2011 Goals Check-Up: November/December

Yay! Birthday dinner at Hill Country BBQ in NYC

These past two months have been busy, so this "check up" combines them -

7.5+ hours of sleep per night - Overall I continue to be horrible at doing this, if not getting a little worse - I still average about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I think I need to start breaking it down, half hour by half hour, trying to get myself earlier to bed every night. I force myself to be "accountable" by texting B. every night when I go to bed, but really it gives me a false sense of goodness because B. always goes to bed later than me *hehe*

Drink at least 1 L (one water bottle) of water per day - I continue to be good at finishing my water bottle at work, but horrible at drinking enough water when I'm not at work, so I think I will focus on drinking enough on weekends in the new year.

Read at least 12 books this year - I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest(my sixth book!) while in New York, but haven't started on a new one yet :( Short of my goal, but I'd like to believe that I read more this year than I did last year. For the New Year, my sister got me The Song of Ice & Fire boxed setfor Christmas, and I'm on deck to borrow The Hunger Games Trilogy Box Setfrom her too :)

Win a kickboxing/Muay Thai fight - I finally did this! I won two fights at a "continuous" event (a tournament for amateurs where people are expected to not fight at full power in short, 1-2 round fights.)

Cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own - I made a zippy Ginger, Carrot and Yam Soup from Cooking VegetarianI was hoping to slip in a recipe from Italian Easybefore the end of the year, but no dice, and I have yet to cook from the books I have already cooked from, just not this year.

Put my savings/RRSP somewhere where I can make more money - So far I've made $166 on my investments, which is pretty good considering I usually made under $30 a month on interest, so I would consider this a success! I still have to transfer my chequing account over though...

Set aside one weekend every month with no commitments - As noted above, we went to NYC for six days for my birthday, which was a lot of fun (and a lot of food), and then Christmas has been pretty commitment-free, minus the dinners and the occasional feelings of guilt...

Rewards
To reward myself for winning my first fight I have been taking it easy in terms of training this whole month, but I should be kicking things back into gear for January! And to reward myself for a good year all around, I'm going to go shopping (I've missed boxing week sales, I know), knock a few things off my wishlist and spend some gift cards! Come back for my 2012 New Year's Resolutions tomorrow!

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the gingerbread beach bums!

My brother said that my sister and I make the best gingerbread cookies ever! What more can a girl ask for?

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Gingerbread Cake

This holiday season, I've been quite surprised by the number of people who don't like gingerbread. I guess the spicy, peppery taste of ginger or the licorice-y, almost medicinal taste of molasses might be a bit of an acquired taste, but you would think that more people would appreciate something that only really comes around once a year.

I, on the other hand, am a huge fan of gingerbread and have been meaning to try my hand at gingerbread (not cookies) ever since I saw Lara Ferroni's decadent-looking chocolate gingerbread recipe. I decided to make some for a holiday brunch potluck, but thought the chocolate gingerbread required a few too many ingredients I didn't have available. I browsed through a few of my favourite blogs and finally settled on Cheryl's recipe, which comes from her sister-in-law's mother.


The recipe is uncomplicated and comes together very quickly. The result is a moist cake (with an almost-gooey top layer) rich with molasses flavour and scented with gingerbread spice.


Cheryl's family likes the cake with Bird's Custard sauce or cream cheese frosting, while Cheryl likes it with maple butter. I think a simple dusting of icing sugar works great - since B. doesn't have a sieve, I ended up using a small grater :)

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Cake
Adapted from Backseat Gourmet
Makes 1 8" x 8" cake

• ½ cup/4 oz (125 mL/227 g) butter
  
• ⅔ cup (170 mL) brown sugar, packed
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) molasses
  
• 2½ cups (625 mL) flour (I'm working on experimenting with some whole wheat)
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
  
• 1½ tsp (7 mL) baking soda
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
  
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves
  
• 1 cup hot (not boiling) water

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan.
   
2. Cream shortening/butter. Gradually add the sugar, then the egg. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and mix until just blended.
   
3. In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the batter, ½ cup (125 mL) at a time, alternating with ¼ cup (60 mL) water. Beat until smooth after each addition. Pour into prepared pan.
   
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Nutrition Info (per 2" x 2" piece): 223 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans), 26 mg cholesterol, 40 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 21 g sugar), 3 g protein, 256 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄), magnesium and selenium.

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Laab Moo/Larb Mu - Thai Ground Pork Salad (ลาบหมู)

I don't remember how B. caught onto the idea that he wanted to make "laab moo" or "larb mu" - a Thai ground pork "salad".

I had a Thai friend who once told me that in Thai cooking, each dish should include all the basic tastes - sweet, savoury, sour, spicy... and potentially bitter and umami too. This lump of ground pork may look very simple, but it is flavoured with sugar (sweet), fish sauce (savoury/umami), lime (sour) and chili pepper (spicy), plus the unique aromas of shallots, green onions, galangal, mint, cilantro and kaffir lime leaves.


Another "key" ingredient in this is the toasted sticky rice powder (kao kua). I haven't been able to find it anywhere, but one of the recipes that we used (from Appetite for China) had instructions on how to make it.



This failed miserably for us. Toasting the rice was easy enough, but then we put the rice through a little spice grinder that we have and the grains came out very coarse and hard, instead of powder-like, so we omitted it from the recipe, and it still worked for us. Since then, I've read elsewhere that this ingredient is *essential* - I'm assuming it would add nuttiness and depth so I think next time I'll try a mortar and pestle or a food processor.

We used two recipes - B. originally found this recipe, but we ended up going more with the one from Appetite for China because we preferred to pan-fry the pork instead of boiling it and the ingredients were easier to find, though we did still keep in the galangal and kaffir lime leaves, which each lend their very distinctive flavours. Galangal is like a milder, sweeter ginger, while the kaffir lime leaves perfume the dish with a lemongrass-like scent. You have to cut them very small though, as they have a rubbery texture and are difficult to chew!


This recipe doubles very easily, which you will want to do because it is *so* flavourful and delicious (and because galangal and kaffir lime leaves don't usually come in such tiny portions). We served it with sticky rice, which B. made using the "microwave method".

Laab Moo/Larb Mu
Adapted from Appetite for China/Isan Cooking School
Makes 4 servings

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
  
• 1 lb (454 g) ground pork
  
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) toasted rice powder
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) fish sauce
  
• Juice from 1 lime
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) chili powder, or 1-2 tsp (5-10 mL) chili sauce
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) galangal, chopped finely
  
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
  
• 2 green onions, chopped
  
• ½ cup (125 mL) cilantro, chopped
  
• ½ cup (125 mL) mint, chopped
  
• 1 tsp kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
  
• Lettuce and/or lime wedges for serving (optional)

1. Heat the cooking oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Cook the pork for 3 to 4 minutes, breaking up larger clumps with a spatula, until no trace of pink remains. Set aside to cool.
   
2. Once the pork has cooled for at least 5 minutes, stir in the toasted rice powder (if using), fish sauce, lime juice and chili powder (or sauce). Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Toss the pork with galangal, shallots, green onions, cilantro, mint and kaffir lime leaves.
   
3. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over the salad, if desired, and lettuce leaves for wrapping. Also great alone on top of white rice or sticky rice.
   

Nutrition Info (per serving): 324 calories, 21 g fat (8 g saturated, 0 g trans), 65 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 2 g sugar), 19 g protein, 432 mg sodium. An excellent source of thiamin (vitamin B₁), vitamin B₁₂, vitamin K, zinc and selenium. A good source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂), niacin (vitamin B₃), magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

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Blackfoot Diner

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

The Blackfoot Truck Stop is one of those Calgary "landmarks". Like Peter's Drive-In, it's one of those one-of-a-kind places (in the city, at least) that you must visit just once just to say you've been there...

The 24-hour diner definitely plays up its "truck stop" identity - the walls are covered with kitschy, retro memorabilia, there is a jukebox in the corner and even the fabric on the chairs are covered with highway motifs. If you're lucky, your booth might even have a phone booth in it! The menu is long, featuring everything from greasy breakfasts to hearty soups and sandwiches to sky-high pies. The crowd is diverse as well, from little old ladies who have probably been meeting once a week for coffee for years, to younger folks rolling in at 1 PM, trying to cure a hangover.

B. and I stopped in on a weekend for brunch. After hemming and hawing through all the choices, I finally decided on a special on the board that caught my eye - mini farm sausage with two eggs any style (poached for me), hash browns and toast.


I was a little disappointed that my poached eggs appeared to be of the poaching cup variety, and were poached a little too hard to boot. The farm sausage was flavourful, though a little tough. The hash browns were greasy and a little bland. I think the buttery toast was the best part.

B. ordered pancakes with two eggs any style (over easy), three sausages (versus bacon or ham), hash browns and toast.


His pancakes were nice and fluffy, soaking up the syrup that we poured on top. I preferred his sausages over mine - they were traditional breakfast sausages that were full of flavour, and brought back many memories of my childhood!

Of course, the best part of Blackfoot Diner is the friendly, small-town ambiance and the waitresses who call you "darling" without a shred of irony. While I don't think I'll be back for brunch, I think I have to try their pie before I pass final judgement, or at least slip in for some wee morning hour eats.

Blackfoot Diner
1840 9 Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 0T8
(403) 265-5964
Open 24/7. Ample parking available.

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Grilled Tofu and Sautéed Asian Greens & Grilled Eggplant

I think it's pretty awesome that I have a boyfriend who likes tofu... and eggplant for that matter. Let's rewind to sunny July for a moment, shall we?

One of B.'s goals this year was to get a few more uses out of his BBQ after we only used it maybe once or twice last year. I would say we didn't use it as much as we liked (partly due to a less-than-optimal summer), but we did cook quite a few things this year - Korean short ribs, sausages (mostly Missing Link and those tasty Thai sausages from Kingsland Farmers' Market, burgers... B. even made Bobby Flay's Grilled Potato Salad, minus the blue cheese (because I think it's disgusting).

B. and I have made other tofu dishes before, and he likes it partly because it's a protein that doesn't spoil as easily as meat. Eggplant, on the other hand, was something that we hadn't tackled, but we love ordering it at Asian restaurants - our favourite in the city is probably the sweet, spicy, garlicky Eggplant with Ground Pork in Sweet and Spicy Chili Sauce from Szechuan Restaurant, and we had a dreamy braised eggplant at Da Dong Peking Duck Restaurant in Beijing during our trip to China earlier this year.

Anyway...

B. found the recipe for Grilled Tofu and Sautéed Asian Greens on Epicurious, while I found the Grilled Eggplant recipe from local food blogger Bonnie's website, Scrumptiously Fit Food. Both have Asian, soy sauce-based marinades and are total sodium bombs, offering 51% and 89% of the recommended daily upper level of intake of sodium, respectively. So they are best if saved as "sometimes" foods, and I would suggest using any remaining marinade as a sauce sparingly. Both recipes would work well on grill pans on medium-high on the stove, or George Foremans during these cooler climes.

B. did all the cooking.


    
The tofu was my favourite of the two dishes. I love the texture of grilled tofu, and I liked the nutty flavour of sesame oil, plus the hint of spiciness from the chili flakes. For our "Asian greens" we chose pea leaves (豆苗), another vegetable that I love at restaurants, but haven't prepared at home. I'm not sure if they were out of season or if we didn't prep them properly, but they came out a little tough and stringy. Next time we'll just stick to the spinach, I think.


Compared to the tofu, the eggplant had a saltier, fishier flavour thanks to the addition of fish sauce and oyster sauce. We didn't use the lime wedges and it was still very flavourful. However, we undercooked the eggplant a little bit - it still had a bite instead of the melty softness I'm used to at restaurants. I think I'll give it a little more time on the grill next time, or maybe just stick to having someone else make it!

Grilled Tofu & Sautéed Asian Greens
Adapted from Epicurious
Makes 2 servings

• 14 oz (397 g) firm tofu, drained
  
• ¼ cup (60 mL) low-sodium soy sauce
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) sesame oil
  
• 1½ tsp (7 mL) brown sugar, packed
  
• 1½ tsp (7 mL) ginger, peeled, finely grated
  
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
  
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) Tabasco sauce, or red pepper flakes
  
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (20 mL) vegetable oil, divided
  
• 10 oz (283 g) Asian greens or baby spinach

1. Cut tofu crosswise into 6 slices. Arrange in 1 layer on a triple layer of paper towels and top with another triple layer of towels. Weight with a shallow baking pan or baking sheet and let stand 2 minutes. Repeat weighting with dry paper towels 2 more times.
   
2. Stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, Tabasco, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a glass pie plate. Add tofu slices in 1 layer and marinate, turning over every couple of minutes, 8 minutes total.
   
3. Turn grill on to medium-high heat and brush with oil. Lift tofu from marinade with tongs or slotted spatula (reserve marinade) and grill, turning over once carefully, until grill marks appear and tofu is heated through, 4 to 6 minutes total.
   
4. While tofu grills, heat remaining teaspoon vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté greens, tossing with tongs, until beginning to wilt. Add reserved marinade and sauté, tossing, until greens are just wilted, about 1 minute. Lift greens from skillet with tongs, letting excess marinade drip off, and divide between 2 plates. Serve greens with tofu slices.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 327 calories, 21 g fat (2 g saturated, 0 g trans), 0 mg cholesterol, 12 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 5 g sugar), 25 g protein, 1177 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin A, folate (vitamin B₄), vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, iron, magnesium, potassium and manganese. A good source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂) and vitamin B₆.

Grilled Eggplant

Adapted from Scrumptiously Fit Food

Makes 4 servings

• ¼ cup (60 mL) light soy sauce
  
• ¼ cup (60 mL) oyster sauce
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) dark soy sauce
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) fish sauce
  
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) brown sugar
  
• 8 cloves garlic, minced (less if you’re not a big garlic fan)
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) cooking wine
  
• 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 mL) Sriracha sauce, or other chili sauce, to taste
  
• 1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise
  
• Lime wedges (optional)

1. Make marinade by combining all ingredients except eggplant and lime wedges in a baking dish or zipper storage bag.
   
2. Place eggplant slices in marinade, ensuring that they are well-coated. Let marinade for 30-60 minutes.
   
3. Turn grill on to medium-high heat and brush with oil. Place eggplant slices on grill, reserving marinade. Turn slices over after 5 minutes and baste with remaining sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until eggplant is soft and cooked through.
   
4. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 87 calories, 0.4 g fat (0.1 g saturated, 0 g trans), 19 g carbohydrate (5 g fibre, 8 g sugar), 4 g protein, 2053 mg sodium. An excellent source of potassium and manganese. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄) and magnesium.

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