1 lb pork belly

4 tsp salt

4 tsp sugar

Roast at 425, basting occasionally, for 40-45 minutes or until skin is blistered and golden brown.

Roast at 250 for 40-45 minutes or until tender. 

1 lb spinach

100 g heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar

*substitutions:

matcha

cocoa

mocha

2 thick cut boneless pork chops, sliced thin
4 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp rice wine or red wine
Lots of fresh pepper
1.5 tbsp corn starch
Water or stock to adjust consistency

STDisco and Oroville have sparked a nostalgia for the Star Trek originals, which led me to a rewatch  DS9. As Sisko already discovered in the first episode, apparently time really ISN'T linear, because I've been living in Star Trek all along, coloring every moment of my days. Below is Sisko's family recipe, a gently spiced eggplant stew - super satisfying and also a wondrous way to woo your future wife.

Captain Benjamin Sisko's Aubergine Stew - DS9 Season 1, Episode 1

1 large onion, diced

1 tsp anise seed

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Sour Cream Topping (revised)

Whisk the cake flour and rice flour together in a medium glass bowl and divide it in half. Set aside.

Heat vegetable oil to 365 degrees. Whisk the egg, seltzer water and vodka. Pour half of the liquid mixture into half of the dry mixture and whisk to briefly, about 10 to 15 seconds. Lumps remaining are good. Set the glass bowl in a larger bowl lined with ice. Put the rest of the liquid mixture in the refrigerator to chill. The oil should now be about 375 degrees. 

Fry!

The SO received a LimoStudio portrait lighting setup for Christmas. I'm excited to "borrow" the umbrellas and stands for my own purposes, which is how the above food was (over) exposed and photographed. Yay!

The sauce base consisting of the above aromatics, toasted spices, ketchup (secret shhhh), tomatoes (Canned, though now that I have the chopping machine, why not blitz it? Takes a bit longer to cook is all.) Curry is ready for chickpeas or dark meat chicken when the oil has pooled and separated. I've been told this is how you know it's ready.

Indian flat bread is super easy to make in the food processor. These guys are half wheat, "milled" a bit in the machine first, and half all purpose flour (atta), with a little bit of salt. Streaming in a bit of water while the machine was going on the dough setting made it come together easily. Forget about measuring, just put in how much bread you want to make. 1.5 cups will make about 8 flat breads.  also added a tiny bit of oil at the end. Certainly not necessary. I broke them up to rest after kneading, which makes them easier to roll then breaking them up after resting.

  In action.

Creamy dal, chicken spinach curry, salad with flax seed oil (someone forgot the vinegar), and bread!

Holiday Meal inspired by...

cucumber

yogurt

red onion

parsley

toasted pepper and black cumin

salt

 Cuisinart Ice-21 

 fresh mint custard base

churning ice cream

1 cup cake flour, sifted

2 cup all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 tsp baking soda

2 1/3 tbsp buttermilk powder

3 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened

7 large eggs, room temp

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup water

opt. turbinado sugar

Put oven rack in middle position, but do not preheat oven.

I don't have a sifter so I beat my flour with a whisk. Then I measure the desired amounts. Combine the whisked flour in a bowl with the dry ingredients and give it another good mixing.

I also don't have a tube or bundt pan. Instead I greased and floured an 9" cake pan which is 3" deep. In the center, I placed an oven proof ramekin, also greased and floured. Pretty good substitute!

Combine the wet ingredients, almond extract, zest and water. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. This takes quite a while by hand, which I find personally gratifying, but you can use a mixer. The sugar should almost be dissolved into the butter. Start adding eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each one. Roughly stir in half the flour, then pour in the wet ingredients. After another good whisking, stir in the rest of the flour. Keep whisking till the batter is creamy and shiny.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Place in the cold oven and turn on the heat to 350 degrees. Bake till golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. I found 1 hour to be sufficient. On a rack, cool cake for 30 minutes or when the cake has pulled away from the sides. Run a cake spatula around the edges of the cake, both inside and outside rings, and invert on the rack to cool the rest of the way.

Notes:

I find the best way to grease the pan is to use the butter wrapper as a smearing implement.

Often, I forget to place a round of greased and floured parchment at the bottom of the pan when I'm baking cakes. Really though, this is one of the most essential steps, because I can never get the darn thing back out again. Not an issue really with a home cake like this, but could be if I was trying to make it for a party.

For inspiration, I used an Epicurious recipe, supposedly a favorite of Elvis.