Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps (p10 Cook's Illustrated May & June 2012)
I couldn't find a decent small, but sturdy leafy green last week, so it worked out for the best when I found, last Sunday, a nice package of 4 young small sturdy leafy greens in the store. Which made this a bit easier to make. It turned out pretty well, but we've had similar things in the past and they have turned out well too.
Grilled Pork Banh Mi (p35 Food & Wine May 2012)
So after deep cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen for the majority of the day on Saturday, I had forgotten to add the pork to a marinade, so I figured I could riff it. So I cut the pork tenderloin fairly thin, added salt, pepper and 5 spice powder, seared it on each side, then added what was left of a bottle of Chili Garlic Sauce, a few dashes of fish sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. It tasted pretty good, and vaguely like a less salty version of a McRib, or at least what I remember what a McRib tastes like (I don't remember the last time I had one, it's has to have been half a decade at least). We both liked it and on the
Crunchy Pork Kimchi Burgers (p92 Food & Wine May 2012)
This is my first, I think, experience with Kimchi. They have these jars of it in one section of the store that look like they're about ready to explode, and reading the label, it certainly sounded like it would when I opened it. It didn't, but it did de-stress the bottle quite a bit after the air pressure was removed from it. It certainly has a pungent aroma. So instead of taking the time to chop everything up nice, I food processed it gently, then combined it with the pork. and then made the patties as the recipe called for. I really liked this the spiced pork flavor on the inside and the light crunch on the outside.
Crispy Corn Tortillas with Chicken and Cheddar (p90 Food & Wine May 2012)
Instead of frying these, I baked them. the idea of going through that much oil again, just kind of disturbed me. So I brushed the tortillas with oil and baked them. They ended up like a slightly crisp enchilada and it was good. Though the corn tortillas that I was using did not want to be wrapped. Even though they had been in the warm kitchen (mid 80˚'s) for a good 30-40 minutes, most of them tore at least to some extent, some quite a bit. It was frustrating. After backing them at 350˚ for 15 minutes I put it up to 400˚ for another 5 minutes. I dressed them up a bit with some salsa and sour cream.
American Chop Suey (p14 Cook's Country April / May 2012)
So we both had in our mind something other then this. Even Shannon called it out to be what it is more like (a goulash). Though now that I look around at other places, it clearly is what it is supposed to be. I added a bit more red pepper flakes then the recipie called for, and it turned out pretty well. Considering there still leftovers, it clearly did not make the favorite list of either of us (though I did make it on Friday, so I probably would've taken it to work if I made it earlier in the week). I added an extra dash of hot sauce on my plate, which added enough heat to make me happy.