Sesame chicken "bat" wings for Halloween week

A few weeks ago I ripped out my carpets, and since then I've been working on resanding the lovely hardwood floors that were hiding underneath. I've been so deep in dust, it's been hard to think about cooking anything, but today it was a beautiful day and sooner a later, a girl misses her kitchen, and a girl wants to eat a home-cooked meal instead of pizza, hot dogs and take-out Chinese.

And so, with a beautiful Saturday — perhaps the last suitable for barbecuing outside — I decided to play hooky from the renovation project.

Time for some fun in the kitchen!

A few weeks ago the lovely #letslunch bunch challenged us to come up with a scary food idea. Even though I couldn't participate this time, the wheels in my head went to work any way.

My idea? Faux bat wings made from chicken wings.

This idea really turned out beautifully. I know I will be adjusting the spice mixture down the line, but my first stab at it was really pretty good.

Here's what I did:

From Paris with Love — Saumon avec Sainte Nectaire

Le Tour Eiffel

Monday I cooked breakfast and lunches for the week, a task I usually have finished on Saturday, so Tuesday found me doing a task I usually have done well before Sunday — writing this blog.

Everything has been a ker fuffel since I came back from Paris. My schedules just don't wanta sync  up any more. It's like I need a vacation just to get over vacation. Does that happen to anyone else after vacation?

Paris has always had a reputation for its food, so I had some fairly high expectations. Of course, knowing that it was a fateful fish dinner that famously lured Julia Child into the world of French cooking, I made sure my first real meal was fish as well.

A Chinese Grandmother's Tofu — Mapo Doufu (麻婆 豆腐)

I first had Mapo Doufu on what was probably the coldest day of the year. We were in the midst of an ice rainstorm, and it was so cold, icicles were forming almost instantly on anything outside, living or otherwise. The streets had become slippery slides for automobiles and most of the sane and sensible were safely ensconced in warm homes underneath fuzzy blankets sipping hot cocoa, or perhaps something stronger.

My niece is fond of saying no one ever cheers after eating
tofu but I beg to differ. I really like this dish. To me tofu has the
consistency of fresh mozzarella and a similar blandness that
allows it to blend well with almost any sauce. Unlike
mozzarella, though tofu retains its shape and doesn't melt.

I, on the other hand, was walking the neighborhood taking pictures of nature's debacle. Just as I was about to call it an afternoon, I happened upon a poor postal worker with icicles hanging off the brim of her hat, delivering the last of the day's mail. She was a good sport and let me take a few pictures of her in such misery. It was then I noticed in the gathering grey twilight a little red and blue sign that said open in brash neon light.

It was the only cheery thing in sight. Downtown was otherwise locked up tight and the stores were all dark and vacant as mummy eyes. I wandered toward the sign with camera and curiosity in tow. Who was brave enough to remain open on a day like this, and what on earth were they doing?

Sweet and Sour Salad #letslunch Farmer's Market Post

As I write this, I am actually on a plane heading to see a friend, and then off to Paris, which I like to think of as the Farmer's Market of the world. I have heard so much about the food in France and particularly the Farmer's markets, I cannot wait to at last see them for myself, and of course I will post some pictures once I return.

Farmer's markets are a wonderful thing, regardless of which country or community you are in, and my local Farmer's Market right now is all about the tomatoes. They are literally at every table, and they all look so gorgeous.

But tomatoes are one of the last things I think of when I think of Asian cuisine!

So I was surprised — pleasantly — a couple weeks ago when a Chinese friend presented me with a nice bag of garden grown tomatoes from his garden.

Ooo la la! It is nice to have friends, and it is even nicer to have friends who have garden tomatoes.

We both agreed that store bought tomatoes aren't worth eating, and that it was only garden-grown for us.

And so, inspired by this gift, I started reading about tomatoes and China, and discovered that after all, Chinese people do know and like this vegetable, even though their term for it is, quite literally, foreign eggplant.

Julia Child's Kunming Connection #Sundaysupper #CookingforJulia

A post in honor of Julia Child's 100th birthday written for #sundaysupper #cookingforjulia ...

Everyone knows Julia loved French cuisine, but Julia's first culinary love was not French. Julia's first romance with food was in fact, nowhere near France. Her first love affair with food was in Kunming, China, where she and her future husband Paul slowly but surely fell in love.

Julia served in Kunming during the latter part of World War II, arriving in the city shortly after Paul. They were both in the OSS, the precursor of the CIA. The agents serving in Kunming were actually forbidden to travel out of bounds, but that did not stop Paul and Julia from seeking out new culinary adventures every chance they got.

The city's name by the way, translates roughly to the City of Eternal Spring, and the weather is mild year-round, similar to California, where Julia grew up. There are, in addition, many interesting cultural sites in hiding amidst the blue mountains and eucalyptus trees.

Chinese Soup — 中国汤

I'm not really sure if I understand what makes a soup truly "Chinese."

Is it just the ingredients put into it?

Or more the philosophy behind it?

Do Chinese people ever get in a hurry and just make soup on the fly out of whatever's on hand?

Or is it always a slow-simmered yin-yang affair?

Would they be adverse to a pre-made broth, as long as it was a homemade broth of the slow-simmered variety?

Or is that idea too Western to be authentic?

I've always got a few jars of slow-cooked stock in my freezer. There's some in quart jars for soup and some in pint jars for sauces. They're perfect when I have run into a challenging week. And this, my friends, has indeed been one of those weeks.

I've been moving furniture since last week. Then on Sunday, a few wonderful people came over to help me get rid of my carpet. The previous owners, you see, had cats and I'm allergic to cats. And I was allergic to the carpet those cats had left behind. But now the carpet is gone and things are much better for me and that little thing called breathing.

But, I've still got boxes and furniture stacked to the ceiling of my dining room. And my clothes are hanging in the bathroom whilst I patiently await floor refinishing and painted walls. The arrangement is OK. The stuff I have to have I can get to for now. But it's a bit like living in some sort of weird hotel with no room service. I feel like I should order a pizza and eat on the floor, not cook in the kitchen.

So when I glanced at the fridge this week and started thinking of what to make for my lunches, I was really looking for something simple. Something easy.

The Feast of the Free Fishes

Ingredients
3 Free fish
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T sherry
1 inch pc fresh ginger minced
mountain of celery leaves

Once upon a month, I run up to a little Asian market on Olive Boulevard in St. Louis for a month's worth of cooking ingredients for my Asian cooking adventures.

I say that it's little, but this market is not really that little. It's actually closer to the size of a super Walmart, and it's stuffed full of just about every imaginable ingredient. You can find chicken feet. You can buy all manner of fresh fish. You can find eels and a thousand varieties of tea. One time I thought they didn't have something I wanted, but then a store manager took me right to it.

There is, I will warn you, an odd smell when you walk in the door. I don't know what it is. But if you can get past that intimidating smell, there's a whole new realm of new and exotic cooking ingredients awaiting exploration. I say realm, because there is such a kingly amount of ingredients — but the prices won't set the peasants back too much either.

Last trip, the fresh produce aisle sported my favorite bing cherries for 99 cents a pound, and a large bunch of what looked to be organic green onions for only 99 cents! Closer to home I'd have paid $2.99 a pound for the cherries and $1.99 for the green onions. These weren't on my list, but I know a good deal when I see one, and the cherries were delicious!

I don't know that this is the "best" Asian supermarket in all of St. Louis. But it is right across from the King Wonton tea house where I had my first steamed pork bun, so it's earned a soft spot in my heart. It's definitely worth a stop at both places if you're looking for a little adventure at reasonable expense, but if you go, you absolutely must stop at the teahouse for steamed buns. I insist.

On the way home last time, I stopped off at a gas station to refill my tank and whilst rearranging my bags, I felt something cold among the double dark soy sauce and chrysanthemum tea. Something cold and ... squishy.