I think this is the earliest that I’ve ever put air conditioners in the windows. Most years we make it until July. We used to go entire years without putting them in.
Category: Family
Saint Patrick’s Day, COVID-19 Edition
We’re just over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Most years past we would simply go to Meghan’s mother’s house, and she would put on a traditional dinner: boiled corned beef, boiled potatoes, and boiled cabbage.
Last Year Was Different
Last year we ate a sad dinner on our own, as I had never made corned beef and cabbage before. I tried it in the slow cooker. It didn’t turn out very well. Lesson learned.
This Year Is Different
Due to the wonders of science and concentrated efforts, the world has vaccines in record time and we see the light at the end of the figurative tunnel. My mother-in-law has been vaccinated and graciously agreed to come to our house. And I’m taking another stab at making traditional Irish-American dinner.
Recipe
Taken from How To Make Corned Beef:
Stovetop method: For a 5 pound brined corned beef brisket. Place the corned beef in a Dutch oven. Sprinkle with one tablespoon of pickling spice blend and pour in 4 cups beef broth. Add potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 3 1/2 hours. Add water if necessary to keep brisket covered. Slice across the grain.
The Aftermath
I don’t mind saying, it was delicious. But it might have been a side-effect of having company for the first time in a very, very long time.
We made two exceptions from tradition: I added garlic mashed potatoes, and we didn’t have Irish coffee after dinner.
Korean Beef Rice Bowls
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Brown the hamburger and garlic in a pan. Break it up into crumbles as it browns.
- While the hamburger is cooking, whisk the sauce ingredients (brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper, black pepper)
- When the hamburger is browned, drain off the fat and mix in the garlic. Simmer for a minute.
- Pour in the sauce. Simmer for another couple of minutes. Mix in the scallions and serve.
Notes
Serve over rice with a side of broccoli to round out a complete meal
This recipe was an instant hit. I have to make a double batch if I want leftovers for the next day.
Adapted from therecipecritic.com
Lentil Soup
When I was a kid I disliked soups and stews, and hated even the idea of lentil soup. (which, as a child, I somehow equated with Barbara Streisand – probably due to the publicity of her movie Yentl.) Fortunately I became more open-minded as an adult, and found that I absolutely love lentil soup. It’s very healthy for you, to boot.
The red lentils in this recipe break down and make a very creamy soup. Green and brown lentils may be substituted, but black lentils don’t work out well.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Rinse lentils under cold water, until water runs clear (about 1 minute)
- Sauté carrots and onion until softened (about 5 minutes)
- Add garlic, curry powder, cumin, thyme, and saltCook until fragrant (about a minute)
- Stir in lentils, tomato sauce, and broth
- Bring to a simmer and cover
- Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Remove from heat, and (optionally) add baby spinach
Alternatives
You can try other vegetables as substitutes or additions, including sweet potatoes, butternut squash, mushrooms, celery, or whatever you have on hand.
Adapted from The Absolute Best Lentil Soup.
Hello, My Name Is…
This is our family dog. She is waiting for me to take her for a our regular after-dinner walk.
I am changing her name from “Butter” to “Aka Lana Lana” (“Hopeful Shadow” in Hawaiian) as she closely follows me around the house from the moment we finish dinner until I actually take her for a walk.
Stars
Last night, Beta spent half an hour out on the deck. She was wearing the wool cape I got her last Christmas. She had her new noise-cancelling headphones that block so many of the sounds that bother her. She used the new family telescope to check out the Pleiades.
That was pretty awesome.
Beef Kebabs
I am shocked, shocked I tell you! that my children actually enjoyed this recipe. I’m not sure why, perhaps they have given up all hope of enjoying a decent meal from my kitchen and now sullenly submit to my demands that they eat the goddamn food that I paid for and worked hard to put in front of them and it’s not like you do any chores around… Ahem. I got a little off track here.
Whatever the reason, they ate this one on my first attempt.
These are basically middle-eastern meatballs. You can cut in other things with the meat, serve them in a variety of ways, whatever floats your boat. (I rather enjoyed wrapping them in some naan with rice.) It’s a meatball. It’s the spices that make it.
The oven instructions are below. We haven’t grilled them yet, but they should do great, just use a little grill-sense. It’s a reasonably easy and fast recipe, ~20 minutes to prep and ~20 minutes to cook.
The recipe plus rice and other sides makes enough for 6-8 people.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of ground beef – don’t get a lean mix! 80-85% seems good
- mix in other ground meats as your fancy takes you, but you need some fats – don’t go too lean
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, or 1/4 cup dried
- 1/2 small onion, diced fine
- 1 red bell pepper, diced fine
- Garlic, 3-4 minced cloves
- Paprika, 1 tsp
- Salt, 1 tsp
- Cumin, 1/2 tsp
- Pepper, 1/2 tsp
Directions
If you plan on skewering the meat, and you’re using bamboo or wood skewers, soak them in water for ~30 mins.
- Preheat oven too 350°
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl (don’t overmix)
- Form the mix into oblong patties, about kielbasa-thick
- If you’re skewering, shove in the skewers now or form the patties around the skewers
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or grill for ~20 minutes, flipping at least once
- For the last couple of minutes turn on the broiler to brown the meat
Usual disclaimer with ground meat dishes: make sure the internal temp is at least 160° before serving.
Serve with some traditional middle-eastern sides, like:
- Naan bread
- Tabbouleh
- Cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
- Rice
Bath, Maine
Stir-Fried Udon Noodles with Pork
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Put on a pot of water to boil, for the noodles later
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in your skillet over medium-high heat
- Add cabbage/slaw to the skillet, tossing often, until edges are brown. Reduce heat and continue cooking until thickest parts of the cabbage are tender.Remove from heat and transfer cabbage to bowl
- Wipe out skillet, add a tablespoon of oil, and bring back to medium heat
- Add pork to skillet, break it up, and cook until browned. Once the meat is broken up, don't keep fussing with it, give it a chance to get browner bits.
- Once water from step 1 is boiling, turn off heat and add noodles.Let noodles sit for 1 minute, then drain. Toss with 1 tablespoon of oil and transfer to bowl with cabbage. Mix together.
- To the pork, add the pale scallion bits, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Toss for a minute or so, until scallions start to soften.
- Add noodles and cabbage, mirin, and soy sauce to skillet. Mix until noodles are well-coated with sauce.
- Remove from heat and toss in green scallion bits and sesame seeds (if desired).
Notes
- Requires a large skillet. Our 14″ cast iron is the perfect size. It’s not quite a one-pot meal, because there’s a swap of ingredients in the middle, but it’s close.
- Mirin is like sweet sake syrup. The Japanese equivalent of cooking sherry, you should be able to find bottles of it in the grocery store.
- The original recipe was pretty strict about amounts, but we’ve found that this recipe is pretty tolerant of variation.
Adapted from https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/stir-fried-udon-with-pork
Quarantine: Reflections From Week 1
After the first full week of quarantine, some observations.
- The public has gone completely crazy.
By last weekend people had purchased all available stocks of toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, and ibuprofen. Store shelves were completely bare across the nation.There was no real shortage. Panic buying and speculation rules the day. Stores have mercifully instituted per-person maximum purchases to ensure availability for the unlucky or slow-to-act, so paper products are starting to trickle back onto the shelves.
Today the shortages are pasta, rice, french fries, and pepperoni. We couldn’t find any presliced pepperoni in Market Basket.
The veggie aisle continues to be well-stocked, except bananas. (but that’s not completely out of the ordinary.) - Unemployment claims are rising precipitously. Experts are warning that we could reach 20% unemployment this year.
- Street traffic has ticked up a bit. Presumably people are starting to venture out, but not soon enough to save local small businesses.
- Restaurants are still closing, but takeout pizza joints are booming.
We decided to relax and order pizza from Tremezzo’s Pizza last night. Megh called in an order at 4:40 pm. It took nearly an hour for pickup. - Starbucks, as one of the last remaining food service businesses open, is at least as busy as before. It’s limited to drive-thru and pre-order service (nobody allowed inside) and the line of cars just about reaches the main road.
- The kids actually wanted to go out for a drive.
Last night we went across the street with our pizza and salad for a very fun dinner with Debbie and Tom, followed by a round of cribbage.
When we got back home around 8 pm the kids asked us to go out for a drive.
They haven’t been in a car for over a week. They’ve been outside, but there’s nowhere to go so none of us have been further than the grocery store. Their friends can’t come out. It’s weird to go so long without going anywhere, I think it’s comforting to do something familiar like sit in the car.
We swung by McDonald’s for a treat and just… drove around, the four of us. We went out to North Reading, swung through Reading, and came home. It’s weird, but I have to admit that it was relaxing to drive.
Bonus: there were hardly any cars on the road.
Looking ahead, it seems that we might have to collectively hunker down for months, perhaps a year, perhaps more.