So…Chris and I have been so blessed lately.  We moved back to California from China a few weeks ago.  2 days after we arrived, Chris found a job -and not just any job, a good one, one that he will grow from.  We needed to [...]]]>

So…Chris and I have been so blessed lately.  We moved back to California from China a few weeks ago.  2 days after we arrived, Chris found a job -and not just any job, a good one, one that he will grow from.  We needed to buy a second car, and the perfect one came up on Craigslist for a great price, a bargain price.  We went up to the Central Coast to look for an apartment before Chris officially starts work next week, and on our first day of looking, we got approved for a lease at a nice, quiet apartment complex, where the price is right.

Everything is going our way, and one part of me is afraid that some catastrophe is going to come back and bite me in the butt in compensation for our string of good fortune, and another part of me is just grateful.

Another thing I’m grateful for?  My parents-in-laws’ kitchen, where I’ve been exploring and cooking all the things I couldn’t cook in my tiny little closet of a kitchen in China.  Take this, for example.  Throw some red peppers on the broiler, 5 minutes later, stick them in a sandwich, and you’ve got a delicious, gourmet-tasting meal for next to no effort.  I love it.  I love that I can get proscuitto and salami here.  I love that you can go to the grocery store and pick from giant shining mounds of produce, and that I don’t have to stockpile pasta and pasta sauce, because…I’m not in China anymore!

I’m sure it’ll hit me and I’ll start missing our old life eventually, but for now I’m so excited for the future and so grateful for the many, many blessings we’ve received.

Roasted Red Pepper Sandwiches

These Mediterranean style sandwiches are super easy but surprisingly impressive.  Cut them into quarters to serve as an appetizer, or leave them whole for an elegant lunch.  Roasting the red peppers brings out their sweetness, a nice contrast to the salty charcuterie and cheese.  Feel free to add some arugula for some extra freshness.

4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
1 HUGE red pepper, or 2 normal sized ones
2 slices proscuitto
4 slices salami
4 slices hard cheese (I used Kerrigold Dubliner cheese, an aged cheese from Ireland that has little crunchy crystals in it.  Thank you, Costco.)
2 tbsp prepared pesto
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat broiler.  Wash and cut the red pepper into eighths (or for normal sized peppers, quarters).  Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on a baking sheet, skin up.

2.  When broiler is hot, place 3-4 inches from heat and cook for 4-5 minutes, until skin is blistered and charred.  Remove from broiler and let cool slightly.  The skin should now peel off easily, or you can leave some skin on if you like some extra flavor.

3.  Assemble sandwiches.  Toast bread lightly.  Spread 2 slices bread with pesto, and lay cheese and meat over top.  Lay warm slices of red pepper over top.  Spread remaining bread with mustard and place on top.  Cut into triangles and serve!

Hello, dear reader, I know it has been a long time. Chris and I have been in Taiwan for the past 11 days, and we were too busy stuffing our faces full of delicious Taiwanese street food to post. Those pictures will be [...]]]>

Hello, dear reader, I know it has been a long time. Chris and I have been in Taiwan for the past 11 days, and we were too busy stuffing our faces full of delicious Taiwanese street food to post. Those pictures will be coming up soon, but in the meantime, here’s a quick and easy meal that’s perfect for summer.

This yummy pork burger from Elise Bauer’s SimplyRecipes.com is like a large Swedish meatball, flattened into a patty. It’s a delicious alternative to beef burgers this summer, especially if you’re cutting down on eating red meat. It’s hard to compare it to a beef burger – let’s just say it stands on its own, and it’s mouthwatering in its own way.

Pork burgers are a lifesaver for us here in Xiamen, China, as beef is not only difficult to find, but very expensive as well (we live on an island). So it’s great to be able to buy a pound of ground pork, mix it with an onion and a couple other easy ingredients, and voila! A quick and easy escape into Western cuisine. Top the burger with some mustard, arugula and basil, and you’ve got an aromatic feast at your fingertips.

Danish Pork Burgers
From SimplyRecipes

1 pound ground pork
1 medium onion, diced
16 saltine crackers, crushed
1/3 cup whole milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper
cooking oil

In a large bowl, place the crushed saltines, milk, and eggs. Stir to mix, and let sit for a few seconds so the crackers absorb the milk. Add the pork, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix, using your hands to really mash it all together.

Divide the pork into 8 portions and pat them into roughly shaped patties. Heat a little oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry a few patties at a time, turning once, until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes total.

Serve in burger buns with your choice of condiments and veggies – we added aromatic greens like arugula and basil for a bright punch of flavor.

Any leftover uncooked patties can be stored in the freezer, sandwiched between layers of parchment paper.

Don’t get me started on sandwich bread in China.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not necessarily bad…  It’s just…not good.

Most sandwich bread sold in our city (Xiamen, in case you weren’t paying attention) is the really soft, somewhat oily kind, with an unmistakably [...]]]>

Don’t get me started on sandwich bread in China.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not necessarily bad…  It’s just…not good.

Most sandwich bread sold in our city (Xiamen, in case you weren’t paying attention) is the really soft, somewhat oily kind, with an unmistakably sweet flavor that kind of makes you go “huh” and really, really miss home, where the bread aisle (a whole aisle for bread, hallelujah!) is filled with hundreds of kinds of bread: whole wheat, whole grain, multi-grain, oatmeal, rye, country, Texas toast, Italian, pumpernickel…  Oh my, do we miss the bread at home.

So what do you do when the only thing available is Chinese sandwich bread, and your husband is something of a sandwich connoisseur, and you have nothing with which to make him a lunch sandwich?

Why, you make your own of course!  Which is how I came to make this deliciously fantastic rosemary focaccia bread, which is just the thing for your ravenous sandwich-loving hubby at lunchtime.

Rosemary Focaccia
Cobbled together from a few recipes

When you live in China, anything resembling a real oven is difficult to come by, and all of our baked goods are baked in a tiny little Chinese toaster oven.  Therefore, the measurements for this recipe are for a small focaccia (about 8 x 12), just enough for two or three people for lunch.  If you want to make a bigger focaccia, just double everything except the yeast, and let it rise for an hour instead of ½ hour.

1 pkg (about 2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
salt
sea salt
warm water
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for greasing

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in ½ cup of warm water (about 40-45 degrees C…which I figure is about the temperature of a hot Jacuzzi).  Let stand till foamy, 5-10 min.

In a large bowl, mix the flour and ½ tsp salt.  Add the yeast mixture and stir to combine.  Gradually add water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough is moistened enough to pull together and form a ball.  In the same bowl, knead dough about 1 minute, until smooth.

Remove dough, and oil the same bowl with some olive oil (see, a one-bowl recipe!).  Put the ball of dough back into the bowl, turn to coat, and then cover with a damp cloth.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about ½ hour.

Preheat oven to 245 degrees C or 470 F.

Punch down the dough, and (in the same bowl of course) knead briefly.  Press into an 8 x 12” baking pan (no need to grease it).  Keep in mind that the focaccia won’t rise much, so don’t press it much thinner than you want the final product to be.  Let it rise for 5 minutes or so until it is about the height you want.

Mix the rosemary with the olive oil and brush it over the top of the bread.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake for about 10 minutes (it should sound hollow when you tap the top), or a little longer if you want it to be a bit crustier.  Cut into squares and serve.

Recipe notes: I used to be really intimidated by yeast breads, but once you get the hang of it, it’s as easy as cake!  The only hard part is proofing the yeast – make sure your water isn’t too hot, or it will kill the yeast, and not too cool, or the yeast won’t activate. Also, if you’re having issues with the bread being too flat, just let it rise a tiny bit more before popping it in the oven.