oeuvre
dinner celebrations, and the joy of egg & rice
Hi everyone. Sorry for the unannounced break last week— things were just way too hectic over here and we barely cooked and I couldn’t fathom the idea of sitting down to write. I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. It’s interesting how Labour Day weekend always feels like the final one of the summer, even if you’re not in school and even though it’s usually still warm til the equinox, and maybe even later, depending on where you are. It’s been a little cooler here, especially now that the sun’s setting earlier, but by far my least favourite part of early fall is walking through spiderwebs every goddamned time I leave the house (and sometimes even just going room to room inside).
I had a pretty quiet long weekend, mostly just catching up on some chores and trying to actually relax. Liang and I went out to dinner at The Gull on Friday, and then I made us negronis at home while we watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture (please do not shame me by asking how many times I’ve watched this movie this year, but she had never seen it). As a bonus, I couldn’t eat all of the crispy chicken sandwich and spicy fries I ordered, so I got to reheat them in the toaster oven and eat them out in the yard while reading the next day.
Jeff had dinner at Sopra Sotto in Burnaby Heights after going to look at an apartment out there last week. The apartment was only okay, but the dinner was great. We got a caesar salad to share and the pizza special of the day, which was pesto and mortadella with pistachio. Their chili oil is really good, too. Each of us had a glass of red wine (I had valpolicella and Jeff got something called nebbiolo which neither of us had tried before that I can remember), and they were excellent but it also served as a reminder of how much wine is in a 6oz glass— makes me realise I probably only pour myself three or four ounces when I’m at home.
For our anniversary the weekend before last, we were both pretty tired after a busy week so we just walked up to Farina a Legna. Usually we get pizza there, but we were both in the mood for pasta so we got the carbonara and the prosciutto e piselli, swapping back and forth because neither of us could decide which one we wanted to order. It turned out we were both more in the mood for carbonara, but the one with the peas and arugula was also really good. Dolce Amore, the gelato place on 2nd that has been ‘coming soon!’ for months was also finally open, and we went there for dessert despite being so full of pasta. I remembered the name from somewhere on the Drive, and a guy ahead of us in line was so excited because apparently the old location closed due to a fire and he came all the way from East Van because he likes their gelato so much. They have a few dairy-free flavours that aren’t just sorbetto, which Jeff was happy about. I got the malted chocolate cookie dough.
Also (it seems so long ago now) Lucy and her partner Louis were visiting from Montreal, and they came to the North Shore to hang for the evening. We got tacos and beer at La Cerveceria Astilleros, and then had a quick taste of cider at Windfall (I really liked the lavender one, and a single-varietal I can’t recall the name of) before heading to Copperpenny for a fancy gin drink. I got the Three Acts of God, which is smoky and sweet and bitter and which I recommend, but in all honesty I have yet to have a drink there I didn’t like.
My dad turned 70 at the end of August, and Jeff and I hosted a little family barbecue at our place for him, just my dad and Sharon, some of my siblings, and my mom and Jimm. My mom made beet hummus, which we feasted on with tortilla chips while having pre-dinner drinks in the shade of the patio table, and later we grilled hot dogs, corn, and veggie burgers (Dad and Sharon split a steak— it was his birthday, after all). I also made a watermelon and feta salad with mint and basil which is always well-received as a side, and super easy to make. Just add a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to the mix of cubed melon and cheese with roughly chopped herbs. It’s the perfect mix of savoury and refreshing.
I made chana masala using some of the tomatoes from our garden. We don’t have nearly as many as last year, but the Lemon Boy plant has been the biggest producer, and they are really beautiful ones. I like Priya Krishna’s recipe because it’s fairly quick and still really flavourful. I usually use a little more yogurt than the recipe calls for because I like mine a bit more saucy, and I’ll often add a chutney to serve. Last year I made green tomato and pear, but a nice apple one or just regular store-bought mango chutney is also nice.
I don’t usually make things I just happen to see in videos from instagram or tiktok, because it’s a difficult medium to work from when you’re cooking, and, well, sometimes they’re not very good. But since we’re still working our way through a few zucchinis, I made something pretty similar to this slow-roasted zucchini with cashew cream and white beans, adding thyme and chili flakes. The recipe author is British, and maybe it’s different in a gas oven or I just got my conversions wrong: the zucchini cooked but did not brown at all at 325°F, so I would try 350° instead next time. I also had to make a thinner cashew cream than this because of the size of my blender, and liked it just fine that way. For the topping, I toasted panko and sesame seeds in the pan and mixed in the lemon zest once it had cooled down in a bowl. We didn’t have fresh bread so we ate it kind of like a baked dip, with tortilla chips. Bread would have been preferable, but the chips were still good!
Kayla came over to watch Star Trek with me (I am slowly indoctrinating her), and we made these sesame noodles which I’d set out to make a couple of times as a quick dinner, but seemingly every time I went to go do it the cucumbers I had in the fridge had become liquefied. Thankfully Kayla brought fresh ones, along with roasted peanuts so that I didn’t have to waste valuable Trek time toasting them myself. The sauce is pretty customizable (I eyeballed the measurements), but I would say you definitely need to make sure you have toasted sesame oil rather than the plain kind, and I really love the taste of the black vinegar here. I also forgot to add the sugar and didn’t miss it. This was incredibly easy to make and so, so tasty. I used instant ramen but thicker chow mein noodles like in the recipe photo would be great, too.
If the matchstick cucumber feels too tedious, you could always slice them on a mandoline, or just do regular rounds or half-moons by hand— no one will know. Jeff made more of this the next day using grated carrot instead, and he liked it that way too. Oh, and a reminder, if you need a gift link to a NYT recipe, just send me a message and I’ll gladly share! Sadly I was too excited to eat it to remember to take a photo, and Kayla’s phone was too excited about Star Trek to focus on the food, so this is what you get.
If I don’t know what to make and it’s just me at home so I don’t want to put in a lot of effort, I know I can put some rice in the cooker while looking through Eric Kim’s Korean American for some inspiration. I liked the look of his gyeranbap with roasted seaweed and capers (here’s a similar recipe you could adapt), because an egg for dinner usually hits just right. The egg is cooked in sesame oil and soy sauce, so the edges caramelize a little and you get a bit of leftover salty oil to pour over the bowl when the egg is ready. I used about half as much seaweed because I had a packet of gim that was already open, and I also added chili oil for serving. It was perfect.
I’ve also been having a hard time with breakfast lately, wherein it feels either too exhausting or viscerally disgusting to eat (this happens to me periodically, no, I’m not pregnant). It seems I’m able to combat it by having rice or noodles with an egg on them instead of my ‘normal’ breakfast foods of toast or yogurt or an egg sandwich. I’ve been especially liking making a little bit of kimchi fried rice, and then topping it with a runny egg and some chili crisp. I just toss a cup or so of rice into my small cast iron, let it warm up for a couple minutes, add kimchi and soy sauce and cook until it caramelizes a little, and then transfer to a bowl while I cook the egg in the same pan. It feels like such a nice little way to take care of myself instead of desperately eating a fig bar or some other insufficient thing at 11am when I’m too hungry to go on.
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so donations I can use towards cookbooks or future treats (or moving costs 😓) are much appreciated. Happy Star Trek Day! Here’s a friendly reminder that this show has always been in favour of a future that is, despite its complications, socialist and just and queer, and it should continue doing so. Support striking workers!