Lunar New Year & Taco Night

In order to ignore (as best as possible) some of the uglier white noise in our collective background, I have enjoyed a great deal of kitchen time this week.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year (last Saturday) and welcome the Year of the Rooster, and also because Jack is finally exiting his phase of mind-numbingly dull eating and has discovered a mad passion for pork dumplings, I made, wait for it, many pork dumplings yesterday.* Oliver and his sweet hands were huge helps in the folding and crimping department, and we crafted about sixty half-moons in no time flat.

I steamed most of them but also friend about a dozen for Jack because he prefers pot stickers. Mine were definitely on the crisp side but he declared them delicious, so I'll take it. Meanwhile, Oliver inhaled approximately 35 of the steamed version. 

I also made some soba noodles, peanut sauce, fried tofu, and steamed broccoli, and tossed all that together for a nice salad. Oranges made for a perfect, good luck dessert. 

Tonight was taco night which, because of our embarrassing POTUS' lack of knowledge of Frederick Douglass, also included a margarita for moi. 

Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed.

Is POTUS aware that Frederick Douglass died in 1895? I just don't have words. So really, you can easily see why I made the margarita. 

Otherwise, Tacos. Family dinner. Good!

And my darling fur baby. 

Pork dumplings:

1 pound ground pork
the white/light green ends of two scallions, minced
a couple teaspoons minced chives
~2 teaspoons grated ginger
~1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
about the same of soy sauce
~2 teaspoons salt.

Mix everything together well and refrigerate for at least an hour.

I only had egg roll wrappers, so used a 3" cup to press rounds for the big dumplings. I used a biscuit cutter to cut rounds for the potstickers. One by one, fill the rounds and then seal by dabbing a bit of water around the edge of the circle, folding the circle in half, and crimping it shut.
I steamed the dumplings and fried the potstickers.

Make a good dipping sauce. We did roughly this:

1⁄4 cup soy sauce
1⁄4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar (didn't do this, or only did a bit; I don't know, I put Tom on the sauce)
1⁄2 medium scallion, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot
1⁄2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1⁄2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Mix. Serve.

"Is it Monday?" he asks, aghast

No, it's not, but tofu with peanut sauce is YUM, no matter the day. Ultimately, T agreed, as he always does because he likes tofu. Really likes it. Me too when it's prepared well. You've got to drain it in a serious fashion and then I prefer it cooked over a high heat so you get the tofu equivalent of grill char on a chicken breast. I happened to have both tofu and bok choy in the fridge so it just seemed like a natural direction to take dinner in a slightly Asian direction. I say slightly because I know next to nothing about Asian cooking techniques and dishes other than that I enjoy eating them.

In any case, seared and then oven-roasted tofu + sauteed/steamed bok choy. I also made some mirin-lime rice, and T made me a deLIGHTful vodka gimlet to go alongside. Amen. I like this recipe.

Barley, chicken and broccoli Asian-style, Bill and the debate tonight

I think Ann Coulter might consider suing Bethenny Frankel, because Ann herself is the original Skinny Bitch. Whoa. She's like a blond, horsey, mean, skewed mini-Rush or Sean. She is crazy. We're watching Real Time from Friday night, and she's the opening act. She thinks there isn't much in the way of racism anymore, that child pornography and abuse is a bigger problem. The latter is definitely horrible, but there is surely racism alive and present - MOST unfortunately- today. Also, she's a dodge artist of the most serious type. Answer a question? No. Be honest? Never. She's got her talking points down, that's for damn sure. But she is pathetically and scarily and despicably dishonest. Darrel Issa makes me furious. What a condescending, coiffed bulldog.

In the meantime, our dinner was definitely good. I made roasted broccoli with a glaze of ginger, soy, sesame oil, rice vinegar and garlic, and a barley salad with chicken, cucumbers, scallions, and peanut sauce. Fab!