Touch at Your Own Risk

This morning I went on a mini-adventure to try to find some of the ingredients for a special holiday appetizer [1].

One of the things that characterizes the holiday season, according to much of the buzz on SparkPeople.com, is holiday parties, and specifically "the dreaded potluck" [2]. I really enjoy cooking, so I love bringing food. The problem is, that party-organizers always seem to ask my family to bring appetizers, which tend to be pretty boring (although my mother has come up with some clever things in the past). This holiday season I found an appetizer that I wanted to make: the Gỏi Cuốn from My Year on the Grill.

The Gỏi Cuốn are non-fried vegetarian spring rolls-- essentially the salad rolls from my favorite Thai place by my Alma Mater. These wraps are yummy and full of vegetables with a spicy dipping sauce. In order to make them, one needs rice-paper wraps in order to make them. In order to do that, my mom and I took a trip to the local Japanese (but really more general Asian) grocery store.

I borrowed this picture from My Year on the Grill.

The first thing I noticed about the store were the 20 lb bags of rice. The best part, was that there were not only 20 lb bags of white rice and brown rice, but rice from different regions (California seemed to be the most common) as well as sweet white and brown rice (which looks more like seeds than actual rice), different sizes of rice grain, red rice, black/forbidden rice, and various mixtures. There was even brown jasmine rice! I've never heard of brown jasmine rice. I also noticed that there was some wonderful cookware, including every size and shape of rice cooker imaginable.

My favorite moments came in the fish and shellfish section. On the pre-packaged shelves, there were some lovely cuts of salmon sitting beside what proclaimed to be fabulous cuts of squid. The most amusing part, in my opinion, was the shellfish. There were tanks upon tanks of crabs and lobster. The tanks themselves were kind of sad-- the crabs and lobsters were pretty crowded. However, there was a gigantic...vat (for lack of a better word)...which contained some kind of shellfish. I did not actually peer in because I was distracted by the sign above which said "Touch at your own risk. We are not responsible for your injury." Suddenly, I was struck by one of those ridiculous impulses to stick my hand in and see if something bit it, but luckily I refrained. The sign totally cracked me up.

Cerinthus later told me that I should make a comic strip out of my life and that he could totally imagine the cartoon version of me sticking my finger into the tank, getting pinched by a lobster, and saying "this one's fresh!" Ponticus introduced Cerinthus to Questionable Content a few months ago, and Cerinthus is clearly addicted.

Most of the rest of the trip was without incident. We found the rice wraps.  As we were browsing around we also found wonton and gyoza wraps [3]. We also wandered by the hot food section in which a very snappily-dressed Japanese man looked at my mom suspiciously, as if she might be tempted to impede his efficiency.

I am really excited about making the Gỏi Cuốn. I will report back!

Endnotes

1. Obviously the term "adventure" is amusing after my last blogpost on Sartre's Nausea.
2. Personally, I do not attend that many holiday parties and I have never been particularly partial to holiday food, so (since I almost entirely stopped eating holiday cookies) I do not gain that much weight during the holidays.
3. I love vegitable gyoza. if anyone has a recipe, please send it my way. I saw a couple having it at the table next to Cerinthus and me at my favorite Japanese place near my Alma Mater and I ordered it on a whim. This was definitely the right decision.

A Slightly-Lighter-than-Usual Chicken Marsala

I love chicken marsala. I had my first bite when my mother convinced me to try some at New Years when I was around 12 and I just loved it. I used to order it a lot at Italian restaurants until I realized two things: first, every recipe for chicken marsala is different and second that most recipes pack between 700-1000 calories into their versions. Especially as I was trying to lose weight, this was crazy. So my mom and I took a bunch of versions and synthesized them into a fabulous version which substantially cut down the calories.

However, even in our lighter, fabulous version, there is still some debate. Cream or no cream? A few nights ago we made a version with cream (in which I was the head chef) and later this week, my mom is going to make a cream-less version (in which she is the head chef). I will let you know the results, but for now, this is my recipe.

Chicken Marsala Pasta with Cream (makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients

• 9-12oz boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper, white or black (plus some for flavor in sauce)
• 1/4 tsp salt (plus some for flavor in sauce)
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 small head garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2/3 cup marsala wine, dry (not sweet)
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 2-3 tbsp heavy whipping cream (optional)
• Pasta (usually fettucini or angel hair), a serving per person

Directions

1. Place the chicken pieces between wax paper and pound to 1/2-1/4 inch thick.
2. Mix oregano, salt, pepper, and flour. Drag the chicken through the mixture and shake off excess.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet. Fry the chicken until cooked through and slightly browned on the outside. Do not overcook, should be fork tender. If you need to fry the chicken in batches, that is ok.
4. Remove chicken from pan and cover with aluminum foil
5. Add 1tbsp of oil to skillet. Add garlic and saute until soft (do not brown).
6. Add scallion to skillet. Saute for 1 minute (do not brown)
7. Add mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir the mushrooms during this process.
8. Pour marsala and chicken broth into skillet and let simmer for a few minutes.
9. Add cream (optional)
10. Prepare pasta when necessary, per the directions of the pasta, but I usually put it on as the sauce is reducing.
11. Let the sauce simmer until reduced by half. Add salt and pepper to taste (this does not require much salt or pepper, but white pepper especially brings out the flavor). Add a mix of water and flour if necessary as a thickening agent (more likely to be necessary if you are not using cream).
12. Replace chicken into pan and reheat on low. Cover the chicken in the sauce and the mushrooms.
13. Either place pasta in skillet and stir into sauce, then serve, or put pasta on plates and place chicken on top, pouring excess sauce over the pasta. Enjoy!

Pizza for Wimps and Newfound Fame

My bread has not been turning out well. I'm not sure whether it is the fact that I'm no longer in a climate conducive to bread or that I am no longer dependent on my bread in order to finish my thesis, but it has not been working. Even when the bread was working, I was never particularly good at making pizza dough. Tonight I cheated. I made pizza with my mom but we bought a pre-made whole-wheat dough from Trader Joe's. The pizza was great. I used my pizza stone which I've never used with pre-made dough and I was shocked at how well the dough cooked and cooked with the proper timing as the cheese, so right at the point where the cheese had melted sufficiently, the dough was soft and fluffy on the inside and clumsy on the outside. I also had fresh basil from the garden.

The other odd thing that has happened recently is new-found fame. I have been a member of sparkpeople.com for two years now. I have lost 50lbs and gone from being a size 14/16 to a size 2/3/4. My life has changed a lot. Recently, I wrote a blogpost about walking which was one of my primary weight loss tools. Chris Downie, the founder of sparkpeople.com commented on my piece and the next thing I knew, I had been catapulted into the spotlight because my blog-post was emailed out to everyone on the site. Suddenly, people were commenting on my page, emailing me for advice, and finding me all sorts of ways. It was really gratifying. The best part was that a number of people commented on how much they liked my writing. It reminded me that, although I am teaching part time right now, in my real life I want to be an academic and a researcher and will publish books that people will actually read (even if that readership is limited to the classical/philological community).

Speaking of sparkpeople, one of the books I've read this summer was Chris Downie's book. I thought that it was a quick read and extremely enjoyable. He began his site as a way to connect and inspire people. I felt that I was fulfilling that dream when so many people were inspired by what I had written about my walks around the neighborhood. It was fabulous.