Food Recap and Scheming

Today I was bored and I made kumquat-orange curd. I've never made it before, although I suspected it would resemble the lemon filling in my mom's lemon meringue pie. I was right.

Unfortunately, because I strongly associate that flavor and smell with meringue pie, the serving suggestions weird me out--on scones, biscuits, toast...It's good though, I think. We'll see how it tastes after it's chilled. And after I bake some biscuits.

After that, I made a pale omelet with the whites and some shredded chicken from dinner a few nights ago. Very oyako-esque, but mid-quality egg whites plus bland mid-quality chicken tasted kind of icky and metallic, so I drowned the sucker in salsa and parmesan and resolved to never try that combination again.

I've been wanting to make no-knead bread recently, but I always remember the day before I have to do something, and the timing's off. With an 18-hour resting period (I know, I need to just start making normal bread), it gets tricky. I've finally relaxed enough to realize that letting it rest for more than 18 hours is usually a good thing in my cold kitchen, but that doesn't help when I have to be somewhere in less than 18 hours. And it's worth waiting (for me, I think).

I've also decided that I want to make more Japanese food this year. Over the last year and a half, I conquered no-knead bread, buttermilk biscuits, scones, macaroni and cheese (baked and stove top), carnitas, pot roast (way too rich), a couple easy shredded salads, easy enchiladas (you're supposed to rub the tortillas individually with oil? damn, I didn't know that.), pasta e fagioli...I meant to make a list, and maybe I will someday, but you get the picture. I've been cooking from my America's Test Kitchen cookbook. So now it's time for Japanese food. I've got the time.

So far, I've made gyoza (pretty good), and I've finally figured out bacon fried rice. I know it's easy, but I could never figure out the timing, so the bacon ended up being limp and pale. And I bit the bullet and used the チャハン function on the rice cooker instead of using cold rice. Go me.

Next on deck: nikujaga, or maybe takoyaki. I've got the pan, it's just intimidating. And a bit decandent, considering I'm still not working full time (picking up odd jobs here and there, favors from friends).

Oh, and funny story. I had G's mom pick up some black vinegar from the store for me, just to try. Annnd, I accidentally asked for sweetened, because I didn't know better. Tell me if I'm wrong, but it looks like sweetened black vinegar is primarily used for pigs feet, which is mostly a confinement food. Whoa.