I've made a couple of particularly delicious foods in the last week that I wanted to share, but there is absolutely no connection between the two. Believe me, I tried to find a tenuous link. One is a light, airy and sweet confection....and the other is pig's butt. Yeah.
The delicious dessert were classic meringues. Nothing over the top or amazing about them, but they never fail to impress me. Just powdered sugar and egg whites. What else tastes so incredible and involves only two ingredients? Oh, right. Nutella and spoon. That one's a classic too. Since this was post-race on Saturday, I recruited Tim for a lot of the mixing:
I, however, remained firmly in charge of dictating every step of the process, getting giddy about how amazing they were going to taste and claiming credit for the final product. So it was a team effort.
If you want to make them yourself, I used this recipe. It's a labor of love to make these. It takes a good 30 minutes to whip them up and then a few hours to bake, but it's so worth it.
Next up...yep, pig's butt. I thought Tim was just being all creative and coming up with rhymes like "yum, yum pig's bum" but apparently that's an actual saying? I've never heard of it. Anyway, last weekend I made a traditional Chinese dish called Char siu. It's basically a really sweet barbecued pork. I used this recipe to make it because I wanted it to be as authentic as possible.
Tim has been eating Char Siu Fan (pork and rice) for 20+ years in Hong Kong so I had to make it just right so it would taste the same. And it looks like we have a success! It was very fatty - just the way it is supposed to be - and the edges got a little crisped and caramelized exactly like I hoped. The only thing that took away from the authenticity is that my version wasn't bright red like in China. Since that is achieved by food coloring and doesn't affect the flavor, I didn't much mind.
I served it with jasmine rice and some stir fried bok choy cabbage to make him feel like we were in Hong Kong again.
My quads are still feeling really sore from Saturday's trail half, so this morning I just biked for 40 minutes and then did a quick and easy yoga video. I feel the exact same as I did before the workout but in my head it was "active recovery" and therefore did something good for my legs.
What is the best food you've cooked/baked/assembled lately?
No doubt about it - those meringues. So delicious. PLUS they had egg whites in them and were therefore pure protein.
What's your take on active recovery? Is is better just to take a rest day?
I personally like taking really easy days rather than days off completely, but I know sometimes I just need a day of nothing. Yesterday was a easy 3 mile walk outside with Tim, and that was perfect for me as a "rest day".
The delicious dessert were classic meringues. Nothing over the top or amazing about them, but they never fail to impress me. Just powdered sugar and egg whites. What else tastes so incredible and involves only two ingredients? Oh, right. Nutella and spoon. That one's a classic too. Since this was post-race on Saturday, I recruited Tim for a lot of the mixing:
I, however, remained firmly in charge of dictating every step of the process, getting giddy about how amazing they were going to taste and claiming credit for the final product. So it was a team effort.
If you want to make them yourself, I used this recipe. It's a labor of love to make these. It takes a good 30 minutes to whip them up and then a few hours to bake, but it's so worth it.
Next up...yep, pig's butt. I thought Tim was just being all creative and coming up with rhymes like "yum, yum pig's bum" but apparently that's an actual saying? I've never heard of it. Anyway, last weekend I made a traditional Chinese dish called Char siu. It's basically a really sweet barbecued pork. I used this recipe to make it because I wanted it to be as authentic as possible.
Tim has been eating Char Siu Fan (pork and rice) for 20+ years in Hong Kong so I had to make it just right so it would taste the same. And it looks like we have a success! It was very fatty - just the way it is supposed to be - and the edges got a little crisped and caramelized exactly like I hoped. The only thing that took away from the authenticity is that my version wasn't bright red like in China. Since that is achieved by food coloring and doesn't affect the flavor, I didn't much mind.
I served it with jasmine rice and some stir fried bok choy cabbage to make him feel like we were in Hong Kong again.
My quads are still feeling really sore from Saturday's trail half, so this morning I just biked for 40 minutes and then did a quick and easy yoga video. I feel the exact same as I did before the workout but in my head it was "active recovery" and therefore did something good for my legs.
What is the best food you've cooked/baked/assembled lately?
No doubt about it - those meringues. So delicious. PLUS they had egg whites in them and were therefore pure protein.
What's your take on active recovery? Is is better just to take a rest day?
I personally like taking really easy days rather than days off completely, but I know sometimes I just need a day of nothing. Yesterday was a easy 3 mile walk outside with Tim, and that was perfect for me as a "rest day".
I really enjoy pork butt. In fact, I ate some tonight. Butt butt butt.
ReplyDeleteso impressed with your cooking skills! :) hmm…haven’t made anything new in a while. i think my triple chocolate cake is probably my most popular sweet but it is by no means healthy-it’s from southern living. attempting a new muffin recipe this weekend i think.
ReplyDeletetoday was active recovery, 1 mile run (cut short by rain) and then 20 minutes of runners yoga. i’m usually lazy after a long run/race and need to be better about light active recovery.
Wow, you are a whiz in the kitchen! I don't really like meringues (although yours look great) but I love pork bum! In fact, just like you said, with a little bit of crisp and a bit of fat! Yum.
ReplyDeleteI have six egg whites I'm going to turn into coconut chocolate chip macaroons later this week. Your meringues came out divine! Love them :)
ReplyDeleteBoth of those items look yummy!! I love Char siu and jasmine rice!! yum yum!
ReplyDeleteGiant fan of active recovery! I like to go running the same day as a race, really. JJust a light jog. It feels awful but the next day there is no pain.
ReplyDeleteI love active recovery. I feel wrecked for so much longer if I sit with stiff muscles for days. Get up and run a little so I can stretch those sore spots is always the way I go. :) I ran a marathon on Sunday and I'm headed out in a few days for a 45 mi backpacking trip. :)
ReplyDeleteI love meringues! My grandma makes them with chocolate chips and calls them angel delight cookies. SOOOO good.
ReplyDeleteYup. This looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteI think all the best pork I've ever had was in China. Granted, some of that may have been at Korean BBQ, but it still counts in my book. Can't wait to try that recipe.
ReplyDeleteI made a chicken fried rice recipe that I was pretty proud of. It was pretty easy too and way yummy!
ReplyDeleteI have a really hard time fully resting for recovery. I will do p90x videos or take an easy spin. But if I am really sore I will try and rest for the day.
Pork butt is the best, yo. And I'm kind of an expert on butts.
ReplyDeleteYou earn bonus points for your mention of Nutella. Holy amazing. Your snack looks really good too, I need to try those.
ReplyDeleteI'm possibly the worst cook ever, but I did make some mean white chili on Sunday which I was proud of. Prior to that, the only meal I was good at making was Lucky Charms.
I freakin' love meringues. I would marry them if I could, but that would be so awkward for everyone around me, and like, we'd get tons of stares at restaurants and it'd be super awkward to explain everything to my boss when I ask to add a dependent to my health insurance.... dammit. Guess I'll just have to eat 'em.
ReplyDeleteThose meringues look awesome. I had no clue they cooked for so long!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever cook Indian food? I've experimented but haven't come up with anything close to the real stuff...
I always change my mind about active recovery. On weeks I've decided to definitely NOT DO anything, I end up going for a walk and doing yoga, on days I'm going to do yoga and walk, I end up doing nothing. So usually I just go with it and whatever happens happens.
I had an awesome omelet yesterday morning. I had used a bag of shredded potatoes on Sunday and had some of the bag left over, butter in the skillet, cooked up the potatoes, slid them to the side, added more butter and scrambled eggs and flipped, then filled with the potatoes and cheese for a omelet of sorts. YUM.
ReplyDeleteMy legs are hurting today from my run, it was a little faster htan I've been doing lately. Tomorrow I have yoga in AM and 7 miles after work! looking forward to Thursday morning off!
I always think about making these for my family. This looks tasty. I have a couple recipes and I'm waiting the day when I'll prepare them. :)
ReplyDelete