A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the Asian Supermarket near our house to look for bento lunch supplies. I didn't find anything I wanted, but I have trouble walking out of a store with nothing. I always feel like the owners are staring me down, calling me names in their heads.
So we walked around for a while, checking out all of the bright packages we couldn't read and looking at bulk bins of things like tiny dried fish. I finally settled on a pack of wonton skins, 2 different sizes of wooden skewers, some cute plates and bowls, and a package of soba noodles. Shortly thereafter, we went to Trader Joe's, where I picked up a bottle of toasted sesame oil. There was a sale on shrimp at the regular grocery store, and suddenly I knew what we were having for dinner on Seafood Friday.
Over the years, I have definitely grown more comfortable in the kitchen, but there are still a few foods that intimidate me. This year, I plan to tackle them all. Let me know if you see any good recipes for them so I have somewhere to start. Thanks!
The first thing my mom taught me how to make was pancakes. The second thing she taught me was breaded chicken. I remember many, many nights standing at the counter and double-dipping chicken breasts into egg and bread crumbs. This turned out to be one of my all-time favorite dinners. As I got older, I learned that the egg and bread crumb combo could be applied to pretty much anything, like pork chops or zucchini, cube steak or eggplant. Now, I'll be honest. I love eggplant but the boys aren't really into it. But if you have boys that are anything like mine, if it's fried, they'll eat it. The first batch usually doesn't even make it to the sauce-and-cheese phase of the meal prep.
I've heard a lot about jicama (also known as a Mexican potato) but had never tried it, or even seen one. But the last time I was at the grocery store, there was a whole display devoted to the things. I picked one up and inspected its thick waxy peel and tried to smell something, anything, but it wasn't giving up any information. I figured I'd have to buy one if I wanted to see what this curious looking veggie was all about.
I brought it home, peeled it, and cut it into pieces for everybody to sample. It had a very unique flavor, definitely apple-like, but different. It's kind of like an apple that isn't sweet. Not tart like a Granny Smith, just not sweet. And the texture is like if you crossed an apple with a raw potato, but very crunchy. (Yes, I have eaten raw potatoes, but we'll save that for another time.) I threw them in K's lunch and they were a smashing success.
After days of eating these as-is, I decided it was time to experiment. Everyone loves french fries, so I figured I'd play on that. They are great this way, but if you like heat, feel free to toss in a pinch of chili powder.
As I've mentioned about 327 times, I got a bread machine for my birthday. It is my most favorite thing in the whole kitchen (until the day I finally get a KitchenAid, that is) and I use it all the time. Like two or three times a week to the point where I do not buy bread at the store anymore. It tastes better, it's cheaper, and it only has the few ingredients bread should have.
But for some odd reason, I was still buying whole wheat bread crumbs. That is, until I turned the canister around a few weeks ago. I'm not sure why I thought the ingredient list would be any less tragic than a loaf of bread with its 35 components, but I did. And then it hit me - I make my own bread, why not make my own bread crumbs? The whole thing is so simple and (my favorite part) it's made from something I was going to throw away. They are fresh and real and tasty and now my only problem is that I'm suddenly trying to coat everything in bread crumbs. This too shall pass.
