use real butter

This evening when I got home, I wanted to try some skillet roasted potatoes I had read about in the latest issue of Fine Cooking on my busride. It calls for – none other than – yukon golds, which I have touted before as the finest cooking potatoes I have ever met. Turns out they were developed in Canada (hence the name, Yukon) and a cross between a white American potato and a fleshy yellow South American potato. What we end up with is a most versatile, flavorful, and reliable tuber. But I digress…

delicious crunchy outside, soft and fluffy inside

As I fried up these beauts in the skillet, I had to refill my industrial salt shaker. I reached for the salt can and discovered the weight to be on the light side. Oh shit. You know what this means?!? Need to buy more salt. You know what the problem with that is?!!? Chinese New Year is January 29th. You aren’t supposed to buy salt the month before or the month after the Chinese New Year. Why? Because the translation “yien” for salt also means to “be idle”. Chinese interpret the “be idle” to mean unemployment. And even if I thought I could possibly get away with it… my grandmother told me the one year my late uncle went to buy salt during The Wrong Time of Year, he was laid off by GM that same year (seems as if a lot of folks went and bought salt lately who work for GM, eh?). I called my mom and she helped me remember that I did have enough salt in the house – in the dining table shaker, and in the little salt/pepper disposable shakers we bought when we moved into the house before our stuff arrived. Okay, I think I can make it to March. Then my mom said, “Just cook a lot of chinese food that uses soy sauce instead.” Indeed, Mother. Indeed.

Oh how I love…

fresh asparagus

I stir-fried chicken and asparagus tonight and added it to my photo recipes on my web site here.



My parents called today (again). When they travel, they want to let me know where they are at every waypoint and give me the play by play. They were in the parking lot of Trader Joes at Tyson’s Station in Falls Church, Virginia and wanted to know if I wanted anything. Oh boy, did I… but half of the goodness of Trader Joes is their fresh stuff. I thought I’d toss them a bone because they sounded so happy that they were at MY FAVORITE grocery store and could actually get something that they knew I liked.

dad: Do you like saffron? I like their saffron, I’m going to buy some for myself.
me: Well, how about some… chocolate?
dad: Chocolate? Are you going to eat it? It makes you fat.
me: It’s for Jeremy, he likes their dark chocolate.
dad: Sure, we can get you chocolate. Dark?! We will mail it to you.
mom: (shouting in background) It’s too hot! It will melt in the mail!
dad: Oh – this chocolate is a problem. Mommy says it will melt. Saffron will not melt. Do you want saffron?
me: I have a lot of saffron already, thanks. How about buying the chocolate and then waiting until October to send it?
dad: Ah – good idea, kid. Anything else you want? Just chocolate and saffron?

One of my favorite things to eat is leftovers. What could say summer more than a grilled salad? A grilled salad? Yes! Organic baby greens topped with feta, sliced steak, grilled eggplant, grilled mushrooms, grilled zucchini, pine nuts, and yogurt-tahini sauce.

In my second burst of energy, I made enormous headway packing the kitchen. Now we are really down to essentials. We’re basically grilling the rest of our meals and then dining out with friends at our favorite dives until we leave. I managed to polish off a lot of condiments and liquid ingredients too. Chicken teriyaki: minced ginger root, minced green onion, minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, chicken breasts, ziploc. Flank steak marinade: soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, mustard, fresh minced parsley, pepper, worcestershire sauce, oil, flank steak, ziploc.

marinate

chicken teriyaki