Chinese beef and broccoli and asparagus

I must have been thinking about braising a roast sometime off in the future. Seems so unlike me to have a big hunk of cooked meat in the refrigerator until I can eat it. Along with the vegetables that go with it.

Best it be kept small. The price on this thing was outrageous. Still, it is too tough to eat like this so like Chinese do, I cheat. I took my cheats from Chinese. They add baking soda to jack the pH and soften the meat. It really does soften the meat. Like a sponge. 

So that it no longer feels like real meat. Most unnatural.

The syrupy meat leaves fond in the pan ↑.

Water lifts off the fond ↓.  Obviously any liquid can do this; beef stock, wine, beer. 

Meat added back to the pan along with flavorful sauce containing the 7 magical Asian flavor ingredients listed at the bottom of this page. Including corn starch to thicken.

I should have used fewer. The flavors in this are too strong. 

Unpleasantly strong. Too few broccoli pieces. Needs less meat and more vegetables and weaker sauce. 

I realize how terrible that sounds. Positively un-American. 

I tell you what, if any restaurant pulls this baking soda meat softening on my dinner I'll know it instantly. First taste. They use baking soda for a lot of things that we do not such as noodles. It is not just a leaven used with an acid, it does a lot more such as keep cookies soft.  

Commercial potstickers

The massive package comes with a few packages of soy-based sauce inside. How thoughtful.

All you do is fry them. 

Then cover and douse with a few tablespoons of water. Steams up the whole thing under there. And steam is hotter than boiling water. 

Then lift the lid and keep frying until they are a little bit burnt.

You might be thinking, eh, so what. It's not that great of a difference.

But it is though, it is that great of a difference. Because in that little world under the lid that fits a different pot is the utterly fantastic occurrence of water changing forms by heat to conduct this frozen meal to toasted wet goodness. Faster, more hotly by increased heat of steam. By heat water changes from liquid to gas form that is significantly hotter than water at boiling to melt the solid water inside the potstickers to tenderness then fry them when the water is gone. 

        Gone where?

Gone. Into the atmosphere. Into the air immediately around you.  Into the air that you breathe. Its aerosol atomized vaporized whatever fried potsticker water is coating your lungs. 

        Oh man I am breathing these molecules. 

I know!

Baked potato with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, scallions

I made one cup of chicken gravy and poured it all over the top like poutine. 

I didn't show that because it covered everything in light brown.

What I did show but does not display very well is that I added too much salt. And that made me think, you know, the only salt that I get is the salt that I add personally each day. So when I fail to add enough or fail to eat enough then I could actually run a salt deficit. 

And my tears will be fresh water tears.

And my brain will cease functioning.

Every nerve will cease communicating.

And I thought that between each bite. After I thought, "Ew, too much salt. Too much salt. Too much salt." With each bite.

Bleh. That kind of ruins the whole thing. 

Mango in whipped cream

Bratwurst and cabbage with apple

And onion and jalapeño. That's giving it away up front.