Thursday, February 2, 2012

Feast night

planning
{planning}

ginger + wedding knives
{ginger + wedding knives}

potstickers
{potstickers}

We had some people over to celebrate the new season one of the most addictive shows ever. I almost never make asian food* and we may have taken on a little more than we could really handle, but the prep was a lot of fun. We made this slaw (crazy good, it will show up again soon, I think) + these potstickers + these meatballs. Oh, and a drink that was so complicated that it needs its own post and a decent photo to do it justice.


* Isn't it weird what we cook at home vs. only eat out? We are surrounded by some amazing asian food so we take advantage of that, but cooking it at home is oddly intimidating. I need to work on getting over that.

17 comments:

  1. That sounds like a lot of fun! Being Asian myself, cooking Asian food at home seems way too scary and I almost refuse to do it. But now I'm reconsidering :)

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  2. I was intimidated as well (especially at the Asian supermarket--which of the 25 kinds of fish sauce is the right one!), this Pad Thai recipe is a great place to start. Pim is a fantastic foodie and a native of Thailand, and this is a surprisingly easy recipe.

    http://chezpim.com/cook/pad_thai_for_beginners

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    1. Yes! I love the Asian market, but it takes me forever in there. I just wander around and hope that I'll find my ingredients blindly and then I end up buying a ton of cookies or something. I'm going to check out that recipe - thanks!

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  3. It's funny you say that about Asian food, because it took me so long to get used to cooking potatoes right. For the first couple of years in my marriage, I would not cook potatoes for my husband because I felt as if I would always mess it up. Luckily, I'm getting the hang of it now.

    www.mylovelylist.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Vang, that's so funny! I grew up in a household where potatoes are a staple, so they've always been second nature to me. (Although I don't really cook much with them in our house for some reason). I'm glad you're conquering them!

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  4. Hey Rachel, what kind of knives do you use? I'm in the market for some good ones.

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    Replies
    1. We have the Shun classic knives and I LOVE them. Ours are from Crate and Barrel, but you can get them from other places as well. We have four, and we probably could have gotten away with just three. We have the 8" chef's knife (D's favorite), the 7" Santoku knife (my favorite), the 6" utility knife (which gets the least use, honestly) and the little paring knife, which is great for peeling and zesting. They're pricey but we were so grateful to get them as wedding gifts. Now I'm convinced that I should always buy the knives off of people's registries. Such a useful gift.

      Now I just have to get up the guts to learn to sharpen them myself.

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    2. Thanks so much! I see that Amazon sells these and they have a 4 for 3 program http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=pe_145350_22420200_pe_epc_/?ie=UTF8&node=331401011 so I may be purchasing these soon. I really appreciate your feedback.

      And the sharpening, yes I know. My boss swears you don't need good knives, you just need to get them professionally sharpened regularly but I don't know...

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  5. I thought that was going to be a link to Downton Abbey since that's all anyone talks about lately, so I love you x1,000,000 for it being Ru Paul. I don't think you're a twitter girl, but Dan Savage live tweeted the first episode and it was so hilarious I nearly died.

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    1. Ha! I was wondering if anyone would even check the link to see what it was and if they would have any idea what I was talking about if they did.

      I guess it's embarrassing, but I don't watch anything even remotely edifying on TV. We have a huge RuPaul obsession in our house (and among our group of friends), so we've been living in major anticipation. It's just so good.

      Clearly, I need to look up Dan Savage's tweets. I'm not on Twitter, but I could eavesdrop.

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    2. Kate, I was just about to post the same thing. Rachel, I LOVE that you watch RuPaul's Drag Race. The show is so hilarious but the work that is featured is so amazing. It takes skill to create those looks!

      I have no shame in my tv tastes. I love Bravo and still watch Survivor like an oldster. Reality tv gets a bad rap but whatever, some of it is good. Besides I don't think a person can judge if they have never seen The Wire (that was an EXCELLENT tv show).

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  6. I'm Korean and I still get intimidated by cooking Asian food. I have no problem whipping up some shin ramen tho, sooo yummy and spicy.

    Those pot stickers look awesome tho! Looks like you've maintained the right ratio of crispy and tender!

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  7. I can't get enough of pot stickers. I am going to try this.

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  8. Mmm, potstickers. I share your fear of cooking them - I prefer to let the experts make my favorite Asian food, haha.

    Also, RuPaul's Drag Race is seriously one of my favorite shows! Alas, we don't have Logo so I have to watch it online.

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  9. Glad you're getting into cooking. I don't cook Asian food at home often, though I have been getting into fried rice. I would LOVE to try those potstickers.

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