Cooking in San Diego( a Cantonese kitchen )

The original mission for the SD trip is to meet gaogao, but I couldn’t make it. I got to know gaogao is getting old (only 17 years old) and he is a little weak ,not good for him to go out to meet people, so the supers stars in the zoon are the second generation, gaogao’ daughter(su lin) ans son (zhen zhen)and the newborn baby yunzi is a most pleasant news in the zoo. It was disappointing, but anyway, it was a fun trip. As I was told, he would have liked to see me too.

We stayed in a friend’s apartment and it is a classical Cantonese kitchen, no herbs on hand. But I still cooked there, with something I could grab from the WFs, in a very fusion way.

• T-Bone steak(coffee , galanga ginger, Chinese five spices rubbed) with sundried tomato blanc:
• Three-cups of octopus(oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice wine) with polenta cake( jalapeño, sweet corn, cheddar, celery)
• Baked apple with dates and maple walnut stuffing.
• Roasted red pepper, mushroom and orange cauliflowers.( I so wished I had thyme and truffle oil!)

It is so weird, after I travelled so many places, I still love Boston , love Cambridge most. I have been loving the words from ‘the little prince’:

If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers...

I guess it must be that I was captivated by a flower, a leaf , a coffee shop or a street corner or.. ,then every glance at the city is so joyful. But right now I even can’t remember what it exactly is. Recently, I have been instinctively feeling that I will eventually leave this city, it was always sad when it got to me. After I move away, this place will not be called as 'Thorndike Kitchen' any more, I should have knew it when I created it. ‘Thorndike’, it sounded so weird when I first heard it, but now it is such a sweet name for me. I am just a passenger…

                           

Legend of Fall( Apple seriers)---'Just do your best and that is what matters'

Curry, Apple, Andouille,Raisin,Pecan, Spinach Couscous

Someone that I admire and regard as 'rock' told me, he also got frustrated sometimes, it was kinda unexpected, I thought only the little me that often gets shocked. Think about it in another way, in fact all of us have something to be bothered by, and it is good because this makes us feel like part of something, being responsible for something, and we are so important :)

And only when we are busy, those little surprises, brought by a cute flower on the sidewalk or a glance at the sky that is so bright , would be able to brighten our day. It is going to be sunny on Sunday, I think that is a reward for the hard-working of all of us so far , we know we did our best, and that is what matters, I wish you a super relax for the coming long weekend.

My apple:

This is an apple , chicken andouille, raisin, pecan and spinach couscous with curry flavor.Andouille is a kind of cajun flavor sausage. I used the prepared Trader joe's Chicken andouille. it is a little spicy , good match with curry flavor.

I like couscous for the two reasons:
1. it is a kind of pasta( actually there is some debate here), which means PROTEIN
2. it is super quick
So for me, it is like a busy-person's rice.

I kinda made it in risotto's way.
1. saute curry powder and a little bit cumin first-- this kind of spices needs to be heated to let the aroma come out.
2. same pan, brown sausage, saute onion, mushroom,
3. add couscous, brown it
4. add wine
5. chicken stock and raisin,
6. when couscous is almost done( the stock is almost gone), add apple, and pecan. spinach
7 . at the most end, add half tsp of butter OR olive oil. (it is a french way :)
Move the pan from the heat, stir it HARD to prevent it from binding together( the last butter also helps in this way)

Oh, I also find my new favorite apple flavor: Ambrosia, it is so sweet and
I can't believe it is apple!

Legend of Fall(Series I), Apple, Apple, I love you--I hope you will find the moon cake you like

Grilled chicken with Sage Pesto and Grilled apple, Raisin Salsa

I drew a sheep for the little prince and right now he is riding his sheep going back to his little planet to meet with his rose, I think this is the happy-ending most people would like it to be. I wonder when he passed China, if he got chance to have a piece of moon cake, did he enjoy it?

I hope when the moon is full and bright again in the fall next year, the little prince will be enjoying the moment with his rose together and at that time, he is lucky enough to find the moon cake he likes : P

Go back to my Apple:

(I call all of them as ' Grilled', if I cook with the cast iron pan)

It was an apple , sage pesto ,grilled chicken sandwich from Epicurious. I made a little change here to make it as an entree and I grilled the apple and make an apple raisin salsa。

About the salsa: there must be something sweet in it, I used to use super sweet corn, but raisin goes better with apple here. And it can't lack lime; I think , to some point , lime defines salsa :)

I didn't have jalapeno, so used cayenne pepper instead, and it works too.

The salsa is the hit for the (sage) pesto chicken, very juicy and refreshing. I am so enjoying my Apple cooking journey so far. Today, got the new bon appetite, it is one of the most exciting moments for me in the everyday life, and most of it is about thanks giving, of course, it is full of the color of fall. I have never felt fall is such a lovely season as much as now. Although it predicts the winter, for me it is also connected to the word 'warm', look at those warm color, comfort food, I'd rather let the time stop at now and save the fall for me :)

Legend of Fall(Series I)--Apple, apple , I love you :)

Apple cider cinnamon poached apple

Fall is here, fall means apple, butter squash, pumpkin....( why am I only able to think of 3??)
Falls is painted in orange, which makes you feel warm and comfortable like S-un-K-ist. I want to be a person that is easy to get along with, so I got that orange hoodie. But it didn't work as well as I thought:( The world is so complicated and gaogao is too powerless...


The first series is dedicated to Apple. it is said having an apple everyday, all kinds of illness would keep away from you. There are many kinds of apple, in China, we like to eat Fuji, golden Delicious. After I came here, I started to like gala, even red delicious, because it is not very sweet(low-sugar) and dark-red skin makes me feel it has so much vitamin. Then I turned out to be a fan of more tangy ones , like bourbon. My new favourite is Jazz , it is very pretty, tangy , crispy, sweet.


Did some apple firmness test for poaching:
Gala: mild easy to lose firmness
Jazz: tangy takes longest
Honey crispy: crispy but mild easy to lose firmness
Grand smith: easy to lose firmness

Pork tenderloin nugget with apple sage onion sauce

Baked pork tenderloin nugget. rub pork nugget with salt, brown sugar, sage, onion powder...
'dress it up:
1st layer: starch
2nd layer: egg+water
3rd layer: panko mixed with butter
(SK taught me to do the 1st layer and 2nd layer twice, I guess it will be easier to stick more panko)


Sauce:
Saute Jazz Apple(peeled, diced), onion, sage
Add apple cider, chicken stock, honey, let it boiling
Add starch water mix,
Garnish with minced sage.

Apple Pecan Fennel Salad with Apple cider vinaigrette

A Dream Comes True--
I dreamed about an old special friend that felt like hadn't contacted me for long pinged me in pidgin, as usually, it ended up I woke up disappointed. But something magical happened , It just happened at night, at the end of the day. Unbelievable, it's such a miracle, my life is therefore brightened, I appreciate it .
Aware it doesn't happen often, and not everyone has a fortune like this, so ...Gao_Gao should be happy :)