boiled potatoes

always looking for cheap food options, i've taken a page from America's pioneering ancestors who had to make do with what little they had. here i've concocted a potato stew flavored with salt pork. (maybe i'm just watching too much of Frontier House)

2 slices of bacon (er, salt pork is a little bit tooo unhealthy.. it's more fat than pork!) chopped up into a cold pot. heated on medium until the the fat started to melt all liquidly from the bacon. took 5 smallish-medium potatoes, sliced them up into fries as thick as my thumb, and threw those in the pot along with whatever veggie i had at hand. this time, it was cubes of a zucchini. stirred it around a bit, then added some packaged veggie stock (stockpiled from the Days of Lost Wisdom) and water in a 3:1 ratio, enough to cover an inch in the bottom of the pot, at least. put a tiny sprinkle of chili and ~1 tbsp of vinegar for flavoring. After boiling, cover pot and simmer on low for 20-30 mins (or until the taters get cooked). usually tastes better if allowed to sit a while before eating or reheated.

note to the brain - yes, sausages too

icy refreshing chicken broth

here's a couple things i made a while back. don't let the first picture deceive you, it's not as untasty as it looks. i split one of those little mini eggplants down the middle, filled it with garlic, dribbled salt and olive oil over it, and then pan grilled it slowly that the juicy insides would slowly cook itself.



these were the toughest, waxiest, limpest green beans i could find. they were also on sale for a ridiculously low price. after letting it age for almost another week (i kind of forgot about them...) i decided it was time to work my magic on 'em. i tossed them in a pot with some water, shrimp paste, fish sauce, and fried garlic and set it to simmer for a looong time. so soft and tender afterwards.. almost.. mushy. but not suite. they were too tough to start out with to get mushy. my roomates all made faces and closed their doors. i am evil.



last of all, this is what i ate for dinner last night? the night before? it's all a blur with the lovely moloko vellocet they gave me. and the wooden choppers aren't quite ready to handle solid food yet plus they need to be aged and treated. ah.. cold jook with dried green shiso leaf on top. and nothing beats an icy refreshing chicken broth with an ice cube floating around in it...