Monday, May 17, 2010

Brown Rice Salad and Fried Rice Hybrid


John's away for several days, so the frig is mine. Today it contained:
  • Washed salad greens
  • a little left over grilled NY steak
  • a little chunk of tofu
  • a dozen eggs
  • some veggies - a few celery stalks, a carrot stick, a clump of broccoli, green onions, a few mushrooms.
  • some cooked rice.
  • a nice organic apple.
  • no wine
Step 1) Pull a bottle of wine from the secret "John's away and there's no wine in the house" stash cleverly hidden in my underwear drawer, and start it chilling. (Perrin Reserve Cotes du Rhone, blanc)

Step 2) Set the table, and put the washed greens on the plate. Dress them lightly with olive oil and Sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.

Step 3) Slice up the apple, and arrange decoratively on a little plate.

Step 4) Slice the veggies, steak, cut the tofu into small chunks, and scramble an egg with just a bit of water.

Step 5) Heat a frying pan over high heat with a bit of butter. When bubbling and beginning to brown, pour in the egg, swirl, and fold it together with a fork to cook it through. Remove from the pan to a little plate.

Step 6) Add a tablespoon of peanut oil to the pan (which should be clean, BTW. If not, use a paper towel to clear the remnants of egg) and swirl until hot. Add the celery, carrots, and mushrooms. Toss to coat with oil and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli. Toss to coat and cook for 30 seconds. Add the steak. Toss etc. Sprinkle with light soy sauce and a splash of dry Sherry. Add the tofu. Toss and cook for 30 seconds, to warm through. Add the rice, and perhaps a bit more wine or soy if it seems to be sticking.

Step 7) Spoon the fried rice over the dressed lettuce, and sit down to eat. The combination of the tangy salad dressing with the slight salt of the soy is just great.

We used to use Fried Rice as an option for a quick, use whatever is in the frig meal when every one was hungry in a hurry. And the Brown Rice Salad is always a favorite. This combination works well.

Eating Alone is just a chance to show off my new orchid



Saturday, another long day fraught with peril: Fine Arts Scholarship Audition day.
It went well, considering.
a) It was pouring down rain, so no one regretted being indoors.
b) I stopped at Safeway on my way out to the University campus to pick up refreshments for the day and got distracted in the floral department by the lovely orchid display. The Refreshment Table needed something lovely to set the correct tone for the day. What about that very graceful, elongated, delicate Alceara Pacific Nova 'Pacific Heights'? Indeed, it charmed at least the charming Chinese accompanist who spent most of the day running up and down stairs between warm up rooms and the audition room (cleverly disguised as a sailboat repair and storage room, but that's another story - the arts are seriously under siege, folks). It was she that pointed out the bloom has a very clear little face.
Made it home just as John, jauntily attired in suit, pink shirt, and bow tie en route to the vaguely questionable Susan G Komen "Think Pink" fundraising wine tasting, was pulling out. So it was me and the dog and the leftovers in the frig: Roast chicken, steamed broccoli, oven fired potatoes, some lettuce, 1/2 a really good mango, and some strawberries. Hmm, there's an avocado about to go bad.
Step 1: make a fruit salad with the mango, strawberries, and an orange. Sprinkle with Chambord. Put it in a crystal bowl.
Step 2: Set the table. Place the new orchid in a nice cachepot in the center.
Step 3: Make a Chicken Potato salad with the broccoli, sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper.
Step 4: Wash lettuce and make a bed of greens, top with the Chicken Potato Salad, and garnish with avocado fans.
Had a glass of wine (Penfolds Chardonnay). I felt better. It all worked out.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Fiddlehead Cookbook Blog

So nice! A group of young Alaskan women are cooking their way through the Fiddlehead Cookbook this summer!
http://fiddlingthrufiddlehead.blogspot.com/