Chinese food is my standard.

[serenissima]

Dinner tonight: stirfry

• one small head of napa cabbage
• one brick of tofu
• one medium onion
• package of dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted
• soy sauce, amount eyeballed
• black pepper, amount eyeballed
• "oyster sauce," around two teaspoons, mixed with an equal amount of water

Amount: worked out to about three servings for me

Conclusions:
As usual, I was far too cautious with the seasoning. The mushrooms helped, but it could have used more soy sauce and pepper. Also, fresh garlic and ginger, but I was feeling lazy, and anyway there's no ginger in the house. Chunks of white meat chicken and/or shrimp would have been good too, and I think scallions (green onions) would have been a better choice than a regular onion. However, cooking time worked out just fine, and the finished product was better than tolerable. Would have been equally good using bok choy instead of napa. Something red or orange would have looked pretty -- bell pepper, or maybe carrot sliced thin?

Tomorrow, something truly ambitious: pot roast. I have never attempted pot roast; I don't ever remember eating it at home. But my dear housemate purchased a 3.75 lb rump roast which has been bleeding into the meat drawer in the refrigerator for the past few days, and yesterday I went out and bought a slow cooker. I have potatoes, carrots and onions, so I'll give it a try.

Comments

[skimmerduk.livejournal.com]

Pot roast is about the ONLY thing I know how to make, so I feel compelled to say that the two "secret" ingredients are beef broth (rather than just water) and Worcestershire sauce. I think most recipes include at least one of these, but if you're inventing it on your own, I think you'll be pleased with these additions :) If I could make everything in a slow cooker, I would.

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

I've never used Worcestershire sauce either, but we happen to have some because he wanted it available when he made steak for friends some weeks ago. No beef broth; I have chicken broth and beef bouillon cubes. I'll update with results. :)

[breimh.livejournal.com]

One beef bullion cube to one cup of water works the same as beef broth, as well.