Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

I haven't had a lot of downtime recently, but I was able to get in some light building time in this week's Creator Jam. Was nice to just sit and create for a little while. Even if most had been pre-fabbed before.

This Week's Meals, Thit Heo Tau (2/2)

I have a love hate relationship with this cookbook. It has some really good recipes, and some are just plain wierd. Others have ingredients I'm not going to find in this hemisphere.

But this meal came out pretty well, despite me not being able to find the ham needed for the recipe AND the ham I got being pre-sliced. I skipped most of the ham cooking instructions, since it was already cooked, but...

..it actually came out really well. The ham was sweet-and-salty, the sauce, though, oh that was so good despite having so few ingredients! It was really subtle, but also sweet-and-salty in a way that compliments the pork really well.

If I'd had rice, it would have been awesome, but I have to watch the carbs. If you end up having to buy pre-cooked ham, just skip the ham cooking instructions.

Title: Thit Heo Tau
Yield: 7 servings
Category: Entree
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Asia: The Beautiful Cookbook

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Ingredients
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1 1/2 pounds ham
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
3/4 tsp white pepper
2 cups coconut milk

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Instructions
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1 - Pour boiling water over the pork skin, then pat dry.
2 - Place skin side down in a saucepan and enough cold water to cover.
3 - Bring to a boil, then reduce hear to medium low and simmer gently
for 45 minutes, turning several times.
4 - Discard the water, and set the meat aside, draining well.
5 - Cut into thick slices and then into strips 2 inches (5
centimeters) wide.
6 - Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
7 - Reduce the heat and simmer until the syrup is sticky.
8 - Pass the pork slices through the syrup to coat each piece then
return to the saucepan.
9 - Sprinkle with the fish sauce and pepper.
10 - pour the coconut link slowly down the side of the saucepan.
11 - Cover and bring almost to a boil, then simmer over medium heat
until the power is tender and the sauce is thick and creamy.
12 - Serve with white rice.

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Nutritional Information
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*Nutritional information reflects amount per serving.*
CALORIES 387
TOTAL FAT (g) 30
Saturated Fat (g) 19
CHOLESTEROL (mg) 71
SODIUM (mg) 552
TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE (g) 6
Dietary Fiber (g) 1
Sugars (g) 5
PROTEIN (g) 19

Makes 4-6 servings normally.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Meals: Dad's Hot and Sour Soup (!/2)

This is the third time I've made this dish. The first time, it came out really bad, and almost sweet. Seeing that I wasn't able to adjust it, I gave up on it.

The second time, it came out sweet again, but I decided I wasn't going to stop until I fixed it, and it turned out if I put about three times the spices than the recipe called for, it tasted like I remembered from the restaurants.

This was the first time I made it with the extra ingredients from scratch and it's perfect. Hot, sour, salty, the only thing missing are some bamboo shoots. Which I might add next time I make this!

Title: Dad's Hot & Sour Soup
Yield: 4 servings
Category: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Made With Lau
Website: https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/hot-sour-soup

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Ingredients
---
2 whole tomatoes
2 oz carrot
2 oz seafood mushroom
2 oz king mushroom
3 whole shiitake mushrooms
1/4 ounce dried wood ear mushroom
2 whole eggs
1 oz red bell pepper
2 whole green onions
2 whole dried chili peppers (optional)
14 oz tofu
5 cups water [soup base]
6 tbsp vinegar
3 tsp white pepper
3 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water [slurry]
3 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cooking oil

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Instructions
---
1 - Wash all the vegetables
2 - Rehydrate the dried woodear mushrooms in warm water for 10
minutes.
3 - Cut away the roots of the seafood mushrooms and cut the stems in
half.
4 - Cut the king oyster mushrooms into little strips.
5 - Cut the shiitake mushrooms into this slices.
6 - Cut the woodear mushrooms into thin slices.
7 - Cut the tofu into thin strips.
8 - Cut the carrots into thin strips.
9 - Cut the red bell pepper into thin strips.
10 - Mince the green onions.
11 - Dice the tomatoes into small cubes.
12 - In a bowl, mix together cornstarch and water with a spoon until
it becomes an even slurry.
13 - In another bowl, crack eggs and mix well.
14 - Begin boiling the water, so it's ready later.
15 - Set the stove to its highest heat setting, and start to heat up
the wok.
16 - Add a little bit of corn oil (1 tbsp)​, as well as our dried
chili peppers (2 piece).
17 - Heat and toss the chilies around the oil for about 1 minute as
our wok heats up.
18 - Cook the diced tomatoes for 30-60 seconds, then add our boiling
water.
19 - Next, we'll add white pepper and stir for 15-30 seconds.
20 - Add salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce​. Stir for
15-30 seconds.
21 - And finally, we'll add our tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables (with
the exception of green onion). Stir gently for 5-10 seconds.
22 - Remove the dried chili peppers.
23 - Cover the wok with a lid.
24 - Once boiling, since the cornstarch has probably settled, mix it
up again with a spoon, and slowly pour in the cornstarch over the
course of 50-60 seconds. Stir constantly.
25 - Beat the eggs again, and slowly pour in the eggs all around the
wok, over the course of 20-30 seconds.
26 - Add vinegar to the wok, as well as sesame oil.
27 - Turn off the heat and transfer the soup into a bowl.
28 - Garnish with the minced green onions.

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Notes
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Makes 4 servings at ~400 calories per serving.
Calories 363
Total Fat 17g
Total Carbohydrate 30g
Protein 21g

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Ollalie State Park

Met this fine person on the hike. Works in the aerospace industry, wife and three kids and follows a low sodium diet.

Twin Falls

The cherry blossoms and dog woods are starting to come out....

YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION

You can tell that whoever decided this was a good packaging idea did NOT come from a trucker family. Cause...well...if you know, you know.

Storms on the horizon.