Day 30: Enchiladas, and the Key to a Happy Kitchen

Today, Day 30(!), I decided to try my hand at something we both love: steamed pork-belly buns. While we have yet to try Momofuko's, the NY restaurant that has made these famous, we used to scarf them down at the recently closed Shaun's in Atlanta and anywhere else we could find them.

David Chang's Momofuko recipe is widely available on the internet (only problem: there are two versions, with different instructions...). I found a recipe for the bun dough that looked a bit simpler in the L.A. Times. I compared the two David Chang recipes, and decided to go with the one that calls for brining the pork belly for 6 hours instead of 12. I made the dough and let it double in size. Then I went with Jim to an unusually chaotic Dekalb Farmer's Market, bought pork belly, came home, and covered the pork belly in a sugar-kosher salt mixture. We ran out to the mall to take care of a return I've been putting off and look for some new dress shirts for Jim. And somewhere along the way, we realized that, while we could possibly get home and cook the pork belly in the oven for two and a half hours, it wasn't going to get on the table before 10 p.m., or without a whole lot of stress.

We've discovered this month that, much like it in a marriage, it's important to be flexible in the kitchen. Especially when you're cooking with someone you love. Especially when you've been confined to the same kitchen for a whole month.

So, dear Reader, we decided to shelve the pork buns (temporarily!) and make enchiladas, which had been scheduled for Tuesday night. We had some leftover shredded chicken and some leftover flank steak. I roasted tomatillos with a little homemade chicken stock, garlic, and dried chilies, then blitzed them with the immersion blender. The chicken was heated in a little stock and seasoning; the steak was simply sliced. Into softened carrot tortillas went the meat, and into a pan lined with tomatillo salsa. A little shredded cheddar on top, ten minutes in the oven, and voila! Dinner. Delicious! And at 7:30 p.m., not 10 or 11.

While I was preparing tonight's meal, I was also doing the legwork for tomorrow. I divided my bun dough into 17 pieces, rolled them into balls, and let them rest again. I began rolling them into discs, brushing one half with oil, and folding them over. Then the scary part: actually steaming them. We have a big stock pot with a steamer insert, and I thought this might work. The first batch took longer than I expected (7 minutes instead of the promised 3), but when we tried one, it tasted exactly like what we've had in restaurants: soft, sweet, dense and pillowy all at once. The subsequent batches were steamed over a more ferocious boil, and cooked in 3-4 minutes.

As I type this, I can hear the pork belly sizzling away in the oven. After it's through cooking, I'll chill it in its own juices overnight. Tomorrow, I'll prepare quick-pickled cucumbers, reheat the buns and the pork, and dinner will be served. Of course, the way things smell in here now, we may devour that pork belly as soon as it comes out of the oven...

Stay tuned for Day 31...

Day 29: Pasta and "er, um..." sauce

We were going to have a pasta dish. We knew this much. And ever since scarfing down Chelsea's amazing "devil duck" on day 25, I've been craving our homemade noodles, which, quite frankly, I think would be delicious with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper--maybe not even that. But we only have three more nights left, and now's no time to be boring, right? Moreover, we had a ton of leftover produce in our vegetable basket, and we both cringe at the thought of throwing anything away.

So while the pasta was drying (we made thick, pappardelle-style noodles), we went to work on throwing some sort of sauce together. From our surplus, we used one leek, three ripe tomatoes, some garlic, and three slices of bacon. Nothing fancy, but it was a mighty good dish--salt and fat from the bacon, sweetness from the leeks, and acidity from the fresh tomatoes.

With only two nights left, our vegetable basket is empty but for about a pound of fingerling potatoes. Suggestions?

Day 28: Thai Beef Salad, Spring Rolls Reprise

In this morning's post Chelsea mentioned that she woke up craving last night's spring rolls; indeed, at about midnight, I could have sworn I heard her mumbling about rice paper in her sleep. Knowing that she was planning on another batch, I decided to complement the rolls with a simple Thai beef salad. At the Dekalb Farmers Market I picked up about a pound of flank steak, which I marinated in soy sauce and fresh lime juice. Right before it was time to grill the steak, I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on both sides of the meat--I could be wrong, but I think this helps the steak char. After cooking the steak for about five minutes a side and letting it rest, I cut it into thin slices, which I put over mixed greens, cucumbers, and red onions. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Hedgejo deftly assembled the rolls. The steak was perfectly done, and the rolls looked impeccable. The perfect meal, it seemed, was on my plate, but then as I sat down to enjoy, before I knew it -- alas, alas, dear reader! -- my plate was on the floor.

I'm not sure what my face looked like, but it couldn't have been pretty, for our forever-rapacious pups stayed right where they were. I took a deep, deep breath, picked up the greens and steak, tossed them out, and put together another salad. Luckily, we had more than enough steak for another helping, so except for my blushing ego there was no real harm done. Plus the pups have informed me that our carpet now tastes delicious.

Day 27: Thai Coconut Soup and Fresh Spring Rolls

After my duck debacle earlier in the week, I wanted something simple for dinner last night. I decided to make one of Jim's favorites, Thai chicken and coconut soup. This is a simple recipe: throw together homemade chicken stock, lemongrass, ginger, thai chilies, lime juice, and fish sauce. Right before serving, toss in some chopped chicken breast and a can of coconut soup. When the chicken is cooked through, garnish with cilantro, and serve. Ta-da!

We had several cooked chicken legs left over from making stock earlier in the week, so instead of the usual chicken breast, I shredded the leg meat and tossed it into the soup. Jim thought it was even better with the dark meat.

To go along with the meal, I made fresh spring rolls, something I'd never tried before. I didn't have a real recipe, so I was a little nervous, and I had to go to a sketchy looking Asian grocery store next to a strip club to find rice paper wrappers. Boy, was it worth it.

To make the rolls, I took some of the shredded chicken and tossed it in a little bit of rice wine vinegar, then rolled the chicken up in softened rice paper wrappers with rice vermicelli, lettuce, cilantro, basil, mint, cucumber, and carrot. It took me a couple of tries before I got the hang of rolling up the soggy, sticky rice paper, but the results were amazing. I served the spring rolls with a dipping sauce made of equal parts fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. The rolls were so clean, refreshing, and delicious... I woke up this morning wanting some for breakfast, and I'm making another batch for tonight's dinner.

Day 26: Braised Chicken and Artichokes

Wednesday saw us with two pots on the stove. On one burner, team artichoke, backed by a brilliant supporting cast of bacon, onions, carrots, celery, and white wine. On the other burner, six chicken legs, which I browned for about seven minutes a side before adding, well, another batch of carrots, onions, celery, and then some of our homemade chicken stock. After about an hour of braising separately, the artichokes joined the chicken pot, which then went into the oven at 350 for about an hour and a half.

The chicken skin was crispy, but the meat was moist and tender--the best of both worlds. In fact, this dish was so good that I feel like I either need to come up with some tale of trepidation or diagram the steps of some culinary cartwheel that I had to perform, but no, even the artichoke prep -- a task that usually has me either drinking or swearing or both -- was easy.