solar flares
fancy bagels, celestial events, and things to make with cabbage
Hi again. Sorry for the absence last week, it was just one of those times. And I may or may not need to bow out next week, because it’s Jeff’s birthday, and it happens to coincide with Iain and Cass coming to visit, so I hope to be making the most of that— in which case it’ll somehow be nearly June when this newsletter sees you next. With trying to watch the hockey games (I am literally polishing this up during the first intermission), and write, and work out, and apply for jobs, I’ve been sticking to a lot of tried-and-true things I can make quickly and comfortably in the kitchen, because I feel like my mental energy keeps getting sucked away into all these other things. The good weather as we grow nearer the solstice is helping, though. It’s amazing what an 18°C day and a post-8pm sunset can do for my personal morale.
Kayla came over last Friday to watch some Star Trek, and I promised to make her a caesar salad for dinner if she promised to bring bagels from the new Japanese bagel place downtown, Wa-Bagel, which she’d shared pictures of on her instagram story and I promptly went insane about. The caesar dressing recipe from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a good starting point, but I don’t use the recipe anymore, I just put stuff in ‘til it tastes right. Kayla brought two of the wagyu pizza bagels, which were amazing; Jeff and I don’t eat beef very often and this was a worthwhile treat. She also brought a chocolate and roasted soybean at my request, and a red bean cream cheese. Both were delicious, and in the future I look forward to trying the matcha cheesecake bagel or the black sugar walnut.
We watched the hockey game but gave up on the overtime period— which turned out to be a wise choice— in order to try to get someplace darker so we could see the aurora borealis, practically guaranteed due to a spectacular solar storm. Like half of the rest of the city, it seemed, we went to Porteau Cove. It was chaos, but people kind of just gave up and started getting out of their illegally-parked cars to look and take photos. We eventually backtracked the other way and pulled into a rest stop that was a lot calmer, and where we had a better view thanks to being a little bit separate from all the traffic on the street.
Of course photos show you a lot more depth and colour, but I was still amazed just by what you could see with the naked eye. And the level of activity I think surpassed anyone’s expectations for this. I cried, guys. I’d seen a glimpse of them many years ago, a flash of green above the mountains, but this was one of those things that makes you feel connected to everyone else around you, because so many of us were seeing this kind of celestial event for the first time. And even if you have seen the aurora before, maybe in Iceland or more northerly parts of Canada, this was really just otherworldly. No one seemed to know what to do with themselves. I joked that I understand the guy from the double rainbow video, because sometimes you truly do feel such awe at the beauty of the world that all you can really do is scream.
I have mentioned before that buying a cabbage for one thing then becomes a quest in which you have to use up an entire cabbage. I love cabbage, but they do often take longer for me to get through than expected, because a little seems to go a long way. Anyway, the reason I bought it was to make slaw for black bean tacos, because I had tortillas to use. These are really easy to make and still good even if you skip the step of crisping up the tortillas (I actually didn’t mean to this time, I just forgot). Usually I put hot sauce and other seasonings into the beans— maybe chili powder and coriander— because they feel a bit plain with just cumin. And I didn’t have green onion for the slaw so I just garnished with pickled onion, which is my preferred choice for tacos at most times.
I used some more of the cabbage in a quick veggie stir-fry, crumbling the tofu and dusting it in potato starch to fry it up crisp in the wok first. Afterwards I cooked carrots, cabbage, and green onion until they get charred and tender (but not mushy). This works with basically whatever sauce you feel like— sweet chili, hoisin, honey miso— anything you can cook with the veggies for a couple minutes that’ll put a nice level of salt and a little glaze on the veggies and tofu and season the rice in your bowl. I went with teriyaki mixed with a little gochujang for spice, and rice vinegar so it wouldn’t be too sweet.
The Edmonton home games starting at 6:30 is a big hassle for me, personally, because that’s right when I’m normally in the middle of making food. However, on Tuesday I made the wonderful gilgeori toast in exactly twenty minutes. I’ve made this sandwich with homemade sourdough before, and it’s good, but it’s especially great with a softer sandwich bread, like you’d use for a classic grilled cheese. Sandwiches for two work perfectly in a 12” cast iron, I just scrape the egg/cabbage/carrot filling in in two blobs, shape them, and cook them like little omelettes. Don’t forget, like I almost did, to add cheese after flipping.
This was also the first time I decided to use jam instead of just sprinkling sugar on the bread, and I was worried it would be weird but it was excellent. We had an open jar of homemade peach jam, but I feel like the gold standard is probably store-bought strawberry. In that case, though, I might skip the ketchup. I’ll probably make this again soon, because I still have almost half a cabbage to use, somehow. And I’m sad to report that buying the Canucks-themed donut at Cream Pony that day did not automatically make the team win. Sports are so stupid because curses feel real, but good-luck charms do not. (It was a good donut, though.)
I’m still getting accustomed to certain differences in our kitchen. Food cooks almost too quickly on the big double burner, I’m constantly charring onions I only meant to soften, because the oil got too hot. The fridge drawers don’t collect so much condensation that I need to line them with cloth, which means my cucumbers don’t rot in three days, but on the other hand, lettuce will wilt in that amount of time rather than stay crisp all week. (Yes, I know about the humidity slider. I have tested both ends and it makes almost no difference.) So, I got sick of herbs going soft in the produce drawers if I didn’t use them immediately, and I’m happy with the results of what I’ve been doing instead. I take the leaves off all the lower parts of the stems of things like cilantro and dill, put them in a small jar with water in the bottom, and then cover the top with a silicone bag and keep them on the shelf of the fridge. A sandwich bag will also work. I’ve never had cilantro last more than a few days without this trick, and dill and parsley will easily last 7-10 days.
With some of my supply of dill, I made this tahini ranch dressing— in my opinion, not that much like ranch, but still a really great dip or sauce. Maybe it’s more ranch-like with the specified brand of tahini, but I have never heard of it so I assume it’s an America thing; I use the Krinos which comes in like a 1kg bucket. One of the notes I’ve left for myself after making this in the past is to mix it in a small food processor or with a hand blender rather than by hand, because chopping that many herbs is a curse, and you get a smoother texture for the sauce. Cut the chives, though; they often will just smash themselves against the side of the container and pretend to be invisible rather than blend on their own if you leave them whole. Also, I prefer to halve the amount of maple syrup and use a little more acid— more lemon juice works, but I also like pickle brine! And I sometimes add onion powder in addition to the garlic powder.
To go with this the day I made it, I cooked some brown rice and sheet pan roasted some chickpeas, cauliflower, and mushrooms in smoked hot paprika. I wish I had had more mushrooms to use, but it was very good nonetheless. The dressing is, as the recipe says, even tastier the next day. With the rest of it, I’ve just been dipping vegetables and crackers and pizza crusts in it, as is ranch’s purpose in life.
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 any donations, especially while I’m still looking for work, are greatly appreciated. I hope those of you who have an extra day off this May long weekend have a great one— remember to be extra nice to service workers and tip well while you’re out enjoying yourself! Anyway, here’s a niche tweet for my TNG likers.
I always shred and quick-pickle cabbage and it’ll stay for 2 months in the fridge—can be used for slaws as needed and salads, etc.!