have as much time to spend looking them up. It's been too easy to just default to pork with kimchi, or miso chicken, or meatballs in tomato sauce, things I've made plenty of times before and know we'll both like. Today I tried something new though! And I didn't quite have the ingredients called for in the recipe I was using, so I ended up improving it into something that turned out quite tasty. Not super complex, just light, slightly spicy and nicely tangy, good for a friday dinner after a long week.

Tamarind-Lime Tofu

1 block of firm/extra-firm tofu
2 tablespoons tamarind water*
2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce, if you want this to be vegan)
1 teaspoon sugar (I use raw brown sugar)
2 small red chiles
2 kaffir lime leaves (we keep ours in the freezer)
zest from 1 lime
2 cloves garlic
loads of spinach, rinsed

*make the tamarind water by soaking 2-3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp (I don't measure, just grab a reasonable looking chunk off the block) in 1/4 cup of warm water for about 15 minutes, then pushing it through a strainer so you end up with just the brown glop. For this recipe you want it to be pretty thick and pulpy. Or you could just buy it in a jar, I guess.

Drain the tofu for about 15-20 minutes. Chop the lime leaves and chiles up, removing the seeds from the chiles if you want a more mild dish. Combine the leaves, chiles, lime zest, tamarind water, sugar and fish sauce in a bowl. Cut the tofu into cubes and add to tamarind mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly and set aside to marinate for about 15 minutes. Heat up a large frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then the garlic, frying until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Fry the tofu in batches until it is crisp and browned on all sides (about 3-4 minutes). Throw all the tofu back into the pan, along with any leftover marinade and the spinach. Toss until the spinach is wilted (about 30 sec. to 1 minute). Serve with rice.

Happy Gregorian New Year, internets! I have all the socialization of a particularly reticent wet blanket, so no NYE parties for me. Luckily, I take after my dad in my general refusal to leave the house after 6pm, so I don't have to spend it alone.

Okay, all joking aside I am actually having a good time. The two of us have really perfected our New Year's Dim Sum tradition, and we've been drifting in and out of the kitchen all afternoon, making new things to eat whenever we get hungry. The pork-stuffed tofu was a particular high point. And I'm looking forward to the beef wontons and the pork steamed buns later. Eventually there may be pudding!

In between delicious noms, I've been spending the last day of 2011 doing this and that and a lot of nothing. Reading one of the Miles Vorkosigan novellas (and skimming Brothers in Arms, the book I started with, now that I have a better idea of who the hell these people are and what all the plot points they keep mentioning are). Working on the Urn of Andraste quest in Dragon Age. Contemplating doing some more writing on that Star Wars porn fic, but never actually getting around to it. Watching Arsenal win a match and creep up into the top four of the table (!). I dunno, if this is how I ring in the new year, I can't feel that badly about the start of 2012.

In retrospect, buying myself a copy of Dragon Age in the middle of Yuletide season was not the best idea ever. I've stayed on top of the chores and the cooking, but other than that all my time this week has been devoted to killing darkspawn. I've almost mastered the complex art of walking without running into things, a skill that has often eluded me in my previous attempts to become a gamer. And I want Alistair to be my hapless dorky sword-swinging BFF. *hearts*

We are gearing up for epic amounts of Yule-related cooking here. Next week is the traditional (three years counts as a tradition, right?) week for baking ALL THE COOKIES, which will then be boxed up to give away to all and sundry. I have also been informed today that, since my aunt is having a bunch of dental work done and my other aunt hurt her arm - and since we apparently did such a good job on Thanksgiving - my dad and I are now In Charge Of Tamale-Making. A weighty obligation indeed, since we not only have to meet the very high expectations of my grandma, but all the far-flung relatives who expect to be gifted with frozen tamales to enjoy the rest of the year. But no pressure! At least my mom only wants me to help her make jambalaya.

Wow, did not expect a weekend with my family to be quite this exhausting. In a fun way, of course. My aunt from Vancouver was in town for a short visit and I wanted to see her, so I went over to my grandma's yesterday and we spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen. I have now graduated in my potsticker technique to making my own wrappers - it is kind of a pain in the ass to roll it out and I wouldn't do it every time, but it was really fun doing it with my aunt and my grandma. And the chicken-shrimp-lemongrass dumplings turned out sooo good. Then they dropped me off at my mom's and I spent the night there cuddling the kitties and the rabbit and talking about serial killers with my mom. It's so nice to share interests with your family, isn't it?

This afternoon we went with my grandpa over to my aunt's house to hang out and have lunch - not a big family event like it usually is, just the four of us. We discussed aircraft carriers and canned meat products, fed charcoal bricks to the pigs, and it was once again affirmed that I am by far the most mature person in this family. Also, I learned that my great-grandma used to work for the Pentagon and my grandma worked for the CIA.

Possibly related to the above, I spent most of the drive home plotting out a story based on "The Bagman's Gambit" where a Secret Agent and a Spy are in love, and the Secret Agent is trading information (mostly useless stuff or things they would inevitably find out anyway, so he doesn't feel like a traitor) to the Spy because if he fails or tries to defect his people will have him killed. The Secret Agent finally gets caught by his people, and he promises to tell them everything as long as they swear to keep Spy safe and not arrest him or send him home or let him be killed. I love a good tragic love story.

colourofsaying introduced me to Scandinavia and the World on Friday, and I now ship Norway/Denmark to a completely stupid degree. It is just so sweet and fond and full of cuddling and affectionate make-outs and hand-holding, right up until Norway picks Denmark up and fucks him through the wall.

On the football front, I am so insanely proud of Arsenal right now, I can't even say. They are still struggling, and there is a lot of work to be done, but I am starting to see some faint signs of hope for their season, and I'm really glad they are starting to turn it around. I love my Vantastic captain so much. I'm slightly less happy with Barcelona this week (what was that match against Sevilla, lads?). But I still have a lot of opinions about Pep Guardiola's sex life.

masterofmidgets: (sometimes he wonders if he's the only coach who is this close to his players. And then he has to go scrub his brain until he stops thinking about Mou and Cristiano making out)
masterofmidgets: that's when he has to call Figo
colourofsaying: Figo talks him down.
masterofmidgets: "come over and fuck me until I can't see it in my head anymore"
colourofsaying: you owed me a nice image for that horrible one.
masterofmidgets: Figo's one of the only ones who can really take him out of his head
masterofmidgets: with Xavi or Cesc, it's fun, but in the back of his mind he's still thinking about making sure he doesn't do anything to make them not match-fit
colourofsaying: and with Leo he's thinking about fucking him so stupid he'll stop thinking about football long enough to sleep
masterofmidgets: and with Raul there were a lot of complicated emotions
colourofsaying: so many emotions
masterofmidgets: but with Figo, everything is so intense and in the moment that most of the time he can't even talk
masterofmidgets: he's just getting properly /fucked/
masterofmidgets: (which is fascinating, because Figo is probably the closest to a romance/friendship out of the people he sleeps with. I picture them spending a lot of time hanging out after sex and talking about clothes.)
colourofsaying: they go shopping together!
masterofmidgets: Pep has better taste, but Figo is a bit more adventurous

If my life were a video game, I totally would have leveled up my cooking skill today. Or unlocked a new cooking-related limit break. Kitchen Knife Omnislash! Frying Pan Ace! (I bet there is a character in the Final Fantasy universe who is really, really bitter that all of his limit breaks occur in the kitchen, making him totally useless for saving the world purposes). Not only did I make two recipes that I've never tried before - for potato gnocchi and balsamic-glazed pork chops - but I proved capable of cooking two different sauces and a vegetable side all at the same time. I didn't even set anything on fire! I actually haven't set the smoke alarms off in over a week, I'm very proud of myself. Especially since the garlic-parsley brown butter sauce was delicious.

I'm kind of glad that all I have to do tomorrow is make tacos though. Time for a filler episode!

Gaming group continues to be awesome. Since the GM is still getting everything ready for our cyberpunk campaign, this week we did a living room mini-LARP where the six of us were quarantined together in a nanovirus-infected space shuttle. I got to wear a fish hat! And we had a four-way Mexican stand-off that ended when I knocked the bad guys out with a sonic alarm clock. Very fun. And I think next time we might start actually playing - so I need to think up a reason why my mercenary is on a scumbarge heading to Mars.

So proud of all of my football boys right now. The thought of the North London Derby this weekend is a bit terrifying - ignoring that we need the points rather badly, I don't want to think about what kind of blow a loss would be to Arsenal's rather shaky self-esteem right now. But they are coming off of two well-earned wins, the mid-field and the front is getting stronger and more cohesive, hopefully most of our broken players will be back...idk, I think they've got a decent shot at it. I'm trying to think optimistically. Barcelona at least is a balm to my poor, Arsenal-beleaguered heart. I will never get sick of Cesc getting all handsy with Messi. Or David Villa making angry-yet-soulful faces. Or Pep Guardiola's, you know, general existence.

Also, it is good to see my favorite Zlatan back and putting the moves on his Milan teammates. Never change, dear.

Three Things (The Lazy Tuesday Edition)

1. luzula made a podfic of my Yuletide story, "Lefty Sings the Blues." You should definitely check it out, she did an awesome job. It's really neat hearing my words in someone else's voice. :)

2. Today I made empanadas for the first time ever. Christmas-time tamales and homemade tortillas aside, we don't really do a lot of Mexican/New Mexican/Guatemalan food around here - I just don't like it that much, even though my dad makes great enchiladas and my mom's posole and green chile stew are infamous. But we had some pastry dough to use up and no particular desire to make pies, so empanadas it was. Filled with ground beef, potato, and onions, and an improvised variation of my general spice mix (smoked paprika, chile powder, salt, pepper, optional cumin, garlic). And they turned out pretty good! Better than I was expecting, honestly. Which is good, since we have enough left over to last through a short war.

3. I'm currently in the kind of mood where I have to force myself to stop listening to the same Decemberists songs over and over on repeat, because they are lovely songs but I know if I don't rein myself in I will be up at 4 in the morning foolishly enraptured by the perfect tragedy of You'll Not Feel the Drowning and The Engine Driver and I Was Born For the Stage and Oh Valencia and Yankee Bayonet, which I realized for the first time this week is a Zack Fair song and now I can't get it out of my head. It's not an unpleasant mood, this wallowing in poetic misery that isn't mine, but it isn't conducive to getting anything done.

Fact #1: Chile sauce (/paste/oil/powder/fresh chiles/whateverIlikechileokay?) is my most favorite of all kitchen condiments. I put it in everything. I am damned well determined to get through this entire bottle of sriracha by the end of term, and the way I'm going so far it just might happen. Because everything is better when it's hot.

Fact #2: I might have overdone it tonight. I feel like my face is going to melt off. It was totally worth it though. As it always is. And so you all can share in my chile-related suffering, here are some recipes! The recipe for wings is slightly modified from a recipe from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites; the recipe for fries is a basic technique I've picked up from the internet, along with whatever I felt like throwing into the bowl. Both make one generous serving for me. And since our smoke alarm goes off at the drop of a hat and I don't like cooking with hot oil, they are both oven-friendly. Enjoy!

( Not as good as my dad's wings, but getting there )

Soooo much cleaning to do tonight. My aunt is coming by tomorrow, and I don't want her to see my apartment how it usually looks, aka a complete mess. Luckily I did some big chores last week (scrubbing out the tub, clearing off the living room table) and I am for once mostly on top of the dishes (and roommate hasn't even left a mess this week, amazing), but I still have to do all my laundry and wash the dishes from tonight and mop the floor. Bah! I just want to stay in and watch tv (still haven't seen Doctor Who, too much stuff going on this week), but alas, it's not in the program.

I just had brussels sprouts for the first time in my life.

Is that weird? It seems weird to me, but then I sometimes feel like my culinary childhood, especially when it comes to vegetables, was kind of odd. My dad is a fantastic cook, but his skills do not lie with plant products (he's gotten a lot better the last couple of years, mostly at my urging), so when I was a kid and he did a lot of the cooking, we had excellent roasts and stir-fries...accompanied by canned green beans. Ugh. And then when it was just me and my mom, she was too tired to do a lot of cooking, plus we were broke as hell, so very few fresh veggies ever made it onto my plate. Add that to the fact that I was an extremely picky child (due to a traumatic hot sauce incident and in retrospect what is probably a lot of undiagnosed food sensitivities) and the list of veggies I'd eaten and liked before I came to college was...short. Now that I'm cooking for myself and making a conscious effort to a) eat fruits and/or veggies at most meals and b) try foods I've never had before, I feel like a three-year-old eating this stuff for the first time.

It's...I don't know, kind of fun? I mean, I like eating things that taste good, obviously (who doesn't?), so that's a plus, because as it turns out there are many vegetables that I like. Green beans that don't come out of a can? Totally fucking awesome. Along with broccoli and carrots and napa cabbage and bok choi and bean sprouts and raw baby spinach. There's also something to be said for letting myself have tastes without bullshit power struggles getting in the way. I can let myself say, I don't like tomatoes and eggplant and I'm not going to buy them and I'm not going to eat them and it doesn't have to be a big thing, it doesn't have to be about me proving something or trying to get away with something or fighting over it or trying to rationalize it to people who think I'm just trying to be difficult. I just...don't eat it. I think, oddly enough, it's made me a more adventurous eater, because I'm not as afraid of not liking things.

But every once in a while, I'm just like, holy shit, how did I get to be 21 without ever having eaten brussels sprouts before? That is insane.

The brussels sprouts were okay. Not great, but I think part of that was that they cooked faster that I expected them to (I was sauteeing them in bacon fat left over from breakfast this morning), and ended up getting a bit scorched while I was waiting for everything else to be ready. They probably would have been better if it weren't for that. And the texture reminded me of cooked spinach not in the sense that they were in any way similar but in that there was a very abrupt and noticeable switch from 'this is pretty good' to 'one more bite is going to make me gag.' I may try making them again. Or I may not! I can do that, because I am a grown-up person who eats vegetables because I like them, not out of a sense of masochistic obligation.

...look, I'm procrastinating on working on edits for one of my short stories, and it was either this or talk about this morning's match against Sunderland, which was just depressing. Or DragonFable, which has taken over my weekend to a probably unhealthy degree. I promise in a couple of weeks, when finals are over and I have free time again, I will start talking about ridiculous j-dramas and how everyone in Barcelona is after Bojan's ass and how many people Oscar Wilde has had a one-night stand with in the Big Bandverse AU (the answer, of course, is all the people. Come on, it's Oscar fucking Wilde, what were you expecting?).

It's Friday, and that means it's Fun Cooking Day!

Okay, for the record, I am very pro-quick and pro-easy when it comes to cooking, since I am both busy and incredibly lazy. If it takes more than an hour to make, or I'm going to have to use more than one or two pans, it doesn't matter how awesome it sounds, I'm going to say fuck that and just make stir-fry again (I...make a lot of stir-fry). I feel like it's a decent trade-off - the food I make is mostly easy, simple recipes, but it's also mostly made-from-scratch, and I don't eat a lot of processed stuff. Occasionally I am jealous of the many awesome food bloggers making five-tier cakes and six-course French dinners in their afternoons off! But then I weigh how much I wish I cooked like they did against how much I don't want to do that much work or wash that many dishes and think...fuck that, I'm making stir-fry.

But once in a while something is worth the effort. Like today! I have been really craving pot stickers lately. Which shouldn't surprise anyone, because pot stickers are fucking awesome. And I could just get a bag of frozen pot stickers, but I've never found a brand that taste the way I want them to; I am very picky when it comes to dumplings, I guess. So I decided to get some ground pork and pot sticker wrappers at the grocery and make my own for Friday dinner, which I normally reserve for special treats anyway.

I think I may have horribly underestimated a) how many pot stickers my recipe makes and b) how many pot stickers I am capable of eating. But it's hard to be sad about that when it means that I have enough extra pot stickers left to last the rest of the weekend.

And since I'm nice, here is the recipe, in case you feel similarly inspired and not-lazy. Not the most complicated, but it's been a family stand-by for ages.

( Martin Yan's Pot Stickers+Bonus Awesome Sauce )