FAIL: Cookies

I hate baking. I feel like there's this little gnome hiding in the oven with a crowbar, waiting for me to close that door so he can bash my cookies and pastries in. Ugh. Anywho, I tried out Merrill's recipe for Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was short half cup of the rolled oats and I was also out of both aluminum foil and parchment paper. What's a girl to do? Just stick it in! And this was the mess that resulted. Still tasted good.

crispy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie fail

FAIL: Poached Snapper

It looks better than it tastes. How many times have you heard that?

rice bowl with dry sherry/soy poached snapper, ginger scallion oil, sauteed summer squash

I'm really not so well versed in preparing fish, so it's going to take a few tries failing before I feel comfortable serving it to friends. Poaching just seems like that really easy, straightforward way of preparing a fish fillet, but when you're like me and you ignore half the recipes you read, something's bound to go wrong. My poaching liquid was composed of soy/dry sherry/water at a ratio of about 1/1/2. It really didn't do anything for the fish, so I think next time I'll increase the amount of soy and perhaps add some miso paste. The ginger scallion oil did wonders for it, though, so that was an easy fix. For the summer squash, I did what I always do with fresh vegetables: sautee it with minced garlic, salt and pepper. It's stupidly simple, but there are some nuanced steps that might give me some ideas for a future blog entry. Till next time.

FAIL: No Chinese New Year Plans

Here's a first. I have no Chinese New Year plans. It's this Thursday! I usually fly home to New York or Zhen and I would host a party. No such luck this year and I'm ridiculously busy with school. Maybe I'll crimp up a bunch of these babies for a pot luck this weekend. Something must be done.

my perfectly crimped pork and chive dumplings. totally modest.

FAIL: Braised Beef Ribs with Fermented Black Beans

Tonight's dinner wasn't such a success- not bad, but not what I was hoping.  I usually use a jarred garlic black bean sauce from Lee Kum Kee when I braise beef ribs, adding ginger and some chicken stock to round out the flavors.  This time around I was hoping to emulate the flavors of the jarred sauce on my own because I can't help but be suspicious of the MSG content in there.

No success = no recipe, but I'll detail the process none-the-less.  Chopped onion; about a quarter cup Chinese fermented black beans; six garlic cloves, minced; two thai chili peppers, finely chopped...

chopped onions, minced garlic, fermented black beans, thai chili peppers

Deglaze the pan with a half a cup of dry sherry and a quarter cup of tamari soy sauce.  Add ribs and then add stock to cover.  I think there was my fatal flaw- I used water and not stock.  Stupid me.  I could have just added salt to remedy the problem, but I always feel like that's just cheating.  Ugh.  Whatever.  Braise for 2-3 hours.  It was super tender and the flavors were alllllmost right.  I also didn't have any ginger.  Next time... next time...

braised beef rib fail, garlic brussel sprouts and carrots