Pasta e Fagioli

Winter is here and that means it’s SOUP SEASON! My friend Julia makes soup every Sunday during the winter and they eat it all week and I wanted to follow suit so I decided to start off with this Pasta e Fagioli from Carla Lalli Music.

Of course, I found this recipe on the Bon Appetite youtube and bookmarked it to try and the recipe in full is something that Caleb and I would eat without modification so it was as simple as following along.

I did cut corners and I know Carla would not be proud but instead of using dried white beans, I just used canned. Sorry Carla, I’m not committed and prepared enough to soak beans overnight… I was also worried about finding a ham hock but it actually was easy to get at the local grocery chain so that made things easy.

After that I just followed along with the video and recipe. I pulsed the carrot, leek, and garlic and then cooked them down in a dutch oven. I added my ham hock and cooked it down then added the beans, tomato, and kale. I had a parmesan rind, bay leaves, and let it simmer all together. I was supposed to discard the rinds after a few hours but I hit it too late and they were soft and mixed in with the rest of the soup i had a hard time finding it. Critical mistake.

I did fish out the ham hock and it wasn’t terribly difficult to pull the meat off the bone after such a long slow cooking time.

I decided to use little pasta rings which I love for soup and cooked them al dente like instructed and then added them to the soup. Then we were finished!

This was a really great soup experience and it made the kitchen smell amazing. I loved making it and it was well worth eating throughout the week. My one preference was that I should’ve shredded the kale smaller because I didn’t like eating the large chunks and ended up eating around them. I’m not a huge kale fan overall but I wouldn’t omit them totally since they were a nice addition. So maybe a little less or just cut down better.

My big mistake, as mentioned before, was that I didn’t pull out the parm rind and it ended up in Caleb’s bowl and he didn’t not have a great time with it. He’s very sensitive to food textures and accidentally finding that in his mouth ruined his first bowl experience and I felt really bad about it since the rest of the soup was so good.

This is on the list to make again for sure, especially since I have another ham hock in my freezer just hanging out. Soup season! Let’s gooooooo!

Soondubu

I’m having major withdrawal and cravings for BCD Tofu and their Soondubu but since I’m not planning on going to NYC any time soon I’ve had to figure it out for myself. Karie gave me a quick recipe that she makes which was a true homemade recipe and indicate a splash of this and a little bit of that. So we improvised.

I decided to use Impossible plant based meat substitute instead of a ground pork or beef since I had a pack in my freezer then went and found some soft tofu. I also bought green onion and added an egg but I should’ve added in shiitake or enoki mushrooms as well.

I also didn’t add enough liquid for my soup base but used a stock as a base, chili powder/oil, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I’m not a huge Kimchi fan and I know it would make the soup base taste more like what I’ve had ad BCD before but I didn’t want to be left with a whole container of kimchi just sitting in my fridge forever.

Of course, I also ate this over rice because that’s the way I like to enjoy it. I wish I had a stone pot to cook this in like real restaurants do but that’s a specialty cooking vessel that I do not have extra space for in my kitchen. I also made a ton and Caleb wouldn’t come near this so I had to eat it on my own for the rest of the week and I wasn’t mad about it.

I wish I had been more adventurous and made it spicer and aded in kimchi and more stock. For a first attempt it wasn’t bad but I’ll have to try to make it more authentic next time to hit the mark. I would also prefer using real ground meat because the smell of the impossible ‘meat’ wasn’t great after awhile even though it tasted fine.

I give myself a 3/5. I can do better.

CORT - Wild Ginger Asian Fusion - Poke Bowl

From the pattern of it all, I would have to admit that this restaurant is my favorite place to order from in Cortland and this makes me a little sad. I feel like Wild Ginger doesn’t get enough hype and most people don’t actually LOVE it but whenever I’m craving something, this is the place where I’m going to find it. I wish it was more well liked.

LOCATION - 47 MAIN ST, CORTLAND, NY 13045

Usually, when I get take-out from here it’s because I’m craving sushi or Udon. I always order bento boxes when I’ve been inside to eat but today I really wanted a Poke Bowl.

Seeing as I’m not a huge raw fish fan, I don’t usually want Poke bowls but thankfully, most places also offer shrimp and/or scallops. Wild Ginger is no different but their shrimp bowls also come with White Tuna which I was nervous about. However, I REALLY wanted a poke bowl so I took the leap and made the order hoping raw White Tuna would be okay today.

I ordered my bowl with sushi rice, avocado, edamame, crispy onion, and fresh ponzu sauce. This is a standard combo for me whenever I get a poke bowl. I’m usually pretty adventurous with new foods and want to try a lot of things but when it coms to Poke Bowls this is what I want.

Of course, I mixed everything together and inhaled this bowl as soon as I got home with it. I was really happy about this since I was worried about the White Tuna but it ended up mixing so well. It didn’t taste fishy at all and the texture was great and just melted in my mouth. I didn’t even notice it was there.

I’m so excited this worked out well and it’s so easy to eat and carry around that I can just order it again whenever I’m in the mood for a poke bowl. My fondness for Wild Ginger continues to grow.

Thanksgiving!!

It’s Thanksgiving!! While my extended family tries to do Thanksgiving, more-so since they’ve started having their own kids, Thanksgiving is a huge mish mosh of hot pot and a turkey that may or may not be burned to a crisp. If we want mashed potatoes, we better bring our own, and cornbread is a thing of mystery.

This is why I opted for Thanksgiving at Caleb’s parents house. Things are weird with the pandemic but the one thing it’s helped me with is easing me into holiday’s with his family. It’s much easier to prep myself for a Thanksgiving with just his mom, dad, sister, and maybe a grandma versus three thanksgivings back to back with aunts, uncles, and cousins galore. Getting thrown into a whole new family and being the only non-relative who also happens to be not white in a room full of only white people can be very nerve racking (as if I didn’t spend my whole life at friends houses and events where this was the case.)

Still, this is a little different and a small Thanksgiving was exactly what I needed. Caleb’s mom still managed to make a customary Thanksgiving for us with his sister coming in CLUTCH with the sweet potatoes. Apparently, his mom usually only has to bring a side and maybe some store-bought pie to his uncle’s house so this was a big step up for her having to make a full meal but it turned out great.

I love thanksgiving. It has everything I want, Potatoes, veggies, and stuffing are all amazing. I love carbs and starch. They turkey came out great and while there was a small mishap of turning on the oven then not actually putting it in the oven and not noticing it for a little too long, if this was the yearly Thanksgiving disaster, it was very mild and almost unnoticeable. (Cue my cousin’s Turkey last year that was burned to a charred black crisp on the outside).

While I have no idea what to expect next year during a normal Thanksgiving with his family, this was a really good one.

DRYDEN - Village Taqueria and Grill

We’ve been searching for some solid Mexican inspired food and our friends keep recommending this place to us every time we see them and talk about food. Honestly, Moe’s doesn’t quite cut it and I’m excited for some good recommendations that aren’t all the way in Ithaca or Syracuse.

LOCATION: 2 E. MAIN ST. DRYDEN, NY

Not a terribly far drive and we pass this restaurant every time we drive to Ithaca so it felt like it was about time to give it a shot. We weren’t actually planning a trip to Ithaca so this was our destination but due to everything going on, we opted for take out so I gave them a call.

I was pretty excited looking at their menu and checking their facebook page. I noticed that they sometimes have tamales, which I LOVE, but couldn’t find it on their main menu so I didn’t order it this time but there was much regret about this situation. Caleb ended up going to pick up our food and he even mentioned he say tamales on the counter for sale and almost got me some. Missed out twice in one day.. next time!!

I usually get 3 tacos for myself and knew from looking at then menu I wanted to try their Baja California (fish) Taco which has freshly battered fish, cabbage, citrus chili aioli, and pico de gallo. I planned on getting a street taco and asked the girl on the phone what she recommended but she ended up telling me to get the Baja California Taco with shrimp so I did that instead. I’ll get meat tacos next time.

I also knew right away that I wanted to try the Crispy Potato Taco with smashed potatoes, cabbage, crema, and pico de gallo (not pictured). I am nothing if not a potato lover so I have to give it a try.

The tacos’ weren’t bad at all. I was more fond of the fish taco and it wasn’t fishy and the proportions were great. The slaw was fresh and everything was balanced well. The potato taco was a little bit of a let down and was a little too soggy and not as satisfying. The shrimp wasn’t really memorable either.

We also decided to order 5 Chicken Taquitos to share which came with sour cream and salsa. These taquitos were huge. Honestly, I’ve only ever had taquitos out of a box from the frozen section of the grocery store so thats a different thing to compare it to. The chicken was seasoned well inside and had a slight kick which was really nice but it’s made with a flour tortilla and I’m a bigger fan of corn tortillas across the board. Because they were filled so much the ratio of meat to tortilla was a little unbalanced for me but more meat for your money is not a bad thing and they were tasty in the end.

Overall, I’m excited to order from them again. The portions were good for the price and the food was great. When the bar is to be better than Moe’s, it’s not that hard to impress me but that’s the deal out here in Cortland and I’m not afraid to admit it. I think the real test will be the tamales. Hopefully, next time!