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From “Spices of Life,” by Nina Simonds (Knopf, 2005) for Ginger Honey-Glazed Salmon 4 to 6 servings

Here, a simple, versatile, made-from-scratch sauce serves as both marinade and glaze. It may also be used on firm white fish or shellfish such as cod, halibut, haddock or scallops.

For the ginger-honey marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

For the salmon:
4 to 6 salmon steaks or fillets (about 6 ounces each), rinsed and patted dry
About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for the grill

To make the marinade, mix the orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, honey or maple syrup, and sesame oil in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer 5 minutes. Put the mixture in a bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

Place the salmon in a single layer in a shallow pan. Pour half the marinade on top and turn to coat all sides. Set the salmon aside for a couple of minutes as time allows, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Prepare a medium-hot fire for grilling or preheat the broiler. Arrange a rack 3 to 4 inches from the heat. Brush the grill with oil, or line the broiler pan with foil and brush it with oil. Transfer the salmon to the grill rack or the pan, discarding the marinade. Cook, brushing with the marinade, until opaque throughout, about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Serve with the remaining marinade spooned on top.

We serve the salmon on a bed of lettuce with whole wheat couscous from trader joes… yummmy.

pulled pork in the crock pot slow cooking after three hours

We’re snowed in, so this is first three hours of the pork on in the crock pot on HIGH. We just flipped it over and now we wait for slow low cook another 3-4 hours… hmmm… can’t wait.

We haven’t posted many of our recipes lately, but after watching Julie and Julia, here goes :).

So my wife had a craving for pulled pork… we found this recipe on ehow.com

Things You’ll Need:
Crock Pot
Pork Roast
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
4 Limes
2 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1/4 c Vegetable Oil
2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Step 1: Marinade.
Put all of the seasonings, the juice from all of the limes and the oil in a large plastic bag. Add the pork and refrigerate at least 2 hours. This will not only give the pork flavor, it will make it tender enough to pull apart. The longer the marinade sits, the better. Try overnight.

Step 2: Crock It.
Put the pork & marinade in the crock pot. Add water to almost the top of the pork roast. The roast should be above the water about an inch. Turn the crock pot on high and cover. After 3 hours, reduce heat to low or auto. Turn the pork roast every 2 hours and poke with a fork. When the fork goes in the roast easily and breaks apart, cook it for at least another 30 minutes.

Step 3: Shred It.
When the pork roast is done, remove it from the crock pot and place on a platter or in a glass baking dish. Use two forks and begin pulling the pork apart. It should shred very easily. Add some juices from the pot to the pork. Enough to keep it moist and juicy, but not too much.

I’ll update how it turns out…

The following story deals with my own struggles in America. It also deals with culture and rule of law. It all started with my wife her craving for buffalo wings.

There were a bunch of wings restaurants… Chantilly had Buffalo Wings Factory, Buffalo Wing University in Fairfax, Buffalo Wild Wings but out in Gainesville. There was also Glory Days, Hooters, Hard Times and a bunch of other restaurants. But I knew it was going to be expensive, usually coming out close a buck a wing. For that price, I can get $1 sushi or stuff off McD’s Dollar menu.

Hard Times Cafe in Fairfax said they had cheap wings on Wednesday nights… but today was Thursday. Next one. I call up Glory Days in Centreville and ask if they have any specials on Buffalo wings. The guy said yeah, they’re five bucks after nine. So Mommy G and I decide to make a run for it after the girls are asleep. We take a bath, get settled in bed, read a story, pray a bit and then it’s almost 11PM. I tell Mommy G, I’m gonna go get the wings. She says okay… cuz she’s still craving.

When I get there, I see a big sign saying $5 Appetizers after 9PM*… there is an asterisk next to the price… * dine in only. I think to myself “what should I do?” I literally ran through all the options.

Option 1. Negotiate dine in price to go (cuz it’s like saving a few bucks, a few dirty plates, and some time)
Option 2. Dine in, eat a couple and take the rest to go (cuz it’s like saving a few bucks)
Option 3. Buy at regular price to go (cuz it’s all about my wife)

I walk up, the host asks to sit me down. I ask him straight up, “Can I buy the buffalo wings to go but get the dine in price?” He says “No.” Okay next option. “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” Um you’ll have to order it from the bar and ask the bartender he says. So I go up to the bar. I ask the lady behind the bar the same question.

I opt to start with Option 1 again, just to clarify my intentions. “Can I buy the buffalo wings to go but get the dine in price?” “No” she says. “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” I pull out the sympathy card, “I have a wife and kids at home…” “I’ll have to ask the manager” she says. She leaves for a few minutes, talks with the manager, the manager comes out and gives me the schpeal. The price is for dine in only. I tell him, I have a wife and kids at home waiting for me. He tells me there are plenty of tables for them to come next time. I tell him, that’s fine, but in my mind, I was like, it’s 11PM at night, I ain’t taking any of my kids out that late. So I go straight to Option #2 “Can I dine in, eat a few and take the rest to go?” He hesitates, but ended up saying sure.

I sit back down at the bar, the lady asks me for my order. Okay, I’ll take two buffalo wings appetizers. Dine in. But I’m gonna only eat some and take the rest to go. She takes the order. Then she has this conference with the manager discussing the situation like football refs discussing a play. I guess this is not the standard practice. She comes back and tells me “we are making a huge exception for you.” I say thanks, didn’t know I was that special.

Anyways, the order comes on plates. The lady behind the bar makes sure they were on plates to designate I dine in… I give her the sign that I want to check out. She hands me two to-go boxes and the check. I scoop everything into the boxes and pay the bill (making sure I tip them enough) and head out. Feeling a bit embarrassed for going through all that trouble for a few bucks… but also feeling like I shouldn’t feel embarrassed for having done nothing wrong.

So here’s the thing, was I in the wrong? should it be okay to ask for the special price and not feel like the biggest jerk in the world for just asking? If I was in China there would have been no problems negotiating a price, but here at Glory Days this was definitely taboo… Should I have paid regular price and left it at that? Did I push the envelop too far by asking?

I did say “Thanks” when I left… because they made a huge exception for me. But I do know that I won’t expect the same treatment next time.

Was at the Centreville Starlight Cinema last week and had the best popcorn ever. Props to Colonial Kettle Corn for having a pleasantly sweet, salty, crunchy, fresh popcorn… sure beats all the ones I’ve made in the past.

Having Zero dollars in my pocket and smelling the aroma, mommy geezlouies tells me to run back to the van and go through the ashtray for change… there’s got to be enough money to buy a bag of popcorn… starting at $3 for the small, $5 for the medium and something for the large… didn’t have enough money to care about that price…. anyways went back to the van, found lots of change… didn’t have time to count…just went ahead to buy some corn…

PHew!! had $3 in nickels, dimes, quarters, and a few bills. so I buy the small bag. it was so good that by the time the movie started mommy geezlouies and I along with E1 gobbled up about 75% of the bag. I went through my change… two dollars and eighty cents… not enough to buy another bag. But with some encouraging from the smell of the popcorn, I head back to the vendor. Oh it’s you again, says the lady… remembering me from the first time paying with the large handful of coins. Um… I only gots two dollars and eighty cents… can I get a small bag of popcorn? I asked sheepishly… I’m a grown man and I’m bargaining for a small bag of popcorn cuz I was missing twenty cents, kinda pathetic, but like I said, it was one of the best kettle corn I’ve ever had.

Luckily she said sure. And we feasted :)

As daddy gets an ipod, mommy also gets a new toy. This is the Braun AromaDeluxe KF 550 Black. Most of the black editions were sold out. But fortunately with a few key searches we were able to find the black model. White ones abound, but they don’t “match” our other appliances.

Anyways, this model comes with a water filter, a reusable wire-mesh coffee filter, and an all around good coffee making abilities. Come by for a cup :)

MEMORIES
On our last trip to the motherland back in 2005, Stef (my then fiancee) and I led a group of Americans on a “cultural exchange” trip in Sichuan province. It was extremely exciting and hard work. We tended to most of the logistical stuff, like what to eat, where to go, who to meet, etc… But of course we had to worry about “safety” and “tastes” when it came to where to go eat. So we played it pretty safe for most of the trip by staying with big restaurants and well known places and ordered pretty safe stuff so that everyone wouldn’t be grossed out. We made sure things were clean and didn’t expose the group to any unnecessary risks.

SHAOKAO
Us on the other hand, after tucking everyone into bed, snuck out of the hotel and wandered the streets of Chengdu. We found a “hole in the wall” on the side of the street and had the most delicious shao kao.

XUEHUA (SNOW)
To top it off, we had ourselves two bottles of XueHua (literally snow flower or snow flake) Beer. And those were 620ml bottles. Anyways that was probably the most memorable meal we had in china during that trip. The two of us, sitting on the side of the street, chewing chunks of meat off a stick and drinking beer. The smells of Sichuan spices and the night time summer air was so good.

Even to this day, I still remember fondly of that night drinking xuehua beer. It was the best tasting beer I had ever tasted… perhaps it was the food I was eating it with or the company I had, but my memory has kept me thinking of that beer. I never had xuehua until I went to Sichuan. Beijing had an assortment of beers, but the people’s brand was Yanjing Beer. My first exposure to Xuehua was on the streets of Chengdu.

PRESENT UPDATE
I did a search on Google to see if there were any imports in the U.S. Everyone talks about Tsingtao, but a large majority of people have not even heard of Xuehua. But it happens to be very popular in Sichuan province and the people there claim it to be their provincial drink…

Apparently SABMiller did a joint venture with Xuehua a few years back and it is being marketed as “Snow” Beer. It has also become the world’s biggest selling beer in terms of volume with over 61 million hectoliters.

My fondest beer has overtaken Bud Light as the KING OF BEERS.

If you ever get a chance to visit China, ask for Xuehua… or if you know of any distributors in the U.S., please, PLEASE, let me know :)

Okay, so this is a not so complete Sangria recipe. Mommy made this Spanish drink for our girl’s 2nd birthday party. This of course was not for the kids since it contains alcohol.

According to the chef, it had a combination of the following ingredients.

Canned Peaches
Cubed Apples
Orange Pieces
Canned Pineapple
Slices of Lime
Strawberries
Red Wine (Merlot, Cabernet, etc.)
Sprite or Ginger Ale

Pretty much the prep work involved cutting the fruit and soaking it with the Red Wine. Cheap wine is the best. We used Trader Joe wine, both Merlot and Cabernet. As for the amounts, use to your liking. We had about three pitchers using three bottles of wine. You need to let the wine soak in the fruit overnight in the refrigerator for best taste.

When the party starts, add Sprite. We had about a one to one ratio of Sprite and wine. Some recipes have you adding sugar, but you don’t need to because of the sugar from the soda. For best results, make sure the sprite is chilled as well. That’s about it. Enjoy! Some of the guests just drank the juice and left the fruit behind, but I think the fruit pretty good and amazing. Most recipes I found online also added Triple Sec, rum, brandy, or some other spirit…

This is a party drink traditionally made in summer, but you can enjoy any time you like.

(photo from wokkingmum.blogspot.com)

Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen:

In Cantonese tradition, a new mother eats chicken wine soup for the first ten days after giving birth. Then for the rest of the month, the mother-in-law makes pig’s feet and ginger in black vinegar, which are said to help the mother produce more milk for the baby. The eggs in this dish are a symbol of birth and life, and the ginger helps to reinvirograte the mother’s body. To make this correctly you must peel the ginger which takes incredible patience.

All relatives and friends who come to visit the new baby are also treated to the pig’s feet, for pots and pots of this are prepared. I distinctly recall having it many times as a child and loving it. The black vinegar and sweetened black vinegar are found in Chinese supermarkets…

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