Mint Tea

Edit: I forgot to address this earlier. You may be wondering, "But Chau, why come you no blog any more?"  In addition to my jobs as optician, office manager, nanny, and ministry coordinator, I am now also a retail cashier. Obviously, this cashiering job fulfills all my professional dreams (no, it doesn't).  Just in case retail doesn't work out for me however, I'm also going back to school in a couple of weeks. I've been accepted into seminary at ______ University, and will be earning my Masters of Religion in Intercultural Studies. It is my hope that I'll be able to use my degree for global ministry work. So, I don't know how often I'll be writing in the future. I'll still be cooking and eating, so let's hope I'll remember to continue writing about it!

Ok. I just posted about blackberry mint jam, and now I'm going to talk about mint tea. My sister and I grew some pineapple mint in a container garden this summer, and it grew so abundant that we couldn't eat it all.

Earlier in the summer, when the weather was still chilly and wet, I came down with a cold. Even with drugs, my throat felt raw. So, I made a tea with our extra mint and some ginger. Mint soothes, and ginger has anti-inflammatory properties. It was perfect for my sore throat.

Using a teapot with a removable infuser, I combined the herbs, and added hot water.

Once it got warmer, our mint plant thrived even more. I found that iced mint tea with honey was pretty dang refreshing.

Now that it's autumn, maybe I should stop posting about summertime. Yeah?

Blackberry Mint Jam

We had a very late summer here in Seattle. At the end of September, we FINALLY hit 80 degree temps. During that time, the blackberry vines in our neighborhood ripened, and I was able to harvest the fruit.

Blackberries and snow peas

I froze about half of the them for use during the rest of the year (I put it in oatmeal, tarts, and pies), and the rest I used for...

Blackberry Mint Jam

Last year was my first attempt at blackberry jam, and I was looking forward to jamming again this summer. However, I did two different things this time: 1. I added mint. 2. I used freezer pectin. I have to admit, it kind of felt like cheating when I used the pectin. I wasn't standing in front of a hot stove, pouring tons of sugar onto fruit pulp, and waiting for it to thicken. That being said, I love love love freezer pectin. It came together in a short amount of time, and there was no need to sterilize glass canning jars. I just put the finished product into plastic freezer safe containers, and ate, froze, or gave it away. 

There was very little effort put into this jam, but I loved it's flavor so much more than last year's version. It tasted fresher, and the addition of mint extract was awesome. Its tingle added to the mingle of sweetness and tartness in the jam. 

Instructions for blackberry mint jam:
1. Combine 2/3 c. sugar and 2 Tbsp of instant pectin (I used Ball Brand)
2. Crush 1 2/3 c. of blackberries in another bowl, add mint extract (I added to taste).
3. Add crushed fruit mix to sugar/pectin combo, and stir 3 minutes.
4. Wait 30 min, then ladle into clean containers.
5. Makes 2 half pints of jam. Enjoy!

This is not about food...

This post is a photo essay about the joys of taking care of my nephew:

 

Crayon: 1, Wood floor: 0 

Add some toothpaste and a wet rag...

 

 

Before  After

Chau: 1, Crayons: Can suck it

Two years ago, I flew to Seattle to meet you, and take care of you. Thanks for being so much fun, Kyle.

Panevino Trattoria

 Was able to meet up with my friend Jamie yesterday. He is visiting Seattle from Virginia, where we attended college. Here are some photos of our lovely meal at Panevino on Capitol Hill. I loved this restaurant. The ambiance was great, the staff were fast/friendly, the wine and food were excellent, and the portions were great for the price. If I'm ever in this area again, I will definitely go back!

Not pictured: That huge glass of Riesling that I normally wouldn't allow myself. It was delicious. 

Antipasto: Bruschetta

 

Antipasto misto, which is a plate of salami, prosciutto, olives, and grana (cheese)

I opted for the scallopine al marsala, which was "shut the front door" good. I've had mediocre and bad marsala dishes, and this was what a marsala sauce should be. Perfect.

Jamie had the house gnocchi with a pesto sauce. (I'm pretty sure he loved it, but it would have been rude of me to photograph his empty plate.)

Dessert. I normally would have chosen cannoli, but after I'd been walking around Seattle on an unusually hot day, this affogato was a perfect ending to an extremely pleasurable meal.

Jamie and I chose our dishes off of a kind of "prix fixe" menu. For our antipasti (starters), main courses, and dessert, the cost was $25/person, and the portions were huge! It was an awesome deal for well made food, and a great experience.

We survived music school together!

Scrambled eggs with salmon caviar

Breakfast this morning:

Scrambled eggs with salmon caviar

I did not use the recipe that I posted yesterday, but kind of did my own thing. Meh. The creaminess of the eggs (I scrambled with plain yogurt instead of creme fraiche) was a nice contrast with the saltiness of the roe, but I couldn't help feeling like I would have appreciated it more as ikuradon. I don't know, maybe I'm too Asian and can only appreciate it as ikuradon or in sushi. Ikuradon will be for dinner tonight!

Salmon "caviar"

Went camping and salmon fishing over the weekend on beautiful Whidbey Island, near Fort Casey State Park. It was my first time fishing for salmon, and I caught 2 of them! After fileting the salmon, I set out to preserve the roe. Ended up using Homebrew Chef's recipe for curing salmon roe. Though the brine itself was easy enough to assemble, it took me a long time to remove the eggs from the membrane. Now I understand why caviar and roe are so expensive!

Town of Coupeville on the island has the BEST mint choc chip at Kapaws Iskreme

Reeling 'em in. "I wants it," said Andrew.

Sunset at Keystone Harbor, where we fished

I worked very hard to make this salmon "caviar"

Uses for cured salmon roe, or salmon "caviar," but I haven't tried:

Salmon Roe Omelets with Scallion Potatoes 

Pasta with Salmon Caviar

Ikuradon: salmon caviar with rice and seaweed

Scrambled eggs with salmon roe

Side note: If you'd like to try salmon "caviar," Seattle Caviar Company sells it for $20 for a 4 oz. tin, and I'm sure their process is much more refined than what I did. Or, you could probably find it at a local Asian market for a reasonable price.

Kalbi, again

A long, long time ago, I posted about making galbi/kalbi for Memorial Day. Well...I posted about marinating the meat. Then, I never talked about it again. Oopsies. Sorry.

Here's how it turned out:

Galbi. Galbi preeetty happy eating this. (Get it???)

Galbi is a Korean dish of marinated and grilled beef short ribs. It is marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper flakes, garlic, onions, and happiness. I used the recipe found on Savory Sweet Life's blog, though I cheated and baked the ribs in the oven prior to letting them char on the grill. I think it was faster that way. It. was. awesome.