Dressed Cucumbers appear quite commonly on Japanese restaurant menus and today’s post is inspired by such a dish I enjoyed in one of them a while ago. I haven’t tried to completely reproduce that recipe (it was quite spicy, for starters), but I have borrowed the idea of using good, thick slices rather than the thinner ones you generally get…
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Yep… on this day in history, specifically, January 13, 1920, the venerable New York Times published an editorial flatly declaring that space flight using rockets was physically impossible.
Of course, they couldn’t print this if it wasn’t true… right?
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Château Haut-Monplaisir is a winery located in the Cahors district of south-western France. It produces a number of different wines (all listed at their website), but their most notable products are their three single-varietal reds, which, including today’s choice, are all Malbecs.
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The rather singularly named Brooklyn Warehouse is a bistro style establishment with a fairly comprehensive wine and beer cellar and a small but interesting menu. They advertise themselves as having the lowest markup on wine than any restaurant in the city, but, from what I could tell, this would seem to apply only to bottle prices rather than to wines by the glass They do, however, have ‘Happy Hour’ on Monday through Saturday between 4:30pm and 6:30 pm, during which certain wines, beers, and oysters go for a pretty decent price…
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Chinese Preserved Sausage has a lovely sweet, apple-like taste that makes it a nice addition to to vegetable dishes featuring robust greens like Gai-Lan or Green-Beans, but, personally, I think it also works nicely with the more delicate crispness of fresh snow-pea pods. You could pair the two to make a side dish within a larger meal, of course, but it is quite rich and I conceived today’s recipe as more of an appetizer, or a small offering served in a series of dim-sum type dishes…
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Beyond Meat™ Burgers have been a bit of a phenomenon for quite a few months now, although the California based company that produces them released their first burger patty back in 2015. The reason, I think, that these, and similar products, are really only now filtering in to the public consciousness is that so many of the major fast food chains are offering meatless ‘burgers’ as part of their regular menus. I still have not tried a restaurant plant-based burger yet, but I came across the package you see above while shopping for other things and I decided to see what the fuss is about…
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The filling for these Jalapeño peppers is very straightforward and simple… not much more than ground pork with scallion and garlic, really. It is the sauce, though, that I think makes this little appetizer so special. It is based on Oyster Sauce mixed with some rice wine and a little chilli oil, and the sweetness of the primary ingredient is just right without needing any added sugar…
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Broccolini is very much like the Chiese vegetable, Gai Lan, and a perennial favorite in Dim Sum restaurants is Gai Lan in Oyster Sauce. Today, I am doing a quick little dish inspired by that favorite, except that I am using Broccolini as the vegetable, and replacing the Oyster Sauce with the much more decadent XO Sauce (and just a splash of Rice Wine)…
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