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Recipe: chinese hot pot

While I was pondering a non-trad Thanksgiving menu, HolyBasil reminded me of a favorite dish from my childhood: Chinese hot pot. Call it what you want, huo guo, shabu shabu, fondue… it’s delicious and fun. My mom prepared this on cold nights and it was perfect for someone as picky as my sister. I distinctly recall the steam rising from the broth in the electric wok, fogging the insides of every window in the kitchen. The wok was the centerpiece of the table, surrounded by plates and bowls of colorful vegetables, meats, noodles, and tofu – ready to be picked and cooked. My mother hand sliced everything with such precision and laid out all of the ingredients in beautiful fans.

Recipe: roasted butternut squash soup

Confession time. Until just a few years ago, whenever I heard the words butternut squash I envisioned the acorn squash. I was not much of a squash consumer other than zucchini and pumpkin. I was squash stupid. It was when Nicole and Andrew had us over for homemade butternut squash ravioli one evening that I became enamored with the lovely gourd.

Recipe: coleslaw

I cannot recall when it was that I changed my mind about cabbage, but it has been one of my favorites for a long time now. I initially only ate cabbage in the Chinese cold salad form when I was a kid. It’s salted and then marinated in sweet, sour, and spicy seasonings – served with the traditional cold appetizer plate. I ate it up. Did I mention that I am crazy about pickled vegetables? Don’t get me started on kimchi… I could eat that for days on end.

Coleslaw scared me at first. In the South, it was usually mixed with a lot of mayonnaise. I’m not afraid of mayonnaise per se, well… yes I am. It grosses me out to consume enormous amounts of mayonnaise. When I moved west to California, I discovered the mayonnaiseless coleslaw and I was hooked, however I didn’t consume much of it because I spent my days eating a lot of fantastic ethnic food that I can’t get my hands on now.

So now, in the Rockies, I’ve been driven to making my own favorites because I can’t seem to find them in town. This summer I did a lot of barbecue testing and of course, the natural partner to pulled pork, pork ribs, barbecue chicken, and friends is… coleslaw (among other things like beans, potato salad, and rolls). Coleslaw is unbelievably easy to make. Even easier if you omit the mayo.

**Jump for more butter**