Resolution Retrospective
Nov. 18th, 2019 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis is going to be a slightly much longer post than usual for this tag. Because this is Resolution Recipe #800. And round numbers can be an excuse for introspection.
Why Resolution Recipes?
Back when I first started these in June 2004, I said: "I have a lot of cookbooks. I've read through them all but there are a fair number that I've never cooked from. So: The Resolution. Once per week, I will cook a recipe that I have not tried before."
In short, I had been feeling in a rut cooking-wise. And I had accumulated some cookbooks I hadn't actually used. So my thought was twofold: try new things in a manageable manner, and get rid of cookbooks that weren't worth the shelf space.
How did that work out for us? Well, I have certainly cooked a lot of new recipes. Many of them were only new in the sense that I hadn't cooked that particular recipe before. I deliberately did not make it hard for me to continue by insisting that I constantly learn new techniques or cuisines. Many of them have made their way into the regular rotation. Many more have never been repeated - whether they were good but too much effort, not that interesting, or [mostly occasionally] a straight failure.
I did get rid of some cookbooks that I didn't deem worthy. But predictably I have quite a few more than I did 15+ years ago. And of course, these days I get some recipes from online or app-based sources.
Numbers Geekery
If I average the goal of one recipe per week, I should have posted #800 around October 29, 2019. Instead it's three weeks later.
That's a pretty fabulous rate, only missing a handful over fifteen years. I have taken the odd week off; but I have tried to make them up with bonus recipes. That count of 800 might include an occasional "I'm taking this week off" post, so it's possible that the actual number of recipes is overstated - I didn't try to go back and check each one. (If that's true, it's infrequent.)
I often have a recipe or two queued up in advance (i.e. already made and posted privately), which allows me to be sick or uninspired for a week before I jump back in. That's been key to keeping this going.
Breakdowns by category: I added tags when the late unlamented LiveJournal introduced them, to make finding the recipes easier in the future. There's no hard and fast rule, but I tend to tag based off the primary characteristics I see in the dish. Osso buco gets resolution meat and resolution sauce but not resolution veg, even though there are vegetables in the sauce. Ice cream is both resolution dairy and resolution sweet. That's why the tags add up to far more than 800.
Not surprisingly, meat and veg are the two top categories. Likewise it's not shocking that booze is the lowest-used. Sauce comes in higher than I would have anticipated. Neat that about an eighth of the entries are historical adaptations. Desserts are probably as high as they are because I tend to make them for weekly homeowners' meetings.
A few other notes.
This particular recipe ticked a number of boxes (mostly by accident):
Finally after all that bloviating, this week's Resolution Recipe: Mapo Tofu.
(Fuschia Shock)
500 g white tofu
2 scallions
6 Tbsp cooking oil
100 g ground beef
2.5 Tbsp Sichuan chile bean paste (I used a Sriracha-like product)
1 Tbsp fermented black beans
2 tsp ground chiles
1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
3/4 cup stock or water (I used house-made chicken stock)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 Tbsp potato starch, mixed with 2.5 Tbsp cold water (I used cornstarch)
1/4-1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper
Cut the tofu into 2cm (3/4") cubes and let steep in very hot, lightly salted water while you prepare the other ingredients. Cut the scallions into 3/4" lengths.
Heat a seasoned wok over high heat. Pour in 1 Tbsp oil and heat until the sides of the wok have begun to smoke. Add the beef and stir-fry until it is fully cooked and fragrant, breaking the clumps of meat into tiny pieces as you go. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Rinse and dry the wok if needed. Return to medium heat. Pour in 5 Tbsp oil and swirl it around. Add the chile bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is a rich red color and smells delicious. Next add the black beans and ground chiles and stir-fry for a few seconds more until you can smell them too, then do the same with the garlic and ginger. Take care not to overheat the aromatics - you want to end up with a thick, fragrant sauce, and the secret is to let them sizzle gently, allowing the oil to coax out their flavors.
Remove the tofu from the hot water with a runcible spoon, shaking off any excess liquid, and place it gently into the wok. Sprinkle over the beef, then add the stock or water and white pepper. Nudge the tofu tenderly into the sauce with the back of your ladle to avoid breaking up the cubes.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the tofu to absorb the seasonings. When they are just cooked, add a little of the starch mixture and stir gently as the liquid thickens. Repeat this twice more until the sauce clings deliciously to the tofu (don't add more than you need). Add in the scallions.
Pour everything into a deep serving bowl. Sprinkle with the ground Sichuan pepper and serve.
What worked: It was very good - silky, spicy but not overly so. I've had a version that was swimming in chile oil; this wasn't.
What didn't: Still a bit too spicy for the wife. Also not this recipe's fault, but our wok ring didn't work as well with the new range; we might have to buy the brand's version.
Will I make it again? Probably.
Bonus: Sweetcorn Kernels withGreen Peppers.
"This is the kind of everyday dish you won't often find in recipe books, but it crops up frequently on the menus of low-key Sichuanese restaurants and in home kitchens."
1 1/2 cups (250 g) sweetcorn kernels, about 2 corn cobs' worth
3 long green Turkish peppers, or 1-2 green bellpeppers (about 5.25 oz / 150 g) (I used yellow and orange - it's what we had from our CSA box; also, the wife does not like green bellpeppers.)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
salt
Chop the peppers into little chunks, about the same size as the corn kernels. Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over high heat. Add both vegetables and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, until piping hot and sizzly, adding salt to taste.
What worked: Easy, especially with frozen corn. It provided a nice contrast color-, texture-, and non-spicy-wise with the rest of the meal.
What didn't: I was pretty happy with it.
Will I make it again? Definitely. This will be a regular side dish with Szechuan dinners.
Bonus bonus: Basic Rice... FOR SCIENCE!
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 1/2 cups water
Measure the rice into a wire-mesh strainer, then rinse under running water for 10 seconds, swishing the grains around. Set the strainer over a bowl and let the rice drain well, which should take about 1 minute. Pour the rice and the 1 1/2 cups water into the Instant Pot. Jiggle the inner container around so that the rice settles in an even layer.
Lock the lid, select the Rice setting, and go. Once it is done leave it on the keep warm setting for 10 minutes, then vent. Use a rice paddle to scoop out the rice.
What worked: It produced a very nice, separate-grain consistency. You have to make a minimum quantity for the pot to work, but since I was serving four people that was fine.
What didn't: I forgot we have a plastic rice paddle. That would have made scooping it out easier.
Will I make it again? When I want to make this quantity, sure. If it's just for the two of us, that's a harder sell.
Now that I've hit this round number, I have no plans to stop cooking Resolution Recipes. I certainly wouldn't have imagined that I'd still be going this many years later. Now if only I could make and follow some other resolutions with this fidelity...
Why Resolution Recipes?
Back when I first started these in June 2004, I said: "I have a lot of cookbooks. I've read through them all but there are a fair number that I've never cooked from. So: The Resolution. Once per week, I will cook a recipe that I have not tried before."
In short, I had been feeling in a rut cooking-wise. And I had accumulated some cookbooks I hadn't actually used. So my thought was twofold: try new things in a manageable manner, and get rid of cookbooks that weren't worth the shelf space.
How did that work out for us? Well, I have certainly cooked a lot of new recipes. Many of them were only new in the sense that I hadn't cooked that particular recipe before. I deliberately did not make it hard for me to continue by insisting that I constantly learn new techniques or cuisines. Many of them have made their way into the regular rotation. Many more have never been repeated - whether they were good but too much effort, not that interesting, or [mostly occasionally] a straight failure.
I did get rid of some cookbooks that I didn't deem worthy. But predictably I have quite a few more than I did 15+ years ago. And of course, these days I get some recipes from online or app-based sources.
Numbers Geekery
If I average the goal of one recipe per week, I should have posted #800 around October 29, 2019. Instead it's three weeks later.
That's a pretty fabulous rate, only missing a handful over fifteen years. I have taken the odd week off; but I have tried to make them up with bonus recipes. That count of 800 might include an occasional "I'm taking this week off" post, so it's possible that the actual number of recipes is overstated - I didn't try to go back and check each one. (If that's true, it's infrequent.)
I often have a recipe or two queued up in advance (i.e. already made and posted privately), which allows me to be sick or uninspired for a week before I jump back in. That's been key to keeping this going.
Breakdowns by category: I added tags when the late unlamented LiveJournal introduced them, to make finding the recipes easier in the future. There's no hard and fast rule, but I tend to tag based off the primary characteristics I see in the dish. Osso buco gets resolution meat and resolution sauce but not resolution veg, even though there are vegetables in the sauce. Ice cream is both resolution dairy and resolution sweet. That's why the tags add up to far more than 800.
| resolution adaptation | 106 | 13.25% |
| resolution booze | 42 | 5.25% |
| resolution dairy | 85 | 10.63% |
| resolution meat | 272 | 34.0% |
| resolution sauce | 164 | 20.5% |
| resolution starch | 106 | 13.25% |
| resolution sweet | 195 | 24.38% |
| resolution veg | 214 | 26.75% |
Not surprisingly, meat and veg are the two top categories. Likewise it's not shocking that booze is the lowest-used. Sauce comes in higher than I would have anticipated. Neat that about an eighth of the entries are historical adaptations. Desserts are probably as high as they are because I tend to make them for weekly homeowners' meetings.
A few other notes.
This particular recipe ticked a number of boxes (mostly by accident):
- I made recipes from a brand-new cookbook, Fuschia Dunlop's The Fud of Sichuan - a rework of her first bestseller Land of Plenty with new recipes. It's no exaggeration to say that this book revolutionized the way I cook Chinese food. Instead of vaguely Hunan-American, I now tend to go Szechuan-style even without a recipe. I have black vinegar and Szechuan pepper in the cabinet and use them regularly. I'm going to get other ingredients for it such as dried shrimp and potato starch...
- I made it for a homeowners' meeting. Most Sundays we have dinner with the upstairs neighbors and we trade off who cooks. Sometimes we discuss actual HOA business, but mostly we just chat. And the curvy upstairs neighbor and I get to make dessert, which we usually don't do otherwise. If I don't have anything inspiring in mind to prompt a Resolution Recipe, I can often find a dinner or dessert recipe to inflict on helpless guinea pigs. So many recipes have been first done this way.
- We just recently purchased a new range. It's a significant upgrade from our former Home Despot bargain-basement model (which was new when we moved in, 15+ years ago). It has far more power! Using the wok on high is a good short test before we put it through its paces on Thanksgiving.
- If I'd been a week shorter, I could have made this for my 50th birthday as well... but honestly it's okay that I didn't.
Finally after all that bloviating, this week's Resolution Recipe: Mapo Tofu.
(Fuschia Shock)
500 g white tofu
2 scallions
6 Tbsp cooking oil
100 g ground beef
2.5 Tbsp Sichuan chile bean paste (I used a Sriracha-like product)
1 Tbsp fermented black beans
2 tsp ground chiles
1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
3/4 cup stock or water (I used house-made chicken stock)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 Tbsp potato starch, mixed with 2.5 Tbsp cold water (I used cornstarch)
1/4-1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper
Cut the tofu into 2cm (3/4") cubes and let steep in very hot, lightly salted water while you prepare the other ingredients. Cut the scallions into 3/4" lengths.
Heat a seasoned wok over high heat. Pour in 1 Tbsp oil and heat until the sides of the wok have begun to smoke. Add the beef and stir-fry until it is fully cooked and fragrant, breaking the clumps of meat into tiny pieces as you go. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Rinse and dry the wok if needed. Return to medium heat. Pour in 5 Tbsp oil and swirl it around. Add the chile bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is a rich red color and smells delicious. Next add the black beans and ground chiles and stir-fry for a few seconds more until you can smell them too, then do the same with the garlic and ginger. Take care not to overheat the aromatics - you want to end up with a thick, fragrant sauce, and the secret is to let them sizzle gently, allowing the oil to coax out their flavors.
Remove the tofu from the hot water with a runcible spoon, shaking off any excess liquid, and place it gently into the wok. Sprinkle over the beef, then add the stock or water and white pepper. Nudge the tofu tenderly into the sauce with the back of your ladle to avoid breaking up the cubes.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the tofu to absorb the seasonings. When they are just cooked, add a little of the starch mixture and stir gently as the liquid thickens. Repeat this twice more until the sauce clings deliciously to the tofu (don't add more than you need). Add in the scallions.
Pour everything into a deep serving bowl. Sprinkle with the ground Sichuan pepper and serve.
What worked: It was very good - silky, spicy but not overly so. I've had a version that was swimming in chile oil; this wasn't.
What didn't: Still a bit too spicy for the wife. Also not this recipe's fault, but our wok ring didn't work as well with the new range; we might have to buy the brand's version.
Will I make it again? Probably.
Bonus: Sweetcorn Kernels with
"This is the kind of everyday dish you won't often find in recipe books, but it crops up frequently on the menus of low-key Sichuanese restaurants and in home kitchens."
1 1/2 cups (250 g) sweetcorn kernels, about 2 corn cobs' worth
3 long green Turkish peppers, or 1-2 green bellpeppers (about 5.25 oz / 150 g) (I used yellow and orange - it's what we had from our CSA box; also, the wife does not like green bellpeppers.)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
salt
Chop the peppers into little chunks, about the same size as the corn kernels. Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over high heat. Add both vegetables and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, until piping hot and sizzly, adding salt to taste.
What worked: Easy, especially with frozen corn. It provided a nice contrast color-, texture-, and non-spicy-wise with the rest of the meal.
What didn't: I was pretty happy with it.
Will I make it again? Definitely. This will be a regular side dish with Szechuan dinners.
Bonus bonus: Basic Rice... FOR SCIENCE!
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 1/2 cups water
Measure the rice into a wire-mesh strainer, then rinse under running water for 10 seconds, swishing the grains around. Set the strainer over a bowl and let the rice drain well, which should take about 1 minute. Pour the rice and the 1 1/2 cups water into the Instant Pot. Jiggle the inner container around so that the rice settles in an even layer.
Lock the lid, select the Rice setting, and go. Once it is done leave it on the keep warm setting for 10 minutes, then vent. Use a rice paddle to scoop out the rice.
What worked: It produced a very nice, separate-grain consistency. You have to make a minimum quantity for the pot to work, but since I was serving four people that was fine.
What didn't: I forgot we have a plastic rice paddle. That would have made scooping it out easier.
Will I make it again? When I want to make this quantity, sure. If it's just for the two of us, that's a harder sell.
Now that I've hit this round number, I have no plans to stop cooking Resolution Recipes. I certainly wouldn't have imagined that I'd still be going this many years later. Now if only I could make and follow some other resolutions with this fidelity...
