Eggplant Dip

This year's Passover recipe is roasted eggplant dip. While not particularly traditional, it fits right into the Kosher for Passover restrictions. While I'd normally eat this dip on a piece of crusty bread, it works just as nicely on matzo. Once you unlock its potential as a carrier of dips and spreads, matzo's not so bad. I used jarred roasted eggplant, which has a nice smoky flavor. This makes for an incredibly low-effort but delicious appetizer or breakfast. Of course, roasting your own eggplant is an option. The dip is also completely vegan, a rarity on this blog but worth noting if you care about such things. This recipe makes a very large amount of dip (about 2/3 of it is shown in the photo), but it keeps well in the refrigerator to snack on for the next few days.

After the last two years of Zoom gatherings, it was truly a pleasure to be able to host a Passover seder in our home. The meal consisted of all the classics: matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, and braised brisket. After my failed attempt at homemade gefilte fish last year, we made sure to stock up from a Kosher store in St. Louis Park last time we were in the area. I made two 3-pound briskets in separate pans, which I then combined into one after slicing. We also made horseradish, charoset, and a flourless chocolate cake.

We were a little nervous hosting a seder for the first time, but by all accounts it went well. Plenty of wine was drunk, songs were sung, and everyone was well fed. I might even say I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. Chag sameach!

Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla

Back when I was a student at Carnegie Mellon, one of my favorite campus dining options was a place in the University Center called "Si Señor." Most people tried a wrap or a taco and dismissed it as a subpar Chipotle imitation. My friends and I, though, considered ourselves real connoisseurs of the lesser known offerings further down the menu, from Buffalo wings to lamburgers to a fried frankfurter covered with onions and peppers. The "Pittsburgh wrap" filled with French fries (in the style of Primanti Brothers) was another classic item. Over the years, the menu grew with various pieces of paper taped to the wall. Sadly, Si Señor closed shortly after I graduated, but the memories live on over a decade later. 

Among all these items, the Buffalo chicken quesadilla stands as my overall favorite, most frequently ordered meal, and the one I most wanted to recreate all these years later. There is no shortage of recipes for such a thing online, including one from the Frank's RedHot website. Like everything they did, the Si Señor version is a little different. The chicken (also available in a wrap if so desired) was bathed in a creamy, pale-orange sauce and was relatively mild. The quesadilla was made from an enormous tortilla, folded into a square envelope and crisped on a flattop, held down with a trowel. It was served cut in half with a choice of side and a small brownie known as a "sweet treat." Although not exactly the same, my version does capture the spirit of the original. 

As a student, I always wondered what exactly went into the Buffalo chicken and a few months back, I went digging using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. I managed to dig up a 2006 menu from the CMU website with the description: "Buffalo Chicken ~ marinated in hot sauce, baked and tossed with light mayo, blue cheese and spices. (hot)." With just this and my memory, I created this recipe, which turned out rather well. The only change I made is adding more Frank's to the final sauce to crank up the Buffalo wing flavor and make it a little spicier. I typically ordered the quesadilla with what the old menu calls "Morelia" hot sauce, so I think this works well. The leftover chicken (this recipe makes way more than is needed for one quesadilla) is also good cold as a chicken salad. Try adding a little celery. For the quesadilla itself, I went with the more typical half-moon form factor. The traditional cheese to use for quesadillas is Oaxaca from southern Mexico, but anything that melts well is good. I used Chihuahua cheese, which originates in northern Mexico (the brand I use, VV Supremo, is from Wisconsin and can be found at Sam's Club). Mozzarella is a good substitute if neither are available. 

Curry Turnovers (咖喱酥)

Curry turnovers are a nostalgic favorite in our family. It was always a great treat when my grandparents showed up with a box of them. A discussion recently got started about reviving the tradition, so I thought it as good a time as any to give this one a go on the blog. I'm so glad I did, because they are just as tasty as I remember. They go by a few different names in Chinese, but the one I went with here, gali su, means "curry pastry."

As it turns out, they are a classic item in Cantonese dim sum and bakeries, with variants popular all over Asia. The good news is that unlike many dim sum items, they are easy to make. They work equally well with afternoon tea, as an appetizer, or a as a late-night snack. This recipe makes about 36 turnovers. We froze some of those (unbaked) for later. Leftovers already baked can be kept in the refrigerator and revived in the toaster oven. In making this version, I referenced several recipes I found online, including Woks of Life and Table for Two. 

Puff pastry variant

The recipe itself is flexible and forgiving. My research online showed that beef is by far the most common filling, but I know grandpa used pork just as often. I used my homemade Chinese pork stock, but whatever is on hand should work fine. For the seasoning, any curry powder is sufficient, as long as it isn't too hot. I added some turmeric for color. One detail I remember watching grandpa make it was that he added a seasoning packet from a package of ramen noodles. I honor this choice with a little MSG (Ajinomoto) for an umami boost. Premade pie dough is a great shortcut that doesn't compromise significantly on the end product. Turnovers can also be made with puff pastry for a flakier variation.

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.