maltartare

Ginger “not gingery enough” Fried Rice

Growing up in Asia, I always considered fried rice to be a comfort food. I know many would say that a recipe isn’t really needed, but I never find mine as satisfying as ones I’ve tried before. A ginger fried rice recipe has been floating around the internet for some time, and with fresh ginger in my fridge, I decided to try it out.

Ginger is one of my favorite ingredients, so I had high hopes for this dish. However, I was surprised to see that there was the same amount of garlic used. How come this wasn’t garlic fried rice, then? Ultimately, my verdict was that the dish was tasty and easy to cook, but the ginger didn’t stand out as much as I would have hoped.

I enjoyed the flavors, especially the sesame oil, but I would “gingerfy” the recipe more if I were to make it again. I also scrambled the egg instead of frying it, so perhaps I will try it the recipe-recommended way. It was tastier than the fried rice I normally make, but I had high hopes since I rarely follow recipes so closely!

On a separate note, I highly recommend freezing leeks in a ziploc bag and taking them out when you need them; they defrost quickly and keep most of their flavor.

Bread Winner

I made bread.

It is truly difficult for me to follow instructions. Making bread seemed like such an impossible task. I followed this recipe for the most part (thanks John). Actually, he copied it into an email for me and clarified things he knew I would be confused about, which made it much easier to follow.

I had such little confidence that my dough would rise, I barely took any pictures because I didn’t want to see them and be disappointed later. The dough that never rose. The bread that never was. The girl that never succeeded.

But the unthinkable happened. My dough rose. I made bread, and it was edible!

Chili Lime Shrimp with Avocado & Cilantro

Hi there. I picked up some vegetables from a cart after work today, and in efforts to not let them go bad, I was determined to use some straight away. I picked up tomatoes, zucchini, lemons, peppers, avocados, mushrooms and an onion for $8. Yes.

The last time I did this both my avocados went bad, so I owed it to them to be used first (guacamole has really been nothing but good to me).

I remembered I had some shrimp in my freezer, and did a quick search for shrimp/avocado recipes. This had the best reviews, so I decided to try it out.

I drained/thawed the shrimp while I prepared the marinade. I eyeballed everything since I was using less shrimp than the recipe called for. I skipped the hot red pepper flakes, and added in lemon pepper and dried cilantro since I didn’t have fresh on hand.

Marinating the shrimp:

I decided to use my toaster oven to broil the shrimp for a few minutes on each side. It’s technically already cooked, since I bought a cooked, frozen bag, but the broiler gave it a nice smoked flavor.

I mixed in the avocado, some more lime juice and salt/pepper to taste. I put it in my tupperware with rice since I had some ready. It would be probably be good over a bed of greens though, if you’re into that.

The shrimp turned out perfectly; I’ll definitely be using this marinade more often, since I had all the ingredients on hand. This was a bit more effort than the shrimp pasta salad I made a few weeks ago, but it seems more flavorful. Will know my true feelings at lunchtime tmrw!

A nice little Indian spread.

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