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One of my favorite things, no fucking lie, is putting together something to eat on the spur of the moment and it coming out delicious.
There aren't a lot of culinary skill sets that I actually possess. I can read a cookbook and extrapolate a bit from an existing recipe, but I'm still in the training stage of most cookery. I'm practicing! But I don't exactly expect to open a restaurant, so I guess there's no hurry. One of the things I've gotten a little bit of practice in is probably stir-frying, though. For me, it's easy because it's so basic. You get a big ass pan or wok really, really hot, put some high-temperature oil into it, and then cook stuff really, really fast.
There's a knack to a lot of it that I haven't gotten 100% down yet; it's all trial and error for me, but today I put together something pretty tasty.
Kay had already eaten and I was trying to figure out something to whip up. I mean, I'm cooking for one and lately we've been buying as close to all whole food as we can, which means that even when I want something quick I usually have to make it from base ingredients. This is great for taste and health, but it can be pretty bad for time.
I took a ground beef patty we'd frozen and put it in a good quality plastic bag. I thawed it until it was soft, but left it in the bag and turned the heat up gently until it turned a little gray. That means it got up to temperature, but I knew it wasn't cooked through. I set it, bag in, into a bowl of water to hit room temperature.
I washed some kale with their stems and chopped them really roughly, then dried them. Then I chopped some mushrooms and scallions and put 'em in a bowl. I figured, "what the hell, right?" and finely chopped a little ginger and a few cloves of garlic too, and set them with the onions. Now that I had all the greens chopped and off the board, I brought the hamburger and chopped it roughly into squares and put it into a dish with soy sauce, mirin, cumin seeds, chili flakes, ground pepper, kosher salt, stir-fry oil (which is just oil infused with ginger, garlic, and sesame) and sesame seed oil, and I just let it sit for a little while.
When I decided to get cooking, I put some grapeseed oil into the wok. It's more expensive than other oils, but it's got a clean taste and the cooking temp is high, so that makes it good for wok temperatures. I put that bad boy on Max (we've got a gas stove) and waited for it to get ripping hot. Not always so nice during the summer... Also, as a totally unrelated side-note, never cook fish sauce in a room with poor ventilation. It smells like hot garbage, which it kind of technically is. Just take my word for it.
I threw the meat in and cooked it quick, then put it in a separate dish to wait. I quickly tossed the kale and mushrooms in, tossed them around a little bit, dropped some soy sauce and a little water in, and put a circular metal pizza dish on top to trap the moisture. I only had the dish on for about 30 seconds when I removed it. The kale took on the steamed look I hoped and I rapidly tossed the meat back in, then followed that with the garlic, ginger, and onions.
I always do that stuff last these days - onions wilt so easy and garlic burns at low temperatures, so to keep the taste and color vibrant, I do that bit at the very end. All you need to do is fold it in, and that's the whole meal pretty much.
It used to be that I'd throw it all in at the same time, and it tasted okay, but the little differences add up. The taste was really good and it even looked really pretty. I felt really good, because it was all on the spur of the moment with no planning, and it really made me feel accomplished - like all the times I'd practiced or learned little alterations is worth it. I guess I'm posting this here because no matter what people say about posting what you've eaten on Facebook, this makes me proud and I like to share flavors. If I can't cook for others, I can at least share what I did.
There aren't a lot of culinary skill sets that I actually possess. I can read a cookbook and extrapolate a bit from an existing recipe, but I'm still in the training stage of most cookery. I'm practicing! But I don't exactly expect to open a restaurant, so I guess there's no hurry. One of the things I've gotten a little bit of practice in is probably stir-frying, though. For me, it's easy because it's so basic. You get a big ass pan or wok really, really hot, put some high-temperature oil into it, and then cook stuff really, really fast.
There's a knack to a lot of it that I haven't gotten 100% down yet; it's all trial and error for me, but today I put together something pretty tasty.
Kay had already eaten and I was trying to figure out something to whip up. I mean, I'm cooking for one and lately we've been buying as close to all whole food as we can, which means that even when I want something quick I usually have to make it from base ingredients. This is great for taste and health, but it can be pretty bad for time.
I took a ground beef patty we'd frozen and put it in a good quality plastic bag. I thawed it until it was soft, but left it in the bag and turned the heat up gently until it turned a little gray. That means it got up to temperature, but I knew it wasn't cooked through. I set it, bag in, into a bowl of water to hit room temperature.
I washed some kale with their stems and chopped them really roughly, then dried them. Then I chopped some mushrooms and scallions and put 'em in a bowl. I figured, "what the hell, right?" and finely chopped a little ginger and a few cloves of garlic too, and set them with the onions. Now that I had all the greens chopped and off the board, I brought the hamburger and chopped it roughly into squares and put it into a dish with soy sauce, mirin, cumin seeds, chili flakes, ground pepper, kosher salt, stir-fry oil (which is just oil infused with ginger, garlic, and sesame) and sesame seed oil, and I just let it sit for a little while.
When I decided to get cooking, I put some grapeseed oil into the wok. It's more expensive than other oils, but it's got a clean taste and the cooking temp is high, so that makes it good for wok temperatures. I put that bad boy on Max (we've got a gas stove) and waited for it to get ripping hot. Not always so nice during the summer... Also, as a totally unrelated side-note, never cook fish sauce in a room with poor ventilation. It smells like hot garbage, which it kind of technically is. Just take my word for it.
I threw the meat in and cooked it quick, then put it in a separate dish to wait. I quickly tossed the kale and mushrooms in, tossed them around a little bit, dropped some soy sauce and a little water in, and put a circular metal pizza dish on top to trap the moisture. I only had the dish on for about 30 seconds when I removed it. The kale took on the steamed look I hoped and I rapidly tossed the meat back in, then followed that with the garlic, ginger, and onions.
I always do that stuff last these days - onions wilt so easy and garlic burns at low temperatures, so to keep the taste and color vibrant, I do that bit at the very end. All you need to do is fold it in, and that's the whole meal pretty much.
It used to be that I'd throw it all in at the same time, and it tasted okay, but the little differences add up. The taste was really good and it even looked really pretty. I felt really good, because it was all on the spur of the moment with no planning, and it really made me feel accomplished - like all the times I'd practiced or learned little alterations is worth it. I guess I'm posting this here because no matter what people say about posting what you've eaten on Facebook, this makes me proud and I like to share flavors. If I can't cook for others, I can at least share what I did.
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Nothing wrong with that, sounds both fun *and* delicious :)