Sunday's Post

Tonight, my Dad and I shared a bowl of yaka mee (yaka mein for all you sticklers).  Growing up, yaka mee was my chicken soup.  I didn't have it very often, despite how easy it was to make, but when I did it reminded me from where I came.  It brought me back home.  

Some things can bring it back immediately.  Some things bring me right back to the house where I was raised in northwest D.C.  Small things.  The smell of popcorn made on the stove, the trumpet solo on Sunday Morning, walnuts in the shell with a nutcracker..... and yaka mee. 

I can see my Dad right now, digging on a bowl for breakfast while catching up on EastEnders.  For those of you who knew my Dad, you know how positively hilarious that last part is...

So in the last few days, I've felt like my Dad has been right next to me.  Little things tipped me off to his visit.  Super interesting excursions at work that he would have loved (mini CSI episode with Kari Bruwelheide, forensic anthropologist), special songs that randomly play on Pandora... back to back.... to back, and running into Jose Andres outside of PAUL (right?) in Penn Quarter.  I can't properly explain it, but I feel like I wasn't the only one on the couch last night watching Murder on the Orient Express.

Anyway, tonight I took a trip back home, but in my very own kitchen in Bloomingdale.  I didn't have all the traditional ingredients, but I made it work and it was delicious.  Even more so with the Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce added at the end.  The telltale sign my Dad was right there.  Hot sauce is so much more his thing.

Miss you, Daddy.  Happy Father's Day.

Tonight I used chicken stock where I should have used beef and pork where I should have used brisket.  Apparently.  That's the way some do it, but I suppose we mellowed it out up here.  When I grew up, in place of the pork was chicken.  Oh, and did I mention I used soba noodles instead of traditional spaghetti, but you get where I'm going, right? 

Slice grilled pork into thin fillets and chop scallion for garnish.  Prepare spaghetti pasta in salted water and hard boil an egg.  Place pasta, pork, scallions and egg in a bowl and cover with chicken broth.  Add a bit of soy sauce and hot chili sauce.  

Enjoy

The Deal:
Calories: 304; Fat: 13g; Protein: 29g; Carbs: 16g

Random Tip #2

Never pour steaming liquids into a blender, attach the lid and attempt to blend.  Simple laws of physics.   Ponder that while I towel the cabinets clean of asparagus soup.

A Week Without Waste: Day Five

Shut up.  We've done it.  Not a single thing in the fridge fermenting, turning unnatural colours, or growing legs and walking out altogether.  I'm so jazzed I can hardly stand it.  Here's what's left:

mustard greens
romaine leaves
acorn squash
turnips
red potatoes
yukon gold potatoes
pink lady apples
spring onions
eggs
ground buffalo
bacon
milk
yogurt

not much one can do with 2 ingredients but combine them together and hope for the best.  I know the bacon fad is long over and the bastardization of the single entity that stands between me and a vegetarian lifestyle still irritates me, but there is no questioning it.  Bacon makes everything better.  Which is why I saved this particular ingredient for the lone mustard greens.  Do you remember when you didn't like brussels sprouts until someone roasted them and added bacon?  Yeah.  Remember when a grilled cheese was just goo between bread until you added bacon and tomato?  Yeah.  You know how pancakes are just uber sweet without that salty bacon back flavor?  Yeah. 

I'm not going to go all mainstream and declare bacon the new IT ingredient (so 2008) and I won't even mention that I was using bacon as garnish in my bourbon YEARS ago.  I'm not going to explain that everytime a friend sees some ridiculous pairing of bacon with a random (lip balm?  seriously?) I immediately get an email or a photo via text message.  Won't even tell you how I'll squeeze onto the sofa next to Mandeep warning him, "move over bacon, here comes something leaner" (those in their 30s will remember that one).  No, no, I'll shut up about that and stick to the facts. 


Well, here goes.  Super simple, super delicious.

Crisp up the bacon in a pan then set aside.  Use the drippings from the bacon to sautee a bit of onion and garlic (these are staples people) then add the mustard greens.  

Soften a bit before adding water or chicken stock.  Simmer for about 30 minutes. Prepare brown or white rice (depending on gluten tolerance... I got you, Hasselbeck) and mix in the greens.  

Garnish with crumbled bacon.

The Deal:

Calories: 221; Fat: 8g; Protein: 12g; Carbs; 25g