August 11, 2020

August in Ohio is when summer is at its peak of heat. These days, the only times I actually step foot out the door are to run errands or run to the local supermarket for a quick grocery run. Even those trips, I try to minimize the amount and length of times I have to leave our home as much as possible. On the days when I do make a trip out to the grocery store, I head straight for the seasonal produce aisle. Seasonal produce is my favorite part about grocery trips during the summer. The produce towards the front of the supermarket are almost always on sale, in season, and at its peak of freshness. Stone fruits and tropical fruits tend to make their way to my grocery cart more often than not. In almost every grocery trip I’ve made during the summer, I’ve stocked up on tons of peaches, nectarines, mangos, watermelon, and citrus. I use stone fruits in the summer like I use apples during the fall. They star a major role in many of the dishes I cook and add an element of sweetness to any salad or grain bowl I toss together. Peaches and nectarines have starred a major role in one too many summer pizzas. This weekend, Kevin and I took a midday break to enjoy a picnic for two. Whenever I plan a picnic, I try to plan the menu around portable foods. The easier it is to eat the foods, the better. For our midsummer picnic, I prepped my favorite summer garden salad featuring tomatoes at their peak of ripeness, cooling cucumber cut into small pieces, sharp red onion diced finely, sweet corn kernels removed off their cobs, tons of freshly chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a light sprinkling of kosher salt. The summer garden salad was so good, I brought it along to a couple small birthday gatherings throughout the summer. Picnics for us aren’t complete unless we have some sort of handheld sandwich. Kevin’s latest obsession (or maybe addiction) has been the spicy crispy chicken sandwich from Popeyes. He would go out of his way to drive to Popeyes just so he can get his fix of the spicy crispy chicken sandwich. To appease Kevin’s cravings, I created my own version of the spicy chicken sandwich to serve for our picnic. The crispy chicken was prepared the same way I prepare my crispy chicken strips. My version of the crispy chicken sandwich features crispy chicken, lightly toasted brioche sliders with sriracha mayo and fresh arugula (because you know, veggies). The only item left to pack was a refreshing drink. In my family, tea is usually the drink of choice – whether served hot, cold, or featured in bubble tea. I decided to make a refreshing version of cold tea featuring lemon slices, fresh mint, and a drizzle of honey. With the minty lemon iced tea done, we were all set to enjoy our summer picnic for two. There truly isn’t any activity more perfect in the summer than a picnic. The picnic was a much-needed break for both of us after the busy last couple of weeks we had filled with work, home projects, and fall planning.

August 3, 2020

Today, I’m revisiting another one of my favorite pantry meals, bacon and egg fried rice. I first tossed together this version of fried rice when I tried to use up some leftover ingredients in my refrigerator. I saw some bacon and eggs and thought to myself why not combine these items together into fried rice. Thus, my bacon and egg fried rice was born. Fried rice holds a special place in my heart. It was a dish my family made almost weekly when I was growing up. We ate fried rice for parties in school. Fried rice brought our family together for celebrations. My family even used fried rice as a way to clear out all of the remaining bits and pieces of meats and veggies lying around in our fridge at the end of each week. Pretty much anything you can think of has played a role in one or another version of fried rice. Eating a bowl of fried rice tossed together by my mom, dad, grandma or grandpa always brought a huge smile to my face. I remember eating around the bits of chopped char siu in my bowl of fried rice and saving those small bits for the very end. The crispy char siu bits infused layers of flavor into the fried rice. Long after I moved to the Midwest, I’ve continued to turn to fried rice as a way to help use up leftover meats and veggies sitting in my fridge. Outside of char siu, my family also loved to toss in lap cheong, the smoked meat of choice for homemade fried rice in our household. Lap cheong releases the most intense sweet, savory, and smoky flavors when heated. I would describe lap cheong as a cross between the western equivalent of bacon and sausage. Even thinking back, I can still taste the aromatic smoky flavors of lap cheong in the homemade versions of fried rice I ate growing up. After moving to Ohio, it became a lot more difficult to access some of the Chinese ingredients my family would use to make many of their dishes. Lap cheong was one of those items. I often had to find other ways to infuse smoky flavor into my fried rice. One way I accomplished this was by cooking up some bacon and infusing the rendered fat from the bacon into cooked, cold jasmine rice. Bacon was such an easy swap. It brought layers of flavor into the rice. One scoop of bacon and egg fried rice was all the confirmation I needed to add this fried rice into my monthly meal rotations.

July 23, 2020

With summer in full swing, it’s been easier than ever to work fresh produce into my meals. My trips to the grocery store have decreased from once per week to once per two weeks. In between trips to the grocery store, I try to work in as many pantry ingredients as possible. I always have pasta, rice, and flour on hand to whip up a quick meal. These three pantry staples have played a major role in many of my weekday meals. When I do make a trip to the grocery store, I try to stock up on as much fresh produce as I can. The moment I return home from the store, I prep as much of the veggies as I can as a way to extend the shelf life of the veggies. Produce with shorter self-life gets worked into my meals first. If I’m unable to use the fresh produce within one week, I freeze the fruit or veggie as a way to extend its shelf life. Produce with longer shelf life gets reserved for meals later down the road. This method has worked exceptionally well in helping me plan my meals throughout the weeks. Breakfast is usually the easiest meal to prepare in our household because Kevin and I have gotten into our routine of enjoying smoothies and toast for breakfast. I love to toss in a combination of fruits and leafy greens into my smoothies. This ensures I start my day off with multiple servings of fruits and veggies. Since Kevin and I have started teleworking back in March, I have been making a smoothie for breakfast almost every weekday. A glass of smoothie with a side of lightly buttered toast has been the perfect way to jumpstart my mornings. Lunch usually features a rotation of my favorite rice or grain bowls packed with veggies and some form of protein. Lately though, I’ve been experimenting with a variety of veggie and protein packed wraps. Outside of fried rice, wraps are one of my favorite ways to use up bits and pieces of produce lying around in my fridge. While experimenting with wraps one day, I came up with a super flavor packed homemade flour wrap filled with seasoned chicken, cilantro, and kale. My cumin chicken, cilantro, and kale wraps feature chicken seasoned with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, sugar, kosher salt, black pepper, and white pepper. I like to season the chicken the evening before and cook it the next day for lunch. The blend of spices works exceptionally well in packing the chicken with tons of flavor when cooked. The cooked and slightly cooled chicken is layered in homemade flour wraps with a bunch of cilantro and kale rolled tightly together. The wraps were packed with flavor and made for the perfect satisfying lunch on a busy week. The key to these savory, flavorful wraps is using homemade flour wraps. My homemade flour wraps came about when I made my roasted chicken and hoisin wraps a few weeks ago (loosely inspired by my love for Peking duck wraps). The wraps were so good, I made them for lunch multiple times over the last few weeks. The best part was how easy the wraps were to pull together last minute for a truly satisfying light lunch.

July 12, 2020

The hot summer July days seem to be flying right by. The sweltering summer heat has made it difficult to enjoy nature without getting sweaty. I’m back at work in the kitchen testing out new recipes and putting spins on some of my favorite foods. While I like to avoid the oven as much as possible during the summer, I couldn’t help myself when my cravings steered me towards five spice spare ribs. Five spice spare ribs is my latest creation featuring Chinese five spice powder, one of the staple spices in my kitchen pantry. Chinese five spice powder features a blend of cinnamon, fennel, star anise, ginger, and cloves. It has a very distinctive flavor and is featured heavily in a lot of Asian roasted meats. Growing up in Brooklyn, my family made and ate a lot of meats cooked using five spice powder. Without five spice powder, roasted duck and char siu would not have their distinctive tastes. When I moved to the Midwest, one of the first spice blends I purchased to stock my pantry was five spice powder. It came in handy when my cravings veered towards braised pork rice. I love to add the spice blend when I want a distinctive layer of familiar flavor in the meats I cook at home. My Chinese five spice spare ribs came about through multiple experiments in the kitchen. I was playing around with finding a new way to make delicious smoked meats right in my own kitchen oven. The experiments led me to the perfect blend of spices for an Asian take on smoked spare ribs. I rubbed the spare ribs with Chinese five spice powder, garlic powder, white pepper, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. The spare ribs are then left to sit in the fridge overnight. The next day, I mix together a simple sauce of soy sauce, honey, and white pepper and brush the sauce onto the spare ribs right before loosely wrapping up the spare ribs in aluminum foil and tucking the package into the oven. Halfway into the cooking time, the irresistible scent of the spare ribs wafted through my kitchen. Kevin suddenly popped into the kitchen to check on how much longer the spare ribs would take to cook. The moment I removed the spare ribs from the oven to brush on the second layer of sauce, Kevin is already eagerly waiting for some spare ribs. I quickly brush on the second layer of sauce and pop the baking sheet with the uncovered spare ribs back into the oven to let the tops of the spare ribs caramelize. I also took this opportunity to pop some corn on the cob into the oven. 30 minutes later, the spare ribs have achieved the perfect caramelized crust on top. I remove the baking sheet from the oven, let the spare ribs cool for a bit, and prepare the rest of the sides (including green beans tossed with a simple sesame garlic sauce and tomato basil pasta salad). I bring out a simple fruit and cream trifle and a mint sweet tea I had prepared ahead of time. Our perfect summer meal was complete. Kevin and I devoured the spare ribs and sides in a matter of moments. Shortly after, he retreated back to his gaming station to play Valorant online with the boys. I grabbed my yoga mat and headed back outdoors to soak in some sunshine and catch up on my podcasts. The perfect relaxing Sunday was complete.