Birthday Special 2022

This year's birthday special was delayed a bit by illness, but I got there in the end. Ariel requested an Stella Parks' almond cake with her chocolate buttercream, both from Serious Eats. It turned out to be an absolutely delicious cake, probably one of my best yet. Like a lot of recipes from Serious Eats (Kenji's included), this one is written with exacting precision, down to specific temperatures for each ingredient. As someone who usually cooks in a fast-and-loose style and is still inexperienced in baking, this can be quite intimidating. The way things come together in the stand mixer sometimes feels like alchemy!

For the decoration, I found some sliced almonds in the fridge and impressed myself with the legibility I managed to achieve. As can be seen in the photo below, I still struggle a bit with getting the frosting even between the layers. This cake recipe, which includes a good amount of almond flour, baked nearly flat, and I didn't even have to cut off anything from the tops. The requested birthday dinner (also delayed, though not by as much) was sweet and sour fish with gai lan, always a favorite in our house. 

No Free Lunch reached a huge milestone this year: the ten-year anniversary. Over the last ten years, I've written 248 published posts, most of which are full recipes. I plan to do a more complete retrospective of the decade soon. Back in 2015, I set the goal of writing at least one blog post per month. That year, I missed only November and never managed to hit that benchmark until 2021. While 2021 didn't come close to the prolific heights of 2020, there were some real bright spots and good variety in the posts. 

I continued the "upgrades" series (now featuring ten posts) with a mapo doufu recipe I'm really happy with, especially since it's received the all-important Ariel seal of approval. I was also proud to pay homage to my grandmother's midwestern classics with posts on meatloaf and scotcheroos. Two of this year's posts have become firm favorites in our rotation. The shrimp noodle bowl (which I happen to have made yesterday for dinner), was something I just threw together one day with what I had on hand at the time. Although I haven't made "matchos" (matzo nachos) since Passover, I use the chicken recipe to make nachos using regular chips. It makes enough for two batches, and freezes very well. I've continued to experiment with cocktails, with three rum concoctions making hitting the blog this year. I'm confident there will be more to come on that front. 

In last year's birthday post, I speculated about a brighter 2021. We did indeed get vaccines and No Time to Die was pretty great. Although the pandemic trundles on with no end in sight, good food and drink can be an important part of getting through it in one piece. 

Upgrade: Pork Fried Rice

It's hard to believe I posted my very first recipe on this blog ten years ago today. That makes me feel pretty old. At the time, I was one semester into graduate school, living by myself, and figuring out cooking as I went along. I look at some of those early recipes and laugh about how wordy they were despite the simplicity of the dishes. I thought the best way to celebrate this anniversary would be to "upgrade" that first post. A lot has changed since then, but plenty has stayed the same: look carefully and you'll see both the original wok and spatula still in service. After all these years, fried rice remains a staple weeknight dinner and I'm still as much of a fan as I was then. 

Fundamentally, I stand by the original recipe even though I probably never made it like that again. It was quite gratifying to learn (many years ago) that my future in-laws started making fried rice after reading that post. Instead of making the pork, they would get pork from a Chinese takeout to put in it. Although it amuses me to this day, I don't exactly disagree with the approach. To tell the truth, I rarely cook meat specifically for fried rice. Usually, I use a few pieces of lap cheong sausages or char siu from the freezer. So, let's consider this one a special occasion fried rice, fit for a ten-year blog anniversary. I switched from pork loin to the ever-versatile pork shoulder and applied the same marinade from my more recent beef chow fun recipe. These days, I rarely stir fry meat without a marinade.

In recent years, I always include some kind of vegetable in fried rice. Napa is my most commonly used choice, but I happened to have some Shanghai bok choy on hand this time. Another change from the 2012 recipe is how I cook the eggs, a technique I learned from a Kenji video. You can save a little time by pushing the rice over and cooking the eggs in the other half of the pan. I continue to serve with Worcestershire sauce, but also enjoy some Lao Gan Ma chili crisp to spice things up.

Rum Eggnog

I didn't consider myself an eggnog fan for most of my life. My main issues with commercial eggnog is that they are too thick and too sweet. Last year, I started experimenting with mixing rum into store-bought eggnog, which I found to be a real improvement. The next step, of course, was to make my own from scratch. My first batch had a few issues, which I solved for this year's attempt. It came out well, and I made four jars to give as Christmas presents. This strong and spicy eggnog is very different from your average supermarket carton. It's also easy to make and adjust to your own tastes.

Eggnog is a very old drink (George Washington was reportedly a fan) and there are already a lot of recipes out there. As I typically do, I researched quite a few and created my own tailored to my own taste. I find the toasted brown sugar notes in Demerara rum work well in dessert-oriented cocktails. I like El Dorado, but Pusser's is similar and comes from the same distillery. A funky Jamaican rum and spicy allspice dram round it out. The end result has a similar alcohol content to a typical wine. Freshly grated nutmeg is a huge upgrade (for your painkillers as well), and I will never go back to ground nutmeg for cocktails. The sugar is easily adjustable. I originally started at 3 oz. but brought it up to 4 oz. for the final version.

As with anything else, there is some small risk in using raw eggs, which can be mitigated by letting the eggs sit with just the liquor before adding the dairy and sugar. According to some articles I found, the alcohol is sufficient to kill any bacteria within two weeks. That said, the risk is minor and I consume raw eggs in other things somewhat regularly. Don't be tempted to skip the blender here. As I learned in my first attempt, stringy egg white is not a pleasant texture to encounter in eggnog. 

Ground Beef Rice Bowls

Several months ago, we tried a few different meal kit delivery services. We eventually decided they weren't a great fit for us, but I did get some ideas from them. One we really liked (from EveryPlate), was one they called "beef banh mi bowls," I guess so named for the cucumber and carrots often found in the famous sandwich. For me, they call to mind the rice bowl dishes often found in Vietnamese restaurants. I like how they combine a hot entrée with a salad all in one. This recipe is my own spin on the concept, loosely based on the meal kit.

The recipe here is pretty loose, and you can work with what's on hand. The beef could be swapped out for grilled chicken or pork. The crispy fresh vegetables provide a nice contrast with the meat and rice. Radishes could also be a good option. You could even go nuts and add a fried egg. I also like to drizzle some Japanese mayo on dishes like this. I certainly won't make any claims about Vietnamese authenticity here, but these rice bowls are worth a try. They're quick and easy and more than the sum of their parts.

Chicken Stock

October always seems to be an especially busy time in the world of academia, and I haven't had a lot of time to do much innovating in the kitchen. In times like these, I usually fall back on easy standbys like braised chicken or pan-fried salmon. Another reliable easy meal: the good old Sam's Club rotisserie chicken. Only $5 provides a few days worth of meals. We usually have a few pieces of it for dinner, then make the rest into chicken salad. It's a good deal even if the carcass goes in the garbage, but why not use that, too?

Chicken stock is probably one of the most frequently appearing ingredients on this blog. I use it all the time. I always keep a few cartons of Swanson's on hand, but when I can, I make my own. There are few things easier to make: just toss some chicken and vegetables into a pot, heat, and walk away for a while. The rotisserie chicken works perfectly, but you can also keep bones and wing tips in the freezer to make into stock. For the vegetables, I used the classic onion, carrot, and celery combination, but it's flexible. Scallion and ginger could also be used for the Chinese version, similar to the shrimp stock I've posted before. Stock freezes well. I often use 16-oz. takeout containers.

Breaking the Fast with Creamy Scrambled Eggs

Today was Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and fasting. The fast is typically broken with a simple meal that varies by tradition. In the United States, bagels and lox are a classic. While we often make our own lox, we used smoked Alaskan salmon today. To finish out the meal, I also prepared scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs are so simple, they barely need a recipe, but on the other hand, there are a lot of bad scrambled eggs out there. The creamy style of scrambled eggs go perfectly with any kind of bread, bagels included.

Oddly enough, my first exposure to creamy scrambled eggs was through James Bond. In the novels, scrambled eggs are Bond's favorite food, and he ate them many times throughout the series, usually with black coffee. Ian Fleming even included a recipe in one of his short stories. Fleming uses an immense 5-6 ounces of butter for 12 eggs and recommends serving with "pink champagne and low music." I don't go that far, but these eggs are still plenty luxurious. The key to good scrambled eggs is low heat and constant stirring, basically the opposite of making an omelet. Be patient and don't be tempted to raise the heat too much. Good things come to those who wait, a good sentiment for Yom Kippur, I think.

Upgrade: Mapo Doufu (麻婆豆腐)

I first made mapo doufu seven years ago, the first of my many adaptations from Peimei's Chinese Cook Book. Although I love the dish, Ariel did not, and stopped making it for years. Recently, I've reexamined the recipe and come to the conclusion that it needed an upgrade. My new version offers plenty of savory sauce, a well-balanced spice level, and delicious silken tofu, while not being overly oily. I'm pleased to say this one won her over. It helped to leave the mouth-numbing Sichuan pepper on the side and allow individuals to sprinkle it on their own portions. I enjoy it, but not everyone is a fan!

The tofu is the centerpiece of the dish. Peimei recommended deep frying the tofu before adding to the sauce. Not only do I find this completely unnecessary, I think it's wrong. No mapo doufu I've ever had involves that. In my old version, I stir fried it, but I don't do that now. The tofu can remain soft and simply warm up in the sauce. Since I'm not frying it, a firm tofu is also not needed. Instead, I recommend soft silken tofu. It will break up a bit, but that's fine. Silken tofu usually comes in a carton instead of a plastic tub and can typically be found at Asian markets.

Another major change here was increasing the amount of sauce. I like lots of sauce to serve over rice. To balance the spice level, I mix the Sichuan-style hot bean paste (doubanjiang) with Koon Chun bean sauce. This is not traditional, but keeps it balanced. If you like it spicier, feel free to shift the balance towards more doubanjiang. I used the chunky version of the Koon Chun sauce, rather than the ground one. The final major upgrade is the stock. I used my homemade pork stock, made by simmering two pork shoulder blades with ginger and scallion for a few hours. The stock is unsalted; using a salted stock could result in the sauce getting too salty.

Upgrade: Croque Madame

Bonne fête! It's Bastille Day again, and this time, its one of my all-time favorites, the croque madame. Over nine years ago, I wrote about the croque monsieur, the classic French ham and cheese sandwich. I go back to that recipe from time to time, and I think it's one of my best from the very earliest period of No Free Lunch. A croque madame is simply a croque monsieur with a fried egg on top, an upgrade in and of itself. My other reason for revisiting the recipe is to improve on the crunchiness by toasting the bread ahead of time. It's definitely worth the effort!

This is my first post to feature our new convection oven. This enabled me to toast the bread, bake the sandwiches, then broil them all in one device. I'm still experimenting with it, and I expect it will pop up here from time to time. Of course, the whole recipe can certainly be done in a toaster and/or regular oven.

At their core, both a croque monsieur and croque madame are ham and cheese sandwiches, so using good quality ham, cheese, and bread is important. I used Gruyère here, which packs a ton of flavor, but is expensive. It's great as an occasional treat, but feel free to substitute. I shaved the ham off a half boneless ham from Costco and the bread was a peasant loaf from Vermillion's own Mr. Smith's. As with so many things, a fried egg makes everything better. Just make sure to have a knife and fork for this one.