Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

This Week's MEals (2/3): Pueblo Beef Stew with Green Chilies and Garbanzos

HOLY COW THIS IS SPICY. It's got at least ten green chilies in it and a jalapeno and OMFG it is hot hot HOT. But it IS tasty!

# Pueblo Beef Stew with Green Chilies and Garbanzos

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
8.0 servings

2.0 pounds top round beef
0.5 cup flour
2.0 cups onion (chopped)
4.0 slices bacon (chopped)
2.0 cloves garlic (minced)
4.0 tablespoons vegetable oil
2.0 cups beef broth
2.0 cups green chilies (chopped) (peeled) (seeded)
2.0 whole jalapenos (minced)
1.0 teaspoon cumin
0.5 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt
pepper
16.0 ounces garbanzos (canned)
2.0 whole tomatoes (peeled) (seeded) (chopped)

1 - Pat beef dry with a clean towel.
2 - Flour meat lightly and reserve.
3 - In a large, ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven, cook onion, bacon, and garlic over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a separate dish and reserve.
4 - Add oil to the saucepan and brown meat on all sides.
5 - Return bacon, onion, and garlic to the pan and stir in tomatoes, broth, chilies, jalapenos, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
6 - Simmer, covered, over low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
7 - Add garbanzos and continue to simmer for an additional hour, or until meat and vegetables are tender.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Was out on a quick small drive in the Snoqualmie Valley, and suddenly came into this tiny itty bitty dead end neighborhood Ghibli Movie looking community. I mean, it's four houses literally facing each other between a one-lane road, up on a hill, looking over Preston.

I fell in love with it in just a few minutes. To the point that I came back for pictures. From the outside, it looks pretty tiny, but according to the sellers website, it's got three bedrooms a dining area and living room in a 1450 sq foot area, which isn't much bigger than the apartment I have. It's tiny, and the interiors look to also be very small and cozy. Just my thing (Although three bedrooms is a bit much).

It's still in the valley, it's right off the freeway, it's in an isolated part of a town that makes Duvall look like Houston. It's a lovely house in a lovely place.

But even before I left the lot, I knew I could never afford it, even with the land sale money, and I've just been laid off, and I need to look at surviving the next few months, much less consider talking about buying a house. And then they want $600k for it, and well, yeah. I can't afford a house out here, which is why I rent.

But it is a very cute house, in a very cute place, and in a perfect world, is where I'd live out my days.

But, c'est la vie....

https://theirwingroup.com/properties/8550-310th-avenue-se-preston-wa-98050-2002329

This Week's Bread: Bannock

I don't know if it was the instructions, or my stove, but it took 30 minutes to cook the bannock on the first side, and eventually I pushed the heat up just to get it to finally cook.

Also, forgot to let it cool, so the center, while not raw, is a little too chewy for my liking. I gotta remember to let bread cool!

# Bannock Bread

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
4.0 servings

2.0 cups flour
4.0 tsp baking powder
1.0 tsp salt
0.5 cup shortening
0.5 cup water

1 - Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2 - Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3 - Gradually mix in water to form a thick dough.
4 - Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 15 minutes, or until it is very smooth.
5 - Grease bottom and sides of a 10 inch cast-iron skillet.
6 - Press dough into the pan and cook, uncovered, on top of the stove over low heat for about 10 minutes on each side. Watch carefully so bread does not burn before center is cooked through.
7 - Place loaf on a rack to cool.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals: (1/3): Chippewa Wild Rice and Eggs.

I used 15 eggs in this recipe and cooked in three batches with my largest skillet. It's a really good omlette. And really thick. :D

# Chippewa Wild Rice and Eggs

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking
2.0 servings

1.0 cup water
0.25 tsp salt
0.3333333333333333 cups wild rice
4.0 slices bacon (cut into thin strips)
4.0 whole green onions (thinly sliced)
6.0 whole eggs
0.125 tsp ground pepper

1 - In a saucepan, birng water and a pinch of salt to a boil.
2 - Stir in wild rice.
3 - Cover and reduce heat to low.
4 - Simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, untiil all water is absorbed.
5 - Fluff with fork and reserve.
6 - In an 8-inch nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium heat, sauté bacon until crisp.
7 - Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of drippings from skillet.
8 - Add green onions and wild rice and sauté briefly.
9 - In a mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs with salt and pepper.
10 - Add eggs to skillet and stir with a fork to scramble lightly.
11 - Stop stirring and allow eggs to brown lightly on the bottom.
12 - Place a large dinner plate face down on top of skillet. Carefully flip skillet and turn omelet out on plate.
13 - Slide omelet back into pan and cook for a few seconds.
14 - Cut into wedges and serve hot or at room temperature.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Dear cook book writers.

Please please PLEASE do not separate your cooking instructions. I nearly forgot to make the rice because you separated those instructions from the rest of the instructions.

This weekend's Shortwave Contacts. Yes, Jenn is on her Shortwave shit again. The greener, the stronger, the redder, the weaker.

Picked up my very first Shortwave Pirate Station, B Side Radio on 6935kHz. Strongest signal I've gotten since I restarted the Shortwave, and some good music to boot.

https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/B_Side_Radio

I'm gonna be rich, I tells ya! RICH!

When using an OCR to scan in a recipe, remember to go over it just to make sure everything's good.

"Oh, that's a cute outfit Iluminaughtii is wearing. I've always liked the oversized sweater and leggings look, but I just look a circus tent in them....but what if Digital Jenn wore it?"

::five minutes and $250 Linden Dollars later::

"Oh. That's cute. THAT'S REAL CUTE."

#secondlife

Finally got an direct antenna connection for my SDR radio. It's actually really NOT the antenna I intend to use for shortwave - it's more of a mount for my longwire to properly clip onto. A quick check on Shortwave and AM tells me it's working WAY WAY WAAAAAAY better than the kludge I made back in the other house.

I've already picked up a signal from Africa, as well as the local low power station Valley 104.9 which even my car (which is a DX monster) has trouble picking up in town.

I was talking with Erwin Zel about the Gillespie County schools on another post, and it got me remembering the last few times I was in Texas.

In 2018, I started planning my yearly "trip to Texas on my two month layoff." Seeing how the wind was blowing politically down there, I made it a mission to see everything and everywhere that meant something to me while I was there. EVERYTHING.

I put 9000 miles on my car during the 2018 trip (including going there and back from Seattle). And on every trip, I tracked myself with GPS.

There were still some things I didn't see, and when I went back in 2019, this time using my parents car, I made a list of everything else I wanted to see, and did that as well. I haven't been back since.

Given how the trans situation is down there, I don't know that I can go back.

Too many windows....

Listening into the Puget Sound Repeater Group on the 2 meter band for the first time in forever, now that I have the SDR hooked up to the laptop, and fixed all (most) of my interference issues. Can't kill power completely to the living room right now, but maybe some other time, I'll get more stuff on the shortwave bands.

Huh. The CDC has a Covid Exposure calculator, and it says that I don't need to stay home if I'm vaccinated and boosted and am showing no symptoms. I'm staying home cause I don't want to take the chance of infecting someone, but it's wierd it would say that.

I will be testing the morning of Jan 21st, and if I'm in the clear, I'm going SOMEWHERE, even if I just stay in my car the whole time. The cabin fever is strong.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/if-you-were-exposed.html

Oof, this DVD encoding is gonna take forever. Wait a second...I have three computers. What if....

I wonder what this is all about....

This Week's Meals (3/3): Walnut Prawns

These are supposed to be breaded, but I can't tell if I screwed up the breading (as I usually do), or if it's the paleo-ish recipe. Still, I've learned to make another one of my fave dishes, but I think I'm going to try again with a non-paleo recipe, and see if that goes better.

# Walnut Prawns

Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans
7.0 servings

3.0 tbsp mayonnaise
1.0 tbsp honey
1.0 tsp lemon juice
1.0 pound large uncooked shrimp (peeled) (deveined)
0.75 tsp kosher salt
1.0 whole egg white
1.0 tbsp cornstarch
1.0 cup vegetable oil
0.5 cup walnuts
1.0 tbsp sesame seeds (toasted)

1 - First, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the Paleo Mayonnaise, honey, and lemon juice, and whisk to combine into a sweet, creamy dressing. Set it aside.
2 - Toss the shrimp in a separate bowl with the salt.
3 - In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, and add the starch. Mix to form a smooth batter. No clumps, please!
4 - Add the shrimp to the batter and mix well, making sure they are completely coated.
5 - Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
6 - Once the oil is shimmering, fry the shrimp in separate batches. Cook the shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they're golden on the outside and no longer translucent on the inside.
7 - Transfer the cooked shrimp to a wire rack.
8 - When all the batches are done, place the shrimp in a bowl with the honey-mayonnaise sauce, and toss gently to coat the prawns before plating.
9 - Sprinkle the walnuts and toasted sesame seeds on the prawns, and serve immediately.

#thisweeksmeals

This Week's Meals (2/3): Broccoli Bagna Cauda

I knew this was gonna be good when I tasted the tossed broccoli BEFORE I toasted and tossed it again.

# Broccoli Bagna Cauda

Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans
3.0 servings

2.0 pounds broccoli (cut into florets) (stems peeled and chopped)
2.0 tbsp olive oil (for tossing)
ground black pepper
6.0 filets anchovies
0.25 cup olive oil (for cooking)
kosher salt
2.0 cloves garlic (minced)
0.5 tsp red pepper flakes
0.5 tsp lemon zest
3.0 tbsp lemon juice (3 tbsp per lemon)

1 - Preheat the oven to 400°F with the rack in the middle position.
2 - In a large bowl, toss together the broccoli and olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.
3 - Arrange the broccoli in a single layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
4 - Roast the tray of broccoli for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tender and toasty, tossing the broccoli and turning the baking sheet halfway through the cooking time.
5 - In the meantime, make the bagna cauda. Cook the minced anchovies and olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat.
6 - Stir until the anchovies melt into the oil, which should take 3 to 5 minutes.
7 - Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes.
8 - When the broccoli’s done roasting, transfer it to a large bowl, and mix it with the garlic-anchovy sauce, lemon zest. and lemon juice.

#thisweeksmeals

This Week's Meals (1/3): Westlake Soup.

Accidentally set my recipe manager to six servings instead of five (and my scallions have gone missing, so I substituted onions), but that's fine. I get one bowl right now!

Basically this is a type of hot and sour soup, and is really good. Although next time I'll go a little lighter on the white pepper AT THE "season to taste" step. It's went from "could use some pepper" to "OMFG HOT."

# West Lake Soup

Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans
3.0 servings

0.5 pound flank steak (finely minced)
1.0 teaspoon kosher salt
2.0 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1.0 teaspoon fish sauce
1.0 teaspoon sesame oil
4.0 teaspoons ground white pepper
6.0 cups chicken stock
0.25 pound shiitake mushrooms (stemmed) (thinly sliced)
0.25 cup cornstarch
0.25 cup water
3.0 large egg whites (lightly beaten)
1.0 cup cilantro (finely minced)
3.0 whole scallions (thinly sliced)

1 - Combine the cornstarch and watter and whisk into a slurry
2 - Combine the beef, salt, vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper in a bowl.
3 - Bring the broth and mushrooms to a boil over high heat in a saucepan.
4 - Lower the heat to maintain a simmer, and add the cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup, stirring well to incorporate.
5 - Once the soup thickens, add the marinated meat and stir well. As soon as the meat is cooked through, about 30 seconds, turn off the heat.
6 - Season the soup with salt and white pepper to taste.
7 - In a slow, steady stream, pour in the egg whites from high above the pot, stirring as the whites hit the liquid. The whites will cook upon contact with the hot soup, forming ribbon-like tendrils.
8 - Mix in the cilantro and scallions. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.

#thisweeksmeals