My Year of Free Cooking

2 T vegetable oil, divided 3 eggs 3 c diced veggies (pepper, broccoli, asparagus, onion, etc....) 2 T minced garlic 2 T mined ginger 1 qt cold cooked brown rice (kids like it better with white) 2 T soy sauce 2 t fish sauce Several scallions, sliced thin Heat 1 t oil. Scramble eggs in oil, remove and set aside.   Heat remaining oil on med-high heat.  Add veggies and cook a few minutes until softened. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant.  Add rice and cook until heated throughout.  Add soy sauce and fish sauce, using more to taste.  Mix in scrambled eggs.  Top with scallions. Good with diced mango or pineapple if you have any on hand!  

I have a pork shoulder that weights 2 lb 7 oz.  First I made a dry rub: 1/4 c brown sugar 2 T paprika 1 t chili powder 1 t cinnamon 1 t cumin pinch cayenne 2 T kosher salt I rubbed shoulder with the rub, then I let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.  Then I cooked it in the instant pot with a bit of water for 40 minutes and let it release naturally.  Pulled the meat.  Wasn't quite done so put it back in for another 15 minutes.   Too much cinnamon.  Not at all spicy which was good for kids.   Cornbread (oh boy - baking!) 2 c flour 1 c cornmeal 1 t salt 1 T baking powder 1 1/2 c milk 2 eggs 4 T butter, melted Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, dump wet into dry and mix until just combined.  Place in a greased pan and bake at 375 until golden brown on top.  A bit too domed so next time 2 t of baking powder.  Could use a bit more salt, and it needed 1/4 more milk to be the right consistency.  Next...

Here's a tough one because I'm making it for a crowd, so I'm hoping it comes out ok. 10 28 oz cans of canned tomatoes with their juices 10 c of red lentils 6 T curry powder water as needed 1 lb of butter made into ghee 1/4 c black mustard seeds 1/4 c cumin 1 1/3 c lime juice kari leaves Results: tasted pretty good!  Think the tomatoes were not as tasty out of a can as they are from the farm.  

Happy New Year!  This is the first day of my year of cooking (and baking!) without using recipes.  It's 8 am and already I wonder if I'm going to make it until 9 am.  I want to make pizza dough for tonight, and while I remember the amount of 00 and all-purpose flours, I cannot for the life of me remember how much yeast I should put in.  I was supposed to memorize a few basic recipes last night, not stay up drinking champagne.   So this is the first test.  Luckily it's an easy one.  A good amount of salt, a bit of yeast, a bit of olive oil, enough water to get to the correct consistency, and voila, we will have pizza dough.  I sense my cooking confidence increasing already. I determined I would write down what I do, so here goes: Mix together 153 g 00 flour 153 g all-purpose flour 1 1/2 t salt 1/4 t yeast Add 200 g water 1 t olive oil Make rough dough and knead in mixer for ten minutes or so.  Put in fridge for at least eight...