Update plus recipe, or "god, I think about food too much".

[misora]

Wow, it's actually been a little while since I've updated. J and I caught the sickness (probably swine flu) and have been out of commission for like the...past 2 weeks. We're *just* now starting to feel better. I'm back at work after missing nearly all last week. Fun fun!


To make ourselves feel better while we were sick and groggy, we spent the time cooking (trading shifts depending on who felt better/worse). John made his comforting chicken soup, with veggies and pasta that held us over for several meals and aided our speedy recovery, I think. I made a lemon chicken picatta (we ate lots of chicken, I guess) and buttermilk mashed potatoes, with lemon-garlic roasted red onions, courtesy the Barefoot Contessa. (This is what happens when I'm sick and home from work, and watching the food channel. I was soooo tempted to make her chocolate-coffee cupcakes with peanut butter icing. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a professional mixer.)

Then we were treated to food by our friends/J's family, including lots of fruits/veggies/breads, and a delicious lobster stir-fry with soy, scallions and ginger from J's parents. Being Chinese, they are super-superstitious, and made us eat all kinds of interesting root vegetables with the claim that they'll heal us right up. I love having J's parents in close proximity for times like this, especially when my own parents live out-of-state now -- and especially with kids potentially on the horizon.

So because I actually started to feel better last night, I made a quick and easy dinner with rice and sauteed bok choy that we both love: san choi bau, which means meat-lettuce-bun in Chinese. Or something.

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground pork


• 1 large head of iceburg lettuce (or butter lettuce, if you prefer)


• 1 large red pepper, diced


• 1 can water chestnuts, drained and diced


• 4 green onions, chopped finely


• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced


• 1 tspn grated fresh ginger


• 2 tbspn peanut oil


• 1 tspn sesame oil


• 2 tbspn oyster sauce


• 2 tbspn soy sauce


• 2 tbspn dry sherry


• handful of chopped fresh basil and cilantro, for garnish.

To make:
Heat the oils in a wok or large saucepan. Add the garlic, ginger, and green onions, and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground pork and break it apart as it browns, about 5-8 minutes. You might want to drain the fat at this point unless it's extra-lean pork.

Once it's cooked, add the red pepper, water chestnuts, oyster sauce/soy sauce/sherry. Let the meat soak up the flavors for a bit, and you can even reduce it for a while under low flame. It's still going to be kind of saucey.

Arrange the lettuce into cups, and fill with the meat mixture, topping with basil and cilantro. It's kinda messy, so have napkins/paper towels/drop cloth on hand. :)



Other than that, now that I'm finally feeling better, I'm hoping to get back to writing soon. Then we have, like...ten million birthdays to celebrate this next month, in June, in addition to Father's Day. My brother's, my Aunt's (I have only one Aunt, so she's special), one of J's sister's, J's niece, three of our friends, two of our friends' kids, etc. Oi.

Comments

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

Barefoot Contessa is one of my favorite people on Food Network. Alton Brown and Giada are also favorites. Ina's personality slays me, though. I think she's crazy, lol.

Have you tried her recipe for Californian BLTs? They're BLTs with avocado thrown in, but they're SO GOOD.

[misora.livejournal.com]

I like Giada too; between Ina and Giada I think I'd have my food menu covered for at least a year.

And I haven't tried her CA BLTs! They sound good, though. I love avocado.

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

I love avocado too. I would put it on everything if I could.

I saw these earrings the other day and squeed for, like, an hour. -> http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25331922

I NEED them. For cuteness and awesomeness purposes.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Oh those are beyond adorable. ♥

[infinitygoddess.livejournal.com]

Oh, boy, this is the season where my family has a lot of birthdays, plus my parents' anniversary, on top of Mother's Day and Father's Day. My birthday was just this past weekend and my mom's birthday is on Friday. My dad's is June 4th, and my parents are headed out to Austin, Texas to attend my mom's step-brother's wedding. I have a cousin whose bridal shower is this Saturday. Whew. :p

So I know the feeling.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Yep. ._____. *sighs tiredly*

[erogenous.livejournal.com]

Glad you're feeling better!

I-I'm crying forever. Someone else has reserved Naomi at jigoku_apts.

[misora.livejournal.com]

ONOES!

Augh, I haven't had much time or energy for that sort of thing, anyway. I'll still check up on the other place, though.

and *HUGS* because I read your post last night but I was too sleepy to respond. D:

[erogenous.livejournal.com]

I know you don't, but that doesn't stop me from WANTING to rp with you. I've shipped L/Naomi more and more since we've met. *shakes fist at you*

And *HUGS BACK*. No need to respond to any of that, really. REALLY. I'm moved past the freaked out PSTD symptoms the entire debacle triggered in me, so yeah...

[misora.livejournal.com]

Aw, bb. ♥ I'll keep an eye on the jigoku_apts, and we'll see if she becomes available again. ^.~ ♥

[sureasdawn.livejournal.com]

Nom, anything with ginger and garlic in it has to be good, I wish I were more of a cook. Glad you're feeling better!

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

And yeah, garlic and ginger is soo good. I especially love ginger, to the point of nibbling on it raw. Everyone looks at me funny when I do it. ._____.

[renagrrl7.livejournal.com]

My husband was SUPER sick, too, probably with H1N1 (we're in San Diego, AKA the epicenter for the U.S. infections). Glad to see you're doing much better!

And is there anything good home cooking can't cure? :D

[misora.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your hubby is better, too. Nothing is worse than getting a flu that just knocks you on your ass. .___.

And the answer to the last question is...definitely not! :D

[evil-sj.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that you've been sick! D: I'm glad you're better now, though.

I've been dying to bake me some cupcakes too. I was thinking of trying a doughnut recipe º 3 º MMM DONUTS

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thanks, bb. :) OH DOUGHTNUTS, YUMMMMM

[manonlechat.livejournal.com]

I've been seeing tourists wearing surgical masks at the Starbucks on 57th Street. They (the masks) were very cute and pink. I wondered if they had been color coordinated to go with the swine flu.

[misora.livejournal.com]

haha~ It really wasn't as bad as everyone was making it out to be. It was just another flu. Not one I'd had immunity to, though, which is why I think I caught it. Usually I can fight these things off pretty well.

[chuuni.livejournal.com]

Gee, I hope it wasn't the swine flu....it shouldn't be, because you'd still be quarantined or something XD

SANCHOIBAO! That's the Cantonese way of saying pork/lettuce bun. :D I guess you're doing it in Canto style. (But wouldn't know, since I'm bad at cooking)

I hope you feel better soon! And I look forward to your fics.

[misora.livejournal.com]

It most likely *was* H1N1, since it's the major flu going around right now, and there's been tons of cases in California. It spread here pretty quickly. But as I mentioned to someone else above, it really wasn't worse than any other flu virus I've had. It's only deadly (as all flu viruses are, avian or swine) if you have a compromised immune system, or you're elderly or a toddler.

And yes! It's Cantonese. Are you Cantonese? My b/f's family is from Canton, so that's the only way he and his family know how to cook. I've bought tons of cookbooks on Hong Kong/Cantonese style cooking, and I'm having fun picking recipes to try. :)

[chuuni.livejournal.com]

I see...they make a huge deal out of any cases of flu here, so we get paranoid. But it hasn't become an epidemic here in Asia yet (maybe except Japan, strange, given their country's the cleanest).

I'm from Hong Kong so it's basically the same as Canton. Dim summmm~~~

[singingaway.livejournal.com]

LMAO this post is making me hungry and I still have 2 hrs until lunch. X_X

That sucks that you were sick for such a long time but it is a good thing your starting to feel better.

Food is always a comfort, unless your tummy hurts. Dx

[misora.livejournal.com]

Hehe, sorry I made you hungry!