Peking Duck in Sports Bras and Drop-Crotch Pants

Introduction
With the recent onslaught of prelims, projects, and problem sets (oh my!), I've resorted to dressing and eating in extreme comfort.  Not quite comfortable enough to, say, wear leggings as pants, but comfortable enough that instead of wearing a real bra, I've

The Food
Matt said he wanted to roast a duck when I suggested we roast an animal several weeks ago.  So he was super duper ecstatic when I proposed this recipe for Peking duck.  Though, we are not as adept duck-roasters as that lovely human being, we decided to give it a whirl.  So, we started by removing the innards from our slightly frozen duck.

Matt running the duck under some lukewarm water.

Heart, lungs and spinal column to be used for a broth later.

After that thirty-minute struggle was over, we had to pull feathers out and score the skin to maximize fat-drippy-ness.

Scoring with what I thought was a super sharp knife (nope)

Flipping the bird.

There's a part in the instructions that says to tie the legs together with a piece of birch string or something.  Do I have fancy things?  No.  Do I even have spare string?  Nope.  So we decided to cut a slit in the skin-fat and pull the legs through it.

Not creepy at all.  Nope.

So then we roasted it for 4 hours, flipping the bird every hour.  At hour three, we made a glaze of soy sauce, molasses, agave nectar, and sriracha.  I don't even know what's an acceptable substitute for honey, but agave nectar supposedly tastes just as good and has almost the same consistency.  Due to an allergy, I have no idea what honey tastes like.

The glaze

The bird!  With the glaze.

We ate the bird with tortillas and saved the fat for later.  It was beautifully executed meal with Magic: The Gathering and much laughter that followed.  I had not seen Matt for a whole week since he had silly fraternity initiation things to do.  But I had him back, so that was nice.

Corn tortillas are gluten-freely and magically delicious.

My half of the bird.  So good!

3/4 of a cup of duck fat.  Not too shabby.

The Fashion
Duck is a luxury food and luxury sometime equates with comfort.  Comfort to me is a good pair of pants (or no pants if those are the best pants I can find) and a sports bra.

Sweater (Esprit), pants (ASOS, fun fact: I got them that evening), tank top (American Eagle), sports bra (Lululemon athletica), necklace (bought in China), and hat (knit by my friend's mom)

Not to get too personal, but this semester has really taken a toll on me emotionally and personally.  I really wish I could find more time to do fun cooking things and spring break will hopefully open up the doors to some personal development.

Keep it yummy,

Jo

I Can't Follow Recipes: Turkey, Quinoa, and Green Snap Pea Salad

Before I left to come back to campus, my parents decided to roast a turkey. The turkey was delicious but there were more leftovers than two people (my parents) could eat before it goes bad, so they gave me some.  It made eating the actual day I got back a whole lot easier, but then for dinner, I wanted to be creative, but did not have the energy to follow the exact recipe.  So I heavily modified the Chicken Quinoa Salad from Jane Hornby's Fresh and Easy book.

Quinoa, vegetable broth, frozen snap peas, an onion, turkey (in aluminum foil), agave nectar, lime juice, thyme, garlic paste, salt.

I  love cooking quinoa in vegetable broth.  I, for some reason, prefer the taste of vegetable broth, mostly because it isn't as salty to me.  But first, we had to cook some onions and garlic for the most aromatic of flavors.

Onions caramelizing (by onions, I mean, half an onion)

Cooking quinoa in vegetable broth.

My dressing before mixing: olive oil, lime juice, agave nectar.   YUM.

I'm starting to learn that I am becoming a big fan of self-made, oil-based dressing for salads and the such.  It's lighter, full of omega-3's, and does not take away from the dish itself.  Most of the reason why I have an aversion to Chicken Caesar salad now is how gross the dressing tastes to me.

Threw in some snap peas.

A dish, to me, always has to include some kind of vegetable.  I don't know how I made it through my childhood eating not too many vegetables.  Snap peas live up to their name by giving a nice change in texture to the grainy quinoa and soft onions.

"I've watched enough Food Network to know what good plating is" - Matt

I mixed the dressing and then added it to my dish.  I then elegantly layered the turkey on top of it, which soon turned into a mash-up of all components that got ferried into mouth with a fork.  It was so delicious though, I can't even begin.  Not reheating the turkey added a great textural difference, though I'm sure it tastes awesome with some freshly roasted meat.

Onto the fashion.  It was around 0 degrees F at the time this meal was being made.  And the entire week following.  I'm so happy I got a bunch of sweaters for Christmas and located my fingerless gloves that turn into mittens that keep my thumbs warm.  I went with this sweater to mimic the brightness of the snap peas and the brass tones in the necklace match the quinoa.  I wore thigh-high socks under my pants and combat boots make pretty awesome snow shoes.

Sweater (thrifted), pants (BDG), boots (Doc Marten's), gloves (urban outfitters), and necklace (bought at BronyCon) 

I like working with leftovers.  It makes the most of your food and prevents over-eating, which is a win-win.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Burrito Bowl-Pies

I experimented in making my own recipe last week and here is the product.  I bring to you Burrito Bowl-Pies!  They have all the filling-goodness of a pie and the holding capacity of a bowl.  And you can eat the bowl as part of your dinner.  How cool is that?

The finished product with a glass water splashed with lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• 5 tortillas (corn because wheat sucks)
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon of Old El Paso taco mix
• 1 chicken breast for the whole diner
• 1/4 cup of rice (uncooked)
• 2 teaspoons of La Preferida refried black beans per tortilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro paste per tortilla
• 1 teaspoon of Goya pico de gallo per tortilla
• Pinch of Mexican cheese blend per tortilla

All the ingredients.  Except the garlic paste; I never wound up using it.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cook the rice before you do anything else.  Caramelize the onion on a pan with olive oil.  Then "bread" the chicken with Old El Paso taco mix and pan-fry until half-done after you have removed the onions.

Your "breaded" chicken.

Cut a tortilla and wrap it into a muffin tin.

Cut...

...and wrap

 Add one teaspoon of rice for each tortilla.  Add a few chicken strips and onions.  Then cover in 1 teaspoon of refried black beans.  On top of that, put the cilantro paste and the pico de gallo.  Top with cheese.  Place in the oven for 15 minutes.  The tortillas should be ready to go become friends with your taste buds and tummy.

Before the oven.

Continuing with the spirit of experimentation (no, not that kind), I decided to give myself bangs and dress cooler and edgier.  Since this dish involved many layers working together to create something wonderful, this outfit reflects that spirit perfectly.

Hat: ASOS, Sweater: Free People, Necklace: Anne Taylor LOFT, studded cuff, Jeans: BDG

I'm also practicing taking pictures of my outfits and looking awesome while doing it.  Let me know on my Lookbook or comment on how I'm doing!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Hot Lunch Time!

Today was the start of my first real week at school. So I hopped on my bike, went to class, and then went home to eat hot lunch before another class.

Tank top (American Eagle), High-waisted shorts (TopShop), Moccasins (Minnetonka), Studded cuff (gift from mom), Necklace (Free People)

I love hot lunches.  They make an ok day so much better.  Today, I made cilantro-lime rice with spinach and breaded chicken.  It was delicious.

Mmmmm food.

When I say breaded, I mean tortilla'd.  Tortilla crumbs make my life so awesome because I can still enjoy staples from my upbringing like kotlet schabowy risk-free.  And that's always a good thing.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Renaissance Fare

I have been into fantasy and medieval things like Lord of the Rings and King Arthur for as long as I can remember (see also why I am a terrible blogger who watched such movies instead of writing the promised blog post).  It's just so mystical and the fashions are gorgeous.  So I was super excited when the vague plans to go to the Sterling Renaissance Festival became a concrete trip.  Andrew, Andrea, Jil, Steve, Marissa and I got into Jil's buggy and went for a what-should-have-been 1.5 hour drive to the fair.  It was set up in forest-y area where people rode decorated horses and dressed up in period pieces.

Look at this horse, this horse is amazing

Medieval royal fair has generally been associated with rich meals, while peasants have been generally associated with slop.  Well, I associate more with the peasants than with royalty (I am a rather simple girl, to be quite honest).  So, knowing about out-dated norms that exposed ankles were scandalous, as were pants, I decided to opt for a maxi skirt.

Hat (bought at the fair), shirt (Urban Outfitters), skirt (PacSun), purse (Urban Outfitters), glasses (Urban Outfitters)

Now for the food?  Of course, being the meat eater that I tend to be, I got a massive turkey leg, and, given the spice-lover that I tend to be, I got the thing slathered in hot sauce.

Is it the size of my face?  I think so.

Sheesh, I don't think I've ever ate a piece of meat that good.  I looked up online some fact about it and apparently it is a 1000 calories and you need to walk 5 and a half hours to burn that off.  Well, good thing that that's how long we were at the fair and the duration of afterwards shenanigans.  Plus, I really hate all this talk about how festival food is totally bad for you (it is, oh, it definitely is) but at the same time, how often do people actually attend these things?  I eat pretty clean most of my life and if I want to enjoy a day out with my friends, I should be able to eat whatever I please.  That is my rant.

Overall, the festival was so much fun.  Highlights included swinging a swords, watching a joust, and witnessing the Highland Games.  I can't wait to do it again next year.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Chinese Food Pt. 1: The Lazy Susan & Peking Duck Dinner

Usually when I have been on a tour with a group of people, we had menus when we went out to eat meals included with the trip.  These usually had also been at crappy restaurants where the food made me feel bloated and gain ten pounds in three weeks (thank you Planet Hollywood and Applebees.  This misfortune happened before I had any sense and reason when it came to eating).  But when in China, do as the Chinese.

The Chinese seem to like to share their meals.  Four people would get together, order four different meals, but everyone ate a bit of what everyone else ordered.  Which, I think, is a better attitude than looking at each order as my dish.  It is called "sharing a meal" after all!

I present to you: the Lazy Susan

The meal depicted in the above picture is not the one I am highlighting in this post.  But that same day, for dinner, we went to one of the best Peking duck restaurants in Beijing (apparently).  So I felt it was appropriate to wear a bird dress with a feather necklace.

Because surfing duck is awesome.  Dress: H&M, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Purse: Cooperative, Shoes: Converse, Bracelet: Found in my house

I wish I could exactly tell you, dear reader, what the food was.  But as far as I know, my favorite part was the blood-soaked tofu and rice pancake roll-up with the duck and cucumber and onion slices.  It was really good, but people in my group did not enjoy it.  I have no idea why that could have been.  Then again, I will eat most food as long as I am not in immediate danger of getting sick.

The duck roll-up is on the right.  This disaster used to look like:

Look at this awesome plating, you guys

So that was the first meal I had in China after being delayed in Detroit for almost a day.  I took pictures of all my meals, but some I will not show-case as they do sometimes include wheat products (I was getting such bad stomach problems from eating most things that I gave up and started eating everything.  Also, this blog focuses on wheat-free options for people, so my diet deviations will not be featured.  Unless someone asks).

More posts to come in the upcoming days!

Keep it yummy,
Jo