CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion

It’s sushi time again. I had some errands to run in Ithaca and we usually get take out from somewhere around there since there are more options than in Cortland. Caleb went for a sub but I was feeling sushi and my list for Wild Ginger is coming to an end so I figured I’d finish it off and try the last roll I’ve been eyeing.

LOCATION: 45 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY 13045

Today’s order is the Vegetarian Dragon Roll which has fried sweet potato inside topped with avocado. Of course, I’ve decided on my staples, Ebi and Ika sushi and I was not disappointed. The Vegetarian dragon roll was a great choice. I didn’t know about sweet potato rolls before but a few years ago my cousins introduced them to me and I thought it they would be a little too dense or weird to have a potato inside a sushi roll but I actually love the mixture and welcome it in contrast to lighter fish flavors. This dragon roll wasn’t too heavy but it was a good filler that didn’t leave me hungry afterward. There was a nice warm crispy inside texture and of course a creamy avocado exterior. There was a salty sauce drizzled on top already so this didn’t really need any extra soy and stood well on its own. I like this combination together and I’m happy with the meal overall. I'm still in newlywed bliss with my Ika discovery so I was happy with that texture and flavor alongside the veggie dragon roll and the ebi. A successful dinner indeed.

Avocado Corn Salad

We have received the gift of vegetables from our friend Erik and by vegetables I mean a huge produce box of assorted veggies. I’m gonna be spending the foreseeable future cooking a lot of different veggies so buckle up kids because we’re in for an adventure. Erik’s a teacher in a nearby school and his school was doing some sort of vegetable/food drive and he managed to have a lot of boxes to give to his friends. I’m not exactly sure what happened but I’m not mad about it. The box came with fresh corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, acorn squash, zucchini, lettuce, a bell pepper, and potatoes. We don’t tend to go through veggies too quickly so this is gonna be a trick and I’m gonna guess I’ll be eating the bulk of it because Caleb is pretty indifferent to veggies.

This was the perfect time to get a recipe via Instagram from Jenna Fisher from The Office. I’ve been following her lately because of her podcast with Angela Kinsey about their time on the show but Jenna also posts other things going on in her life and different things that she’s currently promoting. She’s currently doing a partnership with King’s Hawaiian bread and flashed a recipe on her story for this Avocado Corn Salad. I managed to get a screen shot of the recipe because I’m not sure where her physical copy is from exactly but she loves it and the ingredients looked like something I could tackle so I gave it a shot.

This was a great use of some of the veggies we got and all I had to do was buy some avocados and we were ready to roll. I followed the recipe which was pretty simple and made my own salad. Caleb also picked some orange cherry tomatoes at work in their garden so I used these which was a cute softer touch to the salad. I didn’t make a full batch because I was going to be the only one eating it and I tend to get bored of dishes and I’m not a fan of eating them every day for the whole week. I also cut back on tomatoes a little because I’m not a huge fan of them but in the end they added such a nice fresh acidic brightness. The cucumbers were a great crunch and the corn was a little sweet which worked so well with the creamy buttery avocado. Everything was balanced and really good. I would recommend this to anyone who likes these ingredients and wants a quick fresh salad. I’m getting a little avocado fatigue so I would hold off on making this again but it’s really my kind of salad.

Oven Baked Potatoes Hasselback

Sifting through my saved recipes to see what I can feasibly make and today I landed on the Potato Hasselback from Food and Wine Magazine. I love potatoes and the Hasselback is in the end just a really pretty version of a simple baked potato.

The recipe calls for small Yukon gold potatoes peeled but I only had russet potatoes on hand and thought I’d give it a shot with these instead and it worked out just fine. I didn’t see the need to peel these guys and while it may have been a prettier presentation there’s nothing wrong with the skins and I’m sure they’re packed with nutrients so why not try with it on.

The hardest part of a potato Hasselback is not cutting all the way through when making the slices. I had a couple of hiccups but it didn’t ruin the taste or function at all so it’s not a big deal. These guys get baked and basted with butter throughout the whole process for about 40mins. Once they got soft and opened up a little more I topped them with breadcrumbs (I like panko) and roasted it all for another 10 mins and seasoned with some salt and pepper to taste.

Visually really pretty but it wasn’t a complicated dish and tastes pretty much like a regular baked potato so this may be one of those “cook to impress” kinda things. I like simple recipes, they boost my confidence with cooking and with potatoes, I’d never say no to some leftovers!

Zucchini Pie

Sometimes, Facebook comes through with a nugget of gold. Today is one of those days.

I was recently scrolling through Facebook and spotted a recipe someone reposted for a zucchini pie. It’s the season for zucchini and we’ve gotten them from Caleb’s job and friends growing them in the garden so it’s no surprise a recipe would pop up using them.

Turns out the recipe is from The Seasoned Mom. A food blog online. It’s pretty simple as well. Slice or dice 3 cups of zucchini and mix it with Bisquick batter and onions, cheese, a little oil, eggs, and salt and pepper. Bake it in a pie pan at 350F for 35-40 mins and its ready to go.

I attempted this in a cupcake tin instead to try and make it more portable and sharable. This turned out to be a mistake. While this recipe is super easy and satisfying, the batter stuck to the muffin liners and I lost most of it while trying to eat it. While it still tastes and smells really really great warmed up, it’s not as good as it would’ve been had I followed the instructions and made it in a pie pan. Some experiments don’t work out. I’m saving the recipe and I’m ready to try it again (maybe after I finish eating all these first!)

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion

I think Wild Ginger is just part of my routine now. Moving is hard and sushi is the perfect treat for getting things done.

LOCATION: 45 MAIN ST., CORTLAND, NY 13045

I’ve been wanting to get sushi again since the last time I bought it so now I’m just finding any time to treat myself and today is that day. I’ve successfully moved all of my stuff to the apartment and this week we’re working on moving Calebs things after work so it’s gonna be a long week. Which means sushi.

Today I decided to forego my favorite Ebi and ordered two different pieces instead. I went with the Ika (squid) and the Tomago (egg) which is my friend Christel’s favorite. Every time I order it I think of her and her love for eggs. My roll this time was the shrimp tempura roll which is where I snuck in some shrimp for myself. Not that I wouldn’t eat an ebi on top of this.

The shrimp tempura roll was pretty standard. Very good but nothing surprising in terms of flavor. It didn’t wow me but it also didn’t disappoint. This shrimp tempura comes with avocado and cucumber so it had a nice crunch and the textures were all there for it. I’ve been playing around with the sushi pieces trying to nail down my favorites (aside from the ebi) and today’s choices didn’t disappoint at all. I was a little worried about the Ika that it might be a little tough but the way it was scored and the cut was amazing. This just melted in my mouth and had so much good, fresh flavor without being too chewy. Much better than the surf clam and I may add it to my favorite with the ebi from now on. The tomago was also really good. My egg to rice ratio was quite comical and I wish i had taken a photo but I had about a 1:2 ratio of rice to egg and it would’ve been much more satisfying to just get a little more sushi rice in there. I love rice and the balance helps sometimes. The tomago was also a great texture that just melts in your mouth. Sweet and easy to eat for sure. I know why Christal likes it and while it’s hasn’t made it to my top list of sushi choices, I’d never turn it down.

Thus ends another delicious order of sushi from Wild Ginger. I’m already looking forward to eating here again.